Yay, cyber cafe!

Well, I’m back again, and the Internet is actually working, although downloading email attachments isn’t as easy as I’d have hoped! Having said that, I’ve not really done so much to warrant a post. But I just thought I’d say hi to anyone who’s reading this. All’s well, I managed the walk to and from hospital today… that’s 25 mins either way in the heat… I hope it’s not that hot up Kili…

The internet…

… is a wonderful thing. Internet cafes, however, are quite possibly not. The AC just stopped which is fine but then so has the net connection, which makes emails rather difficult. However, I thought I’d fill the space by writing something insightful or possibly inciteful, depending on how long the connection is down. But then inciteful probably isn’t a word.

Yes, I’m still here, having finished 2 and a half weeks of paediatrics, which has been really interesting. Although, it’s too hot to spend too much time on the wards as, otherwise the dehydration starts killing me. One of the nurses remarked that she felt sorry for me, sweating away in the doctor’s offices.

But hey, it’s all fun! Aside from that, there’s not so much going on. 3 of my friends out here made a scrabble board during one afternoon and now scrabble is the thing to be doing in our afternoons/evenings. The weekends are, of course, spent sunning ourselves and attempting to not get burnt at the same time, which is not an easy trick. Fortunately, I’ve managed thus far.

Alas, I fear the bank balance is dwindling. And then there’s the fear of finals which is setting in… I’ve even managed to do some revision!!! Yep, I must be scared!!!

Anyway, there isn’t much else to say and the connection is broken anyway, so this will be sent another day, methinks. Argh! Developing world…

Oh, I’m in Dar es Salaam…

It’s funny how things happen: one day, you’re sleeping happily in your nice cosy double bed in the house you spent 18 years in and then the next you find yourself a world away from it all in the hustle and bustle of a city you don’t know. Or something like that…

Actually, the city was very quiet when I got my taxi in to my hostel and even the area around it was too. But that was a sunday afternoon and it seems that, the world over, people love to spend their sunday afternoons loafing around.

All the other days, the city is a hive of activity, like any other: people shouting, cars driving all over the place (think Sri Lanka, but worse), motorcyles on the pavements, pedestrians in the road and generally lots of noise.

Then there’s the hospital… the neonatal ward seems to have modelled itself around the traffic situation. Mother’s coming in every 3 hours for a feed, medical students trouping in in their 10s, a sprinkling of doctors and nurses trying to organise the chaos, and most fondly… the incubator rooms… as if, it wasn’t hot enough normally!

After all this, there’s the lazy afternoon’s and evenings spent sipping water/beers, playing cards or trying to sleep through the mayhem: yesterday evening being a prime example. Having had a very tiring sunday in the sea off a lovely island, I came back to a hostel to find a ‘kitchen party’ in full sway. Apparently, this is the pre-wedding celebration whereby the bride gets her kitchen stocked up for her by all her guests. Much like any other party, the music carries on into the evening, funny though, because for all the noise, I slept like a baby… well, the kind of baby that doesn’t wake up every 3 hours wanting to be fed… hmm.. I wonder what kind of baby that is???

Anyway, enough is enough… until next time.
Kwa heri.

The magic beanstalks…

Although Jack knew how quickly a beanstalk could grow, I wonder if he knew how fast they would bend towards the light (phototropism).

2 minute interval shots played every 200ms (300x slowed down)…

Modern Society

“The fiction writers can’t keep up with the truth of modern society” Radio 4 somebody or the other.