Marcy’s Blog

First week

Well, this has been a very interesting first week.  I have almost recovered from all the traveling and jet lag, except that I’m still fighting a cold I got last Wednesday.  I am getting used to the food and spices and I’m starting to find meals that I like.

This past week I worked in the electrotherapy department where they see up to 150 patients a day!  The staff were very busy so I found it difficult to treat patients by myself because they were never in the room constantly so I didn’t have anyone to translate if I was working with a patient.  I found that the best method was for me to shadow a therapist while they were working with a patient, ask questions, and assist them with the treatment.  On many occassions they would ask me what we do in the U.S. so I found myself teaching and offering new ideas to the PT.  I also was able to talk to some of the patients that did speak English to learn about thier families, home life, etc. and in return shared about myself too.  I enjoyed this very much because I was able to learn more about the Indian culture.  I have also been able to work with a couple of Indian students in the PT school here and have developed good realtionships with them also.  One of them lives in a hostel across the road from me so I’ll be able to meet her oustide of working in the department.

Besides meeting people from India I also have met and developed friendships with other international students working at CMC Vellore.  I have met students from England, Germany, Holland “the real one”, Canada, and America!  I spend most of my free time with them; we have gone shopping, we eat most meals together, and some of them live in my same hostel. Most of them travel on the weekends so I’m hoping to travel with them to a couple destinations.

 I am enjoying this experience so far, despite the heat and lack of air conditioning.  Everyone is very friendly and I’m adjusting to Indian culture.  This weekend I had my first experience shopping and bargaining for clothes and I’m not as scared riding in the autorickshaws (traffic here is crazy!)  The amount of people and poverty is still overwhelming and something new happens every day so I’m continuing to adjust.  This week I’m in the gymnasium PT department, where I’ll be working with patients who have orthopedic and/or neurologic diagnoses.  I’m looking forward to working here because they see patients for a longer length of time so I’ll be able to do more with the patients.  I also was suprised to learn today that of one of the girls from Germany has her birthday tomorrow too, so we’ll be going out together to celebrate! 

Thanks again for your prayers, continue to pray for my health and that I continue to develop good relationships with the people here.  I’ll continue to keep you updated and I’ll try to post some pictures this week!

Marcy