Procession, Case Studies, Beach!

On Monday evening we stumbled upon a huge Aladdin-like procession that was celebrating the trek of cars, elephants, horses, bands and dancers from their journey across the state of Kerala to the temple of Trivandrum where they were transporting an Idol for worship. We went to the street where there was a huge gathering of people on either side of the road leading to the temple, and watched the first half hour so- it started with huge trucks and rickshaws that were decked out with flowers and decorations and incense burning, and blasting music. Between each vehicle was a group of kids and adults dancing wildly.. and then started the fleet of beautiful regal horses, mounted by officials. On either side of the road were men holding elaborate spears that were on fire, and gleamed against the evening festivities. We stood along the inside corner of the arch in front of the temple, and were asked to stand still as four massive elephants walked through, adorned with gold and jeweled headpieces, and riders who had umbrellas dangling with gems. It was such an amazing procession.. made me really love their celebratory and exciting culture.

4 classmates made it to the front page of the paper as they wore traditional Sari's in attempt to enter the temple, but were not allowed since they didnt have passports..

Festival at temple arches

Incense burning on adorned truck

Up close and personal with an elephante

This week my case study group explored the changes in diet and health perspectives of Keralites by visiting a local government school, interviewing students, speaking with an applied nutrition professor at the medical college, and doing mapping and observation exercises at the local grocery stores and market. We present tomorrow, but found that there has been a shift in the overall perception of health with the influx of female education, female employment, technology, labor trends, low social encouragement for physical activity, and increase in processed food. All of these themes have contributed to the gradual change in health of recent generations, and the increase of non communicable diseases in the area. We present our findings tomorrow, and look forward to hearing from other groups on their topics; Maternal and Child health, HIV/AIDS, Health Systems, Diabetes, Waste Management and Ayurvedic medicine.

I crossed off an item from my bucket list this afternoon! I wanted to spend a whole bus ride standing up.. and I did just that on the way to Kovalam beach with 9 other kids (many of whom were attending an organized celebration for the Jewish New Year at a buffet dinner at the local beach resort.. ooh ahh). We went swimming in the Indian Ocean which was much warmer than it was during the Monsoon Season a few weeks ago- but just as violent with huge waves and a strong current. We trekked up the bordering hill to the Vizhinjam Lighthouse which has been functioning since 1972. We sneakily used our medical college Id cards to persuade the ticket office that we should pay as Indian locals rather than tourists (saved 15 rupees!)- knew those would come in handy. We ordered milkshakes as an afternoon delight buuut they turned out to be more of a chocolate milk consistency.. not so appetizing. We drove back during sunset which was beautiful, especially around 6pm when all of the mosques are broadcasting their chants and prayers.

Greg and Hannah showing our instructor some partner yoga..

View of Kovalam from the lighthouse

At the lighthouse in new shawl

Kathikali and Kottayam

On Friday evening, after a long day of class, we all bussed to a nearby palace where they had a private performance of the Indian Kathakali dance. It's a mix of theater, dancing, singing and acting- of ancient epics (it kind of reminded me of the stories that the little girl told in "A Little Princess"..). They wear crazy dramatic makeup and costumes that are purposefully designed to portray elements of their character (villain, pure, wealthy, male, female, etc). The majority of their acting is in their face though- it was amazing how much emotion and plot they could communicate just by weirdly vibrating their cheeks and using their eyes. They squeezed the juice of a special seed into their eyes to make the whites into reds...it looked pretty freaky on the villians. This story was pretty confusing to follow but it ended up with the hero killing the villain and eating his intestines (red painted cloth)- very dramatic, but an amazingly entertaining cultural event!

