It’s been about 7 weeks since I left the United States, and now I’m back. After approximately 26 hours of travel, I am finally sitting on my own bed, with my two cats around me and country music playing in the background. It was so surreal to be sitting on the plane from Brussels to Chicago, knowing that at some point the pilot was going to come on the intercom and announce that we had entered the United States. It’s strange to be back in Michigan, and I’m sure it’ll be even stranger to spend my last month of my last summer vacation EVER in Massachusetts. It feels like so long since I’ve been there. This will be my final entry about India. I definitely plan to keep blogging throughout my time in vet school, and hopefully I’ll have some other adventures to chronicle. But for now…back to India.
After experiencing the forests of Mudumalai, it was pretty rough ingratiating ourselves back into city life. First off, the city felt 10x hotter upon return. Secondly, the food was a lot spicier. The Virginia Tech kids who had arrived shortly after us requested the food to be a bit more traditional, so we got a nice spicy surprise. Third, we all had to wrap up our projects, which meant three days of travel (after just traveling 12 hours by train) back to the villages to collect the second round of samples for the nutrition projects, followed by two straight days of lab work. The culmination of all our research was the 3rd annual International Case Presentation Conference held by Madras Vet Hospital, which would be held on the 14th and 15th of July.
We were told about the conference about halfway through our trip, and weren’t sure what to expect. All we knew was that we’d have to make a 5 minute powerpoint presentation on our projects in front of a panel of judges. Veterinary students from all over Tamil Nadu would be attending and presenting their cases as well. Our research didn’t quite fit the “case presentation” description, but they were eager to have us present our findings. Luckily, my BVDV project was mostly finished; we had successfully collected and run 236 blood and/or milk samples from both organized and unorganized farms. To determine the prevalence of antibody positive animals, we ran all the samples on ELISA plates and recorded the results. About 17.6% of them came up positive for antibodies, which indicates that at some point in their lives, these animals had either had BVDV or were exposed to a strain of the virus through a contaminated vaccine. So, India does indeed have bovine viral diarrhea virus and it is found in both organized and unorganized farms. We SNAP tested 60 of the antibody negative animals hoping to find viral antigen (indicating either a persistently or acutely infected animal), but had no luck. Maybe if someone else continues the project next year, they can test more calves and try to find a persistently infected animal.
Unfortunately, our Brucellosis project wasn’t able to be finished. That project had evolved into a prevalence study as well, and we were counting on using the ELISA as the gold standard test. We wanted to compare the results obtained from the Rose Bengal, milk ring test and standard tube agglutination tests to the ELISA and see if the results had any correlation. Unfortunately, the ELISA plates didn’t arrive on time, so we were never able to compare.
The nutrition projects turned out to be very rewarding. As soon as we returned from Mudumalai, we washed our clothes and packed up for the villages, which we’d be returning to the next day. We’d be doing the trip in reverse order this time, starting in Pondicherry. Sadly, we didn’t have time for any more sightseeing, but we were able to return to the same French/Italian restaurant and eat big, heaping plates of pasta.
Our job on this return trip was to follow up with the farmers who had used the GRAND nutrition supplement and collect a second set of blood samples from their animals. Most people had diligently fed the GRAND supplement and reported increases in milk production anywhere from 500-1000mL a day. Although it didn’t seem like much, Dr. Balakrishnan (the man who created GRAND and accompanied us) explained that even after you subtract the price of the supplement, the farmer is still making money off of this small increase. I can’t remember the amount saved right now, but it added up to a decent amount of rupees over a year. Unfortunately, some of the farmers who we had given GRAND to had stopped using it. Dr. Balakrishnan attributed it to suspicion. A lot of farmers are untrusting of projects such as these because they think that they are being used as guinea pigs for new drugs. If they notice any decrease in milk yield or any animals fall sick (even if it is due to something completely unrelated), they will immediately stop using the supplement and revert back to their original diets. It’s disappointing, but understandable. I’m not sure how much I’d trust a random group of Americans offering little blue bottles of minerals, either.
