Weeks and Whirlwinds

So the past week here has been a whirlwind for a number of reasons. I'll start with the easy ones:

We had a total of 9 outreach eye camps this week, which means that there have been two-a-day for the past four days. This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm working longer hours; it just means that camps tend to be understaffed and undersupplied, and I end up telling patients "Ende power illai-- we don't have that lens power" more often than I'd like to. At the end of the afternoon, I'm completely exhausted.

We also started up an eye health education program for slum children, which happened for the first time last week. Another volunteer and I put together some posters and came up with a few fun eye-related activities (i.e. drawing a partner's eye and labeling the parts, shining flashlights in our eyes to demonstrate how the pupil constricts in response to bright light, etc.) With the help of a translator, (our volunteer coordinator, Thanraj) the program went really well.



At the end, we handed out sunglasses, which the kids really got a kick out of.



The whirlwind isn't only Unite For Sight-related, though. Some of you know that I've been dealing with some personal issues, and it's been really difficult being so far away from friends and family. I was feeling terribly alone, when India, in her usual contradictory manner, swept me off my feet.

Last Thursday, I went to Fisherman's Cove, a spectacular beach just outside of Chennai. I needed an escape from the noise and chaos of the city, and this was perfect:



On Saturday, I met up with Ragul, a friend of Marcie Griffith's from Madurai. Marcie is a dear friend of mine from Amherst; she was a senior on the cross country team when I was a freshman, and took me under her wing that year. She studied abroad in Madurai, and so was really excited about my trip to India. We talked the day before I left for Chennai, and she gave me a few contacts in the city.

Ragul was delightful, and we got along so naturally, so he invited me to a wedding reception that night-- two of his former colleagues were getting married. Even though I didn't have a the appropriate sari wedding attire, I was warmly welcomed by his friends, heard a fantastic traditional Hindi wedding band, and ate more Indian food than ever before-- the feast was immense, and my banana leaf kept mysteriously refilling with heaps of rice, idly, parotas, and various curries and stews. Ragul and I have plans to meet up again tomorrow afternoon.




Then on Sunday, I went to Mamallapuram with another one of Marcie's friends, Kirsten. Mamallapuram is a town about an hour and a half outside of Chennai famous for its ancient rock carvings. We spent the morning admiring the stone sculptures, the temples cut into hillsides, and the spectacular views:






We also sat under Krishna's Butter Ball, a giant boulder that's randomly located and precariously balanced on a steep slope:



In the afternoon, we went to a beach resort just outside town to swim, relax, and bake in the hot Indian sun.



I've also seen a lot of Srikumar in the past week, and I'm pretty sure he'll be a life-long friend. I have been overwhelmed and amazed by the kindness and generosity of the people in this country, and I can only hope that I'm giving back to them half as much as they've given to me.