Roo's Blog

2009/2011 Update

2010-11-18T20:41:00.017Z

Updating this blog has been more of a record of painting a sketch of my life for me to remember when I am old. I suppose it is a good sign that life has been too busy to blog but mostly it's probably because I while away my evenings on facebook and don't need blogs as much as I used to.

Many things have happened in the past 3 years (no surprise there). Just after my last blog we visited Sally and Don in Boston. It is still sad that she has moved away but a lovely excuse to go to the big old US of A. We went just after Obama was elected which was an interesting time to go especially as we mainly met Republicans.

Don and Sally

I enjoyed my 2nd year of doctoring and worked in general practice, intensive care and respiratory medicine. I enjoyed all three jobs for different reasons. General practice because it is a better way of working for me, intensive care because it was so interesting and I had a fantastic colleague, and respiratory because I had a great team and really felt valued by my registrar and consultants. Following FY2 we left Basingstoke. I think it was sad to leave, we enjoyed our little house in Basingstoke as I guess it was our first proper home together. I didn't feel I made as much of my friends as I could have - although my main friends were lovely we never quite moved forward from quite superficial enjoyable friendships to something deeper which is a shame. I would be happy to keep in touch with all of them though. My friend Lucy is an exception who we had many giggles and happy times with... and usually some biscuits. She has moved to Oxford to be a GP trainee and I think we will always keep in touch.

Lucy and I

As I said in my last blog my plan was to apply for GP training. Which I did. The application was uneventful and I was granted my first choice training scheme in Cambridge. I also applied for an academic fellowship which I undertake alongside my clinical training and will mean I do a Masters in Clinical Research (at the University of East Anglia) and a research project. Jon was applying for jobs at the same time which was a bit stressful, however he managed to get a computer job in Cambridge which he enjoys mostly.

So we have since moved to Cambridge. Cambridge was a calculated descision. We really wanted to be near family. Mum and Dad are in Oakwood now North London (they sadly moved from Muswell Hill), Becca in Stevenage, and Jon's family are all in Peterborough (except one brother). Ben is a little further in Surbiton. I was excited to be moving near but sadly my dream of family being at popping in distance has not yet been quite achieved and I'd like to see them more, but we all lead very busy lives. We also moved to Cambridge because there are job opportunities for Jon and we wanted to move to a city where there are things to do, independent restaurants, music events. Overall it has been a good move.

We do really love Cambridge because it offers all of the above but because our life is happier here which I will talk about below. A big reason is cycling, I now cycle! (Many people will be impressed with me doing something that involves fitness or balance). It's a beautiful place to have a bike and my journey to work (3.5 miles) is through several commons and the cycle to town (2 miles) is all along the River Cam. I have a proper Cambridge bike with a basket (not in the photo) :).

This was our first house although we have now moved:

View Larger Map

My 1st year of GP training involved 6 months of General Practice (which was enjoyable but hard work and daunting at times), 4 months paediatrics (a great experience but glad I am not looking after sick children as a career) and 2 months elderly care. In my 2nd year I finished my elderly care job (which was probably my best medicine job in the 3 years - fantastic consultant and I finally knew what I was doing). I am now working in obstetrics and gynaecology which is mostly very enjoyable and nice to be doing a job I have never done before and learning so many new things. Although like paediatrics I will be glad not to have such responsibility (for safety of babies in pregnancy and delivery) as my future career. I have just done my last every night shift and hospital weekend which is reason enough to make me feel very happy about going into General Practice (it is among many other reasons though).

One of the nice things about the other GP trainees here is that people all seem keen to develop lasting friendships and there are several at a similar stage of life with stable partners, wanting to settle down etc. Most of the GP trainees are girls and have non-medic partners which is a real joy and means that Jon and I have a mutual friendship group who we can be sociable with. They're all brilliant and we don't just talk about Medicine which is a real relief!

Some of my friends (we really need a group shot of us all)

I've also found a Church where I am building some friendships. It amazes me that there are people my age there. The congregation is more mixed than most and there is a more academic mix of preachers which I find stimulating. It is still very traditional Methodist worship and I hope one day there will be opportunity to move away from the "Hymn sandwich" which for now serves the current congregation well. There is a fantastic community worker who is doing some brilliant work with the children's work and the local community. He is also my friend which is nice.

As part of "settling down" we got ourselves some substitute children AKA Kittens! Who are lovely. We are both besotted with them in a rather sickening way. They are called Charlie and Lola and are good fun. They are now 15months old (so proper big cats now!)

Charlie and Lola

As part of trying to have more of a life I have been going to life drawing classes. These have brilliant. I have been learning so many new skills - working with charcoal, soft pastel and ink, free contour drawing. I have also remembered that I can draw and it is actually something that comes more naturally than anything else. It is nice to be able to do something that I can enjoy and I don't just acheive by working hard. It is also exciting to be in a class where there are so many people who have been drawing for so much longer - I feel the need to improve my drawings and make them more interesting and not just "copy" what I see.

We've been to lots of weddings this year:

Christelle and Luke (and Hallam sign in background)

Becky and Dan
Jim and Sarah
Not Kit and Gemma - clashed with Jim and Sarah :(

Rimple and Khilan

Sukhraj and Mindy's (Suk not keen for photos on the web)
Phil and Hannah
Hannah and Graham

Not Rachel and James' (they chose the same weekend as Hannah)

Other big news... we've bought a house! Which needs lots of work still (see photos on facebook) and finally I'm 19 weeks pregnant! More thoughts on this at a later date, currently there is some excitment overtaking the overwhelming fear mainly because Baby Hallam has started kicking to say hello! (Feels like a very bizarre tapping at the moment on the inside of my tummy!)

