Andhra Pradesh

We are finally home from our journey into Andhra Pradesh! It is the state just north of Tamil Nadu which is where Rising Star is. We left Monday morning at 5:30 for the 6 hour drive north. We stopped and ate our first traditional Indian breakfast and it was so good! I can't remember what it was called but it was basically a giant crepe with some kind of potato concoction in the middle and then you dip it in a bunch of different sauces. We finally got to our hotel about 12:30. It was the sketchiest place I have ever stayed, it was absolutely disgusting. They told us to bring our own sheets which should have been a tip off for what we were in for. Elle and I shared a room and it was one bed in this tiny little space, a tiny little bathroom which had a foot of water in it when we got there, and of course a bucket for the shower. The sheets were filthy with stains and hair everywhere. Laura, you would have died. So we covered up the bed with the sheet we brought and tried not to think about it. After getting "freshened up" at the hotel we went to lunch and it was  so so good. We had rice and curry and naan and it was fantastic. We were all super nervous about getting sick cause half the people in our group have been sick so far but I took my chances anyway. So far so good. We finally got to the colony about 3:00 and set up the clinic. It was so good, the people were so super nice and Andhra Pradesh is not as hot as Tamil Nadu and not as dirty. As soon as we got set up we got slammed with people and right then it just started to down pour. So so much rain, it was crazy! We were under this pavilion but there was so much rain everything was still getting soaked so we had to cram everyone into a little space to try and keep everything dry but we still ended up getting soaked. We saw about 70 patients at that colony so it wasn't too bad. After that we went to dinner and got more rice and curry and naan. I have literally eaten my entire body weight in the last two days, the food was so good. We finally got back to the hotel and got ready for bed. We both got all ready and then just stood there for like 15 minutes not wanting to touch the bed but we were so tired. So we lay down trying to touch the least amount of bed possible and we are just about asleep when we hear someone trying to get in the door, like trying to jimmy the handle. Super. I thought for sure we were going to die but they just left. So we went to sleep. We had asked the front desk to give us a wake up call at 5:50 the next morning and they promptly called to give us our 5:00 wake up call. Close enough. so we got up and took our bucket shower and then headed out to the other colony. This colony had so many people! We ended up seeing 150 from the colony and then 10-15 people from surrounding villages. It was crazy. These people only get medical care once or twice a year so some of them were in pretty bad shape. It was really hot today and there were flies everywhere. Literally, I would look away for 3 seconds and then the patients foot was completely covered in flies. It was awful. We were there from about 8:00-2:00 so it got really hot. After that colony we went to lunch at the same place we had had lunch the day before and had more rice, curry and naan. So far I haven't been sick at all so hopefully it stays that way. The drive back was hilarious, we played a bunch of games and it actually went by pretty quick. Overall it was a good trip but I am definitely happy to be back at Rising Star. Tomorrow we are going to a birthing clinic near Chennai and I guess if there are babies being born we get to help with the deliveries. No big deal. Pictures posted below...

Our bed at the hotel

The shower

The first colony

The second colony

Second colony

One of the leprosy ulcers

Fly covered shoe