Namakkal Day 7 : Clinics + Poultry + KVK + Preg Checks

Today is our last day in the Namakkal clinics. We went to the vaccination clinic and got a refreser on vaccines and their time periods. Afterwards we got to check out the infectious ward and watch some parvo treatments. 
We finished early at the clinics and went to check out the poultry farm. Namakkal is the second largest poultry city in India. We went to a layer farm. While there the little kids were so excited to have their pictures taken. They were cute. I let some of them take some of their own pictures and it seemed to make their day. We also got to help collect the eggs from the layers. In general, there was much more air circulation in the cages than facilities in the US, but there was also way too many animals per cage. In the afternoon we visited KVK, a research facility associated with the school that they were very proud of. We also got to view their radio station which was neat. Afterwards we were able to palpate the school's herd for pregnancy diagnosis. We got to feel everything from not pregnant to 60 days pregnant where we could feel the caruncles, and cows only a few days from calving. I was able to palpate the calf's leg and it kicked me from inside the mother's uterus :). We returned back to the hostel and played volleyball again with some students.
We're a little sad to be packing and leaving Namakkal.  As far as weather, its slightly cooler here than in Chennai, and less humid. Every night it looked and felt like it was going to rain, with strong winds and angry skies, but it never did the whole week. Also I feel like we will miss their delicious food. I think we are all excited for Ooty though!
-8/1/15

Namakkal Day 6 : Free Clinic + Waterfall

Today we participated in a free clinic! We went to a small village in the mountains nearby called Kolli Hills. First we had to climb the most obnoxious mountain side ever. There were signs on the way up counting, ' 27/70 Hairpin Bends... 28/70 Hairpin Bends... '. It was awful. I think everyone felt sick by the end. There were monkeys on the side of the road as we climbed the mountain, so that made the climb slightly more enjoyable. We finally arrived in a small village. As we arrived villagers started appearing with their cows and goats and before long it was crowded. We palpated cows for pregnancy diagnosis, gave phosphorus for pregnancy prevention (IM), and gave dewormer to the cattle. It was a neat experience and the villagers were happy to have their animals treated. Afterwards we had tea and passed jackfruit and bananas around. 
We left and sightsaw the rest of the day. We stopped at a tea stand on the side of road and had delicious, if hot, ginger tea. Then we made our way to a huge waterfall, Agaya Gangai, where locals came and submerged themselves in the water. Some were even lathering up with soap and rinsing off. Michael went right in and submerged himself while the rest of us watched. The locals were so excited and posed for all sorts of pictures with him. Finally Heidi and I decided to jump in as well. It was a lot of fun and the water was refreshing (a little uncomfortable on the ride home though). We ate a late lunch and headed back to the hostel (2 hr drive). Speaking of lunch, I have started not really enjoying the meat as it has a lot of bones in it. We asked the students how they eat around the bones and they told us that they just eat them. Like crunch them in their mouth and swallow them. I can't even really fathom that. Anyways we returned and had the rest of the evening off. But the internet had cut off again so we were unable to get anything done online.
-7/31/15

Namakkal Day 5 : Clinics + Free Afternoon

Today I was scheduled for LA OG  (obstetrics and gynecology) ward, but no one was there, even the doctors. It turns out today was a holiday, due to the former president of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam,  passing away a couple days ago. Many vets we spoke to were very complementarity of his work and it was truly a memorial day for the people of India.  Even president Obama was said to be in Tamil Nadu today. I went to surgery ward instead, but they were also rather slow. It ended up just being a group of the VMRCVM students talking and waiting for our 12p bus. 
I am starting to miss home a lot. I think its because of spotty and lack of internet to keep me grounded. I miss my dog, my family, my friends. I'm upset about this crazy assignment. I just really would like to go home. I'm happy to know its just under 3 weeks to return. Don't get me long, I love this trip, but it is difficult being away from home for so long, and realizing that I have to be back in school half a week after I return. 
Because of the holiday, our afternoon lab was canceled, so we had the day off. The internet was still off so I took a nap. I don't think I'm sleeping well, even though I'm getting over 8hrs every night, I still wake up exhausted. This afternoon I slept for 2 wonderful hours until we woke up and there was internet!!  It definitely put me in a much better mood. 
At 6p Julie, Michael, Caitlin and I went to meet up with some Indian students and play some volleyball. I'm not very good, but it was a lot of fun being out and playing around with some of the other students.
I think all of us agree we have like the food way better here in Namakkal than in Chennai. The food is more flavorful with a little more spice and lots of fruit and veggies. I never realized how much I love cauliflower until I had it cooked here. Also they cook parata here every night. Its my favorite type of tortilla thing with thick doughy bread that is absolutely delicious.
-7/30/15

Namakkal Day 4 : Clinics + Necropsy Lab

* Please excuse the lack of photos. Internet is so spotty here. I'll have to add them when I have a better connection*

This morning a mouse came out of Michael's sink faucet and bit him while he tried to release it outside. As odd as that was it got me thinking about our faucet, so I checked it out, and there was HAIR COMING OUT OF OUR FAUCETS. Like tufts of mouse hair caught on the inside of the aerator. I pretty much almost threw up. That means that there are DEAD MICE IN THE WATER WHERE I WASHED MY FACE, BRUSHED MY TEETH, AND CLEANED MY CLOTHES. It was disgusting we had been living with that all week and never even noticed. We let the head professor know and he had the faucets "dusted" but I still can't get the image of mice hair coming out of the faucet out of my head.
Today we were stationed in the surgery ward. It was okay but I felt the case load was a lot less than Med and so there was a lot of standing around. Mostly it was wound cleaning and suture rechecks and fluids for cows that had surgery recently. They schedule most of their cutting for the afternoon, so we didn't see anything too exciting.
The afternoon lab today was on pathology. Namakkal is the second largest chicken town in India, so if there is an outbreak in disease, it is important to identify it quickly and do the best to stop transmission, and keep production high. We had a short talk on common poultry diseases in India and then got to observe necropsy done on several chickens. In this particular case, the chickens had died due to heat stroke. To help combat, the farmer was educated in management protocols in order to keep the chicken more comfortable and lose less to heat. The internet went out so we were unable to work on much and I attempted to write some SOAPs.
-7/29/15

