Morning all,
Last morning here.It is lashing out of the heavens!!!
Just starting to pack up and get the final few things together.
Have tickets for the stellenbosch wine festival tomorrow and then tomorrow night we have a table booked in a beautiful michelin * restaurent for tomorrow night.It is called Rust en Vrede and is in a vineyeard up in the hills.We get a 4 course meal...with wine to compliment each course.So really looking forward to that.
Anyhow, next time I talk..it will be probably be from Namibia all going well.
Have to go now though. Dont panic if you do not hear from me.I dont know how internet access is.
May also struggle for a signal, but as soon as I do get on I will text.
Lots of love for now,
Bye from the last entry from Tygerberg and all its fun and games.
xx
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
On Call........
Hi everyone,
Just finished my on call shift!
Got called to theatre twice so finished there late last night and fortunately had no early morning calls.Just went on the ward round there....and my patient is alive and well; thank god!!
So was rather jealous yesterday as everyone else went to this wine tasting festival thing in stellenbosch with food and everything else amazing or so it seems.So I have been told a hundred times this morning that i have missed the best night ever!!!Great!
So whilst they were tasting wines and living the high life...i got called to assist in theatre with a guy who had been shot in the abdomen. So made my dash to theatre, scrubbed in ...and then off you go;you and the surgeon. He tells you what to do,hold,press etc...and you do it!So he said to be at the start...this could be very boring or very exciting...depends what we see when we open him up.Turns out it was the latter and certainly induced some sweating and swearing as there was blood spurting from somewhere and unfortunately...the bullet was lying around the danger zone of some major blood vessels. So you could press on one bit....and it would spurt from the other bit......and I stood there holding stuff..thinking...crap...this is not cool.It is me and him...and i know nothing. So I ended up doing a bit of cutting which was fun...and then some more pressing...and then he managed to eventually source and stop the bleeding. Proper ER stuff!!!So that was a fun night overall. However, wine tasting still sounds better.
So today...i am about to go shower...and i have been in these scrubs for 30hrs....and i did to de-scrub myself to normality.
Need to start packing my stuff up also.Cannot believe I am leaving on Sunday already!!!!
WHERE does time go???
Anyhow, MAM I do not have TB !Well unlikely..and if I do...it wont do anything to me.I may have swine flu...but that wont do anything either.Or more likely...we all have a cold.
So that is the banter for the day!
Going to head now and shower...as I have teaching soon.
love to all,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Just finished my on call shift!
Got called to theatre twice so finished there late last night and fortunately had no early morning calls.Just went on the ward round there....and my patient is alive and well; thank god!!
So was rather jealous yesterday as everyone else went to this wine tasting festival thing in stellenbosch with food and everything else amazing or so it seems.So I have been told a hundred times this morning that i have missed the best night ever!!!Great!
So whilst they were tasting wines and living the high life...i got called to assist in theatre with a guy who had been shot in the abdomen. So made my dash to theatre, scrubbed in ...and then off you go;you and the surgeon. He tells you what to do,hold,press etc...and you do it!So he said to be at the start...this could be very boring or very exciting...depends what we see when we open him up.Turns out it was the latter and certainly induced some sweating and swearing as there was blood spurting from somewhere and unfortunately...the bullet was lying around the danger zone of some major blood vessels. So you could press on one bit....and it would spurt from the other bit......and I stood there holding stuff..thinking...crap...this is not cool.It is me and him...and i know nothing. So I ended up doing a bit of cutting which was fun...and then some more pressing...and then he managed to eventually source and stop the bleeding. Proper ER stuff!!!So that was a fun night overall. However, wine tasting still sounds better.
So today...i am about to go shower...and i have been in these scrubs for 30hrs....and i did to de-scrub myself to normality.
Need to start packing my stuff up also.Cannot believe I am leaving on Sunday already!!!!
WHERE does time go???
Anyhow, MAM I do not have TB !Well unlikely..and if I do...it wont do anything to me.I may have swine flu...but that wont do anything either.Or more likely...we all have a cold.
So that is the banter for the day!
Going to head now and shower...as I have teaching soon.
love to all,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, July 27, 2009
Dicing with Death in Deadly waters....
Morning all!!
So I hear the great news that Waterford won!!!Up the Deise!!So when are they playing Kilkenny??
So had a great weekend. Very little sleep since Thursday though so managed 8 hours last night without any interuptions.Was so so happy.I was on call too....and i didnt get called.
So either we all have Swine flu, TB or the common cold...but all of us trauma students are not well. Unfortunately there are some cases of TB here...and swine flu is pretty much everywhere here..so we are all hoping it is the later. One of the boys is going to get a chest x-ray...if he has TB I will then worry..until then I will continue with taking paracetemol.
Anyhow, the "flu" hasnt stopped any of us having a good weekend. Spent a lovely evening on Friday in Stellenbosch. Which then ended up in the same Irish bar...!We were all up very early on Saturday morning and we headed to hemanus for the day. We spotted two whales which was pretty cool and then went and watched the South African v New Zealand game as one of the guys is from NZ. It was a bit scary...they really really do love their rugby here.
So had a few drinks..( as in one) as the Dutch and German were suffering still from the night before...and like very civil sensible people..we headed to bed at 11.30pm as we had a very early start.
Sunday morning: 6.00am.....SHARK DIVING!!!!!!
Yes everyone..i went diving with some great white sharks!!!!We managed to get a special group deal so paid 85 euros each....which included breakfast and lunch. (Breakfast was a joke....as you pucked it all back up again.I mean egg on toast does not look good second time round)
Anyhow...we had some Texans in our group and some Americans..but it was mainly just us. We were given our instructions on dry land and how to get in and out of the cage etc...and off we went.
Well....what can i say.....a speed boat going over huge 2 metre waves.I actually thought we were going to tip over. SO five minutes into the trip my sea legs were gone...and i was clutching to the side of the boat.
We arrived out to our spot..the cage was lowered ....and the bait was thrown out.5 mins later...in he came..a 4metre great white shark. AMAZING!The weird thing was.He went for the bait..but as soon as the bait was pulled away..he didnt try go after it.He wasnt fierce or scary at all.
So in groups of 4 we lowered ourselves into the FREEZING ATLANTIC OCEAN.....and watched the sharks brush off the cage. At no point did i really feel scared. Only briefly...when he swam head first towards the cage..and then turned at the last minute, but other then that..i didnt feel one but scared. HOWEVER, I must admit...that at this point I did not care whether he ate me or not...as I was so ill. honest to god, i have never ever felt so sea sick. Even in the cage. i though I would be better in the water. One of the americans who was also dying got sick when he was in the cage!!!
All of us were sick; the whole boat was sick. So of course when it came to my turn to put on a WET wetsuit...I just could not do it.Each movement was making me sick. Two men tried desperately to pull it up..whilst i hung over the side of the boat...but it just was not happening.It was wet and i couldnt do it. So after some failed attempts....they gave me a bigger wet suit. Now..........if you know anything about wet suits at all..the idea is that they are kept tight for a reason. So as i put this massive wet suit on....and Yan the German was like...."you just hang over and be sick laura...i will help with the leg bit"..and some american tucked my hair in.....I just knew I was going to end up with hypothermia. 30 mins or more in a cage in a leaking wetsuit.....is not good at all. I think what also did help the whole thing was the fact that they throw in bloody bait and the smell was just cruel.
