Knitting - Class 1 :)

When I ended this year's India trip, I had come up with a fool proof plan for myself. This plan was basically just a list of the things I look forward to in life and a source to turn to when residency affects me more so than normal and affects my ability to stay sane. One of the things listed was to work with my hands more in general. We had the opportunity in India and I was inspired by Chaiti and her ability to make so many crafts with her hands. She had knitted us some hats for our wedding and was working on a variety of projects during and after the trip. It inspired me to learn knitting as well! So I've signed up for a class that will take place 5 times for the next 5 Friday's! It started tonight. They include the starting materials and we'll learn how to make a scarf and a hat. I have partially learned in an attempt to make a blanket for my nephew. While I didn't do anything with his blanket, I did start to learn the basic process.

The class was really informative for the first one. There was only one other student and one teacher so a small, personal setting. We learned how to cast on with a long tail cast on and we learned how to do the knit stitch. I think the coolest part is my mom attempted to show me and I was so confused. Had no idea when I messed up or just didn't understand the basics. But now that someone has explained it to me, it is so GREAT. This class is really going to set a foundation for future projects. I've gotten some requests already - socks from Farah. :) And I want to make a lot of gifts for Ishan. Some pictures of the first class and the practice knitting. The hat and the scarf are what we're making. The blue yarn is what I picked. And then some practice and some other randoms.

Ishan!!!!

This past weekend I spent 4 lovely days in the Bay area. The primary purpose of the trip was the spend lots and lots of time with my adorable little nephew, Ishan. Then obviously the rest was to spend time with my growing family/friends. The random thought that popped into my head is that it is crazy that my world has expanded so much after meeting/marrying Raj. I have gained a sister, brother, new set of parents and loads and loads of cousins/friends. And now this
latest addition, my first immediate nephew. (many cousins babies but this is the first direct). And oh is he precious. He lights up my world completely. One smile and I melt. Do you know that he wakes up each morning so excited to start his day. He is literally giddy to start crawling and moving and laughing. He'll sit in bed with you and crawl towards you with the CUTEST smile. (at this point you are supposed to not be reacting to him so he goes back to sleep...but so hard to do..i have to turn around to keep myself from smiling back). I've watched him grow up and it is fascinating to see him take in the world. Discovering his hands, learning to crawl, grabbing food...the things we all take for granted but we forget we learned these moves. It is the funniest thing watching him crawl over a bed...boy has no depth perception, no fear and will go right off a bed if you don't watch him. If we all still had that fearlessness. (not to fall flat on our face but to have the guts to try anything.) It was a GREAT weekend. Missed my husband :( But got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while. And much more calm then a wedding weekend. Major quality time. Smiles all around thinking of it. Thanks to Ami(r), Mom, Dad, Mom's cousins, Sunil, Pooja, Sushil, Kev, Priya, Biggie....the list goes on for an AWESOME weekend. :)

Also check out some other pictures from the weekend.

Farah and Taham's Wedding Week

It was one of my best friend's wedding this past week. Farah and I have basically grown up together. We initially met in high school and have been close since. This past week was spent being part of her big wedding day. She married an awesome human being (Taham) who is absolutely perfect for her and the whole thing just makes me smile. It was a blessing to be part of their day. Unfortunately, I missed another wedding (Sam and Payal's) who are also dear friends. Raj and I wanted to be at both but because both took place on the same day, we chose to split to represent both weddings individually.

The whole wedding week was beautiful and Farah was stunningly beautiful throughout. :) We all couldn't stop staring :) Tons of Masallah's being spoken throughout. I think my favorite parts included getting to have mendhi put on, getting to be Farah's chauffeur (great bonding moments), and all in all just being part of it. Everything was organized perfectly. They had the band Funkadesi playing and it was great to see such a diverse group of people creating music together. Thank you guys for letting me be a part of your big day, for being such gracious hosts, and Farah for being an AMAZING friend all these years. Taham, welcome to the family!!!














