Hi Everyone!
Monday 8/27/2012 10:27PM (Vellore, India)
Since internet access is limited, blogging has been inconvenient but I do want to share India with all of you. I will work very hard to give you all the latest news on my trip in India đ
My day is from 6AM-8PM and this is not including homework so I am all drained out by the time I get into bed but every moment has been worth it. Let’s start with how last night went. When we got back from dinner last night it was hot so we left the AC on, which was a terrible idea because after midnight we were both freezing since our blankets were just bed sheet covers. I woke up with a bug bite on my ear, which was not bad because before we slept last night I killed a few little bugs crawling on our bed. I was so glad it didn’t itch too badly and luckily, I didn’t get another bug bite on my face. As for sleeping last night, I didn’t get much since it was my first night sleeping at new place. Growing up my mother never allowed me to sleep over at a friends or anywhere besides home so I have been very accustomed to sleeping in the comfort of my own bed. Thinking about it, this is the first time I have been away from my bed for this long. I have been sleeping all over the place for over a week now and every time we go to a different place it still takes me a couple of nights to adjust. Fortunately, it hasn’t been bad at all and I don’t miss my bed yet.. I am so thankful that I didn’t have to go through this alone and I have such loving friends that are here for support whenever I need them.
Finally, I have reached the topic of this blog post, my first day of school! Today breakfast was at 630AM; I had a banana and toast, I really wanted cereal but the milk here is room temperature so no cereal for me. I had tried several times to drink room temp. milk but I can’t do it. Anyway, I had to be at the bus stop at 715AM, the last bus to school, so if I ever miss this bus I won’t be able to get to school. (I can, but this is to be avoided at all costs) I thought that the metro buses in Seattle get jam-packed, this was at another level. Imagine Seattle metro rush hour times 10, because there are people who will ride the bus while standing on the steps of bus and load up next to the bus driver. After this experience I was ready for the full schedule ahead of me for the day, but if I wasn’t awake after that, we had another bus ride to the School of Nursing, which was another loaded bus, not elbow-to-elbow, but a full body alignment. Gettin’ cozy!
After that we received a lecture from the superintendent, the dean and the director of the nursing school couldn’t have been more welcoming. Their dedication to providing the best education and patient care is remarkable because of the tremendous amount of work they put into selecting not only the most intellectual students, but also the students with kind hearts and hard-working hands. I can go on for days about everything I saw at the hospital today, but just so you know how busy this hospital is they have about 4500 out patients a day. Lunch was special today because we ate at the canteen in the hospital, where we were able to speak with the patients and employees of the hospital. We met a son and father who taught us how to properly eat with our hands and shared with us their story on how they ended up at the canteen that day. Today has been so special because of the interaction with the locals and most importantly the first time getting a feel of how working abroad would be like. We ended the day with a tour of the hospital and getting our own ride home since buses don’t start until 430PM and we finished early at about 345PM. We broke up into groups of three and had to get our own rickshaw/auto ( very tiny 3 wheeled car) ride home. I don’t know why but I felt very comfortable getting into the street and started bargaining for rides back to the dorms, given I would have never attempted to even ride a taxi if I was in the states. We ended up getting an awesome deal of 60 rupees and had a dance party on the way home. haha our auto driver blasted Indian techno/rave music through his mini sub in the back, oh we had such a good time!  My day ended with group discussion and a delicious dinner made by our cook, Mr. Money. I can’t think of anything better at the end of the day than having chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream! đ
Everyday has been an adventure similar to this one, full of events and even more that I haven’t mentioned. I was afraid this would happen, where I would write a ton and get a little to lengthy with my comments. I hope this was easy to follow, I apologize  for being all over the place! It is way past my bed time at this point so I should head to bed. By the way, within the hour that I have been writing this I have found 3 different types of bugs on my bed, so wish me luck tonight with my new friends! I hope to have more updates soon, keep in touch:)
Eyes on the East 