November 2007 – pseudoisaac

India Day Ninety-Six

Dear friends and family,

It’s been a while since I’ve updated! First off, congratulations to my sister Rachel and her husband Troy on what we now know is a girl – I can’t wait to get back there and see how she’s coming along.

Anyway, my first three weeks at Vector Control Research Center have come with many, let’s say, “frustrations”. But the major redeeming aspect thus far has been this: field visits! My adviser (a clinical doctor) and two technicians and I have been driving out to a village outside Pondicherry to take blood samples and obtain questionnaire answers for my project. Because of religion/superstition (what’s the difference?), it’s really hard to get poor rural people here to give you blood, even when we give them vitamins and drugs for their filariasis problem in exchange. And the presence of Whitey with his clipboard (me) doesn’t help. But most people consent and it’s very interesting to see how they live out there.

So in other words, my project is exciting! It involves filariasis, another one of those things you just can’t see as a student back in the U.S.

Pondicherry is fun, too. Somehow it’s even less cosmopolitan than Chennai, so we are constantly reminded we’re outsiders by all the staring and leering. But the French Quarter is nice and we even found good pizza – in two different places at that. And there is an excellent little French bookshop since the place used to be a French colonial HQ.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, all nine of us managed to rendez-vous here at VCRC for a little celebration! We sort of failed at making the pasta, but pulled off a great dessert.

As for the gym membership, it was definitely a good investment. And for those on my mailing list who have been to India, the answer is yes, the men stare at me even while I am working out.

So what’s next? Two more weeks of my project (I am now going to do lab work on those samples and then do a brief presentation to my advisers), then, Goa! We’re taking the train to the beach district of Goa for a last hurrah here before going home on December 20th.

And that will be my experience in India. I’m really starting to want my life in the U.S. back, but I already know I’ll miss the dhosa, idly and tea and biscuits!

Ever your loving,
Isaac H.

India Day Eighty

Dear friends and family,

We’ve made it to Pondicherry! Now Caitlin, Lauren and I are beginning our second (and last) five-week research project of the semester at Vector Control Research Center. And like my bird survey at Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, it looks like it will be another experience that I can only have in India. The reason why is this: I will be doing a little project involving filariasis, aka elephantiasis, a tropical disease that’s a big problem in some parts of India (google it).

Today I spent the morning in the clinic with one of the doctors here interacting with patients with the swollen filariasis legs that I’ve only see in pictures. My project will involve developing questionnaires on patient hygiene and also some lab work on the bacteria that often make this condition worse. It’s such a unique opportunity and my mind is just racing with the desire to make the most out of it. This is exactly what I wanted from this semester: a project involving the wildlife in this beautiful country; and a project involving patient contact with people afflicted with tropical disease. This is what I want to do with my life and when I send off those medical school applications, this is what I will talk about!

Anyway, that’s what’s going on now. Since I last updated, travel break has ended. We made the most out of those two weeks: a moving kathakali dance (by all means google it!), a backwater boat tour, a tea plantation visit, and best of all, a nine-hour trek through Periyar Tiger Reserve.

The trek was the highlight of my travel break. The four of us started at eight in the morning and saw barking deer and black langur monkeys within minutes. By noon we had made it up a 1000-foot mountain and taken in some of the breathtaking beauty of the Indian rainforest. Our guide seemed to know everything and the armed guard carried a huge gun in case of elephants, which is a good thing since we came across fresh dung. But then it started raining and elephants seemed like a distant concern compared to the dozens of leeches crawling up our bodies. That’s right. Leeches. They were bad enough when it was dry, but when the afternoon monsoon rain came they went on the march, crawling up from the ground onto our shoes and up our legs. I pulled two leeches from the base of my neck, and I made one leech a very happy, blood-engorged leech… until I pulled it from my back and popped it! Okay, I’ll stop.

In other news, the Indian food has finally started to get to me, so you may all be hugging a softer, squishier Isaac when I get back around Christmas. The problem is, South Indian food is really soupy, and the way you eat it is by taking a big scoop of rice with each bite in order to sop it all up. But it’s so messily delicious! Then again, I may be able to avoid turning my body to cookie dough since I just joined a gym near where we’re staying. Three-hundred rupees a month, why not?

I hope Thanksgiving is wonderful there – we might put on a little celebration of our own since we get to cook for ourselves here. But I’ll be thinking about the fam! Have a great holiday and know that I miss you.

Again, I am ever your loving
Isaac H.

India Day Seventy-Two

Dear friends and family,

Travel break has begun! Our group now has two weeks to make a feeble little attempt to see something of this subcontinent, but as always it’s just too much to take in (like drinking from a fire hose). A few days ago we stayed in Agra, just a few hundred feet from the gates of the Taj Mahal which we saw too.

Two weeks ago Jamie and I said our good-byes to all the people at the field station at Mudumalai who have helped us with our projects, and we spent the next few days in the Bangalore campus of the Indian Institute of Science for a little research on our projects before setting off on our well-planned break. Bangalore was such a nice place, posh and less congested than Chennai. Great bookstores, too! And the PhD students from the Institute were incredible about showing us around the city and helping us do last-minute work for our reports. I have good reason to suck up because some of my new Indian friends are now on my emailing alias!

After all that we met with three of the others and took the long train to Agra – about thirty hours in all. It was a novel experience for me: the central Indian countryside, vendors hawking all sorts of delicious greasy food, and big challenges to my personal hygiene. But I managed to shampoo, wash my face, shave and brush my teeth in the train bathroom so I think I passed some kind of test.

Anyway, we survived the journey and encountered the strange feeling of being a tourist instead of a visiting student. It seems like half the city was devoted to getting money out of the throngs of white Westerners walking about. Elsewhere, on the other hand, I felt more like an unusual and welcome guest. For some reason I’ve never felt more like an intruder here than in those really touristy places. I think it’s because I can tell how the whole place has been altered to accomodate the much-wanted tourist business. And it is definitely in the candid places (like long train rides) that I actually connect with people here, not so in the money-money-money places. Still, that and a little travel hiccup in making a rendez-vous with the others didn’t ruin the Taj – an amazing sight to see.

After Agra, Caitlin and Laura and I headed off to Mumbai on the train and saw the standard sights there (thank you Lonely Planet tourist guides). Unfortunately both my travel-mates are sick. But luckily I am with two quite exceptional women and we’ve improvised and adapted and overcome a lot of little challenges so far. Oh, and the others are exceptional, too:)

And now, Kochi! We’ve finally made it to beautiful Kerala and have been enjoying the old part of town (along with hundreds of Europeans, Australians and some Americans). I really enjoy the wet weather, the river boat excursion of today, and the nice little old section of town. But next is what I really love: Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. We’ll see this national park just at the end of the second monsoon season. I can’t wait!

As you might guess, this trip is like trying to do NYC, Chicago, Florida and San Fran in two weeks. But we’re trying our best! I’m already writing down all the places I want to go when I come back here some day. First though is my second research project, which I’ll start about a week from now!

Well, we’re off to eat something. Thanks to everyone who’s reading or responding!

Ever your loving,
Isaac H.