Quick Update!

Hello everyone! This is just a brief update before I head off for our Christmas holidays on Friday! Here is a summary of what I've been up to since my last post:

• Had an allergic reaction to my malaria tablets which resulted in a very itchy rash, an injection in my bum, lots and lots of tablets and a lotion which very clearly said 'anti-dandruff shampoo' on the bottle!
• Got proposed to by a man who said I look like Britney Spears. 
• Sent post home for the first time. Had to explain to the man in the post office that I did write the country on the envelope. Yes, Scotland is a country.. 
• Went to a water park with nearly 200 visually impaired children. A very tiring day but it was worth it because the kids were so cute and happy!
• Rediscovered how much I like Subway..
• Went to see the new Hunger Games film! Sooo good.
• Got asked to go for an interview at Dundee Medical School! Sadly due to the distance I won't be able to attend :(
• Got my nose pierced!

I think that is just about it. I am getting very excited for our holidays now! I can't quite believe it is December, it definitely doesn't feel like it's nearly Christmas. Here is a reminder of my address for anyone who wants to send me a Christmas card! Hint hint..

Megan Raistrick

Education Department,

L V Prasad Eye Institute,

Kallam Anji Reddy Campus,

L V Prasad Marg,

Banjara Hills,

Hyderabad,

500034,

Andhra Pradesh,

India.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR :D

HAMPI!

So last Thursday we set off on our first trip, since arriving in India nearly three months ago, to a little historic town in the southern state of Karnataka! This began with an overnight sleeper train which was quite exciting for the first time. I felt like I little kid going camping as we set up our top bunks ready for the night ahead! However, the excitement lasted about half an hour before I realised I was not going to get a good night's sleep. The whole compartment is open so there are about 70 people, most of them snoring, in the same carriage. Also people have to get off at different stops throughout the night so there were alarms going off all the time. And it was freezing! So overall, the experience wasn't great but it was worth it considering the price (£4 for a 500km journey)!

Train food!

When we arrived at 6.30 the next morning we were met from the train by loads of auto drivers desperate to take us to Hampi. This happened a lot over the next few days, they just followed us around trying to take us places, it was so so annoying! We went straight for breakfast when we arrived and I had two massive pancakes. So good! Then we set off to walk around the sights for the rest of the morning. It really was the most amazing landscape, I have never seen anything so beautiful! In one temple I got blessed by the temple elephant, the first elephant I've seen in India!

The Mango Tree restaurant!

Getting blessed by an elephant!

They tricked me into giving money for a picture..

Green coconut - so refreshing in the heat!

Banana tree!

The Lotus Mahal

The Elephant Stables

Bats in the underground temple!

When we went looking for our accommodation we were told that it had been knocked down. We thought this was a scam by someone trying to make us stay in their guest house so we kept looking. After being told this again by the next person we asked, we realised that our accommodation had indeed been knocked down. Someone called the guest house for us and found out they had relocated to a place across the river, outside Hampi. We weren't too keen to stay that far away from everything so we just decided to stay somewhere else which was only £3 a night! It turned out to be a really nice place with free wifi and a rooftop restaurant where we spent every evening! So we were happy.

The Funky Monkey Rooftop Restaurant

The Hampi bazaar was full of shops and stalls selling all sort of interesting things. This was another challenge for us because nothing has a fixed price, you have to haggle in order to get a good deal! By the end of the weekend I was exhausted from arguing over prices with Indian shop owners. But we did manage to get lots of nice things and the bazaar successfully managed to hoover up all our money on the first day! So we just went searching for the atm. Oh no, wait, Hampi doesn't have an atm. It seems crazy that a place which gets so many tourists and is so busy all the time doesn't have a cash machine! Also there are people everywhere selling postcards, there is a post box, but you can't buy stamps anywhere.. I think there is a business opportunity here, I might come back when I retire and open a post office!