12 week scan

2007/2008 Update

2008-11-02T17:27:00.008Z

This is a very underused blog. However it has been an good year so I am in the mood to update.
My last entry was just before I started work! Wow.
The early days of being a junior doctor were indeed pretty tough. Not really intellectually just the sheer work load.

During the "9-5" bits of my job it was all quite routine really. Ward round, urgent jobs (ordering xrays etc, chasing other important reports) , breif break for lunch followed by completing the rest of the jobs (talking to relatives, reviewing the xrays etc ordered in the morning, discharge summaries, writing up IV fluids, re-writing drug charts) then I would finish the day by writing out blood results (and acting on them if necessary) and blood forms for the next day - this is the most tedious job for the junior doctor.

On these shifts I was so well supported with my seniors mostly on hand to help if needed. Although some of my jobs I just had such a huge list of patients that there was so many jobs to do, a lot of which were "Junior doctor" jobs and I was often in the hospital an hour or more after the rest of some of my teams. I very much resented this but I also understand that they did their stint as a junior and it wasn't really fair for them to still being checking blood results and writing blood forms!

It was the on call shifts that were so difficult.

On call consisited of either dealing with the new patients or covering the wards in the evenings or at weekends. New admissions was pretty straight forward - talk to them, examine them, take blood +/- insert drip, order Xrays and get a senior to review. The skill was in doing it quickly. Also at first I was not great at keeping on top of checking results as they came in, also remembering the story after you've spoken to 10 other patients I found a little tricky when we were handing over.

Covering the wards could be an absolute nightmare, especially if you still had a million jobs left from your own patients during the day. The junior doctor was pretty much on their own covering or the little tasks on the wards - 6 of them (the more senior doctors saw people on my request, or if the were asked specifically). Early on I would be so overwhelmed by every task. I would arrive on the ward and be handed a pile of drug charts and a list of other jobs and really have no idea what to do, THEN on top of that suddenly patients would start getting sick - "not passing urine for 5 hours", "low blood pressure", "coffee ground vomit", "chest pain", "seizures", "pain". On top of all the jobs I already didn't really know how to do quickly I would then have a list of people to review and fix!!! Argh!!!

On my first night on call one of my first sickies I called my senior doctor in panic - I bleeped her and she answered immediately - I then didn't even have the flippin notes in front of me and in terror could not remember the story. She told me "not that is what is called being an awful house officer". Two other patients in the room then got a bit ill, none of my interventions seemed to be helping and I felt like I had to stay there until they picked up! I wasted about an hour there while the other jobs were just piling up.

Eventually I left the ward (with a plan to go back) and arrived on another ward with another pile of drug charts and jobs. I WAS SO OVERWHELMED. I realised I had reached my limit so bleeped my senior house officer, she didn't answer, so in the end I bleeped my registrar (more senior). He was one of the nicest doctors I'd worked with. He told me to come and meet him and go through all my jobs. So I went to meet him and obviously immediatley burst into tears....
Oh dear...
Running into an office he sent the senior house officer (who had told me off earlier) to go and look after me, she took me for my first break in 10 hours and forced some chocolate into me (I had not eaten since 12 oclock and it was then 9pm - blood sugar was very low!). She was really very sweet and recalled episodes where she had cried as a house officer.
There were a few more episodes of tears (probably about 4) - usually when feeling pissed off when everyone else had gone home, I was due to leave at 5pm, I still had another hours work to do and no-one was helping me. Other times included when a nurse was very nasty to me (same nurse x 2).

One of the frustrating things about being a house officer was the bleep. I HATE it, I've very much realised that I cannot multitask. Being messaged on a pager every 2 minutes was horrible. If you didn't answer the bleep immediately you would receive more and more messages until you answered it. I was good at answering mine for this reason, but sometimes I would be bleeped 4 times in a row and I would have to write them all down to make sure I had answered each number. Once answering it there are a whole host of frustrating things that can happen (see the Facebook group Bleep etiquette) however I am sure it is much more annoying for the poor people trying to get hold of the overworked junior doctor who can't get to the ward soon enough.

So those are the horrible things. On a brighter note I have worked with so many lovely people. Basingstoke is a lovely hospital. I know so many of the nurses, ward clerks and specialist consultants. I've been sad to leave every job because I was generally well liked (and I liked them) by all the sets of nurses and ward clerks I got to know. I've also had some fab patients, the ones who stay the longest are a real joy to get to know. They are the ones who you see go through the most ups and downs, and a chance to chat with and meet their families.

I am now a first year Senior house officer (SHO) although they do not use that terminology anymore. I am a "Foundation Year 2 doctor" (FY2). I'm working in a general practice and I am really enjoying it. I have NO BLEEP! It's lovely. I spent the whole of last year saying I wanted to be a hospital doctor but 3 months without a bleep has completely converted me! So the current plan it to apply for GP training in January to start August 2009.

Christmas Ball with some of my fellow FY1 doctors

The Summer Ball with some more FY1 friends

So that is being a doctor.
That is not the whole of my life. I am now a married lady! We've managed 4 full months (and 5 years of being together this week!) and I am enjoying being Mrs Hallam.
The wedding was superb, perhaps one day I will type up my thoughts before and after the wedding (I wrote a little diary on the honeymoon).
We were married in Muswell Hill Methodist Church, then had Pimms on the Lawn, a cream tea in a marquee, then a BBQ and Beer in the evening with music a la Juke Box!
Here are some lovely photos:

Hen Night (to see Sing a long Sound of Music)

My Families!

