Phew! We have just finished up our final week of placement in Hyderabad, India. Lots of fun and interesting things happened this week, and I'm happy to say leaving Hyderabad is a bit bittersweet as we've grown comfortable in this city but are also excited o explore the rest of India. Here are some highlights from this week!
After our reception at JMJ, we planned on taking the MSc students out for a nice dinner at Paradise, a famous biryani restaurant in Hyderabad. Jessie, Jo-Ann and I decided that this would be a great chance to actually wear our sarees out in public, so we put on the blouses we bought (the little belly shirts that are worn beneath the saree) and tried to tie them the best we can. The weather happened to be terrible that night, so I was looking quite fashionable wearing my saree and a rain jacket getting absolutely soaked on the rickshaw ride there. Once our friends arrived they took one look at us and decided told us we needed to go to the bathroom to fix our sarees. That alone was really fun and it was nice to finally have our sarees tied properly. I avoided the biryani at dinner, having already tried it at Paradise, and instead had a feast of butter paneer tikka masala and chicken kabobs (which were boneless-what a treat!). We also ordered a serving of mutton Haleem, a dish that is served in the evening during Ramzan, or Ramadan, the Muslim holiday that involves fasting throughout the day. The Haleem is really interesting and like nothing I've tried before-it's kind of like a flavored meat paste about the consistency of hospital style mashed potatoes. People spend all day preparing it so that they may eat it once the sun goes down. It was so much fun going out for dinner with the girls, and I'm pretty sure we were the rowdiest table that restaurant has seen in a while. It was such a lovely time and a great way to say thanks to our gracious and welcoming hosts.
Jo-Ann, Annie, Myself and Cassie enjoying our farewell dinner at Paradise!
The following day we had a date to visit some friends that Jessie and Cassie had made on our first train to Karanalyum. We called them the Mohans, but really just the husband's name was Mohan, and he worked internationally as someone who scouts movie filming locations for Bollywood or Tollywood films. As a result, he's travelled all over the world, and has seen more of Canada than I have which is a little bit shameful. The Mohans had invited us for lunch, and to meet the rest of their family which Included their amazing Pomerian Jimmy! For lunch we had typical Hyderabadi food, which included the best biryani I had had to date. The visit was fun, and it was especially nice to be welcomed into someone's home to see how they live. After lunch the Mohans got their driver (it seems most middle to upper class can afford such things) to take us to Charminar, the market we went to on our first day in Hyderabad. The first time we went there we failed to realize that Charminar is actually an ancient and famous mosque, and not just a place for us to drop our money, so this time we climbed the narrow, winding and uneven stairs to reach the top. From the top we were able to actually see a lot of the city, because Hyderabad doesn't actually have many sky scrapers and the mosque was one of the taller buildings around. That day in Hyderabad also happened to be the day of the gay pride parade, and though we missed the parade, we did see some men displaying their pride as they were dressed in sarees and other traditional women's clothes. Though homosexuality is legal in India and discrimination is outlawed, when talking to the people weve met they have said that not many people are out about being gay, and that it wasnt commonly accepted in society. I was surprised, then, to see that these men we saw were being left alone completely, which wouldn't even likely occur in a place like Tillsonburg.
After Charminar, we hit up Hyderabad's bangles market, and since Hyderabad is known for bangles, this is the place to get them. Most of them were very gold and jeweled and very flashy, which is very Indian but not very me. Instead I bought some other souvenirs, including a lovely beaded handbag that I regretted not getting the previous trip.
For our last week of placement at CHAI we were to work with a man named Father Xavier, who is basically one of these priests who aren't trained as physicians but work as them anyways, usually to serve the poor in their community. For our first day we drove 50 km out of Hyderabad, which in India takes almost 2 hours, to meet Father, and then were told we had another 70 km to go to get to the school where we'd be helping with school health checks. When we arrived we of course had to have CHAI and then Father asked us what religion we all were. When some of us responded that we were not actually that religious, he was downright and genuinely confused. "Maybe you're no praying everyday but you all must have a god. Even the tribes in the most far reaching places in India have a religion. How can there be any community without religion?" These were just some of his responses to his shock and outrage that we were not religious. Religion does seem to be EVERYWHERE in India, and people readily will ask you what sort of religion you are upon meeting them, so I guess this is not surprising, just not something that would occur in Canada.