Despite these minor setbacks, the trip back to the villages was successful. Jeremy and Tasha were in charge of the nutrition projects, and they got some good results to work with. We also had the opportunity to visit a new village which had recently signed on to receive GRAND supplements in later trials. We met one farmer there who was in his 60s and really bonded with our group. As soon as we arrived, he came up to us and shook our hands and blessed us. He was a very religious man who had a relatively large (in Indian terms) herd of 5 Jersey cows. Years ago, he started his farm with only one Jersey female who eventually gave birth to 4 healthy, high producing daughter and no bulls. It was very cool to see the family of 5, all nearly identical looking except for the eyes and faces. The mother was 10 years old and going strong. In the U.S., most cattle are only kept until about 4 years old when their milk production begins to decline. In India, since cows are rarely slaughtered, the animals will go on popping out babies and lactating as long as they can. This man was lucky to have such a prolific cow, and he knew it. He proudly scratched and rubbed her, showing her off and letting us pet her. It was really touching to see this man’s bond with his animals and his appreciation for all they had done for him. Knowing that the supplement that we had slaved to make in that hot, stuffy lab was being put to good use and feeding farmers like him made us all feel pretty good. We left with smiles on our faces.
After the villages, we returned to the lab for two more days of sample running and presentation making. By the 15th, we were ready to present and got dressed up in the best clothes we had (which weren’t too fancy) to attend the conference. Everything went swimmingly; our presentations were received well by the judges and the students enjoyed them.
We also got to watch a number of the 5 minute case presentations given by the other competitors. These were basically just summaries of hospital cases that the students had seen and worked on. The presentations had to include signalment, clinical signs, treatment and resolution. I liked watching those, since it made me feel as if I actually knew something. There were cases of dilated cardiomyopathy in cats due to taurine deficiency, scrotal ablation in bullocks, distemper and lymphoma in dogs, blood born parasites in cattle, tetanus in a goat, dermatophilosus in buffalo…etc. etc. It was extremely cool to think that we were learning all of the same things as students halfway around the world, and we all understood each other. Sure, we do a few things different here and there, but the bottom line is the same. We’re all helping animals.
Looking back, one of the biggest differences between U.S. and Indian vet students is the path taken to choosing veterinary medicine as a career. In India, a combination of grades, caste level and standardized test scores play a role in the careers that young people can train for. Most young Indians start out wanting to be medical doctors, and take the standardized tests with the hopes of scoring high enough to qualify. If they get a good score, but not one high enough for medical school, veterinary medicine is the next best thing. We were surprised to learn that this was how many of the Indian students had come to be in vet school. Unlike in the US, where those who become vet students have dreamed of it their entire lives and have fought tooth and nail to get it, many Indian students are thrust into it only after having their real dream of medical school quashed. Fortunately, many of the Indian vets that we talked to told us that after they had started veterinary school and gave it a chance, they truly came to love it and wouldn’t do anything else. The way they may have gotten into it was different, but the end result was the same. And recently, the number of Indian students going into vet medicine out of desire alone has been increasing. As the companion animal industry grows, more small animal vets are needed in India and more young people are answering the call. And of course, with one of the biggest cattle populations in the world and no real euthanasia option, large animal vets will always be in demand.
After the conference, on the 15th night our group departed for our last mini trip to Tuticorin, the tip of India. We would be visiting the point where three bodies of water meet; the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. This meant missing the premier of Harry Potter 7, part 2 (which I was very sad about), but it meant seeing the place where Ghandi hung out and seeing something which I may very well never see again in my life.
