Every now and then I experience a vestige of my past consultant life. These rare moments catch me by surprise- after all, I left Dean in 2005, and grad school and Telugu training were a world apart. As I sit in the airport, waiting for a flight to Delhi, chatting with a fellow traveller at the coffee shop while we figure out how to get the free wi-fi access working, it strikes me how business travelers the world around - whether in DC, Newark or Hyderabad - make the same small talk.
I'm off to New Delhi for one week followed by three weeks in Calcutta, filling some staffing gaps over the summer holidays in those consular sections. Have pity on Greg as he manages the morning and evening routines by himself.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Rest assured, medical care is OK here
We've come to the conclusion that, as long as nothing too serious is wrong with you, India is not a bad place to be sick -- if you have the money to pay for the best treatment. And, by US standards at least, that isn't really a lot of money. E.g., my "deluxe" prenatal checkups are Rs 500 ($10) per visit with no insurance. Last night's trip to the children's ER was Rs 320 ($7).
Before you get concerned, William didn't really have an emergency. He'd had diarrhea all day and then developed goopy eyes. He was uncomfortable enough that we decided to see the doctor on the way home from our July 4th potluck. As suspected (and also backed up by a call to Dr Aunt Beth), the two symptoms were totally unrelated. But, 20 minutes later we walked out of one of the top to children's ERs in the country (according to the medical officer in Delhi) with conjunctivitis confirmed and antibiotic eye drops (which cost a whopping Rs 12 - yes, medicine for less than $0.50).
We're keeping our fingers crossed we won't have to test the advanced medical care, but for day-to-day stuff, we've been satisfied with the care - and the cost.
Before you get concerned, William didn't really have an emergency. He'd had diarrhea all day and then developed goopy eyes. He was uncomfortable enough that we decided to see the doctor on the way home from our July 4th potluck. As suspected (and also backed up by a call to Dr Aunt Beth), the two symptoms were totally unrelated. But, 20 minutes later we walked out of one of the top to children's ERs in the country (according to the medical officer in Delhi) with conjunctivitis confirmed and antibiotic eye drops (which cost a whopping Rs 12 - yes, medicine for less than $0.50).
We're keeping our fingers crossed we won't have to test the advanced medical care, but for day-to-day stuff, we've been satisfied with the care - and the cost.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Floyd update
This morning we (me, Greg, William, Sarwary) all went for a well-baby sonogram check. Floyd is doing great! Brain, heart, kidneys, arms, legs, fingers, toes, spine were all visible. I thought they would give us a picture to take home at the end, but some how that didn't happen :( Since everything is normal (and thus boring, from a medical perspective, which is always good), I don't have much else to report except:
- William pointed at the picture and said "MY BABY!" Well, maybe not exactly ... but I suppose it's a good thing if he already likes the baby.
- At the end, Floyd put its two hands together in front of its face and the doctor said, "Look, its telling you 'Namaste!' " That definitely ranks up there in the cultural pregnancy experience.
- Greg and I weren't looking, but apparently Sarwary was ... she's convinced it is a boy, but of course the doctor won't say and we can't ask. We'll see if she's right in four months.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A shower - finally.
I try not to complain too much about being in a developing country - I did know what I was getting into, after all. And, in general, life in HYD isn't that bad. Sure the power can be out for 4+ hours a day and not all food is available, but we've adjusted our daily routines to be pretty comfortable.
I was almost to my wit's end, yesterday, though, after the fourth day with only a trickle of water from the shower. After three days of not being able to wash my hair, yesterday I decided to attempt washing it with a cup. After all, that's how I wash William's hair! Except, during the process I realized three crucial differences: William's hair is about an inch long, he has someone else to pour the water over his head, and a key component is a plastic cup (not ceramic). The attempt ended in disaster with the cup broken on the floor, soap still in my hair, and me walking, half-dripping, to the kitchen sink to try and use the little water in the extendable faucet to finish the rinse. I didn't even try conditioner :)
This morning, I was overjoyed to see an ever-increasing puddle outside our building's water pump by guard shack. My actual first thought was, "What a waste of water! It's such a scarce resource here!" Then, I quickly came to my senses: "Water! I can have a real shower after I walk Bagwelle!"
