I woke up probably around 7:30 to 8:00 in the morning. Aunty was already awake and asked me if I wanted tea.
Yes. With ginger? Claro que si! When she brought it to me she first asked if I would like some biscuits to go along with the tea. And after she brought me that she asked me if I would like to have then on the rooftop terrace. Of course i said yes. i walked up on to the roof and was greeted by view of the top of the city while it was just waking up. It was at this point, looking over the city, drinking my chai, while the sun came up that the thought popped into my head: I could live here. The morning cool and calm totally makes up for the midday head and hustle and bustle throughout the evening. I know it was only day 2 but this place never seemed foreign to me, it was never "over there," I've had such a strong feeling of longing, and an almost tangible yearning for this land for so long that when I finally got here it was already nothing less than home.
My fellow student, Matt, and I at this homestay were picked up to be taken to the orientation. Our driver took us to the wealthy part of the city and we figured that when he pulled up to a house that this would be where the orientation would take place, but then he told us to stay in the car when he got out. Matt and I looked at each other in uncertainty of our current situation. Then a silver haired old woman came out of the gate, we were more confused. Her husband followed; slightly scared, our suspended curiousity was palpable and building. Then the two other female cohorts that rode with us before popped out of the house and came merrily along. This...this mansion was their homestay! They got in the car and we were on our way. They told us all about it, and I almost got slightly jealous, but then I remembered Aunty and that was that. My homestay mother made us her children the very first night, she made sure we were comfortable an told us all kinds of personal histories and fed us! Apparently her English was way better than the other one. Matt said he had a hard time understanding her sometimes, but i guess I'm just used to it by now. Lots of practice. We arrived at a nearby complex, where we got out and walked into a living room already filled with the rest of the participants. We all sat in a circle and the orientation began. Soon after, we recieved our phones and once I was told how to dial out I texted my mom. The first sign of life for everyone at home. She called me a few minutes later and it was good to hear her voice. When she told me it was 3 AM other there, I felt bad - I did bad time zone math and thought it was 7AM. She said not to worry about it - I could call at anytime. I know that that statement was a simple one but it was enough. I got a little teary eyed for the first time, and only got teary eyed again right now as I write about it. It seems that out of sight, out of mind really does work for me, because unless I am on the phone or writing about home - or maybe just my mom - I am perfectly fine and happy. See Mom! Always making me cry! I'm sure it was a part of her scheme to make sure I come back from this trip. That maternal bond seems to be tightened, at least on my end, over distances, of any kind, of separation.
We were met by Dr. Sanjay Ghandi (no relation as far as i could tell) who is our Medical Director. He told us an overview of the healthcare system in India. Most of his jargon flew over my head, which was fine, I think i got the important parts down: India is as organized as chaos can be. there are so many people that need care and too little resources and time for all of them to be done justice. at the govn't hospitals care is free so thousands of people come daily. He told us that doctors see an average of 150-200 patients in three hours time. Multiple at once. He said that in order to see so many people that some things have to be compromised, like sanitation, and one on one time with a physician. He said that illnesses are noticably class divided. The poor often come down with what would be concidered easily managable diseases. HE mentioned such things as TB, anemia, hep a and b, pnemonia, gastro entiritus...where as the wealthier Indians tend to suffer from diabetes, heart disease, liver and kidey disease...they are also able to afford private healthcare which then gives them more one on one time.
He told us more but, the rest will have to come when i'm back at home in the US because it's hard to type up these long stories with crappy keyboards in one hour or less...
After Dr. Ghandi left, we were told our schedules and apparently I, along with my future buddy, Mary, would be leaving for the city of Rishikesh that very night. It was both surprising and a little taxing. I really wanted to update the blog because as you can see, I had a lot to say. Now there will be at least a week's worth of writing to catch up on because as I understand it, Rishikesh has no internet. I was also kind of bummed to leave Aunty so soon, especially since her teaching me how to make chapatis would have to wait until I got back at the end of the week.
Our 1.5 hour journey to Rishikesh was quite exciting.Mary and I talked the whole way there and found that our personalities were most agreeable. About 15km away from Rishi, the scenery began to change, the relative flatness became hilly. We were in the foothills of the Himilayas. And oh my, these foothills were mountains in and of themselves. If the Sierra Nevadas were covered in lush green jungle folliage and were lines with troops of little monkeys they would only slightly resemble these misty foothills of the tallest mountains of the world. After a turn, a view of the Ganges opened up before us, and lining it was the town of Rishikesh linked by the suspention foot bridge. We had to cross this bridge on foot with all of our luggage and walk far and deep into the city to reach our room at one of the many Ashrams. We ate, bathed, wrote in our journals and went to bed.
