First to get sick

Well, I am officially the first student to get sick. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, only in that it could have been much worse!! I am to blame, as I shared food with my new intern friends twice, and both times it was purchased at the hospital canteen, and than sat around for 45 min while we continued to deliver babies and such. I had some antibiotics already, but my mew pharmacist friend thinks I may have Giardia, so I'll probably head to town for some flagyl.

I am much better today, as I proved by shopping a lot in town. I managed to spend a few thousand rupees, which trust me, is not easy to do. I actually had an excuse, as I brought scrubs to wear to work, since I would be doing OB Gyn and Surgery, but I did not read the instructions that said we have to wear Indian professional clothes to the hospital. That means no sleeveless, and no ankles showing, which has been a problem for me, as I brought really loose skirts and pants, but they are all a bit shorter than my ankles. The interns joke that they can always find me because my "little white feet" show from under the curtains dividing the beds. Which is a bit ironic, because my whole life my family joked about my "little indian feet" as my feet are somehow always significantly tanner than the rest of my body. Yes, we do wear sandals in the labor room, and yes, it leads to some gross close encounters with all kinds of unseemly things.

We headed to town today to check out the 500 yr old fort, which is made with huge stones easily equivalent to the size of stones of the pyramids, I have no idea where they mined them from, or how they got them to where they are. There is a huge, river-sized moat around the fort, as well as a very ornate Hindu temple, easily 10 stories high, with intricate designs all the way to the top. You can see the whole town and all of the mountains around it when you climb to the top of the fortress wall.

I am looking forward to getting back into the medical learning mode, as I missed a day and a half from being ill. I really think I will learn more in 3 weeks here than I ever could in 3 months at a regular US hospital! I can't wait to see what I learn next!