Us
Honeymoon in Corsica
Our house

We have also had some goodnews in the past week. Bex has given birth to another beautiful baby girl - Felicity Joan. Elizabeth who is now 2 and utterly adorable calls her "Itty Jo". Felicity unlike her big sister reached 41 weeks! Becca was absolutely bursting. Fortunately it all happened while we were staying and we were able to see the new arrival 9 hours after Bex had gone into labour. (3 hour labour, then released after 6 hours of being OK!).
We then went off to cousin Katie's wedding! (Not B, R, E and Felicity - they stayed at home.)
She is very little and sweet, although babies are less entertaining than 2 year olds!

Elizabeth the day after Felicity was born

Felicity and Bex in the background

Aww Jon and IttyJo

Alongside the good news we have also had some sad. Aunty Mig mum's sister inlaw passed away a couple of weeks ago. She had been unwell for a while but then was diagnosed with a terminal condition and died pretty much soon after after a very rapid decline. She was a very bubbly lady with a silly sense of humour and a wonderful mum and wife. It is very sad that she went so suddenly, especially when I don't feel I got to know her as a grown up. Here she is looking lovely with mum at my wedding.

Marriage

2008-09-06T18:17:00.001Z

Very good post re marriage (seen via Liz's clutterbucks blog)

2006/2007 Update

2007-07-22T21:37:00.000Z

It has been another good year and I thought I'd better update. I'm now an aunt, a fiancee and a doctor! I've also recently been a bridesmaid for my lovely friend Sally.

I have previously posted about becoming and aunt but mini-E is becoming more and more gorgeous. She has two main emotional states crying (usually rational crying as a means to communicate that she is tired/hungry/wet/bored) or giggling. Before Sal's wedding Mini-E managed to silence a room of about twelve 20-30 year olds as we were mesmerised by her cuteness. She's starting to walk around if you hold her hands and help her balance, which is impressive as she is really only 8 months old (born 3 months early).

There she is being lovely at Sally's wedding. Speaking of which Sally asked me to be her bridesmaid... which was very sweet of her and I tried to be a very good bridesmaid, though I don't think I'm great at these things! We had lovely green dresses and flowers made of beads. The main reason for this is that Sally needed to reuse here bouquet as she was getting married 3 times!!! (see their website) Silly girl - she's married an American (Don) so had a UK and American Wedding and also had a separate thing in America to do the legal marriage stuff (it was a little complicated due to visa stuff). They had a great wedding with a cream tea which we might copy :P. It was a brilliant day but very emotionally exhausting as it was very hard to see my little Sally go away to America. Sal has been my friend since she was born. Our parents were at college together and I am older than Sally so I have known her for her whole life - she's also known me longer than any of my other friends. She's pretty special and I was very sad that she's not so easily visitable. Even though in the past there have been gaps between seeing each other. I cried when her car went away which was rather unexpected and embarrassing but I guess it's because I love Sally so much. However on a brighter note Don Rothemich is great and I think they will be very happy... AND I am about to start earning money and can spend all my money flying to Boston to visit Sally and Don!

This year I have also got engaged to my very lovely Jonathan. Jon took me to out for my birthday to see Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre (matinee) and we then has a gorgeous meal at JB's restaurant at the Victoria Park Plaza hotel. We then wanted to go for a walk in one of the parks but they are all closed at night. So instead we walked around Hyde Park Corner - and while sitting on Royal Artillery Memorial Jon proposed. It was very romantic and I was surprisingly very scared! For those of you who don't know him he's a computer scientist currently working for a mobile phone company in Farnborough. I met him through a friend when he was doing a PhD in Southampton. We've been going out since November 2003 and I think we're well matched. He's intellegent, funny, kind and gorgeous! :p

My friend Nick Bailey recently took a fantastic photo of the ring. There are more photo's on Facebook.Finally I have finished my degree and they have said I can be a Doctor! Blimey. This year has been tough -I've had placements in Portsmouth -Medicine, Slough - O&G and Paediatrics, Basingstoke - Surgery and Ophthalmology, Isle of Wight - Psychiatry and Southampton - Cardiology. I enjoyed most of them and loved meeting new people. We stayed in Halls of Residence Accommodation throughout the year and so I had new flat mates every 10 weeks! It was hard seeing Jon only at weekends but it meant I prioritised work and play a little better!
I especially enjoyed my team in Basingtoke, also the Isle of Wight and Surgery. Career wise at the moment I would like something more community based, a little more fluffy (less clinical) with elements of Psychology and Sociology as well as medicine, with possibilities for teaching and academia (possibly). I like community paediatrics, mental health, sexual health, and I also like rheumatology and dermatology and maybe general practice. I'm really not sure where I will end up though.

The revision was hard but I work very steadily throughout the year and thanks to onexamination.com I was able to stay reasonably calm at finals. Although I felt that I knew nothing (!!) the online finals questions site meant I put my knowledge into context -and apparently I knew enough to pass my finals. I also had fantastic practical revision session with Leslie and Christelle -see below (and some others earlier on in the year).

I am petrified about starting work... I can handle all the administration, the phone calls, filling in forms, writing notes but I'm petrified about the clinical stuff - assessing ill patients, taking blood, putting cannulas in, etc. I'm just so worried that I won't be able to do it and that everyone will think I'm an awful unsafe doctor. I'm trying to think positively about the things I will enjoy - being helpful and kind to patients, nice old ladies, teaching medical students, being part of a team, becoming competent... hopefully it will be ok..... ARGH...

I start on Wednesday - I'm working in Basingstoke (in the hospital where Greenwing is filmed) and I am doing 2 months of Elderly Care, 2 months of Gastroenterology and then 2 months of Cardiology. Then finishing the year with 6 months surgery. I will update more later. For now here are pictures of me and Jon and graduation and then a photo of Luke & Christelle and Jon & I the 2007 medics grad ball.