We took another sleeper train down to Tuticorin and arrived the next morning at 8am. Tuticorin looked pretty identical to Chennai, but was a little less hot. We visited the Fisheries College which was part of TANUVAS (Tamil Nadu Vet and Animal Sciences University) and had breakfast at a tasty little vegetarian restaurant with an outdoor sitting area. Writing about this now, I actually just had a little itty bitty craving for idly and dosa and coconut chutney…
Wind turbines in the countryside of Tuticorin
After visiting the Fisheries college, our guide, Dr. Senthil, took us to a dock where we boarded a little fishing boat which would be taking us to a small island to collect seashells. Little did we know we’d be out on the hot, reflective water for a good 2 hours. You see, the boat had the engine of a chainsaw with a mere 15 horsepower to move itself and 9 people through the water.
It took so long to reach the island and return that by the end, all of us Americans were sunburnt, salty and thoroughly cooked. When Dr. Senthil saw Tasha covering up her neck to hide her previous sunburn, he asked her what she was doing. Apparently he didn’t really understand about sunburns or what a lack of sunblock can do. Lucky Indians…they never burn.
Frying
Shortly after the boat ride, we were told that we would be traveling another 4 hours to the very tip of India. Now, at this point we felt as though we had been sitting for the last week between all the safaris, the sleeper trains, riding around between all the villages, the boat rides…our butts were tortured. It literally felt as though my tailbone would fall off, and I was winded after just one flight of stairs. Being a runner, this was pretty devastating to me, but I was coming to terms with it. The thought of more sitting was pretty depressing, but the destination would be worth it.
After a bumpy ride in the trunk of an SUV, we finally arrived at the tip in time to see the sun setting. It was cloudy, so the view wasn’t perfect, but we got some fantastic pictures of the waves crashing over the rocks and enjoyed the cool air and scenery.
The sand was three different colors, due to the three different bodies of water conjoining on the shore. There was a massive statue of a famous Indian holy man in the distance, and a memorial to Ghandi on the beach shore.
A lot of Northern Indians were visiting the coast, and you could definitely pick them out of a crowd. With their light skin, different language (Hindi, the national one) and Western clothes, they looked to be from a different country than the Southern Indians who were dark and wore traditional sarees and chudidars. It was very interesting to see the differences between the two regions. According to the Southern Indians, the Northern Indians aren’t as friendly; due to their whiter skin, they tend to think of themselves as “better” than the Southern Indians and often refer to Tamil Naduers as “calm and dumb.” Such a strange dynamic.
We toured around the shoreline for a bit and checked out the shops, which all sold personalized shells and necklaces. There were a ton of pearl dealers, but it was hard to tell who was legit and who was just trying to make a buck off of imitations. After we got our fill, we went to a delicious restaurant for dinner, where I was able to try the local catch; a tender whitefish called Kingfish. I’m guessing this is where their famous beer, Kingfisher, gets its name.
We spent the night in a hotel by the beach and woke up at 5:00am the next morning to catch the sunrise. Dr. Senthil was too tired to accompany us, so we made our way down to the shore to get a good vantage point. Apparently the other Indian tourists had the same idea, and a crowd began to form around 6am.
There was even a rooster which showed up to welcome the sun, strutting around the sleeping homeless people and crowing. The sunrise was quite a sight. Slowly the sky turned from blue, to green and finally to the warm pinks and yellows as the sun peeked from behind the clouds and illuminated the statue in the distance. The waves, coming from three directions, reflected the colors and made for a perfect picture. As soon as the sun became fully visible, the temple in the distance started ringing a bell and the Indians cheered. It was definitely a great moment; it was the one time I was actually happy that I woke up at 5am.
The only thing which dampened the experience, and dampened a few other experiences during our trip to “the tip” was a group of rowdy 20 something year old boys who insisted on “stealthily” taking our picture. For some reason, a lot of the young boys that we saw were obsessed with taking pictures of us, even if they were awkward candid shots where we had our mouths hanging open or we were looking the other way. They would literally take out their cell phones and try to nonchalantly take a picture without our noticing. Unfortunately, they are usually pretty obvious about it and it made us feel very uncomfortable. There were many times where I just wanted to enjoy the scenery, but I could hear them laughing or see them whipping out their cell phones or cameras and trying to get pictures. It was pretty annoying, even if it was somewhat flattering to know that they thought we were interesting enough to take a picture of.
