Today we visitted an industrial zone and screened all the workers who sew the jeans and shirts we wear for eye problems. Alright, maybe not ALL the workers in the world who sew our clothes, but it felt like at least half of them. I think we got thru 600 patients. It was cool to see them at work and appreciate what they do. They are very very talented young seamstresses. Our job today was to check them for colorblindness. If they couldn't distinguish well, they would get a different assignment in the factory.
Amit, my dear new friend from Georgia, went home, and a girl named Alomi from New Jersey and a medical student from California named Khoi arrived. We are becoming fast friends already, even though I leave tomorrow night.
Today as we ate our delicious indian food under a ceiling fan that didn't cool very well and a flourescent light that went out when the power surged every hour or so, we took some fun last pictures together. My optometrist friend and mentor, Dr. Sivakumar, who has taught me so much and who has worked tirelessly to serve us and others, turned to me and said, "Don't forget me, Sir Piter!" I don't know how I could. These people have been so good to me, and have captured a piece of my heart I didn't know existed. I thought there was only room for Italy and America in there. There is now a newly discovered country in the world of my heart.
Alomi is from Northern India by parentage, but she was born in the US. She was ordering dinner for us tonight and both she and the indian man on the phone were having a hard time understanding one another. There was a lot of "Hello? Yes, 23B. No, B as in Boy. 23b, 2-3-B. No I said twenty, Hello? Hello. Yes, the address? 23 B." Finally she handed me the phone in frustration. In my best Indian/Italian accent, I gave him the info. It worked! We magically understood each other! We all couldn't help but laugh. I geuss the America accent is just hard for them to understand.
I'll try and post some more pictures asap. My time is short, but I am excited to see you all soon and I am grateful to you for sharing this journey with me by following my posts from time to time. I found out that the inspirational graffiti I saw was just on the walls of a large Jesuit school in town, not a common Indian thing. But I will finish with two thoughts I read today on posters here, and they exemplify things I learned in India:
1. "Stay positive. Work hard to get the things you like, or you'll be forced to like the things you get."
2. "All power is in you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in this."
Amit, my dear new friend from Georgia, went home, and a girl named Alomi from New Jersey and a medical student from California named Khoi arrived. We are becoming fast friends already, even though I leave tomorrow night.
Today as we ate our delicious indian food under a ceiling fan that didn't cool very well and a flourescent light that went out when the power surged every hour or so, we took some fun last pictures together. My optometrist friend and mentor, Dr. Sivakumar, who has taught me so much and who has worked tirelessly to serve us and others, turned to me and said, "Don't forget me, Sir Piter!" I don't know how I could. These people have been so good to me, and have captured a piece of my heart I didn't know existed. I thought there was only room for Italy and America in there. There is now a newly discovered country in the world of my heart.
Alomi is from Northern India by parentage, but she was born in the US. She was ordering dinner for us tonight and both she and the indian man on the phone were having a hard time understanding one another. There was a lot of "Hello? Yes, 23B. No, B as in Boy. 23b, 2-3-B. No I said twenty, Hello? Hello. Yes, the address? 23 B." Finally she handed me the phone in frustration. In my best Indian/Italian accent, I gave him the info. It worked! We magically understood each other! We all couldn't help but laugh. I geuss the America accent is just hard for them to understand.
I'll try and post some more pictures asap. My time is short, but I am excited to see you all soon and I am grateful to you for sharing this journey with me by following my posts from time to time. I found out that the inspirational graffiti I saw was just on the walls of a large Jesuit school in town, not a common Indian thing. But I will finish with two thoughts I read today on posters here, and they exemplify things I learned in India:
1. "Stay positive. Work hard to get the things you like, or you'll be forced to like the things you get."
2. "All power is in you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in this."
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