A Day in the Life of

All is going well here. Dr. Balaji and I are still working on some of the training manuals. He is not readily available to answer some of my questions since he is finishing up his PhD thesis. But, we are almost finished with some of the training manuals. Although these are just drafts, more can be added later on. At least it's some sort of foundation to work from. After, we are planning to work on some of the SOPs for the microbiology department. I share a small space with Reena and John, in a molecular biology lab. Reena and John are working on a research project. The lab is small, no windows, but nice and has AC (most important).

I do miss the easy access to the internet. Many times I needed to find "just that one thing", but had to wait to get onto a computer that has internet access. We found it best if I make a list of things that are needed and then stay at the Big Bungalow to do the internet searches.

I did manage to do a bit of shopping. One of the girls in the microbiology department, Reena, came with me. Lucky because she did most of the "haggling" and I did get some nice things. Reena is very nice and she said that she will be my guide to go shopping around Gandhi Road.

Gandhi Road is just across the street from the hospital. It's one huge strip mall, with all sorts of goodies, material shops, phone shops (where you make phone calls), internet access places, sweets, clothing, jewelry, house wares, shoes, restaurants. You name it, you can find it on Gandhi Road. Of course getting across the street is another story. It requires one of those leaps of faith one must have if one is to get around on foot in India.

The weekend is fast approaching. There are several volunteers who are thinking about hiring a car and driver to go to Pondicherry, which is about a 3 hour drive from Vellore. We will be going for an overnight stay. Saturday is a good day because the electricity at the living quarters goes out for 3-6 hours. It's better to get off the campus and hang out someplace cool.

The weather is not as bad as I thought, but very hot nonetheless. There have only been a few rain showers since I got here, and those have been in the evening. The hot hours are from 11 - 3:30, so most stay indoors, or limit their outside activities. Umbrellas are great for shielding the sun while walking around during the hot hours. Although I do have to practice more on walking with an open umbrella.

That's about it for now. More to come!

Mary

Ah, technology, can't live with it and can't live without it. My computer is a bit on the "oh no" side and sometimes it just does not want to work. Sometimes it works, other times it does not. I hope I don't crash again. It is teetering on the brink of exhaustion. Today it took me 2 hours to finally start my computer without it being v e r y slow or getting stuck. I personally think it was the heat AND my computer is on Indian time. MANY Thanks to those who answered my emergency computer email!!

Thanks to all who write - I enjoy getting those messages. I wish I could really answer everyone individually, but sometimes, it's hard to get the "air time" on the internet. But I do thank you for all you letters.

Work continues here. We are now starting on some SOPs for the Microbiology and Virology departments. Mrs. Shirley David, the person who is in charge of all the volunteers, asked if I could look at her orientation program and make suggestions as well setting up something to help her keep track of who is coming and going. Actually, Shirley would like to know what to do, but her assistant, Johnson (Rigo's counterpart) will be doing most of the work.

Although CMC has all the MS applications, not many use OUTLOOK or know how to fully use MS Word, Power Point and Excel. I am planning to do a demonstration on how to use some of these applications using one of the LCD projectors from another department.

Several of the volunteers really did hire a car and go to Pondicherry for the weekend!! Pondicherry, about a 3 hour drive from Vellore, is a coastal city founded by the French. It's sort of a beach resort-type place, something like Atlantic City, a boardwalk, beach, boat rides, "international" restaurants, resort hotels, etc.

Our journey began around 8:00 AM when our driver, Charles, came to pick us up. There were three of us, Anandit, the Indian girl who is studying in the States, Paul from the Netherlands and me. So off we went, enjoying the scenery. We passed some huge mountains that looked like a bunch of stones/boulders placed on top of one another to form a pyramid-type mountain. I was VERY tempted to stop and remove one of the rocks from the base to see what would happen....I was SOOOOO close to doing that, when I thought about a stack of cans in a grocery store. We passed towns and farms. Right in the middle of nowhere, there would be bus station that has coffee shop, telephone "booths", restaurant and general store. There was always singing and dancing while waiting for the bus to arrive. It appears to be THE place to hang out. I don't know where all the people came from, but at each bus station there would be about 15 people, all trying to get on a bus.

