Mobile Clinic and Home Health Visits-Feb 17-18, 2011

So we had the privilege of spending a couple days at CHAD, where we got to spend one day seeing patients in the mobile clinic van and another doing home health visits with a social worker and nurse.  It was great to see where and how people live and just get in there.

Bangalore (Bengaluru)- Feb 19-20, 2011

For our 2nd weekend off, we headed to Bangalore (the Indian city best known in America as the place your calls go when you have computer troubles.  We explored the city by foot, getting caught up in the bustling marketplace, eating a 16-course meal (whew), shopping, and almost getting run-over by a cow.

Dirty feet after a day's walking

Pondicherry for Kim's 30th- Feb 12-13, 2011

For Kim's 30th birthday, we headed for the soothing former French colony of Pondicherry overlooking the Bay of Bengal.  It was a lovely change of pace and Team Singapore helped us celebrate Kim's big day.  Overall the weekend was Eat, Pray, Love- lots of french and Indian food imbibed, praying at meditating at an ashram and temple, and love...of life.

Vellore and Christian Medical College

The front gates of CMC

Kim tearing up after her Masala

Our humble abode

Dressing the part

Vellore has been described to us as a college town of sorts, but not in the sense I'm used to.  It's smaller in scale, but still has all the hustle and noises of any Indian city.  CMC is perhaps the central focus of the town and quite a Mecca of a hospital.  People from all over India make the trek here leaving their villages and families to travel by whatever means they have. 

Golden Triangle Part 3: Jaipur and More Palaces- Feb 2-3, 2011

Fighting through "traffic"

 Jaipur, the Pink City, is all about the palaces and we definitely got to see some amazing ones.  My favorite was the water palace built out of a waterproof marble foundation and subsequently surrounded a man-made lake so that it would stay cool in the 45 deg celcius summers.  Kim´s favorite moment was when an elephant gave me the eye as it walked past us and turned and sprayed me with a combination of spit and water.  Our guide said it meant I was being blessed by Ganesh.  So I feel lucky?

The Water Palace

Wind Palace

Golden Triangle Part 2: Agra and the Taj Mahal- Feb 1, 2011

Taj at Sunset

Agra Fort

We made the 4h drive to Agra to see one of the 7 wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal.  I love the story, that it was built as a monument to immortalize a King's love for his wife, Taj Mahal.  He could see her memorial everyday across the river from his palace in Agra Fort.

Golden Triangle Part 1: Delhi- Jan 31, 2011

Trying on a Sari

So it took us 2 days to get to Delhi and once we got here we were immediately seized by the rich texture of India. We woke this morning to the soundtrack of barking dogs, constant honking, construction, and shouting. The visuals and smells are just as powerful with the vivid colors cutting through the gray smog and gasoline smell. Otherwise we spent the first day trying to get over our jetlag and visiting the sights of New Delhi.