Saturday morning 9 of us booked it to the train station to head to Kottayam, a city about 150km north of Trivandrum, and nestled in the backwaters of Kerala. We sat in a Hogwarts Express-esque train cabin that was surprisingly comfortable considering the bunkbed seats and good air conditioning. We arrived on time and drove through the city towards the outskirts where all of the houseboats are docked- it was a much more lush and vegetated city, and a little more hilly. It is also called the "Venice of the East" for all of the narrow windy tributaries and canals that run throughout & around the city. Our houseboat was amazing! We had 3 large bedrooms, 3 baths, and a huge dining/living area with comfortable seating and a great little bow to lay on in the sun. It was so nice to relax with friends, goof off and enjoy the scenery- it was surreal to be in such a serene, palm-tree-filled and luxurious environment for 24 hours. We were fed delicious fresh fish and probably the freshest chicken so far on this trip.. since we docked right next to our captain's house that was fluttering with lots of fat hens and had chicken curry for dinner. Got back at a nice time this afternoon, and had time to catch up at an internet cafe with a veggie samosa on the side..we are starting our case study this week about Food and Nutrition in the area, and will be exploring what students and locals consider healthy foods and healthy BMI etc.. should be an interesting week full of interviews and immersion!

Hopefully will be getting to go off for a day with Appu to our host family's ancestral house where they have a pet elephant! He said we could feed, sit on, and bathe it... that would make my trip!!

Thought Dad would appreciate this guy's Basilic/Cephalic vein..

Matching "Boat Buddies" henna tatoos, steering wheel included

The crew

Captain Boopsie

Delish Dinner

House Boat!

Eating the intestines of his enemy post-battle.

India-pendence

After a weekend of being mostly in the house, it was so refreshing to explore the city yesterday. We got off early from class around 2 and were set free to do an assignment for our research methods class; to sit somewhere and observe (people, built environment, behavior, smells, trends, stream of consciousness stuff). My friend Emily and I strategically decided to go to the local museum/zoo park in the nice government and university district of Kerala. We got there and walked around the 1/3rd a mile loop that allowed access to a gorgeous museum, the zoo and an art gallery on the perimeter. It was so amazing to just sit and watch the beautiful people walk by and listen to the buzz of the city. Some psychology professor came up to us and was extremely interested in what we were writing, explained that he has a spot in the park where he loves to sit and write and invited us to join him for some collaborative research and chatting. We politely declined, but that started a chain reaction of inquisitive locals. Even though we noticed that no one was using the park as an exercise facility, we had brought our running gear along for a steamy afternoon jog. After 2 miles we were dying, grabbed water and took a rickshaw to our group yoga class- where literally half of the students fell asleep in shavasana. Unfortunately the CMR (critter mortality rate) increased last night when we came home to a massive spider and had to resort to a joint combat scheme using a shower head and notebook.

Today we had half of our classes outside (blackouts in the college= reaaally hot classrooms), accompanied by many stray dogs and other curious medical college students. A group of us went to the central train station to reserve tickets for our vacation, and were weclomed with a DMV-esque room packed with people, and 100 ticket numbers to wait through.. but thankfully got our tickets purchased for Kochi and Delhi! Had a delish dinner of Egg curry and large Appam (crispy, airy bread that you swirl in a frying pan like a crepe). Going to work on my presentation for tomorrow about the evolution of Epedimiology and the Web of Causation then get to sleep in for a day of later classes!

Cooking Lessons, Dog Show, Cricket

Making Poppadam (yummy crispy fried bread)

 This weekend we were finally able to sleep in past 6:30am, although we get woken up by the sounds of tropical birds and Julie (Great Dane) barking her ear off to get fed a bowl of curry mush. It was nice to have time to work out and catch up on readings so that I'm ahead this week. But we managed to have a great weekend at home and I learned alot about the Indian cuisine. We had a little cooking lesson yesterday where we learned how to make vegetable Biryani with Appu and Ama. I tried a jackfruit for the first time, along with Jaggery (a mapley dark sugar that they mix with rice to make a rice pudding sweet dessert YUM).

Veg Biryani, tomato and onion salad, poppadam

Julie the fistey great dane on our porch one night

 Yesterday we went out to the Trivandrum Dog Show- which was kinda funny since I've never been to a dog show in person.. and my brother Appu called me out and said "It's taken you to go to India to see a dog show?!". We saw the Rotweiler and German Shepherd rounds, then saw the final rounds where a Golden Retreiver won (and also had the only female owner in the whole show.. hmm). Last night we played a bunch of card games, like tongues, I doubt it and their version of Rummy. It was fun and we got some laughs from the silent Grandma.. that was a  special moment!

