Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday, June 8, 2009--Day 26

Still no chocolate. Still no diet coke. But, alas, I did break down and turn on the TV to see if I could find Roger Federer and the French Open. I didn't, but the paper this morning said he had won--and in only 3 sets!

Are you aware that the US Embassy has a travel advisory for India due to possible terrorism???
Wonderful. And Colonel Babu called a woman this morning asking her to come tomorrow instead of today because some bigwhig in the Kerala government was arrested for murder Saturday night, and there could be problems on the road from Cochin. About the advisory he said we were safe here in Kerala. Hope they get the rest of it cleaned up by 6AM on Thursday. Hate to have to walk 60 Kilometers to the airport.

There is a photo album that Colonel Babu brought showing their opening of Zamorin's Health Retreat. They had an elephant at this shindig. Dr. Baji said he would talk to the Colonel about bringing an elephant over. In the past elephants were walked to wherever they were supposed to be, but now there is a law saying that they have to be transported--they can no longer walk long distances on the roads. If it's hot, it will burn their feet. So now where do you find a truck big enough to transport an elephant? There aren't any. They tried a lorry, which is a three wheeled vehicle--very flimsy--and it turned over when the lorry stopped and the elephant didn't. They also managed to electrocute an elephant because all the electrical wires hang down low. They seem to have a lot of laws here that no one abides by. Bpth the giving of a dowry and the taking of a dowry are punishable, but it still goes on.

Francis-the manager- told us he didn't speak English until he took this job eight months ago. He is doing very well!

The beach where we were is on the Arabian Sea.

I had to come to India to get stung by a wasp. Kathy, one of the technicians, gave me a sari and dressed me up in it. Colonel Babu thought it was great. So I wanted a picture and walked out in the drive. It's not the custom to wear Ryka shoes with a sari so I was taking my shoes off and stepped on a wasp which had been booted off the little porch dying of bug spray. Guess he got the last laugh. Colonel Babu acted as surgeon and got the stinger out. Then the ladies crushed some kind of a leaf and put the results on my toe. It didn't swell and it wasn't painful. I asked for baking soda, but their method worked better.

Someone has asked for my thoughts on Ayurveda. In a way I can equate Ayurveda with psychotherapy. If something didn't work, I tried something else. As far as I'm concerned Eastern medicine, of which Ayurveda is a part, shouldn't just be for Easterners. For my sciatica I tried physical therapy and I tried being nice to the sciatica nerve and I tried subluxation, which is a chiropractic method. They didn't work to my satisfaction. My satisfaction being no pain ever again. I probably won't know for at least six months if this particular treatment is going to work long term so I guess I will be adding to the blog monthly after I leave here just to let you know. With regard to the other issue I am working on, I can tell you it's working. Again, the treatment here is just the beginning. If I follow instructions for six months, I should see much greater progress.
The way they are feeding us is a great way to do what the Surgeon General wants us to do--eat more fruits and vegetables. Nothing wrong with that!
Ayurveda makes sense. I'm not talking necessarily about the ins and outs that you may be reading in a book in the US. Dr. Baji has great concerns about the book I have and others written in a language other than Sanskrit. (sp?) There is no straight translation from Sanscrit (sp--that one doesn't look any better) to English so as good a book as you might think it is, it isn't 100% accurate. NO ONE can diagnose another person in Ayurveda other than an ayurvedically-trained doctor. And no one should be treating someone with Ayurveda who is not an ayurvedically-trained doctor.
Also, yoga is included in the wholistic-method used here. I don't know if that is normally part of Ayurveda or not, but my guess is that they go hand-in-hand. Ayurveda is over 5000 years old and is volume after volume of material. There are 7 vedas. No 1/2 inch book in English is going to fill the bill. It may lay the foundation for you, but nothing else.
I have not seen, heard, or done anything that does not make sense while I have been here. Admittedly, eastern medicine is totally different from Western medicine so it takes some getting used to. But if it works, why not. BTW: Dr. Baji would much prefer getting people in the EARLY stages of their serious illnesses rather than after all modern medicine avenues have been tried to no avail.
I don't know if this answers the 'thoughts on Ayurveda' question. If it doesn't, email me or leave a coment on the blog.

Just about time for treatment.

Love,
Mom/Peggy/Granny/et al
I swear I can smell a hamburger cooking somewhere.