Wow… so earlier in the trip I could blame it all on our poor internet connection that I was not getting these blogs posted. Now, I have myself to blame as well. So since I am a bit behind on what has been going on around here, after this posting I will have to give you the quick version to get you up to speed!
Dec 8th: (told you I was behind!)
This was our second day off. At this point we were ready to leave campus again. As one of the doctors puts it “it’s a bit socially isolated around here.” So we decided to spend a relaxing day at the beach in Valneshwar.
The excitement of our trip began the night before with trying to find a driver. We attempted to call the same driver we had taken on our previous day off, but he was already booked for the day. Uh oh, now what do we do? So we go to the front hospital gate where there are always rickshaws and cars waiting for passengers and we thought we could just arrange for one for the next day. This wasn’t exactly the case so we attempted to ask the front guard how to hire a driver. We soon found out that he didn’t speak English, but a moment later one of the nursing school professor happen to be walking by and the guard asked him to translate. The professor was very understanding and took it upon himself to go ask around for a driver. Meanwhile we continue to hang out with the guard and practically get carried away by the mosquitoes! Finally he returns and tells us he may have something for us. So we following the professor to meet a guy who says he has a vehicle and is available to take us the next day. After a bit of bargaining we settled on a price for the day and agreement that the man’s brother will be driving us, since the brother speaks some English. We had to put down 500 Rupees ($10) in advance, so we’re hoping he shows up in the morning. Ok… I realize how naïve this all sounds, but no worries… we’re all still alive and well J and the nursing professor was familiar with the man. Right… still sounds naïve, I know, but again, still alive and well!
So the next day we eat our usual breakfast of Poha and Upma, then run off to meet the brother of the man to take us to the beach. Low and behold… he is there, ready and waiting at 9am just as we had agreed! The trip to the beach was approximately 55 km and took nearly 2 hrs. It was a windy and bumpy ride just like every other. I took the seat that was facing the back of the van and was able to keep my cool for nearly the whole ride, until about the last 25 min when I had to ask Beth to switch seats with me. Riding backward on bump windy roads can induce a little carsickness in just about anyone! The main roads and highways are narrow but well maintained here. The back roads are however full of large pot holes and wandering animals! Good thing you can get Zofran without a prescription if needed!
So the next day we eat our usual breakfast of Poha and Upma, then run off to meet the brother of the man to take us to the beach. Low and behold… he is there, ready and waiting at 9am just as we had agreed! The trip to the beach was approximately 55 km and took nearly 2 hrs. It was a windy and bumpy ride just like every other. I took the seat that was facing the back of the van and was able to keep my cool for nearly the whole ride, until about the last 25 min when I had to ask Beth to switch seats with me. Riding backward on bump windy roads can induce a little carsickness in just about anyone! The main roads and highways are narrow but well maintained here. The back roads are however full of large pot holes and wandering animals! Good thing you can get Zofran without a prescription if needed!
After our 2 hour ride we finally arrive in Valneshwar and again are stared at. Totally used to it by now though, we just carry on with what we are there to do and that is lay out in the sand! It was a short walk down a narrow street to the beach, which was practically deserted. Yes! The beach is ours! Well… ours and the occasional stray dog or roaming cattle.
After a few hours of relaxing we decided we were getting hungry and coming from the Midwest we likely had enough sun for the day. Ok, maybe that was just me. I don’t exactly get nice and brown like the other 3, I just tend to freckle more! So we left the beach and stopped in Chiplun on the way back for a snack at a local family owned restaurant. We could only order sandwiches and snacks because the kitchens tend to be closed between 3 and 7pm. Our stop in Chiplun was most likely the most entertaining part of our relaxing day!
Our first waiter seems to struggle with taking our order, so an older gentleman comes to the table to rescue both us and the confused waiter with his bit of English. He starts to take our order and then he too becomes very confused. Finally, a little girl (approximately 10 y/o) with excellent English approaches our table, takes the pad of paper from the older man (who we dub as grandpa) and takes over as our waitress. She takes our order without a hitch! The little girls heads off to place our order and grandpa hangs around to visit.
The following is Beth’s rendition of how the conversation with grandpa plays out:
Grandpa “So what country are you from?”
Us: “United States. Chicago.”
Grandpa” “Oh… ok!” and proceeds to inform us of various things he knows about the US. After which he wanders away and shortly thereafter returns.
Grandpa: “What country are you from?”
Us: “Uh… United States”
Grandpa shakes his like he knew that and wanders off again. A moment later he returns.
Grandpa: “You want some mango juice? It is our specialty here.”
Us: “Sure. We’ll each have one.” We had already ordered our food, but mango juice sounds refreshing.
Grandpa wanders off to inform the kitchen of our request for Mango juice.
Then he’s back…
Grandpa: “So what country are you from? You from Russia?”
Us: “Yes. We’re from Russia.” Probably not the correct response
We all start to giggle, we just could not help it at this point. He was a sweet man, but we realize at this point that poor Grandpa truly does not remember asking us where we were from.
Grandpa: “You want some mango juice?”
Us: “Yes. 4 please”
Grandpa: “Ok.” Then he points at Julie, “She laughs a lot.”
Julie: Now laughing out loud.
Us: “Well, she’s a happy girl.”
Grandpa: “We will call her laughing girl!”
Now we all bust out laughing!
Grandpa: “You want mango juice?”
Us: “Yes, 4 please…”
Grandpa: turns to walk away, stops and says to us “Russian people are so nice!” and wanders off…
He was so cute that we just couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation. We came to the conclusion that though his memory is failing, he is still a good personable asset to the family restaurant in his happily confused state. The little girl, we assume to be his granddaughter, was so sweet and helpful that we tried to give her, her own tip but she would not accept. So instead we pulled out some American coins for her. Now those she was willing to take!
Bringing things back to a more serious note. Talking about grandpa reminds me to discuss the topic of caring for elderly in India and Indian culture. There are not any nursing homes or the concept of assisted living. You may find some nursing facilities in the cities, but those are few and far between. The elderly are cared for by their family seeing as there is nowhere else for them to really go. In most families of the rural area the women are housewives, so there is typically someone in the home at all times to look after an elderly family member. Ultimately, even though grandpa has some obvious dementia, he is still able to be with his family, work in the restaurant and interact with the customers. Though we were confused ourselves at times, we really enjoyed our conversation with grandpa. Honestly, it was the highlight of our day!
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