Update

Hello. I am so sorry it has been so long but no worries I am alive and well. First I will update you on the last few days of our travel and our arrival in Vellore and then about my first week on the CHAD rotation later.

So Saturday morning we set out for a safari. We went to this massive forest that covers 3 of the states. We had been told there were tons of elephants and some tigers and a leopard if you were lucky. Well, we were not so lucky. We saw nothing. We saw deer, pigs, peacocks and monkeys but no elephants, no tigers, nothing fun. Quite sad. Well Gowri was having none of that and went to argue with the company to get our money back. Meanwhile we were all busy trying to clean all the dirt off of us. Since we were a little distracted we did not see the monkey that jumped into the car and grabbed a bag of snacks from the car. We saw him as he was jumping out of the car with the food and climbing up the pole. But karma got the monkey because as he was climbing a rope away from us the bag ripped and dropped all the snacks. So all the other monkeys came running to eat all the food off the ground. Sill monkey didn't get any food. The animals here are hilarious. There are cows just roaming the streets (both in the villages and in the middle of major cities), its crazy. One cow that was up near a temple we went to decided it really did not like Jenna and myself so it decided to start charging us and followed us around for a good 3min. All the locals had a good laugh about that. Another monkey tried to steal Jenna's purse. Sneaky monkeys

After the Safari we drove up to a Tibetian Monastery which is the second largest in the world and the only one outside of Tibet. It was fascinating. I knew nothing about this before coming so I was full of questions. Apparently you are entered into this "school" at birth or shortly after if you think your child might be the next dalai lama. Here they are taught about Buddhism and math and science and medicine. Apparently most of them will not make it to become a monk because they will not be able to learn all the information required of them. Those that do not make it will reenter society. I was kind of expecting these extremely religious and obedient monks who were very serious and straight faced. However, there were tons of kids running around playing and guys joking around with each other. One guy reached under his robe and pulled out a cell phone. I thought that was pretty hilarious. We happened to be there during meal time so we were able to enter the temple and listen to their chants before dinner was served. It was really pretty cool. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

For dinner that night we went to this tiny local restaurant which is supposed to have the best Dosas (a kind of pancake like dish served with spicey chutneys). This place have 4 tables and the only thing on the menu was dosa. we were the only white people in the place and they found it hilarious that we were in such a local eatery. it was a really good dosa.

Sunday we headed out to Vellore. On the way we happened upon this festival (I cannot remember the name of it) where there were nearly 30 weddings occurring that day. Apparently, if you are from a poor village/family and cannot afford a wedding on your own you can go to these festivals where the temple lumps a bunch of weddings together. I have decided there is a reason for arranged marriages, it is impossible to get married in this country without someone finding a husband/wife for you because you would never find the person that meets all the right criteria by chance. So no only do you have to marry someone of the same caste, you have to marry someone of the same subdivision of the caste. You also are born under a certain star and zodiac. For the marriage to be successful you have to marry someone with a complementary star and zodiac. Not only that but you have to marry on a day that is considered a "good star day". It is all way too complicated for me. So apparently Sunday was a "good star day" so all these families gathered at the temple to basically share the cost of the weddings. We puled off the road to go wander and see what this was all about. I felt so terrible because as soon as we walked into the area we caused a huge commotion. People stopped paying attention to the bride and groom and were staring and pointing at us. EVERYONE wanted their picture taken. One group wanted us to come stand right up front and watch the bride and groom get married. It was all so nice and so incredible to experience but I felt terrible that we were taking away from the couple.

We finally arrived in Vellore Sunday night. It was quite difficult finding the place but we finally did. The hostel that was recommended to us was a bit more rustic than we had anticipated but apparently this is in fact the best place to stay in vellore (I am scared to know what the other places are like).

Alright, well I am tired of typing for the day. I will write later about my first week in the hospital. I already have so much to tell after just 2 days.

Jacq