Glorious Food... I'm anxious to try it.

I think it is pretty safe to say that I am obsessed with various parts of the Indian culture. Just to name a few from the top of my list: Indian food, Indian clothing, and Indian designs. Not so much the Indian traffic… still not a fan of two-wheelers (motorcycles), cars, autorickshaws, and animal-pulled carts coming within inches of running over my toesies.

I’ve made my current goal to find out the secret of how to maintain or lose weight while devouring all the delicious goodies that surround me on a daily basis (I'm sure every woman's goal). The other day we went to Gupta’s, a small little snack joint, located off one of the streets we frequent. As we stood outside, Aaron had a fresh veg samosa while I had a dish called Masala Puri (hot pea gravy, mixture, spices, carrots, and tomatoes) which is considered an Indian “fast food”. We followed it with a delicious fried morsel that would ooze sugary syrup when you bit into it. Everything during this visit was soooo tasty… but of course, we got into some trouble with Poornima Jay the following day for eating at a place that is considered just one-step above street vendor. I promised the person who recommended this place that I would not repeat their name for fear of receiving a scolding. = ) I guess I should’ve been thinking about all of the raw veggies on my plate including the large portion of tomatoes and carrots (no parasites for me please), but how can you resist the distraction when the smell is so wonderful! As much as I would like to say I will stay away from this place, I may or may not be able to resist the temptation to gravitate toward this little area again for some yummy food when walking by. At work, it also seems like I am introduced to a new delicious dish every day. As I have mentioned before, the homemade dishes are the best and the staff will share their meals with others. It is a shame Aaron and I have nothing good to contribute to the luncheon, but we gladly offer to lend a hand if there is too much food left over! = ) The other day, Dr. Bhavana brought in a delicious bhath dish (rice with vegetables incorporating spices and red peppers, not green!) and today, Shalini brought in a very smooth coconut curry mixed with grated tamarind and grated dried red pepper. I am only jealous they get to eat this more than once a week! I also ate a thin, pale green, curly cucumber for a healthy and tasty midday snack. Aaron and I are discussing taking a cooking class at one of the local restaurants. Maybe I can learn how to make Akki Roti or Kasari, aka “South Indian Sweet”. For dinner, we went to a local Punjabi restaurant and had a veg paneer roll wrapped in buttered tandoori roti for our appetizer...mmmm. I promise to load pictures once I can remember to take the photos before consuming. And must start doing crunches!

(Note: Title-lyrics from the musical Oliver. If you've seen it, that is exactly how I feel about trying all these new flavors...subtract the fact I am not a thin, starving child)

Clothes-shopping has been quite the adventure. I must first and foremost apologize to Aaron for the duration of these shopping trips. On one outing, I bought several outfits at one of the numerous clothing outfitters along the road. After my purchase, I brought them all home to later find out my shoulders couldn’t make it through any of the tops. The following day, I had to return all the items and pick out brand new ones. Both trips combined took well over an hour and a half. The second round worked out much better than the first as I liked all of my clothes significantly more. I chose one complete outfit with shirt, pants and scarf, which was adorned with tiny mirrors throughout the embroidered designs and also formed a thick band around the collar; I grabbed a few kurtas (shirt/dress without the pants) which received several compliments from the PHRI staff; the last item was some fabric, which I actually still haven’t figured out what I am supposed to do with quite yet. FabIndia, a clothing store owned by a westerner, gave me another fabulous selection with less ornate designs as well as the sizing I am more familiar with ...The pricing was somewhat higher, yet, the garments were still several times cheaper than anything offered back home…

Now to the important stuff… work. My current task has been to help create a registration and survey form that will be administered in the clinic. This has become very important as we cannot open the clinic without the registration forms, and I cannot get study subjects if the clinic is not open. Just when I think I might have the final draft, either Dr. Bhavana, Dr. Purnima, or I think of one more thing that needs to be altered in the form. During this process, it has been difficult for me to understand all of the customs and traditional thought which make some of the basic survey questions in my head, inappropriate for this population of women. There have been issues with figuring out the economic status of the women and even mentioning sexually transmitted disease or STD may or may not be confusing to some. Bhavana mentioned that many of these women don’t know what STD’s are and would have no idea as to the names of any of these diseases if we mentioned them. The names gonorrhea, herpes, trichomoniasis and chlamydia to name a few, all needed to be removed from the survey and left for other more general questions or fill-ins to answer. Luckily, we have counselors and clinicians that can advise and explain these diseases if necessary.

