Yay! I finally got my SIM card.
India country code: +91
My number in India: 9972816318
For those of you in the US (EST): I am 1.5 hours behind your time, then flip the am/pm.
For those of you in Hong Kong: I am 2.5 hours behind your time, NO flipping of am/pm.
Just in case I've calculated my time zones incorrectly (very possible given that I am no longer even sure of which time zone my jetlag is operating in since I've gone from Hong Kong-->Switzerland-->India in the space of 2.5 weeks...), Bangalore's timezone is GMT +5.5.
It also makes me happy that incoming calls on my phone are free! :)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Typical Day in Hostel in India
7:30am Wake up
7:45-8:15 Breakfast
8:30-9:15 (depending on the day) Begin class/lectures
10:30 - 11:00 Tea Time (The hostel serves something that tastes like Hong Kong Milk Tea and is uber-yummy! It is also crazy boiling hot when they serve it, so I can give me a go on my "things that I can eat or drink" list.)
11:00 most class/lectures
12:30-1:15 Lunch
2:00 More class or lectures (will be field work in the upcoming days which will take the whole afternoon but these days I get out at around 4pm)
4-4:30 Tea time (AMAZING pastries/cakes served. Mmmm....)
7:30-8:15 Dinner Time
I love how there is so much time for food/drink during the day. During my free time, I'm often out looking for a convenience store/internet/payphone etc.. Of course, there's also readings and assignments that I try to do at night when there aren't group activities. All in all, pretty hectic busy schedule, but a very difficult lifestyle as a student from my life at Wellesley.
7:45-8:15 Breakfast
8:30-9:15 (depending on the day) Begin class/lectures
10:30 - 11:00 Tea Time (The hostel serves something that tastes like Hong Kong Milk Tea and is uber-yummy! It is also crazy boiling hot when they serve it, so I can give me a go on my "things that I can eat or drink" list.)
11:00 most class/lectures
12:30-1:15 Lunch
2:00 More class or lectures (will be field work in the upcoming days which will take the whole afternoon but these days I get out at around 4pm)
4-4:30 Tea time (AMAZING pastries/cakes served. Mmmm....)
7:30-8:15 Dinner Time
I love how there is so much time for food/drink during the day. During my free time, I'm often out looking for a convenience store/internet/payphone etc.. Of course, there's also readings and assignments that I try to do at night when there aren't group activities. All in all, pretty hectic busy schedule, but a very difficult lifestyle as a student from my life at Wellesley.
First Impressions/Random Thoughts of India
1. Litter and dust everywhere. Respiratory diseases are a huge problem here. The dust actually reminds me of Peru.
2. The sound of rickshaws (little motorcycle-like things that have no doors and function like taxis/cabs in India)
3. My first shower with buckets - so far, once with lukewarm water and the other time with cold water. Very refreshing and enjoyable in different ways, although my current roommate thinks differently.
4. Squat toilets. No toilet paper. We're supposed to use this water container/bucket thing in our hostel to clean ourselves. Of course, I was very grateful that I had brought pocket tissues with me. I also proceeded to buy two rolls of toilet paper at the convenience store the next day.
5. Constant worry at the back of my mind that I have a luggage limit of 40 pounds when I get to South Africa. My luggage is already almost 50 pounds... :(
6. The sound of Azan (sp?) - the call to prayer for Muslims that happens five times a day. In my opinion, it's beautiful and you can hear it from far away in the city.
7. Almost getting run over by cars/rickshaws/various other small types of transportation that somehow manage to get into the tiniest spaces every other second. Traffic here is a little crazy, to say the least and of course, anything with wheels has the right of way.
8. Language difficulties/barriers because I don't speak any Indian language/dialect here. Luckily, simple English works in most places.
9. The Indian head "thing" which involves tilting the head slightly right and left. This can be used to signify either yes or no depending on the context and is really up to interpretation and a real test of my reading of nonverbal cues.
10. Very spicy food and eating with your right hand. I have yet to eat with my right hand because I don't want to risk getting myself sick since I don't know whether the water that is available for handwashing is clean. However, this is probably something that I should try at some point.
11. UV-filtered water/boiled water - VERY important. Constantly thinking about my source of water because it is very very easy to get gastrointestinal diseases in India. Hopefully, my love of street vendor food in Hong Kong has given me a first line of defence. This of course also makes me sad,because I can't eat lots of good food, such as ice-cream, popsicles of pudding, because I can't be 100% sure of where the water is coming from.
