Cape Town

Arrived in Cape Town early Thursday morning to blue skies and a refreshing summer breeze. We drove along the hillside that overlooked the city below that is speckled with brightly colored rooftops and is bordered on one side by rugged mountains and on the other a flowy coastline. Our hostel is a backpacking lodge and travel center caled the Ashanti, and is conveniently located near the main Kloof street that has a great Califonia meets New Orleans vibe with the flowy white iron balconies and short flat buildings. A few of us indulged in our first taste of cheese in a month (wasn't seen at all in China), at a funky Mexican place then went out  to a bustling Irish pub that featured array of locals and travelers- among them was our crew of flight attendents who we had gotten to know pretty well by the end of our 9 hour flight. Yesterday we had a very informative orientation session with Susan, Angela and Rose- the three coordinators of this leg, who are all very excited and passionate about this country and our program. We had a simple lunch in the front yard of the hotel that peacefully clumps lounge chairs, hammocks and palm trees. Despite this tempting lazy venue, we went for a run through the Company gardens that has cobblestone paths and houses numerous national museums, sculptures and statues- and very friendly squirrels. We walked along Kloof street in the afternoon and admired the traditional African markets and spoke to some visitors from Memphis who gave us some tips for hiking Table Mountain. That's where we're off to today- a morning hike before it gets super hot and steamy- we're going to start at the trail that leaves from the national  botanical gardens and go up the "skeleton gorge" path for a 4 hour trek. Apparently the mountain is hollow with a dragon inside, so the last person up will be fed to him- on the table top..siezing the day early!

Shanghai

Our Shanghai adventure started with a pleastantly short and easy flight over the China countryside with a gorgeous ROYGBIV sunset peaking (peking..?) through the windows of the plane. After cheking into our hotel, the ladies enjoyed a traditional vegetarian dinner of beans and eggplant and dumplings, then we ventured out to a plethera of unique venues that Rosalie recommended from her summer internship in Shangahi. First was the British Bulldog Pub that had vitange framed record albums, sepia photographs and colorful pin-up posters scattered all of the walls and cielings. Next was the "Not Me" bar that featured stranded halloween jackolanters and an unfortanately empty dancefloor that was bordered with bright green couches in egg-shaped "pods". We hitched on to some locals with mbrellas as we trecked through a rainy drizzle to a place full of old ex-pats. We bumped into a couple Swedish businessmen who contract Chinese factories to produce nutritional supplements...they were surprised by our interest in their business endeavors. We started the dancefloor just in time to celebrate Rafat's 20th birthday then taxi'd back for some tasty late night street noodles. After a too-easy google search, we found the "Egghead Bagel" shop to treat ourselves toa rare western breakfast.. or in Conner's case, chocolate moose. A comical mural on the wall depicted quite the comical heroic quest of Mr. Egghead: He discoveres that his eyelashed bagel damsel has been captured by the ferocious fast-food villans; soda and fries. He fuels up on a bagel that privdes him with the strength to defeat the greasy monsters and retrieve his mistress. After a little chortle, we walked through a busteling commerical area around Ren Bin Wan Chan (aka People's Square). We tested out the subway which was the cleanest, most efficient and well-organized underground system I've every seen- DC should take notes. We explored some shopping markets, passed a store that was swarming with fans trying to sneak a peak at a Hong Kong movie star. We grabbed a milk tea at starbucks (their token cultural adjustment to the local menu) and napped before grabbing a late dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I had a babganoush-esque eggplant mush alongside zuchinni cakes. My favorite part of the trip was yet to come, as we walked along the Bund that gleamed with spotlighted European-influenced architecture on one side, and futuristic neon skyscrapers on the left. We went to a lighthouse that was converted into a restaurant/bar and hung out on the scenic rooftop that provided an epic view of the skyline from all angles. Our wild sides came out at Club 88 where we danced a lot, met some other travelers and Rosalie spn the DJ's record.

 

Satruday we had a needed lazy morning then a few of us wandered out into the rain to the old historic area of Shangai. The rain lured us into a small bubble tea shop where the young owner attempted to give us directions to a nearby temple, but happened to direct us through a street filled with quaint massage "parlors" ( a place with 3-4 comfy recliners). After a walk and travel-filled weekend, Gemma Sam and I treated ourselves to masssages. While Gemma got a head massage (turned body massage), Sam and I got hour-long foot massages, and it was the best 5 dollars I've ever spent. With well-oiled feet and zenned-out minds we explored the nearby neighborhood where we caught glimpses of some mysterious stone warrior statues (maybe some leftover Terracotta wariors?). Our last night we all got a little dressed up (boys finally clean-shaven) for a late dinner at the Radisson hotel restaurant. IT was a circular spinning room on the 45th gloor that provided a gorgeous evening view of the city lights below. Many of us got traditional foods like duck and  jiaozi (dumplings) while others indulged in some sushi and tempura- overall it was a delicious feast with a great group. I giggled a lot when Rafat and Rosalie held up their arms as if they were on a roller coaster.. as they soaked in the thrill of  having the dinner table ratotate around the city once every two hours- quite the adrenaline rush but I don't think it'd make it to Cedar Point. The excitement continued as we walked down the eerie stairs of a bomb-shelter-turned-bar that had domed tiled passageways and concrete tables that nested against the walls. Pipes lined the cieling and there was weak lighting that emphasized the creepy aura of the venue, it was really fun nightlife vibe.

