Blogs from Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 3

Yesterday a bunch of us went out to Beer's (a 20 year old from the area that has a family who owns the internet cafe) house in celebration of his and Krista's (a girl on my program) birthday. It was relaxing and really needed for the group. He owns a huge amount of land that will soon be converted into a 23 room guest house. It was foggy and a bit rainy which is too bad because on a clear day the view from his hilled house is unbelieveable. We had a few light drinks, good Indian food, and some dancing. Our "compound" (ha) space has a number of rooms and then the outside area, but we are hardly all together at one time. I'm starting to get antsy here, as Mussorie is a rather small, ... read more

I just arrived home (Mussorie!) after a long weekend in Navadanya---an organic farm community created by Vandana Shiva about 20 years ago---The weather was unbelieveably different---thrusting us back into the Delhi-like heat that we just left behind a week ago---I think I had an allergic reaction to a lot of what was outside----but the view made up for any negativity I could feel toward the place. We 'worked' for out room and board--picking lemons and doing some light weeding on Saturday, took a river and forest walk---and listened to a few speakers talk about the harms of genetically modified seeds---We narrowly avoided the squatters with the aviailability of two toilets found stealthily by one of the women on my trip. On the trip down the mountain to get there, we had to stop the car along ... read more

I apologize for not writing to you sooner. I think I am just starting to get somewhat used to things here three weeks in! Things have been quite a whirlwind ever since I began work. I would also say I am barely getting acclimatized to things. It is hotter than I ever could have imagined here. Everything at Fabindia has been incredible thus far. The interns will be rotating through various departments. I began with the CEO, William Bissell, and as a result I have been able to dive into the inner workings of the company. It has been quite an education understanding how the company works, what its vision for the future is, and what I can do to help. The company is filled with friendly people who want to ensure that our stay ... read more

The other gaps and Nats and I headed off to Mussoorie one weekend to see the surrounding area. Mussoorie is a hill town, nestled high above Dehra Dun commandig spectacular views of Dehra and also of the Himalayas, mussoorie had been on our "to do" list since we had arrived....especially as it is only an hour away. A short walk and a battered and bumpy bus rescued me and nats from the side of the road. We had been trying to avoid watching the corpse of a dog that had been run over, which was being gradually dismantled by a large crow ripping strips of meat and flying off with the offending artical dangling precariously from it beak. Monkeys were inspecting the body and another dog was trying to fend off attackers and all the while ... read more

This is a much more sober entry, so if anyone is reading these simply for cool, interesting adventure stories, this is not the blog for you. Skip it and come back next time. My first patient died on me yesterday. True he was not technically "my" patient, I was hardly the responsible physician on call, but I was involved in his care, and I think I can call him "mine" in the sense any nurse could call a patient "his/hers." He was a Tibetan boy (there is a Tibetan colony in Mussoorie, so we see quite a few patients in clinic) of maybe 10 - 13, wearing a bright red T-shirt with some American rock band name on it that I haven't heard of. He came in a couple of afternoons ago, and we all rushed ... read more