Sad.

Today I saw a child die. I was walking through the hospital campus on my way to get some lunch, and I noticed a small family group frantically feeling and looking at the little girl in her mother's arms. Suddenly the young mother broke out in the most heart-wrenching screams I have ever heard. Her husband, mother, and several other women quickly joined her, beating their breasts, crying out in horror, and quickly drawing a crowd of onlookers. Only when the grandmother wrestled the child away from her mother, and I saw the vacant eyes and head flopping from side to side, did I realize what had happened. Security guards quickly pushed the group, dead little girl still in her grandmother's shaking arms, into a nearby rickshaw. It sped off, the crowd dispersed, and it went back to being an ordinary hot afternoon. I had cashew chicken, naan, and a coke for lunch.

CouchSurfing!

I finally completed my first official participation in the global hospitality movement known as CouchSurfing! En route to the Faroe Islands, I had a 24 hour layover in Copenhagen. And what a layover it was. Always budget-minded, I originally contemplated staying at the airport, or perhaps finding a cheap hostel to hole up in overnight. Instead, I found myself met at the metro station by my friendly and welcoming host, napping the afternoon away in a cozy apartment at Copenhagen University, and enjoying a traditional Danish Christmas celebration with graduate students from all over Europe. Denmark, Holland, Finland, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, San Marino (did you know it's a country?), Slovenia, Austria, and Germany were all there. I was the only North American/Indian representative, and thus was engaged in many a glögg and snaps-infused conversation about Bush, Iraq, yoga, and Hinduism. Good times were had by all.

I highly encourage all of my family and friends to create profiles and get involved. How else can you stay for free and get a genuine cultural experience almost anywhere in the world? Or provide such an opportunity to a kindred traveler coming through your neck of the woods? All while making friends from around the world and taking small steps in breaking down the barriers that divide us. Check out this recent article from the NY Times. So go on, make a profile, and join the fun!

and the laptop's back!

After a month and a half of separation from the world, I'm finally able to re-join the 21st century! Although the initial problem was mostly my fault, and the delay was mostly India's fault, I still place full blame on the fact that my laptop is a Sony. Needless to say, I'm already excited to return to the world of the Apple next summer.

So where to begin. In mid-October I left noise and crowds of India for a ten day jaunt through Singapore and Malaysia. What a difference. On the elevated commuter train from Changi Airport into downtown Singapore, I would not have been surprised to hear that we had actually landed in suburban Anytown, USA. Wide, clean, empty streets logically connecting office parks and housing developments. Big leafy trees and green grassy lawns everywhere. Not that I necessarily like this landscape better than the real-life craziness of India, but it helped me appreciate the differences in a way I hadn't on my arrival back in August.

Several hours of ohhhing and ahhhing at the skyscrapers and ultra-modernity of Singapore later, my friends Rhett and Aaron and I caught a bus that took us over rainforested hills to another surprise of a southeast Asian city. Singapore I had heard about, and was prepared for what I saw. Kuala Lumpur, however, was a different story. What comes to mind when you think of Malaysia? Jungle and orangutans? Natives and palm huts? Those things still exist, for sure, but Malaysia is actually much more than that. An officially Muslim state, only fifty years post-independence, that has somehow grabbed economic development by the horns and held on for the surprisingly uneventful ride to its current position at country number 61 on the UN's Human Development Index. This is compared to India at number 126. Two former British colonies, independent for a similar amount of time. Why, and how?

Now for some photos. There are always too many, but I promise I've done my best to weed as many out as possible. Be ready for more posts in the near future on my everyday life in Vellore and quick trips to the Andaman Islands and Karnataka.

We were all pretty worried after seeing this notice on our immigration cards.

The genuinely breathtaking Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur.
Featured in Entrapment, Children of Men, and Amazing
Race, they were the tallest buildings in the
world between 1998 and 2004.

View from the KL Tower (fifth tallest telecommunications tower in the world).
They like their records, but unfortunately keep getting outdone.
Somehow I'm confident they'll be back on top soon.

That was one big Malaysian man. Listening to his iPod, on a
subway more modern than anything we've got in the U.S.

