Tuesday, July 6, 2010
good news
WOOOHOOOO!! We finally got our flights confirmed to get out of India! Can't wait to get home :)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day 5,6,&7
After breakfast with Ingrajeet, we came back to the hotel and relaxed all day. Wendy called us in the afternoon and asked if she could come for dinner that night. The company that sent us here is paying for all of our meals, so we don't mind if she takes advantage of that with us :) That night, her and her mom, Lynda, came for dinner. It was a lot of fun to have dinner with them and to meet Wendy's mom. Lynda helps out a lot with the Salvation Army and the orphanage that Nat runs. She has donated lots of money and supplies, and given much of her time there. What a great lady! Well after dinner we went to Amul and got some ice cream with Wendy and Lynda. It started raining shortly after, so they caught a taxi home.
Saturday, after my internal scan/blood work/injections, we headed off to explore India for the day. Wendy had invited us on this excursion and we were stoked to get out. :) First we went to Champaner. It was a really old city with lots of mosques. We got a pass to tour all the mosques in the city. It was amazing to see all the handwork put into these buildings!! No words can describe how amazing these buildings were.. Just to think of the time those Indians spent in the heat carving on that building. wow!
After that, we went to a different city to ride a ski lift type thing up to the top of a mountain where we found a very special mosque. Wow these temples are amazing.. The ride to the top was undescribable! there was lots of fog that day, and so many green trees. I felt like i was in a tropical forest.. no joke. We were surrounded by Monkeys and Donkeys when we got to the top. We had to hike for awhile.. then we entered the temple. The Priest was so happy to see us.. he gave us some markings on our foreheads, and he even cracked open a coconut for us to drink the milk.
I can't explain how we are viewed here. So many people were asking us for pictures while we were on the mountain. I felt like a moviestar. One family stopped us and gave their baby to Justin to hold,. then they took a picture of him holding their baby. So cute! We had alot of teenage boys asking for pictures with them.. Whenever I would smile and wave at them, they would get shy and blush. Wow- what a culture shock!
We stopped at Baroda on our way home, but the calico museum was closed. So we just walked around for a few minutes instead. This city was amazing to see how many monkeys there were! They were everywhere on the street and sidewalk!! How cute :) We stopped at Dominoes on our way home.. yes, they have a dominoes here (much different though). We ordered a pepperoni and cheese pizza. The pepperoni was 100% pork since they do not eat beef.. kind of interesting. We crashed early that night and got a good nights sleep.
Sundays here are called "holidays." Nothing is open and everyone rests. We slept the ENTIRE DAY. We woke up at 2 and got some lunch, then went back to bed. Wow that was a lot of sleep for us :)
Today is Monday.. I will go to the doc in an hour and get another scan, bloodwork, and injection. wish me luck. My hunny is sick.. :( Must be all this Indian food. But hopefully we will get some medicine for him today when I go to the clinic. Gosh I hope he feels better soon.
Saturday, after my internal scan/blood work/injections, we headed off to explore India for the day. Wendy had invited us on this excursion and we were stoked to get out. :) First we went to Champaner. It was a really old city with lots of mosques. We got a pass to tour all the mosques in the city. It was amazing to see all the handwork put into these buildings!! No words can describe how amazing these buildings were.. Just to think of the time those Indians spent in the heat carving on that building. wow!
After that, we went to a different city to ride a ski lift type thing up to the top of a mountain where we found a very special mosque. Wow these temples are amazing.. The ride to the top was undescribable! there was lots of fog that day, and so many green trees. I felt like i was in a tropical forest.. no joke. We were surrounded by Monkeys and Donkeys when we got to the top. We had to hike for awhile.. then we entered the temple. The Priest was so happy to see us.. he gave us some markings on our foreheads, and he even cracked open a coconut for us to drink the milk.
I can't explain how we are viewed here. So many people were asking us for pictures while we were on the mountain. I felt like a moviestar. One family stopped us and gave their baby to Justin to hold,. then they took a picture of him holding their baby. So cute! We had alot of teenage boys asking for pictures with them.. Whenever I would smile and wave at them, they would get shy and blush. Wow- what a culture shock!