So anyhow,in we got and the guy tried to convience me that i would feel better in the water. He was like, "look at me..look at me...are you okay to get in??"...I was just like nodding my head for fear of opening my mouth.SO in I went.....followed by a few litres of water that went into the wetsuit.OH MY GOD!!!!!So here we were in this cage and I think Yan sumed it up. "R850 to be sick.....get hypothermia.....and now....potenially eaten"
However, I have painted this all in a very bad light.It makes it sound miserable, which it was at the time but the minute you were back on dry land...clothes on.....tea in your hand....you could appreciate that it was amazing!!!To see a great white shark within a few centimetres. But as I said, nobody felt one bit scared at all. I dont know if that was because being in the water helped with the sickness...or just that the shark did not come across as a man eating animal. Either way, we had a great day. We finished it off with some cocktails in the rich and famous camps bay..and watched the sun go down.
One cup of tea when we came back...and we were all in bed for 10.30pm.
Some are still in bed today; really not well at all.
The plan for the rest of us today is wine tasting again. (okay i need to clear this up. It is not that we all drink loads of wine.It is just the surroundings are amazing..and it is so beautiful in the vineyards that it is a nice thing to do.)It is suppose to be 26 degrees today..but I will make up my own mind if that is what it actually is as the wind chill factor is high!However, I have worn shorts the last few days!
SO that is all for now. Cannot believe this is my last week here. Kinda sad leaving.It has been good to have good company. The group of us is mainly dutch, one very funny german, and New Zealand. They are all lovely and the dutch really are great craic. They are heading to Mozambique next week....and i am off to Namibia. In one way it is a pity that i cannot go....but I suppose once I am on the bus to Namibia..that will be that. They keep winding me up telling me how cold i am going to be...and it is not even funny...cause it will be freezing and I am starting to feel cold just thinking about lying in the desert in the freezing cold..whilst they lie on abeach in mozambique!!(okay..i cant spell that one)
So jsut 5 days left here. Crazy!!Dont know where the time has gone!!!
Right well i shall love you and leave you there as I need to go sort myself out for the day.
Keep me posted
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So I hear the great news that Waterford won!!!Up the Deise!!So when are they playing Kilkenny??
So had a great weekend. Very little sleep since Thursday though so managed 8 hours last night without any interuptions.Was so so happy.I was on call too....and i didnt get called.
So either we all have Swine flu, TB or the common cold...but all of us trauma students are not well. Unfortunately there are some cases of TB here...and swine flu is pretty much everywhere here..so we are all hoping it is the later. One of the boys is going to get a chest x-ray...if he has TB I will then worry..until then I will continue with taking paracetemol.
Anyhow, the "flu" hasnt stopped any of us having a good weekend. Spent a lovely evening on Friday in Stellenbosch. Which then ended up in the same Irish bar...!We were all up very early on Saturday morning and we headed to hemanus for the day. We spotted two whales which was pretty cool and then went and watched the South African v New Zealand game as one of the guys is from NZ. It was a bit scary...they really really do love their rugby here.
So had a few drinks..( as in one) as the Dutch and German were suffering still from the night before...and like very civil sensible people..we headed to bed at 11.30pm as we had a very early start.
Sunday morning: 6.00am.....SHARK DIVING!!!!!!
Yes everyone..i went diving with some great white sharks!!!!We managed to get a special group deal so paid 85 euros each....which included breakfast and lunch. (Breakfast was a joke....as you pucked it all back up again.I mean egg on toast does not look good second time round)
Anyhow...we had some Texans in our group and some Americans..but it was mainly just us. We were given our instructions on dry land and how to get in and out of the cage etc...and off we went.
Well....what can i say.....a speed boat going over huge 2 metre waves.I actually thought we were going to tip over. SO five minutes into the trip my sea legs were gone...and i was clutching to the side of the boat.
We arrived out to our spot..the cage was lowered ....and the bait was thrown out.5 mins later...in he came..a 4metre great white shark. AMAZING!The weird thing was.He went for the bait..but as soon as the bait was pulled away..he didnt try go after it.He wasnt fierce or scary at all.
So in groups of 4 we lowered ourselves into the FREEZING ATLANTIC OCEAN.....and watched the sharks brush off the cage. At no point did i really feel scared. Only briefly...when he swam head first towards the cage..and then turned at the last minute, but other then that..i didnt feel one but scared. HOWEVER, I must admit...that at this point I did not care whether he ate me or not...as I was so ill. honest to god, i have never ever felt so sea sick. Even in the cage. i though I would be better in the water. One of the americans who was also dying got sick when he was in the cage!!!
All of us were sick; the whole boat was sick. So of course when it came to my turn to put on a WET wetsuit...I just could not do it.Each movement was making me sick. Two men tried desperately to pull it up..whilst i hung over the side of the boat...but it just was not happening.It was wet and i couldnt do it. So after some failed attempts....they gave me a bigger wet suit. Now..........if you know anything about wet suits at all..the idea is that they are kept tight for a reason. So as i put this massive wet suit on....and Yan the German was like...."you just hang over and be sick laura...i will help with the leg bit"..and some american tucked my hair in.....I just knew I was going to end up with hypothermia. 30 mins or more in a cage in a leaking wetsuit.....is not good at all. I think what also did help the whole thing was the fact that they throw in bloody bait and the smell was just cruel.
So anyhow,in we got and the guy tried to convience me that i would feel better in the water. He was like, "look at me..look at me...are you okay to get in??"...I was just like nodding my head for fear of opening my mouth.SO in I went.....followed by a few litres of water that went into the wetsuit.OH MY GOD!!!!!So here we were in this cage and I think Yan sumed it up. "R850 to be sick.....get hypothermia.....and now....potenially eaten"
However, I have painted this all in a very bad light.It makes it sound miserable, which it was at the time but the minute you were back on dry land...clothes on.....tea in your hand....you could appreciate that it was amazing!!!To see a great white shark within a few centimetres. But as I said, nobody felt one bit scared at all. I dont know if that was because being in the water helped with the sickness...or just that the shark did not come across as a man eating animal. Either way, we had a great day. We finished it off with some cocktails in the rich and famous camps bay..and watched the sun go down.
One cup of tea when we came back...and we were all in bed for 10.30pm.
Some are still in bed today; really not well at all.
The plan for the rest of us today is wine tasting again. (okay i need to clear this up. It is not that we all drink loads of wine.It is just the surroundings are amazing..and it is so beautiful in the vineyards that it is a nice thing to do.)It is suppose to be 26 degrees today..but I will make up my own mind if that is what it actually is as the wind chill factor is high!However, I have worn shorts the last few days!
SO that is all for now. Cannot believe this is my last week here. Kinda sad leaving.It has been good to have good company. The group of us is mainly dutch, one very funny german, and New Zealand. They are all lovely and the dutch really are great craic. They are heading to Mozambique next week....and i am off to Namibia. In one way it is a pity that i cannot go....but I suppose once I am on the bus to Namibia..that will be that. They keep winding me up telling me how cold i am going to be...and it is not even funny...cause it will be freezing and I am starting to feel cold just thinking about lying in the desert in the freezing cold..whilst they lie on abeach in mozambique!!(okay..i cant spell that one)
So jsut 5 days left here. Crazy!!Dont know where the time has gone!!!
Right well i shall love you and leave you there as I need to go sort myself out for the day.
Keep me posted
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Friday, July 24, 2009
Post- Party ward rounds.......
Good morning all!Another week has passed by so quickly!Cannot believe it is the weekend already. I just managed to get out of 6hours of my sunday on call...which means i can go away for the weekend!!Whoooop whoooop!On the downside...it means I am in all sunday night..probably shattered!Oh well, I am delighted to be able to get away!
So not much happening in the last few days here. Mainly and lot of goodbyes to the Germans!!With every goodbye there is a bbq and with every bbq comes late nights and wine!!