Non-Blanching Rash -call 999?

2007-04-27T17:06:00.000Z

Today I developed a non-blanching rash on my legs. It's a petechial rash (= minute red/purple spot on the surface of the skin as the result of tiny hemorrhages of blood vessels in the skin) one cause of which is Meningoccoal Meningitis and Septicaemia.

So I got a little worried.. but not too much as I feel fine. However after thinking about it I thought that maybe I should be more concerned as Bella had a rash like this once and it turned out that her platelets were almost undetectable which could have led to fatal spontaneous bleeding. It all turned out OK for her but she was admitted to hospital to treat her. Here is my rash, though it looks much fainter here.

After debating whether I should go and see the GP (note NHS direct says that with any non-blanching rash you should phone 999). I called Christelle instead to ask her advice. We decided I should go and see the Nurse instead.

I managed to get an appointment with Judith who is a lovely nurse who took one look at my rash and then went to get the doctor. In comes the doctor and agrees that it is a petechial rash. No one was worried, as I was too well, but they agree I was right to come and get it checked out (don't ever ignore a non-blanching rash). They made sure I didn't have a temperature and dipped my urine and told me to go to A&E if it starts spreading. I also have to go and get some blood tests on Monday. (I think I will let one of my friends do it! Tee hee.)

It's probably just nothing (or a viral illness) but I could have some sort of weird post viral thing as I was a little ill over easter. It could be:

Idiopathic thrombocytopenia (ITP) - which my friend Bella had.
Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP)
And some other things...

Lets hope it's all ok!

Southampton SCM

2007-02-24T21:25:00.000Z

Just thought I'd post this article about CU on my blog. They've made a fantastic reference to Southampton's Student Christian Movement Group after chatting to Mel who succeeded me in being this years president of SCM. I'm so proud of her and of the group. It's been really successful this year and it's great to think I was part of setting it up.

http://www.wessexscene.co.uk/article.php?sid=1914

CU in court!
Saturday, 23 December, 2006

Four Christian Unions across the country are set to sue university authorities after they were banned from official lists of societies and had the associated privileges withdrawn. The CU’s are charged with failing to provide equal opportunities by excluding non-Christians and promoting homophobia.

The dispute arose as Christian groups refused to allow non-Christians to address their meetings or sit on ruling committees, or to make themselves more inclusive to homosexual or transgender students. The societies at Birmingham, Edinburgh, Exeter and Herlot-Watt universities will no longer receive funding from their student unions, or be able to use union facilities.

The student unions say the Christian groups are discriminatory and non-inclusive. There have been problems since last year where the Christian Union in Edinburgh was banned from placing copies of the Bible in Halls of Residence following complaints from other students. The Edinburgh CU is also accused of teaching a sex and relationships course that promotes homophobia.

At Exeter, the CU has changed its name to the Evangelical Christian Union.

The groups themselves believe that they are being singled out as a "soft target," and that their religious beliefs are being driven underground, contrary to the principle of free speech.

Pod Bhogal, head of communications at a national umbrella group for Christian Unions, claimed: "The politically correct agenda is being used to shut people up under the guise of tolerance when, in fact, you tolerate anything other than the thing you disagree with." He added that Christian students faced an "unprecedented" struggle. His group represents over 20,000 people.

Southampton University has had no such problems with its Christian Union; however, requests by the Wessex Scene to the Southampton University Christian Union has elicited no response.

Southampton University is also home to the Southampton Christian Movement, which paints itself as a liberal and tolerant Christian society. Their website outlines their mission statement: "We aim to bring together students of all backgrounds, religious and non religious, to explore the Christian faith in an open-minded and non-judgemental environment.

"Our diversity is a gift to be celebrated. We recognise the importance of respect for and openness to other faiths. Thinking through and questioning our faith ensures that it remains alive and dynamic."

At the time of going to press, the universities concerned are all taking or considering taking legal advice. Further developments will be tracked by this newspaper.

Christopher Dean

Ode to Bob

2006-12-23T20:49:00.000Z

I have finally decided to write about my cat bob. She died a few months ago but I couldn't blog about something so sad straight after the entry about mini-E.

Bob came to live with us when she was a kitten with her sister Scooter who died much sooner (both were killed by nasty London motorists). bob was the best cat in the world - here are the reasons why:

Bob never bit or scratched. If she was angry she would mew and wriggle away.
She knew when cuddles were compulsory and needed and would submit to the forced cuddle "OK if I have to" kind of attitude.
Bob loved to be chased - to initiate this she would walk up to you (being all cute with "stroke me eyes") and then run away quickly with her ears perked backwards - the chaser (usually I or Ben) would then run behind her roaring and she would run downstairs/round the corner and hide till you got close and then run away again. It was fun!
Bob communicated with eyes (Hannah Whitworth taught me to blink at cats to get them to relax) - Bob used to look at our eyes to see if we were chasing (wide eyes) or wanted cuddles (prolongued blinking).
You could stoke Bob anywhere without making her angry - she loved her tummy being stroked.
Bob wasn't greedy you could leave a bowl of dried food for her and go away for the weekend and she'd eat when she was hungry but never excessively.
Finally Bob loved walking round the garden with us. Our house is situated in a large Christian Estate including a small woods. Bob used to lead you round the garden - looking very proud to be accompanied by her owners. She used to slow down and wait for you if you were too slow and run to catch up if you overtook her.

I miss our cat. Although I don't miss the live/dead animals she bought in the house.

