[Brad] Week 2

This week has been hectic!  I've had to change my research project and city, I am now in Delhi working with the Hope Project, the same NGO as Tessa.  I will be interviewing and observing doctors and clinic staff to understand how healthcare is provided in the clinic and throughout Delhi with Hope's Mobile Medical Unit.  The clinic serves Basti (neighborhood) Nizamuddin's community while the Mobile Medical Unit is a van that delivers medicine to the homeless across Delhi.

As I move around and get acclimatized to Indian life and culture, the one thing I notice is that security is a really big deal everywhere.  I've been told many times that the 2008 Mumbai bombings have meant beefed up security everywhere.  This includes stores. restaurants, shopping malls, museums, and the Delhi Metro.  The Metro's security is particularly intense, requiring passing through a metal detector, wand-ed (and sometimes patted down), and then sending your bag through a scanner, which sometimes leads to a personal search with guards.  I've been pulled aside a few times, possibly because of interference from my mobile phone or camera.  Another fun fact: "gents" and "ladies" have separate lines.  Overall, the security seems more invasive than I encountered at all the airports I've been in.

Speaking of security, I snapped this photo as a fight broke out outside of the India Gate.  You can see police trying to bring order to the situation.  However, it seems to me that restraining criminals is more of a priority in the US than in India, as the police were hitting the fighters rather than pulling them apart and preventing them from continuing.  

On a separate note, Delhi's monsoon is late this year, meaning it is very hot (well over 100 F!).  The doctors at Hope's clinic suggest drinking 6-8 liters of water everyday because you sweat all the time.  I became really sick from dehydration!  Fortunately I'm back on my feet again.  I guess it's all part of the experience!

Namaste!