Wednesday we went to this amazing farmers market.Got fresh blue nose fish and cooked it on the bbq; it was amazing. After we headed out to stellenbosch.....where we ended up going to an Irish bar!!!(Honestly..i thought it was a joke...it is theeeee least likely place in the world for an irish bar!) Anyhow...there was some cultural irish drinking....and then came the weirdest of weirdest of things; fairytale of new york.....and people in christmas hats!!!!!How strange!!
they are celebrating a sort of mini xmass today.it is the 25th..and in the middle of their winter!Very strange altogether!
Yesterday we went to the farmers market again....and the pharmacist as one of the guys has developed SEVERE diarrhoea as he (seriously...you won't believe this!!) drank yellow looking water from a stream on table mountain as they were gasping and had no water and thought it was a "freash water stream"!!Honestly like!!For nearly a week now he has been sick!
Went to see Bruno last night; no comment. Shocking!!
Last night the south africa students held a disco in the gym here; it was like going to Kill all over again!!A school hall with black sack covering the windows!Anyhow,either way we had fun and entertained ourselves. However, the fun continued until 4am in a kitchen drinking tea;that turned out to be the worst idea ever as we forgot (and remembered at 3.50am)that we had teaching at 6.45am!!We flipped a coin to see if we would go....and of course it landed on the "go" side...so go we did.Asleep.Then we went on the ward round....then we had teaching again....and now i am writing this...asleep.
The ward is pretty chilled at the moment. There is a good few free beds and they are clearing them for the weekend of maddness that awaits.It is pay day today..and this is supposedly when all hell breaks loose!!Sunday night should be fun. Going into resus tonight to get aquainted with the dental syringe again. Hopefully this time things will go a bit better!!!
Right, that is all for now. Will be away for the weekend...so will update you on mon/tue (depending on how busy sunday night/mon morning is!)
Love to all....please somebody text me with the score of the hurling game!Will be dying to hear!
Have a good weekend!!
p.s....had my wool winter hat on yesterday!!Brrrrrrrr.....
xxxx
So not much happening in the last few days here. Mainly and lot of goodbyes to the Germans!!With every goodbye there is a bbq and with every bbq comes late nights and wine!!
Wednesday we went to this amazing farmers market.Got fresh blue nose fish and cooked it on the bbq; it was amazing. After we headed out to stellenbosch.....where we ended up going to an Irish bar!!!(Honestly..i thought it was a joke...it is theeeee least likely place in the world for an irish bar!) Anyhow...there was some cultural irish drinking....and then came the weirdest of weirdest of things; fairytale of new york.....and people in christmas hats!!!!!How strange!!
they are celebrating a sort of mini xmass today.it is the 25th..and in the middle of their winter!Very strange altogether!
Yesterday we went to the farmers market again....and the pharmacist as one of the guys has developed SEVERE diarrhoea as he (seriously...you won't believe this!!) drank yellow looking water from a stream on table mountain as they were gasping and had no water and thought it was a "freash water stream"!!Honestly like!!For nearly a week now he has been sick!
Went to see Bruno last night; no comment. Shocking!!
Last night the south africa students held a disco in the gym here; it was like going to Kill all over again!!A school hall with black sack covering the windows!Anyhow,either way we had fun and entertained ourselves. However, the fun continued until 4am in a kitchen drinking tea;that turned out to be the worst idea ever as we forgot (and remembered at 3.50am)that we had teaching at 6.45am!!We flipped a coin to see if we would go....and of course it landed on the "go" side...so go we did.Asleep.Then we went on the ward round....then we had teaching again....and now i am writing this...asleep.
The ward is pretty chilled at the moment. There is a good few free beds and they are clearing them for the weekend of maddness that awaits.It is pay day today..and this is supposedly when all hell breaks loose!!Sunday night should be fun. Going into resus tonight to get aquainted with the dental syringe again. Hopefully this time things will go a bit better!!!
Right, that is all for now. Will be away for the weekend...so will update you on mon/tue (depending on how busy sunday night/mon morning is!)
Love to all....please somebody text me with the score of the hurling game!Will be dying to hear!
Have a good weekend!!
p.s....had my wool winter hat on yesterday!!Brrrrrrrr.....
xxxx
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Milk Tarts and Coffee...
Hi all. Just finished another ward round. After yesterdays soul draining experience we decided to be pro-active and get more involved. I offered my handy blood taking services which turned into a bit of a show with an audience. I had 17 people watching!!Although I have taken blood many times before, it suddenly became very daunting. It is like everyone is watching to see how easily and quickly you can find that vein, assemble the equipment and put it all together without any fuss or a fiasco. Luckily due to the sweat coming off my forehead that soon needed wiping and my past experience of glasgow drug users.....that magical feel of a bouncy hidden vein was felt under my finger tip and I shoved that needle in to see that lovely red flashback of blood when you draw back that syringe!!Pheewww.Show over ladies and gentlemen.
Ps...the nurses here are even scarier than at home. Note: do not mess with the nurses!If you do....they make you look even worse and speak back in a different language!really useful when you want to find a bin for blood covered gloves!
So that was all. No plans for the day yet. Meeting Stan the man for a coffee again tomorrow which is good.
The BBQ last night was also good. Met a lad from Dublin who is a Dundee student!Isn't it funny that the 3 Irish people here are all studying in the UK!!Anyhow, it was all very european and civil with wine and beer and everyone sitting at long tables and sharing the food etc. Had some weird south african sausage which was nice and then a bite of a spare rib...but because it gets dark at 6pm....you couldnt really see if it was cooked or not. Under the light of the moon...it looked rather soft and pink..which was then confirmed by the others who took big bites. I retreated to the corn on the cob and a good old spud.You can't go wrong that way!
So coffee and milk tarts have become the lifesaving post ward round saviour. Milk tarts are a traditional Afrikaans sort of cake thing. Highly calorific...but amazing.
The early mornings are just so normal now. 7.15 or 6.30 is the normal time to rise shine and eat.However, nearly every night you have 7.5hours sleep!even last night, post bbq and wine...it was 11.45 and we were all heading to bed!!The darkness is a natural sleeping pill!
On a serious note, one of the girls in the lodge is from south african. She is a black south african, born into a township and is one of three left in her family of 7. She has buried her parents, sisters and brothers all of HIV and has actually had a tougher life than any one of us reading this would ever imagine possible. If you could ever imagine somebody who is just so warm and lovely it would be her. She laughs...and I swear the whole world laughs with her. (Simon can second that as one night she was on her phone in her bedroom and she was laughing so much..that we were actually laughing...just becuase she is!) Anyhow, I see her with the patients and she is just so naturally good with people. She isnt afraid to go and hold somebodys hand...and she will wipe their face or help them up and do it without a care in the world and not flinch at the awful smells or soiled sheets.
When she was younger, she was determined to do well. She was the first person in her family to finish secondary school and she received a scholarship to study in the US. She did teaching there and whilst there she worked non stop to pay for her tution fees to do medicine. She was unable to apply to South africa as she, as a Black South African, coming from one of the poorest areas didn't stand a chance of getting in to medical school. So she applied to the US and got accepted to Columbia and a number of other top US universities but unfortunatlely couldn't accept due to her finanical situation. She has her acceptance letters in her bedroom. She was showing me them the other day; there were 6 in total. Eventaually she had enough money to cover her years there...and made it to 3rd year without any difficulty. Sadly, at the end of third year she had to return here as two of her siblings died of HIV and she had to pay to bury them. She had to pay for the rest of her family to live from day to day and she had to use that money she had saved to do that.
