Week 1 in Vellore
Rawr! Day 6 in India! It's been awesome so far, although I haven't gone in to the hospital for the last 2 days thanks to a bad tummy upset : ( I suspect it was the lunch I had at the hospital on Wednesday : s Also, while I was so determined to eat only Indian food here, I can feel my determination wavering... I want my steamed white pomfret and regular Thai white rice!! T_T
My first day here was quite a shock, actually : p My flight was delayed and when I got out of the airport there was this sea of people waiting outside. I was horrified, cuz I was thinking, how am I going to find the driver who was going to take me to the campus?! Well, obviously I managed to find him : p But I wasn't prepared for the kind of traffic on the roads as well! There were 3 lanes drawn out on the roads, but there were easily 5 rows of cars driving neck and neck : p I also saw motorcycles overloaded with people (think 2 adults + 2 children on a motorcycle; a woman sitting sidesaddle as pillion on the motorcycle, while holding a child in her arms etc), pretty crazy! Oh and the honking! Drivers honk at literally everything! Not the rude kind of honk though, it's more like a 'look out I'm here' honk, so I guess it's a good kind of honking : p I think I got settled in to my hostel pretty quickly, and there's the College canteen close by, and the 7:30am bus to take us to the hospital : ) I'm quite pleased with the facilities here (I haz Internetzzz!) and the rooms are quite clean, so.
One thing I definitely miss loads is the lack of air-conditioning here. Well to be fair, the outpatient clinic I'm at has an air cooler so it's a bit cooler but not by that much! Still, it's a relief from the heat out there!
I've also been too embarrassed to walk around carrying an umbrella everywhere so I think I've also gotten a little tanned T_T I really should apply sunblock but I hate that sticky feeling!
Been doing Dermatology this week, which has been pretty good. I don't really have to worry much about the language barrier as the diagnosis is usually quite clear from the examination. And it's also quite easy to mime itch and things like that : p The doctors I've been with have been really kind, translating what patients say/informing me of the context where appropriate. Although the head of department has really scary eyes! She has really light coloured eyes for an Indian person; they're hazel/green in colour. And when she looks at you it feels like she's looking right through you!! : s But she's really nice : )
There are a number of other medical students here on elective; so far I've met a number from GKT, 4 from UCL, some Dutch, Swedish and Americans, and loads of Germans! The Germans all stay for about 3-4 months though : o To be honest, I'm not sure if I could cope with staying here for a month, much less 4 months! : p
I'm heading to Mahabalipuram tomorrow with Emma (from GKT and my roomie!) and the Swedish girls, hoping it'll be lots of fun : D
I'll be doing Dermatology again next week, I'm expecting to see lots more interesting stuff : ) Oh and I saw several cases of leprosy this week, that's pretty amazing since I prolly won't ever see cases like those ever again! The patients here actually have a lot of respect for the doctors. One patient with leprosy literally kissed the feet of our head of department : o That's something I think I won't ever see again. I think I'm more likely to see doctors getting sued actually! : p
Can't believe 1 week's gone by already! : (
My first day here was quite a shock, actually : p My flight was delayed and when I got out of the airport there was this sea of people waiting outside. I was horrified, cuz I was thinking, how am I going to find the driver who was going to take me to the campus?! Well, obviously I managed to find him : p But I wasn't prepared for the kind of traffic on the roads as well! There were 3 lanes drawn out on the roads, but there were easily 5 rows of cars driving neck and neck : p I also saw motorcycles overloaded with people (think 2 adults + 2 children on a motorcycle; a woman sitting sidesaddle as pillion on the motorcycle, while holding a child in her arms etc), pretty crazy! Oh and the honking! Drivers honk at literally everything! Not the rude kind of honk though, it's more like a 'look out I'm here' honk, so I guess it's a good kind of honking : p I think I got settled in to my hostel pretty quickly, and there's the College canteen close by, and the 7:30am bus to take us to the hospital : ) I'm quite pleased with the facilities here (I haz Internetzzz!) and the rooms are quite clean, so.
One thing I definitely miss loads is the lack of air-conditioning here. Well to be fair, the outpatient clinic I'm at has an air cooler so it's a bit cooler but not by that much! Still, it's a relief from the heat out there!
I've also been too embarrassed to walk around carrying an umbrella everywhere so I think I've also gotten a little tanned T_T I really should apply sunblock but I hate that sticky feeling!
Been doing Dermatology this week, which has been pretty good. I don't really have to worry much about the language barrier as the diagnosis is usually quite clear from the examination. And it's also quite easy to mime itch and things like that : p The doctors I've been with have been really kind, translating what patients say/informing me of the context where appropriate. Although the head of department has really scary eyes! She has really light coloured eyes for an Indian person; they're hazel/green in colour. And when she looks at you it feels like she's looking right through you!! : s But she's really nice : )
There are a number of other medical students here on elective; so far I've met a number from GKT, 4 from UCL, some Dutch, Swedish and Americans, and loads of Germans! The Germans all stay for about 3-4 months though : o To be honest, I'm not sure if I could cope with staying here for a month, much less 4 months! : p
I'm heading to Mahabalipuram tomorrow with Emma (from GKT and my roomie!) and the Swedish girls, hoping it'll be lots of fun : D
I'll be doing Dermatology again next week, I'm expecting to see lots more interesting stuff : ) Oh and I saw several cases of leprosy this week, that's pretty amazing since I prolly won't ever see cases like those ever again! The patients here actually have a lot of respect for the doctors. One patient with leprosy literally kissed the feet of our head of department : o That's something I think I won't ever see again. I think I'm more likely to see doctors getting sued actually! : p
Can't believe 1 week's gone by already! : (