A Little More Concise...maybe

Ok, Friday I "worked in the clinic" but we only had 3 patients all day. I think I did one ultrasound and listened so some kids heart. That evening I went and rounded with Dr. R then went by Prakash's house. He is the medical assistant at Helping Hands and lives right by the district hospital. Anyway, he's a great guy. 26 years old, married with a 6 year old son and a very pregnant wife. He invested in a pool/snooker table about 6 months ago at the cost of over US $1,000 a staggering sum for someone who only makes 5,000 rupees of about US $75 a month. However, he has it set up downstairs and charges 20 rupees a game and last month he managed to break even. With it he will manage to more than double his income which I think is very impressive. It just shows he's a pretty bright guy. Anyway, I went over and hung out upstairs with him and talked with his little boy. He was doing homework and his writing is very good for his age. Prakash, his wife, and his boy all live in a room that is about 8 x 10ft and their kitchen is a 2 burner stove set up in a tiny hallway leading to their room. Later, he showed me how to play snooker. It's like pool except there are 15 red balls and 6 others. It's points based and you must get in all the red balls in before the other colors will stay. However, if you get a red one you may shoot another one and get the points that ball is worth. It's not too complicated but I think it involves more strategy than pool.

Saturday we only had 1 patient at clinic. I spent most of the day wandering around the clinic and learned how to play Carem Board which is the national past time. It's a table and is much like pool except it is a chalked surface and flat disks replace the balls. It's fun and I played with a bunch of little boys who were highly entertained by me. After we closed the clinic at 2, Upendra and Bimala took me on a long walk to a Buddhist temple. We also visited another one on the way back. We stoppd and had samosa and curry for a snack. It was a nice afternoon and I really like them. Upendra loves taking pictures so there are many pictures of him that I took and many of myself in various locations. We also went to the market of "Saturday Bazaar" before I rounded with Dr. R that morning. You can basically buy anything there. Upendra went around trying to get the best price on rice and vegetables for our daal bhat. He's been calling himself Dr. daal bhat tarcari (lentils, rice, and cauliflower) since he is the cook. He feeds the 3 of us on 500 rupees a week or less than US $8. Again, my money got lost somewhere in transit but I also see that I could be quite happy living pretty simply. Ok, there is lightening outside and I don't trust the electricity to stay. It was cloudy again today and now is rainy.