Dehradun, India

July 10, 2011

The weekend in between Patti and Dehradun we hiked
16 kilometers up into the hills to a small tourist town called
Mussoorie.  While there I monkey attacked me and stole
my bag of bananas.

I’m back to real life after my amazing week retreat to Patti.  This week Chris and I will be in Derhadun (the main city in this program’s rotations) where we will be shadowing cardio, ER, homeo, acupressure and getting lectures from a very old man (90’s) on ayruvedic medicine.  The last group members said that they loved the doctor and he was a very good teacher. 

After getting back  into the city I checked my email and received my phone for the program.  Facebook exploded with different people with news from home (Jason!!) and more dreaded secondaries to fill out.  I’ve completed St. Louis, Boston U, Mayo, and Creighton but I just received Duke, Stanford and Loma Linda.  It’s a hopeless feeling having to write so much while I’m here in India away from home.  Except my amazing sisters and some friends have been helping me edit them a lot, which I am EXTREMELY thankful for.

This was during our hike.  It started raining and became
foggy because we were so high in elevation.

The way this month’s program works is the following:  there are 15 students split up into groups of 2 or 3.  Each group rotates weeks between rural villages and urban areas.  My group buddy is Chris, who is a “Wheatie” (goes to Wheaton College) just like my big sis Rachel.  He’s a great guy and we get along like we’ve known each other for years.  Anyways, about the program.  2 groups rotate at each site, each week which means I get to meet 2 or 3 new people every week.  This is nice because then I’m forced to spend more time with few people so I really get to know everyone really well.  So far I’ve met two 3^rd year Canadian girls who were really nice, 2 first year med students from Ohio, a med student from UCSF (top medical school in country) and another Canadian who has been to like 15 countries with a masters in neuroscience she got in Denmark!  Talk about an amazing group of people to inspire greatness!  Everyone is so interesting here it makes me feel very mediocre, but it also allows me to learn so much.

Chris posing by the excellent sanitation system of Dehradun.
(the dog walking by is one of many wild dogs)

The home stay I’m at in Derhadun is pretty much a mansion that has maids and a gym upstairs.  If I didn’t have to fill out secondaries and keep up on my blog I would love to spend some time in the gym.  Maybe I will, who knows.  They cook three meals a day for us, serve us whenever we want, and do all the dishes (it makes me feel spoiled).  Tomorrow my clinic doesn’t start till 12 so I’m going to wake up early and get some work done. 

I’m alive and well.  No snake bites mom.