I made it

The Jist:
So I am here after 38 hours of flying and taxis, safe in the Christian Medical College Campus of Vellore, India. My luggage is taking it’s own vacation and I started my neurology rotation today. This blog is rambling secondary to fatigue, but I promise they will be more cohesive in the future...

The Meat:
I left San Antonio Friday afternoon full of excitement, anticipation and a margarita. Little did I know we would be stranded on the tarmac for over an hour, each 20 minutes brought a new announcement of further delay. My head was churning with the math – how long would we have to connect to our flight in Houston? Well, not long. Once we landed I ran one mile with a forty pound backpack plus my carryon bag. I guess those days at the gym were no help, I nearly hijacked a cart to get there on time. Waiting another day was in the balance, so I ran in my one inch mules as fast as I could. I was the last one on the plane.

The fifteen hour transatlantic was enjoyable after I caught my breath. I sat next to a nice couple (Rachel and Thomas) from Dallas returning to India to visit family. They were good conversation and offered helpful tips during our group bathroom breaks. Emirates airlines provides personal tvs with hundreds of games, movies, tv shows so the time passed though it was the most taxing flight I have taken. Once arriving in Dubai I realized we made a good decision to tack on a few days there on our way back. The airport was a masterpiece and the surroundings were so interesting I know it will be fun to return. We took a 3 hour flight to Chennai, India – the best one yet as I got a free upgrade to business class due to a seating error. We arrived in Chennai at 2am Sunday morning and waited an hour to find out our bags did not make the tight connection in Houston. After making our baggage claim and searching for a hotel, we decided the easiest thing to do was sleep in the lobby as it was already 5am and hotel advice was hard to find. We somehow waited around until 2pm, when we met up with others to get a taxi to Vellore.

Vellore was a welcome site, our final destination. The city itself is cramped, but the campus is full of gardens, chapels, and open spaced all within a secured area. Our room included some friends – er roaches – who we tried to battle with no avail. We are now in better housing tonight and thankful for that.

The Medicine:
I started my Neurology rotation today hoping to see interesting cases and sure enough there were more than I could have imagined. Tuberculosis meningitis, cavernous sinus thrombosis, transverse myelitis, suicide attempt by hanging, typhoid/malaria, and many more. These cases are so incredible and I will blog more this week as the rotation develops. I have found the attendings to be so helpful and patient as they have to translate nearly every conversation just for my benefit. The whole CMC place is special, it has a divine feel about it and I am privileged to be here.



Final Thoughts:

My new friends on the plane said it would be good to see India for India and refrain from making comparisons to the US. So, in that spirit, I will orient my blogs towards being an observer, not just a scorecard between India and what I know as normal.



My dad will not fit in an economy seat for a transatlantic flight - dad you may want to look into that.