Shenanigans around the globe

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