The photos posted here: The castle where we are staying; a pediatrician at the government hospital: my room in the castle with Sara; some of the India staff at the castle.

I'm in Dhrangahra, India. A town in the desert about 3 hours from Ahmedabad. It's probably over 100 F outside but it's dry heat and not so bad because there's always a wind. But drinking lots of water is key.
Yesterday before arriving here we had a meeting in Ahmedabad with the Public Health Foundation of India. It was very interesting and I think there are good public health opportunities here for students and faculty to do research and program development. We met for about two hours and Bapa also attended and has invited the public health professionals to come to Dhrangahra for a site visit.

Today with Levani, one of our graduates students in public health, I went to a local government hospital in town. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. There might also be opportunities for medical students, and dental students and nursing students and social workers to come here as well. I have to go to one of the temples soon. I will try to write more later and add some photos, but the internet comes and goes.

We arrived after 30 hours. Nothing went as planned, but it all eventually went. Got in two hours later than expected at Ahmedabad and the hotel transport had left. We got an "exciting" but luckily uneventful taxi ride to the hotel in which for most of it we weren't sure if we were being taken to the hotel.  But it all worked!
EXHAUSTED!
Met many very friendly, helpful Indians on the flight.
All's well that ends well.
Have to go to sleep!
Love to all.

So, Sara and I just found out that our flight with Air India tomorrow at 4:25 pm has either been cancelled or is being rerouted to fly out of JFK instead of Newark. Even the travel agent can't get a straight answer from Air India. And now they're not answering the phone.

We've been instructed to be at JFK by noon tomorrow. I guess Air India is famous for this kind of thing. We'll get to India eventually, the question is whether it will be in time to meet with people on Monday that we have planned or not, and how long we will spend in JFK.
The adventure begins -- but slowly.
Clara

HI ALL! 

MY FIRST BLOG!

I've decided to try this because I'm off to a new place in the world and want to share it with family, friends, and global health colleagues and students.

Traveling keeps me young or at least younger; it keeps me alive, not just literally, but figurative. My most recent travels have taken me to Latin America -- Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, and Argentina. I love speaking Spanish and being engulfed in the warmth of Latin culture, music, dance, food, family-oriented society, etc. 

I have also traveled and lived in different parts of Europe -- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. My German is rusty but . . . it's still there, even if my vocabulary "gibs nichts mehr". 

But this Saturday, May 26th, 2012, I'm off to India for the first time! I'm going to see and experience only a small part of this enormous subcontinent (as they call it). Mostly I'll be in the provinces of Gujarat and Maharashtra in western India and then to Delhi. 

My colleague, Sara Sequin, and I will travel first to Ahmedabad, where we will visit a Public Health Foundation of India's http://phfi.org/about-us public health smoking cessation program. 

Then we will spend the next five days in Dhrangadhra. This is the location of Temple University's Study Abroad India program, directed by Dr. Jayasinhji Jhala (otherwise known as Bapa). He is a professor of Anthropology but in Dhrangadhra he is royalty. (More about that later.) He is a visual communication anthropologist who produces, directs, films, and edits ethnographic films. And for part of the next two weeks, he is going to be my teacher of everything India.  I understand from Dr. Jhala that the community is working to develop a community center for a women’s caste organization as well as a water pipeline for the community.  I’d like to explore how Temple’s faculty and students might be able to work on these kinds of public health projects. 

Dr. Jayasinhji (Bapa) Jhala

Then Sara and I will be traveling to Pune, just southeast of Mumbai, where Sara and I will live for two days with a host family, curtsy of the Alliance for Global Education http://www.allianceglobaled.org/india/pune/contemporary-india. They have a program in Development, Environment, and Public Health and examine the most pressing public health issues facing India today.  

 Then we will be off to Delhi, where we will meet and stay at the visitor center of SIT Study Abroad Program http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/ssa_inh.cfm.

that focuses on traditional medicine, and health and human rights issues. Then we will travel to Agra, to visit the Taj Mahal on our last day in India. 

So, stay tuned for more about these places and event.