Pharmacology Conference

2006-12-23T19:21:00.000Z

This Week I went to a pharmacology conference in Oxford. It was an exciting experience (though science conferences aren't that thrilling!). I had previously won a university prize in Clinical Pharmacology which had led to me being asked to present a poster at the British Pharmacological Society Winter Meeting. I made a huge poster (90X120 cm) and had to talk about my BSc project to lots of scientists -which was initimdating. Still I felt very grown up and professional. :)

Interesting to compare siblings religious viewpoint

2006-11-28T20:43:00.000Z

Like Becca I scored as Emergent/Postmodern.
"You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this."

Emergent/Postmodern

75%

Classical Liberal

61%

Neo orthodox

50%

Modern Liberal

43%

Roman Catholic

43%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

39%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

32%

Reformed Evangelical

25%

Fundamentalist

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Unexpectedly early I aquire auntie status

2006-09-02T22:32:00.000Z

I perhaps should be blogging about other things too but I want to tell everyone that I am now an Auntie! Becca "broke her waters" far too early at 28 weeks!! This meant that she could go into labour at any moment or little "Bug" could get distressed. For those who aren't knowledgeable about such things term in 40 weeks. NORMALLY waters break after labour has commenced at around 37-42ish weeks... so 28 weeks is very early. It was all a bit scary and Bex was taken into hospital to hold the baby in. However at 0430 (AM) while I was camping at Greenbelt festival I was awoken by a phonecall from my sister to say that I had a neice!!! And all was ok! It's so flippin exciting. I can't wait to go and see her. She was born at 29 weeks but she's doing really well and was quickly do all the breathing herself. She's having her feeds increased every 12h and hopefully soon she'll be mature enough to breast feed.
See how beautiful she is - I know I'm byassed (hehe and she's Elizabeth Rose Byass!) but I do think she's a nice looking baby considering she's so early. Not much else to say right now. Just wanted to show you all my new neice.

Oh dear

2006-06-22T11:15:00.000Z

Speaking of dodgy taste. I have just purchased the entire series of Dawson's Creek.

Oh dear...

Think I am trying to resist growing old... Also need something to comfort me while away on placement all year!

Hannibal the Cannibal

2006-06-22T09:28:00.000Z

Not much has been happening in my life right now. Which is probably a bad time to start blogging again. All my medic finalist friends have just passed and are now doctors!!! It's a little a strange and I feel a bit left behind. I dropped back a year to do an intercalated BSc. However I am quite glad that I'm not about to be let loose on the wards!

Speaking of Doctors I have just finished reading Hannibal by Thomas Harris. I've read all three of the books publised so far, there is a prequel to all three to be published soon. However I'm a little concerned how much I enjoy these novels. I've not read anything else similar, I first read Silence of the lambs in response to really enjoying the film adaptation. However the books are horrible, they have lots of nasty things like cannibalism in them but I find them utterly enthralling. I did not want Hannibal not to be caught by the police - despite the fact this meant he was free to continue his cannibalism hobby. The bizarre relationship between Clarice and Lecter is also very engaging. I'm worried that I have some dark evil side of my personality that one day is going to emerge. Hmm... interesting Dr Lecter started life as a respectable medical Doctor... oh dear... Has anyone else read these books?

Through the Dragon's Eye

2006-06-14T22:51:00.000Z

Does anyone remember "Through the Dragon's Eye" a look and read school TV program. Just found an MP3 of the theme tune (see weblink)... wow.. going to look for DVD now.

North or South, East or West,
The quest,
To save the life of Pelamar
Goes far.
Look bravely through the dragon's eye
and fly...

I'm so neurotic

2006-06-13T13:33:00.000Z

I'm currently on a break before my 5th year starts, right at this moment I am meant to be doing some revision of history taking and examination before I meet up to practice with my friend Corrina. However because I have a motorway lesson in one hour, I am planning on driving on the motorway on my own tomorrow and I am scared of the fifth year I am filled with too much anxiety for me to concentrate. I'm so stupid when I'm nervous - it becomes a bit all consuming. Since getting the car I have pretty much felt anxious all the time. My present anxiety has meant have spent the past two hours looking at blogs, bringing the washing in, watching "mum's on strike" and selecting appropriate revision music and now I am writing a blog....
OK... RIGHT I MUST WORK NOW..
(Still not done it - had to check work for typos... which there are probably many... right au revoir)

Becca's baby

2006-06-13T12:02:00.001Z

Oooh forgot to mention in last post Becca is pregnant! 18 weeks now! Baby aka Bug says...

Blog Update

2006-06-07T08:56:00.000Z

It’s been over a year since I have written in my blog. It’s quite likely that this will remain a sporadic activity.

Since last year I have:

Passed my driving test
Completed my fifth year at uni, including a 6 month research project
Got a 1^st class BSc
Founded Southampton Student Christian Movement (and have now retired from president)
Decided I like Dermatology
Bought my first car (this week)

This year has been one of my best at uni. I’ve really enjoyed the academic side of things (which I will post about at some point). Also this year I lived with Christelle, Luke and my brother Ben. Hallam was also with us for most of the year till he finished his PhD. The house has been fantastic – of course there were some clashes and strains – but we have had a lovely community and it was a great house to have as my last student house. Next year I have no accommodation!! This is because I have free accommodation on all my placements next year. Which will be in Portsmouth (Medicine), Wexham Park in Slough (Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology), Basingstoke (Surgery and GP) and Crawley (Psychiatry). I’ll probably do my Special study module near Farnborough where Hallam lives. I’m thinking of doing Dermatology and A&E or Anaesthetics in Frimley Park or Basingstoke. (I’m meant to keep a house in Southampton but I decided to buy a car instead).