We stopped at Baroda on our way home, but the calico museum was closed. So we just walked around for a few minutes instead. This city was amazing to see how many monkeys there were! They were everywhere on the street and sidewalk!! How cute :) We stopped at Dominoes on our way home.. yes, they have a dominoes here (much different though). We ordered a pepperoni and cheese pizza. The pepperoni was 100% pork since they do not eat beef.. kind of interesting. We crashed early that night and got a good nights sleep.
Sundays here are called "holidays." Nothing is open and everyone rests. We slept the ENTIRE DAY. We woke up at 2 and got some lunch, then went back to bed. Wow that was a lot of sleep for us :)
Today is Monday.. I will go to the doc in an hour and get another scan, bloodwork, and injection. wish me luck. My hunny is sick.. :( Must be all this Indian food. But hopefully we will get some medicine for him today when I go to the clinic. Gosh I hope he feels better soon.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
PICS
us with our driver, Mr. Ingrajeet
The guys at the breakfast joint who wanted to take our pics
The Madhubhan Resort
Typical Indian living conditions
Us out shopping
The guys at the breakfast joint who wanted to take our pics
The Madhubhan Resort
Typical Indian living conditions
Us out shopping
day 4
Yesterday was a good day. We got to the clinic in the morning and Dr. Patel had gotten back from Rome. She asked that she does an internal scan to check things out. Everything looked good. She was worried that because of the thyroid problem, I will need to stay an additional 5 days to successfully complete the process. She needs me to stay till the 13th of July. I told her there is no possible way I can stay that long. We are in the process of figuring out what we can do to make this trip not last until the 13th.
On a happier note, they are continueing me on the meds.. 2 tablets a day of levothyroxine. I'm getting my blood drawn about every other day to check my levels. Still getting my injections of the hormones. I had 2 yesterday and 2 this morning. They are getting pretty painful, but still bearable. Luckily I have Justins sweet hand to squeeze when I'm in pain. :) I don't know what I would do without him here with me. it has been such a relief to have a huge 6'4 man walking around with me.. I feel so much safer :)
Dr. Patel sent us on our way, but before leaving, Wendy stopped us and asked if we wanted to go shopping with her. So we had Mr. Ingrajeet (our driver) take us around town. We first went to lunch. Ingrajeet took us to an all you can eat type place where they load all different kinds of Indian food on your plate. It basically gives you a taste on India in one meal. the food was alright I thought.. Justin loved it! Very spicy though.. Next we went to D Mart.. basically it's similar to a Smith's Marketplace or a Target. We were so intrigued by the Indian products and labeling. We got some souveniers for family and friends, then left to go to the Big Bazaar. The Big Bazaar is a 3 story building, similar to a smaller Costco. We had a lot of fun walking around the building. I tried on a Sari and really liked it, but I didn't end up getting it. We seriously feel like exotic animals here. Everytime we walk into a room or area, everyone stops dead in their tracks and just watches us. Crazy.
Our last stop was a very very nice resort called "madhubhan." We literally forgot we were in India while we were touring the resort. It was SOOO NICE! I took tons of pictures so I will try and post some, but it hasn't been working lately. The grounds at this place were beautiful. Very well kept. The spa was immaculet. We are considering having a spa day here soon and going back to the Madhubhan Resort.
We got home after a long day of shopping and eating. We ordered some chai tea to our room, then went to bed early. We woke up a few hours later (it was 10 pm) and we were a little hungry. Justins stomach was pretty upset from all the spice, so he ordered a mild americanized dish of Stroganoff.. I ordered some Tandoori chicken with some buttered naan. Yum :) We went back to bed and crashed the rest of the night. Wow we have gotten so much sleep here in India. :) Kinda nice.