Final thought...I've realized I truly love Pakistani culture. This was my first Muslim wedding and I find it amazing to see the grace that exists. There are obviously so many things that are similar to Indian culture - the language, the rituals. But there is also this extra grace/poise/poetic nature that was present. I don't know if I'm making sense but I felt something that was just nice to be a part of. Then part of me always thinks about the tensions that exist between Pakistan and India and if only we could all realize that we have so much more in common then different.

I thought the above was the final thought, but to throw a shout out for Sam and Payal, I want to include an amazing video that their video people put together by the time of the reception. So sad I wasn't there guys but can't wait to visit both couples (they're both going to be in Boston) soon!

Sameer + Payal SDE from Avec Lumiere Productions on Vimeo.

Lock Down!

I am currently in Division 17 of the jail, basically stuck, because there is a level 5 security threat and no one can come in or leave. The rumor mill is saying that someone supposedly brought a gun in at the 3pm check in. So I might be here a while. Unfortunately it is Diwali and Raj and I had plans. :( But it makes for a good story.

I guess this would be a good time to give the basic layout of the jail. This what I know, I'm sure there is tons more I am missing. Basically the Cook County Jail is the largest pre-detention holding facility in the country. It averages 100,000 people a year and an average daily population of 9000. It takes in all the people that are awaiting their trial and or final sentencing. This ranges from the pettiest of crimes to the murder cases. It is split up into different divisions. The highest number I have heard is 17. Each division is categorized by amount of security and the type of crime. Women and men are separated. There is a separate division for those with chronic medical problems that are in prison. I know Division 4 is the general floor for women, Division 17 is for women but much gentler and has a lot of treatment programs available for mental health and addiction. Division 9 or 11 is the big gun and is where a lot of the missed medications happen. The judge assigns you to which division you go to and how long. Cermak is the health center affiliated with the jail. It provides for all the medical care in the jail. The amount of services it provides is actually quite incredible if you think about it. Every person that comes through the jail goes through intake. Which is basically a quick run down of your medical problems, your addictions, your medicine. Then you get triaged accordingly - given any immediete meds (you hope) and then if need for f/u, an order gets put in to see the appropriate medical provider (for example an internist, psych, etc). There is an ER that handles anything that comes up acutely in the jail. The ER has its own CT scan, Ultrasound machine, Xray. It has a radiology reading room. Then all the divisions have their medical clinics that run on a daily basis for the chronic care follow up and the acute stuff that comes up. In terms of public health stuff - there is a large scale sexually transmitted disease screening that takes place for women. It has become opt out in the sense that it gets done for everyone unless someone says specifically no. They are trying to get that for the men as well. Espcially for HIV testing because this is a huge population that could potentially be going undiagnosed. They have tuberculosis screening for everyone that comes in too - everyone gets a chest xray. They have care for the HIV patients - a clinic that runs everyday.

I could go on but thats a basic start. My role in all of this is basically experiencing the different medical flavors of the jail. This time around as I mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time w/ HIV patients and in Division 17 - the more rehabilitative program for women. Last time, I did a little bit of everything. Its something different everyday and that is part of its appeal along with many other things. For now, all I want to do is go home and this stupid lockdown to be done! If anyone has any connections, get me out!

First of many entries on the jail

I've been at the Cook County Jail now for 2 days and I'm amazed at how much I like it there. I've been there before and in general the first time around was just getting used to the culture and there were so many things to take in. Observing the whole prisoner/guard dynamic. Then there is the provider/prisoner dynamic. Then even the guard/provider dynamic. I got warned a lot about watching myself, being careful, the typical. But I think what stuck with me is that these "criminals" are people in the end. Yeah some of them have probably done horrible things but the majority of them end up making not the smartest decisions. A lot of them have addictions that lead them to jail. A lot of mental health issues. It is amazing to see how prevalent the racial lines are when it comes to prison. The number of black/hispanic compared to white is simply incredible. The waiting line for the family/friends that are visiting outside of the prison all come from minority backgrounds. I read this book called Courtroom 302 that gave me a lot of insight into the Cook County Justice system.