We went on a walk today hoping that the post office was open (it wasnt due to the strike), but on our way back we bumped into a group of young kids playing cricket in our lane, so I decided to jump in and try to pick it up. I hit the first ball pretty far, ran around aimlessly and got a little cheer. When we got back to our house the whole family was outside laughing and asking how it went- then Appu put on the cricket channel and tried to explain the rules to me during the Zimbabwe vs Pakistan match. I'll try to catch on.. Grandma would be proud.

Our Living room- kitchen to the right, Appus room (internet- where I am now!)

Funny top winners of the Dog Show- great dane next to tiny mini doberman pincher..

Here's a few pictures to fill you in so you can get a feel for where I am for the next month, finally getting settled and did laundry- even though I realized 10 minutes later that I had thrown the key to my room in there too.. had to fish that out secretly shhh.

Ohm: A sound coming from and following with silence

I realized that I now have 4 journals going at once..all designated for either emotions, IHP classes, field notes or country-specific lectures. Looks like they're filling up fast, and with this blog and over 3 months left to go I may have to compile and condense everything into a book or something when I get back. I don't want to forget anything!

I feel even more connected with the world and current events, as my homestay father is a retired news journalist who wrote the scripts for TV news reporters for many years. He's literally a history book.. and Apu and Ashu (siblings) are little spawns of his vast knowledge. I've learned so much from all of them already. Last night I got a brief overview of the history of India, the foundation and development of Hinduism, the progressive rise in gas prices here in India (this weekend in Trivandrum has pretty much been shut down for the protests that have gotten fairly violent..we even got our whole day of classes and site visit cancelled on Monday to be sure that everything's calmed down!). I talked to Ashu a lot about marriages, and her traditions as an upperclass Hindu adult. Our dinner conversation was woven with health and nutrition topics ranging from obesity to fast food to the macronutrient content of common Indian cuisine- thanks to my Mom's public health knowlege! All of this talk happened over a dinner that included fish curry (a little strong due to the full sardines.. I'll have to get used to it- according to hostdad), a dish with lentils coconut and spinach, and a tomato onion and chilli pepper curry. YUMM

We got to sleep in this morning which was such a treat...6:30 wake up calls and 12-hour days this entire week drained me. This weekend will be fun and relaxing though, last night we met Ama's brother who brought along his black lab, and a box of beagle puppies (which was such a tease since we couldn't pet them as they hadn't gotten shots yet).

Here's a video of some traditional Kerala food! the Puttu is the coconut/rice cylindar-shaped patties that are steamed in a metal or bambu mold and slid out to be accompanied by mild curries usually for breakfast. The array of colorful cubes of gelatin are a traditional street food of Kerala, the most popular having fruit and cashews. Check it out!

Beach, Onam Festival and Trivandum Medical College

Iris and I at Kovalam beach, post swim in the Indian Ocean!

Beautiful twilight-lit crowd at the Final Onam Procession

 The fist week in India has been so amazing! This country is a completely different world...Initially the shanty-feel and chaotic traffic reminded me of the Dominican Republic, and the smell of Peru but now I have realized that it is nothing like either of the two. The state of Kerala is a tropical, touristy and fairly more modern/industrial area of India. The first full day we traveled to the Kovalam beach, about 30 minutes from Trivandrum, and dipped into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and walked along the smooth black sand from the rough, dark surrounding cliffs. We had quite an audience of locals that were just standing watching our huge group like we were another species, it was a little challenging to run into the ocean in bikinis but we all held hands and went together into the reeeally strong current.. it was a workout to hurdle the huge waves and bobbing jellyfish.