More good news! I was given additional funding for the project! Woohoo! Now if only customs would let the package with some of my reagents through...

In the Field

Starting on monday we began working on our projects. I had a chance to visit the Prerana clinic a few blocks away from the PHRI house. We have started getting everything organized for what I hope will be a relatively soon opening. From what I understand supplies are being ordered and there is just a bit of paperwork that needs to be completed before we open. For those of you who haven’t been forced to read my IRB or protocols, I will be comparing the performance of a rapid diagnostic kit to other methods established for detecting a Trichomonas vaginalis infection. Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that can cause vaginitis and a few other more serious complications. Although it doesn’t get a lot of recognition, it is actually the most frequent nonviral STI. It has been considered a possible suspect in causing greater susceptibility to HIV, cervical neoplasia, and preterm birth, although its main symptom remains to be vaginal irritation, which can either self-resolve or continue to create greater problems. A sexual partner can pass it to the other even if that person has just been treated, creating the “ping-pong effect”. Therefore it is imperative, when trichomoniasis is detected, both partners must be treated. One of the problems is that most clinicians use a symptomatic approach to diagnosis.

The current method for diagnosing this disease utilizes a microscope. You can observe the specimen on a slide and look for, what I consider to be “cute”, little swimming balloons wiggling around in the saline. This method is not very accurate and the other methods such as culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have their own flaws. The rapid test might perform well in India and if so, its implementation in developing countries can be considered.

Since we got here, Aaron and I have observed that the pace is very different than that of back home. The atmosphere is just seems more relaxed, less stressful, even if there is a lot of work being done. Also, it has become apparent that the social network within PHRI is very strong and an important aspect of the work environment. If we want everything to run smoothly with our projects, it will be important for us to solidify the relationships we build with other team members.
On wednesday, we joined the staff in a trip to the villages to hand out reports of lab results. Everyone seemed very curious as to our presence there. The smaller children were very quiet and a couple even cried because they were scared of us. The older children were completely distracted by our presence. Instead of paying attention to their lesson, they cluttered into doorways waving at us and wanted their picture taken. Some even stood on their desk to get a better look and wave. Inside one of the classrooms, the staff performed a maternal health education and disease prevention skit for the women in the village. The women seemed to respond well and laughed during the husband’s part, which tries to reinforce the importance of getting the husband to participate in the process. Shalini advised me that the women become very shy and will hold their heads down when there is discussion of contraceptives or when the condom is brought out.

For lunch, we stopped at a nearby lake and unfolded mats to have a picnic. Everyone sat together and passed around the meal they brought. I’m not sure if it was smart for Aaron and I to participate since we didn’t know how everyone’s food was prepared, but we both enjoyed it thoroughly.

ದಿ ಆಉತೊರಿಕ್ಕ್ಶವ: The Autorickshaw

Eventually Aaron and I got to the point where we realized we needed a few additional things that we didn’t bring with us (luckily, my Contra Costa coworkers provided me with a few essentials before I left for my trip). We ventured up the street to the local hospital around 7pm in search of transportation. Outside the main building, 4 or 5 autorickshaws typically line up waiting for a fare to come out of the hospital. For 30 rupees (~60 cents) our driver took us to the MORE Megastore… think Indian version of Walmart. On our first trip towards central Mysore, we noticed people were gathered everywhere on the street. Some just idling by and some purchasing fruit from the many vendors along the way. A few very daring men ran across the busy traffic in order to get to one of the shops across the street… Pedestrians definitely do not have the right-of-way here! Unfortunately, I am unable to post the video I took.

When we arrived at MORE megastore, the autorickshaw driver stopped and let us out on the opposite side of the road to the entrance. As I began to cross the street, I realized Aaron was not with me. I turned around to find out where he was… Big Mistake! Never stop even for a slight moment in a Mysore street! After looking for Aaron for the briefest of moments, I turned my head back towards the street to realize I was inches away from the front end of a moving auto-rickshaw. Somehow my hand wound up slapped against the front end of his vehicle. The driver had luckily stopped in time, then gave me a very dirty luck for: number one, touching his rickshaw , number two and probably most importantly, making him have to let go of the gas . After nervously laughing about the situation and while being yelled at by the driver’s passenger, I found Aaron who was apparently standing behind me the entire time during this little fiasco. We finally managed to get across the street and headed towards the store. We approached the metal detector in front of the entrance, which of course, Aaron and I both casually walked around not noticing the guard standing by who was holding a large military gun.

