From the Himalayas to the Sierra Madres: Dehradun June 4, 2012

I have now been in India for almost 48 hours now, and it’s been amazing. And by amazing, I mean a little bit of crazy, loud, insane, HOT, but even more so beautiful, welcoming, peaceful, spiritual, delicious, and eye-opening.

I am living with two other interns, Zack and Callie in and Indian home. They go to the University of Kansas and the University of Minnesota. It’s nice having two other American students with me who are just as naïve and new to this country and its customs because it’s a whole lot less embarrassing and a lot funnier when you cross a cultural line or are unsure of what to do in certain situations.

My Indian mother’s name is Mrs. Sethi (prounounced say-tee), and she is incredibly nice, warm, and welcoming. Her food is delicious and she always has more to offer. I came into this trip thinking I would lose weight from all the walking, hiking, and the vegetarian diet. Unfortunately, I made this assumption not knowing that Indian mothers fervently offer food until the person eating outspokenly says, “No, I don’t want any more because I am soooo full.” She will then proceed to say over and over again, “okay, well take some more if you want because I have more.” I am still trying to get used to this but I know it is all out of the graciousness and warmth of her heart.

I had my first rotation with a general practitioner today, Dr. Kumar. He is a very knowledgeable and a wise man with tons of advice to offer. The people who come to him show the utmost respect for his service, while he intently listens to everything the patient says. One patient came in today and would not stop talking, yet he continued to nod and smile and show that he was listening. I asked him about patients who are constantly offering their thoughts and what they think the doctor should do. He told me to always listen to everything the patient says because it is the doctor’s duty to do so. He also said that one of the best forms of treatment and therapy is listening. I can think of a few other situations where this advice would be helpful (most of them include women).

Below are a few pictures of where I am staying this week, in the city of Dehradun. It is a very fast-paced and busy city with countless markets and very nice people. Getting place-to-place consists of hailing down a rickshaw or vikram, and taking it the 5 or so kilometers to the location. It takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes to get there simply due to the traffic. I have been to L.A. and New York, and the next time someone talks about their driving skills because of their abilty to drive in these locations, I think I’ll be reminded of the saying, “If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world.” I have no doubt that this is true. Hopefully you will be able to see a video I am uploading now that shows what it is like on the way to work in the morning. The drive included helping pull out our 3-wheeled auto-rickshaw out of a bottomless pothole that we drove into as well as scraping up against another rickshaw (which you can see a little bit of towards the end of the video).

Currently, I am sitting in an underground internet café that charges 10 rupees/hour. One US dollar is equal to 55 Indian rupees, so I’m being charged about 20 US cents to use this internet for an hour. The ride to work (7 rupees), costs me about 13 US cents. I think you get the picture that this place is amazingly cheap (considering how much I spent on pints with Jamie in England, I couldn’t be more pleased).

I’ve been stared at more here than anywhere else in my life (I know you’re probably thinking, “wow, that’s crazy because Clayton’s really really ridiculously good looking.” ;). Never before have I felt that everyone who drives/walks by me stares at me. But yes, a tall, white male walking down the poverty-stricken streets of a city not known well internationally is rare.

Unfortunately, not everything I’ve seen even in just a couple days can be put into words, pictures and videos. The faces, personalities, and culture that I’ve encountered have been riveting. That’s all for now, but hopefully I will be able to make it back in the next few days to talk again. I love and miss all of you dearly!

Clayton