New experiences!

Hello dear friends and family. Here's how my life has been this past week. On Monday through Wednesday I worked at Vadamalayan Hospital in Madurai. Every day I am seeing and learning new things. This specific hospital is very large for an Indian hospital and very advanced. I have seen such things as CT scans, an endoscopy of the stomach, and many accident and emergency cases. The doctors are very helpful in explaining the procedures. In the states I would never be allowed to just walk in and watch some surgery. Yet, here they love to have students watching and observing. I am seeing and learning so much! Earlier this week an Anaesthesiologistshowed me how to put a feeding tube down through the nasal passage. Then he said "next time you try". He as well explained and showed me how to put in an I.V. Hopefully I'll be able to try both next week. The staff are well educated and eager to teach me.
The last few days(Wednesday evening through Friday) four other girls and I have been at a Leprosy Hospital. It's hard for me to put into words all I saw those two days. I've never before seen Leprosy patients so wasn't sure what to expect. It broke my heart to see the men and women suffering from Leprosy. Some of the patient's hands and feet were only knobs. Others were missing fingers or toes. And, becuase they have no feeling, in surgery the doctors just cut away and the patient never feels a thing. It's crazy! One man was missing a toe and the nurse was digging into his foot It was infected and she was cleaning it. I could see all the way to the bone. My stomach was a bit upset.The nasty wounds as I experienced with the Leprosy patients are the worse I have seen yet in India. There were many other cases but I won't write more for those with a weak stomach. :)
Now I am back in Madurai and having a more relaxing weekend. I really enjoy the family I am living with. Ish and Medu, the daughters are fun to talk and spend time with. Ish and I enjoy taking walks together. She tells me about her beliefs and culture and I share with her about mine. I think tomorrow the girls and I are going to go shopping at the local markets. There is always much to see when walking or driving down the streets in India. Horns are forever honking, dusts always assailing the eyes and people smiling and saying "hello, how are you?". A person has to be extremely alert so as to not get run over by vehicles. Pedestrians certainly to not have right of way here! I feel after two weeks I have for the most part adjusted to the Indian culture. It's such a hard culture to explain..... but if I were to explain it ,this is what I would say. Just think opposite of the American life, and this I feel would describe the Indian life.
Well, hopefully this entry gave you a better idea of what I am doing in India. Though I am enjoying myself here, it will be good to see all of you when I return! Please continue to pray for me! Thanks for reading and blessings to you all!!! Rachel