A Day in Pondicherry

Sunday was a very fun and eventful day! It started out with Janah, Jenny, and myself moving into the third bedroom where the rest of our group has been for about the past week. Our room itself is a bit smaller, but we now have a common room, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a REAL shower! Taking an actual shower last night  (actually, early this morning since we got in so late) felt wonderful. 


After we moved in (at 6:30am), we started the journey to Puducherry (Pondicherry), a former French colony in India. On the way we stopped by a sustainable village. We were thrust of the van into a sea of humanity and animals, and quickly learned that it was a free clinic for animal care where cattle, goats, and other animals were being dewormed, vaccinated, and pregnancy checked for free. We all felt awkward there in our tourist clothes and open-toed shoes. After the shock wore of though, we jumped in and helped the process along! It was an unexpected trip, but it did feel good that in a surprise moment of "Here, get off the bus and go do vet med!!," I was capable of helping out and feeling pretty comfortable about it with very little instruction. 

After our surprise clinic duty, we went to Pondicherry. On the border (Pondicherry is its own state, and crossing the borders here does require special permits), we saw a man with a machete and a pile of coconuts. I can now cross drinking from a coconut off my list of things to do before I die! It wasn't exactly what I had expected though. Coconuts aren't actually full of coconut milk in the center like I thought. The middle is full of coconut water. Coconut milk comes from a process of pressing the flesh of the coconut. So, the liquid that you see inside is clear, and not like the stuff you buy in the store. And you can't just take a bite from the flesh. It tastes terrible!! But, it was another experience to add to the list! Once finally in Pondicherry, we ate lunch at a French inspired place with continental cuisine (non-Indian :) ), where I had a chicken burger and a milkshake. Then we visited an Ashram (a sort of meditation sanctuary with no real religious affiliation), walked along the beach (one of the filthiest I have ever seen), and then saw a monument to Gandhi that was HUGE!

Next we went to a temple, which I never made it inside, because out front was an ELEPHANT!!!!!! A REAL ONE!!!!!! It's the first real elephant I have seen since we've been here! He was trained to accept branches or money (and he could tell the difference in what was edible and what was money), and then he would put is trunk on the donator's head, which is considered a blessing. I, OF COURSE, donated a coin just to get a chance to touch the elephant. SO COOL! Absolutely the highlight of my day. 

Afterwards we did a little bit of shopping at a bazaar (I got something cool for my mom, and Ree, and Brad's mom). Dinner was kind of a let down, because service was terrible and my order never made it to the table, but there was plenty of food to go around, which was pretty tasty. The ride home took about three hourse, putting us home at 12am. 


This morning we attended the Stem Cell conference at MVC (the vet school where we have been doing our rotations for the past 2 weeks). Dr. Huckle, one of our professors from first year at VMRCVM, is also here, which surprised us all! I guess it's a small world! 

This afternoon we finally got the chance to go to a movie theater! It's definitely a different experience than in the US. It was very fancy with leather seats, restaurants, a room with a big TV and an xbox, arcade, etc etc. The movie was Delhi Belly, which was mostly in English. It's essentially the Indian version of The Hangover, and it was really funny. I think it's something I would like to watch again with friends at home! 

At dinner, we said goodbye to the Michigan kids, who are flying home today, and gave Dr. Nathan a gift from all of us. He is headed home in 2 days. He's been a lot of fun on this trip, and I think we will all miss him! We got him a Nike polo, because he kind of made "Just Do It" our slogan for the trip to help us adjust to the flexible scheduling and all that has been expected of us this far.