Saturday, June 27, 2009

India atlast (long, grab a drink and get comfortable)


*view from my room at the Chella Nursing home

Arriving in India:

Late Thursday night I finally arrived in Chennai India. Upon arriving in India I disembarked the plane made my way to the baggage claim, collected my bag and my way in to the madness that is India. Once you exit the baggage claim area you are welcomed by yelling Indians who are kept at bay by a aluminum fence. As I walked by the fence I carefully read every sign looking for my own name. When I got to the last person holding a sign and realized that the name on the sign was not my own a sense of panic settled over me. Before I know what was going I was in the midst of the taxi depot. Drivers were approaching me and asking in a thick Hindi accent if I needed a ride. After turning down rides from several drivers a nice man speaking only some diluted English asked if I needed help. I explained my situation and showed him the email that had where I was going and the number for the hotel, Hotel Mount Manor. He quickly took the paper from me made three rapid fire phone calls and said that they were on their way. At this point the madness of it all started to sink in and realized what was going on. I had no idea who this man was and upon asking him I got a fast spoken long answer that I believe amounted to him saying he was some kind of transportation manager. He had an ID badge and appeared to be legitimate. But my mind kept wandering to the scene in Taken where the girls driver tells the Albanians where they are staying. I was scared this man called him thug buddies and they were gonna pick me and do who knows what. To my astonishment a Hotel Mount Manor van showed up with a driver wearing a matching Mount Manor polo. I figured he was legit enough so I got in and he took me to the hotel.

The hotel at the time seemed rather questionable but now that I have seen India I realize that I was staying in a rather nice place. The door to my room had 3 dead bolts, there was A/C and a semi-working TV.


Projects Abroad:

I woke up early the next day knowing that I had to catch a flight from Chennai to Madurai. I however, did not know what airline or when the flight left. I got up and checked out of the hotel room (which cost ~Rs1500 or about $30.00) and was at the airport by 6:30. I proceeded to ask every airline if I was on any flight to Madurai till I finally won the jackpot at Paramount airways. Unfortunately the flight didn't leave until 2:00pm so I had a solid amount of time to sit and read. I finally got to Madurai around 3:30, where I was met by Projects Abroad desk officer Austin, who is actually an Indian guy. Austin was a very nice guy who has a degree in English literature and spoke English fairly well. We got into a cab in Madurai and left for Sivakassi. This is where I was introduced to the Indian roadway and way of driving. In India there are, as far as I can tell, no laws for driving. The cab driver barrels down the road at a max speed around 60mph but slows for nothing. If a bus is ahead they will just pass, if you cannot pass they will wait literally 3 feet behind the bus and honk and then they will fly headlong in to oncoming cars and then cut the bus off just in time to not smash in to a truck full of people or propane or whatever. On the road everyone honks their horns ALL THE TIME. Unlike the states when you honk here it is just to signify that you are passing, not that they are in your way. Everyone here drives motorcycles( or as the locals say, two wheelers.) they bomb around town on their motorcycles and it is not uncommon to see a family of four or five on a motorcycle. usually a small toddler sits on the father's lap holding the handlebars, then the mother sits behind the father holding the baby and a teenager sits behind the mother. The Honda Hero is a popular choice and almost everyone drives one.


Karaikudi and the Chella Nursing Home:

After a six hour white knuckled cab ride from Sivakassi I got to the Chella nursing home in Karaikudi. Although the title is nursing home it is more like a hospital. Their are 3 doctors, 10 beds and an "Operating Room" (more to come on Indian surgery.) My room is on the 3rd floor and consists of two twin sizes mattress-like pads on metal frames. Their is a spout coming out of the wall that we use to shower and to our luck their is a western style sit down toilet. We also have a small balcony where I set up a clothes line. Ahhh before I forgot, I do have a roommate his name is William and he is from the UK. He's twenty and studies medicinal chemistry and some UK university. Their is not much more to say about the room, I think the picture will speak for its self.









Well I suppose that is enough to get through for now. I'll write more soon about life with the doctor, Indian surgery, Indian food, how the clinic works, and anything else you want to know.

Please leave comments I'd like to hear from friends, family, and friend of my family. If you have any questions feel free to ask in comments.


-Rick "your friend culture shocked in India"

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Rick,
I'm you're mom's friend from way back to elementary school. You are in our prayers and I enjoy reading your blog. God bless you.

Carol Thompson

Oh-4wt said...

Wow, a six hour India cab ride, thats got be like the L.A. freeway and 3 days at Magic Mountain at the same time. "Every trip and adventure", more like every day is an adventure. The airport cab line sounds like a scene out of a movie. Your room looks comfy, you have made it just like your room at home, well except for the bug net. :) I like the story, keep it coming.

Marilyn (aka mom) said...

Ok, Rick, the time has finally come and you’ve landed in India at your placement. You’ve been thru a lot the past 12 months, now you can use your experience to deal with what you’ll face in India. I’m so thankful I didn’t know about no one meeting you at the airport in Chennai, and most about the taxi ride, that’s enough to scare anyone! Sounds like those amusement scary rides!!! Say your prayers when you’re in the taxis next time. It was great to hear your voice Thursday morning.
So how is the food? What kind of foods have you had so far? What’s your means of travel from the clinic (like to the Dr.s place for meals)? What’s the Dr.s house like where you have your meals? What kind of patients are you observing? What have you been able to do patient wise? Give some examples of how medicine in Karaikudi is different to State side.
Anyways, keep on blogging, I love to read what you are up too. Love ya, mom

Bonnie said...

Rick -- yes, your blog is getting nation-wide exposure. I've put you on my google reader and will keep up with you that way. I am your mom's cousin in case you can't make the connection. I recently watched the movie Outsourced about an american sent to train a telephone sales team in India. Your description seems quite similar to the movie. Enjoy your adventure and keep posting. Bonnie in the Poconos, PA

veebs said...

Hey Rick,

This is not really a comment or question about your last blog. What I want to know is did you see the eclipse? I don't have your email address and I must have been looking for it in the wrong places on your blog, so could you please send it to me.

Vera