January 13th was not only my cousin in the U.S.'s birthday, it was also the birthday of my cousin, Jahanvi, here. On top of that, is was also the Hindu holiday Lohri which is like a spiritual New Year. We had another bonfire in the street and most of the neighborhood was there. Everyone took handfuls of special snacks and walked around the bonfire, throwing the food in. This represents burning all sins, mistakes, and ill feelings from the previous year and restarting. The snacks were popcorn, sesame based snacks, and little sweets. People also ate handfuls of them. Around 11, we finally went up for dinner at my aunt and uncle's where we had a birthday dinner fir Jahanvi. After the cake was cut, as tradition, the birthday girls was fed by each person and they were fed in return. When my sister, Ipshita, went to give Jahanvi her cake she smeared it all over her face starting a cake fight. By the end of it, we had cake in our hair, all over our faces, stuck to our socks from the floor, and on our clothes. It was a very fun and crazy night.
The next morning I left to go to the wedding and the hotel where we were staying the next four days.
Today, the 23rd, the exchange students joined one of the Rotary clubs and many people all over the city at one of many stations set up to give polio vaccinations to the slum children. We set up in a small, lower class school in a much poorer part of town. Announcements were made with a blow horn from an auto rickshaw that drove through the streets. We each helped out a different Rotarian. I worked with a woman doctor who alternated between giving pregnant women brief check-ups and prescribing minor medicines to mothers and children for aches, pains, coughs, and things. There was one young women who was pregnant with her fifth child and the doctor told her that she needed to stop having kids. I got to hear the heartbeat of one of the babies too! The room where she did the check ups was a small, empty, concrete class room with no glass on the windows and the women lay on a metal bench.
Hannah helped give out prizes and toys to the children who had gotten the drops. Nikolas and Jordan helped to give the drops to the children. They only had to have any child under 5 swallow a few drops. Jordan also spent some time helping a male doctor who was also there. It was really fun and really cool. This kind of thing was something that I've wanted to do since coming to India.
The next morning I left to go to the wedding and the hotel where we were staying the next four days.
Today, the 23rd, the exchange students joined one of the Rotary clubs and many people all over the city at one of many stations set up to give polio vaccinations to the slum children. We set up in a small, lower class school in a much poorer part of town. Announcements were made with a blow horn from an auto rickshaw that drove through the streets. We each helped out a different Rotarian. I worked with a woman doctor who alternated between giving pregnant women brief check-ups and prescribing minor medicines to mothers and children for aches, pains, coughs, and things. There was one young women who was pregnant with her fifth child and the doctor told her that she needed to stop having kids. I got to hear the heartbeat of one of the babies too! The room where she did the check ups was a small, empty, concrete class room with no glass on the windows and the women lay on a metal bench.
Hannah helped give out prizes and toys to the children who had gotten the drops. Nikolas and Jordan helped to give the drops to the children. They only had to have any child under 5 swallow a few drops. Jordan also spent some time helping a male doctor who was also there. It was really fun and really cool. This kind of thing was something that I've wanted to do since coming to India.
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