Shenanigans around the globe

I arrived home and promptly burst into tears upon seeing my two year nephew tanking around the airport. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite an emotional person, at least while watching/reading things but I don't generally cry at real life. My family all seem to find it funny that I cried arriving home but not when I left (says it all really). I've only been home a few days but feel really displaced, kinda like I'm not home. I've been told that for every year spent abroad it takes six months to adjust when returning home, I wonder if this means as I was gone two months it will take me a month to adjust? I know two months isn't that long, but it felt longer. The day after I got back I went for coffee with my mum, getting on the double decker bus, I exclaimed "there's so much space", it just slipped out, I'm definitely noticing these things more. Walking through the busy city centre was a bit over-whelming, as was the huge choice in neros - so many

I have enjoyed my time in Africa so much, I don't think I can actually say how much in words. I have watched countless sunsets, each as spectacular as the last. I have watched the moon set over lake Malawi and rise over the Indian Ocean.  I have seen too many shooting stars to count. I have stood above the clouds looking out over Malawi, into the distance of Mozambique. I have jumped from a high ledge into a 60m deep pool by a waterfall. I was asked to be an actress in a Tanzanian film. I have eaten roasting nsima by hand. I have donated blood to a patient and doubled her haemoglobin count. I have swam in Lake Malawi under a bright moon and slept on the beach under the stars. I have drunk the most fanta and carlsberg in my life. I have sat in on a spontaneous marital counselling session, on a palliative care home visit.   I have danced to a live band and with a bunch of kids, including an 18 month old who had better control of her body and more rhythm than me. I have learnt how to

After leaving Malawi, we flew to Dar es Salaam (via Ethiopia again). The flights were fine I just slept and ate, we were lucky enough to have the long-leg-room seats on the first plane and I was by the window which was an extra bonus, on the second flight we had a row of three seats each. We arrived at 1.25am which seems to be the best time to arrive at Dar as immigration only took 30minutes (opposed to the 3hours the first time round). It is however the nicest visa in my passport-it even has my picture in it.  We were met by a family friend, Reuben and his eldest daughter Rebecca, who we stayed with for four nights. Reuben runs many projects, he supervises a nursery where there is also a feeding programme, he has a small farm for producing food, mainly for the nursery, and he works at a school. We didn't get back to theirs until after 2.30 so it was straight to bed. The next morning we were up early for a two and a half hour long church service, the music was great but as the whol

My last week in Malawi was spent travelling around to see more of the country. After our final workshop on the Saturday (which was a great success) we were free. On the Sunday we got up bright and early to head to Lake Malawi, Max the med-student joined us which was pretty handy as he often carried our giant rucksacks. Getting my final bike taxi down to Chitakali was quite emotional, the sun was still rising, sending rays up behind the mountain, not a view I will forget anytime soon. We then started our mammoth minibus journey, which took 11hours (if we had a car it would of been about 4hours). It was the usual uncomfortableness and I'm surprised I still have a pinky toe left as everyone in the three buses stood on it getting on and off the bus. There was a very cute wee baby boy dancing, who had the best smile, so at least we had a bit of entertainment for awhile. Our final bus took us from Monkey Bay to our accommodation in Cape Mclear, as we were driving through the hills the su

We went to Majete wildlife reserve with Clare and the med students, it was a lovely wee safari, saw lots of antelope and their cousins. We had breakfast in this elevated hut watching two hippos dance around each other, which was very entertaining. Plus I had bacon for the first time in months and proper coffee so it was a very good day. The elephants in this park have been chased (by poachers etc) so chase cars when they get too close. We got too close so got chased by a bull elephant which was fun and a bit scary. After the visit to the park we went across the road to this lodge that has an amazing infinity pool over looking the river, we took heaps of underwater pictures and basically acted like a bunch of kids, you would think we had never been in a swimming pool before. The following day me and Lynsey headed up to the waterfalls which are about an hour up Mount Mulanje. We had to get a minibus to the base which I think was the worst minibus journey so far, I had an eight (or so) ye