A fishing village on the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia.
This is more how I initially pictured the whole country.

Our lunch in said fishing village. I've never eaten
so many invertebrates in one sitting.

Awwww, baby octupus. Not sure if those were cooked or not.

Feeding the fish on an off-shore farm just south of Penang. We definitely did
not want to fall into these pens. Fish farming is a tough issue from
an ecosystem health perspective. Like most things
in life, there are no easy answers.

Can't have a post without a few macro shots. These are all from a hike
in a truly virgin rainforest in the state of Perak.

Mmmmm. I keep telling myself I'm going to "get into" mushrooms. Remind
me to join the Boston Mycological Club when I get back next year.



These ones might be a bit small to eat. Has anyone studied the extraordinary
strength of mini-mushroom stems? This could be a serious breakthrough.



The elusive rafflesia flower. We saw budding and rotting flowers, but none
in the prime of their nastiness. This is the largest flower in the world, and
it has one of the strangest life cycles as well. It is parasitic: with no stems,
leaves, or roots, it survives as a collection of cells in its host vine until
it comes time for one of these mega-flowers to pop out and grace the
surrounding forest with the smell of rotting meat. This particular
specimen was about 18 inches in diameter.



Wait, does Aaron have prosthetic legs, or is he just demonstrating
our nifty leech-prevention invention? It's all about the nylons.



Cool guys. Beside a raging jungle waterfall.


Foolish guy. Being pounded by the same.



Little girl from the Semai tribe, whose house was
only 50 meters from the above waterfall.



Right before it jumped at me. Seriously! Fortunately my lightening reflexes were
too quick. Thank you high school football and innumerable receiver drills.



Our shower spot while staying up in the mountains. This monstrous pipe is taking
water from a river deep in the jungle to supply all those skyscrapers in KL.



Aaron enjoying a local dragon fruit, or pitaya. They don't have a very strong
flavor, but look ridiculously cool and are supposed to be full of antioxidants.



This is for you, Dad. Don't you wish Annie would just quietly
laze around all day? Oh wait, that's what cats do, not dogs.



Semai hut out in the boonies. It might be a "living museum"
if it weren't for the day's laundry hanging out to dry.



One thing I love about the rainforest: new life all the time and everywhere.



Cocoa pod straight from the forest. The fruit has a unique tangy
taste --- nothing resembling chocolate. That comes from the
dried and fermented seeds. Not to be confused with the coca
plant, which is used in the production of cocaine.



More laundry, more beautiful people
teetering on the edge of modernity.



Traditional Semai meal, made with wild plants straight from the
surrounding forest. Most of it tasted kind of like grass. Come on,
everyone who has ever played a sport has tasted grass. I actually
enjoyed it, but others were a bit more suspicious.



We were surprisingly quite accurate with the 10 foot blow guns. The Semai use
the poisonous sap from a native tree on the darts, and told us that
such a dart could kill a human in a matter of minutes.



Breaking all my own rules about handling wildlife, and especially primates, I
became fast friends with little King the macaque. He was found orphaned 3
months earlier by the family that ran our beach huts on Tioman Island,
and is quite a character. Unfortunately I don't have high hopes for
him long term. They've been feeding him a diet of chocolate milk
and bananas, and even if he does survive to adulthood he
will be completely messed up psychologically. Poor
thing. Don't worry, I always washed my hands
thoroughly, and did my best to convince
the family to switch him to a more
suitable diet.



If only monkeys made better pets!



Probably the strangest insect I have ever seen.



Enjoying some refreshment after a sweaty walk through the forest to a nearby
beach. One man lives here, scraping by on the little bit he charges people like
us for coconuts and freshly caught and cooked fish and rice. We also met a
Danish couple in their early 70s who have been sailing around the world
for 8 years. Their yacht was anchored outside the reef and they had
taken the dingy in to explore yet one more deserted tropical beach.
Although the diving on Tioman was nothing to write home
about, this beach and the one we were staying at
had some of the best snorkeling
I've experienced yet.



On the ferry back to the mainland, we passed by so many little
islands just waiting for their own Robinson Crusoe.
Or Tom Hanks, whichever the case may be.



