Em and Si's Excellent Adventure

Hello All,

A quick note on how we have been getting on since the last post...

Lucky for us the monsoon has still not started, although it is even more imminent than last time. We are very grateful for this delay as popping out for a coffee, a quick shop, or wander round a market in the evening would not be the same in the pouring rain!

Unlike in the UK you do not need a doctors prescription to buy drugs in India - you simply request the drug at a pharmacy and most things are available for less than a pound. Lucky for me as last week I was the first to get an upset stomach with 2 days of D&V. But with a course of self-prescribed antibiotics all is now well. Since then Simon and Will (another student from UEA) have both been on antibiotics too!

We are now over halfway through our placement at KEM with mixed experiences. I started well Obstetrics and Gynaecology with one registar taking her under my wing. The contrast to th NNUH in Norwich is obviously massive, and not easy to convey in words (photos to follow). Overall I am very glad I will never be in labour at KEM as despite excellent medical knowlege facilities are non existant. Giving birth in one large room with up to 15 other women in labour, on a metal bed with no pillow or covering, with your grubby nightie hitched up to your chest and no pain relief cannot be pleasant. I didn't need to speak Hindi to establish that. A huge difference from the individual rooms, with your choice of music, one-to-one midwife care with your partner next to you as in the NNUH.

Labour ward at KEM:

But there is a very different attitude to pregnancy and labour here - with most women being un-educated and in an arranged marriage with their role in life being housework and child birth. To them, I am told, it is a more mechanical process with much less emotional involvement. A sad state of affairs.

Emma in theatre scrubs at KEM:

Unfortuntely for my registar, and me, she was suddenly admitted to ITU with cerebral malaria!!! She will hopefully be fine ands make a full recovery but in her abscence I got very little practical experience or attention at all. Hence I joined the boys and am now in general medicine. My first day was today with a morning in a neurology clinic and afternoon in paediatrics. We received excellent teaching and although not so good for the patients there are some amazing pathologies. And it seems the norm to present to a doctor at a very late stage so the presentations are from a textbook as so advanced - perfect for medical students!

General medicine ward at KEM:

But don't worry - its not all work and no play! Despite us doing a 6 day week we are not struggling to eat some delicious and very cheap food, visit excellent shops (even Simon bought clothes and shoes!) and trips to the cinema; where a few sweets cost more than the ticket and it is the only place I have worn a jumper since leaving the UK!

Anyway time to go - the Rocky films are shown every monday evening - its number 3 tonight!!!!

Fingers crossed for it being Simon to write next time.

Emma

The boys in their new relaxing shirts:

Victoria train station:

Mumbai taxis:

Simon in Elephanta Island cave:

Gateway to India and Taj Hotel from boat:

Em and Si on Marine Drive:

Gateway to India:

Our first meal in our Dadar Flat (thanks Lalita!);

Hello to you all,

As we write this we are in a hot and sticky Mumbai internet cafe with drops of sweat dripping down our backs! Lovely we know but that is the truth. The sound of 10 degrees with the odd shower at home does seem appealing at times when compared with our 35 degrees and imminet monsoon!

But not all is bad. We have just been out for our first Indian meal in a restaurant and after initial language difficulties we had a delicious curry, a rice disk, two naan and a sprite for less than 2 pounds - bargin!

Fo those of you who are wondering what we have been eating for the past 5 days we have somewhat landed on our feet with our apartment... It belongs to a cousin of a doctor we know in Norwich and the cousins sister lives upstairs. We have somewhat been taken under her wing with daily 10.30am shopping trips into Dadar. We have been introduced to the local store owners so as not to be ripped off and have had many lessons on what to at and what not to eat - very helpful. Much to Simons delight she is trying to turn me into a traditional Indian houswife with instructions on how to grow bean sprouts, make yoghurt, mango juice and how the milk steamer works. All sucessful so far, bar the yoghurt! Luckily for me however it is common practise to have a cleaner/cook come in daily. So we have had a lovely Indian come in and cook traditional dahl, japathi and rice fo us every evening. I even managed to get some cooking lessons from her despite her total lack of English and my total lack of anything but English!

Today we headed to Elephanta which is an island an hours boat ride from Mumbai. It has several caves full off buddist carvings - very impressive. However we were both more taken by the wild monkeys and excellent market stalls up and down the hill!

Tomorrow we are off to find the hospital where we start our placement and I may have my sari fitting!!! I am going to try and video record a taxi ride; no one would believe what a free-for-all it is; they need not have bothered with the white lines!

Hope you are all well, please add comments to the site.

Love,
Emma and Simon

P.S. Someone forgot the cable to download photos from her camera, but we will endeavour to buy one so you can see this crazy city for yourselves.

Hello Friends and Family,

Welcome to our Travel Blog! We hope you will enjoy visiting this site while we are on our 'Excellent Adventure' also known as a Medical Elective. We intend to regularly update this as we go with our latest trials and tribulations so you know what we are up to. There will also be some photos so you don't forget our happy faces either.

We are just back at University for the final 2 weeks of placement before we jet off. Only 2 OSCE's and a 4 hour exam to go after that!

On that note I had best do some revision, but with our India VISA's firmly stuck in our passports the excitement is building.

Emma x