We moved into our homestays, I'm staying with a family where my Mom is a doctor and teaches community health at the Medical College of Trivandrum (sweet woman who is a great cook and so eager to make us at home), my dad is a retired news journalist (wise old man who loves to ramble in his low husky voice), my sister Ashudi is 26 years old and is studying Ophthalmology and her twin Achin is a lawyer in a nearby practice. The grandmother is quite and doesn't speak English but bobs her head in excitement and happiness in all of our exchanges. I'm so glad that all of them speak English so well, and that they have a common background in health; I have already learned so much about the culture just in dinner conversation and storytelling. We also have a HUGE great dane named Julie, who looks like a regal Indian version of Marmaduke. She keeps to herself in the jungle of a backyard (pets are not usually allowed in the house) but I can't wait to cuddle with her and speak Lucy-Language.. I'll have to make some Malialum (Language of Kerala) ammendments to my woofs. My roommate Jen is a bubbly, sarcastic and engaging pre-med student from Rochester NY, and definitely keeps me entertained!

Classes and site visits have been extremely intriguing, with learning about the decentralized health and governance system of India and their specific disease problems. My "Dad" has said that every state in India is like a different country due to its language, foods and health issues. We have had  alot of guest speakers talk about the system and of the roles of various organizations. We rode in our first auto-rikshaw today which was rather scary... the organized chaos of traffic has the following rules: do not yield, do not merge, you always have the right of way, honk at like 5 times a minute, and avoid stopping for pedestrians crossing the roads (road traffic accidents is among the highest causes of morbidity in the country...and for abroad students in the world..so we're being double-cautious).

The food is delicious- it will take a little getting used to though to have Curry for breakfast. This morning was better though we had a ground coconut/rice "log" that is served with banana, and sugar with lentils and curry on the side. I had a thali for lunch today which consists of a heap of white rice on a plate that is surrounded with about 8 different curries, varying in bitterness, saltyness, sweetness and spicyness. I'm digging all of the coconut.. and it looks like I'll be well conditioned to spicy food so Dad.. watch out! Spicyness resistance competition on your way.

At the Onam Procession- sporting traditional garm called a Kultha or Churidhar (long colorful tunic over leggings or aladin pants...) 

 

 

 

 

 

              

INDIA!!

So I have 3 minutes on the computer to wrap up 3 days in India:

1) Stayed in an old convent/religious community center with lots of bugs but delicious food, a beatuiful campus and a peaceful setting in a jungley mountain suburb of Trivandum center.

2) Food is SO GOOD- not anything like the northern indian food that is common in the states, but it's been a blast to eat with our hands...but only the right hand because the left is used for other activities..

3) We've had a chance to attend the Onam festival of Kerala which is a celebration where there are flittering lights hanging in all of the trees, tons of people and crowds and food. Swings are hanging from the trees and children are being pushed by their friends.

4) We all bought traditional garm that is colorful and light and enables us to blend in much better- I can't wait to rock it when I'm back!

5) Classes start tomorrow, I'm POD (Person of the Day- so I run the show and logistics!), and then we move in with homestays- can't wait to meet my family!!!

Roche & Rhine

Last Day in Basel.. wow. Seems like the first day walking tour of the city was so long ago!! But we are getting soooo excited to depart on our next leg of this adventure.. which- to quote Grandmama and Papa- "a whole new, vibrant world, far removed from the beauty and tranquility of Alpine Europe -- but its likely to be a lot cheaper". I couldn't agree more..as one dollar is equivalent to about 46 indian rupees. The homestays and unfamiliar bustle of Trivandrum will surely give us the real-deal culture shock experience. Almost everyone on the trip is staying with a family friend of our country coordinator, Dr. Vijayakumar, so most will be doctors and in the upper class. I don't know much about my own family but I DO know that we have a great dane!! That will be a great buffer, as most of you know I speak dog... and will definitely make me feel more at home (i miss my pupppieeeees!). 


