Kidneys and textiles and cow dung oh my!

Hello all!

Saturday was a really great day!

My day started early, at about 5:30 in the morning, to get ready to watch a kidney transplant! It took 4 hours, but was one of the craziest, coolest things I have seen in my life. I actually got to see a kidney, complete  dissected from a woman's side (they had to take out one of her ribs in order to get to it) move it to ice where it was cleaned through (like external dialysis) until it looked "pearl like" (DID I MENTION I SAW A LIVE KIDNEY CHILLING OUT?) and then saw it placed into someone ELSES body (a man) where the arteries and veins were all connected, and then we saw the kidney PASS URINE (not as gross as you think, it was super cool, it went all on its own and pumped out of the ureter) and then saw the body accept the kidney (by passing urine) and then see the ureter be connected to the bladder of the man. It was super cool to say the least, and not something I will forget ANYTIME soon. Being able to see that was really a once in a life time experience. Unless I decide to do one myself one day. Eh, we'll see...

But anyway, after surgery we headed straight to shopping at the foot of rock fort in Trichy! It was crazy! There were so many vendors selling so many cool and nifty (and relatively cheap!) things! It was funny though, there were a lot more things for women to buy than men. I could buy a million pairs of earrings, bracelets, saris, salwars and scarves, but something for a guy? There were really only lunis (the skirts men wear as pajamas over here, when my wifi is better I will post pictures of this) tinware and um...man scarves I guess is all it could be called. Oh, or traditional male wear, but all of the sizes were different and it actually varied by garment, so if you were unsure of the man's size, you might as well opt for the man scarf (don't worry men in my life, I bought no man scarves this day) But regardless, the street was bustling and Sarathas, a large textile department store in Trichy, was chock full of gorgeous scarves, saris and salwar kameez, though very few modern tops, which is what I was looking for in particular. Oh well, it was still an awesome experience!

Once we finished shopping, we went out for lunch for a change (to give the cooks a meal off) and went to Arab Spice! It was called Arab spice, but the place had Indian, Chinese, and Arab foods. It was really yummy! We tried Korma, a paneer dish, baby corn chili, veggie fried rice, and an assorted bread basket. It was all so delicious and flavorful, and so for dessert we all shared a sweet Lassi to try! (INSERT STUFF ABOUT LASSI HERE)

Once we finished all of that, we then went to a rural village! (did I mention that it was a busy day?) The village we visited receives outreach aid from Bishop Heber's social work department, and is technically owned by the government (or at least thats what I gathered from our guide Mr. Ravi). Ravi told us that this village was full of OC or the lowest caste of Hindu people, and were thus had the fewest resources. It was interesting, because just across the way was the BC settlement, which contained people of the highest caste, and seemed to be more well kept. I thought it very sad that even though India has come so far, the country is still so dependent on the caste system. Some of the highest paying jobs, such as heads of companies etc, are only given to those of the highest caste, while some of the nastiest jobs are still given to the OC, or lowest caste. I am really glad that places like Bishop Heber College though are trying to help these people.

Along with that, Ravi showed us a typical village home, which had a low front entrance way, and was made of clay and bricks. He told us the reason why the front entrance was so low was because it was built that way purposefully, so that everyone who comes into the home has to bow, which thus teaches the Indian people humility. I thought that was really interesting! I also found out that they polish their floors with cow dung. Also an interesting fact. It was a really cool visit, especially  because as we walked through a band of children slowly started following us and asking our names and trying to play and trying to get us to take their pictures. We of course obliged, and were then attacked to take pictures of all the children. It was very hectic and exciting. Sadly we then had to leave, but not without a picture with all of the kids that followed us around! (Again, I have very limited wifi, I will not post pictures today, but will tomorrow showing you all of my adventures this weekend).

We then came back to the hostel and just rested the rest of the evening, as our wi-fi was down for the night, and still is as we speak (luckily the computer science block is never without wi-fi, so we fedangled our way in in order to post our blogs).

It was an awesome second to last Saturday in Trichy!