Journal 11-15-2010

Journal 11-15-2010

Today I woke up just before 8:00 to the sounds of knocking. I assumed it was coming from next door and I had planned to get up at 8:00 and finish packing anyway so I got out of bed. About 10 minutes later I heard the knocking again but this time it was definitely coming from my door. When I opened the door Katie was standing there! What a great surprise. It is really nice to see Katie again especially now that John has taken off.
    Our main task for the day was to make it to VCRC in Pondicherry. To do this we had to get a bus at the Koyambadu bus station. That was easy enough, the bus ride was around 4 hours and I was really uncomfortable. I was crammed in a seat with my knees pressed painfully against the seat in front of me. I was also trapped in the window seat that was conveniently placed directly on top of the wheel well. Despite my discomfort we did in fact make it to Pondi : ).
    We took a rickshaw from the bus station to the hospital near VCRC we found our way pretty easily from there. When we got to VCRC they gave us room keys at the gate. We went to the rooms to set down our backpacks. The rooms were extremely nice and decorated with furnishings that must have been from the 70s. Then we met with Dr. S, the head honcho.
    We had the first meal of the day at 2:00 in Dr. S’s office, it consisted of a hand full of snack mix, a piece of Indian sweet and a cup of Chai. I was sooooooo hungry. This little snack definitely helped.
    Dr. S told us about what we were going to do and where we could stay. We eventually decided to move from the really nice rooms to the more modest guesthouse that is currently occupied by a girl named Stephanie from the USA. She is here doing a Fulbright scholarship project. The guesthouse has 5 or 6 rooms ( I cant tell if one of the locked rooms is a closet or a room). It is pretty nice and has a kitchen. It also costs 250 rupees per month, which is SUPER CHEAP. I am only staying here until Sunday then I will move on to the YMCA in Kottayam Kerala.    
    We went out for dinner with Stepahine tonight and she showed us around Pondicherry a little bit. We also got some groceries. Stephanie seems like she is a pretty nice girl and we all seem to get along so far.