Goa

My first weekend in India included a trip to the province of Goa. It is a small province just North of here known for its beautiful beaches and tourist friendly attitude. My new Dutch friends Sara, Thijs, Inge and I took the 4pm train Friday afternoon. We had a little trouble figuring out what class we were supposed to sit in but ended up in a car near the front. We didn’t have window seats but I enjoyed the view of the countryside and the sunset. Four hours later we arrived at our destination and hired a Rickshaw to take us to the beach. After a delicious dinner we set off to find a place to stay eventually settling on a place called Dylan’s were we rented two rooms for 700 rupees a night each. I was awoken by a phone call at 5 am when Thylbert, who is French and has been in Manipal for many months, joined us after taking the midnight train. The next afternoon Thomas, another Dutch guy who had just finished his rotation, joined as well.

We spent the next day not doing much of anything. I had breakfast at Dylan’s in the morning and spent the rest of the morning either swimming in the Arabian Sea or lying on the beach in the sun reading. There was a sand volleyball court located just in front of our huts. Early in the afternoon some guys started to play and invited me to join them. I did a little bit of shopping that afternoon and got a new bag, some loose breezy black pants and a dress from Desigual. Desigual is one of my favorite designers. They are based of Spain and normally their clothes are very expensive. However, the clothes are made in India and the stores here sell the clothes for about one fifth the cost.

That evening we all had dinner together before heading over to the silent disco. For those of you who have never heard of a silent disco let me explain. Everyone is given a set of headphones when they walk in the door. This particular one had three different DJ’s and you could tune your headphones to whichever one you liked best. Typically when you take the headphones off everyone is dancing but there is no music. It was really fun.

The next morning I again had breakfast and spent the morning on the beach. That afternoon Sara, Inge and I walked over to the small island on the far side of the beach. On the way back I stopped at the Desigual store again and bought another dress and a shirt. Sara (who plays club volleyball in the Netherlands) and I joined the same group of guys for another game of volleyball. We all ate as a group one last time before the five of us got in a taxi and headed to the train station. Thomas was staying in Goa for the next two weeks to relax before heading home.

The train was over 2 hours late but we found our way to the sleeper class. We slept on and off and thankfully did not miss our stop. Since I got in after my midnight curfew, I had to sign in and say the reason why I was late. I guess usually there is a fee but I did not have to pay it this time. The rules at the hostel are pretty strict. No visitors, no cooking in the rooms, no tv or music, midnight curfew and if you will not be there for a night you have to tell them where you are going. The hostel I am in is pretty nice. I have a single room with an attached bathroom and A/C. However there is no common room and almost all of the other foreign girls are in the next dorm over.

The rest of my week was less eventful. I spent Monday, Wednesday and Thursday collecting data for my project. Tuesday I went to a school where they were collecting data on obesity, diabetes and hypertension trends in adolescent and teenaged children. On Friday I had asked to see the emergency room and how it worked here. Instead, in the morning I joined them for ICU and women ward rounds. It was a good experience as I got to see cases of leptospirosis and organophosphate poisoning. However, it was difficult to follow what was going on. Although all rounds are done in English, the Indian residents tend to speak very softly. A group of about 10-15 students joined us halfway through and made it even more difficult to see and hear what was going on. One strange thing about the hospital here is there policy on shoe wearing. If you are going into the ICU or operating room, you must take off your shoes and either put on a pair of provided flip-flops that everyone shares or go barefoot.

That afternoon I did go to the emergency room for a couple of hours. There were a few cases of poisoning that came in. Apparently one of the most common forms of attempted suicide here in India is herbicide poisoning. It is widely available and very fatal. I did not get to see very much and in general they would not let me see what was going on or tell me what the patients were coming in with. I sat in the corner for a while and looked up some things on the computer about the herbicide poisoning. I left after I couldn’t find the resident that I was supposed to be following. I would like to go back and see the whole emergency room as well as their separate trauma bays.

On Saturday I went to an HIV conference in Mangalore. The speakers were very interesting and it was really nice to see how the programs and management in India compared to those in the United States. I will say though, that I felt very out of place. I was the only foreigner in the room. At lunch we had a typical Indian meal. I do like Indian food but I am still unaccustomed to the way they eat. We had our meal standing. Most Indians eat with only their right hand and no utensils. Afterwards you wash your hands.

Today I attempted to go to a waterfall with Inge, Thijs, Sara and our new German friend Eli. It is located in the eastern part of Karnataka province and we got all the way to the national park gate before being told it was closed. We went to a few temples in the area and then drove back. Tonight we will have dinner and tomorrow I will collect more data from the clinic. Thank you all for the words of support and encouragement. This has not been the easiest trip that I have done but I am glad that I am here. You can only grow if you are pushed out of your comfort zone, and I have been very uncomfortable here!