My friends are all sitting their finals now (I would have been if I hadn’t done a BSc) and it all sounds very scary. I’m glad it’s not me yet… I’m also dreading my final year. This year on my lab project has been fantastic – I’ve felt valued and competent which is a big contrast to my general experience of being a medical student. I’m hoping I’ll have some nice house officers who will enthuse me. I know many people have found the fifth year to be the best year. I hope it is for me.

At the moment I have a few weeks off before I go to Portsmouth. I am staying with Hallam till my placements start. I’ve been trying to improve my driving enough to be able to go on the motorway. In three days bad driving incidents have included clipping the curb twice and mounting the curb once. But I’m getting better daily – Mostly my driving has been a bit dodgy because I’m petrified of the whole thing. I have driven Hallam to and picked him up from work today and yesterday. On Monday I collected the car – This was the first time I have ever driven on my own and it was very scary. I am not enjoying it yet but it’s getting less horrible. Very anxious about breaking the car. Last night I had a dream my brother Ben borrowed and destroyed it.

Speaking of the car, it’s lovely. 1998 R Reg Ford Fiesta 1.25 LX 16v, 5 Doors, 55,000 miles, Blue, FULL service history, Head Sunroof, Tinted glass, one lady owner! At a very reasonable price. Which I bought with my own money! (I could only afford this because I am not paying rent next year).

Driving lesson 2, Dentist and Driving lesson 3

2005-06-17T16:48:00.000Z

I think I have lost loyalty from any readers that I had. I can't blame them really weeks of apathy followed by boring driving blogs!

Anyway... I had a 2nd driving lesson and it was good! He suggested taking me out onto the big roads but I decided that I was steering wrong (even though instructed wasn't unhappy with it). I wanted to do the whole "push-pull" method properly. However as soon as I started worrying about my steering it all went pear shaped; with much crossing-over, over-steering and undercorrecting! However succeeded in right hand turns and more of the basics. Driving instructer was pleased with progress. Said definitely not lagging behind and my skills are average if not better than most!

Went home on Wednesday because an evil tooth was hurting occasionally and on inspection I decided it looked a bit dodgy. I had a check up a few months ago, so nothing too serious. Went home for an appointment though. Turned out I'd lost a bit of a filling.

My dentist is brilliant. He's an ex-Jewish rabbi and likes that do medicine. He didn't do any pain-causing maneouvres until I was anaesthetised (and then took advantage of anaesthetic and did some decent scaling). He won't let me have silver fillings (MUCH cheaper) because they have possible long term effects. This sprung an interesting discussion about the NHS. I said they couldn't really let people have silver fillings if they were that bad.
This led to a little debate about the values of the NHS being purely economical... I thought this was a little harsh and pointed out that National Insititute of Clinical Excellence guidelines are about quality... he said they are just about cheapness (which is not true!)... anyway it was quite enjoyable banter. Later in the procedure I joined him in NHS cynicism by criticizing something (can't remember what). He told ME off for being cynical! Apparently I'm BEING cynical whereas HE'S just a realist!

He was generally being very witty. At the end of the appointment he gave me a certificate for keeping my mouth open and not talking for 20 mins! *SMUG*

Came back to Southampton today for my driving lesson at 1430... AND I was driving straight away... drove through portswood, up burgess road, down the avenue and then through portswood again. I did this loop 3 times. I managed to get into 4th gear and to 40mph!!! It was all ok. Some stuff is coming naturally. This was the first time I had used 3rd and 4th gear so it was a bit tricky figuring out the gear stick. So the instructer helped more in some ways (like keeping me straight while I figure out gear stick!!!).

However still have only stalled once and today kangarooed once (a few near-kangaroos). I tackled a mini roundabout (it was empty :D). And had to navigate through a small gap round a reversing lorry!!

I am feeling happy because apart from mild anxiety it was all OK. My instructer was pleased and said that I took to it better than expected and I am still slightly better than average! Woo. (wait till we start maneouvres!!)

Driving lesson 1

2005-06-13T17:07:00.000Z

Wow! I have just had my first driving lesson. Having spent most of my life dreading driving it was surprisingly enjoyable.

I'm using the LDC system as mentioned in a previous blog. This was great as I made sure I understood everything before the lesson. (handbook and DVD). The driving instucter had nice laminated diagrams which corresponded with the handbook which he drew arrows on with a whiteboard marker. So I could see visually what he wanted me to do! I even had to answer quizzes which incorporated highway code stuff and then he could cover anything I didn't understand straight away.

I was pretty much driving straight away as there wasn't much preamble needed.

I did in 2h:
Starting and stopping,
Clutch control stuff at T-junctions (crawling fwd with clutch)
Moving into 1st and 2nd gear
Left hand turns.

I was pretty pleased. My main problem was using the brake to aggressively or early, and thus kept ending up stopping. I occassionaly got very muddled with where my feet should be.. but all in all I was calm and I think it was an average to good first lesson! YAY! was worried I would be appalling.

He said that my starting up and steering were pretty good. Generally I learnt things quickly, I just needed it explained well beforehand.

Next lesson is Wednesday.
Doing more on gears and general coordination. Also gonna be doing the "hazard drill" pre-junctions which we did a bit today.

Would quite like a car though if I succeed on learning to drive. Shame. That's unlikely to happen!

Bye bye Norwich

2005-05-15T16:46:00.000Z

What an emotional afternoon. I lost hope early on as we conceded a goal very early on.... it sounded like Southampton would stay up for a while but it's down we both go to the first Division.

Norwich lost shamefully; 6-0 to Fulham.
Southampton lost 2-1 to ManU.

Norwich could have stayed up though even with 6-0 if all the others had drawn....

