Cold Toes

I never would have thought that I would have to say this here but I am FREEZING. It might be ok outside in the sun but in here it is COLD...I guess I could see it as a good thing because I have no malaria pills (the travel man in TO said I wouldn't need any but I think he lied.)
I have been remiss in my postings, I realize, but I dont have much time now so I must condense. Firstly I do not have time because I have been told that I must write one page that describes "my expectations in coming to India, reasons for coming to India, things I have done while in India, my thoughts on these experiences, my reasons for pursuing medecine my ultimate goal in life". One page. Also I had already typed up a post and then it got deleted, so this is a rewrite....
I think I can sum up my feelings of the past few days by saying that, having spent my university years trying to make sense of problems in which the answer really is that there is no answer, I am completely fascinated by the concept of physical problems to which there are answers: this person cannot see, it is because of a cataract, I will now do surgery to remove the cataract, the person can now see. It's lovely. Gaurabhai was again amazing, letting me sit beside him at another eye camp on Saturday (back in the village), explaining what to look for, and letting me peer into the patients' eyes and give my own 'diagnoses'. About halfway through this process my polite Canadian self was feeling overwhelmed by the chaotic crowding, so I took it upon myself to...form a queue. This effort was received by everyone involved with much hilarity. Due to my pathetic Hindi, I had to demonstrate the line with sweeping gestures and by calling people "amma", tugging thier arms and pointing where to stand. I was actually doing pretty well until the end when my compatriot regulating the door let in a huge swarm of people. When I had managed to get them into a semi-line I was called to examine a patient and when I turned around they were all in a circle crowd again. Given their reaction to my reaction, I think some facial expressions transcend cultural differences..... I had to content myself with making sure the people who DID form a line got seen first, which I did with great tenacity. mostly. But again I loved interacting with the patients and 'diagnosing'. Apparantly some people outside were talking about the "Lady Doctor", hehe.
On Friday Gaurav let me sit in on his surgeries which was an amazing experience. It was like watching painting /art; using really tiny instruments to tunnel into the cornea, remove the old lens and put in a new one. They dont even have to use stiches any more because if you inject saline, the cornea self seals. I haven't described it well but if I try further it will get unbearable flowery, so suffice it to saw that it was great. But enough for now--my fingers are cold too.