Yesterday we toured the Roche Pharmaceutical plant, who's main product is the Avastin protein that is active in stomach cancer drug treatment. We went through a presentation from their head of communications, and it seemed like a marketing chat with funders- but was interesting to learn about their efforts and research on drugs for chronic illnesses. We toured through the plant and saw the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars of fancy equipment, pipes, containers, and lots of men in white suits who looked like they were from ET. I can definitely say that I won't be a bio engineer in my career. We also learned that they start with cells from the ovaries of Chinese Hampsters- and they dump the biological waste (mostly dna/proteins- not harmful to humans or the environment) right into the Rhine river... sooo I guess we've been swimming in Chinese Hampster Ovaries the past two weeks?? Interesting.


Last night we went out with all of the translators of the trip and sat along the Rhine and hung out all night, finishing off with late night "Doner Boxes"- which are delicious boxes layered with fries, meat, salad and sauce respectively- and for a quite reasonable 5 Franks. Got up pretty early this morning to meet up for the last time in our classroom at the Pharmacy museum to evaluate the country program and our academic structure thus far, and to go over some preperatory info for India. We're all divided up into "country groups" who research the customs, food, language, safety etc of the next country and report to the group as an introductory briefing on what to expect. Bollywood playing in the background got everyone really pumped!! For our Research Methods course we are assigned to health topic groups that structure our case studies and observations in each country- I'm in the Food and Nutrition Group (got my first pick yay!)- so excited to learn about the diets, deficiencies and nutrition standards in all of the countries.. hopefully by tasting everything! We tasted some GREAT turkish food today as our farewell meal, delicious hummus, eggplant dip, stuffed eggplant, veal, grape leaves..definitely my style.


The rest of the day will be filled with napping, packing, laundry, journaling, and a potluck of wine, cheese and chocolate. Goodbye Switzerland Chapter and onward to the unknown!!

Basel Field Study

WHAT AN EXCITING DAY!

Today we split up into 3 country-groups (Switzerland, Germany and France) to gain some experience in interviewing and observation, and to get more information from locals on their healthcare system. Our group We first went, with a German student translator (who is a researcher on the Multiple Sclerosis floor of the hospital), to the University Hospital of Basel where we interviewed many professionals on their jobs and perspectives on the health system- from insurance to cost to service delivery. We spoke with an X-ray technician, two international PhD students (from Italy and India) and a researcher who is working on a grant-funded project to investigate the quality and effectiveness of organ transplants in Switzerland. We then went to the BASF Chemical company (coincidently a main competitor of duPont!.. go Delaware!)- who invented the now WHO-recommended Malaria nets  which are interlaced with fly-fleeing chemicals, and also are into Genetically Modified foods to help the vitamin-A deficiency in Asia and Africa. We tried getting access into the Narvartis Pharmaceutical Company Campus, but were shutdown immediately due to probably a) our lack of freshly pressed business attire and b) their strict policy on public access and tourism. They only allow tourists twice per month- it reminded me of the secrecy of the Willa Wonka factory.

We then stumbled upon a flock of adolescent children who had just gotten out for their lunch break, so we decided to venture into the school to see what their nutrition and Physical Activity (PA) curriculums were like compared to the US. This was right up my ally! We knocked on a door that seemed to say something like Secretary in German, and were warmly welcomed be Regula, the bubbly and very eloquent Secretary of the "Free Roses" Public School (I forget the German name..). This district in Basel is extremely populous of immigrants- mostly Turkish. We learned that this Public School district incorporates sexual education into their curriculum from very early ages- 1st grade or so- but adapts the content in a way that appeals to the respective age group. At one point, Regula exclaimed, "Look outside in that courtyard! Sex is EVERYWHERE!".. referring to the 11-13-year old children bumping around to ipods and awkwardly adjusting into their newly acquired body parts. She was very interested in our research, and reciprocated by circling other types of schools on our map of Basel so that we could get a better picture of other types of schools in the area.