On Saturday morning I got up at 5 to join a group from our guest house climbing a hill to watch the sun rise. Holly was supposed to come to but she's not exactly a morning person so she just stayed in bed haha! So me, a couple from Europe (don't know which county) and our Indian guide (who was very stoned) heading out in the dark to climb a hill. We didn't get very far before we were joined by other groups from other guest houses, all going up to see the sunrise. The climb was horrible at that time in the morning, the view was worth it though. Lots of monkeys came to watch the sunrise with us, which was cute until they started trying to steal our cameras and bags!

So cute..

..or not!

On the way back down the hill our guide took us into a cave where a man with a long beard, wearing only a cloth, made us tea on a fire! It was definitely the best cup of tea I have ever had.

The view from the cave!

We spent the second day just relaxing and eating nice food. And we went on a boat, called a coracle, down the river to see a few more sights. Then I dragged Holly down a deserted path and persuaded her to walk back over the rocks. We did get slightly lost but I think it's important for us to challenge our sense of adventure haha! That night I had the most amazing Thai curry in a rooftop restaurant which was run by a family from Nepal. It think it was the nicest food I have eaten in India! It's a shame it wasn't Indian food..

On our last morning we were feeling a bit emotional about going back to our canteen food so we went a bit over the top with breakfast. Our table included two bowls of porridge, a nutella pancake, two poached eggs with three slices of toast, two glasses of fruit juice, two cups of tea and one cup of coffee. The German people sitting next to us thought it was very funny! Then we came back an hour later for peanut butter toast.. The German people were still there, still laughing..

We then said goodbye to my favourite place I've ever been and got a bus back to the train station. We managed to get lunch near the station which cost us 15 rupees (15p) each!! I think it's safe to say it was not very hygienic.. But it tasted fantastic, some of the nicest curries I've had in India! Then we had to get back on the train which proved more difficult this time as it was scheduled to stop for two minutes. But we managed to get on in time! This train wasn't as nice as the last one :/ lots of cockroaches everywhere! And it was 5 hours longer than on the way here. I just assumed that it took a longer route which took more time, but oh no, the train stopped at one station for 5 hours! I still don't know why, but we arrived back in Hyderabad on time so it must have been a scheduled stop.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend, just what I needed after feeling a bit homesick last week! So it's back to work now for three weeks and then we head off for our December holidays. I can't wait!

Tanned feet!!!

International Education Week

So last week was International Education Week so myself and Holly decided to mark this for our Global Citizenship Award by doing some different kinds of lessons with our nursing students. The aim for the week was to get them thinking about the differences in some aspects of life between India and the UK and get them thinking about issues such as health, education, marriage and religion. I focused on health in one of my lessons by giving the students lots of facts concerning health issues and the healthcare system and they had to match them to either India or the UK. Some of the information was quite interesting, such as the massive problems with heart disease, diabetes and obesity in both countries. I then got them to make their own posters comparing different topics between the two countries. The idea was to get them thinking about serious subjects but most of them wanted to focus on the different kinds of clothes and food! I found myself explaining all the kinds of eggs we eat for breakfast back home to the utter amazement of the girls who couldn't believe how many different things we can do with eggs..

Last Wednesday John Fraser from Project Trust came to visit our project as part of his short visit to India. It was really nice talking to him about all of our experiences and also hearing about his trip to Nepal setting up a new project. I have decided I want to go to Nepal after seeing all his pictures! That day Holly was teaching a lesson on education and the differences between India and the UK so John and our Overseas Representative, Bharavi, were able to watch that and meet some of our students. I think the girls were very excited and interested in John, particularly as they thought he was from the Discovery Channel.. In the evening we all went out for an incredible meal. If this is the kind of food we get when PT staff come to visit then I can't wait for our Desk Officer, Tom, to come see us in February!

