New Delhi- Day 4

These are the some of the make shift "homes" you see along

the road.

Julie,

Well today was an interesting day in many respects, but with how tired I feel right now, I am sure happy to have it over with.

The day started out with our marketing class. At the beginning of class a few of us were literally one minute late and this really bothered the professor (sidenote: I left the 20th floor breakfast restaurant with five minutes to spare, but our elevator proceeded to stop on EVERY floor on the way down. It was seriously the longest elevator ride ever!). Anyway, the professor decided to instigate a new rule that if you are more than 5 minutes late to class, you are required to stand up in the front of the class and either sing or dance. That will be quite interesting to see if anyone ever has to follow through.

Both classes went well today and each were only 2 hours long instead of the usual 3 hours long. Instead of lunch today we were given box lunches to take with us because today were our corporate tours all afternoon. I signed up to go to Fortis Heart Institute which is the second largest healthcare provider in India. I was interested to see what kind of innovation they were developing in healthcare and the trip turned out to be worthwhile, but it was LONG!

We left the hotel about 12:45pm and didn't get back until 6pm. The bus ride there was pretty smooth without much of the crazy traffic. When we arrived, we were given a tour of the hospital which was pretty interesting. It was amazing how busy they were. You can see in the pictures how packed their waiting rooms were and it seemed like on every floor and every corner was another waiting room that was packed.

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute

The Hospital

This is one of the main floor waiting rooms. Amazing how many people there are.

They fit four people to a room on some floors, but they also have private rooms. 

India is an 80% cash pay country so people choose the level of service they want.

This is in the pediatric cardiac ward. So sad to think of little

kids with major heart problems.

This is the MAIN waiting room entrance of the hospital. 

I couldn't believe how many people there were.

After the tour, they took us down to their conference room and we had presentations from their Chief Strategy officer, CEO, and Managing Director (3 separate guys) and we were stuffed with healthcare in India facts. Most of it was actually pretty interesting, but it was like 2 hours straight of talking and my chair was SO UNCOMFORTABLE and I was on the front row. Bad choice! Needless to say I was grateful when it was over and with how much homework I have to do tonight that was all I could think about on the way home.

Once I got back, I came up to my room and started reading the two cases we have due for marketing. Today was a "per diem" dinner day and since I had zero interest in going out somewhere I just ordered a room service sandwich for dinner... not very good.

At 8pm we had a team meeting that I was definitely not effective in. I just kind of plugged my way through it and then came back here and here I am.

Two additional notes. First off because of the corporate tour today was the first day I wore my suit coat and lucky me I had a nice little surprise in the pocket! I am sure you were wondering if I would find it, but I did and it made me grin from ear to ear. Babe I love you so much and that love note made my day!

Secondly, I have been reflecting a lot today on vulnerability. For some reason that has seemed to be the theme of New Delhi for me. Almost to the effect of like the new kid in class. To some degree I feel open and exposed and I guess insecure. It isn't like anything has happened, but maybe it is just being in such an unfamiliar land. It also seems like at times like these that I grow the most, but sometimes I wish I could just curl up in my bed or fly back home. It is usually during these times that I am sitting very quietly, not interacting, and thinking a lot. The feeling comes a goes, but it has definitely been a theme during this trip.

Well I have NO IDEA how tomorrow we are ever going to get everything done that we are suppose to. On top of all the homework and everything else, tomorrow night is our traditional CEO speaker/Alumni dinner that we have at each residency (the one where we have to wear suits and ties and they usually have crazy things like an ice sculpture of the Duke Fuqua School of Business sign).

And Sorry I am not as good at conversing on skype as I am at writing you. For some reason writing has always been an easier forum for me to express myself than speaking directly one on one.

I want you to know that I love you very much and I miss you and boys!

Love ya,

Brock