Already in love with Palampur, India

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Community Health Work
WRITTEN BY: Jemma Ireland

Week two in Palampur and what a week it’s been! Unfortunately most of us became victims of a very nasty tummy bug. For some of us, this meant spending a sorrowful amount of time on the bathroom floor, rather than at our placements. I am happy to report though that at the end of the week, after many uncomfortable incidents and one hospitalisation, we are finally all feeling pretty good!

Despite all of the bad germs the group managed to get away for our first weekend. We trekked up to the Himalayas where our in-country partners Bobby and Amit met us. That night we pitched our tents, lit a campfire, ate some amazing food and played some incredibly cheesy (but amazing) 90’s music, along with some Bollywood style music – just for good measure.

Emma and I shared a tent that was set up very close to the edge of the cliff (a dangerous hazard when you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!). Safety however, doesn’t seem to be high on India’s priority list at the best of times. But it meant that we awoke to the most breathtaking view – the soft morning light ricocheting off the rugged mountains below was simply magical. Could we fall any more in love with this beautiful country?

We then experienced the thrill of paragliding over the Himalayas – yes, this is exactly as exhilarating as it sounds. I’m not really sure what else to say on that. I just know that one minute we were standing on a mountain and the next we were jumping off a cliff with a small Indian man and a parachute strapped to our backs.

Our placements are going well so far with one of the nursing students getting some hands on experience taking vital signs and giving injections at the hospital. We continue to be thankful to all the staff at our various placements who have made us all feel very welcome and are keen to get us involved.

We have learnt some important lessons this week:

Lesson 1: When hanging out washing on the balcony clothesline, always use pegs – Brian learnt this the hard way when his underwear ended up on the neighbours roof after an unexpected windy day. A hilarious moment for us – a very embarrassing moment for Brian!

Lesson 2: The yoga instructor may seem innocent and kind. But he is subtly cruel and punishing –literally stretching us to our limits. Ouch.

Lesson 3: If something doesn’t seem right about it... Just don’t eat it. Please.

Namaste, mates!