I love ciprofloxacin

Warning: This post does contain lots of poo detail. If you are too sensitive or are a lady, please ignore this post and I promise to post something more proper next week.

Delhi belly was raging last week. So much so that I had to miss a day of my program. I decided that it probably was no longer a "my digestive system has a low tolerance for spicy" and more of a "definitely infectious E. coli, traveler's" diarrhea. The culprit: some shady lassi from a "restaurant." You'd think the dude pounding large blocks of ice into "ice chips" on the very dirty floor would have tipped me off but nooooooooooooooooooo, I had to have a cold drink. I got what was coming to me I guess. Luckily, my E. coli was not cipro resistant (as are 30% of the bugs here...nurse practitioner at OSU student health is an idiot) and I am back to having normal BMs. TMI I know but I am just so excited I had to share!!

For the sake my readers, I've decided not to post any pictures this week. You can thank me later!

The programs this week have been sadly disappointing. We have been mainly working with a group called Sahara that targets IV drug users and street children. Unlike the previous two groups, this one is not as well-organized, well-funded, or in my opinion, successful. It has been nice however to have a comparison, however. I think the problem is that the two previous NGOs had creative, talented people at the very top. The people within Sahara are terribly well meaning and generous they lack the kind of leadership that generates success. IV drug abuse and street children (of which there are devastatingly too many-est. 1 million in India) are incredibly complex problems that require creative solutions. I feel somewhat disheartened this week.

Over the weekend, we will travel to Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. Very excited for the opportunity to get out of Delhi.