Hey everyone,
Sorry I’ve been MIA. The last couple weeks have been dedicated to Lizzie and I getting as many internship hours as possible. Though there have been a few fun adventures here and there.
A couple weeks ago we were awaken by some fireworks off in the distance. Except they never stopped and they were getting closer. Fifteen minutes later the rain started, power went out, and the storm almost upon us. Now I love storms. I especially like lightning and thunderstorms. This storm however made me fear for my life. I didn’t dare step outside so I only know what it sounded like and have my imagination take it from there (the windows were‘fogged’ over so you couldn't see out but they let light in). The little light that did come through our windows made it look like there was a strobe light right outside the window. The thunder never stopped and was the loudest I’ve ever heard. If it weren’t for the fact that the ground wasn’t shaking I would have thougt the storm was really an air raid. The storm rolled in around 1-2 in the morning, so my accounting maybe a little exaggerated but I think it’s close.
Aside from the storm, we’ve been able to go to the theater and see a Telugu movie. The movie we saw (without subtitles might I add) was basically a romantic comedy with cartoon sound effect directed by someone on LSD. To husband…it reminded me of the episode of Fringe from Walter’s perspective. Overall the movie was good and easy to follow. I definitely wouldn’t have experienced Visakhapatnam without seeing it.
At church last week we walked in and there was a white family of 6 from Meridian, Idaho sitting on the front row. We talked with them briefly and they invited us to FHE the next night. The father, Ryan, is here working for his company and has been coming to this city for the past two year (this is his third trip). His company pays his rent and ended up taking AC units out of their offices to put in the apartment where they stay. It was refreshing being at their place, though I realized that now I prefer fans over AC. We didn’t actually have a FHE lesson but instead spent the time getting to know one anther and eating. The food was great. When we got there they had brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter cookies. Then the mother, whose name I can’t remember, says that they have left over potato salad that we could eat and pulls it out. While we’re beginning to eat they decide to pullout a pineapple and mango smoothie and starts to make chocolate shakes (in which we put brownies). It was fantastic. Oh how I miss American sweets. Dr. Nuckolls said that we would fall in love with the Indian sweets but I have yet to appreciate having a fried dense piece of dough with tons of sugar, injected with a sugar and a butter concoction, and then coated on the outside with more sugar. We asked them how in the world they were ever able to make American food all the time. We struggle over buying a jar of peanut butter that costs almost $5 for the smallest jar imaginable. They told us that they ended up bringing a lot of their food over, aka their food storage. The other way they are able to buy all this American food is because they are given $200 a week to spend on food by the husband's company. In case you are wondering that is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on food . The family was so excited to have us. They are already planning all the other American meals they can make for us while we are here. Aside from their food they are a really nice family as well. We are excited to get to know them more.
Today we went to talk to an orthopedic surgeon. Why you may ask. I have no idea. Lizzie and I however were able to ask about the healthcare system and his NGO, which ended up being very productive. Towards the end of our conversation he invited us to watch a surgery that was happening in half an hour. It was awesome. He then invited us back later this evening for another one. Saturday there are three more surgeries he said we could watch. It’s not really public health related, but I’m too fascinated with the human body to turn down the opportunity.
Overall, India is great. I’m extremely busy trying to get hours for my internship. Currently I need 5 hours a day to be done in time, which isn’t easy when no one works in the afternoon due to the heat. Fun fact this is one of the hottest summer in Visakhapatnam. Don’t believe me…they postponed school for two weeks because it’s too hot to open the schools. Hopefully the monsoons will come and stay.
I love and miss you all!
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