Relationships and Opportunities! [July 22-Aug 1, 2015]

Love it when we get a sunny day between the rains!!

It's been such a good stretch of days! It has been interesting being the only medical student here, because I've felt like I need to rediscover what my role is, but I've had the chance to participate in a lot more procedures and spend some more time with physicians in clinic!

A definite highlight was when I got to observe 3 surgeries back to back. A renowned orthopaedic surgeon had come for these specifically and it was such a joy to meet him and observe him work. In total I was in the OR for about 10 hours watching and despite the fact that my legs were pretty much in agony after, I enjoyed myself! 2 ACL reconstructions with hamstring grafts and a septic joint lavage! Things I'd never seen before!

We're literally IN the clouds

I've also had the chance to assist on some more surgeries! Tubal ligation, cesarean sections, lap chole. The opportunity is there now and I'm thanking God each time I can be of use! Just the other day I was able to suture someones head that had come in with a laceration! IT WAS AWESOME! I feel like I'm definitely growing in my few surgical skills and know that these skills will continue to be so useful in the future!

Other amazing things that I've been blessed with have been getting to know a group of women that operate a local cafe. They are sweet and amazing cooks. I love going there with my sketch book and journal for hours when the afternoon is slow and chatting with them, drawing and writing. It's such a blessing! Plus they have the most amazing food haha, makes it even better!

The last student that was visiting was only here for a week. He was an American undergraduate student interested in hopefully pursing medicine. We met and quickly after we began talking, the conversation turned towards spirituality and religion. Over the week we had really good talks about Hinduism (his faith) and Christianity. It was fascinating because he was very well-read on Hindu philosophy and philosophy in general. He himself was also fascinated by the 'overlap' in the Abrahamic religions. That was great fuel for a discussion about Christ himself and how that played into where they all differentiate. It was such a cool opportunity to share and I learned a lot from him as well!

They didn't pay.

A lovely thing that another girl and I have been doing is walking at 6:30 before breakfast...when it's not raining haha. It's beautiful and each morning we head up the hill hoping to get a glimpse of the himalayan snow caps- not been able to see them yet but one day hopefully! Anyways, one morning we were walking and I noticed a girl with blonde hair sitting admiring the sky. The next day I saw her again and so walked up and introduced myself. Turns out she is here because of a mediation class she completed and now has no plans to either return to her country or stay here, she's very obviously searching for something in India. It was so neat to meet her and chat a little. The following day I ran into her at a local cafe and she was with a girl who I know is a solid Christian! It was such a small thing but seeing them becoming friends felt like God was saying to me, "See, I'm working". It was SO cool.

One of my favourite breakfasts out- Bun n' omelette and coffee (a rare thing here!)