Officially woke up at 8:30am – the longest I’ve ever slept-in here. Thankfully, class was at 9:30am, so I didn’t have to scramble in the morning that much. Breakfast: mashed rice dish, yellow rice, and omelet.
Listened to two lectures taught by Dr. Raj. Some interesting things we discussed in class:
- They are checking for MERS from Dubai to Mangalore. I remember mom mentioning the disease a few days ago, but I initially didn’t think much about it.
- Posed question: is gun violence a public health issue? Common class consensus was yes. He was referring to the Santa Barbara shooting and how mental illness is always brought up. Lindsey shared with us that there’s always more to just mental illness. It’s often how the person is brought up and the mentally ill are the ones who suffer from violence, not the other way around. Basically, Dr. Raj made a call-to-action for us to do something about gun violence. Sesen shared that Israel has a stringent process on obtaining a gun, including a mental health test. It’s an issue between personal rights and governmental control.
- Someone asked if doctors who worked at tertiary care centers make more money than primary. He said at Manipal, it’s comparable because people want the prestige of being a staff at Manipal University.
- In the biotechnology lecture, he used the example of cellular phones in the introduction. He flashbacked to the days of beepers/pagers, which were most commonly used for notification of a baby delivery. 1990’s was when everything changed in regards to technology.
- Cell phones are cheap in India. Poor people own them, even those who cannot afford to eat.
Dr. Kamath came in the classroom to deliver a brief lecture on the fisheries. Then, Sameer took us to the fish market.
It was exactly what Dr. Kamath described and showed in the slides. Women were selling fresh fish with bare hands.
We saw a lot of cutting and scraping. Occupational health issues: skin candidiasis (fungal infection), contact dermatitis (inflamed skin), and chronic paronychia (soft tissue infection around fingernails). We passed by a slum neighborhood on the way there. Blue tarps served as roofs and children were playing in an open field near an old landfill.
Traveled back to campus for lunch: two rotis, barley rice, veggie/squash stew, bean curry, a sweeter bean curry, and the coconut milk jelly dessert. I sat next to Adam, and we were both fishing in our backpack at the same time, but I pulled out my hand sanitizer a few milliseconds before he did. He was like stop copying me. Anna was wondering who’s the oldest person in our group and she thought it was me and her because we share the same birthday, but we found out Lauren is turning 22 in July! Bought my pulpy orange juice after lunch. The lady at the store front now recognizes me and automatically knows what I want. Haha loyal customer.
Walked back to the hostel with Lauren. Hoping to make some mad progress on the paper! I worked at the desk, while the laptop was charging, but eventually moved over to the bed. I uploaded pictures from the fishery and finished the field trip experience essay about Manasa Jyothi. I learned this fun fact! Karnataka only knows three seasons: spring summer, hot summer, and rainy season. I changed to a long-sleeve shirt and long pants because it was cold in my room. I ate a peanut butter Clif bar because I wasn’t planning on going to tea time. Wish I had brought more Clif bars here! Then, I decided to work in the lobby of the hostel for a change in scenery. I really like the temperature down there – clash of cold and hot air. Anna and Sahanna said hi when they left for tea time. Taniqua said hi when she came back from tea and wanted to join me in the lobby. I made some more progress on the paper. Lauren came down with Taniqua because she wanted to buy mango juice at the mini-store in the hostel. Taniqua bought a chocolate ice cream bar. Nikki, Xhonela, and Ashley came down to go buy dinner on the second floor of the cafeteria. Then, Anna entered and showed us clothes she bought from Fab India. When we no longer ran into people from our group, Taniqua and I had a thought-provoking conversation about life, religion, and love. Some advice she gave, which resonated with me: “do it for yourself because in the end, you’re gonna live with your decision, not your family.” She talked about faith as an intangible thing and people have problems with believing in something they cannot see. The only unconditional love is from God and love from anyone else is conditional. She told me to pray to God for guidance and hindsight. I expressed concern about the uncertainty of the future and she said “go with the flow. You never know what might happen. Things could work out later down the road.” I believe in that too. We talked about believing in more than one soul mate and she thinks soul mates are formed by marriage, which I’ve never thought about that way before. She wants her first marriage to be her only, even if he commits adultery. They’ll work through it. From traveling, she wants to adopt a child in addition to having her own. I’ve thought about that too. Before dinner, I gave Taniqua one toilet paper roll because she told me she needed some and I was afraid of having to take some home with me because I have about 2 full rolls left for 3.5 days. I borrowed her room bug spray because I’ve been getting colonies of ants in the bathroom.
Dinner: two rotis, barley rice, potato and veggie curry, black bean curry, peas and potato curry, and yogurt. I feel like I’ve been eating a lot lately. Talked to Drew about his Fab India purchases and his birthday. Then, Adam arrived and I asked him what he got at Fab India. He showed Lauren, Kelsey, and I his purchases: an Indian-styled red shirt, a western red button-up shirt, and a western gray button-up shirt. I really liked them.
Went to library café with Kelsey and Lauren to work on the paper. I really wish I could Shazam the songs played in there. It’s like Indian EDM. Haha. I purchased Darjealing tea and a mango cup.
Anna, Adam, and Drew came into the library café too. I finished my paragraph about ASHAs. I think that’s the most interesting/well-written part of my paper.
Went back to hostel with Kelsey and Lauren. I washed clothes (I love the hand-washing routine now. It brings me so much joy. I’m weird) and showered. I submitted my field trip essay at 2:30am, which was around 777 words when Dr. Raj wanted 500… hopefully that’s okay. I always write too much.
Ghrellen 