Sunday 17th

On the 3rd of November it was Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. Our overseas representative invited Holly, me and two other volunteers in Hyderabad over to his house to celebrate. This festival is basically like bonfire night to the extreme! Everyone buys their own fireworks and sets them off in the streets. We sat on the roof of the apartment block where we could see the whole city and the hundreds of fireworks all going off at the same time. It was incredible! Then we joined everyone else from the building out on the streets and set off our own crackers and sparklers. This wasn't quite so enjoyable because it was insanely loud and I was stressing out watching the children setting off the fireworks! Yes, this is apparently normal practice here. It was also like walking through a war zone being on the street because it was impossible to know when and where fireworks were going to go off! And people didn't seem to think it was necessary to tell you they had just lit a cracker right in front of you. Later in the week I found out that the hospital we work in had over 50 people admitted on Diwali due to eye injuries from fireworks! We stayed at their house for the whole weekend and ate lots of delicious food. And we ate with our hands for every meal which was an experience for Holly and me because we normally get spoons. I had a great time but it was nice to get back to our hostel room, I was actually missing it after two nights away!

The following weekend we went to a wedding so it was another excuse to wear our saris! The wedding was very different to what we're used to and not at all what I expected. It took place in a massive function hall where people can watch and have dinner in the next room. The ceremony actually lasts for hours and hours so people just come and pay their respects, have some food and then leave. The bride looked so beautiful! I met a thirteen year old boy with very good English, who also spoke another four languages, and I spent most of the evening talking to him about random things. I'm fairly sure I secured an invite to his birthday party in January. We stayed the night with a lady who works at the hospital, her house was incredible! The bed was so so comfortable, I was very close to trying to smuggle out the pillow the next morning. I didn't realise how much I miss my nice, fat pillow back home.
The next day our host, who couldn't come to the wedding, took us to the temple where the bride and groom were doing some rituals that always happen the day after a marriage. It wasn't a great first experience in a temple, it was so dirty and there were flies covering the place. There was also an embarrassing cultural misunderstanding. Our host was telling us that at a temple they put some holy water in your hand which you drink and then wipe your hand on your head. So naturally when I was offered some that's what I did. Except it wasn't water, it was milk. Everyone was sniggering as our host informed me that people don't do that with milk because it makes your hair really sticky! Very embarrassing, next time I will let Holly go first.
After the temple we went on a boat to a Buddha statue in the middle of a lake. We met some middle aged men from Nottingham on the boat which was very exciting at the time, I think I'm getting white person withdrawal. Then we went to the Birla temple which is on the top of a hill and completely made of white marble. It was definitely the most beautiful thing we've seen in India so far! Due to 'security reasons' you can't take and electronics in so I couldn't take my camera so I spent the whole trip wishing I could take photos of everything! It was a very touristy day; we saw massive total of six other white people.

Our work at the hospital has increased drastically in the last week, which is great, so we don't get nearly as much free time anymore. I have been spending time observing in the patient care areas which has been really interesting, and now we are planning training sessions to teach staff how to interact better with patients. When I was observing in one of the reception areas I saw a patient grab the security man by the collar and slap him across the face! It was all very dramatic.
Last week I was in a stationary shop by myself, having a nice conversation with the man behind the till, and then he asked me to take him back to Scotland with me. He ruined what was a perfectly pleasant chat!
On Thursday we went to visit a secondary eye care centre in a rural village. This was very interesting as it was the first time we had left Hyderabad since getting off the plane. I spent the journey looking out the window to see exactly what I expected India to be like! Cows and goats everywhere, women picking plants in fields, women carrying baskets on their heads, roads too small for anything but a motorbike etc.. I'm not sure whether the trip was worth the journey as we just got a tour and had lunch and the drive took three hours there and back! But it was certainly good to see a different side of India.

Yesterday we Holly and I decided to go and see a Bollywood movie in the cinema near the hospital. Unfortunately we didn't realise that the film was released the day before so when we arrived 10 minutes before it started, the film was completely sold out. Luckily a man beside us had extra tickets so he sold them to us! When we went in we couldn't find our seats because it was pitch black and in India row A is at the back so we got very confused. We just sat anywhere but about 45 minutes into the film we got asked to move. Indian films are very long! They are at least three hours so you get an interval in the middle. I enjoyed the film but three hours is a long time to watch people talking a foreign language with no subtitles.

I don't think I have anything else to report just now! On Thursday we are off to Hampi for a long weekend so I'm sure I will have lots of pictures etc to share next week!