 

Our morning consisted of subwaying to the Xintonging district which is filled with savy restaurants and shops that are sandwhiched along gorgeous renovated stone arhitecture and tree avenues. We found a place for brunch that gave us really high expectations in the atmostphere and delicious menu, but the service was beyond mediocre- in an ultimately funny way. They tried to make up for the innaccurate orders and 3-hour wait by serving us 16 unwanted side orders of french fries (there were twelve of us..)- a whopping value of about 80 american dollars. We wandered around the district a bit then headed to the airport for a quick flight back to Changsha- which welcomed us open armed with rain and cold weather for most of this week. We rationalized that this is a representative taste of what home is like in the northeast as winter is right around the corner! Christmas carols are slowly seeping in to our frequent break-into-song moments.. I ancipate some great sing-along bus rides once December rolls around even though we'll be basking in the glory of the summer sun! 5 more days in Changsha- it's wild how fast this leg of the program flew by, will hopefully submit one more update on China before we're in the next continent. Happy singles day!! (11/11/11- a celebrated day of the year here in China!)

 

Changsha

Going to China, I didn't really have many pre-conceived expectations or even a notion of what it would be like, I really prefer to formulate my impressions in person with first hand observations and experiences because that's what immersion's all about. Changsha is a large city, comparable to Philly or Baltimore with its bustling aura and metropolis aesthetic. We are studying at the Central South University that the main college in the Hunan province, with 56,000 undergraduate students. After the first few days if touristy sight seeing and orientation/histories and introductions, we finally moved into our homestays. I'm living with three other students- Iris (spunky art major from Seattle who’s super chill, has great music taste and is super motivational during our early morning workouts), Marjani (NYC native polisci major at Swarthmore who breaks into song and laughter with me all day long), and Sylvia (motherly and hilarious chica from Tanzania who has been pop quizzing me on new Chinese and Swahili vocabulary). We live a 12 minute walk from CSU in a 2-story apartment in a large complex right along the main road that thrives with street venders, stores and people-watching opportunities. 

Our host parents are both professors (Dad economics, Mom geography), and since they both speak minimal English they sorta hired two of their students to live with us part time as translators and roommates- they have been a great resource to have around during meals to help facilitate conversation. Our grandparents are preciously petite and jolly, and surprisingly mobile. They help a lot with household chores and cleaning, and go on daily walks- they have gotten some great stamina from living on a 5th floor apartment…we're still getting used to the hefty flights of stairs that await us every time we get home. We have been unexpectedly spoiled, as we each have our own single room and bed- and there are still about 4 free beds left over (we may host a sleepover one weekend). We have welcomed the traditional Hunan Cuisine with open arms and open chopsticks- the simple vegetable dishes are our favorite, especially the plethora of dark leafy greens and eggplant. We're still getting used to finding out what we eat after the fact…I now know that I like snails and chicken stomach! We also hung out with our 22 year old host brother who attends university about an hour away and is studying IT, he woke us up at 7am (ouch) Saturday and Sunday so we could have productive days exploring the Tangerine Island (in the river, has a huge head of young Mao Zedong at the tip of the 5km scenic park) and Walking Street (no cars or bikes allowed, many shops and even got a Starbucks treat- although didn't test out the green tea cheesecake…).

As for the program, it's obvious that the coordinators spent a lot of time arranging the content of the site visits and guest lectures so that everything is much more synthesized than India. After having a detailed lecture from a well qualified and experienced doctor about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we went that afternoon to the largest TCM hospital in the Hunan Province where we got to test our acupuncture (tried it in my leg and hand ahh! felt weird but cool...), peak into drawers and cabinets full of fragrant herbs and minerals (and beetles?!) in their pharmacy, speak to patents in the inpatient and outpatient sectors and even attempt a method of TCM diagnosis. They have 9 different ways of feeling a patient's pulse on along the radial artery on the wrist, using different amounts of pressure, that can reveal signs of certain diseases based on the strength flow and beat pattern. We also visited an elderly home (we played ping pong and chatted to residents), a primary community health center (focuses a lot on family planning on maternal/infant health to reinforce the one child policy), and just today a rural government-run school in Shoashan where we spoke with the principle, at a school lunch with the students then spent the afternoon touring their campus (which is right next to Mao Zedong's birthplace and house). A good chunk of IHPers were sweaty after trouncing some high schoolers in basketball, and playing ping pong/badminton/ultimate Frisbee. 

