Ramblings

I have about three weeks left at the Delta AHEC...time is flying by! I am learning so much about myself and the world everyday, and it's hard to analyze and categorize here in the moment when I am still trying to soak everything in and process it all. I am a firm believer in hindsight is 20/20.
I really love my job. The kids from camp are great, and a bond is growing between us and the children. Everyday is a learning experience, aka what works and what fails when working with the group of kids we have. Working at DAHEC has really got me focused on what health means to the individual and to the community. So often we think of health as merely the absence of disease. This view leads us to believing we get sick and a doctor will just be able to fix us. We will be brand new again. We forget that health is a daily task. If we don't take care of our bodies, then who are we to assume that a doctor can fix every problem we have brought on ourselves? I am not saying that all sickness is the fault of the individual...that is certainly not true. But between laziness, unhealthy eating, drugs and alcohol, we do a lot to contribute to our own problems. The experts say that prevention is always easier than intervention; then why is intervention much more popular than prevention? These issues just scratch the surface of public health, and the mission of the Delta AHEC. I am so thankful that I have been put here this summer. Especially after studying public health/medicine in India, my experiences in Arkansas are complimentary to this educational journey I have been on for the past ten weeks.

Summer Insight

Well, I have been in Arkansas for almost four weeks now, living in Marvell with four other college students from Washington and Lee, Spelman, and Morehouse (From left to right in the picture: Jamila, Kat, Dionte, Me, Frankie). I am working with my roommate and newfound friend, Jamila, at the Delta Area Health Education Center. We have tagged along on a few health education outreach meetings/fairs, filled in for people at the front desk and the fitness center, and had a blast the first week hanging out with the high school kids learning about health professions. Our main task has been planning and implementing a six week summer camp for kids ages 6-15. It runs in the mornings from 9:30-11:30, although the kids usually don't clear out until noon. Our job is to give them some health education that they are not getting in schools, such as nutrition, drug use, safety, babysitters' training, and fitness. We are currently in the midst of our second week of camp. Living in Marvell is like living in another world. Jamila has lived in Jamaica and Guyana, and I just got back from India, so we joke that living here is equivalent to living in a 3rd world country. We have racked up quite a list of reasons:
1. Everyone stares at you, because they know you aren't a local.
2. There are stray dogs everywhere.
3. There are no stoplights in Marvell.
4. Street names mean absolutely nothing.
5. You can still get Coca-Cola in glass bottles.
6. There are still people to pump your gas and load your groceries in the car for you.
7. Roadkill sticks around for days.
8. Even when they are speaking English, the locals are still hard to understand sometimes.
9. You have to drive over an hour to get to a movie theater, mall, large hospital...
So that's a taste of small town, Arkansas. I hope to have more interesting insights soon.

Faces of India

I promise: This is my last journal entry about India. I realized that I have been posting a lot of information. I showed you beautiful buildings, amazing artwork, and basically, pictures of stuff. I blogged about lots of facts, history, etc. Since being back in the states, I have had a lot of time to reflect on my experiences. The stuff is not what I think about. It's the laughter of children, the toothless grins of the elderly, the hospitality of shopkeepers, the sacrificial kindness of those who worked at the center. I did a lot of complaining in India. I will never get over being blatantly stared at, but I will always be flattered by families who want us in their family pictures. I may not ever get over the smell of India, but I do have to agree that it is "the worst good smell in the world," taken from a novel I am currently reading. Traffic may have seemed like a chaotic nightmare, but at least everyone is giving their utmost attention to the road, and not chatting away on their cell phones. Being in India did not convert me to vegetarianism, but nothing will ever taste quite as unique and flavorful as those dishes. I do not agree with treating women as second-class citizens, and India has a long way to go before women have true equality. However, India recognizes the need to fight for women's rights, and I have the utmost respect for Indian women; they are truly the hardest working, most graceful and composed, and strongest women I have ever met.
Living in India, if only for six weeks, made me realize how blessed I am. It also made me realize that in the grand scheme of humanity, we are not very different from those in India. I still cannot get over how ignored India has been in the United States. I know little about a country that is one of the largest democracies in the world, and who's survival is so linked to my own. India made me question everything I have ever thought or believed in, and I think I know more about myself because of it, even if I have just scratched the surface regarding Indian culture. I am so glad I made the decision to study abroad, and if you ever get the chance, I encourage anyone to challenge themselves by going somewhere out of their comfort zone and immersing yourself in people. It is worth the initial discomfort, and honestly, it sounds so cliche, but it will change your life.

