South and then North again :)

Short trip to Kerala and we are back in Pune.

Michael and I had a meeting at Deenanaht hospital today to try and set up a collaborative study with a few of the doctors that I met while doing my observations last month. The meeting went very well, lasted almost three hours, and looks promising. 

Tomorrow I am going to collect hopefully the last of my remaining samples and get them to the lab and start running them. The entire process takes 24 hours once I get to the lab so I have only a few days to get the rest of my samples. My results look as expected and I have learned bucket loads from this experience. 

Michael and I had a good time in Kerala. We took a short afternoon trip to a fishing town where we got some great pictures and realized that we are lucky to live where we do. The place was filthy and the ocean water that the fish are living in should not be swam in by anyone much less the food that people are going to consume. Never the less the experience was great, stinky but good, and we enjoyed being back in each others company. 

The hotel in Kerala was gorgeous, as the Taj tends to be. I enjoyed the poolside while Michael worked, and had a few great meals in Kerala. 

I tried just now to post some images, but the connection here is not very remarkable (which I feel has been the story this entire month), so I will try again later.

Enjoy!

Kymberlee

Well folks I am sitting in the brand new  airport in Bangalore, Bengaluru International Airport. It is absolutely gorgeous; a stunning representation of what the up and coming India is really capable of. I have a four hour layover here before meeting up with Michael in Travandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) in the state of Kerala. 

After waking up at 5am, finishing packing and arriving at the airport two hours early I did some reading on a great book called We Are Poor but So Many, by Ela R. Bhatt. It is a great book about social issues in India and the women's group that is working on some level or another to improve those issues. Very good book! Would be a great book to read from in PSSP (Clayton hint hint if you are keeping up with the blog). 

Also read the Bangalore news paper, its one of the worst papers I have ever read, but still gave me to news. I personally thought that the N. Korean missle launch was more important news than Serina Williams, but what ever you think is front page news Bangalore is up to you.

Happy for a change in scenery since the monsoon finally started in Pune. The rain is no fun; it is rather disgusting actually. My feet were so dirty after walking outside for 20 min, yuck!

Still not sure what the plans are for Kerala, but are we ever really sure... Also don't know what day we will be going back to Pune. We need to call the Dr. and make plans for a meeting on Monday.

I hope that you had an okay Independence day; I know it was raining which is no fun. I did not see a single firework all day which is unusual for where I was staying.

I have been working diligently on my paper for my research project, still have a lot to do when I get back to get everything done. Also I began a proposal for a project that the group of girls I was with for this trip would like to pursue. I would like to put together an educational program, in cohort with the current sanitation projects going on, that would educate slum communities on water safety and personal hygiene with the background research being the research that I did this semester.

And last but not least, here are some pictures to enjoy. 

Munda sitting on my lap in her kitchen. She lives in the slum Janta Vashat.

The coconut is supposed to be given to married women to symbolize pregnancy. I was given about five...

Thirsty?

This is my group at the savings group meeting in Janta Vashat slum area. We are at the very top of the slum which is on the side of Parviti Hill. Best view in Pune.

This is my new sari! I wore it do dinner in the Janta Vashat slum this week.

Hey folks. So my trip is nearing its end. By tomorrow all of my trip mates will have left; two of them have already gone. One girl from July's group arrived last night and so we will help her figure things out before we all go. 

Michael and I are returning to Pune next week because a business opportunity arose between PharmaJet and one of the doctors/hospitals that I was working with this month. So I fly to Kerala on Sunday and then we will return to Pune some time next week. Yay! I am excited to take him around and introduce him to some of the people that I have met and become friends with this month.

Again sorry for the sparsity of my posts. There is so much to do here that finding time to write is not as easy as you would think. 

Today I will do my best to get all but the last four samples collected. So that I can run them and analyze tomorrow evening. Tomorrow I am going to the Osho ashram to do some meditation; should be fun.

Dead post

Well folks I had a post all typed up and ready for you but then my computer died and pages does not auto recover so...no more post. I am staying at a hotel that will have internet tomorrow night so I will post then. Ttyl.

ps mom, sorry!

They chased us for two blocks to get the picture and then followed us for at least another two screaming goodbye and shaking our hands. Rachel and I felt like super stars. 

Part of the Hill station we visited on Saturday. 

Gotta have the cat. This girl was so sweet!! 

My group at the hill station.

The view from the top of the Hill Station.

Me on top of the Hill Station that we went to on Saturday.

One of the slums that I took water samples from.

A family living on the sidewalk.

Dada our driver. He is so great!!

A mother and son in the slum where the vaccine clinic was held.

Monday June 22nd

Today we went to Sasoon Hospital and BJ Medical College where the well known Jonas Salk, creator of the injectable Polio vaccine, once spoke to hear a lecture on coronary artery disease. The lecture was fantastic.  It just so happens that a Doctor whoes name I had been given a few days before from a woman who owned a store I purchased something from was one of the three guest speakers. Funny how life works. His talk was great; all about non-surgical management of arterial disease. His brother is also a cardiologist and he spoke about non-surgical management of coronary artery disease. Then a surgeon followed them with a disscusion of the surgical management of coronary artery disease. 

After the lecture we all went to the Poona Club for lunch where Mrs. Dabak (my host) introduced me to Dr. J.S. Hiremath, the cardiologist I had been told about. He gave me his card and asked me to come to his office in Ruby Hall Clinic on Thursday so that I can observe. I am very excited about this because this is THE BEST hospital in Pune and I will be observing vascular surgery and open heart surgery. SO EXCITED!! He said if I liked it I could come back as many times as I want. Yay!

In other news I have 5 initial results from samples collected. Three of the five samples were positive for Coliform bacteria. I am getting concerned that I will not get 30 samples before I leave; it is difficult because I need someone that speaks Marathi to go with me and so I have to work around their schedule. 

I am going to post this b/c the power is about to cut. So I will post more in about 30 min.

Okay so I guess the power is not going to cut today. 

Tomorrow I am not sure what I am going to do it the morning. In the afternoon I am going to do surveys with Apoova and then we are going to the maids house to see their savings group and I will take pictures and do surveys and take water samples. Then Wednesday I will have to go to the lab in the morning and then I am not sure which hospital I will go to. Then Thursday we were supposed to go to the rural site and that would be a great place to get water samples, but I want to go to Ruby Hall Clinic. Mrs. Dabak said that we might go to the rural site Wednesday so we will see. 

I guess that is all for now. Michael comes to India July 3rd and I fly to meet him the 5th. I will be staying at the Osho Ashram on the 4th all day doing meditation and yoga. Can't believe how fast this trip has gone. I am tempted to stay for another 4 weeks on Selvie's second half of her trip which she cannot stay for. But of course I won't do that. Miss my animals and family too much. Notice the cat always comes first....

laters,

Kymberlee