Hi everyone!
I'm doing pretty good, inc case you were wondering. I'm healing pretty well, the ribs still complain from time to time, but so far so good. I do, however, have some pretty bad vertigo if I move my head too fast or close my eyes. I've done a lot of putting my foot on the floor and grabbing the table to steady myself. And sometimes I walk like I'm a little inebriated. Which I should be used to (there, I beat you to the joke! ha.) But it could be worse.

I walked around the past couple to days and took some more random pics of entertaining stuff here in Vellore, in light of my pending departure, but my faithful interent cafe is closed for the day. Acutally, there has been a power cut for all of Ghandi Ave (a mojor commercial street), so a lot of people have generators running on the sidewalk. Just adds to the heat and pollution. However, I was just in a travel agent's office, and it was like a sauna in there. No power even for fans. Wow. Those are some sweaty travel agents. Anywho, I had some funny pics, but only a 50% chance I'll get them up before I head out tomorrow. I shall do my best though.

Instead, some more random musings:

1) It turns out that Anne, she off the head-holding in jerry-rigged C-collar, and I have a connection. I may have already posted this, but I have a head injury so let it slide. I went to All Saints in Manassas, VA for elementary school. I was the skinny kid in the class and my dad was an MD. The chubby kid in the class, who's dad also was an MD, was named Paul Cioletti. He left All Saints around 5th or 6th grade, and I haven't heard anything since. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I remember noting about 4yrs ago that I had a classmate named Cioletti. I just noted the occurrance, thats all. Anne and I (and Cristina and I, for that matter) never really interacted too much over the past 4 years. With a class of 200+ people, its easy to move in differerent social circles. However, since we arrived here about the same time, we started hanging out together in India. Better late than never. And guess what? She says that there is a great uncle or something like that who is an MD in Manassas, VA. Thats right, she's related to those Cioletti's. Small world, huh?

2) I'm pretty bummed about this whole car wreck thing. I was really looking forward to my Internal Medicine rotation this week. The prospect of seeing some fascinating and (to us, at least) rare infectious diseases was part of what drew me to this experience in the first place. However, I definitely have not been stable enough on my feet for a whole day of rounds. But it still stinks. I will content myself with the really neat stuff that I have gotten to see and do already. CHAD was absolutely wonderful, and Neurology gave me good insights ad to how the inpatient services are run, and what facilities they do and do not have access to here. I guess I got an insider's look at emergency medicine too.

3) I'm not sure if I've posted a picture yet or blogged about this, but it really is amazing how many people one can fit onto your average motorcycle. Minivans are for soccer teams, not families. All you need is two wheels. And really good brakes. Everyone here relies on their brakes for their lives.

4) New Foods. I have become the default "Mikey", as in Life Cereal "hey, he likes it!" Mikey. Anne and Cristina, when pondering some new thing on the menu that they want and yet don't want to try, often command me to order it. These are usually things with a title alone, no description, so we really aren't sure what it is sometimes. Yes, I am in complete control of all of my actions, but I am adventurous too....so I usually take the challenge and order it. Its pretty funny when it turns out to be really good and then they call the waiter back to try some themselves. I've definitely had more good luck with this than bad. No, I have not been surprised with a plate of monkey brains or live snakes......yet. This trip is far from over.







Here's a nice little view down one of the cool shady hallways on campus. It is really starting to heat up here. As much as I love my hostel, with no a/c, it is not cooling off at night the way that it did just 2 weeks ago. But it's still fun, especially with all the other students here from around the world. And we have a kitchen with fridge (keep cold drinks in here), hot plate, and washing machine so we can do our laundry whenever.






This is the only great funny picture I can post so far today. This is in the lobby restaurant of Hotel Surabi, probably thje priciest place here.

I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but do they have the right Indians on this thing? I'm so confused.

OK. I'll try to get my disease profile up later today.