A little closer to home...

To my faithful blog followers,

I would like to apologize for the brief hiatus in blogging. I checked into a Bangla 5 star hotel yesterday and have been lounging in luxury ever since! I was like a kid in a candy store yesterday. I spent time in the gym, the steam room, took the best shower of my life, and had the most comfortable nights sleep in a long time! I woke up this morning and had a somewhat normal breakfast with my first cup of coffee in almost 3 weeks. It wasn't the best but I have to have something to look forward to! Tonight I had french fries and ice cream for dinner (partly because why not?, and partly because you get used to spending 75 cents - 2 dollars a meal and it just seems really wrong to spend $25 on a buffet dinner!).

This morning I visited a local government hospital and got to see what their protocol is in treating malnutrition from start to finish. It was very enlightening and actually very rewarding to see that what I have spent the last 3 weeks on is a very important issue here.

It is a large referral center for diarrhea and I was shocked to see the patients lined up on cots with holes in the beds draining into buckets. (no pictures necessary, it is just as you might imagine)

I plan to spend some final time in Dhaka tomorrow visiting their large market prior to flying out. I start my 24 hr journey home tomorrow night.

I cannot believe I am less than 24 hrs from flying out!

If this is my final post (I plan on posting some additional pictures after tomorrow), I truly appreciate those of you that took this journey with me. Your emails were more enjoyed than you will ever know, and the only way I made it was knowing that you were all there supporting me.

Thank you!

Poor Rangpur...

This morning, I visited Rangpur Medical College and I don't even know how to relay the shock I was in when I first walked through the door. I was not even aware that hospitals like this still exist in 2011. However, I met with some very nice, educated, dedicated, and passionate doctors that made me realize that medicine is the same all over the world, despite the aesthetics. I am constantly reminded that no matter how corrupt and ridiculous we feel our government/country/healthcare system is, we are so lucky to be Americans!

We toured the pediatric ward which is a large room with rows of beds. If the babys were small enough, there were two to a bed. The NICU consisted of a room with isolettes lining the walls (not much less aesthetically pleasing than our NICU at Mount Sinai honestly). Some neonates were under white lights and I didn't get the chance to ask if they were onto something there that we aren't, or if they just weren't able to get actual bili lights. There was a special room for kids with diarrhea...I won't go any further about that room. Then, there was a large room with a sign above the door that said "isolation" where about 30 beds were full of patients all together...no gowns, masks, gloves, fancy signs, Mona walking around. It was one of the most enlightening experiences I have had this entire trip.

Then, the day went downhill as we boarded our "sitting bus" as Jasim calls it which means that we pay to actually have a seat, vs standing, vs riding on the top of the bus. Seriously! You can pay a certain amount for a seat, less if you are willing to stand, and even less if you are willing to ride on the top of the bus. If you knew how these people drive, I would equate riding on the top to sky diving! I will hear honking in my sleep tonight!

So long Chilmari...

Our work in Chilmari is done! We left the guesthouse at 5:40 am to catch a boat to Gaibandha. As we piled all of our stuff and somehow ourselves onto a Rickshaw down to the river, the sun was rising. It was so nice and peaceful without hundreds of eyes staring at me, horns honking, bicycle bells ringing, people crowding the streets, naked children running around, cows pulling trailers trodding by, and large trucks stirring up sand. It was just us, the red sun rising, the cool 70 degree weather, rice paddies, and a river. I was glad to see this side of Chilmari before I left.

The three hour boat ride was uneventful and our training session went well. We then took a van to Rangpur where I will be visiting the medical college tomorrow. After almost checking into possibly the worst hotel room I can ever even imagine, we found a new state of the art place! I mean to tell you that I currently have air conditioning, fast internet, television with a movie channel in English (that is currently showing Twilight), and possibly even warm water to shower with!!! If only I had a "tall toilet" then I would be in paradise.

Just a side note to relay the difference in what things cost here. When we received our bill for 7 nights and 16 meals at our guesthouse, it came out to.....$89 for me!!!!! Jasim and I just had dinner complete with tea for two for...89 taka (let me remind you its 70 taka to the dollar)! Apparently when its potato season and they are in great supply, you can get about 35 lbs of potatoes for a dollar!! I can't even imagine how cheap rice must be.