Just before we reached Pondicherry, we stopped at a town called Auraville. It's a town that was started in 1968 as a commune-type place working with mother-nature, where people from all over the world can come and work in the fields, do some handicrafts, and meditate. Yep, it's the 60's alright. 80 % of the people are foreigners, the rest are locals. One of the big attractions is the geodesic dome-type structure that houses the largest crystal ball in the world. The sun from the opening at the top of the dome comes through, hits the crystal and rays of light fill the room. One can meditate for months there. There are beautiful gardens, nice walking paths and trails. The other attraction is the restaurant where you can get a European type cuisine - tomato, cucumber and onion salad or a fresh veggie salad, or sandwiches, homemade breads and cakes etc. There is also a drinking basin where the water has been mega-filtered many times over. It was very good.

After we left Auraville, we headed for Pondicherry. Each of us had different places to stay. Anandit stayed with her friends, Paul at a hostel. I stayed at an upper end hotel called the Anandha Inn, which was very nice, clean, had AC, TV, a mini bar with ICED COLD drinks and a shower. The hotel had cable TV so I was able to watch part of Wimbledon - only thing is that the cable goes off around 11:30 PM and does not come back on until 8:00 AM the next morning - go figure. So for all this PLUS breakfast, it was only $34.00 and well worth it I may add.

We all met for dinner, but before then, I took a nice walk on the boardwalk and did a bit of shopping. The boardwalk, almost 2 miles long, was great. There were lots of people strolling around, many who were foreigners. There were vendors selling somosa's, cotton candy and popcorn as well as other local "fast food" dishes. I stopped to get some water and noticed that Pondicherry bottles its own water, just like a fine wine, you can get "Eau de Pondicherry". Ice cream is the dessert of choice, so there were plenty of vendors selling Good Humor bars. If I didn't know any better, I could swear I was in Atlantic City.

Afterwards, all of us met at a restaurant called "Rendezvous". It's sort of a French/Indian/Italian/Etc type place, and the décor reflects the same. Since Pondicherry is a coastal fishing town, fish is the best choice. The prawns and calamari, spaghetti and a tomato salad were delicious.

The next morning, I went to a park that has boat rides to the beach. That was very pleasant. The boat ride was about 20 minutes each way, and I did get a chance to stick my feet in the Bengal Sea. After the boat ride, I met up with Paul and Anandit at a beach resort called the Kailash. THAT place is gorgeous! AND $$$$$. Its located off the beaten trail, stuck someplace where you would not find it. It has a swimming pool, close to the surf and sand, great gardens beautiful rooms and a restaurant, which has the same sort of food as the Rendezvous. They also served French fries and hamburgers. The fries were great - didn't have the burger.

The last thing we did before departing was to go to the Sunday Market. It's just like the street fairs. Several streets are blocked off from cars and auto rickshaws (but not bikes or motor bikes) and all the shops put their wares on street stalls. One could walk around for hours looking at all the bargains ranging from house wares, material, shoes, handicrafts...just all sorts of interesting things to bargain and buy.

The weekend was very tiring and we were happy that we had a driver to take us back to Big Bungalow. That was a great trip! Hopefully I will get a chance to go back one more time.

Nothing big planned for this weekend. Just hanging around town and doing some local stuff. Perhaps rent an AC taxi to drive around for a few hours....

More to come....

Mary

PS. Thanks to all for helping me with my computer.

I always wondered why everyone wore flip flops, even to work, well, right after the storm and torrential rains, I figured it out....not good to wear sneakers in knee deep water.......

It's been a while since I last sent a message, as I had a some things to take care of that required my full attention.

Work is going well. I am giving 3 talks on how to prepare laboratory documents using MS Word, PowePoint and Excel. I will also give a talk to the pathology department on some guidelines for writing SOPs and laboratory procedures. The past two weeks were typical at the hospital in that I continue to help write training materials and SOPs. There are a number of students and faculty that are now coming around to see how they can improve their presentations and papers. So it was decided that I should present another talk on good documentation practices.