She returned and completed 4 th year, but is now three years behind her original peers as she has had to stop and start so she can finance each year. She is here now on placement in Cape Town basically to keep a roof over her head and try find a job. She needs about 10,000 euro to head back to the US sit her last exam and be fully qualified. She has been nearly here for a year. She has tried everywhere for work and has asked all sorts of places for funding but has not been lucky. She is religious in the sense that she is so so thankful for everything she has and alwasy says that God has got her this far and he will get her further but she will just have to be patient. She joked saying that God better not let any more family members die in the next year as that would be the end of money yet again.
I actually sat there listening to her, and you see some of the europeans who are now flying on to India for 6 months and than onto Maurituas for a holiday and even just the likes of me who are in South Africa in the first place. It reminds you of how lucky you are. It really really does. I am never ever ever ever going to moan about the debt I am in...!!!!!!if i could give her the money I honestly would!!!And the funny thing is, she will be the best out of all of us. Just naturally better. She told me that she will be the very first Black doctor from the whole area that she is from and she hopes to set up and school and a centre for children in that area. She wants to educate them and help them to finish school and get a better future and move on from that circle of poverty. She says that that is what she wants to do in thanks for the position that she is in.
I will tell you something, it certainly wakes you up. I went to bed the other night after talking to her and i couldnt even sleep. So so sad and certainly puts it into perspective!!I don't know how she does it and the funny thing is......every two minutes she is laughing. She has the best laugh ever and she is a bit like myself in the sense that laughing gets her into trouble. She said that once she starts...she just can't stop...no matter how hard she trys.Said she always got kicked out of class cause she would start everybody else off laughing too.....and you can really understand why if you heard her. She was brough up by her grandparents...and every sunday before mass, her granny would give her a proper lecture about not laughing...and she would always have to set near the back of the church!!
Anyhow, enough of that sad story, but it certainly is food for thought.
Going to head now...as i really need to pee thanks to the coffee and I am going to see what is the story for the day...and who is up for doing something.
Hope all is well and good at home.
Thinking of you all,
xxx
Ps...the nurses here are even scarier than at home. Note: do not mess with the nurses!If you do....they make you look even worse and speak back in a different language!really useful when you want to find a bin for blood covered gloves!
So that was all. No plans for the day yet. Meeting Stan the man for a coffee again tomorrow which is good.
The BBQ last night was also good. Met a lad from Dublin who is a Dundee student!Isn't it funny that the 3 Irish people here are all studying in the UK!!Anyhow, it was all very european and civil with wine and beer and everyone sitting at long tables and sharing the food etc. Had some weird south african sausage which was nice and then a bite of a spare rib...but because it gets dark at 6pm....you couldnt really see if it was cooked or not. Under the light of the moon...it looked rather soft and pink..which was then confirmed by the others who took big bites. I retreated to the corn on the cob and a good old spud.You can't go wrong that way!
So coffee and milk tarts have become the lifesaving post ward round saviour. Milk tarts are a traditional Afrikaans sort of cake thing. Highly calorific...but amazing.
The early mornings are just so normal now. 7.15 or 6.30 is the normal time to rise shine and eat.However, nearly every night you have 7.5hours sleep!even last night, post bbq and wine...it was 11.45 and we were all heading to bed!!The darkness is a natural sleeping pill!
On a serious note, one of the girls in the lodge is from south african. She is a black south african, born into a township and is one of three left in her family of 7. She has buried her parents, sisters and brothers all of HIV and has actually had a tougher life than any one of us reading this would ever imagine possible. If you could ever imagine somebody who is just so warm and lovely it would be her. She laughs...and I swear the whole world laughs with her. (Simon can second that as one night she was on her phone in her bedroom and she was laughing so much..that we were actually laughing...just becuase she is!) Anyhow, I see her with the patients and she is just so naturally good with people. She isnt afraid to go and hold somebodys hand...and she will wipe their face or help them up and do it without a care in the world and not flinch at the awful smells or soiled sheets.
When she was younger, she was determined to do well. She was the first person in her family to finish secondary school and she received a scholarship to study in the US. She did teaching there and whilst there she worked non stop to pay for her tution fees to do medicine. She was unable to apply to South africa as she, as a Black South African, coming from one of the poorest areas didn't stand a chance of getting in to medical school. So she applied to the US and got accepted to Columbia and a number of other top US universities but unfortunatlely couldn't accept due to her finanical situation. She has her acceptance letters in her bedroom. She was showing me them the other day; there were 6 in total. Eventaually she had enough money to cover her years there...and made it to 3rd year without any difficulty. Sadly, at the end of third year she had to return here as two of her siblings died of HIV and she had to pay to bury them. She had to pay for the rest of her family to live from day to day and she had to use that money she had saved to do that.
She returned and completed 4 th year, but is now three years behind her original peers as she has had to stop and start so she can finance each year. She is here now on placement in Cape Town basically to keep a roof over her head and try find a job. She needs about 10,000 euro to head back to the US sit her last exam and be fully qualified. She has been nearly here for a year. She has tried everywhere for work and has asked all sorts of places for funding but has not been lucky. She is religious in the sense that she is so so thankful for everything she has and alwasy says that God has got her this far and he will get her further but she will just have to be patient. She joked saying that God better not let any more family members die in the next year as that would be the end of money yet again.
I actually sat there listening to her, and you see some of the europeans who are now flying on to India for 6 months and than onto Maurituas for a holiday and even just the likes of me who are in South Africa in the first place. It reminds you of how lucky you are. It really really does. I am never ever ever ever going to moan about the debt I am in...!!!!!!if i could give her the money I honestly would!!!And the funny thing is, she will be the best out of all of us. Just naturally better. She told me that she will be the very first Black doctor from the whole area that she is from and she hopes to set up and school and a centre for children in that area. She wants to educate them and help them to finish school and get a better future and move on from that circle of poverty. She says that that is what she wants to do in thanks for the position that she is in.
I will tell you something, it certainly wakes you up. I went to bed the other night after talking to her and i couldnt even sleep. So so sad and certainly puts it into perspective!!I don't know how she does it and the funny thing is......every two minutes she is laughing. She has the best laugh ever and she is a bit like myself in the sense that laughing gets her into trouble. She said that once she starts...she just can't stop...no matter how hard she trys.Said she always got kicked out of class cause she would start everybody else off laughing too.....and you can really understand why if you heard her. She was brough up by her grandparents...and every sunday before mass, her granny would give her a proper lecture about not laughing...and she would always have to set near the back of the church!!
Anyhow, enough of that sad story, but it certainly is food for thought.
Going to head now...as i really need to pee thanks to the coffee and I am going to see what is the story for the day...and who is up for doing something.
Hope all is well and good at home.
Thinking of you all,
xxx
Monday, July 20, 2009
Apologies
Guys, apologies for my spelling and grammar etc.You only get so many minutes on this and you have to pay, so I just beast through it. However, a quick glance over it and I have spotted hundreds of mistakes!!Sorry!!
Anyhow, had fun in Stellenbosch!The sun is high in the south african winter sky today!25 degrees!!Happy days!!
Just about to head for a braai, which is a South African bbq. (They call them braai's)
Buying a hot water bottle was the best thing yet; the sun has not stopped shining since!However, I have been warned that it is due to change on wednesday!!:(!
Keep posting the comments....
xx
Anyhow, had fun in Stellenbosch!The sun is high in the south african winter sky today!25 degrees!!Happy days!!
Just about to head for a braai, which is a South African bbq. (They call them braai's)
Buying a hot water bottle was the best thing yet; the sun has not stopped shining since!However, I have been warned that it is due to change on wednesday!!:(!
Keep posting the comments....
xx
And on the 28th hour........there was sleep!
Hi All, just after coming from the ward round of hell.Was sooooo long.My soul was drained after it.Too much blood and slime and oozing holes for one day.
