Move to Namakkal

On Sunday night, we took the overnight train to Namakkal, a town in the south with another TANUVAS vet school. The train ride was interesting. Dr. Subbiah didn't realize until 7:30pm (10:40 departure) that he and his wife had accidentally been booked for August 24 instead of July 24, so he put us on the train and then drove to Namakkal from Chennai. 

I didn't really sleep on the train, but it was more comfortable than I would have imagined. And if you want some adventure in your life, I recommend trying to use the bathroom in the hover position over a toilet with no seat, in the very back of a train car while the train is headed full speed down the track. And there should be nothing to hang on to, of course. Fun times!!

We arrived in Namakkal very early in the morning, and were thankfully given a couple of hours to sleep before our orientation.

Cow Butts!!!!!

Cathryn trying to get a good photo of cow butts!!

Krisna Vigyan Kumar (Farmer Science Center) does a lot of extension work to educate farmers. There was a huge display while we were there!

A demonstration of many different things that can be made by the tapioca plant. 

So far I much prefer Namakkal to Chennai. In fact, at most points in the past when I thought "I don't know if I like India," what I really meant was "I don't like Chennai." Namakkal is more rural, with less diesel pollution, trash littering the roads (less roads in general), and far fewer power outages.  The level of care in the veterinary clinics that we have seen has been far better than that in Chennai, due some to the fact that power is reliable and gas anesthesia can be used, and also due to a manageable caseload. The number of cases in a day here is 1/3 that in Chennai, meaning that clinicians and students alike have more time to focus on an individual animal, consider a treatment plan, and FOLLOW it THROUGH! I think the general belief in India is that students that graduate from Chennai will be better prepared for veterinary careers than Namakkal students, but I would beg to differ.

Namakkal's School

Large Animal Operation Theatre: and a cow with pericarditis (inflammation and build up of fluid in the sac around the heart)

Check out the size of those tubes!!

Jenny palpating a water buffalo

Another cow in for pericarditis ( it is commonly caused  by eating metal objects or other sharp things that puncture thru the cow's reticulum and puncture the pericardium, which affects the heart's ability to pump). This was the only foreign body they found, a trichobezoar (hairball).

After surgery! 

Another interesting mode of animal transportation.

So far, I have added quite a few things to the list of never-befores! I got to palpate a water buffalo!!! I can now die happy. We also got to feed an ostrich, which requires that you stand still while a massive bird heads towards your face, while every muscle in your body is trying to tell you to run.

Far too close for comfort. 

The food in Namakkal is far better than that in Chennai, too! We have been enjoying a bounty of fresh fruits (mangoes, bananas both yellow and green, pomegranate, and apples), fresh veggies (cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes), and well cooked sambar, different types of chicken, and the list goes on! Our "house mom" of sorts speaks absolutely no English, and communication with her is difficult. She is also very easily insulted if we don't eat massive quantities, and trying to explain this has been tough. We've tried to find a balance between insulting her by physically covering our plates with our arms to thwart her attempts to add more food to our plates, and gorging ourselves until we feel like ticks. A great problem to have!

On our tour thru pathology, we were taken into this room where students were taking a test! The professor was talking very loudly. Made us all incredibly uncomfortable!

peek a boo!

A local breed of (sheep? goat?), called a jamnapari

These chickens were bred to be featherless on their necks, to help deal with the heat. 

Quail

Visiting a chicken farm. This one was kind of sad. Lots of chickens in tiny cages. 

Janah palpating a water buffalo!

The one downside to Namakkal is that it is very buggy. In all senses of the word. Mosquitoes, flies, and beetles are all over our rooms. And, dear all that I cherish.........a few roaches. Not just little ones (though four babies ran out of our drain to greet us as soon as we arrived), but ones so big that if you tried to kill them with a shoe would take the shoe and beat you with it. Luckily I have only had a glancing encounter with one in someone else's bathroom, but even then I tried to climb inside myself and hide until this week was over.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I can handle many things: snakes, spiders, scorpions (all of the above are also supposedly here in Namakkal), open heart surgery, maggots, poop of many species. But oh, for all things holy, I CANNOT handle the cockroaches, or anything in that family. I think this might be the trip that has me face those fears though. Last night I wrapped myself in such a way to keep my ears covered so one wouldn't crawl in and build a nest. Irrational, I know. But I can't help it.

A fort on the top of a huge mountain. And yes, we did climb to the top on our free time. 

A view from the top! We were told Namakkal is in the middle of nowhere. If this is the middle of nowhere, just imagine what the big city of Chennai looks like!!

Collecting milk from local farmers at the milk colony

We're in the mountains! It's not quite Blacksburg, though. 

ANYWAY, we're really enjoying everything else about Namakkal. Tomorrow we are headed to a village on an overnight trip, so I will be out of touch until Friday.

A view from the local milk collection colony. 

And today marks 4 weeks in India!!

Despite Popular Belief, We are Still Alive Over Here!

(Read this post as if I actually got it up on Sunday, and it will make more sense). 


Finally a new update, you say?! You’re telling me! Sorry it’s been forever. Our broadband card stopped working, and though the internet here is spotty, I have been completely unable to make it work on my pc here at all. Thus, I didn’t want to post with no photos. So this may be a long one, folks. Grab a cup of your beverage of choice before proceeding.

We’ll start with this past Wednesday. We started out at a local zoo, which is the oldest and largest in India. It was started in the 1880s and covers more than 3,000 acres. We rode around in a golf cart, stopping at a few exhibits and getting out to get a closer look.

White Peacock

Bison

We saw many lions and tigers, including white tigers! We think they are the same tiger cubs that last year’s group got to hold at this zoo. They are all grown up now, so holding them was out of the question. They were very playful and enjoying each other’s company!