There are a few new visitors and volunteers at the hospital/college as well as some leaving. Last week, Anandit, the Indian girl left for Delhi, Anjun, a senior at a Singapore high school left this past week. Two weeks ago, another American, Melanie, a nurse practioner came. She is also working through Health Volunteers Overseas. Melanie was here until July 26th. Three young college aged girls from the UK came for a 6 week stay, and they will be working in speech therapy. There are also 2 Indian teachers from Rajasthan and an Indian Pastor, Charles Erwin, from Bangalore. I must say, it makes interesting dinner conversations! Actually, it's rather nice to have a mixture of people around the table. Politics and religion are not topics we discuss - cricket, tennis and football are the topics of choice.

Last weekend, Melanie, Anjun and I rented an air conditioned car for Sunday and went off on a day trip to see the sites. We stopped off at one of the temples about 85 km from Vellore. The place was huge. Next we were admiring some of the rock formations and found there was a fort built on top of the stone mountain. I don't know how they did that, but there is a fortress wall around the mountain as well. Across the street is temple built in the same manner, on top of the mountain. Here, you can walk up, what some say is 5000 steps, to the top and give the offerings. It is suppose to be an act of penance to walk up the stairs. We were going to do it, but decided not to....it was too hot (or so we say!!??). Well, we drove around and the next thing we knew, we were in Pondicherry! (It is getting to be one of my favorite spots.) We went to a restaurant called Le Café, not bad food - faux French and Indian cuisine. THEN we had the driver go directly to the beach. It was nice to see the Bay of Bengal and to feel the breeze. All in all, it was quite a nice Sunday sitting in an air conditioned car being driven around to check out the sites.

This past weekend, Melanie and I went to Chennai for a weekend stay. We stayed at the YWCA International Guest House on Saturday. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the Y was a very nice place to stay. The rooms were very clean, AC, shower and breakfast (Western and Indian). All of the common rooms, one on each floor and the lobby, had TV, newspapers and telephones. Not all areas had AC, but fans that kept the air circulating, so one did not feel the heat and humidity. The area around the Guest House was enclosed and guarded, so it was very safe. I was amazed that most of the hotels around here do not have a check-in or check-out time. The check out time is 24 hours after you check in.

After we checked in, we went out to dinner ....and went to PIZZA HUT! The menu was almost the same as in the States with the exception of tandori pizza, which we did not taste. A touch of home when one is far away.

The following day, we hit the streets to do some serious shopping, as there were sales of 10 -50% off on some items...move over Bloomies! We were told that Chennai was the place to shop and they were right. We went to Chennai Silks, which is a department store that sells saris, saris, saris, saris, saris, saris (ranging from 100 Rps to 35,000 on up Rps [$2 - 780 ]), ready made and tailor made for women, men and children's cloths. The store has a place in the men's department where one can rent the wedding outfits so they, the men, can look like princes - hats and all. We saw several young men try on some outfits as well as the turban-type hats. That was quite a treat to see. After spending $$$ at Chennai Silks we hit the road side stalls of T-Nagar road, where you can get anything you want, a mall called Spencer Plaza and a 5 floor jewelry store. The particular jewelry store we went into had pieces that ranged from inexpensive pieces (a few 100 Rps) to 24K gold, pure silver, platinum and some unbelievable antique pieces. Once the car trunk was FULL OF PACKAGES, we left Chennai for Vellore.

Now it's Tuesday, July 27, and I can't believe that I'm half way with this fellowship AND that it's almost AUGUST!!??

I sent some pictures for the Global Health Fellows web site yesterday. I hope they will reach the states by the end of the week and be posted by next week.

Not much happening this weekend, so I thought I would write and let you know how my time is usually spent.

Actually, my day starts by turning the water heater on for a shower (?!) in the morning. It usually takes about 15 minutes for the water to heat up. Sometimes the shower head works and a nice spray of water will come out, other times, the shower head gets clogged and then you need to fill the buckets for the quick splash.