Before: untouched virgin rainforest, supporting
an incredible diversity of animal and plant life.



After: Remember FernGully? Well it's true, except that here the
rainforests are being bulldozed to make room for guess what?



Yup, palm oil plantations. Palm oil is used to make biodiesel, the demand for
which has been increasing exponentially over the last few years. So yay! No
dependence on fossil fuels for our energy needs. But is it worth the loss of
some of the last biodiversity hotspots in the world? Corn in the U.S.
midwest, sugar cane in Brazil, or palm oil in Malaysia: these are
all temporary fixes for a long-term problem. We need to be
focusing instead on truly renewable energy sources, like
the sun, wind, and [antimatter]. (What? I just read
Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. Fun story,
and not so horribly heretical as
I had been led to believe).
Yet another tough
ecosystem-level
question.



Poor Rhett. Can't bring his durian inside the Singapore airport.

So that was our trip.

To my faithful readers . . .

After returning from a great adventure in Malaysia, I discovered that my laptop had died and will be in the shop for an unknown period of time. They say I'll have it back by the end of this week, but I highly doubt that to be the case. Anyway, just know that all is well and I'll get back to posting when I have access to photos and internet again.

Congratulations to Alyssum P, creator of the most popular answer, "the fluorescent
undersides of mushrooms"! Still incorrect, but a good guess. The photo is actually
of the very artsy mood lighting at a movie theater in Chennai. Umbrellas were
strung across the ceiling, shading bright lights and creating a unique
effect I tried to capture. Keep those guesses coming!

Congratulations to Hannah K, randomly selected from among several people who
correctly identified this photo as a flower petal.
A letter will be on the way shortly!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

My auto rickshaw was speeding through the surprisingly deserted streets of Chennai when it suddenly slowed down and began pulling over to the side of the road. Oh no, I thought, is he going to try to pull something funny in hopes of squeezing me for a few more rupees?

What lack of faith in humanity! What pessimism! Is this really what I’ve come to after only six weeks in India? Coming up behind an old man struggling to peddle his cycle rickshaw, fully loaded with sand, up the steep angle of the sloping street, my auto driver stuck his leg out, braced it against the back edge of the cart, and revved the engine. I wish you could have seen the look of thankful relief on the old man’s face as we pushed him up and over the guilty rise.

I visited the big city this past weekend to meet some fellow Fogarty recipients and a group of new friends working with an international human rights organization. Apart from my inaugural game of Settlers in India, the definite highlight was finding National Geographic, The Economist, and best of all, the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice on DVD. A marathon viewing weekend will be arranged soon.

The October National Geographic magazine definitely wins as Elliott’s ultimate issue ever. I mean, green fuels, aerial views of Latin America, space exploration, and pirates, what more could you want? Oh wait, there’s also a feature article about my future career! Please check it out, and you’ll finally understand what I’m sure I’ve done a poor job of explaining over the years. I spent part of last summer in Australia with Hume Field, the Hendra virus guy, and I will be (hopefully) working with Billy Karesh of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Mozambique next year. The article doesn’t address the sustainable agricultural development aspects of my veterinary career ambitions, but overall it does a great job of describing this important interface of animal and human health.

But that’s not all. Both magazines feature essays on the future of human space exploration, which is especially intriguing given this recent announcement from NASA. I’ve already begun to fill in the initial online application. . . (you think I’m joking?)

Who says real football hasn't gone global?

Kammasamudram Part 2

The lush rocky hills have been a pleasant surprise. From what little I could gather about north-central Tamil Nadu before my arrival, I expected a flat, semi-arid, relatively unattractive landscape without much to offer in the way of outdoor activities. Fortunately this assumption was completely incorrect, however, and I have already been hiking, climbing, and trail cycling (mountain biking: these aren’t real mountains, and it seems “bike” implies the involvement of a motor).