Anyways, as part of our role at these school health visits we would be dispensing medications to the children after they had been seen by he doctor that Father had brought along to help. It is a pretty good system in that most of the children are seen by a doctor at least once a month, and a lot of problems are identified and treated earlier than they would normally be. However, it is also kind of a bad system because every single kid got prescribed something, whether they were sick or not. Sometimes this just involved some vitamins but the doctor seemed to move in patterns, such that every kid would get paracetamol or an antihistamine and they all came through very quickly so it was unlikely that much of an assessment occurred to be prescribing these things. Even metronidazole, a strong antibiotic, was given to many children, and while it may not be realistic to do culture and sensitivity testing from a school in rural India, I have a feeling that the drug was unnecessary to treat the underlying condition. Worrying about antibiotic resistance is a common theme for us here, as we've learned in school and seen first hand while treating patients what resistance can lead to and how dangerous it could be. If you were really into antibiotic stewardship you'd be outright terrified if you could see how readily these drugs are made available to people.
The dispensing became more exhausting once the younger grades came trickling in, because they had this sort of game to collect all of the pills they could from us. They asked for cough syrups and pimple creams, and we denied them but some of the kids got clever and started passing back their prescriptions to their friends so they could get more. We couldn't really understand why they wanted them so bad, because it was unlikely they knew what the drug was for to even have them give it to a family member or anything. Father said that the reason why they do it is mostly because they have nothing of their own and they just want to collect something physically that is theirs. We also asked him why they were so readily handing out medications to children, and he responded that often in order to be taken seriously by the community they need to provide them with something, and if they weren't given anything they would think that they weren't doing their job. Kinda interesting. For lunch we had the most amazing fried okra with peanuts-its rare for me to take extra helpings of things since being here but I must've had at least three it was so good.
The ECG Leads
Our whole crew after a lovely time with Father Xavier!
That evening we had another date with the Mohans to finally go see a Tollywood movie (basically similar in style to Bollywood movies, but in Telugu). We met them at this Western style mall that had all sorts of familiar stores like Adidas, MAC and even Aldo. We enjoyed the familiarity of the space, and then made our way to the theatre. The theaters all have assigned seating, and the seats are amazing- so much leg room and they even recline a bit. By this time it was about 10 pm and we were exhausted from the long day ahead so we were worried we may fall asleep. However, for anyone who has seen Bollywood you may appreciate that this is difficult to do given the high levels of drama most of the films have. As someone who occasionally watches the Saturday morning Bollywood films on Omni, I was particularly excited to see this one and it certainly didn't disappoint. The premise was basically about two young people who fall in love after the young man dances for the girl through the streets, which pisses off another man who wants the girl to the point where he kills the young man. Fear not, though, as the man comes back as... A fly! So basically it's a revenge story that involved an hour and a half long fight scene between a man and a fly. I was thoroughly entertained and was able to understand what was going on throughout, though I laughed at some scenes that the Telugu speaking movie goers didn't seem to find as funny.
The next day we were to help out with another school health check by dispensing medications again. We had learned from our experiences earlier and had the system better organized this time around which resulted in far less chaos. That afternoon when we got back to CHAI we went back to a handmade market we had visited previously , this time armed with more money to buy things like art, bangles and clothes. We made our shopping efficient and got a rickshaw just before the monsoon rain came down. Since we left during rush hour it felt like an eternity, otherwise known as an hour and a half, to get back home. When we got to Secunderabad and saw the driver again I said to Cass that it looked like a different person altogether from who had picked us up, because so much time had passed since I had seen him. After that came one of those typical incidents where once the driver gets lost he decides to charge you more for his mistake. Though w weren't having it, he was so angry and it was pouring that I gave him the extra money just to get the hell out of there. But, it didn't stop there. He pocketed the extra money and then said we didn't pay him enough and followed us into the CHAI grounds, and when he security guard's shoos at the man weren't effective in staving him off, Cass says that I released the fury on this man, insisting that he want going to be getting more money out of us. Meanwhile Cassie was trying to guilt trip him by telling him he was a bad man, and when he tried Michelle for money she just pointed at me, who was angry as ever. Eventually we just went into the building and he didn't follow us, but the incident gave us a good laugh afterwards. Tip of the day for taking rickshaws- if you break down and give them more than the agreed upon price, expect to get asked for even more since you've already given it to them once.
For the next day we were working diligently on our reports for CHAI, and rewarded ourselves with a trip to the spa recommended by our friend Ruchika. As one might expect it was nothing like the spas at home-there wasn't much atmosphere, and the utensils used were certainly not hygienic. Every time the lady started doing something different to me feet I was thinking to say no thank you to avoid the risk of infection, but Cassie was going along with it do I figured I would too. The whole thing was a whopping $5.
