8:30 AM

The day before yesterday, Austin tried some wicked good Ice-cream. As a lactose intolerant person, she was completely fine. So she and I, the scientists that we clearly are, deemed ice-cream from India perfectly fine to eat for these three reasons:

1. The Chai tea is made from Buffalo milk, so clearly the ice-cream must be made from the same thing.
2. Since Austin tried the Ice-cream and nothing happened, Buffalo’s milk must be better than cow’s milk.
3. Since we are both lactose intolerant, coincidentally we should have the same symptoms.

Turns out despite the glaring similarities between Austin and I, we aren’t twins. I feel like I took a ride on the worst roller coaster of my life.

11:41 PM

I spoke too soon; Austin and I are clearly twins because we both feel like, “all of the things” are wrong. We also had chicken last night so we can’t tell whether or not it’s from the chicken or the Ice-cream. Moral of the story: Don’t experiment when you know you aren’t a genius, despite popular belief.

I won’t be eating anything dairy or “non veg” until my feet touch America soil. Until then I’ll scream for… Puri or garlic naan.

My experience in Hubli thus far has been incredible. Although there was a bit of culture shock in regards to the living and water situations, those worries have become far from my mind. Every day here I have had an incredible new experience including riding on a motorcycle, feeding bread to bulls, getting mehndi (henna), visiting students’ homes, shopping at an Indian market, trying new foods and, of course, a completely new culture of people all together. All of these new experiences, and more, have truly added so much to my life. Better than just a tour of the city, we have been immersed in the local culture, not as tourists, as one of their own. The Indian students are always so excited to show us around their city and talk to us about the different quirks of their culture. These students are more amazing than I could ever have imagined and getting to know them has been my favorite part. They each have their own unique qualities that makes them thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating. I am an introvert (being an only child) and I have to regain my energy by being alone sometimes but it has been so hard on this trip to do that because I don’t want to miss out on any chance to hang out with the students. These students truly care about us and we about them. Not only has my experience been incredible because of the indian students, but it has been equally influenced by the American students. This has been a great group to travel with and getting to know everyone and getting to share these experiences with both the Indian and American students been the most wonderful experience of them all.

Nonspec team at the temple!

This is my tribe, the folks who are working on the prosthetic project in Hubli – Kalyani, Chaitanya, Erin, Jon, Shruti and Brendan.  We’re a combination of a highly bonded core team (Erin, Jon, Brendan) and new additions from UML (me) and BVB (Kalyani, Chaitanya, Shruti).  What has happened is that we’ve quickly coalesced in to an effective team with the goal of having the prosthetic limbs tested on patients.  It’s been a blast watching the BVB students using their technical skills, acquiring tools or supplies to get the prosthetics ready for the patients.  They are also culturally savvy – and can ask the appropriate questions to the patients and professionals involved.  I add the medical/nursing prospective: how does the device affect the patient’s activities of daily living, the stability of the limb and impact on the tissues.  It’s an exciting and nerve wracking time for the core Nonspec team, as this is the big event – with all of the lab testing done, how will the patient with amputation perceive the devices.  These are beautiful, functional, and low cost – a dream product that can impact the lives of thousands of amputees, especially in financially disadvantaged areas of the world.

Tomorrow is our big day – we meet our first patient at 8:30!

Throughout my three month preparation for this trip, no amount of research could have prepared me for the cultural differences I would experience and the effect they would have on me.  One thing I never imagined myself becoming comfortable with is the act of taking one’s shoes off when entering someone’s home, a temple, or even some local shops.  Only just yesterday when my group and I visited a local retail shop in Hubli to do some market research for our project and I noticed that all of the employees had their shoes off did it dawn on me how simply being barefoot can truly change your mentality.  It forces you to let your guard down and you quickly become more comfortable with your surroundings and those who you are now suddenly more connected to.  In that instance, we are all on the same level; we are all of the same caste.

My sunny walk to class every day.

