Fragments

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 make bread.

I have been greeted individually by all the adults in a village.

I have seen the Milky Way from my back garden and lying on the beach.

I have been chanted at by kids (AZUNGU AZUNGU AZUNGU).

I have had sunburn on my toes and behind my knees

I have felt welcomed by every Malawian I met.

I have had endless discussions about food on a daily basis.

I have eaten over a kilo of rab's peanut butter.

I have laughed until tears were streaming down my face and I couldn't breath, frequently.

I have had hot, warm, tepid, cold, freezing showers and bucket washes and one two-inch-warmish bath.

I have had kids touch my feet sneakily - I think it was a dare.

I have walked on a sandbank in the middle of the Indian Ocean. 

I have played bannagrams and won twice, an achievement for an awful speller like me.

I have delivered a baby. 

I have woken up to monkeys on the roof, elephants/hippos munching outside, drumming from an initiation ceremony and sweeping, endless sweeping at 5am.

I have washed my clothes by hand.

I have held patients hands during painful procedures even though I couldn't say any comforting words to them.

I have regularly been in bed asleep before 9pm.

I have watched a South African movie on a ward during a quiet shift.

I have been laughed at and with most days.

I have discovered a new favourite author.

I have held a chicken which was a present from a patient. 

I having willingly eaten tomatoes. 

I have set and run a series of workshops on HIV/AIDS (with Lynsey of course). 

I have successfully completed a nursing placement in Africa. 

I have watched a program on mass death in Ancient Rome on an iPad.

I have eaten a mango and chicken pizza.

I have been to an African church service.

I have heard the wails of a grieving family.

I have been the first person to touch a new born baby (without gloves) to sooth her crying. 

I have slept in three layers in a sleeping bag and still been cold. 

I have slept under a sheet and nothing else and still been warm. 

I have eaten in fancy restaurants and from street vendors, while in a crammed minibus. 

I have received change in the form of hard boiled sweets. 

I have spoken up on behalf of very sick patients. 

I have discussed the merits of Scotland and Malawi with local nursing students.

I can greet you in Chichewa.

I can take pictures and text from the back of a bike taxi.

I have eaten breakfast watching two hippos skirt around each other. 

I can haggle. 

I can speak in front of a group of over sixty children (my knees still shake a bit though). 

I have been in car chased by a bull elephant. 

I have heard many stories about magic and witch-doctors and seen the scars.

I have regained my childhood ability to be asleep before take off. 

I have developed a taste for Nigerian music.

I have discussed Scottish independence with an Englishman.

I have learnt how to make nsima.

I have sung songs from the lion king with porters while climbing down Mount Mulanje.

I have gotten a stuck gecko out of a metal kitchen sink with a wooden spoon.

I have hugged a 4000 year old baobab tree. 

I have fallen in love with Africa.

I have changed.