So as I mentioned in our last post we are in Mussoorie, which is up in the foothills of the Himalayas. Although I am a girl from the Midwest who is used to flat land, I wouldn't let the term "foothill" fool you, these are mountains.
The views here are breathtaking and the culture is with a little less hustle and bustle than Dehradun which I really enjoy. The only problem I have with the area is the weather...it is cold. As India has no central heating and the hospital is made of stone, I literally wear every layer I own basically all the time. I am hopeful it will be warmer tomorrow, power of positive thinking.
The hospital is a christian missionary hospital and is really quite nice. We work in clinics in the mornings and then usually have the afternoons free which is great. The interesting thing about the clinics here is that female patients see female physicians and males see male physicians. This was not the case in dehradun, which is only 20 km away. I have no idea why. We are staying in the hospital, in rooms on the second floor, which at times makes me miss the coziness of my homestay last week, but our room really is nice (although cold). The good news is there are other med students from the UK there and they are just delightful.
The highlight of my day today (as we were feeling a bit down as it was cold and we were imprisoned by the rain) was visiting an American couple's home. They are both family med physicians and she is originally from India which inspired them to come back and do some work here. They have four beautiful children who they home school. They plan on living here until there oldest (now about 9) is a teen and will want a more structured social group. There we had a lecture by a woman from New Zealand who talked about her work trying to improve nutrition for children in India. Again, I began to somewhat idolize this woman. I certainly do not feel that international health is something that I could do long term although I wish deeply that I was the kind of person who could suck it up and do it. I just find these people absolutely inspiring, and they gave us fresh baked chocolate chip cake and hot cocoa :) oh how I miss chocolate.
I had a bit more written, and for better or worse it is gone now. There hasn't really been much exciting happening here and now I am off to dinner! Miss you all! Thank you so much for all the comments, you have no idea how much they brighten my day!!!
The views here are breathtaking and the culture is with a little less hustle and bustle than Dehradun which I really enjoy. The only problem I have with the area is the weather...it is cold. As India has no central heating and the hospital is made of stone, I literally wear every layer I own basically all the time. I am hopeful it will be warmer tomorrow, power of positive thinking.
The hospital is a christian missionary hospital and is really quite nice. We work in clinics in the mornings and then usually have the afternoons free which is great. The interesting thing about the clinics here is that female patients see female physicians and males see male physicians. This was not the case in dehradun, which is only 20 km away. I have no idea why. We are staying in the hospital, in rooms on the second floor, which at times makes me miss the coziness of my homestay last week, but our room really is nice (although cold). The good news is there are other med students from the UK there and they are just delightful.
The highlight of my day today (as we were feeling a bit down as it was cold and we were imprisoned by the rain) was visiting an American couple's home. They are both family med physicians and she is originally from India which inspired them to come back and do some work here. They have four beautiful children who they home school. They plan on living here until there oldest (now about 9) is a teen and will want a more structured social group. There we had a lecture by a woman from New Zealand who talked about her work trying to improve nutrition for children in India. Again, I began to somewhat idolize this woman. I certainly do not feel that international health is something that I could do long term although I wish deeply that I was the kind of person who could suck it up and do it. I just find these people absolutely inspiring, and they gave us fresh baked chocolate chip cake and hot cocoa :) oh how I miss chocolate.
I had a bit more written, and for better or worse it is gone now. There hasn't really been much exciting happening here and now I am off to dinner! Miss you all! Thank you so much for all the comments, you have no idea how much they brighten my day!!!
You seem to have a knack for finding cold climates! First it was Germany and now you've discovered a frigid part of India!
ReplyDeletePS I'm kind of glad you're only a temporary international health type, I'd miss you too much!
HI! I sent you an email today. Love your blog! Miss you!
ReplyDeleteSorry, you are so cold. Don't get sick. I love to read your adventures. You need some hot tea with rum.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
Christel -- it's Joe. I definitely agree about the hot tea and rum idea; I'll go out and get some tonight. I hope all is well back in the states, and I look forward to seeing you in Germany :)
ReplyDelete