Inside the More Megastore, there were people cluttered in every aisle doing there grocery shopping. We had to push and shove our way to the staircase so we could get to the second floor where all the clothing was. After a little while, we reached the desired floor and were able to peruse our many choices of patterns and designs. I should actually say my many choices of patterns and designs, the men’s clothing was pretty simple. I think I tried on 9 different options of salwar kameez before I could finally find one that fit me. In Indian sizing, Aaron and I are both an XL!!!! –Mom, broad shoulders and large hips may come in handy in sports, but not when trying to fit into petite Indian clothing...I eventually found a few items, but pants were hard to find and none matched the size of the shirt that came with it. For two shirt/pant sets and an additional shirt, my total came to about $20 with. With the addition of shampoo it wasn't much more. Aaron’s shirts each cost about $2! He also picked up some mangos while we were there, which he was told were very fresh. The little bananas they sell in Mysore are also super sweet and taste fantastic. I have been substituting my morning dosa with a few (as in four) bananas with a slice of fresh mango...yum... If my stomach weren't the limiting factor here, I'd be eating the bananas, mango, and masala dosa every morning accompanied by a very large mug, not glass, of tea. The hot Badam milk is also great. It's basically almond milk mixed with saffron.

Karanji Lake : ಕಾರಂಜಿ ಲೇಕ್

Sunday morning we woke up early (see mom & dad, it’s possible…) and took off to visit Karanji Lake and the Mysore Zoo. Karanji Lake was absolutely gorgeous! We saw quite a variety of India’s beautiful native birds and several brightly colored butterflies. There was always a cute cuddling couple sitting on every shaded bench we passed along the way. There was a tall lookout tower from which we could climb and watch the herons fly by and the top of the palace could be seen in the distance. After 10 minutes we headed down the tower and met a nice elderly couple during our descent that stopped to ask how we were doing and where we were from. As we were leaving, we saw another white person, which hasn't been a common sight since we got to Mysore. I know we came with a bunch on the plane, but where did they go? Turns out, many of the tourists that stay in Mysore are found near the more upscale areas outside of the busy central districts. We have located a Pizza Hut, Domino's, Subway, and Baskin Robbin's if at any time we feel we might go crazy without having an American fast food binge. Apparently, one of the restaurants in this area will cook a full Western breakfast at your request.

Back on track...
After circling the lake, we headed towards the zoo, which I have to admit, we spent more time taking pictures of caution signs than we did the exotic animals. One sign cautioned against entering the zebra habitat to avoid injury. There was an illustration of a man climbing over the handrails and leaning over a pit. In the second frame, the man has fell into the pit and an angry zebra proceeds to maul the man who has blood gushing out of his body. The final frame is security escorting the man away in cuffs while bright red blood is pouring out of the wound and onto the ground. While it may be a bit morbid, the sign was absolutely hilarious!!! The Giant Squirrel exhibit was also very interesting and pretty darn funny as it contained one squirrel smaller than the normal squirrels you find sitting at home on the back fence. The snake exhibit as well as the rest of the zoo was pretty awesome. The African elephants were standing very close to the rail which was great, but I later realized they were chained in position for tourists to have a better photo op. = (

ಮೈಸೂರ್ ಓ : Mysore Zoo

Early evening we visited Naomi’s friend, Fazil, who runs a clothing store named Badsha Bazaar in central Mysore with his brothers. Unfortunately, he was not there but his brother sat down and chatted with us for awhile until their other brother had finished praying near the corner. The walls of the store were just stacked with different types of fabric and patterns for making Indian or Western clothing. I have been informed by Naomi that their tailor is amazing and purchasing a saree here is a must. Hopefully, I will be able to find the a good Mysore silk saree here.

ದೇವರಾಜ ಮಾರ್ಕೆಟ್ : Devaraja Market

After peeking into the Devaraja market across the street from Badsha Bazaar, we took an autorickshaw to Mysore palace. From 7 to 8 every Sunday and during holidays and festivals, the palace is lit with ninety-seven thousand lights! This palace has been home to the Wadiyar Maharajas, since the original was built in the 13th century (this is the fourth built here). There was brief change in rule with Hyder Ali, a general of the Wodeyar army, and then his son Tipu Sultan. After Tipu Sultan was killed by the British during battle, the monarchy returned to the Wadiyar family and lasted until 1947, when India gained independence... Hopefully, within the next couple months I can take a tour of the museum inside and get more of the history.

