American Celebrity

*Written Thursday June 7th*

Well today started out rather humdrum....

I went to the Internet café and wrote my blog and tried to decide if it was worth another $800 to go to an elephant sanctuary for 2 weeks which wouldn't be very veterinary but would be really interesting but I hadn't really planned to spend that kind of money. I was really at a loss for what to do.

So I walked the 10-15 min walk to where Linda had left her dog at Serenity Homestay and took Mimi for a nice long walk and picked up some more dog food, good for both Mimi and I. While I was walking, Chris who I had just met the day before called and told me that he had talked to his veterinarian friend and he was interested in letting me observe/assist but his private clinic was only open from 6-9pm and it was a 30 min trip...damn. Chris told me he would pick me up and drop me off, but I had 2 issues in my way.

1.

It was on his motorbike and I could not hold an umbrella and ride on the back of a motorcycle at the same time, thus if it rained I was SOL.
2.

Chris had proven to be very driven, very kind, thoughtful, and very smart however....truth was I did not know him all that well.

And I learned a very big lesson today when I asked Chris what I should do about these things. First he gave me his raincoat and said if he got soaked it would be ok he'd just go home and change and then he said I would just have to trust him. And let me tell you that worked out wonderfully!

I rode the 30 min on the motorcycle over bridges and around buses and over potholes and finally we reached the vet's little clinic where I met the veterinarian, Sunil, and a veterinary student who was doing his 6 months of practical clinic work, Shibu. Sunil works at the government clinic from 9am until 3pm and then runs a clinic out of his house from 6pm until 9pm and Shibu works at both places as well.

It was like being in a little vet class, Shibu was so great about explaining everything that is going on and Sunil taught me that I must “Learn to do the basics perfectly, when you draw the injection, you must do it the proper way, otherwise you will look like an amateur.” In case it was not clear, I do not draw injections the proper way and I do look like an amateur, but never again, I have seen the light :-) So much information is coming at me that I have been told to bring a note book with me tomorrow to keep track of each case and what I learn about different drugs etc...

But wait Bree, what are you doing tomorrow?

Well I am so glad you asked, because tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, I will be following Shibu (and sometimes Sunil) around the government clinic, learning how to do things properly and listening to Shibu's mini vet school. I think Shibu enjoys having someone to teach because he was so recently a student, and while I don't know that he will admit is, I think it is also good for him to explain the reasonings for things so he doesn't forget. In Kerala (the state I am in) people tend to be a bit arrogant and so in his slightly condescending way, Shibu has informed me that I must study at my own pace and learn each thing very well but only learn a few things at a time. He will teach me about something new each day! I really cannot wait because he says there will be so many different kinds of cases with sheep and goats and cows and such. He is also very considerate and called to make sure I made it home safe with Chris and to remind me that he will call at 8am to make sure I know where I am going. He also texted the directions to me and called me dude. Indians are strange cookies sometimes.

Speaking of Indians, did you realize that I am a hot commodity. I mean seriously in high demand, romantically that is. But why you ask? Well obviously because I am so obviously and wonderfully WHITE! Yes I am a foreigner and that makes me essentially a movie star! When I was in Goa, we were constantly asked to be in pictures; I held babies, put my arms around groups of men, heard the calls of “one more with my son, with my daughter, with my friend” until you felt like a diva finally saying “no more photos please!”

But even more than that is the boys and men alike. My new favorite thing in India is to see a group of young boys (preferably 8-12 as they are so cute in their little uniforms) and look at them smile, wave, and say hi. The whole group will burst into giggles and in fact today I spoke to 4 little boys and shook each of their hands and I thought they would burst with their little grins. It was so cute.

With the men it is less cute sometimes, you get a little sick of hearing “hellooooooo what is your good name?” “Where are you going” and even when you are trying to have a normal conversation,for example when I wanted to watch the teenage boys catch fish in the little ditch with a bow and arrow made of a coat hanger (badass right?), they will talk in a language you don't understand, laugh and eventually ask the inevitable “you here alone?” or “you are married?” and that is the end of the innocent good time.

In other cases it is less obvious. For example when Chris told me he could tell it was my first time on a motorcycle and I quickly informed him that I love motorcycles and used to ride around on one all summer with my ex-boyfriend. Guess which part of that he picked up? You guessed it “ex-boyfriend?” and inevitably “so you are single now?” I felt a little bad when I told him that I had a boyfriend now also, just not one with a motorcycle. Sad day for Chris but I'm glad we got that out of the way. Although he called just a little bit ago to make sure I got home ok (I walked part way in the rain with my umbrella cuz I had to stop at a store) and to tell me he will check to see if the old wireless connection he has can be recharged and how much it would cost for me to start using it so I could have wireless at the hotel.

It'll be sad to be back in the US where I am not told I am beautiful on a daily basis by random men and where the boys will just wave back if I wave at them. Sometimes it's good for the ego to be in the minority!

Today turned out so well! I will definitely be making it to Sunday English mass because things seem to be working themselves out. But as Junie would say “Touch wood” (The Aussie version of knock on wood.)

Ps. List of cultural topics to be covered later skin whitening, Indian obsessions with certain American films and people, Indian Driving, Indian red-tape, the Rickshaw racket, and eventually Government Veterinary Hospitals!