Que Sera Sera

Thursday, our country coordinator Dr. Vijayakumar (we call him VJ), organized a little social mingling event for us at the medical college, with refreshments, entertainment and even new friends! We were able to chat and hang with 3-4th year male and female students studying general medicine (after 5 years they choose a specialty for their "internship" -basically their residency). Although initially our groups were rather segregated, the three hour program of traditional Malayalam and Hindu songs, dances and token western tunes provided ample time for us to break the ice. Some methods included a conga line, and audience participation in singing "La Bamba", "The Final Countdown" and "Que Sera Sera" (we did a little waltz to that last number).

Lais and I exploring the roof of the Medical College during break

Traditional dance of Kerala: Mohiniyattan

La Bamba rowdyness

Traditional Bharathnatyam Dance- ankle chimes included

For lunch a group of us indulged in some more American cuisine for lunch (chicken sandwiches, fries and ice cream) as a little break from the rich, spicy Indian food- at a local hotel restaurant. Although delicious at the time, I think my stomach has gradually gotten conditioned to the curries and simple starches, so unfortunately I was stuck with a gross 24 hour bug. And the exponential learning experience continued, as I was offered traditional Indian remedies to help calm my stomach- a sweet and sour black tea with lime and sugar (I was forcefully encouraged to drink the whole thermos throughout the night), and a simple rice porridge with dry curry and a fibrous plantain for dinner. Two days later and I'm 100%!

Friday we had a really interesting lecture about TB in India, from a renowned clinical specialist who is active in the research and treatment of TB. It was one of the most interesting lectures so far! That afternoon about 9 IHPers played in a soccer match against a group of students from the medical college (accompanied by a rowdy 100-person crowd of supporters). Although we lost by 2 they had a great time, and appointed mike the MVP by awarding him a 2-liter of orange soda. Katrina was badgered by the local paper for her great pictures of the match, one of which was featured in the paper the next day of Mark! It said he was a student from Texas..false.. but he's famous! (see below)

Keeping with the theme of traditional medicine, our group traveled to an Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital about an hour out in the suburbs of Trivandrum for a site visit. We had a small presentation, brief tour and Thali lunch- overall it was an interesting comparison to the other private and public hospitals we have seen, and one student Tracy even got to have a full body oil massage as a demonstration..lucky.

A small group traveled to Varkola beach for the rest of the weekend, while a small cluster of us ventured to a great store for trinkets and scarves. We had a mellow afternoon on the porch during sunset, and headed home for a lesson in writing of the traditional Kerala language; Malayalam. We're going to try to learn ten characters a day (there are 56 total) until we leave so we can keep practicing until our next visit.. the family is urging us to come attend Appu's wedding in January.

Mark with his photo debut