Here, I turn off the shower water while shampooing/conditioning and shaving. This morning, I just enjoyed a full 15 minutes of streaming hot water, only feeling slightly guilty.
I was almost to my wit's end, yesterday, though, after the fourth day with only a trickle of water from the shower. After three days of not being able to wash my hair, yesterday I decided to attempt washing it with a cup. After all, that's how I wash William's hair! Except, during the process I realized three crucial differences: William's hair is about an inch long, he has someone else to pour the water over his head, and a key component is a plastic cup (not ceramic). The attempt ended in disaster with the cup broken on the floor, soap still in my hair, and me walking, half-dripping, to the kitchen sink to try and use the little water in the extendable faucet to finish the rinse. I didn't even try conditioner :)
This morning, I was overjoyed to see an ever-increasing puddle outside our building's water pump by guard shack. My actual first thought was, "What a waste of water! It's such a scarce resource here!" Then, I quickly came to my senses: "Water! I can have a real shower after I walk Bagwelle!"
Here, I turn off the shower water while shampooing/conditioning and shaving. This morning, I just enjoyed a full 15 minutes of streaming hot water, only feeling slightly guilty.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Cooking experiments
I had two successful cooking experiments this evening, one out of necessity and one out of fun.
1. Poached murrel fish steaks in cilantro. I asked our driver to pick up some fresh murrel fillets for Sarwary to cook for dinner, knowing I wouldn't have time to shop and that the fish here is really only good day of. (yes, I do recognize how spoiled that sentence sounds.) Having never purchased fish, he was a little confused by the "fillet" concept and came home with mini-center cut steaks. Sarwary had no idea what to do with them ... so off to multiple recipe books I went for research.
Turns out, it's actually quite easy to poach fish steaks. All you need is a broth (well, I used water not having broth or wine on hand) and some spices (I used cilantro - readily available - a chili pepper, black pepper, garlic, some cumin seeds). Boiled the spices in the liquid for 5 minutes, added the fish, simmered for about 10 minutes and voila! I made an abbreviated sauce with garlic mayonnaise, tomato and a little more cilantro thrown into our "grinder" (aka, mini blender). Not too shabby.
2. Green bean soup with chili. After dinner, we had left over steamed beans that I didn't feel like keeping as beans - they would just go bad before we'd eat them. I just made a simple veg soup (water, green beans, onion, garlic, salt - boil and puree, add milk) ... but it didn't taste quite right. It took a few more sips to realize what was missing - the chili pepper! I guess I've become accustomed to Indian food because after I added that, it was great.
Cooking here can be limiting (e.g., I tried a Thai beef curry on Sunday night and the beef was inedible. We'll be sticking with chicken and fish) - though many ingredients are common, some things I took for granted in the US aren't (case in point: vanilla extract that doesn't have a metalic flavor). Thus, it's always cheering when cooking experiments turn out positive.
1. Poached murrel fish steaks in cilantro. I asked our driver to pick up some fresh murrel fillets for Sarwary to cook for dinner, knowing I wouldn't have time to shop and that the fish here is really only good day of. (yes, I do recognize how spoiled that sentence sounds.) Having never purchased fish, he was a little confused by the "fillet" concept and came home with mini-center cut steaks. Sarwary had no idea what to do with them ... so off to multiple recipe books I went for research.
Turns out, it's actually quite easy to poach fish steaks. All you need is a broth (well, I used water not having broth or wine on hand) and some spices (I used cilantro - readily available - a chili pepper, black pepper, garlic, some cumin seeds). Boiled the spices in the liquid for 5 minutes, added the fish, simmered for about 10 minutes and voila! I made an abbreviated sauce with garlic mayonnaise, tomato and a little more cilantro thrown into our "grinder" (aka, mini blender). Not too shabby.