This morning I got my blood tested again and got 2 more injections. Then Mr. Ingrajeet took us to a little breakfast place which was awesome!! The men serving us were so funny.. they asked to take a picture of us :) Anyway, we tried some awesome food. The Chutney sauce was my favorite. they put it on top of a deep fried roll. Sounds weird, but it was delicious. We took lots of pics of the food and we'll be sure to post them :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
day 3
Yesterday was an amazing day! We went in to see Dr. Patel at 9 am, and my blood was drawn again. Well my thyroid levels are still not normal, so they put me on some meds for my thyroid. It's called "levothyroxine" and it produces more thyroxine since my body isn't producing enough.. Thank goodness we figured this out! That explains that rapid weight gain in the last 2 months, and it also explains why I am so tired all of the time.
We left the Doctors office around ten thirty and went back to the hotel to grab some breakfast. Our hotel does a continental breakfast, so we ordered omelets. I was super nervous to eat eggs here for some reason, but Justin talked me into it. We ordered a vegetable and cheese omelet and it was soo good! I loved it! I could've eaten 2 or 3 of those. :)
I definitely haven't been let down by the food here. I have loved every meal we've had. I'm not going to lie though, the food is real spicy and my stomach doesn't love the spice. :(
After breakfast we got ready real quick, then had to be back to the doc at 1130. The levels were still abnormal, but they decided to start the shots. I was nervous for this, but it actually wasn't bad at all. The needle was very short and tiny. They inserted the shot right below my belly button and it was only in there for a few seconds. Thank heavens. They asked that I return every morning at 1030 for the shots. Then every few days I will have to stay and get blood work and an internal scan to see that the eggs are harvesting on my follicles. This can get pretty painful I hear..
We came home to get our 12 dollar massage for a whole hour. An indian woman did mine, and a man did Justins. Very different than American massages, but overall it was good. They like to use alot of lotion and exfoliates in their massages, which I found unusual. The massage included a facial as well. It was really nice to get my face scrubbed and eye brows plucked. :) Interesting experience for us both.
We met a nice lady from Virginia at the clinic our first day. Her name is Wendy. Well she invited us to her hotel if we ever wanted to chat.. We didn't ever go over there, only because it never came up. Well after our massages yesterday, the front desk had a note from Wendy. She had come to see us and invite us to dinner later that night. We called her back to RSVP. We were really excited to go out to eat at the "hungry jungle" and get a better view of this town.
We had a few hours to kill so we went to the restaurant in our hotel and had some chai tea, which was AMAZING!! While we were there, we got to know the Indian workers a little better. Rhakish, Bhupendra, and Brienka are the ones we have met so far. Our servers are all so nice and seem very curious about us. During our whole time at the restaurant, they will stand right there next to us and stare. They ask where we are from and what we do in the US and where we work. They are so geniune towards us that it melts my heart. Justin taught our waiter, Rhakish, a handshake when we were leaving.. it was so funny to see him do it. They loved it. We ended up giving them some extra rupees :)
We went up to got ready to go out for the night with Wendy. Her taxi driver picked us up, and Wendy was with an older man that she met here named "Nat." She called him "grandpa Nat." This is Wendy's third time to the Country, and she met Nat on her first time here. Nat runs an orphanage in a town 4 hours South. What an amazing man. He has such a kind and giving heart. He ended up paying for all of our food at the Hungry Jungle. This place was such a great restaurant. I took pictures that I will post here in awhile. The grounds outside the restaurant were magnificent. Well, after dinner, Wendy took us to get ice cream at a place called "Amul". It was very very good ice cream. Anand is the "milk capitol" of India, so we were fortunate to get some delicious ice cream here. :) Wendy and Nat took us home, but on the drive home, I asked Nat to sing for us. Wow, what an amazing man he is. He sang this song about God and anyways, it was just really good. I tried to record it but didn't get it in time.
Overall, our day was amazing. We feel so humbled here in this poverty. This experience has been so great for both of us. I feel so grateful for the Country I live in. I didn't realize how fortunate I was until I came here.
