The end of the first week!

It's hard to believe that our first week of work is over. Of course, we still have over seven weeks to go, but it's incredible to see how fast time goes. Indians work six-day workweeks, so while we're here in India, we'll probably be following suit and working Monday through Saturday. Tomorrow will be our day off, and as none of us are capable of driving and we've been cautioned against using the notoriously poor mass transit, we'll probably end up staying in our flat and resting. Ajay has plans to take us around Pune on the weekends--perhaps going away and visiting other places in Maharashtra (the state that both Pune and Mumbai are in). All of us are secretly hoping that we can work in a trip to Goa (and, if the stars align, a trip to Delhi and the Taj Mahal) on one of our free weekends.

In any case, today was the first time Donna and I got to see where Rachel and Kevin are working. Virgo Engineers (a valve corporation) is situated on the outskirts of Pune, amidst a plethora of other industries and Information Technology companies. Nearly all of the buildings in the area look like they've been built in the past five years, with many more on the way. We dropped them off at work today on our way to work (sort of--DMH and Virgo are really in opposite directions from one another). We also went straight from the hospital after work today to pick up Rachel and Kevin from Virgo. Unfortunately, I'm pictureless, since I don't bring my camera to and from work every day. At some point this summer, I'll bring my camera both to work and on our promised tour of Virgo, and hopefully I'll have some really good pictures of Pune's brand new industry.

Today we started to slide into what will end up being our routine for the next week. Our day turned out to be a half day, and I basically did observing for the majority of the time. In India, "Internal Medicine" is known simply as "Medicine," and today I went to the outpatient clinic to watch the doctor see patients. Because the majority of Indians are relatively poor, the doctor has limited means of diagnosing a problem. Practically, that means that imaging devices such as CT scans, MRI's, and even X-rays are virtually unused except when absolutely necessary. Within five minutes, the doctor usually is able to do a clinical examination, figure out the problem, and prescribe some sort of treatment. I'll save a post on some of the medical problems in India that are seen regularly for a later post. This one is going to be long enough as is!

After finishing work and picking up Rachel and Kevin, Ajay took us to the mall in Pune. Immediately we felt the effects of reverse culture shock. European and American models were wearing name-brand items. Hindi and Marathi were nowhere to be seen, and American pop music was blasting over the stereo system. Prices were comparable to what they'd be in the United States. Honestly, if you took the people out of the store, that mall easily could have been in any major American or European city. Apparently the new educated elite in Pune have cash to burn. In talking to Ajay, it seems like the people who would be shopping there comprise mostly the top 2% or so of the population. However, in a city of 5 million, that still leaves a significant portion willing to go out and by their Chanel perfume and Italian leather shoes. Donna and I splurged on gelato there (ice-cold food and drinks tend to be a rarity in India), and we ended up going home after that.

Our final episode of the day came with dinner. We chose a restaraunt called Taareef's, which happens to be right across the street. We managed to have one of the best meals we've had so far there, even if we managed to botch up on choosing deserts. The restaurant specializes in kebabs and other related foods, so we had a wonderful meal out of that. Rachel and Kevin decided to be daring in choosing a desert, though after tasting what Kevin described as "plain yogurt mixed with salt water," they regretted that decision a bit. In any case, pictured above is our group waiting to eat our dinner. It's been a good week, and a great start to our trip to India thus far. If it keeps going this way, we're in for a fantastic summer!