2. Green bean soup with chili. After dinner, we had left over steamed beans that I didn't feel like keeping as beans - they would just go bad before we'd eat them. I just made a simple veg soup (water, green beans, onion, garlic, salt - boil and puree, add milk) ... but it didn't taste quite right. It took a few more sips to realize what was missing - the chili pepper! I guess I've become accustomed to Indian food because after I added that, it was great.
Cooking here can be limiting (e.g., I tried a Thai beef curry on Sunday night and the beef was inedible. We'll be sticking with chicken and fish) - though many ingredients are common, some things I took for granted in the US aren't (case in point: vanilla extract that doesn't have a metalic flavor). Thus, it's always cheering when cooking experiments turn out positive.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
A fun weekend in town
Sometimes we feel like getting out of HYD for the weekend, just to break the cycle - after all, aside from going out to restaurants, over to a friend's house, Sunday brunch at a hotel, or the occasional movie, there's not much variety in our weekend activities here. Not that it really bothers me, just that it can seem repetitive after coming from DC. Hence, this weekend I figured would be the same: we were going to reportedly the best Italian restaurant in town on Friday; to a friend's house Saturday afternoon for a dog birthday party, followed by a "representational event" on Saturday evening; and (depending on William's nap schedule) possibly brunch at a hotel for Father's Day. Not a bad weekend line up, but nothing too special either.
Even if brunch tomorrow doesn't work out, I won't complain - Friday's dinner turned out to be quite enjoyable. The bruschetta was excellent, and the gnocchi in a mushroom-pea cream sauce was pretty good, too, after a bit extra pepper (http://littleitaly.in/hyderabad_res.html). The dessert options left something to be desired, alas, but chocolate mint gelato with hot fudge is never bad. I do like Indian food, but it was a treat (for a whopping $25 per person) to have something not Indian-fied at all.
Saturday's "representational event" (i.e., a social event at which someone from work must make an appearance) turned out fantastic. Rather than the usual celebrity (usually film star) speech or Tollywood dance number, the company asked a local drama circle (Dramatic Circle of Hyderabad) to perform an original adaptation of Farrukh Dhondy's short story, "Bollox." I'm not a theater connoisseur by any means, but I found myself laughing quite a bit and really enjoying the performance. Partly, I'm sure, because I haven't been to any live performance of a Western-type since I've been here (I have been to a kuchipudi dance recital), but also partly because the acting was great. The troupe is in the running to present the piece at the Edinburgh festival this year, and I'd definitely recommend it.
The short lesson of the weekend: if I make a little more effort to seek out the local events, perhaps weekends will seem less repetitive. Of course, now I just have to figure out how to find out what's going on...
Even if brunch tomorrow doesn't work out, I won't complain - Friday's dinner turned out to be quite enjoyable. The bruschetta was excellent, and the gnocchi in a mushroom-pea cream sauce was pretty good, too, after a bit extra pepper (http://littleitaly.in/hyderabad_res.html). The dessert options left something to be desired, alas, but chocolate mint gelato with hot fudge is never bad. I do like Indian food, but it was a treat (for a whopping $25 per person) to have something not Indian-fied at all.
Saturday's "representational event" (i.e., a social event at which someone from work must make an appearance) turned out fantastic. Rather than the usual celebrity (usually film star) speech or Tollywood dance number, the company asked a local drama circle (Dramatic Circle of Hyderabad) to perform an original adaptation of Farrukh Dhondy's short story, "Bollox." I'm not a theater connoisseur by any means, but I found myself laughing quite a bit and really enjoying the performance. Partly, I'm sure, because I haven't been to any live performance of a Western-type since I've been here (I have been to a kuchipudi dance recital), but also partly because the acting was great. The troupe is in the running to present the piece at the Edinburgh festival this year, and I'd definitely recommend it.
The short lesson of the weekend: if I make a little more effort to seek out the local events, perhaps weekends will seem less repetitive. Of course, now I just have to figure out how to find out what's going on...
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