A couple Fridays ago we went to Clare's for drinks before heading to pizza which was fun. At pizza we had yummy food, good chat and a couple of beers. On the way home, we passed a crashed car and an over turned mini-bus. so as there was 2 doctors, 3 med. students, 2 nursing students and 1 wanna be med student, we stopped to see if we could help. luckily no-one was seriously hurt, but the driver had some pretty nasty cuts on his arm so we piled him and this other fellow into the land-rover to take him to the hospital. Apparently they were being chased by the MRA (or something) for smuggling stuff in from Mozambique. That Saturday we had our first workshop which went really well. There was over 50 kids, ranging from 7 to early 20s. Really pleased we managed to pull them off. For more details go to hemyandlynsey.blogspot.com After the workshops we crammed ourselves into another minibus to go to Blantyre for two nights. The hot shower was as good as I remembered and I ended up havi

I was thinking a few nights ago that I didn't think this experience would change me like I was expecting it to. However the last couple of days I can feel this change happening. I feel so lucky for all I have at home, because really it does come down to luck (or a higher power or whatever else you may believe in) no one chooses where they are born or to what family. I know many people who think they were born in the wrong era, or in the wrong country as they feel much more at home elsewhere. But then again home is where the heart is, not where it started beating. One of the nurses on my ward invited me to her house for dinner, which of course I accepted eagerly, she lives alone with her husband and two daughters living in Blantyre (she has been on the waiting list for a job at one of the government hospitals in Blantyre for 10 years). I think she gets lonely as she is very chatty and loves company (often taking me to the labs or pharmacy when she goes). She made nsima, a tomat

It's been a busy few weeks, I was on placement last Monday-Thursday, working hard on the female ward. One day I was invited to join my mentor, Shyreen, for a tea-break (the only one i've had), when she offered me tea I said yes, and was really looking forward to it, although it turned out she had forgotten the tea so we had sugary hot water, with sweet potatoes as that if often eaten for breakfast, it was slightly strange but good.  The weather was dreadful all week with heavy rains and cold temperatures. It didn't help my mood to hear it was 29 degrees in Glasgow, but now we have blue skies again I don't care. The usual golf club dinner on Thursday was cancelled due to the weather, but luckily we always have something to rustle up in the house (that night we had home made chips and a fried egg). On Friday we walked to Chitakali again but went a different route, we thought it would be quicker (it was by an hour) but we ended up following this girl to her house, as the p

We left Glasgow at 9.30pm on Sunday, we flew to Dubai airport, there was a bit of turbulence and at one point I was woken up by a air-hostess shouting for help, it was a bit disconcerting but it turned out a man had collapsed/fainted and there happened to be a doctor sitting near me who jumped up to help.All was well. We only had three hours at Dubai airport which passed quite quickly, we had food at McDonalds and I must say it was the best McDonalds I have ever had. Will definitely be eating there on the journey home. We then flew to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, I slept for most of the flight. We were delayed landing, as we had to circle the airport as there was VIP movement and the airport was closed. The VIP turned out to be President Obama, we passed his plane on the runway when we eventually arrived. Immigration at Dar was a bit of an event. After filling out a form you give it to a man who also takes your passport and $30. He then disappeared behind a counter, with everything. we t

I'm all packed. My uni assignment was completed and handed in a couple of hours ago (i'm a bit of a last minute sorta person). My kindle has 35 books on it, and six documents about HIV, for the health education workshops i'll be doing. I saw my last movie at the cinema last night, for a while. I'm getting very nervous, about the horrible flight plan and the unknown of Malawi and nursing over there. I will update this as much as possible but I'm not sure what my internet situation will be like. My brain feels all frazzled, so this may be a little disjointed. Need to leave in 45minutes so I am going to go be sociable with my mum and sisters and eat some baguette.

I am new to blogging, so will start by introducing myself. My name is Rehema but the majority of people call me Hemy or some variation of that. I'm 22 and have a severe case of the travel bug (i blame my parents). I was born in Nairobi, Kenya where I stayed for the first few months of my life, then moved to Scotland briefly before moving on to Jumla then Kathmandu, both in Nepal. We lived in Nepal until I was eight. My parents then decided to move us to Scotland (where they are both from), where I stayed (except the odd month here and there) until I was 17. I finished secondary school the same year my eldest sister finished university, so we decided to do a round-the-world trip going to New York, Vancouver, Fiji and New Zealand before settling in Melbourne, Australia. I lived in Melbourne for 13months and then my working visa expired and I sadly had to come home, but i did manage to bring a lovely Aussie fellow with me. I started a nursing degree in 2011 and am currently in my seco