Since I have been in India I have eaten at restaurants and in a cafeteria but tonight I got to experience a true homemade meal. My friend Sid generously invited a group of students to his house for a meal cooked by his mother. I had by far the best meal since being in India. We started out with a tasty snack while the main meal was being cooked. It was sweet and very delicious. When we got the main course we were thrilled and we were not prepared for what happened next. We were all in the living room talking, eating and watching TV while Sid was sprinting throughout the house delivering the food. The food did not end and Sid would not allow any plate to be empty. The food was so amazing and the hospitality made us feel like we were part of their family. There came a point when we could not eat anymore food because we were so full. This was the time when they brought out ice cream for us. Though we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, there is always room for ice cream. After dessert Sid’s mother taught us how to make Chai (Indian Tea). Chai has definetly become one of my favorite drinks since being in India. I felt very honored to meet Sids family, they were all very sweet and welcoming. It has been a long time since I have eaten until I cannot eat anymore. It is a great feeling to be full and I am so glad I got to experience a homemade Indian meal with some of my close new friends.

I’m a people person; I enjoy sitting down and getting to know everyone and learning their stories. Last night I had a really good time with two of the Indian student Siddarth and Nilay. I didn’t hang out with them both at once but I had a “moment” with both of them.

Nilay is in my group and I spend time with him every day, but last night it was great to hang out with him and the others without having to talk about Campus Cloud. First we went to the mall and walked around looking for bracelets then we went to dinner. Nothing ground breaking happened but I really just enjoyed spending time with everyone. Every day is better than the last and I’m seriously dreading the day we have to leave India.

In the night Sid and I talked about the thing we love the most, Reading. My love for reading began when I was twelve, after my school took me to get my first library card. Talking with another reader is great but connecting with another reader that actually reads what you like to read, is even better. The amount of pleasure that I was oozing last night was ridiculous, but talking to someone about getting lost in a book and them finishing your sentence never happens.

Overall, I’m glad I came to India.

The last few days have been a blur on a huge level. On Sunday we took a flight to Goa early in the morning and I had the chance to use the flight delay to catch up on my game. After that the students ended up taking four minivans across the hilly area to Hubli. The ride was an interesting combination of terrifying driving, beautiful vistas, and dense forest. The jungle area housing was incredibly colorful, and the places we got to see on the way looked amazing! The students met us that night, and I quite literally tumbled out of the car and into bed. There was some delicious meal that I effectively was in a daze through. It seems to be a common theme for me for this trip that I am slightly out of it after 7PM. The next day we were given a tour of the campus and I had the opportunity to meet the Indian students on my team! I was happy to find that they were as excited to work with us a we were with them. After the tour we were dropped off at the clinic where we would have the opportunity to hopefully test our design. After a quick explanation to the doctor we had the opportunity to watch the workflow of the clinic. As in the US the clinic is run by the clinician, but the actual work is done by the technicians (and they are very skilled at what they do) the clinician uses a thermoformed socket alongside basic components to make devices for the local amputees. For patients who have more income the new and higher tech limbs are available. During our visit I did a quick material and parts inventory of what the patients were using. One of the interesting things is that the high tech limbs were actually aftermarket devices. In the states, we had heard of the practice of reselling lightly used diabetic patients limbs for patients without the means for purchase in other countries, but this was the first time we had found it outright. The designs themselves were standard and the patients seemed happy with the devices. While there it was established that the clinician did not in fact speak the local language (Kannada) and the patient did not speak any Hindi. In that case it seemed that the Techs had to do a lot of bridging of speech from the patient to the doctor (and at first left us assuming the doctor was just very brusque) The practices in the clinic are excellent for the region but about 10 years delayed from current US standard of care. This is excellent for Nonspec as it means our approach (designed to emulate the US device approach) will be a welcome change for the patients who are currently not experiencing any osseofixation or designs to assist with hydrostatic suspension in the limb. The components in the clinic are on par with what we expected to find, and all in all it appears they are an excellent group to begin testing our technology with. The second day we met the principal of the college, and he seemed to very much like our idea and he felt that our work was something that could have a great use in India, even without the mass production price point. We interviewed with patients today, and it was heartening to hear that our device seemed to be something that was of high quality and good make. (I look forward to when the patient has the opportunity to handle our final run devices) The students form India are integral to our research, and have provided us with so much information about the region as well as interacting with patients for us. I don’t think we could have done any of this without their support and I look forward to continuing to work with them!