I HEART India

My swollen feet on Sunday after 36 hours of travel. Now my left foot swells up in the afternoons. Can someone tell me why?
Our bus from the Mangalore airport.
Mangalore Airport.
Ugh . . . delays in Bangalore due to fog! We had delays in Paris due to a mini-strike.
This one is for my honey who loves the mango lassis!

Howdy everyone! Getting wired was a bit of a challenge, but I am happy to be able to be in touch with my friends and family, and to be able to share some of this wonderful adventure with all of you.

Our journey from Dulles airport to Manipal was so long . . . we had flight delays of many hours, slept on benches at Charles de Gaul Airport, and upon our arrival in Mangalore boarded a bus for an hours winding drive to campus here in Manipal. I got really carsick (not shocking). Anyhow, after more than 36 hours of travel I arrived in my room to find that in my absence ants had colonized my bed! The staff here on campus was wonderful and dealt with the situation, but my room reeks of ant spray. I'm thinking of picking up some incense this evening . . . but come to think of it I don't have any mosquito bites yet. Could the ant spray be providing a protective effect? This is the first time in my life that I'm not the one with the most mosquito bites!

Monday morning we started classes first thing, and I can't tell you how excited I am about what we are doing in these three short weeks. We are being hosted by Manipal University, which is in fact a world class university. The faculty here seems quite happy to have us, and have gone to great lengths in designing our program, and arranging amazing field trips. We're also having a good bit of interaction with the MPH students here at Manipal, which is providing both groups (English and Indian students) with great new perspectives on public health.

Monday morning we received a brief overview of the structure of the Indian health care system from a district health commissioner (very high up). Monday afternoon we took our first field trip to a primary care center, which is where citizens can receive many free health care services like pre-natal care, vaccinations, AIDS, malaria, and TB testing.

This morning a faculty member lectured on Global Health and poverty which was fascinating. In the afternoon we had two amazing field trips. We started off at a secondary level health clinic, which is one level up from the primary care level. These clinics serve populations of around 80K people, and generally have a few specialists on staff. We were given a tour by the clinic head and some of the doctors, and they treated us to coconut milk during our q&a session. Because as a developing nation India does not have many patient privacy practices in place (HIPPA laws, etc), we have been able to see patients in the clinics, and learn about their diagnoses. At the secondary clinic we met a little girl who has ataxia. Ataxia is a neurological disease that causes loss of balance and uncontrolled movements. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore actually has a groundbreaking Ataxia research center which I have visited, but that kind of treatment is far far away for this little girl; there is no treatment available for her here; it was heartbreaking.

From the secondary clinic we headed to an addiction treatment center located in a private hospital. Because our escort is a very important man at Manipal University we were shown tremendous hospitality including samosas and tea for everyone. We were then allowed into a group meeting for those "in camp" (receiving in-patient treatment for alcohol addiction).

This has been such a superficial summary of my experience so far, but I wanted to get everyone caught up lickety split so I can start blogging in real time. Here are some other highlights or things I think you might be interested to know:

- The food is wicked awesome. We eat in the mess hall with the other students here at Manipal.

- I have AC and my own private bathroom.

- There are street dogs and street cows here. It makes me very sad.

- Our group includes 10 students - 9 girls, and one fella who is a very good sport. There is one other graduate student. I believe that since I am turning 31 this month I am the oldest by a few months.

- The driving here is scary. Don't even think of trying it yourselves!

- I am coping with the heat quite well. This is the BEST time of year to visit this part of India climate wise.

- I got to do a little run last night. I'm hoping to get a few of my classmates to run with me every other day or so.

- We are 10.5 hours ahead of EST.

- Facebook is blocked from the university server here - so don't look for any picts or updates there.