12. On a random note, am EXCITED about experiencing more of India in the days to come. I'm sure that I will learn a lot from my homestay family while I am with them, especially about family dynamics and how people in India live. :)
13. Eating out of metal bowls and drinking out of eeny weeny metal cups. The bowls literally look like a flat circle with the sides raised. It's been interesting because I didn't realize how easy it is to burn yourself when you're filling these bowls/cups with hot food/drink. Definitely has given me a greater awareness of the conduction/insulation properties of various materials. :)
2. The sound of rickshaws (little motorcycle-like things that have no doors and function like taxis/cabs in India)
3. My first shower with buckets - so far, once with lukewarm water and the other time with cold water. Very refreshing and enjoyable in different ways, although my current roommate thinks differently.
4. Squat toilets. No toilet paper. We're supposed to use this water container/bucket thing in our hostel to clean ourselves. Of course, I was very grateful that I had brought pocket tissues with me. I also proceeded to buy two rolls of toilet paper at the convenience store the next day.
5. Constant worry at the back of my mind that I have a luggage limit of 40 pounds when I get to South Africa. My luggage is already almost 50 pounds... :(
6. The sound of Azan (sp?) - the call to prayer for Muslims that happens five times a day. In my opinion, it's beautiful and you can hear it from far away in the city.
7. Almost getting run over by cars/rickshaws/various other small types of transportation that somehow manage to get into the tiniest spaces every other second. Traffic here is a little crazy, to say the least and of course, anything with wheels has the right of way.
8. Language difficulties/barriers because I don't speak any Indian language/dialect here. Luckily, simple English works in most places.
9. The Indian head "thing" which involves tilting the head slightly right and left. This can be used to signify either yes or no depending on the context and is really up to interpretation and a real test of my reading of nonverbal cues.
10. Very spicy food and eating with your right hand. I have yet to eat with my right hand because I don't want to risk getting myself sick since I don't know whether the water that is available for handwashing is clean. However, this is probably something that I should try at some point.
11. UV-filtered water/boiled water - VERY important. Constantly thinking about my source of water because it is very very easy to get gastrointestinal diseases in India. Hopefully, my love of street vendor food in Hong Kong has given me a first line of defence. This of course also makes me sad,because I can't eat lots of good food, such as ice-cream, popsicles of pudding, because I can't be 100% sure of where the water is coming from.
12. On a random note, am EXCITED about experiencing more of India in the days to come. I'm sure that I will learn a lot from my homestay family while I am with them, especially about family dynamics and how people in India live. :)
13. Eating out of metal bowls and drinking out of eeny weeny metal cups. The bowls literally look like a flat circle with the sides raised. It's been interesting because I didn't realize how easy it is to burn yourself when you're filling these bowls/cups with hot food/drink. Definitely has given me a greater awareness of the conduction/insulation properties of various materials. :)
Week 2 Day 2 Tuesday - Bangalore, India
Things have been quite hectic in the past couple of days with us finishing up in Switzerland and packing up to go to India. The past few days in Switzerland were amazing! One woman spoke to us about the differences between Traditional Medicine and Western Medicine and it was absolutely fascinating. She also spoke about how China is one of the few countries in the world that has been able to integrate Traditional and Western Medicine well in society. Did you know that China has a policy to treat both types of medicine equally, such as in terms of funding and advertising? I found that fascinating. The WHO has been working to try to do the same in many other countries. It's particularly interesting to me how even though 70% of the population in India uses traditional medicine, traditional and western medicine are still very much segregated. :( I think that I'm going to explore this topic further and I've chosen to base the three papers that I'm going to write this semester on the integration of Western and Traditional Medicine in each of the countries that I visit.
I am finally going to meet my homestay family tomorrow, which I am very excited about. I will write more when I can. The internet connection is slow in India and often, I have to wait in line for a long time to use it. Hopefully the situation will be better in the neighborhood that I'll be staying in with my homestay family for the next 4 .5 weeks!
I am finally going to meet my homestay family tomorrow, which I am very excited about. I will write more when I can. The internet connection is slow in India and often, I have to wait in line for a long time to use it. Hopefully the situation will be better in the neighborhood that I'll be staying in with my homestay family for the next 4 .5 weeks!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Some facts or observations about Switzerland...
1. Geneva is located in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so I have been bombarded with French everywhere.
2. A question needs to begin and end with a greeting, such as Bon Soir...(question)...Merci beaucoup. Au revoir. ( Do not know if I am spelling the French correctly)
3. People in Switzerland are very united and community-oriented. There is great emphasis on civil responsibility and not much emphasis on the individual. For example, going to the police or to a lawyer is almost unheard of because people tend to work out problems themselves as they feel that it is part of their civil responsibility.
