on to sri ramachandra...

the shift key on this key board is problematic, so please forgive the lack of uppercase letters. i am in an internet cafe just off campus from sri ramachandra. it costs 20 rupees an hour, so not bad at all. it is a bit of a walk at night, but i will do my best.

it is neat to watch surgeries, because you know it is in the best interest of patients and at least an attempt is being made to improve their lives over all. on tv, most gore is violent and disgusting because someone is willing the harm of another, and it is disgusting to watch something eat humans or murder them out of malice.
this weekend was quite the experience, and gave me a good taste of india in ways i was not really expecting, but are india none the less. we left at like 5am on Saturday morning in the temple travellers, and most of us slept, but it was not the most comfortable sleeping situation. Then, we had some movies get put on... and the first one was not particularly thrilling and an american movie on top of it which i thought was inappropriate to be watching in inda, so i tried to ignore it and watch the scenery, but the sound was dominating my thoughts. Then, we started watching that icky 'predator' movie, and i made extra effort to ignore it, and they finally turned it off. my travel companions have great tastes in movies, must be said. finally one of our 2 drivers who learned english well from tourists put on a historical romance about an english governor's daughter who falls in love with an indian peasant at the time of india's separation from England. it was very interesting, and reminded me a lot of the titanic story, in some ways. Between all of this we stopped for a couple of meals, and i decided i would rather risk the restaurants than starve, and they weren't just fruit stands on the side. We finally made it to our jungle inn in the next state over from Tamil nadu- going east- around 2 pm. They speak a whole different language there, so most Tamil i have learned was not of help. the jungle inn was one of the best experiential places i have ever stayed. it is run by an indian man who lived on the east coast of the us for 30 years, and some of his indian family says he is too american to be indian any more. he has only been back 8 months. since he was so well versed in india and us, we had a great conversation about india ways and politics, comparing the 2 countries. it was just the 17 of us and another family of 5 or 6, so we had the place to ourselves. We stayed in big canvas tents, like at cascade's camp that had screen doors, clear plastic windows with curtains, wood frame beds and a bunk bed, and a seperate room where a bathroom was installed. i really felt like i was camping in the jungle, since we were surrounded by jungle. Then, we went on the safari, provided by the inn, so the jeeps came right up to our door. my tour guide was funny, and could speak some english but not a ton- just enough to make tons of jokes that no one really understood with the language barrier, but were still funny for all. he just brought us along a forest road in a big national park, and pointed out things along the way. we saw a couple of king fishers, some niger birds - which you can tell because they have red glowing eyes at night, and some black faced monkeys jumping on the branches, and a bunch of peacocks, spotted deer, jungle fowl, and a bison. we also saw 4 big white elephants! they were in a tribal village, brought to the area by the people for the ganesh festival. apparently, all of the elephants have killed people, so instead of killing the elephants, they are captured and sort of tamed. one of them had people riding on it, so we got out to pet it while the riders kept it from killing us- seriously- and we got a bunch of pictures. our last stop was a coffee plantation that was also growing black pepper on vines up the trees. the owners gave us each a cup of coffee and again i decided to be brave and try it. the coffee is always in small cups and super hot, so it takes forever to drink despite the size. there were also a bunch of rice fields around us, so we got a taste of the local agriculture, but i haven't seen any wheat. We came back in the dark to see nocturnal animals, and then hung out with the owners until dinner, which was kind of family home cooked just for us, so everything was very flexible and fit our needs. it was a nancy drew kind of resort. after dinner, the tribal people came to a bonfire just out side of our dining area and did some tribal dances and had us join in going around the fire. it was a lot of fun, and so peaceful, and we made friends with the owners and safari drivers. we were supposed to leave early the next morning to make it river rafting, but it took the vans forever to come. 2 hours later, the inn owners offered to help them, and suddenly they were working, and we were ready to leave. the inn owner cautioned us that they were trying to be lazy/cheat us and nothing was wrong with the vans, since it was easily fixed when assistance was offered... apparently that is a common problem. They took us to the rafting place, and it looked like a fun river, though muddy, like the kind we often travel. however, since we were delayed with the vans, the boat place had given up our spot, and the next opening was not until the afternoon, and we had no time to wait. i was super disappointed and frustrated with our group who was not particularly charged to make rafting happen, as it was either too boring