day to day life

Sorry there have not been more blog posts recently. We have been inhibited with power because the amount of American power strips we have blown recently. We have been focusing our last strip mostly on the camera equipment needed for the documentary. I want to write about day to day lifestyle we experience each day. On all days except Sunday we wake up for chapel at 7:30 AM. Next, we normally go on morning rounds, and then we come back for breakfast. The 7:30 chapel is a loose term, because punctuality is not valued here like it is in the States. So we normally start worship ten to twenty minutes late. So we have learned that it really takes an effort to be late to anything here. Chapel is a beautiful experience. We normally start it with prayer, then mix in some scripture reading and hymns. For the most part, the service is conducted in Hindi. It is an extraordinary feeling worshipping in a foreign language, especially during their beautiful singing. After chapel, we meet on the steps outside chapel to reading the morning patient reports with all the doctors and nurses. Following that, we head to the hospital to check on all the patients’ progress during morning rounds. For the most part, it is amazing to see the progress of all the patients each morning. Next, we go for breakfast that is prepared by our great Indian cook and maid, Kovita. Kovita really takes care of us, and I can conclude that these American have been spoiled relative to most of our Indian counterparts. She prepares us mild Indian food (so our mouths aren’t burning), cleans are rooms and washes are cloths. It’s hard to beat that at 500 rupies ($10 USD) a month. Breakfast usually consists of an array of fruit, oatmeal, toast, and more recently scrambled eggs, at our request. The fruit is a mix of familiar staples like apples, oranges, mangos, papayas, and bananas, and Indian specific fruits like bar (pronounced like bear) and guava(truly life changing). We are also spoiled with American toilets. Indian toilets are a hole in the floor, which requires a tough squatting position. Showers are interesting because of the lack of water heaters, but sponge baths are not tough to get used to. To shower, we have to fill up three gallon bucket and utilized immersion rods to heat up the water. This smart American learned the hard not to stick your hand in the water to check the heat of the water, it was a shocking experience to say the least. We mostly get around Mungeli by foot, but we have tried the Indian way by making motorcycles and bicycles family vehicles. It really slows down the 150cc motorcycle with two 200+ pound Americans weighing the vehicle down. It is really amazing to see a whole family of five Indians fit on a motorcycle to get around (quite a balancing act). It is also very romantic to see an Indian man transport his wife on a bicycle. Indian women do not straddle a bike when seating, rather they ride with both feet on one side.
I have so much more to get caught up on, but I must go. We are meeting a semiprofessional cricket team, and going to a zoo in Bilaspur (about an hour away) for lunch and to play with tiger cubs. I hear the get ferocious when they get bigger. Peace and I hope to write much more later when we get back today.