Final Week

Friday, June 1st, was our last day in India. Having finally turned in my last paper the night before, we headed out in the morning determined to ride an elephant on the palace grounds. To our disappointment, the palace attractions hadn't started yet, but we were in for an unexpected surprise...
That's me. On an elephant. Bareback. We got to the palace before the elephant rides had started, but we met up with a group of five elephants going for a morning walk. The men with the elephants asked if we wanted to pet the elephants, and then asked if we wanted to sit on top of the elephants. We weren't exactly sure if it was a good idea, but the men were fairly confident that we were allowed. Next thing we knew, the elephants sat down to let the drivers hoist us on top of the gentle beasts. The scariest part was holding on as the elephant was getting up from a sitting position, but I loosened my grip on the driver as the walk continued. My elephant, Ruby, was very sweet; I couldn't believe how friendly the elephants were. You almost forget they are so huge!
After dismount, Tmac, Em, and I posed for a photo-op, courtesy of the ring-leader of the elephant driver posse. Of course, then we had to tip our drivers...and the elephants...and the other men working with the elephants...Oh well, the experience was worth the tipping.
After our super-cool elephant rides, we took a stroll around the palace grounds and came across the legitimate elephant ride station. Instead of climbing on top of the elephant, the tourist ride consists of you climbing up the stairs shown and then sitting on a large platform on top of the elephant. There is also a warning sign that says, "elephants can be dangerous. They are large and strong. They are not friendly to strangers so please be cautious. If you do not heed to this warning we are not liable for the injuries, etc. please be confined to the areas marked." Glad we saw the sign after breaking the rules.
It was appropriate that our last day in Mysore would be spent very similarly to our first day in Mysore, when we walked into Ibrahim's Badsha store on KR Circle, and our lives were changed forever. Never has one man been able to sell so much merchandise to us. Despite his serious expression, he was one of the nicest and funniest men in Mysore. We went back on our last shopping day to say goodbye and pick up our last remaining gifts. It was fortunate that we were leaving India the next day, because my bags wouldn't have been able to hold any more souvenirs!

Weekend in Kerala

First off, let me apologize for my extreme tardiness concerning updates...and now, an account of my BEACH weekend in India.

The weekend began on Friday with a tour of the Government Ayurveda Hospital in Mysore. We saw lots of fun plants and minerals that make up the hospital's pharmacopoeia. We also saw the dissection room. Little did we know that while we chatted with the med students (shown here with Jenna), the doctors were rolling out a human corpse. Most of the flesh was gone except for the legs and it was pretty juicy. Needless to say, we weren't really prepared for this, and yet, I couldn't stop staring in shock at the complete nonchalance of the doctors and the not-so-sterile conditions in which they were dissecting a human body. Anyway, it was quite an experience. After our tour, we had to sit through an excrutiating lecture before departing for the beach.
Getting to the beach was one of the scariest adventures I've ever had. Robbie (I am pretty sure that is not how you spell his name, but that's how we pronounced it) was a great driver, but the road conditions were highly questionable. First, the rain started to pour like buckets from the sky. Next thing you know, there is a group of five to six men charging towards our van with red painted faces, shouting and chanting with musical instruments. In a state of shock, I realized we were essentially trapped in the car with no idea what they were about to do. I panicked when Robbie started to roll down his window, but then he pulled out a rupee to give the men, and they went away, chanting and dancing, just like they had come. Obvious that we were confused, Robbie just smirked and replied, "first rain." The rest of the way we saw villages celebrating the "first rain." The rain wasn't so bad as we started our trek up the mountain through the jungle, but coming down the other side was a different story. For two hours, Robbie maneuvered through mud and potholes on essentially a dirt and gravel broken narrow road. We joked it was like being on a ride at a theme park...what was happening couldn't possibly be really happening. To make matters worse, we were in the middle of the jungle and literally passed no sign of life, not even a little hut, for that 2 hours. Translation: we could have crashed and had no where to turn for help. There were several vehicles trying to make it up the mountain, but eventually the buses were forced to pull over in their failed attempts to combat the muddy mess. Luckily, as night began to fall, we reached Kerala (and a real road) and by the grace of God were safe in our hotel rooms.
The next morning we convinced Robbie to take us to the beach; apparently Indians usually go to the beach in the evening, which after the massive sunburns we acquired, we understood perfectly.
Once the town caught wind of the rumour of Westerners at the beach, small groups started forming around us. It seemed as if they were just waiting to see what we would do. Of course, we weren't too exciting. We mostly just sat on the beach reading and listening to music all morning, but the townies did get a kick of us playing in the ocean. As the only women to get in (the rest of the woman were in chudidars and sarees), we were quite a sight. We stayed until lunchtime and then used the heat of the afternoon to explore the town a bit.

