Final Post from Laura Spece

Hello!

I returned safely back to the States on July 29th after 20+ hours of
travel. It's really good to be home, though I'm having quite the
adjustment period. My tummy isn't too fond of American food quite
yet, but thankfully jet lag has been much better than on my arrival
trip to India. Though I do currently wake up at 5 am for no reason
whatsoever. Relative to India, everything is really quiet here, there
isn't any honking, squawking crows, or cows in the streets to make all
of that noise. Everything is also really clean and really sprawled
out. I miss India greatly, though I am glad to be home and with my
family. I'm currently feeling a little out of place, like I have one
foot here and one foot there. I'm also not used to having this much
access to people: via internet, mobile phones, etc. It can be a
little overwhelming and is making me a bit socially awkward. Though
it has been nice to catch up with the people I have seen! Not to
worry, if I haven't contacted you yet, I will. I'm still trying to
clean all of the belongings I took with me (it's all covered in dust
or mud).

I had a wonderful time traveling after my experience at CRHP in the
villages of India. I spent a day in Mumbai, which I loved (Del, you
must visit Bob and Aditi). Though the humidity was unbelievable!
Kerala was beautiful. I flew into Kochi, spent a night on the
backwaters near Alleppey, took an 8 hour bus ride to Kumily in order
to visit Periyar National Park. We hiked a small mountain of the
Western Ghats, saw 2 herds of wild elephants, plenty of scat from
various Indian animals and got attacked by a million little leeches!!
Never fear, to combat the leeches, the guide gave us these hilarious
army green socks that go up to your knees and then doused your
feet/lower legs in a tobacco powder/salt mixture. It actually worked,
the little buggers just curled up and didn't bite my feet. After all
of that adventuring, I relaxed back in Kochi for a day before heading
to Delhi. In Delhi, Rohit (a public health professor at UNC) hooked
me up with a wonderful family who helped to show me around. I took a
bus ride to the Taj Mahal/Agra Fort. The temp was around 100 degrees,
so not only was I way too melted to get a good photo (a la Princess
Diana... the original goal) but I also burnt the bottoms of my feet on
the tiles. :) Totally worth it though. The Taj was spectacular. I
also went around to see the India gate, the parliament area, the Raj
Ghat where Gandhi's ashes are interned and the Lotus Temple. I loved
it all, my only regret is not knowing much Hindi. Like I've said
before, for my return to India, I will make a more concerted effort to
learn the language. Some of the best parts of my travel was being
able to chat with Rohit and his friends' family, Aditi and Bob about
my experiences in the villages of India. It was good to decompress
and hear the opinions of people who have lived in/born in India.

School starts again on August 10th. I'm excited, but I'm having a
wonderful time relaxing at home in Lancaster with the fam. :) I have
plenty to do before school starts, there are still many photos I
haven't processed yet from my trip, plenty of life things I need to
catch up on and LionCare (the student-run free clinic in Harrisburg
that I chair) is beckoning me with responsibility. I am also trying
to pull together a presentation of sorts, not only as a requirement to
the scholarships that enabled me to make this journey, but also to
help the CRHP get some moolah. It's tough. I feel all of this
momentum to get out there and "save the kids" but my mind is sort of
mushy. :)

So this will be the final edition of "Slumdog Healthcare" (for now...
next trip won't be for awhile due to school). The next edition will
probably require a new title, since I'm thinking either Nepal or
Africa. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these stories and that they
were not too dense. If you want to hear more, or see all of my
pictures, please let me know! Feel free to give me a holler be it via
phone or e-mail, I'm back on the grid. :) Can't wait to see all of
you and hear how your summers went. I hope all is well!

All my best,

Laura