Life in India. . . continued

I have now been in India for about 200L of waters. I have not been measuring my stay in the country as hours or days but rather as liters of water. I think 200L puts me right around 4 days. For easy reading I will break this entry into groups with titles as I did before.

Food:

My first experience ever with Indian food was the fine dine served on my Jet Airways flight. It was simply horrible and turned me off on Indian food for about the first 100L of water I was here. My second taste of Indian food came at a crowded restaurant here in Karaikudi. Austen, another Projects Abroad desk officer, and our cab driver made our way through the busy restaurant past the kitchen through the patio and to a less crowded back dining room. Austin ordered us rice and vegetable curry. Right away a waiter comes out and sets the table with four rectangle leaves,which are used as plates and pours threeglasses of tap water. (Austin got me bottled water) Immediately after the leaf was down another waiter showed up with four large pales. The first contained rice which each of us got several heaping scoops of. Then from a second bucket the rice is covered in curry. The other too buckets contained a gourd type food and some other mushy vegetable dish I didn't care much for. The way you eat this is that you mash the curry and rice combo together with your fingers and then grab a ball of this mixture with the tips of your fingers and scrape the food in to your mouth using your thumb. This was not a bad meal and warmed me up a little bit to Indian food. Every meal since then has been about the same. It is a large helping of rice mashed together with curry served with vegetable sides (today's lunch included mashed potatoes!) Breakfast now is on a new level. It is as if the doctor cook (more to come on that) knew me before I showed up. My first breakfast I was greeted by a large plate of toast and a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jam! heaven.She also makes a very delicious coffee based drink that tastes like a sweet cappuccino I alternate between that and very good chai tea. The fruit here is out of this world. So far I've only had a couple bananas and some mango. The bananas here are like nothing you've had (unless you've had an Indian banana) They are short and stubby and so much sweeter then any other banana Ive had. The mango's here simply melt in your mouth and have the most vivid flavor, yet are unfortunately about to go out off season (thought they grew all the time here.)

Stores:

Karaikudi is littered with, amongst other things, stores. Unlike in the west the stores are packed shoulder to shoulder and you rarely ever go in to the store. Rather is as if the store is built into a garage stall. In the morning the store owner rolls up the door and behind it immediately is a stall width counter and the products being behind the counter. You simply walk up to the owner and tell him what you want and he simply gets it for you. All stores are this way including pharmacies, tile stores, electrician stores, electronic stores, bike shops, everything. Only the larger cell phone stores, bike shops, clothing stores, and super market are stores you enter. The super market is a similar system but you go inside and the center is all fresh fruits with a counter running the perimeter with the more normal items located behind the counter. I went there one time so far to buy a Fanta and a tube of tooth paste. My total was Rs124 (Rs120 for the Fanta and Rs4 for the tooth paste, Rs124 is about $2.00.)









The people:

For the first 50-75L of water of my trip I thought the Indian people were somewhat cold shouldered and rude. I have since then realized that they are very nice people. Last evening I spent sometime outside with my camera trying to capture some of the families zooming by on their motorcycles. I was greeted by almost everyone that walked by. They all want to know your name and where you're from. Just walking the streets people will stop you and shake your hand. The people are more then friendly and live getting their picture taken. If you have a camera out, you will surely here the yell of children(6yrs-15yrs) yelling photo photo photo. Once such photo is the one of the one posted of the store owner and his son standing proudly outside of their clothing store.

My source of travel:

William and I are blessed by Shiva (or what ever Hindu would bless us westerners) to have two size small female bikes. The Jupiter and the ironically named Goliath. They are all steel single speeds with a fat ass seat (spring seat) fenders an interested kickstand device and built in lock. The kick stand with a bracket that attaches to the rear of the bike by the drop outs (rear axle area) it is hinged and sprung so that it flips up for riding that you kick it down to park the bike on. The built in lock is located right next to the brake and is simply a circle that stops before entering the spokes. To lock the bike you flip a switch and a bar completes the circle through the spokes and you can then remove the key. These are a real pain in the ass, legs, and back. However, they are how we make the -2L H2O (~10min) bike ride to the doctor's house.

Kairakudi by the numbers:

98 degrees, temperature outside
63% humidity outside
0 number of wrecks and needle sticks witnessed (very oddly enough)
0 number of sharps containers and bio hazard disposal bins in the hospital
8L amount of water drunk per day


That's all for now. I have so much more to write and so many more stories to tell already. However I want to give everyone a chance to read this with out getting overwelmed as I know I am being long winded.

I appreciated the comments keep em coming. Still feel free to ask any questions

Rick "your friend sweating like a pig in India"

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"

The beatiful Belgium country side. . .

One nights sleep in a questionable hotel in New York, three movies, 2 plane meals, qnd oné Eùropéqn kéyboqrd lqtér i have finally arrived in Brussels Belgium. Id love to tell you how this is such a great country with great significance, but that wont be happening. So what have I done since being in Belgium. Well firstly, I took a leak and was introduced to the Dyson Airblade hand dryer. Its is a hand drying device that utilizes vaccuum parts to generate gale force winds whice in turn are harnessed to dry your hands. After hitting the can I proceeded to the duty free store to pick up some famous belgium chocolates. I have yet to try them, beings as I am full from the famous American choclate Kit-Kat and Reeses Cup. Watch for a side by side comparison of the American and Belgium chocolates in my next note. And the concludes my time spent in Brussels. Ill now be heading to my gate to catch my last flight to Chennai.

Just checked my email and it looks like I will be staying my first night in India in a hotel in Chennai. This is because they were not able to get train ticketts to Sivakasi. The next day I will be flying from Chennai to Madurai.

- Rick "your friend soon to be stuck in Chennai"

Dreaming of. . . Manahattan.

I arrived at Seatac airport at 0400 for my flight to JFK. There I was to board a second plane to Chennai India. Unfortunately things did not work out that easily. My first flight was delayed for mechanicals reasons, and I therefore missed my flight leaving June 22 for Chennai. So I was put up in hotel at JFK by American Airlines and given meal vouchers good for a nother tasty bar burger and a "cheap" bear (num num!) I have been rescheduled to leave to Chennai tomorrow at 1800. I'm hoping to get up early and head to downtown, see what this who New York City thing is all about and probably take some pictures while I'm there. Who knows. I'll see you all again on the other side.

-Rick "Your friend, stuck at JFK"

Two weeks from today and I'll be boarding that plane to India. It still doesn't feel real to me. Maybe its because I don't have much preparing to do since I was ready to go last year. Well their is not too much to report. I got more pre-departure vaccinations. Since their is nothing new to tell you, I figured I would put a couple of pictures from attraction that Projects-Abroad organizes trips to for the volunteers. Bellow is Thekadi Falls, above is Varkala beach, the very top is madurai beach.