The second time around, I think I really just see myself actually being able to be a part of this world and getting deeper. I have been focusing on HIV care in the past two days and working with a really cool attending - Dr. Z. His bedside manner and ability to just be real with the patients is really inspiring. There are some ridiculous stories of injustice that happen to people that need their medications and totally don't get them because of the system. The attendings that I've worked with care (there are your share that whine, but what work place doesn't have that) and overall its a friendly work environment. I don't know, the whole experience feels very real. It is real people, real stories and you see so many aspects of our society collide - health, justice, the role poverty plays, the role race plays, politics...I could go on. This was just a brief entry. Call me naive but I truly believe that there are no bad people in the world. Things happen to them that make them make bad decisions. Talking to these people allows me to break the stereotypes in my head and reminds me that in the end, "crimnals/prisoners" are people. They deserve respect and they deserve a system that actually works at rehabilitating rather than blind punishment. I'll describe how the system works in another entry. I am not allowed a camera in the place but I'm going to post some google images of what I walk into. I feel like there is so much to say but this was just an intro.

We're back - at least one of us!

I know its been a while since either of us have posted. I was inspired by a certain someone (thanks Sonz!) to keep a blog. I was going to create a new blog but then thought it would just be easier to add onto this one. In this coming month, I will be working at the Cermak Health Center. It is the health center affiliated with the Cook County Jail. I've done 2 weeks there before and think it is a really interesting aspect of health care. I learned a lot and am truly considering working there post residency. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes. It is also an easier month and a month that I can enjoy the randomness of life. I usually have some pretty crazy adventures and was going to use this blog to share.


Some adventures thus far...Raj and I went to Occupy Chicago yesterday. Had been wanting to check it out for a while. Thought it was powerful just hearing people rally for a cause. People from other cities that were part of the occupy movement were there sharing their stories/experiences. It is powerful to think that if enough of us gather together, maybe we could stop making money the center of our universe and focus on building a stronger community together. The movement really tries to make it a true democratic movement - having things build in for everyone to speak their mind, a human microphone so that everyone can hear...and lots of other things that I could go on about. All in all a cool movement to observe and if I get time, definitely want to be part of it more. Didn't have my camera but posting a picture from the website.

Thank You for Collection of Connections!!!

Raj and I are trying to start blogging again. It has been a while. A lot has happened since we last posted anything. Well there was obviously the wedding which we posted links to. Raj has moved here officially and we've had an amazing month living together and getting to continue our journey together. After some twists and turns, I have decided to continue residency and it is a roller coaster ride to get through it. Raj will start teaching in August in the Bronx School of Arts.

I am off topic. The point of this entry was to say a hearty hearty thanks to Ami(r) and all the amazing people in our lives that contributed to the book that they made...Collection of Connections. This book was made to share the random acts of kindness that the people in our lives have done. I cannot say enough how touched we are. I know that residency continues to be a daily struggle and each morning I wake up to read a story with Raj and I am able to put things in perspective when I am completely overwhelmed. I'm adding a couple pictures of what the end product looks like since so many of you haven't seen it.

Thank you again. Thank you to all those who wrote in the book - Amir, Ami, Biggie, Amrit, Anish & Sejal, Ankurbhai, Bina, Anuradha-didi, Aparna, Arch, Arpit, Asha & Rahul, Audrey, Bhavna, Beans, Ek, Farah, Hemali & Wasim, Henish, Jigar, Kunal, Manks, Marilyn, Milan & Monika, Minal & Omi, Mit, Mridu & Ankit, Neal, Neetal & Sejal, Neil & Manisha & Roshni, Nit, Paras and Shivu, Poon & Ash, Priyaaach, Priti & Puneet, Rah & Resh, Raj S., Rish, Sampat, Sapan, Sarika & Amar & Shalin, Shawn Thomas, Shivani & Jay & Shaan, Sneh, Sonia Lala, Sowmya, Sudia, Choks, Sushil, Unmesh-bhai & Hetal-ben, and Vash!!!!

We truly feel so loved, inspired, and blessed to have such incredible people in our lives. We are continually inspired by each one of you and your stories.

Love Astha/Raj