Was on-call on saturday.28hours. Started early on sat morn and then I had to hang about for that all important dash to theatre where I had to pray to St Anthony that I was not the missing object in that hospital.It is just massive.
Anyhow, turned out the people of South Africa let their fire arms and knives and knitting needles rest for one day. Wasn't too busy at all. (Well like there was at least 6/7 stabbings and a few aputations....but that is actually not busy!) I was in the "front room" which is like our resus area but there is nearly 30 people just lying about...or carring around there chest drain fluid! As I was about to leave to catch a few winks the doc asked me to suture. Being keen and all I said why not. So he said, "great!" ......and continued writing!!Eh hello???So after a bit of poking around....i managed to find a suture kit. Finding the needle was a whole other story.Eventually I found one; a dental needle...floating in a bucket with a dental syringe and some lydocaine( pain relief). So I put 2 & 2 together and figured this was how it was done. At the same time I was a bit iffy about using it without any supervision etc. SO anyhow....I went over to the guy, and then the doc has a canary because I just have normal gloves on...and not sterile gloves on. I mean.....hang on a second here; there is a banana skin on the guys face!??(don't even ask how or why, but he did.....and i wouldnt mind, but at no stage during this "sterile" procedure was the banana skin removed. The "sterile" drapes went on over it!). So of course I remove this bandage on the guys neck to reveal an 8cm laceration (cut) that was about 2/3cm in depth. I swear to god...it was like so deep that I was afraid when i was cleaning it that my finger was going to come out his mouth! So it turns out the guy had been bottled. But never mind the glass in it like.....just clean it with a but of iodine and bobs your uncle!!Some a quick clean... and just some superficial stitches!!no deep ones at all!!Man, at home this guy would have been in theatre for a proper clean out and then probably have a plastic surgeon fix the mess. But no, lucky him....he got me!!So that was my highlight. A few chest drains also. Much more brutal than at home!!So went for a few hours to bed in my scrubs...with one eye on the phone...and half my brain on the directions to the theatre. Needless to say there was not much sleep.
Anyhow, after my meeting with the man stanlely last week, I somehow managed to spend at least 30 mins in a supermarket down the heater section where I eventually purchased a hot water bottle. Which I must admit has turned out to be the best hot water bottle in the world. Anyhow, yesterday I decided to help warm myself up...I would go and do a spot of surfing in the atlantic!!!not!!After 20 mins in a wetsuit the hypothermia set in...and last night my toes started to move again!!5 of us went to Muizenberg bay where there were at 300 south africans just surfing!It was amazing.So we hired the board and the wet suit for like 8 euros...and off we went!!Actually...I tell a lie....I didn't really get a surf board. I looked at the size of it and thought to myself, If ever there was going to be a way to knock myself out...that was going to be it. (I had already banged the corner of my eye off the desk the other day...and walked into the shower door still half asleep). So I opted for a boogie board. So off I went and rided the waves and eventually managed to get the hang of it. After a good wave I would end up on the beach though rolling around like some big lost seal trying to find its way back to the ocean. Between the waves coming and going you wouldn't know where you were. So after that we headed to the rich and famous Camps Bay where we had some food on the beach and watched the best sunset ever. Typically, my camera had died!!! We then headed up to a cocktail bar and then just on to another pub. Cant make up my mind about the south africa crowd. They were wathcing golf in the bar...and half dancing to 80's music.
Anhow, must run.Going to taste some wine again in the vineyards. Tough life in trauma medicine!!!
Talk soon, hope all is well at home. KAy, I finally got your comments. It wasnt working for me either!!!I dont know what is wrong with it!!
Love to all,
xxxxxxx
Was on-call on saturday.28hours. Started early on sat morn and then I had to hang about for that all important dash to theatre where I had to pray to St Anthony that I was not the missing object in that hospital.It is just massive.
Anyhow, turned out the people of South Africa let their fire arms and knives and knitting needles rest for one day. Wasn't too busy at all. (Well like there was at least 6/7 stabbings and a few aputations....but that is actually not busy!) I was in the "front room" which is like our resus area but there is nearly 30 people just lying about...or carring around there chest drain fluid! As I was about to leave to catch a few winks the doc asked me to suture. Being keen and all I said why not. So he said, "great!" ......and continued writing!!Eh hello???So after a bit of poking around....i managed to find a suture kit. Finding the needle was a whole other story.Eventually I found one; a dental needle...floating in a bucket with a dental syringe and some lydocaine( pain relief). So I put 2 & 2 together and figured this was how it was done. At the same time I was a bit iffy about using it without any supervision etc. SO anyhow....I went over to the guy, and then the doc has a canary because I just have normal gloves on...and not sterile gloves on. I mean.....hang on a second here; there is a banana skin on the guys face!??(don't even ask how or why, but he did.....and i wouldnt mind, but at no stage during this "sterile" procedure was the banana skin removed. The "sterile" drapes went on over it!). So of course I remove this bandage on the guys neck to reveal an 8cm laceration (cut) that was about 2/3cm in depth. I swear to god...it was like so deep that I was afraid when i was cleaning it that my finger was going to come out his mouth! So it turns out the guy had been bottled. But never mind the glass in it like.....just clean it with a but of iodine and bobs your uncle!!Some a quick clean... and just some superficial stitches!!no deep ones at all!!Man, at home this guy would have been in theatre for a proper clean out and then probably have a plastic surgeon fix the mess. But no, lucky him....he got me!!So that was my highlight. A few chest drains also. Much more brutal than at home!!So went for a few hours to bed in my scrubs...with one eye on the phone...and half my brain on the directions to the theatre. Needless to say there was not much sleep.
Anyhow, after my meeting with the man stanlely last week, I somehow managed to spend at least 30 mins in a supermarket down the heater section where I eventually purchased a hot water bottle. Which I must admit has turned out to be the best hot water bottle in the world. Anyhow, yesterday I decided to help warm myself up...I would go and do a spot of surfing in the atlantic!!!not!!After 20 mins in a wetsuit the hypothermia set in...and last night my toes started to move again!!5 of us went to Muizenberg bay where there were at 300 south africans just surfing!It was amazing.So we hired the board and the wet suit for like 8 euros...and off we went!!Actually...I tell a lie....I didn't really get a surf board. I looked at the size of it and thought to myself, If ever there was going to be a way to knock myself out...that was going to be it. (I had already banged the corner of my eye off the desk the other day...and walked into the shower door still half asleep). So I opted for a boogie board. So off I went and rided the waves and eventually managed to get the hang of it. After a good wave I would end up on the beach though rolling around like some big lost seal trying to find its way back to the ocean. Between the waves coming and going you wouldn't know where you were. So after that we headed to the rich and famous Camps Bay where we had some food on the beach and watched the best sunset ever. Typically, my camera had died!!! We then headed up to a cocktail bar and then just on to another pub. Cant make up my mind about the south africa crowd. They were wathcing golf in the bar...and half dancing to 80's music.
Anhow, must run.Going to taste some wine again in the vineyards. Tough life in trauma medicine!!!
Talk soon, hope all is well at home. KAy, I finally got your comments. It wasnt working for me either!!!I dont know what is wrong with it!!
Love to all,
xxxxxxx
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Man: Stanley
How I could cry...........it never saved or posted this comment.I want to cry. I will update you at another point. Gutted.
On call for 24 hours tomorrow. It will be filled with shooting,surgery and suturing and by the sounds of it...it will be a long crazy 24 hours.
Briefly:
....had teaching at 6.45am this morning. I will just repeat that again to highlight that. 6.45am. man!!