AND for most mornings, the fruit lady arrives at my door at 6:45 AM, knocking and calling out to see if I would like to get some fruit. She waits outside my door until I come out. Sometimes she pretends to go away, but I know that she's just hiding. It's the same conversation, she tries to sell me mangos and bananas for 150 Rps each and I say no, to expensive, then she gives me two mangos and I give her 20 Rps. One time I asked if she had change for 100 Rps. Sure she nods.....then gives me 50 Rps back, gives me a blank look and then snickers away....I know she didn't give me the correct change and she thinks she got away with something...ah, sly little devil!!

Breakfast is served at the Johnson house, where the first one that comes in usually turns the electric kettle on for tea or coffee (I've been drinking tea, as I don't particularly care for instant coffee) and puts some bread in for toast. It works out fairly even. Sometimes we have Indian breakfast and other times we have cold cereal, eggs, or Bombay toast (French toast). Then off to catch the bus.

Since we, the volunteers, stay on the college campus, we take the CMC bus to the hospital. It's like taking the express bus to NYC. That's nice. We also take the bus back as well, unless we do something after work.

I work on the 3rd floor, which is called the second floor because the first floor is the 0 or ground floor. I did get a bit confused the first time I got here. There are no elevators near by, so I walk up two flights of stairs to the labs.

Air conditioning is a luxury at the hospital, so it's used mostly for patients, operating rooms and rooms with essential equipment. None of the executives, faculty or staff has AC, just fans. When I first came to see the Director, Dr. Mary Mathews I saw a number of beautiful paperweights on her desk and thought she collected them, but no, it was to keep the papers in place when the fans were on.

The AC gods were kind to me because I was assigned a space in the molecular biology lab which has AC!!

During the first few weeks that I was here, I was sort of on my own because Dr. Balaji was finishing up his PhD. Dr. Balaji wants the microbiology department to be on the cutting edge of technology in that he wants training materials, SOPs and other documents to be posted on the departments' intranet site. He also wants to make sure that the micro lab gets accredited. So, for the first few weeks of my assignment, I was preparing some training materials and assessing what the department had, what was needed, what was needed immediately and what can wait.

Recently, I spoke on good documentation practices (I saw large quantities of white-out in each lab and other facilities), how to assess what documents are needed in the lab, how to use powerpoint, excel and word. The interesting thing is that most will not ask questions during the presentation, however, afterwards, there were lines of students and faculty outside the lab door all wanting to know about presentations, documentation, how to set up some databases, etc. It was hard in the beginning because if I asked a question, like how many are familiar with a particular application, no one would respond. So now, even though I went through some of the basics, the students want to know more. By the way, I was the first person to use the departments' NEW LCD projector!!!!

I also spoke to the Pathology lab. They invited me back to speak again to help them assess their needs as well - so we are going to have a "brainstorming" secession.

Anyway, the hours are from 8:00 - 4:30 with a 30 minute lunch break, Monday-Friday and on Saturdays, 8:00 - 12:00. Some of the volunteers don't work on Saturday. Sometimes I go in, other times not. Saturday is the day that I do research on the internet at the Big Bungalow and that saves time during the weekdays.

We do take breaks and there is the YWCA Canteen that serves meals and snacks. Sometimes I go over and get an egg puff. I have become addicted to those things. It's a hard boiled egg with nice spices wrapped in a croissant-type pastry....move over egg mcmuffin!!

Dinner is served at 7:00 at the Johnson house. Since there is a TV in the common area, whoever gets there first is the controller of the remote. It's rather funny to see "Friends" and "Home Improvement" in English, and "Men in Black" in Tamil. There is the big play off cricket match and India is playing Sri Lanka. The Rev. Charles did tell me about how cricket is played as we were watching one of the matches. Something tells me that he will be the controller of the remote during the play offs.