I'm really quite sad, this is the first time I have properly seen Norwich in the Premiership (I started supporting in 1993ish and they moved to the first division in 1996.)... so I was very very excited that we were in the premiership again... mainly because you get so much more publicity and we get to play teams like Man U (2-0!!!). (My brother and I were mocked lots for supporting Norwich when we lived in Manchester so it's great to beat them)

Anyway Delia made me happy despite the sadness becuase she expressed how much she loved the club and how committed she was despite our relegation.... I'm sure we will be back!!

Commisserations Bob re: Southampton.

Summer Plans

2005-05-15T13:38:00.000Z

Sorry for my poor blogging recently. I have been working hard... and using spare time to try and unwind...

]As well as working I have been trying to arrange when I will be doing my project in the summer. I now have 6 weeks holiday during July and the beginning of August. I have also been arranging driving lessons....

Hopefully I am now doing a MIDWAY driving course in the first 2 weeks of August... which is aimed for those who have basic driving skills and is 20 hours of teaching with the driving test at the end.... but before then I'm hoping to get in around 15hrs of driving lessons and lots of practicing as soon as I get home!!! However nothing has been finalised yet which makes me a little anxious.

Speaking of anxiety I am currently attending a exam stress course at the counselling session... have only been to one session so far and I have been avoiding stress well anyway... however we are about to start the 2 week revision period!!! ARGHH!

Now finally the point of my blog. Now I know when I have holiday I can start to make summer plans. Unfortuantely I don't have the money or the time to make any substantial plans. Essentially I am looking for ideas of things to do during weekends (as smelly boyfriend is writing his PhD thesis) close to Southampton or London any thoughts...

I am thinking...

Monkey World
Beach day
Picnics/bbq's
Legoland?

Is anyone else around during the summer who might want to involved.. eg group monkey world trip....
especially people with cars!!!

Maybe I can learn to drive!?

2005-05-04T14:21:00.000Z

Wow, it's quite exciting.
I have found what I think sounds like a very good driving course with LDC .
They will do a semi intensive driving course.

"The Semi-intensive Pass Course is identical in content to the One Week Pass Course above (i.e. 30 hours etc) except the training is spread over two or more weeks to suit you and your instructor’s schedule. This is the most popular and successful form of intensive training . It is designed for people who want to pass the test quickly but at a comfortable pace."

But also they use this "LD" system where you basically prepare for and have homework after each lesson to maximise learning.

Anyway it sounds like the type of course that I will get the most out of... and I only have 5 weeks where I will be at home and mum can take me out to practice.

I spoke to a guy who teaches in London and he sounded really nice and experienced, so that was also encouraging.

Seminar Advert!

2005-05-03T14:04:00.000Z

I am yet to blog about my bank holiday weekend but for now can I let you all know about this seminar.
I think Prof Bauman is well known and respected and I reckon the subject matter will interest some of you. I shall be there!

MARSHALL LECTURE: Freedom From, In And Through The State - or T. H. Marshall's trinity of rights revisited

Professor Zygmunt Bauman

Wednesday 4 May 2005, 5.30 PM

Murray Lecture Theatre (Building 58)

Who Should I vote for?

2005-04-28T12:07:00.000Z

My Outcome:

	Labour 22
Conservative -41
	Liberal Democrat 48
UK Independence Party -24
	Green 44

You should vote: the Liberal Democrats

BABIES 2

2005-04-28T11:31:00.000Z

Even more exciting the Ultrasound machine they have. It's a spanking new one and takes 3D images so you can see what the baby really looks like!! They even start to notice family likenesses and can observe baby behaviour.
It has even been noted that boys play with their willies in the womb!! hehe

Just so you know Southampton is one of the biggest researches in the Fetal origins of adult disease, and in the past it was thought that how baby is born and then later develops was 90% genetics and 10% environment, but this has now been reversed and a huge amount of adult health, weight, height etc is actually determined by your mothers health before you were conceived and the gestation environment. Southampton has added hugely to this knowledge! yay!
So be healthy before you get pregnant girlies!

BABIES

2005-04-28T11:30:00.001Z

This morning for one of my modules I went to an IVF/research lab. It was very very cool. Although we only got to see cow sperm, eggs and embryo's as you have to apply for ethical approval to show random student human sperm.
But it was still cool as cow sperm is similar to human... athough Bulls have much better sperm as they have been selected for fertility.

A good sperm sample in humans I think is 60% normal. (although was that 40%)
The rest of sperm may be tailess, have two heads, activate early and stick to the the uterus, it could have a curly or kinked tail and swim in circles but it could also have genetic abnormalities.

Also the one of the cool images I was shown was a bit like this:

This is just before the embryo attaches to the uterus and implants. Prior to this the embryo has a shell which it actually has to "hatch" out of!!! Here you can see it hatching out of a big hole... but sometimes it only has a small hole and has to squeeze out!
This is often a time when twinning happens!
Sometimes in IVF they have to "crack the shell" so that the embryos can implant.

Give the geeks a go!

2005-04-27T16:42:00.000Z

this is why I have only ever been out with geeks

Squeak squeak

2005-04-27T11:52:00.000Z

Trust me, i'm gonna be a Dr!
I seem to have had a lack of blogidge. I think it's cos I've been avoiding the evils of the internet because it stops me from working.
However yesterday succumed to having a long lie in and then proceeded to watch morning television.
Watched a program about 4 students who didn't ever clean or wash up.... which reminded me how much I can't wait to get my own place.
Managed to persuade Lauren to leave work for a bit on Monday and we Gym-d which was good fun.

Lauren looked after me (thankyou!) while I attempted to use:
-Firstly the stepper; which I was really rubbish at because I can't balance and also it made a loud squeaky noise every time it moved which was embarassing (and drew attention to my ineptness)
-Secondly the running machine; again balance was a little bit of an issue. I was petrified I was going to fly of the back and it took me a long time to let go of the handlebars. Need to practice walking more before I can try and jog!