While staying in Kammasamudram, I went on several long walks up and around the surrounding hills. One such excursion began in the stickiness of a quiet mid-afternoon. Heading out on my own to explore some imposing outcroppings a bit further from the village than I had been before, I was soon picking my way along the narrow paths winding through newly flooded rice paddies. My soundtrack of the ever-present beat and wailing melodies of a distant Tamil song, the sweet whistles of a nearby Asian koel, and the clucking of a farmer to his team of oxen was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of children laughing and shouting. Rounding the edge of the paddy, the source of this glee became quickly apparent. The massive well, probably dug by hand decades ago, served as an ideal refreshing retreat on this sultry afternoon. The boys, ranging in age from about six to sixteen, immediately starting shouting out for me to join them. For some reason the closest any of my village friends could get to pronouncing my name was “Hooliott”, and over our three weeks many of them abandoned all efforts in favour of “Uthappa”, a newly famous Indian cricketer. Do you see a resemblance?

Unfortunately I did not have shorts with me, and I wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate for me to join them in the buff (hence no photos), so I chatted for a while and continued on my way. By “chatted”, I mean repeating the same three phrases I know in Tamil, and listening to them proudly shout their much superior repertoire in English. Good stuff.

Climbing through a hedgerow thick with brush and thorns, I passed into a soft green maze of mature sugarcane. Sweat was already dripping from my face and wetting my back, and I realized that I had foolishly brought only my 1L Nalgene for water. I couldn’t resist the temptation. The task was not quite as easy as I expected, however, and several minutes passed before I had broken off a stalk, ripped away the woody sides with my teeth, and was contentedly chewing on fibrous pulp and sucking down every last drip of sugary nectar. I did feel slightly guilty for my unauthorized gleaning off this poor farmer’s harvest, but then I remembered Jesus in the wheat fields and felt much better.

After making my way through several postage-stamp fields of turmeric and jasmine (ahh, the scent of heaven!), I finally made it out into the clear goat-grazing areas at the foot of my chosen destination. For those of us who are accustomed to the endless expanses of corn, wheat, and soybeans spread across the U.S. and Europe, these half-acre plots of land are really quite shocking when one takes a moment to ponder them. Is it possible that someone, or more likely some family, could really make a living off these few precious plants and mounds of earth? Yes, actually, it is. But not the type of living we could be happy with. This is the reason for the loss of all the quaint little farms that once dotted our own landscapes. Unfortunately (for those of us who like to hate “the man”), it’s not that evil corporate America has pushed all the local farmers off their land to install pesticide-spewing, fertilizer-abusing, community-destroying factory farms. It’s just that all of those local farmers decided that they couldn’t make enough money with small-scale agriculture to support the lifestyles they had come to desire and expect. So they sold their land, got office jobs, and moved to the suburbs. And this is the dream of many of the Indian farmers as well. Who are we to convince them otherwise?

The cliffs above me were quite forbidding, and I had brief second thoughts about my planned assent when I discovered an old life insurance policy tucked in the crack of an overhanging boulder (honestly). I quickly discovered a fairly easy route along a vegetation-filled chute, however, and scrambled my way up to the summit.

It was then that I saw them. No, not an undiscovered tribe of prehistoric humans, silly. They were monkeys, and they were everywhere. Fortunately for me, this troupe of rhesus macaques did not seem to be habituated in the same way as those that routinely terrorize the streets of Vellore, and they quickly scattered to gain some distance and a better vantage point of this strange invader. Gradually they gave up on their secret hopes that I would do something more entertaining and returned to their normal activities of scratching bums, picking lice, and provoking fights. Every now and then one would turn his gaze back to me, yawn lazily, and get back to more important business.

Caught up in my observations of these not-so-distant relatives, I had to use my handy packable hang glider to make it back to the village in time for dinner. That or a local bus, I can’t remember which.

So that was my experience in the village. That and a whole lot more, but if I wrote everything here there would be nothing to Skype or e-mail about!

King of the world!

Several of my macaque friends

Some of the med students and I on a return trip


Enjoying a health education comedy skit


Remember I mentioned the daily kolam drawing and bent backs?


Every design is different


Mix of old and new


Not quite as entertained by the health skit . . .


Ode to a grasshopper


Transplanting the rice (see video)


I'm getting good at these discrete over the shoulder shots


"Key informant" interview with a local farmer