I forgot to mention last time that a few weeks ago the college held an event called PEGAUS, which is a collegiate sports event. All the colleges compete in various sports like basket ball, volley ball, cricket, etc. There was a rock band, dancing, food court and corporate sponsors. Actually, I was by the main gate using the telephone booth, when I heard "We will rock you" and "Hotel California". Then, bus loads of students, mostly in jeans and t-shirts were headed towards the festivities. For one split second, I had deja vue and forgot where I was. So, you know I had to check out what was going on. In the main auditorium, a concert was taking place by some well known rock person - lots of singing and dancing. Outside, a band was setting up and doing some sound checks and western rock was blaring in the back ground. Corporate sponsors had tables with information about their products. But the thing that struck me was that there was a food court serving "crispy French fries and juicy fried chicken". I then waked over to watch the girls basketball game, which was played on concrete courts (ouch the legs), and actually were not that bad. While watching the game, several students (?) were selling popcorn, candy and drinks, just like Madison Square Garden!

As for the volunteers, Melanie, the nurse practioner from the US left this past Monday, the two teachers from Rajasthan left over the weekend, a new person, Florence, from the UK just arrived two days ago. So that makes 2 girls from Ethiopia, 4 from the UK, 1 from US and 1 Reverend. What a group.

Good news for the CMC Microbiology Department. Dr. M. K Lalitha won the Dr. B.C. Roy national award for medical teacher in Microbiology and was presented the award by the president of India. She was beaming as the entire faculty, staff and students went to congratulate her. I must say, it was a very well deserved award.

There are a few changes in the volunteers. The Rev. Charles left and will now stay at St. John's Church at the fort, where he is now pastor. I miss his cricket commentaries while watching the matches. A new UK girl, Emily came this past Saturday. She is a friend of Florence, who is also staying here. I feel a bit outnumbered with 5 UK's to 1 US.

The other day, there was a huge function at the Big Bungalow, with about 200 people having dinner. I felt rather bad for the cook, Mani, who had to cook and feed all of them India type food...I'm really glad I don't have his job! Can't call Pizza hut or Boston Market!

A few weeks ago, Florence and I decided to stay in Vellore for the weekend. We went out to lunch at a restaurant called China Town, where they serve good Chinese food as well as some Indian food. It was a nice change of pace. After lunch, we went around shopping for odds and ends. By the time we got back, we were tired as it was (and still is) rather hot. So we sat in the Johnson house, cooling off and watching TV. On Sunday, we went sightseeing at the Fort. It's really quite interesting as there is a church, temple and mosque within the fortress walls. There is also a small museum with some statute and other carvings. Nice place to visit. Lucky it was a bit overcast so that it was not as hot as it could be.

This past weekend, all 6 of us decided to go off to Chennai for shopping and sightseeing. So, we hired a driver with a larger vehicle, not as LARGE as a mini-van, that seats 7 people comfortably and off we went on Saturday at 7:30 AM. In Chennai, we hit some of the Emporiums, which sell Indian Handicraft items, Spenser Plaza for mall items as well as Pizza Hut for lunch. (There was a "SUBWAY" in the food court as well, but we didn't venture into it). Later we went to Chennai Silks and a jewelry store for sari's and lots of "bling bling". By then it was later in the evening and the crowds on a Saturday night were unbelievable!! AND there was a Hindu festival besides! Lot's of crowds, singing and dancing. So, we decided we would go to the hotel and have dinner instead. We stayed at a hotel called the "Hotel Himalaya", which was ok, the place was clean and had AC (most important). We returned to shop early on Sunday morning before the crowds returned. Between the 6 of us, I believe we have saved India's economy. Later on, we drove by the Marina Beach and decided we should stop and check it out. The sandy part of the beach was very long, and one had to walk a bit before you can dip your toes in the Bay of Bengal. Along the sandy portion there were a number of stalls selling "stuff" such as sandals, sea shell stuff, food, and other odds and ends. It was quite interesting to walk through. You can actually get your picture taken with a famous Indian movie star or politician. There was also some sort of swing-type rides for the kids. We finally got to the water and the waves were huge. Lots of people were dipping toes into the water, men in swim suits, women in saris. A few miles away from the swimming area was the Port of Chennai, with all the big ships in the berths. It was a sight to see. I had to laugh, when we were ready to leave, instead of telling the driver to take us back to Vellore, we told him to take us back home, instead.

