Day 3 was another beautiful day in Mungeli. The day was started again with chapel and rounds in the hospital. We stopped to admire the sand drawings the nursing students had done the night before.
After breakfast, the four of us headed out on a walk into town. Mission: buy a new volleyball to replace the one we popped.
From left, Megan, Alex, Lindsey and me:
Uhhh not sure why cows are allowed to actually block traffic, but... they're awful cute.
Having found a volleyball, we decided to go meet the famous Maggie. He's an old friend of the hospital. He owns a fabric store that has been in his family for 60 years. He helped Lindsey, Megan and I pick out Indian outfits (more to come on that).
Maggie's store:
We went back to the hospital to do a few more hours of work. I shadowed the OBGYN as she saw two women married to brothers, both 5 months pregnant with their first babies. I always love watching a new mother see her very first ultrasound. Is there anything better?
In the afternoon, we left for a christian festival, known as Mayla, in a nearby village.
En route, we once again encountered a routine Indian traffic jam:
At Mayla, there was a big stage with performers singing religious songs and many goods and foods for sale.
En route, we once again encountered a routine Indian traffic jam:
At Mayla, there was a big stage with performers singing religious songs and many goods and foods for sale.
From left, Megan, Alex, Lindsey and me:
The experience for me was frankly pretty overwhelming. There is almost no tourism to this part of the country so we became a bit of a spectacle. Many, many people asked to take pictures with us, took pictures from a distance or just stared at us. Many children approach us sweetly asking our name and how we are, clearly practicing the English they learn in school.
After a couples hours, I was simply exhausted from the attention but grateful our chaperones stayed with us.
To me the experience demonstrated how accustomed we are in the U.S. to an enormous diversity in skin color. I'm not a minority, but I cannot fathom this kind of behavior in the US. It was an intense experience.
We got home in the evening, had some dinner and pretty much collapsed into bed at 9pm.
We got home in the evening, had some dinner and pretty much collapsed into bed at 9pm.
Day 4 was Sunday so got to sleep in a little. We never did find anyone doing rounds (we tried!) so we had a long breakfast and got dressed in our new outfits for church.
The service was mostly in Hindi but the singing was beautiful and so joyful, mostly accompanied by a drum and tambourine. Landa Simmons gave an uplifting sermon to the congregation about the reasons we do good and why we strive to avoid sin.
Megan and Erik learning to drum:
After church, we relaxed and had some lunch before heading into to town with two nursing students as guides and translators. They were very sweet girls and it was nice to make some new friends. The girls are almost never allowed off hospital grounds so it was a treat for them to go with us.
We went and bought a football (aka soccer ball) to play with the boys on campus. Then we went back by Maggie's clothing store so the boys could pick out some fabrics to have light-weight shirts and pants made for them. Then we went with the nursing students to a store where they could buy some jewelry and finally the supermarket.
In the afternoon, we relaxed, played some volleyball and had a little dinner party with the doctors and staff. It was a nice day off, and we're ready for another big week.
Megan and Erik learning to drum:
After church, we relaxed and had some lunch before heading into to town with two nursing students as guides and translators. They were very sweet girls and it was nice to make some new friends. The girls are almost never allowed off hospital grounds so it was a treat for them to go with us.
We went and bought a football (aka soccer ball) to play with the boys on campus. Then we went back by Maggie's clothing store so the boys could pick out some fabrics to have light-weight shirts and pants made for them. Then we went with the nursing students to a store where they could buy some jewelry and finally the supermarket.
In the afternoon, we relaxed, played some volleyball and had a little dinner party with the doctors and staff. It was a nice day off, and we're ready for another big week.
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