2. A question needs to begin and end with a greeting, such as Bon Soir...(question)...Merci beaucoup. Au revoir. ( Do not know if I am spelling the French correctly)
3. People in Switzerland are very united and community-oriented. There is great emphasis on civil responsibility and not much emphasis on the individual. For example, going to the police or to a lawyer is almost unheard of because people tend to work out problems themselves as they feel that it is part of their civil responsibility.
Week 1 Day 3 Geneva, Switzerland
Hello. I finally arrived in Switzerland after many hours on the plane and in airports. We stopped over at Heathrow, London, where I found the craziest thing: a hairpod! A hairpod has the same sleekness as the other various variations of pods you would normally expect but it is actually a very compact (and very cool) hair salon! I would post pictures, but due to various technological difficulties, the photos will have to wait. Just to give you an idea of how rare technology or computers are in Geneva, only 49 percent of households actually have computers!
These few days have essentially been jam-packed with introductions and various other orientation matters, including delegating responsibilities, such as confirming airplane tickets, to each member of the group. One thing that I have noticed so far is the incredible diversity in the group of 32 students that I am travelling with. A wide range of universities are represented and everyone has a very unique background. For example, one of the girls has travelled to many places in the world already on her own or with college friends, such as to Bolivia and Costa Rica. Another friend was born in Tanzania and another was born in Liberia! One thing that has struck me about the group is that despite our differences, we really all share a common goal to learn more about other cultures and public health. This has been particularly apparent from the various discussions that we have had everyday on the various issues that we have come across.
These two days, we have heard lectures on the role of NGOs, the state and the civil society in public health, as well as learned more about the World Trade Organization and its function. In addition, at the UN, we learned about intellectual property and the process of patenting, as well the work of the WHO in TB globally. All in all, these lectures have been incredibly rich and while I have not quite managed to digest all the information that has been presented to me, I hope that over the course of this semester, I will grow to have a better idea of how each little part that I am learning about will fit together in the global picture of public health. Each lecture has been followed by a discussion amongst the group about what we learned as well as any additional questions that we have. The format is quite informal and I have been very impressed with the amazing quality of discussion that we have been having and the very creative points and experiences that people have been contributing to the discussion. It has been really wonderful learning about everyone's experiences and seeing how different academic backgrounds, such as economics or health policy or even science backgrounds, can enrich a conversation.
Tomorrow we will visit the WHO. I am so so excited and hope that tomorrow's lectures will be just as exciting as the ones that I have heard so far.
These few days have essentially been jam-packed with introductions and various other orientation matters, including delegating responsibilities, such as confirming airplane tickets, to each member of the group. One thing that I have noticed so far is the incredible diversity in the group of 32 students that I am travelling with. A wide range of universities are represented and everyone has a very unique background. For example, one of the girls has travelled to many places in the world already on her own or with college friends, such as to Bolivia and Costa Rica. Another friend was born in Tanzania and another was born in Liberia! One thing that has struck me about the group is that despite our differences, we really all share a common goal to learn more about other cultures and public health. This has been particularly apparent from the various discussions that we have had everyday on the various issues that we have come across.
These two days, we have heard lectures on the role of NGOs, the state and the civil society in public health, as well as learned more about the World Trade Organization and its function. In addition, at the UN, we learned about intellectual property and the process of patenting, as well the work of the WHO in TB globally. All in all, these lectures have been incredibly rich and while I have not quite managed to digest all the information that has been presented to me, I hope that over the course of this semester, I will grow to have a better idea of how each little part that I am learning about will fit together in the global picture of public health. Each lecture has been followed by a discussion amongst the group about what we learned as well as any additional questions that we have. The format is quite informal and I have been very impressed with the amazing quality of discussion that we have been having and the very creative points and experiences that people have been contributing to the discussion. It has been really wonderful learning about everyone's experiences and seeing how different academic backgrounds, such as economics or health policy or even science backgrounds, can enrich a conversation.
Tomorrow we will visit the WHO. I am so so excited and hope that tomorrow's lectures will be just as exciting as the ones that I have heard so far.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Itinerary and Mailing Information
Hello everyone!
This is my first post before I leave from Boston to embark on my little tour of the world this semester! To give you a taste of where I'm going to be when/where and how to contact me, here is my itinerary and contact information! I can't wait to share my experiences with you this semester through this blog and will try to update it as regularly as I can! Enjoy!
- Hoi See
International Honors Program
Health and Community, Spring 2008
Week-by-Week Itinerary
December 12, 2007
16 weeks: 15 weeks programming plus 1 week vacation
1 WEEK
Week 1: Program Orientation in Geneva
Accommodation: Group stay in a hostel
*Students are responsible for their own arrival to Boston, Logan Airport.