The other day, Reena and John took me to a Veg restaurant near the hospital called Saravana Bhavan (nice, clean, AC room and good food). We ordered a "limited" meal, which consists of a number of side dishes, about 10 in all, such as dhal, samba, curd, etc, served with rice (the unlimited meals you get all the rice you can eat). Not a bad deal. There, I was taught the correct way to eat with my hands. It was a bit awkward and not very graceful, I may add, but somehow, I got the hang of it. Lucky I had a print skirt on, that way you could not tell what fell on my lap! .... By the way, I was the only westerner in the place.

Time is flying by faster than most think. All of a sudden, there is a ton of work that has to get done before I leave. I don't know where it all came from!

This coming weekend, 3 of the UK girls and I will travel to Bangalore for a sightseeing visit....we shall see what we bring back!

More to come...

Mary

It's been very busy this past weekend. CMC had alumni(ae) weekend so it was jam packed! I think there were over 700 dinner guests during the course of 2 days. All the rooms on the college campus and Big Bungalow were filled with former students and faculty. On Friday night, there was a BIG dinner for about 300 people, Saturday was an afternoon tea, and then finally Sunday, a BIG, BIG, BIG dinner. Lot's of partying going on - singing and dancing. With this in mind, we volunteers (4 of us) decided to go away for the weekend.

We had a going away diner for Florence and Emily on Friday night. They left this past weekend to tour around India. We went to a nice roof top restaurant, at the "Darling" hotel. The view was great, although one could not stand close to the edge of the building, as there were lots and lots of shrubs decorating the area. Hmmm I guess this is to prevent any accidents? So there are only 4 of volunteers left at the moment.

OK, what does an American do on the Indian Independence day? Hang out with a few UK people.... Yep, that's exactly what I did. The three UK girls (Puja, Laura and Keeley) and I went to Bangalore, which is a 4 hour trip, for the weekend. So off we went early Saturday morning. Once we arrived in Bangalore, we checked into a very nice ($) hotel, although not by first choice. It seems that all the less expensive hotels were booked for the holiday. BUT, the cost worked out to about $15/person including a buffet breakfast - AC, TV, and a private western bathroom. Not too bad and well worth it.

I must say, Bangalore is a LOT cooler than Vellore...Oh, let's just say about 20 degrees cooler. SO instead of in the 90's and above, it's in the 70's. We actually had to use shawls to keep us warm.

As soon as we reached Bangalore, it was almost lunch time, so we decided to find a good place to eat. Since it was the holiday weekend, our first choice was busy with long waiting lines. We did manage to find a nice Chinese restaurant called the "Three Quarter Chinese", run by a nice Indian guy named Elvis (ahh yes, we did spot Elvis in Vellore and he did sing!?) Then off we went to do one of our favorite pastimes....shopping or just window shop what ever the case may be. Mahatma Gandhi Road (alias, MG Road) has great stores to shop. One of the girls, Puja, who is Indian, already bought around 10 saris and still looking for more, plus lots and lots of bindhis. There are lots of handicraft stores as well as sarees, sarees, sarees, sarees, sarees, and tailors, tailors, tailors, tailors. If the store does not say "fixed price" everything is up for negotiation. I am learning from some of the best price negotiators in Vellore. Although I am not nearly as proficient, I can hold my own.

After a good night's rest, we went to the Botanical Gardens. We arrived around 9:15 AM and the lines were not that long...yet. The gardens are BEAUTIFUL! When we first walked in there were a number of vendors selling India flags and pins along with the usual pinwheels, bubbles, popcorn, nuts, ice cream, etc. So, we each bought a flag. As we were walking around, there were a number of people who wanted to have their picture taken with us. I don't really know why, but perhaps it was because we were westerners. For one brief moment in time we felt as if we had the paparazzi following us. Ah, celebrity! We walked around the gardens, looking at some of the huge banyan trees, topiaries, and flowers...as a matter of fact, there was a flower show a few days earlier, so we got to see the entries and results. By the time we left the gardens, the lines to get in were at least 3 city blocks long. It is at this time when one can really appreciate certain things in life, AC is one of them, and a car and driver is another. Lucky for us our driver found a space close to the entrance of the Botanical Gardens, so we found him or I should say he found us, right away.