We just had a really fun unit between the HCC and GH classes about food, and how it relates to culture, security and policy. We had an exercise during lunch where we were given time to find a traditional food and to perform a food history to discover the background information on the food items that was discussed during a massive potluck feast- which included a cornucopia of noodles, rice, pancake things, miscellaneous meats on sticks, questionable gelatinous globs and even lemon tea-flavored bag of lays chips (comparable to the culturally adjusted Masala Spice flavor in India..)

Halloween was a blast- they arranged for a bus to take us across the river close to the hoppin' nightlight of Bar Street (Which we explored last weekend) to a KTV (karaoke) club where we had a private room with plenty of treats and drinks for all. The only trick was figuring out how to work the karaoke machine before Conner discovered how to turn on the English setting). Favorite song moments were the Spice Girls jamming out to some of their top hits, Katie singing Alejandro by Lady Gaga and Greg, Mark and I's debut of Love Shack. Favorite costumes were Mackenzie's barefoot doctor outfit, and Mike's Great Firewall of China (he dressed up in all red- from wig to sneakers- and taped websites like Google, Facebook and YouTube all over him with random holes cut in where he scribbled VPN on his skin). Thanks to Iri's creativity and considering its prevalence on dining room tables in this country, a lazy-Susan seemed to be the perfect costume for me- I had no problem sporting some frumpy floral pajamas and rabbit slippers- not my normal night wear choice but I could get used to such comfortable dancing garb. After a morning of class tomorrow we are off to Shanghai for the long 3-day weekend- can't wait to explore another huge city in China! Should be fun-filled…missing everyone and hope you all had a great Halloween!

Dharamsala

Dharamsala is nestled into the mountains about a 5 hour drive from Dalhousie (that bus ride was raaather uncomfortable.. but we got the full cramped mountain ride experience..check!), and is divided up into three portions (lower Dharamsala, Dharamsala and upper Dharamsala)- we're in the upper region, which thrives with an awesome dynamic mixd up of wild hippie tourists, buddhist monks, and local artisan crafts everywhere. Shopping has been unaviodable..planning on sending home a box of prezzies. We spent the first day exploring the town and getting a feel for the Tibetan flair that we had yet to see of India. Tons of refugees and people who have been exiled from Tibet have settled here, and have brought along their food, schools and religious along. Mackenzie and I also got an hour long Tibetan full body massage (10 bucks.. whaaat?) with exotic oils and some interesting techniques with pressure points- definitely needed after that bus ride. We tried traditional "MoMo's" that are basically steamed or fried dumplings filled with anything from cabbage to potatoes to mutton...but its more like a bread covering rather than a wonton.. then they add a dollop of chili sauce that helps to satisfy our new spice-conditioned tastebuds. And the best part is that they're super cheap so the boys have a goal of each eating 40 of them.. for a grand total of 2 dollars. The first night we went to a Tibetan restaurant that was feauturing traditional Tibetan music with a live concert- it was held by a man who has focused his life to preserve the Tibetan culture which he said is dying, and to help to embed the traditions of music and culture back into the young generations.

  We have treked over the past 2 days in all directions around the city, towards the Kalachakra Temple where the Dali Lama holds his lectures and where Monks go to practice, to the base of a waterfall that looked like a scene from the Great Panda Adventure, and to a cliff about 20 minutes away where Mackenzie and I did some extreme sports. Last night we tried some traditional Tibetan "Chow-Chow" for dinner which is noodles in a asiany gravy with veggies, mutton and chicken- delicious! We have been utilizing our hotel rooftop as a location for breakfast visits with other tourists from Holland and Germany and as a chill evening hangout after dinners. I feel like I'm in an episode of Planet Earth sometimes with the massive hawks, mountain goats and monkeys roaming around. Tracy left for a hike thiis morning with a guy from Holland named Quinton, and their goal is to meet up with a goat shepherder who they came accross yesterday while Mackenzie and I had a relaxing girl day of laying in the sun with our new books about the Buddhist practice. Tonight (our last night waah) we're going to a traditional Tibetan restaraunt and partake in some Dharmsala nightlife- then tomorrow we are going to trek to see the Lama Karmapa at a temple in lower Dharmsala then checking out a massive cricket stadium where the national indian championship will be held next year, and is close to where our bus will be scooping us off for our overnight journey back to Delhi. Last chapter of Indian vaca will be travel-filled but seeing the another world wonder will be the ultimate cherry on top!


