Happy Day

I was excited to be on medical again today. We drove to a different leprosy colony close to Chennai, a 2 hour drive. It is literally right off the highway, which is both strange and dangerous for the people who live here. This colony is much smaller than the one I went to last week. I took people's blood pressure this time and there were only about ten patients. There are a good number of people living here that do not have leprosy but are related to someone who does. As I walked around the colony, saying "vanacom" to every one I saw, I couldn't help but notice how happy everyone is. Even Yoshoda, an elderly woman in an advanced stage of leprosy, cracked a few smiles between wincing in pain. She has no feet and her hands are clawed, so her grandson Sadayandhi carries her everywhere she goes. I was so touched by his love for his grandmother. She cried out in pain when I was taking her blood pressure and he talked her through it. He held her hand as she was tested for diabetes, having to be pricked four times because we couldn't get any blood out of her hand. What an outstanding example Sadayandhi is of charity and love.

I met a woman named Jodi (thats what it sounded like anyway) who spoke very good English. She invited Katie, Marni, and I into her home and showed us photos she had of the president and prime minister. She told me she went to college to become a lab technician and showed us the Indian equivalent of a diploma, which stated that she graduated first in her class. This young woman was smart and beautiful, and I could see the sadness in her eyes when she told me that her husband won't let her work because he wants her at home. Katie asked her if she will be able to work sometime in the future and she shook her head. Once again, the treatment of women here makes me sick.

During my break today, I went into the mango room. In said mango room, there are baskets with each of the housemother's names on them filled with memory books for each child. Since these kids grow up living on the RSO compound, they do not have their parents keeping albums or writing down memories of the silly things they do everyday. So that is our job. Since I still don't know all of my boys names, I went through each book and read what past volunteers had written about each boy in order to better get to know them. It was really special to read the joy that these kids spread to those around them, and the kind and funny things that they have done. When I met them at play time, it made me feel that much closer to them. I especially bonded with Vicky tonight. He is the one in orange and Sakthivel (from yesterday) is the one in white. I love those little guys.

I've kind of described my loveless relationship with the food here. Its a constant struggle between hunger and taste. Most days its rice with some sort of sauce that always tastes the same, vegetables, and fruit. So you can imagine my complete ecstasy on discovering that we would be having....dum dum dum dum!....FRENCH FRIES with dinner tonight. They tasted just like (if not better) than In N Out fries. They were the highlight of my life. And gone too quickly. Also served were these little rice cake type things which looked like uncrustables. They were mostly flavorless but they were better than the rice and soupy sauce we've been having every night.

After dinner I read with Ajay and Mariyadoss and helped Vijay with his homework. Which was probably a lot harder for me then it was for him. I don't remember a thing about long division. Don't they have calculators in India? Seriously though I haven't taken a math class since 2006. Art major, remember? I figured it out eventually but it was rough.

Its become a nightly ritual in the elephant house to watch bollywood movies before we go to bed. So. Funny. Its like every movie is the Indian version of high school musical.

Today's high: french fries
Today's low: Jodi's story in the colony