....And in India You Drive on the Sui-side!

Today was definitely one of the most eventful days I have had so far! So this post is most likely going to be very long with LOTS of pictures!!!

Instead of going into Stephen Nursing Home, Dr. Ravi graciously arranged for me to go to the Church Of South India Mission General Hospital in the morning! There I met an anesthetist named Dr. Shalini who showed me around the hospital and introduced me to a few doctors here and there. She showed me the maternity wards as well as the children's ward, the gender wards, ICU, operating theaters, and private wards. All of the wards are common wards, meaning they have about ten beds and one bathroom. It's much cheaper to stay in these wards as opposed to the private wards which have a bed for a family member and a private bathroom; those cost 20,000 Rs per night ($350 USD) so that's very expensive. The hospital itself starts out very cheap (50 Rs for a simple visit) but like in the US, they charge extra for everything the patient utilizes, so that adds up.

The hospital is being renovated though, and soon will have all new floors and point! You can see the outside is very nice, and it is quite large (4 operating theaters!!!). After being shown around the hospital, I sat with Dr. Vrinda (an Ob-Gyn), but we didn't see too many patients since Saturdays are a bit slower than weekdays. We talked some about schooling in India. I found out that you start kindergarten at 3, and begin the standards at 5. So 1st-10th standard would be completed from ages 5-15. Then in 11th and 12th standard you would begin focusing on a career, so for medicine you would take your med school prereqs (bio, chem, ochem, physics). At 17 you. Take an entrance exam, then go to 5 years of medical school and one year of internship. If you want to specialize, you do three more years and you are ready to practice around age 26! And (very uncommonly) if you want to get an MD, you take FIVE MORE YEARS. I think I would settle for an MBBS and specialty! Dr. Vrinda also asked me "what my place was famous for?" I thought this was an odd question and at first said the Biltmore Estate, but realized that that isn't the most well-known thing; I settled for the mountains. 

After I left the Dr. Vrinda, I sat with Dr. Alini who is a pediatrician! I was greeted by Looney Tunes characters and a very happy baby (with leg rolls...precious!) who began to wave and smile at me immediately. When she came in to be seen by the doctor, she would make cheesy baby faces at me whenever I smiled. To say the least, she made my morning. :) Though there are lots of noises outside all of the doctor's offices (crying babies and yelling in this case), the doctors are all able to focus so well and see so many patients. Dr. Alini told me many of the children who come in are anemic, which really surprised me. She even related the anemia to a child's enlarged heart that was 60% of the chest cavity and I had no idea that they had any relation at all - you learn new things all the time here!

After a brief reprieve at lunch time, Maddie, Morgan, and I were taken to a nearby temple called Sri Ranganathaswamy, which is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. In the Hindu religion, God is represented by a trinity: Brahma (the God), Vishnu (the Protector), and Shiva (the Destroyer); so this temple was dedicated entirely to the protector. The temple has 7 layers to get into it and approximately 10 smaller temples, the first of which was built in the 13th century and the last of which was built in 1987 and one of which is entirely gold plated. People who would worship at this temple celebrate Vaishnativism, one of the branches of Hinduism that focuses on Vishnu. In the temple, everyone must be barefoot as to honor the Hindu faith. It is believed that shoes of any sort block the communication between Earth and the holy world, so being barefoot keeps you grounded.

The temple in the very back is the newest - built in 1987

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple occupies a total area of 156 acres and is the largest temple in all of India. It is one of the largest religious complexes in the world and is considered to be the most holy of all the 108 temples dedicated to Vishnu. 

This temple is often called "Heaven on Earth" partly because it is one of the most wealth temples and partly because there are doors that are said to lead to Heaven. For ten days in the month of December these doors will open. It is believed that if a person of Hindu religion dies on these days, they will go straight to heaven. People often carry the old and the sick to the doors in the hopes that they will make their way to heaven through the open doors. Some of the temples are only open to those born into the Hindu faith and few are open only to those of the Hindu faith in a high caste. Those who were born into a lower caste are considered impure and are not allowed inside. In this case, they will yell into a corner wall so their voice will echo and the gods can hear them from outside the temple. 

On our way around the temples we were not allowed in, we met a man who offered us a gold coin of prosperity. The coin featured Ganesha, the God of Finance, and the man prayed over the coins for each of us and then handed it to us. I will definitely be keeping it in my wallet as he instructed and hoping for some future prosperity! 

Anyways, tomorrow we will go to about an hour of Tamil church here on campus, do some shopping, and visit Rockfort Temples which is also nearby! For now, enjoy these pictures!!!

Women add locks onto this alter and pray to find lasting love

The only non-painted temple - left pure

   

1000-Pillar Hall, with only 951 pillars because it was never finished. During festivals, they put up 9 more pillars to complete the 1000.

The pure Hindus do not make any animal sacrifices, but they raise animals and sell them to give money back to the temple

The Doors to Heaven

The God is believed to be resting in this temple; so it is lying down here, but you can't take a picture of the actual statue - so I have a picture of a picture

This is the symbol for Vishu: white = purity, green = prosperity, and the inner color is often changed. To represent who they worship, men wear on their forehead either three white lines or two white lines with a red line between and women simply wear one red line on their forehead

Here you can see the gold plated temple

The coin given to us for prosperity

Just a cute little puppy crossing the street - he looked so precious, but we aren't allowed to pet the animals here. They often have rabies.

P.S. For a full explanation of this title, start with Morgan's blog title (morganscout.blogspot.com) then go to Maddie's blog title (i-adventure6.blogspot.com), and then end with mine! It's a pretty funny joke and very appropriate since driving here is actually suicide... We almost ran into two cars head-on yesterday, but don't worry, we all survived; no accidents were to be had!