5 WEEKS (4 Weeks + 1 Week Vacation): Bangalore and Kerela
Weeks 1 and 2: Homestays in Bangalore
Week 3: Case Studies
Week 4: Kerela
Week 5: Vacation
Accommodation: Combination of group housing and homestays
*Arrive in and depart from Bangalore.
4 WEEKS: Beijing
Weeks 1 and 2: Homestays
Weeks 3 and 4: Guest house and rural stay (2 days)
*Arrive in and depart from Beijing.
5 WEEKS (4 Weeks + 1 Week Wrap-up): Cape Town
Week 1: Hostel in Cape Town and Homestays in a Township
Week 2: Homestays in a Township and in Cape Town
Weeks 3 and 4: Homestays in Cape Town
Week 5: Retreat Center in Malmesbury
IHP itineraries, schedules and accommodations are subject to change. Dates refer to local time
This is my first post before I leave from Boston to embark on my little tour of the world this semester! To give you a taste of where I'm going to be when/where and how to contact me, here is my itinerary and contact information! I can't wait to share my experiences with you this semester through this blog and will try to update it as regularly as I can! Enjoy!
- Hoi See
International Honors Program
Health and Community, Spring 2008
Week-by-Week Itinerary
December 12, 2007
16 weeks: 15 weeks programming plus 1 week vacation
1 WEEK
Week 1: Program Orientation in Geneva
Accommodation: Group stay in a hostel
*Students are responsible for their own arrival to Boston, Logan Airport.
5 WEEKS (4 Weeks + 1 Week Vacation): Bangalore and Kerela
Weeks 1 and 2: Homestays in Bangalore
Week 3: Case Studies
Week 4: Kerela
Week 5: Vacation
Accommodation: Combination of group housing and homestays
*Arrive in and depart from Bangalore.
4 WEEKS: Beijing
Weeks 1 and 2: Homestays
Weeks 3 and 4: Guest house and rural stay (2 days)
*Arrive in and depart from Beijing.
5 WEEKS (4 Weeks + 1 Week Wrap-up): Cape Town
Week 1: Hostel in Cape Town and Homestays in a Township
Week 2: Homestays in a Township and in Cape Town
Weeks 3 and 4: Homestays in Cape Town
Week 5: Retreat Center in Malmesbury
IHP itineraries, schedules and accommodations are subject to change. Dates refer to local time
International Honors Program (IHP)
Health and Community, Spring 2008
OVERSEAS MAILING ADDRESS LIST
Mail: Mail delivery can require anywhere from ten days to three weeks. Do not send packages. IHP will not forward student mail. IHP cannot be held responsible for lost mail. Addresses and dates are subject to change.
Mail: Mail delivery can require anywhere from ten days to three weeks. Do not send packages. IHP will not forward student mail. IHP cannot be held responsible for lost mail. Addresses and dates are subject to change.
Geneva, Switzerland January 18 – January 26
Student Mail:
Student Name
28-30, rue de Rotschild
1202 Geneva – Switzerland
Emergency Contact: +41 76 244 50 42 (cell number)
Calling from abroad: Country Code (41), City Code (22)
Bangalore & Kerala, India January 27 – March 4
Vacation: Vacation begins the evening of Sunday, February 24 in Kerala. Students are expected to return to their respective homestays by 10:00 a.m on the Tuesday of March 3. The group will gather on the evening of March 3 for a farewell gathering and depart for Beijing on March 4.
Student Mail:
IHP c/o Environmental Support Group
105 East End ‘B’ Main Road
9th Block, Jayanagar
Bangalore 560 069 INDIA
Emergency Contact:
Emergency Phone/Fax: Leo Saldanha or Bhargavi Rao 011-91-80-2244-1977 or 011-91-80-2653-1339
or Fax: 011-91-80-2653-4364
Alternate Emergency Phone: (Bhargavi home) 011-91-80-2679-0027
Mobile (Leo): 011-91-94-4837-7403 (Bhargavi): 011-91-94-4837-7401
Calling from abroad: Country Code (91), City Code (80)
Beijing, China March 5 – April 4
Student Mail:
c/o Dr. Ren Xu
Main Building, 9th Floor
No. 16 Nan Xiao Jie, Dongzhimennei
Beijing, 100700 China
Emergency Contact:
Hong Mautz, Emergency cell: 011-86-137-1890-6546
Calling from abroad: Country Code (86), City Code: Beijing (10)
South Africa April 5 – May 9
Student Mail:
Chris Colvin and Natalie Leon
(for [student’s name])
7 Alfred St.
Observatory 7925
Cape Town, South Africa
Emergency Contact: Chris Colvin
Cell: 011-27-83-453-9438
Secondary Cell: 011-27-83-454-8567
Land: 011-27-21-447-7605
Calling from abroad: Country Code (27), City Code: Cape Town (21))
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