Is there a Doctor in the house?
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2007
1
31
71
Trip End
Nov 20, 2007
Biratnagar, Nepal
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The problem with the rain stopping is that now its soooo humid...again. The boys say that will get better over the coming weeks. But then again when the temps have gotten comfortable for me they say its cold so I guess its all relative.
While walking home from school on Friday I ran into a former teacher at Eurokids and a friend - Mr Thakur. I mentioned him in an earlier blog entry. He said he'd been thinking of me and wondering how I was doing. We talked for a short while and then he asked me to come by later to meet his family. We agreed thatI should come by about 7pm.
I was going to go out for phutska's with one of the boys but he changed his mind. So I went out for a walk on my own and passed on the phutska's too. I passed because phutska's are a social street food. Standing arounf a 4 wheeled cart, eating phutska's out of leaf cups and talking is the fun of it. The talking with your street food compadre's is what I enjoy the most and without my interpreter it loses its appeal. So instead I walked to my favorite temple to take photos of the people that work there and go there. While there I ran into a couple of the boys from the hostel. We decided to take a walk into an area where none of us had been. I'm glad they went because had I gone alone I would've been saying "ma ha-rah-ye" (I'm Lost!) after a few kilometers. The area was a much poorer area then where we live and have walked in up to this point. The houses were small hut-like buildings, and the road was nothing more than a single lane path.. As we were walkling a a large heard of HUGE water buffalo were being driven right toward us and at first the boys thought right over us. I stepped off the path and let them go by but the boys attempted to walk thru them. All their fears almost came true but in the end we survived. After that the boys decided we needed to leave the village. They were a little freaked out I think, I could tell by the tone of their voice and they went into whisper mode.. They told me it wasnt safe to be there. I wasnt picking up on that but I went with tem anyway.I think the people here were just fascinated by being different. I would've liked to to photograph them and "talk" to them (with the boys help) but that was not to be today. I have found, so far, that people here like getting photographed and it seems to create a kind of kinship.
On the way back the boys and I split up - them going to the hostel and me to Mr Thakur's house. They werent sure about me being out late but when I said, "I'd be home early, dad" they laughed and let me go.
Mr Thakur has a nice sized rental near our school. He invited me in and I was introduced to his wife, son and daughter. I was welcomed like family and in a short time I was drinking tea and eating biscuits on the sofa. They brought out photo albums and showed me pictures of everyone at a younger age and telling me stories about where they were and doing in the photos. Showing pictures inspired his son, Abhilash, to take some of me with his father.
I commented on Thakur, sirs haircut (shaved except for a small "tail", his word, in the back). He said it was done by Hindi's to honor their fathers death. His father had died 7 years ago and every year on the date of his death he shaves his head. He said he was embarressed by how he looked. I told him I liked it and said I was going to do the same for my father, including the tail...the entire family laughed. He also said that the tail represents their Hindu background. I've noticed many men with short and longer hair with a longer "tail" coming out from the back. He continued by saying that long ago when Muslims and Hindis lived together that there was no way to tell one from the other so they decided to grow the "tail" to help distinguish them apart.
Since it was getting late I had to leave so we made plans to get together agian soon and I was off.
I had never been in town when it was dark and I found it interesting that it was so quiet. It was only 8:30 but you'd have thought it was 2 o'clock in the morning.
Last night (Saturday) Mookis asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I am always happy to go walking, plus he usually takes me to places I have never been and last night was no exception. We were walking for a long time and finally I asked where were going because it seemed to be in the direction of the airport. I asked him if he was planning on putting me on a plane and flying me away. He laughed and said "no way sir". But we continued walking without him telling me anything. Finally he disclosed we were walking to Biratnagars biggest hospital - Nobel Medical Center. For some reason I thought to myself, "hmm maybe it will be interesting but overall it seemed like a long way to go to look at a hospital". As we rounded one corner I was already pleased because I thought even if the hospoital is a bust the green rice paddies were worth the walk. In nearly every direction and for miles there were green rice paddies to be seen.
We continued walking and I could see the hospital in the distance. As walked up to it I noticed that the hospital was still being used despite a lot of construction taking place.In fact I didnt think it was open because it was so dark inside and out. We walked inside, and Mookis spoke to a security guard. When he came back to me he said "lets go the guard said we can walk around". Even now I thought the place was closed because it was so dark. What I keep forgetting is that there is a huge energy crunch here and lights are always kept out unless absolutely needed, even in hospitals. We walked upstairs where we ran into another security guard and Mookis again talked to the guard. This time he and the guard came back together and I thought, uh oh we're outta here, but it was just the opposite the guard was going to give us a tour. As we walked I noticed there werent many patients in the hospital. So with so many empty beds it afforded me the opportunity to take photo's of the inside, including the roof, nurses station, post-op and the surgery room. With Mookis' gift of gab and me being a foreigner from America they let us go right into the operating room where a surgery had taken place just a few hours ago. The nurses in this area gave us a tour and dressed us as surgeons. Laurie, I know I asked you to come over here and work as the school nurse, but maybe you'd prefer the hospital!
Just in case we were pressed into service, Dr.Mookis and Dr. Mark were scrubbed and ready for surgery, stat.
Obviously the hospital tour was a big hit with Mookis and myself. He said they would've never let us get into the operating room had his friend from America not been there with him.
Comments
Calling Dr. Mark, Dr. Mookis, Dr. Mark!
A long walk to a dark hospital in a foreign country with security guards all too willing to help--sounds like the beginning of a great horror flick if you ask me!! 'Nurse guides'--is that what they're calling the evening ladies nowadays; it must be a loose translation of the whole 'Nurse Goodbody' thing! And, Mark, when talking about another guy, please don't say, 'plus he usually takes me to places I have never been and last night was no exception.'