We left the Doctors office around ten thirty and went back to the hotel to grab some breakfast. Our hotel does a continental breakfast, so we ordered omelets. I was super nervous to eat eggs here for some reason, but Justin talked me into it. We ordered a vegetable and cheese omelet and it was soo good! I loved it! I could've eaten 2 or 3 of those. :)
I definitely haven't been let down by the food here. I have loved every meal we've had. I'm not going to lie though, the food is real spicy and my stomach doesn't love the spice. :(
After breakfast we got ready real quick, then had to be back to the doc at 1130. The levels were still abnormal, but they decided to start the shots. I was nervous for this, but it actually wasn't bad at all. The needle was very short and tiny. They inserted the shot right below my belly button and it was only in there for a few seconds. Thank heavens. They asked that I return every morning at 1030 for the shots. Then every few days I will have to stay and get blood work and an internal scan to see that the eggs are harvesting on my follicles. This can get pretty painful I hear..
We came home to get our 12 dollar massage for a whole hour. An indian woman did mine, and a man did Justins. Very different than American massages, but overall it was good. They like to use alot of lotion and exfoliates in their massages, which I found unusual. The massage included a facial as well. It was really nice to get my face scrubbed and eye brows plucked. :) Interesting experience for us both.
We met a nice lady from Virginia at the clinic our first day. Her name is Wendy. Well she invited us to her hotel if we ever wanted to chat.. We didn't ever go over there, only because it never came up. Well after our massages yesterday, the front desk had a note from Wendy. She had come to see us and invite us to dinner later that night. We called her back to RSVP. We were really excited to go out to eat at the "hungry jungle" and get a better view of this town.
We had a few hours to kill so we went to the restaurant in our hotel and had some chai tea, which was AMAZING!! While we were there, we got to know the Indian workers a little better. Rhakish, Bhupendra, and Brienka are the ones we have met so far. Our servers are all so nice and seem very curious about us. During our whole time at the restaurant, they will stand right there next to us and stare. They ask where we are from and what we do in the US and where we work. They are so geniune towards us that it melts my heart. Justin taught our waiter, Rhakish, a handshake when we were leaving.. it was so funny to see him do it. They loved it. We ended up giving them some extra rupees :)
We went up to got ready to go out for the night with Wendy. Her taxi driver picked us up, and Wendy was with an older man that she met here named "Nat." She called him "grandpa Nat." This is Wendy's third time to the Country, and she met Nat on her first time here. Nat runs an orphanage in a town 4 hours South. What an amazing man. He has such a kind and giving heart. He ended up paying for all of our food at the Hungry Jungle. This place was such a great restaurant. I took pictures that I will post here in awhile. The grounds outside the restaurant were magnificent. Well, after dinner, Wendy took us to get ice cream at a place called "Amul". It was very very good ice cream. Anand is the "milk capitol" of India, so we were fortunate to get some delicious ice cream here. :) Wendy and Nat took us home, but on the drive home, I asked Nat to sing for us. Wow, what an amazing man he is. He sang this song about God and anyways, it was just really good. I tried to record it but didn't get it in time.
Overall, our day was amazing. We feel so humbled here in this poverty. This experience has been so great for both of us. I feel so grateful for the Country I live in. I didn't realize how fortunate I was until I came here.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
wow. what an experience I've had so far. We arrived at the airport in Ahmedebad at 9:30 pm on June 29th. We had to get off the plane and get onto a bus that drove us to the airport. When we walked outside we were amazed at the blazing heat we felt that late at night. I was instantly sweating and clammy.. Not fun. After leaving the crowded, small airport, we walked outside where we found that every soul was staring at us. Amongst the crowded people I saw one man holding a sign "Ashlee Roberts and Justin Larsen." My "secret" name while I am here is Ashlee. Well we went and got in his van and rode to our hotel. The ride was about an hour and a half.. Along the ride we saw cows just sitting and hanging out along the streets. People worship cows here, so you will see them very often on the side of the road.
We checked in at the La Casa Inn. These people waited on us hand and foot, and they still do. They took our luggage to our room. When we got to our room it was like a sauna. Here in India, the room key is also the power key. Once you get into the room, there is a slot for the room key to go into which powers the whole room. We got the AC going and it cooled down pretty fast. Even though it was midnight, I was pretty hungry. I ordered room service for us.. Bombay House Grill Sandwhich. Here is what was on it.. 3 pieces of bread, green sauce (almost like avacado spread), onions, tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and white cheese. It was kind of heated, then grilled. Very different flavors than in the U.S. But I ate it up, considering my hunger.
