Church, Chai and Tuk Tuk Rides

Pink apartment buildings seen on a walk through Miraj

Week two in India has been quite the adventure.  We started the weekend off with a trip to Sangli, which is a town north of Miraj and apparently known as the turmeric city of Maharashtra because the spice is produced and traded there.  We went there to go to the mall, though, not buy turmeric.  The best part of the visit was the trip to and from Sangli.  We went with two of the residents from the Cardiology department and on the was there we rode of the backs of their motorbikes!  This was a really fun way to experience the traffic here, weaving between trucks, cars and carts pulled by cows.  The mall was just like the mall at home, with a movie theater and a Gold's gym 😂  except with more kurtas for sale.  The trip back was even more exciting because we took our first tuk tuk ride (tuk tuk is the cuter name for auto rickshaw).

The mall crew!

On Sunday, we went to church with the wife of the medical director of Wanless Hospital.  She is a dermatologist and queen of all she surveys.  The church service was in English and very modern, with a power point presentation providing the words to the hymns and an electric guitar accompanying the youth choir.  My favorite part was the wedding announcements, in which the groom was described as Mr. So-and-So, bachelor and the bride as Miss So-and-So, spinster.  After church, we gathered in the courtyard to drink chai and meet many more of the doctors from Wanless hospital.  For lunch after church the medical director's wife sent over the most amazing biryani full of cinnamon sticks, whole cardamom pods, golden raisins and cashews.

OB/Gyn consulting office

Moody hallway in the outpatient department

This week I am rotating the obstetrics and gynecology department at the hospital.  First thing in the morning I go to the ward to see any inpatients and visit the tiny babies in the NICU.  The rest of the day is taken up with outpatient clinic.  These are a mix of prenatal visits and gynecologic complaints like pelvic pain.  The office is very busy with the resident and attending physicians seeing patients at the same time in the same room and the patients' families hovering in the hallway.  So far interesting cases include a triplet pregnancy due to ovulation induction and a pregnant patient with a mechanical aortic valve on warferin.  I also saw two C-sections today!  The surgeries were very similar to those I have seen at home, except the usual flip flops in the OR and the stitch used to close the skin.  They used a vertical mattress suture, which produces a pretty gnarly scar.
We continue to eat amazing food produced by John, our wonderful chef and caretaker.  Here's a few examples:

Omelette and some kind of delicious porridge full of mustard seeds, onions and herbs

Palak paneer, been sprouts and chapati

Jalebi, the most delicious dessert and the cause of my future diabetes

That's all for now!  This weekend we go to Goa and then it's on to dermatology clinic, so stay tuned!
Love, Miss Aleze Krumholz, spinster

Roadside donkeys exploring roadside trash