The following day we made our final presentation to CHAI about all of our learning and experiences. Overall we had such a great time, learning lots and gaining valuable insight not just into the Indian healthcare system but also the way of life in Hyderabad, which would not have been possible if we hadn't had the chance to work so closely with the people who were hosting us. I have a few tips for people in the future who may be coming to Hyderabad for a similar experience at CHAI:
-Keep an open mind. This one seems obvious and people have probably drilled this into you already but it's really important. When a communication barrier gets you frustrated, or you see some practices that aren't typical of Canada, keep an open mind during these times. Remember where you are, and try to think of reasons why the differences may exist. Go ahead and ASK someone about it! We asked tons of questions and generally receive answers that provided some insight as to what was going on or why something was happening
-Remain flexible. This is kind of along the same lines, but if something doesn't occur the way it was planned, or things are less comfortable than you expect, just stay calm. Being flexible will make not only you, but the rest of your group, a lot happier during your stay, so dont sweat the small stuff. Remember a quote from the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", set in India-"Everything will be alright in the end. If it is not alright, it is not yet the end"
-Voice your concerns if you have them. If something is not going as expected, or you have some concerns you'd like to address, CHAI was amazingly accommodating and understanding. Just be polite and professional when asking, and be prepared, again, to be flexible. Keeping CHAI informed as to how you're feeling is important-they not only care, but they want your stay to be as comfortable as possible
-Share with your group. During difficult times it was most useful to have a supportive group to share what we were going through with. If you're feeling sick, tell someone. It's also useful to talk things out that you see that aren't expected with the group, to try to get some ideas of why things may be the way they are.that way.
-Be prepared to have many questions asked of you like if you're married, what you do, how much you make, what your parents do, what all of your siblings do and their ages.
-Have the time of your life! Try your best to get as involved as you can. Ask questions everywhere. Remember that a lot of the people hosting you don't know what you know so you might have to ask what's going on or why something is being done in such a way.
We had endless questions in terms of what to bring for clothes and supplies. Here are some tips from what I found useful:
-Hyderabad is not a touristy city, and the dress is very conservative, so keep that in mind if you want to avoid attracting more attention. I brought two pairs of athletic like black tights, and bought long traditional shirts in the market for about $3 to $5 each. Bring at least one shirt with sleeves to wear to the market! I also has another pair of capris which I didn't really need but whatever you feel comfortable with having is good
-waterproof jacket is a must. It's monsoon season in Hyderabad, so having a waterproof jacket around was really useful. Also consider a rain cover for you pack. Don't nbother bringing an umbrella-you can buy this and tons of other supplies in Hyderabad
-mosquito net. We only used this during one placement but I was glad to have it. They also sell these in Hyderabad at the China Bazaar, so dont fret if you don't bring one
-rope or bungee cords for hanging laundry and mosquito nets. Also can be purchased in Hyderabad
-comfortable sandals. I brought both Birkenstocks and a Teva like pair because I didn't want my Birks to get ruined in the rain, which was useful but I ditched the Teva like ones eventually because I got tired of carrying two pairs
-flip flops for showers and bathrooms
-bugspray. The stuff they have there does NOT work as well so bring the goods from home
-a sewed sheet or sleeping bag for sleeping. This was probably the best thing I brought. I took a double sheet, folded it in half like a sleeping bag, and sewed it up along the bottom and the side. I used this to sleep in basically everywhere as sheets are often nonexistent or dirty.
-a travel pillow. I didn't bring this but it may have been useful
-a headlamp proved most useful when wanting to read at night or on trains!
-a knife was useful for some self-catering, like cutting up fresh fruits and vegetables that you'll likely crave after eating rice for days
-a Lonely Planet or other guide book if you're planning on travelling once you leave Hyderabad
-a passport sized photo if you want to buy a cell phone while here. This was relatively easy to do and we went with a man from CHAI who helped us, but to avoid a step, just bring a photo from home as you'll need one for the phone
-some USD. Don't bother getting rupees in Canada-there's a bank next to CHAI that you can withdraw money from charge free and that will exchange USD to rupees at a good rate. Bring someone with CHAI if you have any issues
Hmmmm, that's about it for now. If I think of other tips I'll be sure to post them. Thanks for reading along this far!! For the rest of my blog, it'll be following my month of travels through India post placement! Lots of crazy and fun stories to share!
hi tessa! I love your blogs.Very interesting.Miss you.Love Dad!
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