On Saturday, we went back to the beach in the morning, but had to return to the hotel in the afternoon for our Ayurvedic massages. Now, knowing what we did about Ayurveda, you would think that we would have expected some pretty crazy massage methods. Nothing could have prepared me for the experience. The women and I prayed beforehand, and then throughout the massage, the masseuse sang healing mantras. She lathered me in so much oil, I had the feeling I was being marinated for the human sacrificial offering (used in the earliest times of the Veda). The massage focused not on muscle relaxation, but her sweeping and swooping motions suggested she was trying to improve the flow of some secret force within me. After sliding around on an oily massage table, the experience ended with a steam bath, and then an actual bath to get rid of the rest of the oil. I have censored the details of this truly unique experience, but let me just say, before getting an Ayurvedic massage, come talk to me and then decide whether you want to pursue such a treatment.
After Jess and I finished our "massages," we decided we definitely needed a beer at the hotel restaurant. Afterwards, Robbie drove us to India's longest drive-in beach. Cars and rickshaws can drive up and down the coast on the sand and it's a popular hangout spot. The beach is very clean and beautiful. Unfortunately, the clouds blocked most of the sunset, but our walk was fabulous. Emily and I danced and ran into and out of the remnants of the waves on the shore, while Taylor and Jess played it cool walking behind us. Robbie picked us up and drove up and down the beach in the dark, driving us into waves and watching the sand crabs scatter in the headlights. It was a perfect end to our beach weekend.
For fear of a repeat of Friday, we requested to leave early Sunday morning, even though Robbie wanted to go to the snake park (ah!). Luckily, Robbie found another route home which was absolutely beautiful. As we climbed the mountain road, we could see the lush green jungle valleys below us (definitely beats the Blue Ridge Parkway)! The trip had much better roads, although the majority of the trip was still rocky. We drove mostly through national parks, meaning small farming villages and a ton of wildlife preservation. The rural communities were of course very poor, and I wondered if they even had clean water to drink. I wish we had had the chance to go in and really see the inner-workings of such a village, but you obviously can't stroll in for observations. The jungle was filled with wildlife; we saw huge deer and bison right along the road. We also saw some elephants; the wild elephants live deep within the jungle, but the ones we saw were owned by the local communities.
After returning to Mysore, we asked how the rest of the group's trip to the wildlife reserve had been. Apparently the facilities were so poor, they left after one night (they didn't even want to stay the first night but could not travel back to Mysore in the dark). What did they see on their safari? some ducks and a few elephants. They were not happy when we told them about how much wildlife we had seen from the road, nor about our fabulous weekend at the beach.

Last Weekend in Mysore!

Sadly, this past weekend was our last in Mysore. Of course, we had to live it up. The festivities began with a shopping extravaganza on Friday afternoon. We visited the Cauvery Arts and Crafts Emporium, the Silk Emporium, our three favorite Badsha stores (the family has about 9 stores just in Mysore!), and the Devaraja market. Our favorite shop in the market was the oil and incense shop. Three brothers run the store their grandfather started about 40 years ago. We got to sit and watch the littlest brother roll incense while the middle brother let us smell all of the most popular oils. While we decided on the oils we wanted, we had chai tea with the eldest brother and just chatted for about an hour. After we left notes in their guest book (they have about 15 books all for different countries!), we thanked them and moved on to do some more shopping damage. We finally wrapped up shopping around 8:30 and hit up the delicious buffet at the Southern Star for dinner.
One of the Badsha brothers invited us to the club, High Octane, for a little dancing after dinner. The club was much smaller than I thought, and our group made up about half of the total crowd. The rest of the crowd was comprised of European yoga students and friends of our Badsha boy. The music was a great mix of American and international popular dance music. We danced our little hearts out until the club closed at 11:30 (so early)!