Next we saw the baby elephants. They have two adults (we only caught a glimpse of one, and only for a second), and four orphaned males less than 3 years old. They came over to say hello to us and I snapped a few pictures.

And then, the best part of the trip yet happened. We headed down the road in our golf cart, passing the giraffes, the hippos, and a few other exhibits. We turned right, passing these exhibits, and ended up on a dirt road, where we saw the giraffes from behind. We ended at the entrance to the elephant exhibit, and they OPENED THE GATE and LET US IN!!!!We got to spend time petting the baby elephants, feeding them, and taking millions of pictures! They all have personalities, and the little wiry hairs on their heads feel like an oversized chia pet. One of them has a thing for untying shoes, and he was fascinated by my laceless sneakers. We found out later Dr. Subbiah had arranged with the zoo to allow us this special behind-the-scenes entry, and I think we were all grateful for the opportunity!

Janah, Jenny, me, and one of the orphan babies

Next we headed to the zoo’s sanctuary for lions and tigers rescued from individual homes or circuses where they were mistreated. It was pretty sad because some of them had permanent injuries from the previous homes. But it was good to see them in a better situation, though it still was not entirely ideal.

We then headed to Kattupakkam, a livestock teaching and research station associated with TANUVAS (the university sponsoring this trip). It was GREAT! We saw all of the major species (including, of course, water buffalo, rabbits and ostriches).  Their pens were all neat and tidy, plenty large, and everyone seemed really happy.

Hee hee. I like this one :)

Rabbits

With our driver, Venkat

This was taken right before my camera died, and right before she tried to peck at me!

(We also saw pigs, but my camera died before we got there)

On Thursday we visited a stud farm, where thoroughbred racehorses are bred. The afternoon was full of visiting higher ups and heads of departments, research labs and the like. (And every time we went to a new HOD, we were served tea or coffee or juice)

On Friday, we visited the race course itself and the associated equine hospital, owned by the same people as the stud farm. The equine vet there, Dr. Karithikeyan, has 33 years of experience with horses and was a fantastic source of information. It was a fun morning (which of course ended with coffee and biscuits! Why it’s a custom to drink hot beverages in a sweltering climate, I still yet to understand).

LA surgery suite

Smart Cheiftain with Dr. K

In the evening Dr. Ayyappan (the orthopedic surgeon I mentioned earlier who was great at explaining things to us and keeping us involved), took us to the race course club for dinner and drinks. It was a fun evening, which put us back home very late (about 12:30am).

Yesterday (Saturday), we had a day packed to the hilt. And I might add, our friendly neighborhood dog Zeus, who the Michigan kids fed and has now become a monster, begging us for food and attention, spent the ENTIRE night Friday howling right outside our door. We tried shooing him off, throwing water at him, and harsh words, but he just won’t go away. So I think the most sleep any of us got was about three hours.

And so, we proceeded off on Saturday grumpy and tired, knowing it would be at least a 12 hour day. But it was a fun one! We started out at the snake park, where along with a personal tour, we were given the chance to pet a full grown python. He had recently had surgery to remove a few abscesses from his side, and they allowed us to touch him, and feel some of the other masses that are coming up. The cause isn’t well understood, but the poor snake was loaded with these abscesses, which come up and erupt like acne on a much larger scale.

This funny creature is a gharial

Have you ever wondered what a happy crocodile looks like?? I imagine it's something like this guy!

Next we went to Daksina Chitra, a little village that had much the same feel as Colonial Williamsburg or Jamestown. We only got an hour there sadly, and I spent the entire time shopping at some of the little merchant stands. I got something else that’s really cool for Brad, and a couple of other things for other people (including a pair of earrings and a set of bangles for myself).

A glassblower. He was really good!

We had lunch at a local seafood restaurant called the Blue Elephant. It was really tasty, and had a LOT of options. I went with calamari fried noodles. The fish was all very fresh, and they would bring choices to your table and allow you to pick the one you wanted. Some of our group members did just that!

After lunch we went to the Crocodile Bank, home to about 13 different species of crocodiles, alligators, etc. It’s also home to Jaws, the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity in India. He measures 16 ½ ft! (And after taking his photo, my camera died again).

....Don't drop anything in! Because you don't want to go in after it. How'd you like to be the zookeeper responsible for keeping this exhibit clean?!

Can you spot the teeny 1 week old babies next to mom? (Dad is in the water)

A small blue kingfisher

JAWS!

The next hour was hectic. We crammed in visits to three stone temples before they closed at 6, and a couple of cave sites. We headed home in a hurry to get Dr. Huckle back in time for his flight back to the US (but not before stopping for coffee and tea! We kids all had milkshakes, or rather warm chocolate milk with froth on top). 

These three are from 5 Rathas, a series of stone carvings, each from a single stone!

And of course, the zebu was my favorite. 

And then we came home and crashed. Breakfast and dinner yesterday were served in our house instead of the guest house, because there are some important higher ups staying in the guest house. So we didn’t have to go far to eat dinner (at 9pm)!

Today we asked for the morning off. And the afternoon was already free, so we don’t have to worry about getting ready for anything until we leave for Nammakkal on the train tonight at 9PM. As Janah puts it, “I slept like a dead thing.” I didn’t even hear Zeus howling last night, which Julia informs us went on again. Once in Nammakkal, I am unsure about the internet situation. We do have the broadband card, so as long as there is a cell signal I should be able to update. But I don’t know how long the card will work. Hopefully this will not be my last post for some time, but I don’t know for sure!

Thanks for reading!