or too scary. so, we drove another few hours to mysole, to see the grand palace. we ended up stopping for lunch first though, and everyone took forever, so we didn't get to the palace until an hour before closing, and i was super discouraged because now everyone was saying they didn't care about a palace and wanted to go shopping, and i really wanted to see it. i kind of forced the issue, and finally got up a support team, and we made it in. a bunch of boys kept swarming toward us to take pictures with us, and that was frustrating because everyone was humoring them, which was delaying entrance to the actual palace. After wheeling and dealing, we made it in, and only had a half hour to whip around, so there was no time to rent an audio or hire a guide, which was also discouraging because i love to spend hours and hours in grand museums- especially foreign palaces in india. at least we made it in though, and saw it. it was very nice. a ceremonial king still lives there apparently. outside again, people kept trying to force us to buy stuff. it was all very nice, and not too expensive, but i was almost out of small bills... maybe that helped though, because i couldn't settle for anything but my price, as i couldn't afford more without paying like 500 rupees. i bought a sandal wood -which mysole is famous for- fan, and some post cards. now that the palace was closed and not an option, i wanted to do some more shopping, but all of a sudden there was a downpour of rain that was flooding the streets and flooding us all. some tuk tuks couldn't drive anymore and were abandoned in the street. also, it was dark, so we just kept driving. we were considering staying in bangalore, but had so much further to go that we couldn't waste time stopping to get back to chennai in time for orientation at sri ramachandra. the drivers were much more helpful too, as they had talked to ardie, who had given them the what for. if they had showed up on time in the morning, we would have been able to do the river trip, easily see the palace, and not be driving so late at night. oh, in mysole one of our drivers got hit by a motor bike while walking and broke his foot and had to go to the hospital. we ended up driving for 9 hours plus, and finally pulled into sri ramachandra around 4 in the morning, and went straight to bed in our new rooms. i was astonished a few minutes later to hear a loud buzzer sound, and thought it was the fan breaking, so i turned it off. a few minutes later, it happened again, and i heard a faint knock outside, so it thought someone in our group was out in the hall, so went out to ask what that sound was. when i opened the door, a man came barging in and thrust some paper work into our hands and told us to fill it out about our room. apparently the buzzer was a door bell. so there we were in our pjs at now 5am filling out our visa/passport/room info, and he couldn't speak english so we were having a terrible time communicating, and it took way too long, and i was frustrated. we finally finished, and he decided to show us the tv, and started flipping through all the channels! i was trying to decide if he didn't realize it was the middle of the night, or if he just woke up early and thought we did the same, or if he was just determined to be rude. apparently he did the same thing to all of us. i was too shocked to really think it all through, and in the end decided it was really funny. We woke up around 7;30 this morning, and made it to breakfast at tiffany's. i wasn't too hungry, and as i ate my puddie, suddenly felt really sick and made a run for the non- flush bath room, and made it just in time to lose my breakfast. i felt much better after that. it was just the one time, and while my stomach feels delicate and i am not very hungry, i don't think i am sick, but we shall see. The hospital is much more welcoming than cmc was and held a celebration in our honor, and the clinicals were much more organized, and the building is in general much more modern. i'm not really sure that i prefer it to cmc though... it just looks more westeren. i have yet to see if that is a good thing. i was in pediatrics again, and got to help interview a patient, and hold a new born baby. after our lecture this afternoon, ardie got one of the nursing master students to help me wrap my sari, and everyone signed a HUGE card for my birthday, and a master student brought in a beautiful cake, and Elizabeth - a girl in my group- gave me some gold colored bangles, and we had a little party for my birthday. then, another girl named dayl took me outside for a fun photo shoot. i enjoyed it. i'm not sure what my plans are for tonight- there is a lot of stressful planning that i am trying to stay out of, as bed sounds good right now. Ardie was saying something about taking me out to dinner, but i don't know how that will work, as i have not seen her in a while. a bunch of other people are going to a ganesh festival, where the hindus through their ganesh into the ocean, and everyone is drunk and dangerous. it wasn't seeming that great too me, in any way, so i am boycotting. there seem to be a lot of cultural events to participate in this week. oh, i found a birthday card in my suitcase from home...
i found the girls who know jasmine, and they say hi back, Neil.
i am not sure how long med school takes, but i am sure it is much shorter than in the us, and i know that they start younger.

Again, I'm not sure when i can write next, but that is the scoop from chennai!