On Sunday, Liz and I traveled to Mysore, which my supervisor here told me is known as the “crown jewel of Karnataka.” It is south of Bangalore- I’m not sure how many kilometers- maybe 120? We left the guesthouse at 7:30 and did not arrive in Mysore until after 1pm. We first took a city bus to the main bus depot in Bangalore, which is also where MG (Mahatma Ghandi) Road and the train station are. MG Rd. is known for its nice hotels and the restaurants and bars. Hopefully I will check out this area very soon as it is considered “the happening spot” in Bangalore, from what I hear. I’m getting sidetracked here… Anyway, we left the main bus depot on an “ordinary” (lowest class bus) bus for Mysore at 9:00am. The poor old bus had a terrible time getting up any hills we encountered, and at times I thought we would start rolling backwards. The hills aren’t that steep, but this bus seemed to be on its last leg. The bus ride was certainly interesting. We stopped many times and a few of the times we stopped at bus depots, where little begging children got on the bus and repeatedly poked and prodded us, saying “madam madam madam madam madam” while we kept shooing them away. If any of the beggars spot white people, they’re all over you!
Once we arrived in Mysore, we decided that our priorities were first to get lunch (totally starving at this point), then check out Mysore Palace, then look for the market and then head back to B’lore. We had lunch at Parklane Hotel, located at #2720, Srl Harsha Road, Mysore 570 001. It was delicious! Liz and I both got the chicken biryani, which is a seasoned rice dish with big chucks of chicken on the bone, and it also came with a curry and a curd side. They don’t use knives to cut while eating, so I had to use my spoon to pull the meat off the bone. We finished off dinner with some strawberry ice cream! J The hotel was very nice. The restaurant was upstairs and was packed- we even spotted a few other tables with white people sitting at them. I recommend the hotel for a meal if you’re ever in Mysore.
Lunch at the Parklane Hotel
Mysore Palace was also packed. We paid our entrance fees and crammed into line with tons of others, as we filed through a metal detector, which kept incessantly beeping, although they never stopped anyone to check them after they walked through the metal detector. Pretty pointless if you ask me! We walked around the outside of the palace and across the walkways and lawns taking pictures, then we had to check out cameras in lockers before entering the palace (no cameras allowed- I even saw a security card take away a camera from a young boy who snuck one in!). Shoes also had to come off. If you know me well, you know I absolutely HATE HATE HATE to get my feet dirty. Ever since I was a little kid I freak out if my feet get dirty. Anyway, I had to grin and bear it, so I took off my shoes and put them in my backpack. No way was I leaving them outside with thousands of other shoes- I would never find them again! The palace was absolutely beautiful from the inside and outside. The inside had many artifacts from the ruler who lived there. Amazing stained glass in a few of the rooms lined the ceilings. Gold-leaved columns, ivory carvings on the doors, and unique artwork were some of the things we saw inside. We weaved through the palace with thousands of others for about twenty minutes before exiting. There was a stage set up in front of the palace and it looked as if they were setting up for a concert for later. While we were picking up our cameras from the camera-check, we heard the sound check loud and clear- they played Hotel California!
After Mysore Palace we roamed around the streets of Mysore and came across the market. After, we found a grocery store and purchased some snacks (dinner) for the bus ride back to B’lore. We absolutely lucked out at the bus station- they had an AC bus pull up right as we got there. So for the ride back, we had AC and a coach bus…reclining seats! Although I tried as hard as I could to stay away on the ride back, I fell asleep a few times. We thought by taking the AC bus that we would get back a little faster, but it took the same amount of time to get back as it did to get there. Did not return back to the guesthouse until almost 11pm. It was a very long day-trip but I do not think there was too much more we would have liked to have seen in Mysore, so it wasn’t worth staying the night. Also, this was Sunday and I had to be back for the beginning of my internship Monday morning.