Our next stop was the Rudolf Steiner school in South Basel, which was nestled at the top of quite a hill (I guess encouraging hiking as an extracurricular for students...? They must have great calves). The architecture of the building was similar in materials to the Geuthenanum in Dernack in that it mixed together the elements of concrete, metal and wood in various angles and shapes. We first met one of the French teachers, who showed us the large 600-person theatre spaced that is used for students to perform orchestral, theatre, and choral performances. We were passed on to the English Teacher (the French dude wasn't very confident in his English), who gave us an in depth look at the well-rounded class setting. Students are required to participate in arts, music, woodshop, metal shop (blacksmithing woahh!), and cooking classes. All school lunches are provided to those who do not go home for lunch, and only include organic vegetarian options. It was an eye-opening tour,  to see how Anthroposophic philosophy was incorporated into all of the classes in order to encourage development of the human being.. but that they weren't looking to create "a bunch of little anthroposophists..".

Ended the day with a spontaneous jump off the tram into a gorgeous catholic cathedral, and yoga at the medieval wall, followed by a delicious dinner of polenta, rabbit and swiss cheesecake (more cheesy, less sweet...more cakey less pie-y!). Off to a little gathering with the translators tonight!

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

Today we trekked to the outskirts of Basel to the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, where we had 4 lectures about the general mission of the organization, specifics of Mental health in India, Food Borne Illness and Malaria. We then toured the institute via three departments; the chemotheraphy and drug unit, the malaria bio/chem lab and the TB research lab. All were explained in an extremely scientific and biology-intensive conversation, and I followed along for the most part thanks to my GMU bio class! In the malaria lab, we literally got to look at the petri dishes that contained strains of the Malaria parasite in various stages in human blood samples. It was so surreal to be in one of the laboratories where they are creating drugs and vaccines to treat/cure Malaria. All of the speakers were so passionate about their efforts, and were extremely encouraging and supportive of the flock of (mostly) American students swarming their institute.

Tonight I ran to Germany!! It was about a 4 mile roundtrip run, and we literally got to run through the toll to arrive at the post of the German Flag. We had a little stretch and high-five moment then turned around and ran past a flock of swans that live in the reservoir alongside the damn of the Rhine River. We came back to a delicious Lamb dinner and a relaxing evening at the hostel- starting to plan an epic vacation in India.. looks like Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal), Kochi and Kerala are all on the schedule.. can't wait to explore with these inspiring peers.

Here's to another night of malaria drug-induced dreams..

Colmar

Brief summary of the end of the week: Thursday we had a great class based on an article about Body Mapping, so we did an exercise where we body mapped ourselves and discussed the commonalities of race, gender, class etc. That night we went out on the town (in Barf-Platz haha) with some Swiss students (our country coordinator, Caroline, just went up to them one day and asked if they speaked English and would be willing to take out a bunch of abroad students.. what a great lady!). We all hung out by the Munster Cathedral along the Rhine to get to know everyone, and then went out dancing at a club that featured mostly classic 90's jams- such a fun evening. Friday we had a looooong day of class, then packed and slept up for our weekend!

Colmar, France is a beautifully quaint town right across the border from Switzerland, and is considered a German area of France. Twelve of us jumped on the train and gazed at the Swiss/France countrysides that were filled with villages nestled in the mountains, and silhouettes of steeples and castles against the September blue sky (AH already september?!). We jumped off the train, had lunch at a cafe that bordered a beautiful cathedral, then checked in to our hotel which was about 10 minutes outside center city. We explored the labyrinth of cobblestone streets that were packed with cafes, shops, churches and random attractions like a mansion that Voltaire inhabited for just a year (and was on sale.. anyone want info?). We then all flopped on the lush grass of Rapp park that was bustling with active families, bicycling children and poised french dogs. We ended up resting and chatting there for about 4 hours, accompanied by a local a capella group, and interrupted only by trips for gelato, wine, or an open bench to nap.

We went and explored a local pharmacy, where we learned that pharmacists play a bigger role in prescribing and advising medicines rather than just measuring and supplying it. Then we had a three hour dinner at a well-rounded restaurant that had cuisine ranging from escargot, to pizza, to traditional stews and cordan bleu. I split a salmon pizza and trout (skin and eyes included) & almond dish. Had an early evening so that we could indulge in a wine-tasting session in this morning, hosted by a local winery. It was such an enjoyable trip!! Came back for an afternoon of meditating, workout, capture the flag, and reading. Early night tonight, and class tomorrow!