We went to bed and woke the next morning at 7 AM due to the honking of horns outside. Did I mention that there are NO traffic rules here in India? Watch the video that I posted on "crossing the street in India" and see for yourself. People do whatever they want here. Kinda scary!!
We showered up and got ready for my apt which was at 11 AM. Our driver, Ingrajeet, picked us up 30 min early to take us there. He stopped the car in the middle of a street and pointed to a building. That is where we would go to see Dr. Patel. There were many shoes sitting outside the building, so we figured we were to take off our shoes. We entered, and they guided us to Dr. patels office. Dr. Patel is in Rome till Thursday they said, but here husband is also a doctor and he was in her office taking over. He spoke English very well and told us everything to expect during our stay. We exchanged US money for Rupies and got some excellent tips from him.
He told us that today I would get a scan and get my blood drawn, then come back in a few hours to start the medication. The scan was definitely a story. these girls took me into a room and held up a blanket around me, they pointed to my pants and pulling them down. I did that and they got the doc to come in. He did an ultra sound of my uterus and cervix. When he was finished, I was sent back to Dr. Patels room to get my blood drawn. They sent me home and told me to return at 4 pm.
We came back to the hotel and had lunch at the restaurant. We had chicken Tikka Masala and garlic naan. It was so amazing!! We loved the lunch, but unfortunately couldn't finish it. Next time we will remember not to order too much food. It is looked at as "disrespectful"
When I returned, they told me that my levels in my blood were not normal and that we couldn't start the stimulation (meds) until they were. They kept asking if I take thyroid medication, so i'm guessing my thyroid levels were high. So they asked that I return in the morning at 9 am, fasting, for a second blood draw.
Well here I am ready to go into my appointment. Wish us luck!
We checked in at the La Casa Inn. These people waited on us hand and foot, and they still do. They took our luggage to our room. When we got to our room it was like a sauna. Here in India, the room key is also the power key. Once you get into the room, there is a slot for the room key to go into which powers the whole room. We got the AC going and it cooled down pretty fast. Even though it was midnight, I was pretty hungry. I ordered room service for us.. Bombay House Grill Sandwhich. Here is what was on it.. 3 pieces of bread, green sauce (almost like avacado spread), onions, tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and white cheese. It was kind of heated, then grilled. Very different flavors than in the U.S. But I ate it up, considering my hunger.
We went to bed and woke the next morning at 7 AM due to the honking of horns outside. Did I mention that there are NO traffic rules here in India? Watch the video that I posted on "crossing the street in India" and see for yourself. People do whatever they want here. Kinda scary!!
We showered up and got ready for my apt which was at 11 AM. Our driver, Ingrajeet, picked us up 30 min early to take us there. He stopped the car in the middle of a street and pointed to a building. That is where we would go to see Dr. Patel. There were many shoes sitting outside the building, so we figured we were to take off our shoes. We entered, and they guided us to Dr. patels office. Dr. Patel is in Rome till Thursday they said, but here husband is also a doctor and he was in her office taking over. He spoke English very well and told us everything to expect during our stay. We exchanged US money for Rupies and got some excellent tips from him.
He told us that today I would get a scan and get my blood drawn, then come back in a few hours to start the medication. The scan was definitely a story. these girls took me into a room and held up a blanket around me, they pointed to my pants and pulling them down. I did that and they got the doc to come in. He did an ultra sound of my uterus and cervix. When he was finished, I was sent back to Dr. Patels room to get my blood drawn. They sent me home and told me to return at 4 pm.
We came back to the hotel and had lunch at the restaurant. We had chicken Tikka Masala and garlic naan. It was so amazing!! We loved the lunch, but unfortunately couldn't finish it. Next time we will remember not to order too much food. It is looked at as "disrespectful"
When I returned, they told me that my levels in my blood were not normal and that we couldn't start the stimulation (meds) until they were. They kept asking if I take thyroid medication, so i'm guessing my thyroid levels were high. So they asked that I return in the morning at 9 am, fasting, for a second blood draw.
Well here I am ready to go into my appointment. Wish us luck!
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