Episode 11

On Saturday, we had an HIV counseling workshop for most of the day. The workshop was at Sahara, which is an NGO that works with injecting drug users, HIV patients, addiction cases, and battered women. At the end of the workshop we did a bit of role-play, where we got to be the counselors and test our new skills on a few past patients. I volunteered, and of course, got the most difficult case they could think of. He was impossible, argumentative, and thoroughly enjoyed taking a piss out of me. I immediately realized how hard the counselors working at Sahara really have it. When we talk about counseling in the US, it’s usually for things like depression or drug problems. But at Sahara, their kind of counseling is in a league of its own. Try counseling someone who has no family, a serious heroine problem, is HIV +, lives in the underbelly of the slum without a rupee to his name, and dwells in a world where life is cheap and the government doesn’t care…. An entirely different kind of counseling.

After the counseling workshop we went to Khan Market, which is one of the ritzier markets in Delhi. We looked around for a bit, at items that were far too expensive, and ate my new favorite treats- Momos and Papri Chawt. After, we ventured over to this medical art exhibit, where our coordinator’s sister in-law was showcasing her new works. The art was fantastic! Colorful, provocative, and intellectual, the exhibition was a real treat. We then went to “Big Chill”, a restaurant started by an American expat, and filled with delicious American diner food. It was a taste of home in the middle of New Delhi! Natalie and I indulged in a fudge brownie topped with cookie dough ice cream, and I nearly melted…