Fri Jul 1
You are leaving this morning at what time please sir?

Eventually it had to happen- the hotel staff got sick of me asking them lots of questions, not knowing when I was leaving and not giving them any tips. At 8am I got a phone call: “Good morning sir”. Sleepy murmur… “I am calling from the reception”. Hmmmmphwat?… “I am calling from the reception. You are leaving this morning at what time please sir?”I got the hint. At 10:00 I left, called my “agent” and he helped me to shout down the phone in Malyalam at 20 or so people in the airport to find out that my baggage was indeed waiting my collection. So I got a taxi to the airport and picked up my rucksack after filling in 5 forms in as many offices- the final office requiring 3 weeks and a permanent address in india to refund me the GBP1.50 it had cost to get there to pick it up- I called it quits at that point.

I got a bus (well, one of the steps loosely attached to the side of the bus anyway- what can you expect if you pay 30p for a 2-hour ride) to Thrissur. The taxi ride to the hospital cost 9 rupees… obviously i’d been paying double the normal fare for the last few days in tourist-smart Kochi.

I was welcomed at the hospital by more beurocracy (”Do you have a letter of introduction, sir”) before finally getting to meet the director, Father Alapatt (”I am Priest by life and Doctor by profession”), a very nice man with a swollen jaw from a recent tooth extraction who made some calls during our discussion on gay christians sparked by the introduction of gay marriage in the highly democratic state of Kerela where I am (”Tell me about the trend with homosexuals in britain? It will affect the population, isn’t it?”) and everything fell into place- I’m installed in the supervisor’s office at the end of the block. I’m staying in a sort of boot camp-style concrete block with padlocks and bars on the doors and metal beds covered by a 1cm thick lumpy mat to sleep on. There could be nothing better for a decadent western slob like me than getting up at 7am to the sound of rain and crickets, washing under a cold tap in a dark washroom, going to the canteen for curry out of a bucket and getting to the wards by 8am sharp. When Father Alapatt mentioned the timetable
for Paediatrics (Starting at 8 and finishing at 10pm) I suddenly thought it would be a better idea to start with general medicine, so that’s where I am. Today’s case load included 2 viper bites (and I learned how to identify india’s 3 main venemous snakes), suspected leptospirosis, first presentation metastatic lung cancer, widespread TB, and the usual monsoon viruses, typhoid, paratyphoid
etc. I palpated huge livers and spleens and saw amazingly advanced clubbing, pallor, muscle wasting, jaundice etc. All in all… wow! Sometimes I traipse around behind doctors for an hour hearing only Malyalam (which I am now less ambitious about mastering having learnt it has wierd
grammar and an alphabet with 52 letters each with a variant for each vowel). But at other times I get an excellent 2 hour tutorial on aortic stenosis and heart sounds (complemented by having heard a fair few good murmurs). OK this is turning into a book. All in all I’m learning lots but a little bit
lonely and overwhelmed in this huge hot moist noisy smelly life-filled country. Tomorrow I’m going to get an air-conditioned train (aah bliss) back to Cochin to meet phil and go on a backwater cruise in a boat all sunday before returning here on sunday night for another week in general medicine. Would be very happy to hear from you if you have time. I got lost and discovered an internet cafe
just down the road. Now I need to get un-lost and find the canteen for my customary curry dinner and well-meant stares from other students.
Love, peace & respect
Simon