Baisaakhiyaan* in Varanasi (posted by Amber and Devin)
Happily, A and D were reunited in a cold train station in the middle of the night a few days ago. D arrived with a black and blue foot and a limp. We feared that the ankle might be broken and gathered recommendations on local doctors who could take a look at it. Two people told us, with a tone of scorn, that foreigners tend to go to Heritage Hospital, where they (or their insurance companies) are royally ripped off. So we asked for other suggestions and arrived at the door of a local doctor yesterday, with no advance appointment needed. After a short wait, the doctor looked at D's ankle and sent him off for xrays. We were both a little worried about the bill because although we thought our insurance would cover it, we would have to pay up front and seek reimbursement.
The medical expenses consisted of:
One pair crutches250 rupees
Doctor's fee100 rupees
Xray fee130 rupees
Total480 rupees
For those of you who don't know the exchange rate, you may not be sure if we got ripped off or got some serious bargain-basement healthcare. The exchange rate is about 44 rupees to the U.S. dollar right now, so that brings our total cost to $11 USD. Insane in comparison to what we would have been charged in the US, which likely would have been at least 50 times as much. The doctor we got was recommended by middle class Indians, so assumedly he was a good doctor. Of course, for the massive number of Indians who live in abject poverty, making less than $2 a day, this might still be inaccessible.
So anyway, the diagnoses was a soft tissue injury (sprain), and the rx is 3 weeks of rest! Crutches are Devin's new best friend. He has been happily hopping around on crutches, although acquiring all sorts of other aches and pains using muscles in new ways. Navigating Varanasi on crutches is a bit of a challenge, but in general people seem to be considerate and yield to an injured person, more so than in the U.S.
Other than that, we've both been slurping down numerous cups of chai from street stands every day (it's boiled! no worries of food poisoning). On the learning front, Devin is excited to have his first Hindi class today. Amber is having a panic attack about the massive amount of Hindi homework she has after only one week of lessons (translating a whole paragraph in Hindi and learning several new verb constructions and dozens of nouns and adjectives... oh my!). We also successfully procured a cell phone, so if you are interested in calling us (we'd love to hear from you!) please send us an email and we'll give you the number. You can get calling cards for about $.08 per minute to India via the internet.
Also, we will be moving to live with our Hindi teacher tomorrow, leaving a very kind family that has gone out of their way to help us (going with Amber and 3:30am to pick Devin up at the train station - 'tho Amber didn't have much of a say in that matter: "I will NOT allow you to go alone!!!"). But our accommodation with our Hindi teacher will be more convenient for Devin (ground floor instead of 3rd floor), more relaxed, and a little cheaper.
*Vaishakhi Baisaakhiyii is "crutch" in Hindi. For those of you who speak Hindi, is Vaishakhi plural or does it need to be pluralized to refer to a pair of crutches? A shout out to Kate for letting us know that the plural form of crutch is Baisaakhiyaan.
The medical expenses consisted of:
- One pair crutches
- Doctor's fee
- Xray fee
One pair crutches250 rupees
Doctor's fee100 rupees
Xray fee130 rupees
Total480 rupees
For those of you who don't know the exchange rate, you may not be sure if we got ripped off or got some serious bargain-basement healthcare. The exchange rate is about 44 rupees to the U.S. dollar right now, so that brings our total cost to $11 USD. Insane in comparison to what we would have been charged in the US, which likely would have been at least 50 times as much. The doctor we got was recommended by middle class Indians, so assumedly he was a good doctor. Of course, for the massive number of Indians who live in abject poverty, making less than $2 a day, this might still be inaccessible.
So anyway, the diagnoses was a soft tissue injury (sprain), and the rx is 3 weeks of rest! Crutches are Devin's new best friend. He has been happily hopping around on crutches, although acquiring all sorts of other aches and pains using muscles in new ways. Navigating Varanasi on crutches is a bit of a challenge, but in general people seem to be considerate and yield to an injured person, more so than in the U.S.
Other than that, we've both been slurping down numerous cups of chai from street stands every day (it's boiled! no worries of food poisoning). On the learning front, Devin is excited to have his first Hindi class today. Amber is having a panic attack about the massive amount of Hindi homework she has after only one week of lessons (translating a whole paragraph in Hindi and learning several new verb constructions and dozens of nouns and adjectives... oh my!). We also successfully procured a cell phone, so if you are interested in calling us (we'd love to hear from you!) please send us an email and we'll give you the number. You can get calling cards for about $.08 per minute to India via the internet.
Also, we will be moving to live with our Hindi teacher tomorrow, leaving a very kind family that has gone out of their way to help us (going with Amber and 3:30am to pick Devin up at the train station - 'tho Amber didn't have much of a say in that matter: "I will NOT allow you to go alone!!!"). But our accommodation with our Hindi teacher will be more convenient for Devin (ground floor instead of 3rd floor), more relaxed, and a little cheaper.
*Vaishakhi Baisaakhiyii is "crutch" in Hindi. For those of you who speak Hindi, is Vaishakhi plural or does it need to be pluralized to refer to a pair of crutches? A shout out to Kate for letting us know that the plural form of crutch is Baisaakhiyaan.