By the time we finished sight seeing and shopping, it was time for us to leave. We didn't want to start back to Vellore too late because of all the celebration going on. So we got home around 8:00 PM, which was fine by us as we were very tired. I presume not nearly as tired as the driver.........

The celebrations around Vellore were not as loud as the US Independence Day. No fireworks, just lot's of partying, picnicking, and playing. Lots of people were in the streets and parks just having a good time.

On Monday I gave a presentation on "Good Documentation Practices" and how to "Brainstorm".

The weather has been very hot and humid. For a few weeks, it was fine and it got relatively cool in the evenings, now, it's back to HHH. It's rather difficult to sleep at nights.

A new volunteer from the States arrived on Wednesday. She's a naturalized US citizen originally from India. As soon as I find out how to spell her name, I'll let you know. She's very nice. As a matter of fact, all the volunteers are going out to dinner at "China Town" tonight (Friday). That should be fun.

This weekend, just the UK girls and I will be venturing out on Saturday for a day trip to Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram for some sight seeing. The two cities are known for their Temples and silks. Can't wait to get into that AC car and be driven around ALLLLLLL day!!

I met with Shirley David...and both of us can't believe I only have a few more weeks to go! The time went by very fast! Shirley is a very nice person and we are going to get together next week for one last time.

That's all for now,.....more to come...

Mary

The weather is changing and now it's getting rather HOT! I figure when the locals complain about the heat, it MUST be HOT! The best thing to do right now is to stay inside with the fans on or find an AC room and relax.

This past weekend the UK girls and I went on a day trip to the coastal city of Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram, which is about a 2 hour trip from Vellore.

Kanchipuram is noted for their silks. So we went to a local silk house to watch them weave saris and other material. The guide explained that it takes about 35 days to make the first sari, as the weaver needs to set up the loom, and then 10 days for the next 2. They only make 3 saris of the same pattern and color at a time. According to the guide, there are 2 demonstration looms near the showroom and that particular silk house has about 800 looms throughout Kanchipuram. Of course we had to go into the show room to see what type of goods they had. Well, there is a long counter for to spread out items such as scarves, shawls, table cloths, etc. and very large white cloth covered cushions on the floor to display the saris. We took a peek at the saris just because we wanted to see the woven cloth spread out on the cushions. No, we did not buy any saris! OK, perhaps a scarf, but no saris (they were priced at $700US and up). Next we stopped at a local cotton house to see the cotton weavers. The cotton house was not as elaborate as the silk weavers, but produced some very nice material. We did not go to the showroom as it was closed for the day. We also visited some of the temples which were about 900 years old. They were very beautiful and well kept.

Our next stop was Mamallapuram, which is noted for their stone carvings and many temples. There were two temples of special interest, one was the 5 Rathas and the other, Shore Temple. Both are about 1000 years old and are still being excavated. While we were there, the workers were still removing some of the sand around the buildings and monuments. Around the area were other temples that were carved into the mountain of stone. I'm not too sure how old those temples were. On one of the streets, there was a row of stone carvers, carving all sorts of things like animals, pillars, decorative blocks, etc. I was going to buy a pair of life size elephants to put in the garden, but they didn't fit into the suitcase...The city of Mamallapuram is on the coast and is sort of a resort area. There were many bus loads of tourists all looking at the temples as going to the beach. The beach was beautiful, but it was a very long walk to the water, and since it was very hot, we decided that we would skip dipping our toes into the Bay of Bengal. We had a very nice lunch at a veg restaurant called the Golden Pallet. No Elvis, but good food.

