Jetting off

I've got mixed emotions right now as I head off on a 2 month trip to India. The first month I will be working at St John's Medical College in Bangalore doing an elective in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The next month I will be backpacking from the south of India up to Delhi. I'm going with a friend from med school, Ale, so I won't be doing this on my own. We aren't taking the same flight out there because she will be stopping in Madrid on the way back - which makes the next 24 hours a little less fun. But with a kindle, a lonely planet, tv, and my incredible talent to sleep anywhere anytime, I'm looking forward to relaxing (since I've really been lacking that in my fourth year of med school.) Ill be taking two 10 hour flights with a layover in Paris, and then I'll be waiting in the Bangalore airport for 5 hours until she arrives. Sounds crazy, but unfortunately I've had much worse (re: Australia to Malaysia to Korea to NYC to Miami)

We have both had our fair share of backpacking before, but this just feels different. I'm not going to Europe, or on a medical outreach trip with 30 people to Ecuador. I'm not diving the Great Barrier Reef or trekking to Machu Picchu. I'm going to India to experience another medical system in a third world country with so much poverty. And then yes I'll be visiting the Taj Mahal and being a tourist.

When I get back I'll be finding out where I will be going for residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology for the next 4 years. I guess this is where the transition from medical student to doctor begins.

See you on the other side!