Here we go

I’m officially in India! On the way we stopped in Frankfurt, where I had my first legal beer (the drinking age in Germany is 16). Honestly, not much better than American beer, but maybe if my German was less rusty I could buy something more like what I wanted. We then stopped in Dehli and finally arrived in Hyderabad at 3am. It was more than 24 hours in all.

Rachel (the other assistant to Dr. Schneider) and I were picked up at the airport by the staff of Sivinanda Rehabilitation Home, a place that treats Leprosy, HIV, and Tuberculosis. Many of these illnesses, especially leprosy are highly stigmatized, so many patients live at the center. The leprosy patients do things like build prosthetics and weave, in order to use their hands more. The guesthouse there is where Rachel will be staying.

The next morning I moved into the Sunitha family home. The Sunitha’s have two kids, Arpun and Shirley Priya (Rinkey). Me and Arpun have the same birthday (next Monday) so that should be fun, we will “cut cake” together. The whole extended family (including Sabitha, who works with Dr. Schneider and me) live on the same block-type-area. Every night they sit around together and make dinner, the kids play, the guys talk, etc. I got into an intense game of Marco Polo with all the cousins and some random neighborhood kids. We were playing on the rooftops and more and more kids kept running over and wanting to play. It’s super cute, many of the cousins get really excited when they see me. Also, they all call me Akka which means older sister.

Today I went to work with Sabitha at SHARE-India, a public health organization in Hyderabad. I was basically just preparing for my project, doing more background reading. We will be working on pilot testing an oral HIV test among men who have sex with men. I will go with a team (me, a counselor, and a peer educator) to “hot spots” (red light districts) to recruit men for the study. We will show them a video about HIV and testing, then if they consent we will administer the HIV test and refer them for follow up counseling at Mithrudu, an outreach organization for men who have sex with men (MSM).

Random other thoughts: the dog, Sweetie, had puppies the day before I came. They still look weird. Spicy food for breakfast will take some getting used to. Lots of rice, lots of dahl. We eat with our hands, you dump the dish on a pile of rice, mash it all together, and scoop it up with your hand. Also, squat toilets and splashing water instead of using toilet paper will take some getting used to. But I am definitely enjoying myself, but I am working hard on fitting in a bit more (this is difficult when I am the only white person I have seen since leaving the airport). I will try to write more soon, hopefully I will be able to do this blogging thing!

PS: Mom/Dad/Jack PLEASE take a picture together so I can show it to people. I keep getting requests to see pictures of you all!