Tuesday all the volunteers celebrated Puja's birthday. We decided to get all dressed up. Puja and the new volunteer, Nanandi, helped us get "wrapped" in our saris, put the flowers in our hair for our night on the town - dinner at the Darling Veg Restaurant (it had AC). We went to the Big Bungalow to get auto-rickshaws and when we walked in, all the help were giving us big smiles and laughing. One of the women had to made sure our saris were put on correctly as she made us turn around as she checked us out.

I met with Shirley David on Monday night. She invited me over for dinner with the family. She will be going on vacation next week, so we had to say our good-byes. It was kind of sad. I will miss her.

The microbiology staff took me out to lunch at the Darling Restaurant - yes, it is THE place to go for a nice fancy meal. It was very nice and I appreciated the thought. I was asked back, which I thought was very nice. One day I hope to return. Funny thing, on my first day, I thought "What am I getting myself into" and now I think, "I wonder when I can get a chance to come back".....

Dr. Balaji and I are trying to tie up any unfinished business, so we've been very busy.

This week there are lot's of changes. Puja left today (Thursday) to go to Delhi, the other UK girls, Laura and Keeley, will leave for Karalla tomorrow evening via train. Nanadi is off to Bangalore for a long weekend to visit her friend. I'll be "Home Alone"! BUT..........I made arrangements for an AC car for allllll day Saturday and will take in some local sites that I missed while I was here. Sunday I will venture down to the Fort to say my goodbyes to Rev. Charles and others I have met.

Things are winding down and I can't believe I have only one more week left.

One more to come....

Mary

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September 2, 2004

I waited until I came back to finish writing and to send this.........This was started on September 2.

Well, I can't believe my assignment is over!!! This past week, I have had some mixed emotions of "I can't wait to get back home" to "I can't believe I'm going".

This past Saturday (Aug 28), I did hire a car and driver to do some last minute sight seeing around Vellore and to take pictures of places that I missed. I visited a few local temples and visited a hill top resort called Elagiri Hills, which is about 3 hours from Vellore (it seems everyplace is about 3 hours from Vellore). In order to get to this resort, you had to drive up a very steep, windy road that would put the Lombard Street in San Francisco to shame! (I will admit that I had my eyes closed and holding on to the seat for most of the trip up the hill) BUT once on top, there is a beautiful resort with fancy hotels, swimming pools, tennis courts, fine dining, a beautiful lake with boating, and a small but beautiful botanical and herbal garden. This garden is run by a gentleman who knows what every herb is used for, whether it be medicinal or for flavorings. The best part is that the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler than below with a nice breeze. I finally arrived back at the Big Bungalow around 5:00 PM, which was a nice time to get back, as the electricity came back on after being out for most of the day.

I did have to get an extra suitcase to pack all my goodies from India!

On Sunday (Aug 29), I went for visits and then started packing. That's when it finally hit, I was leaving Big Bungalow and Vellore. As I was packing each item I bought, it brought back a flood of memories. It took me a few hours to finish.

The rest of the week was spent wrapping up the last minute items and saying good-bye to some very good friends...it was very hard. I was savoring each ride from Big Bungalow to the hospital, looking at the sights, the people, the surroundings, remembering the sights, smells and sounds of the area....

On Friday, Reena, John, Dr. Balaji and Dr. John Anthony and I went to Chinatown, one of my favorite restaurants in Vellore, for lunch. Ah, the final good-bye.

What will I remember about Vellore? The weather? Starched sheets? Turning on the hot water heater? No AC? Power outages on Saturdays? Or will it be the people in the microbiology department, Johnson house and all the interactions between the volunteers, Big Bungalow Annex, the bus rides to and from the hospital, Gandhi Road, Long Bazaar, auto rickshaws, beeping horns, the sights and sounds. I miss everything.

For those who wish to volunteer in Vellore, remember, there is a difference between a New York minute and an Indian minute. Go with the flow, ride the waves, take everything in stride and laugh!

WOW, what a great adventure that was!!! I wonder what new adventure lies ahead? Signing off for now....until I return to Vellore CMC.

Mary

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