Arrivals

Landed in Hyderabad about 12:30 AM Wednesday (local time), with impressively little hassle. The new Hyderabad airport would look at home in any Western city, baggage claim was almost instantaneous, and customs was less hassle than prior landings in Mumbai (despite having bought approximately 4L of Scotch for my various hosts).

First night was at a commercial guesthouse near an Indian Air Force training academy, about 30km from the airport (which takes about 45min drive, thankfully no traffic at that hour). It took me a good 20-30 minutes to realize what was looking different about the roads (besides driving on the left) -- no traffic signals. One of many reasons why us Westerners are advised not to mess around with driving ourselves.

Day 1 was basically orientation and acclimation, consisting of sitting in on a meeting for a totally different project, some lunch, the transfer of 4L of Scotch (which nicely stocked me up with local currency), and my transfer to temporary living quarters at Mediciti Hospital.

Mediciti itself is another 30km outside the city, near the village of Ghanpur. Not much to say about Ghanpur so far other than that it's surprisingly beautiful. There's a lake nearby which you can easily see from the roof of my building, plus some interesting rock formations that are apparently endemic to the Deccan Plateau. My geologist friend Dr. Lindsay could probably tell you a lot more about those, and is welcome to comment or provide some links.

I've been put in the "boys hostel", which is essentially the dorm for male medical students who live far enough away that they can't come in daily by bus, motorcycle, foot, whatever. It is indeed a hostel -- simple twin bed, meals in common canteen, and (thankfully) a water purifier on the first floor. They have, however, made some extra accommodations for the visiting Doctor Sahib; I get a double-occupancy room to myself, the A/C was tested and works (not that I need it -- weather's perfect), and they specifically installed a "geyser" for me (a small just-in-time hot water heater for the shower). It ain't my uncle's flat on Malabar Hill, but it's more than enough to keep me comfortable.

So far, the only issue is trying to shake off a bit of loneliness. It's not homesickness; it's specifically a feeling of being isolated. I know it's only temporary -- right now I don't know the project staff as friends, just as names, and so of course I feel like I've nobody to talk to. Once I get working and especially two weeks or so from now when I've got a local cell phone (and thus the ability to easily call home), that's going to rapidly fade. It's still going to be a very interesting three months, and I'm sure I'm going to grow quite a bit while I'm here.

Preparations and Beginnings

Welcome to the new travel blog! As I've promised many of you, I'll be trying to send back at least weekly reports of my travels in India and the work I'm doing there, hopefully with many photos.

For background, I'll be working under the combined auspices of SHARE India, based in Hyderabad, and the Bhoruka Charitable Trust, based out of Jaipur (a major city) and Bhorugram (a very rural town) in the state of Rajasthan. Most of my time will be spent in the latter, helping to replicate a version of SHARE's REACH program in the villages where BCT delivers services. The whole thing has been arranged through the graces of PS Reddy, a Pittsburgh cardiologist who founded SHARE and keeps the whole thing going through serious leadership skills and tremendous personal energy.

On Tuesday the 26th, I head out for a week or so of training in Hyderabad before making my way to Jaipur. Until then, it's hanging out at my parents' kitchen table in eastern PA and "helping" my dad reduce the volume of his liquor cabinet. It's going to be a very unusual adventure, one different from anything I've done so far, but I'm excited!