Internship
Monday, my first official day of my international field experience, I traveled with some of the resident doctors to Mugalur, a rural area about 45 minutes outside of Bangalore. St. John’s has a rural clinic they operate here, as well as a community health training center. On this particular day I was designated to observe in the ENT clinic, which they operate maybe once every two weeks. I sat in a room with a fan, a medicine cabinet, a table and 4 chairs, a TV, and some medical equipment, along with two resident doctors- Dr. Prathibha and Dr. Adrian. There was no computer, only huge paper logbooks the doctors use to document the consultations. The power went out twice, once for about ten minutes and another time for just over an hour. They mentioned that usually there is a generator in case of power outages, but for some reason, there was not one today. Dr. Prathibha was the resident ENT doctor and she was the one who consulted with all the 17 patients we saw that day between 10:30am and 1:30pm. This day was actually quite boring, as I just watched Dr. P examine ears all day. There were a few highlights though: watching Dr. P use an endoscope with a camera, so we could see down the patient’s throat on the television, and observing a new piece of equipment being used for the first time on patients. One of the residents from St. John’s had constructed a tool using a Kodak Easy Share camera and an ear scope (not sure what they’re called…sorry to all clinical folk), so that community health workers from Mugalur could go out into the communities and examine patients’ ears, take a picture or video of what they saw inside the ear, and then bring it back to the clinic for the doctor to examine when he/she came in. It was really pretty innovative of them. Here is a picture of what this device looked like in use:
The second day of traveling to Mugalur was actually spent in Sompura, one of the rural villages nearby. I, Dr. Ashwini, and a community health worker went around households, “door” –to-“door” and surveyed families with disabled person(s). The point of the surveys was to determine whether or not the patient could be referred to Unit of Hope, a rehabilitation clinic run the third Friday of every month from Mugalur. We talked with nine patients or their families about their condition. A five page survey, which Dr. Ashwini administered in their language, consisted of questions about the specifics of the disability and assessed their daily living and communication abilities. Health, education, livelihood, empowerment, and social aspects were also examined. It was the first time in 5 years that the St. John’s/Mugalur people went out into this specific village to talk to the disabled and determine whether they are good candidates for Unit of Hope. Two patients were referred- a 4 year old boy that had cognitive and motor developmental delays (he could not walk and scooted himself around on the floor, with no pants/underwear on), and a 23 year old man who was normal until age 8, and then developed a fever (possible meningitis) and was never the same. He could not walk, had deformed feet, could not take care of himself independently, and had barely any type of speech. It was sad to see the disabled in this community but hopefully at least some can be rehabilitated to enjoy a better quality of life.
Back in Bangalore, I went out for dinner that same evening with Liz, two German girls I met (Jennine and Katinka), and Jos, one of the Indian residents. I had my first dish of butter chicken and rice, which was spicy but very, very good! I would definitely order it again. I also had my first Indian beer- Kingfisher, which apparently is the only type of beer they serve in India. It was pretty generic, kind of like a Bud Light. The restaurant started blasting the music, a mix of Hotel California (again!), Eminem, and Soulja Boy, as soon as we got in there. Pretty crazy…Also, the waiters were all Asian, but they do the Indian head bobble just the same as the Indians! It was great to get out with other students and have a fun evening. Thursday is Liz’s birthday so we have more plans to go out then.
KNOCK ON WOOD, so far so good with the eating and drinking in India. I really enjoy spicy foods, other cultures’ foods, and I’m not picky, so it is not difficult to find yummy things here. Just have to follow the rule “peel it, cook it, or don’t eat it.” Also, there are quite a few grocery stores, so I’ve been able to get snacks and easy-to-prepare foods. Just the other night I made some Ramen-type noodles in the small pot I brought. Downstairs in the guesthouse there is a hot plate. Also, there’s a water filter which I have not been brave enough to try yet. I’ve tried the fruit here—just oranges and kiwis (tried a papaya but hated it). I have to make sure it’s something I can peel so as to not come in contact with the outside of the fruit, which is washed in the tap water. I brought a fruit peeler with me, too! My point here is, I’m following all the rules about eating so hopefully I won’t encounter too much illness. Everyone from back home that thought I would lose weight while being here: DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP! This is fair warning that I might be coming back exactly the same!
Today (Wednesday) I will be going to the Urban Health Center in the slums. It should be a very interesting experience, to say the least! I’ll fill everyone in on the adventure in my next post.
I hope you didn't run into any trouble in the 'urban' area!! :)
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