On our Saturday morning tour of the Bylakuppe Tibetan Monastery, we had the opportunity to observe the monks worshipping. There was much chanting, along with percussion and wind-instrument playing. The rhythmic recitation helps the monks memorize the scriptures.
One of the temples boasted larger-than-life gold statues of Buddha's father (left), Buddha (middle), and Buddha's brother (right). Buddha is not wearing a crown like the rest of his family, symbolizing his renunciation of the material life. Instead, he is represented with his begging bowl. Also notice that the Buddha is not a jolly fat fellow that many people associate with the name Buddha. This is a popular Chinese version of Buddha, but it actually makes no sense considering the Buddha begged for his food and led a life of moderation.


In the afternoon, we were given a tour of Infosys, which provides business consulting and technological services to clients on a global scale. The center provides training to new employees in hard skills, such as computer technology, and soft/people skills. Infosys is all-inclusive; there is housing for employees and their families, a grocery store, a gym, a health clinic, bowling alley, the list goes on. The globe-shaped building reminded me of Epcot. Being there was strange, because although it was an amazing complex, it was nothing like India. The style was very Western, and I was also surprised by the fact that it didn't smell like India. This is so hard to describe, but I'll just say that you take for granted the smell of cleaning solution and freshly cut grass until you live without them for a month.

Dr. Rao's godson came to show us some snakes on Sunday morning. He catches snakes that get into sticky situations with people and releases them back into the wild. India has a ton of snakes, and that's important because they help keep the rodent (especially disease-carrying rat) populations down. Some people got to hold the snakes, but no one was allowed to touch the king cobra. Go figure.

Prof. Lubin had to leave on Sunday afternoon, so we threw him a little going-away party. Unfortunately, the cake decorator got a little confused and so the cake said "Happy Birthday" as well. I love how "Have a nice trip" reminds me of Winnie the Pooh's handwriting. Regardless, it tasted delicious.


Zac had befriended some boys in our "neighborhood" and enlisted them to help a small group of us learn cricket. The eldest explained the basics to us, and the younger ones demonstrated his descriptions of various rules and procedures of the game. This picture is of Zac, waiting for the wicket to be reset and the line to be redrawn so that he can bat. Don't get caught outside this line if the keeper has the ball, because he can throw the ball to knock down the wicket and you are out! Unfortunately, I only made one run before this happened to me. My team lost, but before we had to face any further humiliation, it was time for us to leave to go to yoga. Hurrah for clean chakras! After yoga, we ate the Green Hotel and celebrated the last few hours of the weekend at Cafe Coffee Day...the ice-blended coffee is to die for! Sadly, today is Monday and now, I must work on my final papers before leaving for the beach on Thursday!

Northern Karnataka (Continued)

Last entry I left off at the marketplace in Hampi. The bazaar is headed by, you guessed it, another temple. The main attraction here is the "elephant blessing." You give a rupee to the elephant, the elephant gives the rupee to the attendant, and then the elephant blesses you by touching his trunk to your head.











The holes in this large boulder are not natural. Before dynamite, builders use to make small holes in the rocks, insert some wood, and wet the wood so it would expand. The pressure would cut the rock with great precision and ease! They then used the building blocks to build a variety of structures.









In the royal center, there was an underground tunnel area that used to contain the precious jewels. Very Indiana Jones-esque...as we felt our way around in the dark (we had one match), we were just waiting to run into the pit of snakes.












"The group" standing proud on the remains of an ancient home. Although not quite as preserved as the temples, it was cool to see what kind of structures the people (at least rich important people) used to live in. They even had aqueduct systems and wells right up to the houses! The last day was a refreshing break from looking at temples, but we were all ready to head back to Mysore by the time the trip was over.

Monkeys and Temples and Cows, oh my!

The past week was spent sight-seeing in Northern Karnataka. We traveled via sleeper train, which I have decided is one of my least favorite modes of transportation, but luckily we were able to use the good old Dept. of Tourism buses for the rest of our transportation needs. The cities were visited included (in this order), Badami, Mahakoota, Pattadakal, Aihole, and Hospet/Hampi. I will have to do this blog in two installments because my internet is being finicky, so please enjoy the first half while I try to find time to finish the second half. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.