Namakkal Day 3 : Clinics + Feed Analysis

We had another day scheduled in the Med ward in Namakkal. Today was a lot better than yesterday, I found a couple of nice students and doctors that were willing to explain what was going on with each case. I saw a few cases of rumenal acidosis and learned a lot about its etiology and treatment. I also got to IM inject a water buffalo, which was crazy with how thick their skin is. you basically have to punch the syringe in.  Over the lunch break we were able to visit the computer lab were we were able to connect to the internet. We got our second exam for this class- a 10 question assignment due Aug 14th, with a minimum of 3 pages for each question. Oh and it's all on topics we have not reviewed in class and would need to research with our spotty and sometimes As a group I think we are all a bit upset. Last year had very minimal assignments and we were even told earlier this trip that it would be only a couple of questions. We plan on talking to Dr. Subbiah when we meet him again in Ooty. 
Our afternoon lab consisted of viewing the feed analysis lab on campus. They primarily tested for microtoxins by utilizing chromatography and other tests. We were able to go back to the hostel a little early to rest. We had a  long series of days and it was nice to have a little time off.
-7/28/15

Namakkal Day 2 : Clinics + Research Farm + Bar

Today was our first day of clinics in Namakkal. It was also Julie's birthday. The head of the clinics in Namakkal was very inviting and welcomed us with coffees in his office. He was also very philosophical.  He had heard that some in our group were purchasing yoga mats. He then told us that he does yoga everyday while treating animals.  'It is a practice of mind, body, and spirit,' he said. We were paired up for clinics and Julie and I were sent to the LA Med. It was a little hard to get an idea of what each case was presenting with and being treated for. I think the students were a little nervous talking to us. I did get to stick with a doctor and watch a couple of ultrasounds and other procedures. They treat water buffalo here, which is really cool, but they are scary at times as they are big and not nearly as tamed as the cows. When they are stuck with an injection many thrash around in their stalls.
Later during the morning they surprised Julie with a cake. While introducing us, it turned out that it was also another student's birthday. Julie and the Indian student cut the cake together. We joked about it being her Indian wedding, and said she should feed him cake. I guess some overheard us, and apparently the Indians have a tradition where a mother feeds a child cake on their birthday. Another Indian student volunteered to feed her cake as a surrogate mother. It was bizarre to say the least.
In the afternoon we went on a tour of their research farm. We have been on a lot of these same  tours but its okay because its fun to play with the animals. They raise rabbits here in Namakkal, mainly for meat. We also saw their goats, cows, and pigs. Later we went to the Milk Co-Op,where farmers brought milk from their cows to add to a larger collection in order to get pasteurized in bulk and then sold. One young boy was there and said he came with his father that day because his dad said the Americans would be there. He said he had then been working on his English all day. Its a neat dynamic the people have with their cattle here. Instead of hundreds to thousands of cows on one farm, one person will have 2-4 cows and they are treated much more like pets than they are dollar signs like in America.
Afterwards, Julie convinced the lead professor to let us go out to a bar for her birthday. We went to a hotel bar for safety and we were more or less the only people there. It was fun though, just being able to relax with everyone.
-7/27/15

Namakkal Day 1 : Fort

I did not sleep very well on the train (surprise). In addition to not going to sleep until late, I also woke up about every hour. Our stop in Salem was scheduled at 4:45a, so we were up by 4:20a. We got off and found our escorts pretty quickly. We took an hour bus ride to reach Namakaal and went straight to our hostel rooms for a little more rest until breakfast at 9a. We ate and explored around the hostel. The roof was beautiful, as was the whole building. We were told that we were the first to stay in the newly erected hostel. The only issue I had- we didn't have showers. Or washing machines. So we were to take bucket baths and wash our clothes by hand. The buckets weren't horrible once you got used to it but it is difficult to wash your hair fully. And hand washing wasn't too bad, but I feel like my clothes did not get as clean as they would have in a 20min wash cycle.
We had off until 4 when we went to the Namakkal Fort on top of a small mountain in the middle of Namakkal. There was set of stairs to the top of the mountain. The fort was really neat to explore around. If the people in Chennai had never seen a white person, these people REALLY had never seen a white person. I now know what it is like to be followed by paparazzi. While walking I could hear the camera phones clicking. I walked into a shelter and they stopped. Walked back out and they started again. Its kind of annoying being taken photos of only because of your skin color,  it almost makes you feel like a zoo animal or something. I started taking pictures back of them but they just posed haha. When we gathered to take a group photo, there must have been 10-15 others that swarmed to take a picture of all of us together. We went shopping at a few places to get some items that people wanted (like yoga mats). Then Dr. Ravikumar (one of the professors taking care of us here) bought us all ice cream. The people here are very caring and in general very welcoming. They even told us when we arrived that we were to be treated as their own sons and daughters. We finished up at the hostel for dinner. The meal area we ate at was a beautiful patio area. Also Namakkal is in the country and much less population than Chennai. Also the air. It was so much nicer to not breathe in sewage and exhaust the entire time.
-7/26/15