Anyway. After the sunrise, we returned to the same delicious restaurant for breakfast and then traveled by ferry to the stone temple which stood on a rocky little island a ways from the shore.
It stood directly across from the massive statue of the holy man and waves crashed all around it. Then we traveled more inland to another ancient site nestled in the mountains; a wooden palace owned by an Indian king which reminded me very much of a Japanese dojo. The palace was like a big wooden maze, with hundreds of room and skinny hallways and massive meeting halls where the king would feed 200 villagers for free.
The wood on the ceilings was carved into flowers and a variety of other patterns. The palace also boasted a number of beautiful gardens and its very own man made pond.
After the palace, we traveled to a popular waterfall where the locals came to bathe...
...and then finally to a gigantic, 100-something foot footbridge which stretched over a river. I can’t even really describe what it was like, so I’ll let the pictures do it justice.
Despite my slight fear of heights, it was an amazing experience to cross it. Climbing the stairs back up to the car at the end wasn’t too fun, but we were happy for the exercise.
Water channel which flowed along the bridge
View from the top
THE stairs
We ended the day with some shopping and dinner with some of Dr. Senthil’s friends, and then boarded a semi-sleeper bus to travel overnight back to our hostel. Let me emphasize the “semi” part of semi-sleeper. These buses LOOKED comfortable, with dark curtains, blankets, pillows and foot rests, but as soon as the person in front of you decided to recline, you were sardined in so tight that you couldn’t move. And to make matters worse, a small child behind Jeremy decided to throw up about an hour in. That was the one bathroom stop the bus made on the 12 hour journey back to Chennai.
That brings us to the end of the mini trip, and essentially the end of the traveling in India. Once back in Chennai, we spent the day packing, handing out “thank you” notes and saying goodbye.
Gifting our caretaker, Muthu, with a cricket bat and ball
Dr. Balakrishnan surprised us with a going away cake party where he thanked us all and presented us with gifts. We also ate lunch with Gowri, who took us to one of India’s best kept secrets; an American style diner called Sparky’s in the heart of the city. http://www.sparkysindia.com/ A flight of stairs led you down to the A/C basement which was decked out in American license plates, post cards and sports flags. Our group giggled and acted like little kids when we saw all of the American stuff. The diner is owned by a chef from Hawaii who for some reason or other, decided to open one of the only restaurants in Chennai that makes a beef meatloaf. I put up the link to the restaurant so you could check out the menu…as you can imagine, after 7 weeks of carb loading on rice, bread and potatoes, all we wanted were salads, American style nachos, bbq chicken and rootbeer floats. Amazing.
So now we’ve come to the reflective part of this entry. I'm home from India, I'm slowly getting reaccustomed to American life. Dr. Kumar assured us that even if we didn’t think we learned much from India right away, it would all hit us a few months later and we would realize how much we got out of the experience. Well, I’m not even 24 hours out of India and I can already feel the difference.
First off, I have developed such an appreciation for America. Before the trip, I was always one of those snobbish middle class Americans who felt like America was doing everything wrong and Europe or wherever else would be “so much better.” After India…sure, America may have some nutjobs in the government and may not do everything right, but it does have so much to offer. It’s clean, safe (for the most part), culturally diverse, free, equal…the list goes on. There is honestly no place like home. Going to a country that is not as fortunate as the US certainly opened to my eyes to how much we have here. I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up here and to have the luxury of experiencing “1st world” problems instead of poverty, etc, etc. If my biggest problem in the US is that I have too much to study…well that’s just awesome.
