We have so much to tell you about!

Sorry we have not updated the blog recently! Adam's computer happens to work with Indian plug-ins but for whatever reason, we cannot get the blog website to work on his computer. My computer does not work on Indian plug-ins and so we had to wait until we received our adapters today!

So much has happened I am not even sure where to begin. We had our first day of class on Wednesday and one of the first things that struck me was that we stopped once in the morning and once in the afternoon for a tea break. Two 30 minute breaks dedicated to coffee, tea, and cookies....we need this back home. 

We are so fortunate to be able to learn from Pallium India and particularly Dr. Raj. Dr. Raj is one of the most special people I think any of us has met. With his team of doctors, nurses, social workers, and volunteers, he tracks down candidates for palliative care and identifies not only the patient's physical needs (pain control!!) but also their social, emotional, and spiritual needs. In addition, they look out for ways to help the families. By building roofs onto houses, installing toilets, and donating chickens and crafting equipment, Pallium India helps families become safer and more self-sufficient! 

After class on Monday, we went saree shopping to find some clothes for the New Year's Eve party being thrown by the hotel. It was quite the experience. Workers and bystanders surrounded us, suggested colors, and wrapped us all in sarees. Adam was so patient because all of the girls couldn't decide. Finally I picked one and we headed back to the hotel to get ready. Easier said than done. No one could figure out how to rewrap the sarees. After thirty minutes of painful struggling, Adam found a hotel worker who agreed to help us. She was so kind and spent a lot of time wrapping six of us in our sarees for New Year's.

The party was very fun! An announcer led us through a series of games, drawings, and Indian dance performances. Jenna was chosen to sing a song to the entire crowd and she performed like a champ. Adam and I were chosen to be in a dance competition as well. After six minutes of dancing, we had completely depleted all of our go-to moves (the sprinkler, grocery cart, etc). It was rough to watch I am sure, but surprisingly we actually placed second!!!  After a couple of drinks, we all headed to the roof to watch the fireworks go off all over Trivandrum.

Fortunately, our itinerary allowed us to sleep in the next day. We went on a tour of the city and toured the local zoo. Following the zoo, a bunch of us decided to go out to find a local place to eat supper. Adam got on a Trivandrum travel website and found a highly-rated restaurant called ZamZam. Apparently it is where all of the college kids go to hang out. The food was delicious but the ice cream was amazzzzing. Coldstone has nothing on this place.

Today we had our first yoga class on the roof of the hotel at 6:30 am! A man associated with Pallium Indian has volunteered to come teach us yoga in the mornings free of charge. Today was mostly an introduction to the history of yoga, basic loosening exercises, and breathing techniques. I suspect that we will begin harder practices as the weeks go by but what an opportunity to learn yoga in India! It may have been difficult to get up so early but the view from the roof easily made up for it.

Later we had another round of all-day class and discussed ethics in end-of-life care, Indian culture related to dying and illness, and spirituality. A social worker named Jess from a New York organization HealthCare Chaplaincy called came to discuss spirituality with us which was very enlightening. Her organization works to provide board-certified chaplain services to ten New York hospitals, including both patients and staff members and all walks of faith. 

After class, a few of us headed to an exhibition sale down the road where craftsmen and salesmen had set up shop. We were all able to get very neat souvenirs, gifts, and Indian artwork for incredibly good prices.

Tomorrow is our first day of home visits. Our class is divided into four groups and each group will travel with a team from Pallium India as they go out to rural areas to visit patients. I can only imagine what type of impact these home visits will have on me. From what I understand, we will be visiting some of the poorest people in India. Pallium is able to do so much to provide dignity, comfort, and resources for their patients and their families. So excited!