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