Jan 9- Moving On

Yesterday I typed a blog from the hospital in a word document. I wrote that blog around 1 pm but the story was not over. I did not leave the hosptial until after 7 pm. The hopsital i was in was totally disorganized! I was told I would have to stay another night though I felt fine and then told I could leave back and forth over and over again. It was weighing on my emotions. I wanted to leave so badly! I was finally discharged at 3:20, yet it still took hours for them to let me go. I felt much better, yet still miserable because I was alone in the hospital and couldn't talk much to my family. Plus they kept giving me tests, making me nervous that something serious was wrong. I had an ultrasound among other things. Now I am on 5 medications and a strict, bland diet. I am taking it easy.

Today I slept in and then rested until lunch. Before lunch I was trying very hard to re-transition back to being here, but I really just wanted to go home. I was a bit upset. I knowl that I would very much regret leaving India when I worked so hard to get here, but its a difficult place to live. I woke up after not having showered for days, eager to finally shower and had NO hot water! I took a cold shower with only a drip for water pressure. After lunch got better though. I went out with the group of Australians because all of the other volunteers went to the Taj Mahal today. We went to a HUGE shopping mall called City Walk. It was bigger and nicer than any mall I've seen in the U.S. It had expensive, nice Western stores with only a few Indian shops. It was four stories in some places. I have only seen the impoverished and dirty side of India so it was different and interesting to see this. Most of the peopl here were wearing Western-style clothes, mostly jeans. These were clearly the wealthier people. Many designer labels were here; there was even a Nike store and all prices were the same as they would be in the U.S. just transferred to rupees.

Afterward we went to a sitar and violin concert. It was very different. The woman played the violin by resting the end of it on her foot on the floor (she was sitting on the stage) which is totally different than how it is played in most of hte world. Plus the sound was very different. I will post a video of it when I can. Both were very talented musicians, but the music was not the type I would listen to very often. The concert was a whole experience. There was incense and we sat on cushions on the floor. There were mostly Westerners at the concert and the Indians there were wealthy.

The interesting part of the trip was that I had my first ride in an auto-rickshaw! They are tiny, three-wheeled taxis that are prevalent all over the city. They drive pretty crazy. I have seen them all over but never thought I'd actually ride in one. The drivers are difficult to negotiate with. You have to be very harsh to negotiate a price otherwise they will take advantage of you. Our driver was very aggressive! He kept driving off the road. Traffic here is a huge mess. There are no rules, essentially cars just fill in the space along with people, motorcycles, carts and many other vehicles and people. The auto-rickshaw has no doors so I was crammed in the back with 2 other girls without a door. It was certainly an experience!

After being out for a while I felt more encouraged. I know that I can stay here for two more weeks. I sent out emails today to the professor I met and the Canadian man. I will meet with both early next week. I have also talked to the assistant program manager who I will interview and who will schedule a meeting for me to meet with the head of my NGO soon. Now that I have had a week to get used to things, my goal for this next week is to dive into my project by speaking with as many sources as possible to gather information.