Cochin

Its been a little while since my last blog and much has happened over the past few days. Diwali, the festival of lights was celebrated with fireworks, tasty treats and festivities in accordance with tradition. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism observe various customs related to Diwali. I enjoyed the candles lit in oil and the sparkly fireworks painting the sky and lighting up everyone’s faces.  Another favorite part of the last few weeks has been watching the sun sink into the ocean. Its red turning deeper as it slowly dips into the sea, illuminating the sky into a surreal pink and orange, all while the crescent moon watches from above. Here in India the moon is turned the other way than in Sweden leaving it like a fat grin in the sky.

This week I received the most amazing massage called Abiyangha with Shirodhara. This is a full body oil massage with an oil running on to the forehead. It is the most wondrous experience which turns your mind off, leaving you in a state of utter calmness and satisfaction, I highly recommend it. Between these luxurious moments I have also been delving deeper into the background of our paper, analyzing what communication really is in its multifaceted definitions and usages. I also tried to pinpoint what we really are searching for with our questions and how to foresee all the outcomes and possible misdirection which we may encounter during the interviews. It has been a little surreal to work with Agnes across the different continents, but this week she arrived which has been a great a reality check.

On Wednesday October 25th I drove down from Guruvayur to Aster Medcity hospital in Cochin to meet the doctor and become entrusted the nurses. The hospital is like its own city on an island between marshes and palm trees. All very organized and clean, perfect for the international clientele, yet surprising in the midst of India and its other bustling and busy ways. That night Agnes arrived to our funny and fancy hotel on Willington island, which turned out to be a navy base. So, we are surrounded by military airplanes and military grounds with very little space to actually wander. But its ok right now because it helps us stay focused on our paper, and an excuse to just sit by the pool. Once we’re finished with the interviews we’ll venture out to explore fort Cochin. Yesterday day Agnes and I drove to the hospital again and started our interview process. We met two highly qualified and extremely sweet nurses whom were fun to chat with, and I think we acquired some useful information from the interviews. Today we head back to the hospital for two more meetings and then probably dinner by the pool, watching the bats and crows.

Week 1

I find myself in the southern most state of India. The beautiful, lush and green Kerala. People here are curious and friendly. Working their jobs, far more hours than we are accustomed to, but still with a smile. Its impressive and thought provoking

My trip over here was long yet good. An eleven-hour layover in New Delhi could have been worse without a Holiday Inn hotel at the airport and masala chai down the terminal.

I have been here for six days now and am so happy to be spending some time on the Cochin beaches soaking up the sun, walking in the hot downpours of monsoon rains and eating delicious food, before we start the interview process. I was also able to watch a theater and dance performance which was fascinating even though I didn’t understand what was happening most of the time. The movements however were beautiful, sometimes terrifying,  yet fascinating. One part of our project is looking into medical tourism, not because its a focus of our paper, but because it is a factor in the interviews for our study. Most patients who our nurse participants care for are people from other countries who come to India for medical treatment, this so called medical tourism. While India has very good western medicine they also incorporate other types of holistic care into their healthcare system. So, while Agnes is still back in Sweden finishing exams I am spending this first period of the trip receiving Ayurvedic treatments, another kind of medical tourism. I have so far met people from many different parts of India, as well as people from France, Russia and Germany. Not a bad place to work on the background of our thesis, formulate and reformulate the interview questions, and again contact the hospitals. I have so far reached the supervisor/gatekeeper at the Aster MedCity hospital in Cochin where we will be conducting our interviews and solidified some dates. It feels goo to start setting specific times for this next part of our research even though I know that these plans can and probably will change many times over.

resfeber?

Dags för första inlägget!

Om exakt tre veckor sitter vi på planet på väg mot Indien! 😀

Igår var vi och pratade en sista gång med vår handledare på högskolan… Som efter varje möte går min (Malin) hjärna på högvarv efteråt och en vision om ett toppenarbete samtidigt undrar jag shit, hur ska vi få ihop det här?” medan Carro lugnande säger att “det här löser vi, det kommer bli sjukt bra”! Och någonstans vet ju även jag att det kommer bli kalas, men för stunden är huvudet en röra! 🙂

Trots det så kallade sommarlovet så har vi planerat och fixat och donat till tusen. Nu är vi mer eller mindre helt resklara – alla sprutor tagna, indiskt visum kirrat,  indiskt telefonnummer på väg och hotellnätterna i Nilambur bokade!
Vår största fundering nu är bara hur vi ska ta oss mellan Nilambur och skolan?!? Vår kontakt på skolan i Indien är i detta fall inte så snabb på att svara, men även detta löser sig!

Sen var det det här med att boka tågresa inrikes… Vi har fått tips på en väldigt bra sida på nätet där non indian residents kan boka! Om den bara kunde fungera som den lovar och aktivera vårt konto som den ska, så skulle ju även vi kunna boka biljetter och hoppas på att slippa gå! Trots x antal mail till supporten vill det sig inte så nu har vi is i magen och hoppas på att det går smidigt när vi väl kommer till Indien! 🙂

Annars är vi sjukt laddade och redo för avfärd – OCH den kommande indiska magsjukan! 😉
På återseende inom kort!!

/M&C