On call for 24 hours tomorrow. It will be filled with shooting,surgery and suturing and by the sounds of it...it will be a long crazy 24 hours.
Briefly:
....had teaching at 6.45am this morning. I will just repeat that again to highlight that. 6.45am. man!!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Back from Holidays.......
Hi All!
The little adventure is over and I am back to the real world of trauma and Simon is off to Durban. There were tears this morning in the airport..............:(
Anyhow, we had a fab time!It just flew by!!However, our money would not have stretched much further.We have been struggling.IT IS NOT CHEAP HERE AT ALL!!!!!!!
Day 1 started with the vineyards!9 tasters!!!my god...i could not walk!!!It was amazing though.Theee most beautiful place in the world!!AND it was called the Waterford Estate!!Funnily enough the man told us that every waterford person who has been to cape town turns up at there door in waterford jerseys etc thinking there is some link.....but there isn't!However, they now use waterford crystal glassses. The name is simple; it is near a waterfall and his name is Ford.Anyhow, spent a fab they there. Was jsut gorgeous.
We then made our way down to the Tip of Africa. Played with some pigs and looked at the amazing coastline.
Next we headed to our gorgoeus B&B on the coast in Sea Point. It was a bargin!!We had booked this on expedia.It was unreal for the price and an amazing breakfast. Luckily, the sun shone for most of the holiday too. However, the day we left Sea Point they all got washed out of it and we saw a picture of it on the news with cars floating and people on boats etc. Proper flash floods!!We missed all of it.
Anyhow, moved on from there to Hermanus where the plan was to go shark diving.You will all be very glad to hear that we never went dicing with death due to the price.It was like 150 quid!!!!NO WAY!So we had to leave that.However, we did see a whale which was pretty cool. It swung its tail up but that was about the extent of it.
From here we moved onto a Game lodge which was brilliant!!We arrived late and spent the night by the fire and then retreated to our wooden hut. We were warned to watch for roaming animals but that they would not go near us etc. It was pitch black so we couldnt see anything but the next morning there were a few zebra chilling near our door which was random.
We went on an early morning drive (7am) and saw most animals. We had a rather scary encounter with Lions that I will NEVER FORGET as I had to pray to St Patrick that i would not be getting chewd off the bone!!!We went in......6 of us....in our little Land Rover that tended not to start very well......and of course the two females were having none of it. The both stood up and peered at us and the guide was like...."I'm just going to keep the engine running for now". he said that lions standing up was not good. (at this point the sweats start!) Then he goes on the radio and he is like, "Covered enclosed truck for feeding.....don't come in with the open top"!Here we are like sitting a few metres from them ...open as anything. As soon as the truck entered they ran down the hill...and he reversed out quickly to join the other two safari trucks who were all peering in on the other side of the fence looking at us. At this point we were surrounded by 3 Lions and I thought...."this is it". I actually nearly cried. Anyhow...it the end we made it out alive. PHEEEWWWW!!!
Saw some manky slithering snakes too.He wanted to get us to hold them.NO WAY!It actually ran off up the guys sleeve and up his chest and he thought this was funny like!!!??
Next day we went to Knysa were we went on a Township drive. This was with a man from the poorest areas where the people live in shacks with no water or electricity. It was really sad like. We went into this house and it was half the sixe of my bedroom for two kids, husband and wife. It had Spar posters as the roof like and the rain was coming in. I felt really sad and I suppose it reminds you how crazy South Africa is. There is a view from the township called Millionaires View and it looks down onto some of theeee most amazing houses. We had stayed there the night before and it just is such a stark constrast fromt he shack we were in with pigs running about. Having said that. new houses are being built and to be honsest what I have really learned is that charity starts at home and the South African Govenerment are building some houses, but like in this day in age, nobody should be living with no water or electricy in a country that is booming. I am not so sure people here want to help the people of the townships. I cannot understand how there is not more voluntary soup kitchens or educational schemes or more doctors helping there. The majority of the help comes from the more well -off people withing the township (who are by no means well off!!!). They have children in their houses so the parents can go find work. Or feed the poor or do what they can to help out they sick. A little kid came over to the guy we were with and he slipped him a few pence to go get bread. He said it was the school holidays now and both of his parents had HIV. Normally the children get fed in school but because they were on holidays the mother spotted this guide and he gave a few pence to him to go buy food.
On the other hand....the country is riddled with money. We drove on some of the best roads. There are speed cameras everywhere and random poloice checks for tax, insurance and your driving licence. People drive slowly and carefully and you would jsut never believe sometimes that you were in Africa.
From Knysa we went to Monkeyland...and then on to Tstisakamma National Park which was beautiful.AMAZING WAVES!!! From here we went zip-lining across waterfalls which was class. The longest zipline was 230 metres. Scary but brilliant.
We then stayed in the Armagh Lodge. (and yes this one did have an Irish connection) It was beautiful. Our room was amazing.The bed was HUGE. and they had a huge big fire lit which was gorgeous. (Clearly we have converted to the cold weather!)
From here we went onto Addo National Park. The town of Addo is theeeee weirdest oddoest place on earth. just weird. Feels like something from a horror film. It was also miles up a dirt road and there are just no light wat-so-ever. Eventually we found somewhere to stay; a mud hut!!no joke!it was actaully a mud-hut but a lovely one. We were surrounded by beatufiul orange trees and the breakfast was amazing. We stayed here for two nights. We went into Addo National Park yesterday which was brilliant. We decided to drive ourselevs around. BIG TIP COMING UP: Dont go on safari in a polo!!!!!man....you need a 4x4!!Anyhow, we were driving along and out come the elephants across this little path. Baby, mam and dad. Amazing!!The park is 120,000 hectares so it is pretty big like. We also saw lions which was scary, and loads of Kudu which is like a deer type thing. Also saw warthog which are TINY!!!Man, I thought they would be the size of Rhino...but they are like ugly dogs!!The Lion King clearly did not get their sizing right!We were so close to elephants it was brilliant. Also, on our way home....this massive heard of buffalo just came out of nowhere and crossed in front of us. The guide on the previous tour told us they were the most aggresive of the big 5...and so Kerr reversed very quickly back and we waited till they were passed. We then went on a night drive. IT WAS BALTIC!!!!!like i think i may have had mild hypothermia. It was class though. The amount of different random animals that come out and night is class. We saw the Lions also and we got rather close. This time they were thankfully not interested. The stars were unforgettable.
So that was basically the last few days. I am back in the hospital now to freezing wet cape town. We have had good weather for the past few days so it is horrible coming back to this.
Just on a random note....I can't remember if I said,but it gets dark here at 6pm. Like pitch dark. We have been asleep by like 10pm most nights. Really very strange. There are few hours of daylight here and you need to use them wisely because after 6pm..you cannot see a thing.
Right well that is all for now.
To the Kerr Family.....Simon is in Durban.He still has no working phone but will be back monday. He is safe and well.
To Sarah...HAPPY BIRTHDAY for tomorrow. I hope you got the card.
And to my family....HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME?????????A TEXT?? A REPLY TO THIS????ALSO EH...THE MUNSTER FINAL???THE SCORE???
Love you all, talk soon,
xxxxxxxxxx
The little adventure is over and I am back to the real world of trauma and Simon is off to Durban. There were tears this morning in the airport..............:(
Anyhow, we had a fab time!It just flew by!!However, our money would not have stretched much further.We have been struggling.IT IS NOT CHEAP HERE AT ALL!!!!!!!
Day 1 started with the vineyards!9 tasters!!!my god...i could not walk!!!It was amazing though.Theee most beautiful place in the world!!AND it was called the Waterford Estate!!Funnily enough the man told us that every waterford person who has been to cape town turns up at there door in waterford jerseys etc thinking there is some link.....but there isn't!However, they now use waterford crystal glassses. The name is simple; it is near a waterfall and his name is Ford.Anyhow, spent a fab they there. Was jsut gorgeous.