I almost forgot to mention before that I found a profession here that would be quite successful in NYC...a umbrella technician. Seriously! There was a guy on a char we visited a few days ago that drives a bicycle full of parts and makes house calls to come and fix your umbrella! When I told Jasim of the hundreds of broken umbrellas that litter the city with each storm we have, he was shocked that we don't have an umbrella technician.

bugs...

We are sitting outside, its 930 pm and we are delighted that our internet is working. And, in true Bangladesh fashion, the electricity goes out. The bugs begin to swarm at the computer screen, then they swarm to my face. We cannot figure out why they like my face and not Jasim's until we realize that my light skin must reflect he light and look like a light to them...this doesn't happen to Jasim since he is so dark.

We laugh so hard that I almost lose my rice...these bugs have never seen a white person either!!

Then, the generator starts up and the bugs go back to the neon light.

(I realize that you may not find this as funny as we just did...sorry)

I am taking advantage of this opportunity, while I have it, to upload some more pictures

working to dry the hay and the rice

tea time...always my favorite time of the day

bringing bags of dum dums was the best decision I made!

a mother and child looking into the home where we were holding clinic

a happy baby after club foot repair. the best age...before they know to be afraid of doctors

This kid decided to go for a dip in the mud. I got better pictures of him, but seeing as he was naked (as most kids are) I felt it was inappropriate to include on the blog...but he was so freaking cute I felt he deserved an appearance!

My work on the chars has come to an end. What seemed at one time like a never ending process has finished. I will never forget the awe I felt each day as we stepped off of our boat and onto the sand. I was fortunate enough to get back on a boat and leave at the end of the day, but this is the constant life of these people. However, they are so carefree (notice the proud look of the father above as his son comes home filthy...we would have been in so much trouble!). The kids spend each day playing outside, only coming in to eat (most don't attend school at all which is sad). They are unfortunately content with the simple lives that they have. I will spend the next few days visiting surrounding hospitals to see what they have to offer in the way of malnutrition and general pediatric care. As amazing and irreplaceable as this experience has been, I must admit that I am looking forward to coming back home. But, each time I am feeling like I cannot wait to leave here, I see a cute little kid smiling at me and it makes it all worth it.

mass transportation in Bangladesh

Is that ___? No, its just a white person

This rickshaw picture has nothing to do with this post...I just liked it :)

I have talked quite often about the reaction I get here. However, tonight was a true experience. When you are on the boat/hospital or out in the chars, people stare, but they know that you are a doctor and work with Friendship and it is a somewhat tolerable stare. However, when we go out in the village just to walk around, it is a bit different. The kids are always really cute and stare in awe of someone that looks so different. Sometimes at night, we just go for a walk through the town and as we walk, the crowd behind us just grows and grows. People come out of their houses and line the streets...you would think I am the president or something. Little girls wave, little boys smile shyly, the women stare, rickshawallas (that is the rickshaw drivers) sometimes nearly crash into each other, I sometimes even think that the cows stare at me funny. However, it is the grown men that I am always most surprised by their lack of attempt to hide their staring.

Since I am doing a project on malnutrition, we took a rickshaw into the market that comes twice a week to take some pictures of local foods that they can use to teach parents in the future. These people were so flabbergasted by my presence that I am sure they all forgot what they came to buy (I bet there were some angry wives when they got home). We quickly had a mob of grown men following us (and I don't mean from a distance, they want to get as close as possible!). However, I was able to get some great pictures of some crazy local vegetables, colorful lentils, etc. Then, we decided to really throw these people off guard and stop to have some tea. No one drinks here (it is a religious thing), so the closest thing to a bar are these tea shops. The picture below isn't the greatest but you get the idea.

the tea kettles on the bottom left, the tea maker with canisters of different biscuits/cookies, and me at the edge of the bar that extends into a narrow shop. (don't mind all of the stuff floating in the air...it's what I have been breathing the past 9 days!)

We enjoyed our tea (it was actually made with cow's milk (I am sure straight from the cow...they haven't heard of Luis Pastuer (sp?) here either as he was also white) and made it safely back to our guesthouse