Being a vet in Gangtok; Week One

drsarabi — Sat, 8 Mar 2014 19:54:00 GMT

Arrived in Sikkim on Saturday night after a full day's travel from Mumbai, to Delhi, to Bagdogra, to Gangtok. Was greeted at the door by two lovely volunteers who made tea and had ordered Veg pizza from Dominos! Quickly settled into the flat, and had a day to relax and explore before starting work the next day. Was initially impressed by the cleanliness of the town, and the lack of slums. All the houses were heaped on top of eachother on the side of a mountain, but the view was of high, forested mountains, one with a slight snow cover in the distance. Walked up to the main part of town and back a number of times (after forgetting some important documents to get a sim card the first time), and around the scenic parts of town.

Monday started with spaying and castrating dog after dog. Premeds, anaesthetics and pre-op antibiotics were provided by the knowledgeable paravets, and all the vets really had to do was the surgery. That day, monday, seems so long ago now. Getting used to a new procedure took its time, and practicing closing the skin with intradermal sutures to prevent the animals chewing their sutures out was fustrating. Once all the animals were done, about 2pm (mostly thanks to one of the volunteers and to the head surgeon), we were provided with a delicious lunch of rice, papadums and potato curry.

Tuesday and Wednesday continued in pretty much the same manner. After work one day we decided to take a walk to the river in the valley between two mountains. Downhill, steeper and steeper. Each bend that we saw the river we thought we were getting closer, so we continued. Finally we made it, before remembering the climb back. What. A. Climb! Especially as being in India had finally affected my stomach and 2/3rds of the way up I started to feel weak. During a break in the walk, we saw some small flickering and moving lights; fireflies!! What a magical insect. I did successfully make it home, thankfully there are little shops everywhere selling sweets, and that gave me the sugar I needed to get to a restaurant. Chicken Korma; how tasty!

The rest of the working week became more exciting. On wedensday afternoon a puppy came in with a severe degloving injury that was granulating but had been bandaged poorly. We cleaned and changed the bandage but by the next day on closer examination decided to amputate the next day. Following the amputation, in the evening, a dog presented with tremoring. She was heavily pregnant and responded to treatment for hypoCa. Just as we were finishing administrating the calcium and had planned to monitor her for an hour, there was a power cut! And it started raining! All part of the job in India though, and we were lucky enough to be given a lift back to the flat when we were finished.

The next day she re-presented and was in labour. Two healthy female puppies were assisted into the world. Reminds me how rewarding the job can be. We also had to pull three leeches out of a few dog's noses! That was so gross, seeing live worm-like creatures slipping in and out of the nostrils.

Then off to the internet cafe to finally write in this journal. An incredibly exciting and rewarding week.

Tel-Aviv hip

drsarabi — Mon, 3 Feb 2014 04:02:00 GMT

This part of the story begins with food and ends with Arak. Fantastic flavoured anseed drink that the wonderful bar attendant mixed with melon liqour to ease my first taste.

But lets start with the food. After meeting my gorgeous mother and sister Dani at the appartment in Tel Aviv we went for a late-ish lunch of falafel; the natural initiation into Israeli food for Andrew. A recommended falafel store that also sold sabich and shakshuka provided a fantastic choice, with seats just outside for us to take our time with the complimentary pickled cabbage, fried eggplant and other salads to attempt to stuff into an already full pita of falafel, spice, chips and of course humous.

What a blend of lifestyle Tel Aviv is! Mix the hip fashion and cafe ambience with accommodation that appears to be falling apart, electric cables taped to the outside of buildings, and dingy side alleys. Not to mention super secular women in knee high boots and short skirts, crossing paths with the ultra orthadox in their penguin suits and hats. Finally, add to that the confusion of languages. Of course, hebrew being the primary language spoken, followed closely by arabic, english, russian... and then any other language you choose! Thankfully one can get by with minimal to no hebrew knowledge, as demonstrated by my incredible fiance who we sent on an errand to get arak as it seemed to be the only beverage to momentarily ease the symptoms of the cold I developped following the 24 hour journey to Tel Aviv, and subsequently gave to Danielle as a thank you present for being such a great tour guide!

Our first day, Yom Shishi (friday), was spent casually exploring the carmel markets (best strawberries), Rothschild boulevard and Rabin square. We were lucky enough to be seated in a park where a group of Capoeira dancers were performing or practicing and playing drums and singing. A little later a fellow was practicing juggling vodka bottles and tall glasses, likely before manning a bar in the evening; he was very talented and definately made me feel like a cocktail! We walked from there to the beach, and saw Jaffa just after the sun set. Thus ended the excitement of our first day, as the hours of walking meant we were practically falling asleep; I can just imagine how that would end up if trying to cross the road over here!

Day two was Yom Shabat. Started with a 'true' but incredibly overpriced and underinspiring Israeli breakfast at a nearby cafe. We spent a leisurely three hours at breakfast, skipped lunch and spent further time exploring. More about the food; dinner was at an incredible out of the way vegan restaurant where they made the best vegan burgers after fergburger (and thats saying a lot!). Also, the best service in Israel so far! The name of the place was Bar Kayma; hippy and gorgeous. From here we went to a little bar that had a live jazz band improvising. What atmosphere; I think nothing says 'cool' more than small bar with a talented band bursting out an improvisational jazz melody. Didn't stay forever there however, the drinks while delicious were rather overpriced; especially once you include the 10% tip; something that is still taking me a bit of time to get used to! I must say though, Tel Aviv is certainly not a town for sleeping. Even on a 'school night' walking the long way home at 12.30 people were walking around, drinking coffee and taking their dogs down to the street for a leg-stretch before bed.

Which brings me to day three in Tel Aviv. New week. Started with sahlab and a free tour around Jaffa; I think the history of the place deserves its own post! I shall have to dedicate this one to the food. Following the tour Andrew and I met up with Dani and Mum and went to "Dr Shakshuka" for lunch. Endless salad bar, bread, amazing humous (so I am told; my semi blocked nose unfortunately took away the majority of my ability to taste!), but the texture was perfect, A lovely shakshuka with chicken, a cous cous dish and a mystery dish that turned up on our table with spinach and some sort of meat log that was delish and devoured rapidly.

And to complete the story with the Arak. Andrew and I were directed by a Jaffa local to a boutique beer store/bar in the Carmel Markets, where only Israeli beer is sold. We heeded her advice and had the pale ale on tap; Fat Cat (sounded like Fat Yak so I thought, hey, why not?). Yum, but whilst drinking and chatting to the bar-man he poured us a glass of Arak, mixed with melon. Well, what can I say; not only yum but suddenly I felt a renewed vigour (some may call it tipsiness but I still believe the Arak momentarily killed some of the bugs in my upper respiratory tract) that lasted until the point where I asked Andrew to go get Dani and I some more.

Thanks for reading, if you do.

Sarani.

Adventures of a Vet-Nomad

Being a vet in Gangtok; Week One

Tel-Aviv hip