The Stares.

The rest of the day yesterday was spent chilling with Nicolette and Aruna on the CMC college campus. They gave us a tour of their $2 a night rooms, which weren't too awful except for the fact that they only have a ceiling fan. We also walked some trails on the campus and ran into four monkeys on trees. I went to get a closer look but one of them started peeing and so I backed away b/c I wasn't about to get my braids urinated on. For dinner we ate on the roof of Darling Residency, which is another hotel close to the hospital. I had some cashew gravy dish with chicken and rice, but I can't remember the name. It was really good also. The view and breeze from the top of the hotel was really nice. I felt for a moment that I was back in the states, but then the sounds of motorcycles and horns quickly got that vision out of my head.

Last night was another night of horrible sleep. I tried so hard to stay up until 11pm to help counteract this whole jetlag thing, but I think I fell asleep before 10pm. The I think I was in and out of sleep from about 2am on. When I did actually sleep I kept on having these weird dreams where I would hear a beeping sound or think the phone was ringing. Also Erica said during the night I kept on picking up the phone thinking someone was calling me. This is weird b/c in the US I never remember my dreams. So now I am starting to think that the mefloquine is causing these strange dreams and reactions since a side effect of the medication is very vivid or psychotic dreams.

Anyway, I finally jumped out of bed at 7am and took another shower in the morning eventhough I had taken one the night before b/c I still felt icky. I had Dosa for breakfast which is a traditional South Indian breakfast dish. It is basically a big crepe with different chutneys and sauces to dip it in and of course it tasted great. Then we headed off to the CMC college campus to meet up with Nicolette, Aruna, and Kathryn. Kathryn is from the January group and loved the India rotation so much she decided to stay another month. She gave us a quick tour of the campus showing us the different buildings and facilities the campus had to offer. Then we registered for our CMC rotation. I will be doing a week of ob/gyn, which they call OG here, one week of pediatrics, and one week of CHAD. CHAD is a rotation where you go out to the villages with the nurses and doctors as the round on the patients that are unable to make it out to the hospital. They also have an option through CHAD to visit the leprosy clinic.

We made our way back to town via the public bus. This was an experience: It is a pretty huge bus and they just pile as much people as possible on the bus as they make each stop. Luckily I got a seat and tried to clutch my purse close to me as possible for fear of pick-pocketers. I actually felt claustrophobic for a bit, which has never happened to me before. This is were the staring thing Indian people do was taken to another extreme. I finally realized that a lot of these people have never seen a Black person before so they love to just look me up and down. Eventhough they have people just as dark as me, they still have the long silky hair that is very different from mine, so I stick out like a sour thumb. And they way they stare is not in a nice way either. It is in a lets look at this strange dark alien person until she feels really uncomfortable. I have learned the trick to stop them form staring is to look them straight back in the eye. This usually makes them really uncomfortable so they quickly look away. Sometimes I just want to stick my tongue out and say "Booga, booga." I even got worse stares when we arrived at the hospital. Those of you who know me well, know how much I hate being stared at generally, so this is really hard for me to get use to. I am trying my best to just ignore them and focus on whereever or whatever I am doing.

We finally arrived at the CMC hospital and it is massive with people everywhere. We had to pay $100 to register for our rotation, then we met some of the people in the Development Office. They showed us this video about the purpose and mission of the hospital, which almost made me start crying. I may act like I am a hard soul at times, but I can cry at the drop of a hat if something sad happens or someone else starts crying.

After touring the hospital, we went to Chinatown which is some restaurant all the foreign workers at the CMC eat lunch at each day. I had the Dragon chicken and Nan bread and of course it was again yummy. I think I am going to gain some weight while here in India b/c I am constantly loading up on carbs. Aruna told me how Diabetes is a big deal in the Indian population b/c of the amount of sugar and carbs in their diet. For example, when you ask for tea they automatically mix in the sugar and milk in your drink before they serve it for you. If you ask them not to do this, it is a very difficult concept for them to understand. I think I am going to start spliting meals between people around me so I don't ge too fat. The portions are pretty small though in comparison to US standards so I am not sure if I will get full when I split the food.

After lunch, we went back to Ghandi street for some more shopping. It turns out that I am considered a L or XL here or plus size here. Isn't that crazy? They haven't seen nothing yet, they should see the people in SA. Then they will know true plus size. This time shopping was much better b/c Kathryn took us to shops that she knew had bigger sizes with cute options. I finally find good conservative clothes I can wear to work at a place called Jojos. He had the best stuff and is my new best friend since tailoring the clothes is included in the price. Later tonite we will be going to the international students' gathering at the CMC college campus. I am looking forward to meeting all the other students from other countries.

Pictures above:
1) The first picture is of the ceiling of Hotel Avana Inn. I think it such a cool ceiling and had to take a picture of it.
2) The second picture is of Erica and Nicolette taking a picture of the ceiling. I thought this was cute picture.

3) The third picture is of a autorickasaw.
4) This last picture is of four of us crammed into a autorickasaw on our way to the CMC college campus. I couldn't get Nicolete in the shot.