remember that book, "curious george goes to the hospital"?

i love that book, especially the picture of the puzzle piece inside of george's stomach after he eats it. i empathize with consuming the puzzle piece, it looks surprisingly tantalizing; however, my hospital trip does not revolve around eating cardboard. in an attempt to become immune to bacterial infection, i decided to take matters into my own hands. well, that would be one paradigm… the other is that i’ve been sick for a month and my doctor said i should be admitted to landour community hospital for the weekend for iv antibiotics. in the process i have discovered the only hospital i have ever visited where using purell is advisable (according to a woodstock nurse), construction crews work through the night (fostering a wonderfully restful environment—heavy on the sarcasm here), nurses wear little, flying nunnish hats and the men who take my blood pressure/ temperature teach me phrases in hindi while they take my readings.

all in all it’s been a contradictory experience between the intense reality that i am in india and the even more overwhelming truth that i am an american. i held off as long as possible, but yesterday following a day of hammers pounding and furniture shifting overhead, feeling disgusting in a cold room and listening to ringing bells, yelling nurses and observing the overwhelming emotions of any hospital, i turned to watching movies on my powerbook. prior to movietime i watched a family in the ambulance bay… a woman in a striking pink sari had the most anguish on her face of any person i have ever seen. this morning i watched a brand new, tiny baby go home with her parents… that’s the thing about hospitals, i think they can be the homes of the most naked emotions possible. well, here and the arrivals gate at heathrow airport.

these are the photo reel highlights of the weekend, including the amazing art collection of landour community hospital, my bed (nice view, eh?) and a nurse at the nurses' station, sporting their rockin’ hats. all in all, it hasn’t been a bad weekend. i’ve studied up on some educational philosophy, comparative politics and u.s. history, exercised my brain with sudokus and crosswords and reviewed the finer aspects of cinema, including 2 seasons of sex and the city.


i’d like to give a special shout out to my incredible friends who hung out with me in room 17 over the past three days. really, there are no words for my appreciation. not only were you diversions from boredom, but you relieved me from having to eat maggi noodles (ramen, only not as good) all weekend. this last photo is of jamie, ethan, brian and joanna “breaking me out” of the hospital for a taste of fresh air sunday evening. though a surprisingly semi-enjoyable weekend, i hope this is both my first and last hospital stay in india.