We then made our way down to the Tip of Africa. Played with some pigs and looked at the amazing coastline.
Next we headed to our gorgoeus B&B on the coast in Sea Point. It was a bargin!!We had booked this on expedia.It was unreal for the price and an amazing breakfast. Luckily, the sun shone for most of the holiday too. However, the day we left Sea Point they all got washed out of it and we saw a picture of it on the news with cars floating and people on boats etc. Proper flash floods!!We missed all of it.
Anyhow, moved on from there to Hermanus where the plan was to go shark diving.You will all be very glad to hear that we never went dicing with death due to the price.It was like 150 quid!!!!NO WAY!So we had to leave that.However, we did see a whale which was pretty cool. It swung its tail up but that was about the extent of it.
From here we moved onto a Game lodge which was brilliant!!We arrived late and spent the night by the fire and then retreated to our wooden hut. We were warned to watch for roaming animals but that they would not go near us etc. It was pitch black so we couldnt see anything but the next morning there were a few zebra chilling near our door which was random.
We went on an early morning drive (7am) and saw most animals. We had a rather scary encounter with Lions that I will NEVER FORGET as I had to pray to St Patrick that i would not be getting chewd off the bone!!!We went in......6 of us....in our little Land Rover that tended not to start very well......and of course the two females were having none of it. The both stood up and peered at us and the guide was like...."I'm just going to keep the engine running for now". he said that lions standing up was not good. (at this point the sweats start!) Then he goes on the radio and he is like, "Covered enclosed truck for feeding.....don't come in with the open top"!Here we are like sitting a few metres from them ...open as anything. As soon as the truck entered they ran down the hill...and he reversed out quickly to join the other two safari trucks who were all peering in on the other side of the fence looking at us. At this point we were surrounded by 3 Lions and I thought...."this is it". I actually nearly cried. Anyhow...it the end we made it out alive. PHEEEWWWW!!!
Saw some manky slithering snakes too.He wanted to get us to hold them.NO WAY!It actually ran off up the guys sleeve and up his chest and he thought this was funny like!!!??
Next day we went to Knysa were we went on a Township drive. This was with a man from the poorest areas where the people live in shacks with no water or electricity. It was really sad like. We went into this house and it was half the sixe of my bedroom for two kids, husband and wife. It had Spar posters as the roof like and the rain was coming in. I felt really sad and I suppose it reminds you how crazy South Africa is. There is a view from the township called Millionaires View and it looks down onto some of theeee most amazing houses. We had stayed there the night before and it just is such a stark constrast fromt he shack we were in with pigs running about. Having said that. new houses are being built and to be honsest what I have really learned is that charity starts at home and the South African Govenerment are building some houses, but like in this day in age, nobody should be living with no water or electricy in a country that is booming. I am not so sure people here want to help the people of the townships. I cannot understand how there is not more voluntary soup kitchens or educational schemes or more doctors helping there. The majority of the help comes from the more well -off people withing the township (who are by no means well off!!!). They have children in their houses so the parents can go find work. Or feed the poor or do what they can to help out they sick. A little kid came over to the guy we were with and he slipped him a few pence to go get bread. He said it was the school holidays now and both of his parents had HIV. Normally the children get fed in school but because they were on holidays the mother spotted this guide and he gave a few pence to him to go buy food.
On the other hand....the country is riddled with money. We drove on some of the best roads. There are speed cameras everywhere and random poloice checks for tax, insurance and your driving licence. People drive slowly and carefully and you would jsut never believe sometimes that you were in Africa.
From Knysa we went to Monkeyland...and then on to Tstisakamma National Park which was beautiful.AMAZING WAVES!!! From here we went zip-lining across waterfalls which was class. The longest zipline was 230 metres. Scary but brilliant.
We then stayed in the Armagh Lodge. (and yes this one did have an Irish connection) It was beautiful. Our room was amazing.The bed was HUGE. and they had a huge big fire lit which was gorgeous. (Clearly we have converted to the cold weather!)
From here we went onto Addo National Park. The town of Addo is theeeee weirdest oddoest place on earth. just weird. Feels like something from a horror film. It was also miles up a dirt road and there are just no light wat-so-ever. Eventually we found somewhere to stay; a mud hut!!no joke!it was actaully a mud-hut but a lovely one. We were surrounded by beatufiul orange trees and the breakfast was amazing. We stayed here for two nights. We went into Addo National Park yesterday which was brilliant. We decided to drive ourselevs around. BIG TIP COMING UP: Dont go on safari in a polo!!!!!man....you need a 4x4!!Anyhow, we were driving along and out come the elephants across this little path. Baby, mam and dad. Amazing!!The park is 120,000 hectares so it is pretty big like. We also saw lions which was scary, and loads of Kudu which is like a deer type thing. Also saw warthog which are TINY!!!Man, I thought they would be the size of Rhino...but they are like ugly dogs!!The Lion King clearly did not get their sizing right!We were so close to elephants it was brilliant. Also, on our way home....this massive heard of buffalo just came out of nowhere and crossed in front of us. The guide on the previous tour told us they were the most aggresive of the big 5...and so Kerr reversed very quickly back and we waited till they were passed. We then went on a night drive. IT WAS BALTIC!!!!!like i think i may have had mild hypothermia. It was class though. The amount of different random animals that come out and night is class. We saw the Lions also and we got rather close. This time they were thankfully not interested. The stars were unforgettable.
So that was basically the last few days. I am back in the hospital now to freezing wet cape town. We have had good weather for the past few days so it is horrible coming back to this.
Just on a random note....I can't remember if I said,but it gets dark here at 6pm. Like pitch dark. We have been asleep by like 10pm most nights. Really very strange. There are few hours of daylight here and you need to use them wisely because after 6pm..you cannot see a thing.
Right well that is all for now.
To the Kerr Family.....Simon is in Durban.He still has no working phone but will be back monday. He is safe and well.
To Sarah...HAPPY BIRTHDAY for tomorrow. I hope you got the card.
And to my family....HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME?????????A TEXT?? A REPLY TO THIS????ALSO EH...THE MUNSTER FINAL???THE SCORE???
Love you all, talk soon,
xxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Hi from Frreeeeezing Africa!!
Hi all,
Sitting here in the computer room, just finished the 7.45am ward round!!(need to type fast as we get charged for using internet so sossy for all the spelling mistakes!
Well where to begin....
Flight was long...12 hours sitting in the same spot gives you one sore arse!!
We arrived and hired the car which was no problem at all. The roads are actually great.Much better than in Ireland!!!much better.We have had no trouble at all.And suprisingly they drive very slowly here.
The divide between the wealthy and the poor is just so vast here it is unexplainable. On the way in on the flight, you fly over cape flats. Tin huts and fires. No runnning water or electricity. On the other hand, if you drive near camps bay...you see houses that you would not see in the smartest area of california. The architecture and design here is just unreal. Really fantastic.
The scenery is just amazing.Table mountain in unreal!!Went to Robon Island yesterday.It was where Nelson Mandela was kept.You get shown around by one of the ex prisoners.Very sad...but really good.Went to Cape pint the other day too.The drive down is amazing.You go along the coast and then through the wine lands.Really nice. On teh way down we were playing with the penguins on the beach which was class and then we had to stop to leave some of the baboons pass on the road.we also have seen some other random animals like turtles etc walking along the road happy as larry!No snakes yet though!!!!!