I also feel like I understand Americans as a people a lot more after spending time away from them. Now, I could probably pick out an American in a crowd of similar looking Europeans. We're louder, a bit courser, we wear more casual clothes, we don't talk as articulately (usually). I knew I was back in America when I walked through the Detroit airport and could hear individual conversations, see people wearing tons of studs and chains and could smell the fast food. The TSA was a bit rude, a bit pushy. The people were very mindful of their "personal bubbles" and said excuse me and sorry if they bumped you. The girls wore shorts and tank tops and bared it all. Compared to Indians, even though we don't wear as shiny or colorful clothing, we're ostentatious. Americans value individualism so much more than Indians and many other cultures. We're privileged, and we feel like we have a right to be. So many of the Indians that I met were extremely content with where they were in life, even if it was a modest or even poor living. Americans always want more, more, more, bigger and better. I think it's one of our strengths as a people. We may not be as calm, content and unassuming as Europeans and Indians, but we have a lot of spirit, pride and drive. We're not better...we're just determined to try to be.
Secondly, I ‘m so glad I got to experience such an “old” country. India has so much history, and so much culture. It is home to Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists and a variety of other religions. It was occupied by the British, has influence from China and Pakistan and other countries. There are different languages for every state, different climates and millions of people. The variety of animals and flora is astounding. It is just so different from the US in so many ways.
Third, I got practice working completely out of my comfort zone, with practically no aspetic technique, in sometimes dangerous conditions, sometimes completely flying by the seat of my pants. I’ve drawn blood on water buffalos, wrestled cattle and seen a variety of medical conditions I’ll never see again. I sat within 10 feet of wild elephants.
Fourth, I really did increase my own tolerance and patience. I never thought I could deal with sitting for as long as I did, or being sick as often as I was, or handle near-100 degree heat for nearly 6 weeks. I feel like I can handle just about anything now, and I’m happy that I’m not so hung up on the little things.
Other things, more for me to remember than for anything else…
Books I read while in India (there seemed to be a common theme of zombies, even though I didn’t intend for it):
1. Pride, Prejudice and Zombies
௨.Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America
3. Water for Elephants
4. World War Z (as in zombie)
5. You Might Be a Zombie, and Other Bad News
6. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time (part way through)
5 things I really missed while in India, in no particular order:
1. Exercise
2. Fresh vegetables and fruit that would NOT make your butt explode
3. Cold weather
4. My family, friends and cats
5. Wearing shorts and tank tops
5 favorite things about India, in no particular order:
1. Mangoes
2. Elephants
3. Movie theaters
4. Coconut chutney and idly
5. Sarees
5 favorite places in India, in order:
1. Mudumalai
2. Pondicherry
3. Tip of India
4. Pinjrapole cattle shelter
5. Villages
5 things I could have done without in India:
1. My blowdryer and straightener, which just wasted space in my suitcase
2. Indian style toilets, although I did become a pro at using them
3. Not being able to drink the water
4. Smelly streets
5. Food sickness
5 things which India does better:
1. Friendly people- literally, everyone is super friendly
2. Offering you food- literally, all the time
3. School system, it’s pretty cheap
4. Sustainable vehicles- namely, auto rickshaws, motorbikes and bicycles
5. Small farming!
5 things which America does better:
1. Sanitation
2. Food variety
3. More wealth equality
4. Animal control and disease prevention
5. DUNKIN DONUTS (sorry, it had to be there somewhere)
5 things I keep doing in America that I did in India:
1. Randomly using my fingers to eat things rather than forks and spoons
2. Looking for bottled water to brush my teeth
3. Not watching TV
4. Feeling the need to carry toilet paper around with me
5. Using hand sanitizer
10 things I got out of India that I really value:
1. Jackie
2. Kayla
3. Jeremy
4. Tasha
5. Chrissy
6. New friends in India
7. Patience
8. An iron stomach
9. More hands on vet experience
10. Perspective
And that’s all I can really think of for now. I’m sure more things will come to me over time, but for now I’m just happy to have had the experience and am extremely glad to be home. India was a rollercoaster of emotions, both awe inspiring and sometimes depressing. I can safely say it has changed me for the better.
Now it’s time to get ready for some good ole’ American bar trivia, pizza and beer. It's back to my old life, with a little more spice.
The end
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welcome back, lef!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Burkles :)!
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