People who serve God should have plush towels

The Jist:

My first week in India has come to an end. We visited the Vellore Fort and temple today and got in some good shopping and a great lunch at Hotel Darling. Tonight will be just time to relax before starting the rural health rotation on Monday. This blog does not have an easy way to move pictures around, so apologize for the random placement.

The Medical:

We saw an interesting case in the pediatric population. There was a young boy who had met all milestones until about six months of age when he was not crawling and still not standing by one year. Since then he walks, but unsteady with many falls and appears to be deteriorating. The white on his forehead is a common religous marker. He has a congenital myopathy that is degenerative, more tests are pending. His face is dysmorphic as well, notice his eyes seem widely spaced.

I took video of his eyes and gait, not the best quality but you can see it:

My Thoughts:

I sprayed DEET bug spray on my arms and neck to avoid malaria harboring mosquitos. Well, I also ate some pringles. The small amount of DEET must have touched my lips because they tingled and went numb. I guess it works.

There is a language barrier obviously, but even more than I appreciated. Each of the students has had the same experience that instead of responding "I don't know" to a question about location, sometimes they just point which means go away you are making me uncomfortable, but we take it to mean that is where the place is that we were asking about. It can be confusing.

I have decided that some cows are fat and some cows are skinny. Whoever feeds the cows must play favorites.

Some people here are very uncomfortable if you are standing up when you could be sitting. "Please sit, please sit", chairs will be summoned from all parts of the Earth in order to have you sit. Saying you are just wanting to stretch your legs and would rather stand is not really a good excuse.

A patient lunged towards my attending in what I thought was an aggressive move, but he was really just attempting to "wash his feet" by dusting his shoes, a sign of respect.

The towels on the CMC campus are quite worn and barely functional. If I had an extra grand lying around I might by new towels for everyone. People who serve God like this deserve plush towels to use after a long day of work.

Taking the young patients picture caused a stir in the pediatric ward. Nurses requested I take pictures of all the children.