Matt Goes To India

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Vacation Day

Today was a really nice break from all the work we have been doing. We went to the beach city of Mamallapuram and explored the ancient ruins they had there and went to a really nice beach resort.

The grounds where the ruins are at said that these date back to around 600-700 AD, and they were still in really good condition, so that was cool to see. The hagglers selling tourist stuff were super annoying, one guy was by my side for at least 20 minutes trying to get on my good side saying things like "Oh... you're from Utah, yes things are very different over there in Europe I'm sure". I did give in and buy a really cool carved out rock, but only after bartering him down 800 rupies.

Then we went to the local beach resort and enjoyed the beach and pool there. The waves were awesome today and we were able to do some epic bodysurfing. The salt water was so strong though I could hardly stand it. Needless to say, I'll be coming back with an Indian tan for sure (or burns).

We decided to walk around the city a little more and found a cool little pizza place that served Indian style pizzas which were super good. After that it was time to go and we got back here around 5:00, ate some dinner and that was that.

Solid day... enjoy the pics!

Downtown Mamallapuram

The Panoramic turned out kinda weird

This one's a more modern temple, probably built
within the last 50 years

Ideal Beach Resort: If you're ever in India, you
know where to go

Rocking the 3/4 length pants

Cool temple outside our restaurant

Group pic with the selfie stick

Friday, May 29, 2015

TGIF

I had another awesome day here in India. This morning we got up at our usual time and went out to a colony about 45 minutes away. It was a really small one and only saw about 7 patients, but these patients had enough personality to go around ha. The colony leader Jayraj is a super funny, smiling guy who Dr. Lovling said loves to dance with the volunteers

after we finish. True to form, he gave us this peptalk and went to town with his dancing.

He makes some really good points

I don't usually like dancing... like at all, but he managed to get me to

teach him how to do the zombie and the robot, he killed it.

As you'll see by the upcoming photographs, Jayraj does an incredible job of really lifting the spirits of those he lives with. Although they have been given some big disadvantages/setbacks in their lives, Jayraj does a really good job of bringing a little bit of light into their everyday... and that was really cool to see and be a part of.

We stopped by a cool temple on the way back and took some pics of the landscape and of the actual temple's architecture.

Then we came back to campus and kept up with our landscaping/gardening projects that we started yesterday. We finished up planting around the Meditation Room and then they had us do some other landscaping stuff around campus. I missed working with my hands and doing hard/heavy labor, so it was a nice opportunity despite the crazy heat. Then while everyone else went to Coordinator Meetings, I finished up a book, had dinner and now I'm finishing off my day here blogging. Enjoy the pics!

Jayraj's wife

Not all were amused by our dancing

But we finally got a smile out of her

Water break

Dr. Lovling and Jayraj's wife again

Indian Landscape

I think they burn incense here

Our little project we've been working on

I think I'll stick with American shovels

Chilling in the Elephant House after a day's work

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Another Day In India

Today has been a really good day. This morning we went out to a colony about 30 minutes away and were able to see about 30 patients. Because this colony is closer, Rising Star goes out there pretty often and we don't see all of the people every time. Again, it was a really neat experience. Then we spent some time here on campus.

We planted some new trees close to the meditation room (more photos of the campus are coming I swear) and some banana trees next to the sewage treatment plant. It was a really good opportunity to get out and do some hard labor, despite the fact it was probably in the upper 90's all day (and it was actually pretty cool compared to most days here). Also, I think the Indian workers think that us Americans are pretty soft and had us do all the easy stuff. It was a good project though and it'll only help this campus get even prettier. But we finished that and then just chilled the rest of the day, ate dinner, and now I'm finishing up my day blogging.

Some of the photos are from today and most are from our trip two days ago. Shane Maryott, my roommate, Indian expert, and photography guru has done an awesome job capturing really beautiful pictures of the people and some really cool moments we've had. So all of the good ones are his, and I will give him credit for each one because they're really incredible. Hope you enjoy!

This was where we held our clinic today

In line waiting to get their Blood Pressure

The pet monkey at the Leprosy House

The washing and bandaging crew

Dr. Nivetha giving a consult

On our way to Tirupati
Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

Photo Cred: Shane Maryott

This is Raj, he's the one I talked about yesterday that kept
bringing clean water to help the other patients... super awesome
guy. Photo Cred: Shane Maryott