Hi! Several people wanted to know how our trip to India went. So,
here goes.
The only major problem I had with travelling with Ezra to India was the
actual trip over there. He caught a stomach bug and vomitted 18 times
between LA and Tokyo. I had to request medical attention in Tokyo, but
about an hour before our arrival he finally kept down fluids and I was
able to continue on to Singapore and Bombay.
I took all his food, formula and nappies from here. At first I thought
it unnecessary, but after his bout with vomitting, I was glad.
In addition, he refused to eat anything else for quite sometime after
arriving there. I only had to pay $40 for extra luggage after I reached
India. They were very friendly here about the extra luggage. However,
when Ravi came, he had to pay $90 for duty and $40 for excess luggage...Ravi
joined us after 6 weeks and brought the same amount of items with him that
I had taken. So, he looked suspicious going through customs with all that
excess luggage. Since I had the baby with me, they just waved me through
the que.
Clothes are very cheap in Kerala, but the quality was extremely poor.
Again I was quite glad that I took stuff from here for Ezra. The
north is a lot colder than where I was, I only had to take shorts and
t-shirts. You may need long pants and sweaters, if you plan a trip
northward.
They say cleanliness is next to godliness. With as many gods as there
are in India, you'd think the place would sparkle. Sadly this ain't so.
I needed plenty of handiwipes and washcloths. Ezra often had 2 baths
a day to deal with the grime and soot. The smog would leave grit and
grime throughout the house. We had a maid who would mop the floors on
her hands and knees everyday. But, when we went out it is was very dirty.
I took all remedies from here for anything the Dr. and I thought Ezra might
get. Unfortunately, we didn't think of vomitting and I didn't think to pack it
in my carry-on. So, as I mentioned before the plane trip there was scary.
the baby tylenol, the cold remedies, the diaper rash ointment, the vitamins,
etc. etc. You can get many items there, but it takes some time to figure out
what is a good product. I didn't want to waste time finding a Dr. and finding
a pharmacy. So, I had it all with me. (take electrolytes powders along, too)
Ezra was put on cholorquin for an anti-malarial. He just finished taking it
this week. He took 1/4 tablet every week. Ezra's little cousin from England
who is one week older than Ez, had been put on a more rigorous anti-malarial
regime--3 times a week for one tablet and everyday for another kind. She also
had to be given electrolytes everyday. I don't know how necessary all of that
was. She was only there for 3 weeks. Ez was there for 3.5 months. Both fared
well. I think some Drs just over react when they think of going to third world
countries.
I don't know if this was over reaction, but Ez was given typhoid vaccines. He
got pretty sick with the first one (hi temp and listlessness) but did not have
a reaction to the second one. I did not get a gamma globulin for him. Typhoid
on the rise thoughout India, as is malaria. I didn't want to take risks with
either of those. Since Ez got over 60 mosquito bites the fist week, I was
glad for the extra protection against malaria. I took other precautions to
no food at all from outside except crackers and cookies, etc). For myself,
I took typhjoid vaccine in the oral form and a different, more potent anti-
malarial.
Speaking of mosquitoes....SOS does not work for the vector mosquitoes of South
India. I think they laughed as they bit into our tender western skin. As I
said, Ez had over 60 bites the first week. So did I, but I felt worse about
his having them than I did about mine. I am allergic to the buggers and get
huge welts when they bite. Fortunately, Ez doesn't get such severe reactions.
I had been stupid enough to believe SOS would work (thanks to the advice of
many netters), so I hadn't taken along anything else. The family suggested
using Good Knight, a local mosquito repellant that is in little mats that are
put into little electric holders. It smells nice and works well, but after 2 days, little Ez started pounding his head with his hands. We went to a dr who
said that Good Knight was toxic. God did I feel guilty. Out went the
Good knight, back came the mosquitoes. I did by the way, use mosquito nets
that are made for travel cribs. It tore easily and had to be put on very carefully to make sure none of the crib's mesh was exposed. The holes in the mesh
were big enough for the mosquitoes...determined little jerks that they are...
would poke through. So, Ravi sent some Cutter's through a cousin who was
coming. I sprayed the outside of the crib with Cutter's and sprayed it on
Ezra's clothes, lightly. That helped, but did not eliminate the bites. But,
since they were much fewer and further between bites, I managed with that.