We have Arrived!!!

Aaron and I arrived in Bangalore Friday morning around 1:30am, India time. We were exhausted, jet lagged, slightly grouchy and hoping that we would get through customs without a problem. When we arrived at the baggage carousel I found both of my enormous suitcases untouched and unmarked...yes! Since my bags were so new and so large, we thought that those would definitely be the ones that would have been marked among the four checked bags. We thought we were in the clear.... Then Aaron's bags came...we noticed a fat, white chalked "X" on the side of his purple duffle bag (doesn't rub off unfortunately... we tried). We had packed one electronic piece into this bag and later realized we had no reciept to go with it. Airport security looked up how much the item cost online, which was about $900! They wanted a $360 tax!!! Luckily, after about 30minutes, Aaron managed to get through customs paying a bit of a fee, and we could finally begin our 4-hour drive to Mysore.

Honking, swerving, and tailgating the entire way, this drive was quite the ride despite the lack of traffic this early in the morning. There were many shops that lined the highway, which were covered with large, bright advertising prints for Indian movies, tea, and whatever else the TATA company sells. Along the way, we stopped for some tea at one of the many open refreshment outlets located along the highway. You literally have to pull off to the side of the highway in order to get to these places. About 100 ft. away, there was another snack stand (this was very common along the road). The tea was absolutley delicious!!!! I only wish it didn't come in such a small glass. I will definitely be bringing plenty of it back with me once I find out which brands are the best. I also debated buying one of the many stacked baked goods they had in the display case, but I held back and settled for a safely sealed bottle of water. As it got closer to daybreak, women and men started walking along the side the road to start their day; a few stood by the speed bumps and tried to sell us flowers and a few other items. We passed by several oxen and donkeys pulling carts as well as sheep, stray dogs,and cows walking along the road. One set of dogs ran full-speed to try keep up with our car!

We finally arrived at the house around 5am. We were introduced to the security guard, Sidhu (pictured above), and his wife, Lakshmi, who offered us some tea, which we declined, and took our bags to our room. Upon entering the room, we immediately threw our things onto the floor, climbed into our beds, and crashed.

Once Aaron and I decided to crawl out of bed the following afternoon, we went downstairs to meet the PHRI staff. I wasn't expecting such a large group! The group of 16+, consists mainly of females. Each staff member is involved in a different piece of the PHRI, Prerana operation. Some go out to the rural villages to recruit for studies, conduct surveys, give classes and information about maternal/infant health, and distribute birthing kits to midwives (for info. visit: http://phrii.org/prerana). Members of PHRI include, doctors, a nurse, field workers, drivers, laboratorians, and the administration staff. After we introduced ourselves, we left so they could finish their meeting and begin their work day. One member took us down to the hospital cafeteria to get our lunch. Within moments of stepping outside the front gate, a fourteen year old boy was walking in front of us with his hand held out, gesturing for money. He even brushed his open palm against Aaron's arm a couple times, thinking that would be more persuasive. It was kind of a shock to have this happen within the first minute of our first outing and outside of our house. Our guide tried to shoo him away, but it eventually took us ignoring him for a couple minutes before he would just walk away.

At the cafeteria, we had a simple rice dish (similar to fried rice) parceled for us to take home. It came with a rich creamy sauce that made it all but impossible to pace ourselves while eating (It is now day5 and we have yet to have a meal we both didn't love). After lunch, we had another meeting with Shalini and Dr.Bhavana to discuss our projects... both of our IRB's were approved!!! Yay!!!

The climate has been relatively humid and temperatures not very hot. It stays relatively cool until noon, then gets a little sticky. It has rained 2 out of the 5 days in the early evening which was accompanied by some heavy thunder. It only lasts for about 30minutes to an hour. So far, I am actually finding the weather here to be more enjoyable than the recent, very warm California weather. This comment, of course, will come back to haunt me in a few weeks when the true monsoon season starts. I have already accumulated 7 bug bites (some which have turned into large welts) despite the extensive amount of deet I have sprayed on. I have recently upgraded to putting on the 100% deet twice a day and started spraying my clothes with permethrin.

Note: yes, there are bathrooms outfitted with the porcelain commodes in which we are accustomed to, (the Indian toilets are plastic holes in the ground with a water-source nearby) and yes, there is toilet paper and running hot water. I have yet to use the bathroom in a public place, so I'm am not sure what is available to me outside of the house or restaurant yet.