Sunday, January 27, 2013

Food and Family in India!


Hello to everyone!

I am enjoying my new life and as always love being in India! The weather is great and the food is better!
Speaking of food, I had an epiphany four days after reaching Mumbai! We left Mumbai and traveled to the city of Pune for my niece's wedding. On my third day in Pune, I woke up extremely early.  I did not sleep well and I couldn’t put my finger on the problem, but I really did not feel well.
We were in our hotel in Pune, celebrating the second day of the wedding. I went down to breakfast, which is included in the room stay. The breakfast was wonderful as always! Upma and Dosa with Sambhar.
For those of you unfamiliar with Indian food, Upma is a wonderful vegetarian dish that I can only describe as the vegetarian breakfast version of Thanksgiving dressing. It is not sweet, but is rather spicy and just plain good! Dosa is a South Indian food. It is basically a paper-thin crispy crepe that is made of either chickpea flour or rice flour depending on who is making it. Dosa is plate sized and has the texture of a very thinly sliced potato chip! Sambhar is a tomato-based soup that is served with the dosa along with coconut chutney! Both dishes are to die for! I was extremely happy to see them because although I love spicy food, my poor stomach has to have a least a one spicy meal break per day! For that reason, I usually skip the Sambhar at breakfast.
I finish breakfast and we are asked to go out for another breakfast with my brother-in-law Pradeep’s family. They may have to roll me off of the airplane and through the airport on the way home :). The ceremony for today does not begin until 6pm.  I am really not feeling well, so I opt out and go back to the room. Then I do the unheard of….. I get back in bed! For those of you who know me, you know that this is something that I NEVER do! I am up at 0500 and go, go, go, until bedtime!
I wake at 3:30pm. I am aching all over as if I have worked out and taken a long distance run the day before. My stomach feels strange and I have terrible heartburn. It hurts to move my fingers. My feet and ankles are so swollen that my toes don’t touch the floor. What is wrong with me? I go to Shank’s sister Sujata’s hotel room and find Shank there, talking to her and Pradeep’s sister Sema. Sema is an Aruyedic physician. She immediately gets up and returns a few minutes later with medicine. My heartburn stops but not the body aches.
We get dressed for the next ceremony. After the ceremony is over, we have a formal sit down dinner. The food is wonderful, however, after dinner, I begin to feel worse! I immediately panic. Do I have an acquired tropical disease? What is wrong with me?  The bridal couple cut the wedding cake and I am offered a piece. I immediately respond” No thanks”, due to my……then it dawns on me! GLUTEN!!!! I have been eating vegetarian all week but I forgot about the hidden wheat that I have been eating. WHEAT!!!!
After recovering from the shock and relief that I am not dying, I have a talk with Shank and decide that instead of announcing the problem, and making everyone uncomfortable, he will check out the menus ahead of time so that I can choose only the gluten free selections.
I am very thankful and relieved to know that I am not dying, however, I am a little disappointed that I have to cut out some of my favorite foods. No more Upma! However, I think that with a little experimentation, I can make it at home with gluten free flour!
I have to admit, I really had no clue that gluten affected me so severely until I began eating it again! I will NEVER knowingly eat it again! For those of you who wonder about body aches and pains of unknown origin, I encourage you to try to cut out wheat and gluten for a week or so and see if you feel better. What I had always assumed was arthritis or old age :), I now realize is inflammation caused by gluten.
I am now learning to eat gluten free in India. I will keep you apprised of my progress!
Check out the photos of the wonderful food that I have been enjoying!






                                              Dosa with Sambhar and Coconut Chutney!

      
                                A typical Thali Vegetarian meal! This is all you can                                                                                            eat! YUM!!!

Until next time!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

People Who Help Others!


Hello Everyone! 

If you are reading this it means that I do not have Wi-Fi in India! So instead, I am going to tell you about my last day at work and the wonderful team that I have been blessed to work with!
I worked at Vanderbilt for 5 years and for the last 3, have been the charge nurse for the Orthopaedic Trauma Team. What an amazing group of people! They spend every workday putting patients with broken bones due to traumatic injury back together again.
It is a very challenging, stressful job that requires much skill and dedication. It is very demanding and sometimes emotionally draining. But it is always rewarding. I will always be thankful that I had the opportunity to manage and work with this group of people and to call them my friends. I am also thankful that there are people in this world who are caring and compassionate enough to come in, day after day, week after week to take care of injured patients like the teams on the Orthopaedic- Elective and Orthopaedic-Trauma teams at Vanderbilt.  I love and admire ya’ll! (That is for you Mike).
I am going to leave you now with pictures that I took of my friends on my last day of work!

Until next time!























Saturday, January 12, 2013

Starting a New Chapter


Well today is the day! I am finishing my packing and getting ready to head to the airport! What an eventful week! Wednesday was my last day at the hospital, an end to a chapter in my life.

I will miss my ortho family!  To all of you Operating Room and Ortho folks who read my blog, I love you and I will miss you. But I have to move on and start living this new chapter in my life.

I wonder what new things I will discover on my upcoming journey to India? If I can find Wi-Fi while I am there, I will send you pictures and updates. If not, please bear with me until I get back. I promise that there will be lots of new insights and changes in my journey towards finding sanity!


Talk to you soon!

Also, if you are interested in my travels, check out my travel blog at

http://caykothare.tumblr.com/ 

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Out with the old and in with the new!!!


Hello!  I hope that your New Year is going just the way you had planned!

Things are going well here. I have been doing a lot of soul searching and this week I made a decision. I am leaving my full time job to begin a new life!  That’s right! I turned in my resignation and Wednesday is my last day! I am excited and nervous all at the same time.

I am planning to start over. What will I do? Well, to start off, I am going to travel. I am going to explore new places and experience new things.  I am going to start this part of my new life next week! We are going to India to see the family. I am very excited! I love India and my family there. I have been brushing up on my Hindi and I am ready to face the unexpected! It is also a special trip. My niece is getting married.  There is nothing more exciting than an Indian wedding! So many beautiful women in sari and jewels, amazing food, beautiful scenery and music, and lots of celebrating!

While I am in India, I plan to look for beautiful things to bring back to sell. There are so many lovely things there that most people never get to see, much less have the opportunity to own and enjoy.  Every time I go, I am amazed at the beautiful craftsmanship and variety of goods in the market place and on the streets.

I also plan to take a ton of photographs. India is a mysterious and fascinating culture. There is beauty everywhere. Even in the ugly and mundane there is something unique and interesting to be found.

            Maybe those of you who know me well are wondering, besides travel what is she going to do to keep from being bored? Well, I am going to make jewelry, do crafts, take care of my house and husband, visit my friends, children and grandchildren, and generally do things that I have never been able to do! I will keep everyone updated on my progress and what I learn, see, and do in this new life!

Until next week!