For relief from the bites themselves, I would dab white tiger balm on them.
Very effective. A menthlatum rub worked also. Just a dab would do.
About the crib. I took an Evenflo Happy Camper travel crib/playyard, It was
light, fit into a 30 inch suitcase with room to spare for other stuff, and
it folded and set up quickly. It worked well for the first couple of weeks.
Then my 10 month old was able to figure out how to pull open the velcro
covers over the locks. He got his hand stuck in the fabric that surronds
the lock. So, after that I had to be much more vigilant about checking on
him while he was supposed to be napping. I immediately called Evenflo upon
my return here. They are going to give me a full refund. At this point, if
I put Ez in the crib, he can pull the lock up a couple of notches. Naturally,
I only put him in it when I have something to do. And I keep him in constant
view--i.e. while taking a bath, I'll pull it to the door of the bathroom.
Carseats and seatbelts are virtually non-existant in India. So, most of the
time Ez and I stayed home with my in laws. Not a bad deal since the family's
compound has 3 different houses and thus lots of family and cousins to
entertain us. The few times we did go out we either had to rig a seatbelt
using luggage straps and a Little Cargo carseat (lovely little thing), or
we had to hold him on our laps. Neither thrilled us, but we felt the rig up
was safer than nothing. Maybe it wasn't, but we felt better with him in
the carseat anyhow. We would wrap the luggage straps around the backseat
of the Ambassador or the Maruti van then latch the straps through the Little
Cargo. It seemed safe. Traffic in India is wild and unsafe. Traffic
fatalities are high, but the people just don't realize it. People were
quite insulted with the idea of a carseat..."Don't you think we love our
own kids? We have travelled this way for all their lives and they are ok."
Well, we stuck by our guns. I don't know what we will do next time we go.
We are thinking of paying to have seabelts installed in one of the Ambassadors.
Well, I have rambled. We have returned safely. By the way, the Little Cargo
is wonderful for air travel and for use when travelling about the States...
if you don't want to drag a carseat around.
Oh! ONe more thing. We took 14 bags of Huggies with us. Didn't use them all
because Ez perspired so much he didn't have to pee so often. Anyhow, since
trash is burned in India, this caused a problem. The gel in those things would ooze and never melt (same for sanitary napkins from here). They had
to use a lot of karosene to get it burned. My father-in-law, bless his lovely
heart, never mentioned this to me. I, being a typical spoiled American, didn't
know this was going on until the last couple of weeks I was there--I didn't
know they burned their garbage. I thought someone came and toted it away...
like they do here. Well, I don't know what you would want to do. The
disposables from India are expensive and very much like the first pampers that
came out here in the 60's. Not absorbant, lumpy and essentially useless.
Using cloth is out since sanitation is very difficult. Laundry is done mostly
by hand, and our machine does not get anything but cold water. We would
have had to boil the water and hand do it everyday. In 104 degree heat and
85% humidity, that is not a pleasant thought. Besides, water is rationed
or drawn from a well and electricity is very expensive. So, you ask what
so the Indians do? Well, I got to see a lot of sweet little baby tushes.
Babies pretty much go bare bottomed until they are potty trained. I couldn't
stand the thought of that for Ez.
Well, that turned out long. Sorry but there is a lot that I am leaving out...
i.e. children in India and how they act at funerals...what school is like for
Ravi's little cousins....Indian toys (take some from here)....how well Ezra
was treated by all his relatives (they adore children and really know how to
treat them). It was a wonderful experience, but it was difficult too.