PS tried uploading pictures but this computer is not really taking the whole USB connection thing very nicely.. next time!

Vacation!

First time snagging a cubicle in an internet cafe since we left.. it's been a whirlwind!! We flew to Delhi, checked into our hotel and had a traditional north indian dinner on the roof looking over the city. The next day we organized a driver to take us sightseeing so we went to Qutab Minar (an ancient city with massive ruins, tombs and towers), the Bahai Lotus Temple which is one of seven temples celebrating the collective Bahai religion, then to the Red Fort which was occupied by the british until Indian Independence in 1947 and is a massssive structure made with bright red stones. We went straight to the train station and did an overnight train (surprisingly easy and comfortable..woke up to Chai tea) to Panthancot where we took a taxi about 2 hours to our hotel in Delhousie, which is a town nestled in the Himalayas. Our first hiccup occured at the hotel where they hadn't recieved our reservation or confirmation.. but we had paid online and had been charged already.. so we kinda made a scene (dad would be proud) and they finally managed to find us rooms at a hotel next door. We have two rooms connected by a beautiful balcony overlooking the Mountains and Valley.. it is gorgeous! And Cold.. thankfully I packed some warm clothes but we bought some handwoven slippers to keep our feet snuggly while we all celebrated Tracy's 21st birthday on the balcony with room service and cake. Woke up early this morning to a frozen shower from due to the power outage, and to Rafat's missing Wallet.. retraced our steps to the general store where he had bought bday cake candles and they had kept it!! So lucky... I'm thanking our hotel neighbor from Brussels who prayed to St. Augustine that we find his wallet.We took a 2 hour bus through the narrow carved roads in the mountains, passing monkeys and shanty towns, until we reached Kajjair (Small Switzerland) which is a huge plot of empty land that had a small village, and plenty of touristy activities. The boys went Paragliding, and we went Zorbing (they strap you inside a plastic ball and roll you around), we grabbed some lunch and laid around in the sun until our bus ride back. Tonight we'll take it easy since we have a 7am train to Darhmasala, a Hill Station town about 5 hours away deeper into the mountains. It'll be nice to stay there for three days and relax, hike, raft and then girl's turn to paraglide!! Loving exploring...

The end of the India Program

The last week of the India program sped by with many of the highlights of the trip condensed into the past few days..our coordinators really went all out to make our final week here the best!

On Tuesday we had the best site visit of India- I think I can vouch for the group. We went to the local Tuberculosis center, or "TB Cell" which is included a clinic, lab and research center that is directed under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program of India. We toured through the facility and learned how patients are diagnosed, treated and cured. We walked through the laboratory where they stain the bacteria in the sputum of patients in order to test for TB, and were able to look into the microscope at the Bacilli on a slide- it was surreal to be that close to a disease that we've been talking about this whole month.. Elza used her nerdy chem skills to snap a shot of the slide through the lens of the microscope.. ahhh TB! We walked through the incubator and secured/autoclaved sections where they test for TB and store the samples.. It was interesting to compare this lab to the TB lab we toured in Switzerland at the Tropical Health Institute.

Woo site visits

so close to TB in the incubator ahh

 A few of us indulged in some traditional beauty and pampering by getting our eyebrows threaded, a brief process that resulted in lovely facial-bone framing shaped brows. We had our last two yoga sessions, which dwindled down to three of us for essentially a private class- bittersweet since we had no choice but to perform at 100% and to stretch at maximum in every pose (a drastically different approach to the casual and temporal encouragement of yoga practice at home..).

Yesterday we were finally informed that our suspiciously free afternoon would be consumed with with a competitive scavenger hunt throughout the city. We were divided into 7 groups and had 3 hours to complete as many tasks as possible such as: learn how to sing a traditional Malayalam song, film getting taught a bollywood dance, get someone to show you how to wrap a sari, go to a temple, run a lap around the Ghandi park, ask a vender how to make tea, send Alison a letter to South Africa, buy goofy presents for Chris's kids, get a picture with an animal at the zoo, get a henna tattoo of IHP on your neck, eat a whole chili pepper, try on traditional wedding gold, drive a rickshaw.. it was overall a pretty hilarious day!

Red Bacilli, fresh from the staining process!

Once we were done with our tasks we were given directions to our final location: a rooftop pool party complete with ice cream! It was a relaxing and fun afternoon and we couldn't have asked for a better end of the trip (besides having to crack down and write papers..). I'm so excited to go on vacation and hope to blog during it! We are going to Delhi then Delhouse, Darhmsala then Agra for the Taj Mahal. Can't wait for an epic adventure..

In a sari with the family and scavenger hunt team!

Pool party funnn

The host family, our last night together

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