The new stadium for 2010 world cup is amazing.it is just on the waterfront.The waterfront is such a beautiful spot.Really lovely.The food and design of houses and restuarents is just second to none.The hospitality is all really very good!!The place is spotless and there is a lot of security men wandering around which makes you feel safe.
Regarding payement for things.....South Africa is nearly the same price as home!!!All ye feckers who have been here lied!!!!!!We are having picnics for the rest of the week!!!
Regarding the hospital....well what can I say. Honest to God.Un-bel-lieve-able. It is MASSIVE!!!!like bigger then the southern general or the royal. It is all balck people here. (sorry, I am not trying to be racist or anything, it is just the way it is here). It is a poor mans hospital.Although, it is mega sub standard for us europeans.....it is actually of very high standards for this area. I went on the ward round and like came back in need of a hospital bed myself. It is just propely crazy. There is always two medical students on call.....and I really mean on call. I was told yesterday that we are needed and depended on to ensure the running of the hospital. We get called into surgery at all sorts of hours and it is just you and the surgeon. You are actually the assistant!!!You are the one that has to treat and discharge and you get assigned your own patients. The doctor who was on the ward round this morning has been on now for nearly 35 hours!!!The medical student had also just come from being in surgery all during the night!!
I saw more stabbings and shootings yesterday on one ward round than what i have seen in 15 weeks of a&e in the royal,paisley and HEMS in London. The south african med students are always on call...and they are just brilliant.The are so hands on and just get stuck in.The hospital depends on them.It really shows you how we are just so protected and molly-coddled in the Uk and Ireland. I definetly think after spending just two days here that it should be more like the US and here and we should be made go on call and do nights and take responsibility. There is just so much government input at home that it takes away from the medical experience and they just suit themselves. People dance around patients at home and people complain so much at home. Over here,you are just told how it is and that is the end of it. There is none of this...."well looking at this chart here...you fit into this Super obese category...and therfore it would be advisable to lose some weight". Here it is, "you are fat,therefore...lose weight or you will be dead in less than five years!"
Anyhow, away from the hospital side of things,the lodge is really nice and safe. The other student are lovely. mainly Dutch, german, some Uk and one other fellow Irish man!!I Swear to god.......every minute of the day I hear him ask somebody, "will you have a cup of tea??" So funny. They are all lovely. Facilites for us are good and we have an outdoor pool and tennis courts etc.
Em...and regarding the weather.....well it is just baltic.Honestly. I am in bed with a duvet, sleeping bag and fleece!!!!The weather is sunny like, but chilly wind. Like a fresh december morning!!!!I honestly did not expect it to be like this at all!!!!I thought it would be much warmer!!
Oh and just before I go...randomly on Robon Island yesterday, before it was a prison a gang of irish landed there during the famine and therefore there is an area called Irish Town on it. I was also in Bantry Bay last night, Glencairn on Monday and passed the Dunmore apartments??!!Very strange like!!Oh and also, we drank wine last night from the Waterford estate!!
We are actually going on the wine land tours this afternoon!!
Better go, all is well and good anyhow. Nothing negative at all so far. But to all of you of little fate....I have not ventured down dark alleys, or scary roads or spoken to strangers etc!!!!!
Talk soon, it may be after the Garden route so it will be next friday probably.
Love ye all,
Laura
xxxx
Sitting here in the computer room, just finished the 7.45am ward round!!(need to type fast as we get charged for using internet so sossy for all the spelling mistakes!
Well where to begin....
Flight was long...12 hours sitting in the same spot gives you one sore arse!!
We arrived and hired the car which was no problem at all. The roads are actually great.Much better than in Ireland!!!much better.We have had no trouble at all.And suprisingly they drive very slowly here.
The divide between the wealthy and the poor is just so vast here it is unexplainable. On the way in on the flight, you fly over cape flats. Tin huts and fires. No runnning water or electricity. On the other hand, if you drive near camps bay...you see houses that you would not see in the smartest area of california. The architecture and design here is just unreal. Really fantastic.
The scenery is just amazing.Table mountain in unreal!!Went to Robon Island yesterday.It was where Nelson Mandela was kept.You get shown around by one of the ex prisoners.Very sad...but really good.Went to Cape pint the other day too.The drive down is amazing.You go along the coast and then through the wine lands.Really nice. On teh way down we were playing with the penguins on the beach which was class and then we had to stop to leave some of the baboons pass on the road.we also have seen some other random animals like turtles etc walking along the road happy as larry!No snakes yet though!!!!!
The new stadium for 2010 world cup is amazing.it is just on the waterfront.The waterfront is such a beautiful spot.Really lovely.The food and design of houses and restuarents is just second to none.The hospitality is all really very good!!The place is spotless and there is a lot of security men wandering around which makes you feel safe.
Regarding payement for things.....South Africa is nearly the same price as home!!!All ye feckers who have been here lied!!!!!!We are having picnics for the rest of the week!!!
Regarding the hospital....well what can I say. Honest to God.Un-bel-lieve-able. It is MASSIVE!!!!like bigger then the southern general or the royal. It is all balck people here. (sorry, I am not trying to be racist or anything, it is just the way it is here). It is a poor mans hospital.Although, it is mega sub standard for us europeans.....it is actually of very high standards for this area. I went on the ward round and like came back in need of a hospital bed myself. It is just propely crazy. There is always two medical students on call.....and I really mean on call. I was told yesterday that we are needed and depended on to ensure the running of the hospital. We get called into surgery at all sorts of hours and it is just you and the surgeon. You are actually the assistant!!!You are the one that has to treat and discharge and you get assigned your own patients. The doctor who was on the ward round this morning has been on now for nearly 35 hours!!!The medical student had also just come from being in surgery all during the night!!
I saw more stabbings and shootings yesterday on one ward round than what i have seen in 15 weeks of a&e in the royal,paisley and HEMS in London. The south african med students are always on call...and they are just brilliant.The are so hands on and just get stuck in.The hospital depends on them.It really shows you how we are just so protected and molly-coddled in the Uk and Ireland. I definetly think after spending just two days here that it should be more like the US and here and we should be made go on call and do nights and take responsibility. There is just so much government input at home that it takes away from the medical experience and they just suit themselves. People dance around patients at home and people complain so much at home. Over here,you are just told how it is and that is the end of it. There is none of this...."well looking at this chart here...you fit into this Super obese category...and therfore it would be advisable to lose some weight". Here it is, "you are fat,therefore...lose weight or you will be dead in less than five years!"
Anyhow, away from the hospital side of things,the lodge is really nice and safe. The other student are lovely. mainly Dutch, german, some Uk and one other fellow Irish man!!I Swear to god.......every minute of the day I hear him ask somebody, "will you have a cup of tea??" So funny. They are all lovely. Facilites for us are good and we have an outdoor pool and tennis courts etc.
Em...and regarding the weather.....well it is just baltic.Honestly. I am in bed with a duvet, sleeping bag and fleece!!!!The weather is sunny like, but chilly wind. Like a fresh december morning!!!!I honestly did not expect it to be like this at all!!!!I thought it would be much warmer!!
Oh and just before I go...randomly on Robon Island yesterday, before it was a prison a gang of irish landed there during the famine and therefore there is an area called Irish Town on it. I was also in Bantry Bay last night, Glencairn on Monday and passed the Dunmore apartments??!!Very strange like!!Oh and also, we drank wine last night from the Waterford estate!!
We are actually going on the wine land tours this afternoon!!
Better go, all is well and good anyhow. Nothing negative at all so far. But to all of you of little fate....I have not ventured down dark alleys, or scary roads or spoken to strangers etc!!!!!
Talk soon, it may be after the Garden route so it will be next friday probably.
Love ye all,
Laura
xxxx
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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