A Beginning...

Thanks to the generosity of VMRCVM and TANUVAS schools of vet med, I have the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Chennai, India with 5 of my colleagues and two professors!

Hopefully my family and friends will enjoy learning about what we discover as we spend time in the veterinary school there, and in other places around the state of Tamil Nadu. 

Since I found out about the trip I've been googling the names of all the places we've been told about, trying to learn all I can before we get there. Here is some of what I have learned:

We will be spending most of our time at Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), staying in a house they provide with all the amenities of home, and three catered meals a day. We'll spend mornings in surgery and afternoons in various departments within the vet school, seeing cases. I think we will see all species, from cats and dogs, to sheep and cattle, and even some water buffalo! 

After a few weeks in Chennai, we will travel to one of their charter schools in the smaller town of Namakkal, where there is little to do except to focus on vet med. Then we're off to take a cultural tour thru several places, and then to Wooti. 

We will also spend a day or so on a tiger/elephant reserve, I think in Mudumalai. 

Following the end of our formal 6 week program, we will have a couple of days free, which we plan to use to fly to Agra for a visit to the Taj Mahal. It's a plane ride away from Chennai, but closer than it is from home for sure!

Chennai is located in Tamil Nadu, one of the largest and most literate states of India. It has a rich history that makes me glad for my Classics minor in undergrad and history buff husband.

 Tamil Nadu's state animal is the Nilgiri Tahr, a goat like creature.

The bird is an emerald dove.

And the state flower is the beautiful gloriosa lily. 

Right now this whole adventure seems surreal and out of reach, full of things I have never experienced. I am excited to learn about another culture and see how they practice veterinary medicine. Right now my head is full of strange factoids that will solidify into something real soon; things like "don't drink tap water. If you have no bottled water, find a tender coconut and drink its juice." " Traffic rules don't apply, so don't get hit by a bus." "The antimalarial meds may make you sick, but malaria won't kill you unless you get the encephalitis form." 

While I'm sure some of this is joking, it adds to the excitement and trepidation that I feel. 

For now, I am all vaccinated up, malaria meds are purchased, visa and passport are up to date and ready to go, and I'm doing some final shopping and other such things tomorrow. 

The adventure begins on June 29th!