Dr. Rao teaching his disciples about the rock cave temples of Badami. I will spare you all the details and the hundreds of temple pictures I took, mainly because I can't remember all of the details myself. There is so much artwork and symbolism in every nook and cranny!











A ton of monkeys hanging out near the temples just waiting for you to be off your guard so that they may steal your food.













Can you believe these temples were literally carved entirely out of a sandstone in just the beginning few centuries AD?














While in Badami, we had a 5:00 am wake-up call to hike to the sacred pool at Mahakoota. After descending several steep rock-faces, I realized someone had lied to me when they said it was supposed to be an easy hike. In any case, we all survived and I arrived in Mahakoota with a great sense of accomplishment. I still wasn't brave enough to enter the sacred pool (aka natural spring adorned with a temple) crawling with dirty men. I did, however, enjoy sitting (and laughing) with the onlooking women and children while I watched several members of our group take a dip!






Our next stop was a temple complex in Pattadakal. Many of the temples are simply archaeological in nature, but there was still one functioning temple. If there was one thing I learned on our temple tours, it was that Nundi, the bull, outside facing a temple indicates Shiva is inside waiting to be worshiped.










Not all the gods have a statue for them to dwell in. The lingas (large stone phallic symbols) are also popular representations of the gods. Again, this temple is for Shiva devotees. The holy man in the picture takes care of the temple, the linga, and is the middleman between the devotees and the god when it comes to offerings. Popular offerings include money, flowers, and fruit.















Aihole (pronounced I-hole-eh) also had a lot of cool temples...and cool kids. This stubborn little fellow would not stop following us around even when Dr. Rao yelled at the children to leave us alone. What was different about this little boy was that he didn't keep nagging us for chocolate, school pens, or money. At one point, he just took my hand and walked with me for awhile. We never spoke a word, but his little hand in mine said more than I ever could have.







The kids in Aihole also were great when it came to taming the cows for us. We were all shocked when a herd of them started following us up the stairs to the temple! Of course, watching them nonchalantly canter down the stairs was even more amazing.











We climbed to the top of this temple via a stone ladder and a small little opening in the roof. There was an unimpressive mini-shrine, but the birds-eye view of the temple complex and extracting a laugh from some Indian tourists was worth the climb.











The last (and longest) stop on our tour was Hampi. Hampi is literally a huge archaeological site/city full of ancient ruins. In one of the larger temple areas, there was a beautiful stone chariot. It is a replica of the ones they actually used to tote statues of the gods around during important occasions.











The marketplace in Hampi was largely touristy, but we could still find some neat souvenirs. Believe it or not, all of that pretty stuff serves religious purposes. However, as tourists, we still insist on buying it for fashion.

Forgetful Me...

So, last entry I forgot to mention two crucial chunks of my time spent here thus far, Chamundi Hill and Mysore Palace. On the left is a picture of the temple on Chamundi Hill. Chamundi is the goddess who slew the buffalo demon, Mahishasura. The hill is the backdrop of the city, and Chamundi is loosely analogous to the town mascot. When the British came, they pronounced Mahishasura as "Mysore." Apparently the name stuck.




We visited Mysore Palace the second day here. Dr. Rao used to direct preservation and research at the palace, so we got a VIP tour. Most of the palace is open to the public to tour, but people still live there (not the maharajah obviously, but still very cool)! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the tour...

View of the dining hall. It was so easy to get lost in the intricate detail, light, and color. There is so much going on, but unlike some of the German castles I saw a few weeks ago, the Indians manage to make it not look kitschy.

These pillars are painted, hollow cast-iron. This is just one example of the extreme brilliancy of color portrayed throughout the whole palace.


The armory. Very cool collection of swords. My personal favorite was the smaller dagger that when plunged into flesh, would pop open on both sides, causing more damage and pain to the unfortunate victim.

There are no words for how beautiful this stained glass ceiling was. If you look closely, you can see the peacock motif, a symbol of royalty.

The popularity of game-hunting finally became real, and very scary to me, as we meandered through the game room. The maharajah and his buddies stored all their "trophies" in this rather large room. There must have been at least 7 or 8 tigers, one cheetah, several water-buffalo, two elephant heads, a giraffe head, and a ton of smaller game animals. If that wasn't bad enough, parts of the animals had been made into tables, light stands, etc...

This was the very first hall we walked into. Notice the large elephant head mounted on the wall. Like I said before, the Raj loved animals.