Following Monday's gymidge I have had very tight hamstrings so I am trying to stretch them daily during neighbours.
Hopefully I will go sometime today.

I am taking Hallam to meet my Grandad at the weekend.
I think I shall write an entry about Grandad sometime and try and get a photo of him. He's the best!

Gym usage

2005-04-23T15:07:00.000Z

Today was my first time actually using the gym and I am feeling proud.
I went for about 40 mins on bike and rowing machine today.
I would like to have a better technique on the rowing machine as I was definitely doing something wrong as it was hurting my wrists! The bike is cool especially all the programs you can do on it... i did a fitness test on it, I'm not sure what the answer means but I had a fitness of 70... But I reckon if that's 70% then that sounds ok but I know I am very unfit so it must be low.

Gym music today was this compilation

I reckon it's an awsome compilation and it made the gym very enjoyable...
Shine9 Track list

Gym

2005-04-22T10:00:00.000Z

Wow. I had a gym induction today and I really want to go!
I know it's really late on in the year to get my arse into gear but I have been a little scared of the gym but in reality it's quite a nice enviroment.
So I'm going to try and go regularly possibly with Hallam because he's already really good at going. Besides how can I turn down an opportunity to see him hot and sweaty :P
Lol... sorry you prob didn't want to think about that.
Gym starts tomorrow as Hallam won't go today and I'm too scared to go on my own.
I'm gonna record all my newer albums that I've not really listened to onto MD so I can have gym music.

Had to got to our old house yesterday becuase my Grandad sent me some Easter egg money there (teehee I still get egg money!)... chatted to the new residents who were really nice! But they agreed landlord Kang was evil!
We did try to warn them!
Apparently in the summer he tried to install an oven himself, and 1 month later they came back to uni and gas had been leaking since!!!!! Fortunately the house didn't blow up.

After this I went to the hobbit piping yesterday with James, Ben, Pug, Hallam, John and Liz, to reinstate last years tradition. It was good even Mr Ben came!! (although Mr Bob I don't know if you wanted to come I think I forgot to mention it)
Also saw Mac and juggling Steve which was nice.. even though Steve thinks I'm a loser for not going to the dungeon with him :(
(and he had scary satiny blue trousers on)

Wake Up to Trade Justice

2005-04-21T16:36:00.000Z

Wow! Sorry for the awful blogging this week, it's the first week of the summer term and there's just so much to do!

Wake Up to Trade Justice

As Thom York said "I've been to many demos but Wake Up to Trade Justice was by far the coolest." Although I haven't been to many demos (in fact this was my first) it was pretty cool.

As you may have all known I went to the Make Poverty History Campaign on Friday.
It as really good, here's what happened http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4450737.stm

The highlights for me was seeing Jools Holland perform (oh yes, he played at the opening event). There was a huge crowd of people which created an awesome atmosphere and made it all fun. There were an estimated 25000+and the organisers were only expecting 5000 (the police estimated 7000). I even saw 4 people from my course, and met up with 2 others from Southampton and found 3 other old friends there!!!
We were up all night and sat around candles and with sleeping bags to keep warm which reminded me of a festival. Then in the morning we queued for hours to get free breakfast but only half of my group got in.
Then at 730am we went on a march around westminster which was pretty fun and I found another friend!

So in summary it was great and I'm really glad I went... I was utterly exhausted hence lack of blogging.

Since then have had lots of work and lectures, booked tickets for medics boat party (what to wear!!!?), finished my health ploicy coursework, booked a gym induction and bought some tikki torches that don't work!

Poohead friend

2005-04-14T20:03:00.000Z

Trust me, i'm gonna be a Dr!

I'd just like to make a comment about a "FRIEND" of mine who has this list of people they like on their website... and although they have realised that i am not on it.. they have still failed to add me.
Finally the only conclusion I can draw is that they hate me.
*sob*

I think it might be the forehead...

:P

FRINGELESS

2005-04-14T18:00:00.000Z

This is me now-ish... oh dear my forehead does look large!

FRINGE

2005-04-14T17:51:00.000Z

I mentioned on Elly's blog some thoughts about fringes.
Although my mum disagrees I distinctly remember her telling me that my forehead was too large to have a fringe, thus until I was 21 I was too scared to get rid of the damn thing.
See pics of fringe above... Just put in the goth one for a laugh (that was a fancy dress party).

Manipulating Blogger

2005-04-11T19:16:00.000Z

This may not sound very clever to other people but I am feeling quite proud.
I have managed to create posts that were supposedly written in 2000 by changing the date before publishing the post.
I have then used each archive url to link people to extra things that will be soon put on my site. As you will see in my side panel I have :

More about me
Books
Films
Make Povert History
Photo's

Although there isn't much in them at the moment :)
Something may well go wrong but for now I shall feel pleased :)

Global Week of Action

2005-04-11T15:03:00.000Z

Sorry about yesterdays blog! Writing it was very therapeutic and I am now feeling less shitty.. although haven't quite resolved some issues yet.

For those of you who are not aware this week is a Global Week of Action... loads of things are going on, mainly there is a rally and all night vigil in Westminster on Friday calling for Trade Justice. I've never been to a rally before so I am excited.. should be fun! :) http://www.tjm.org.uk/

Tomorrow in Southampton there is a "Make Poverty History Election Special" at Central Baptist Church. Prospective candidates have been invited so they can be quizzed on their thoughts on world poverty. It all sounds quite interesting so I shall probably go along.
http://www.southamptonmakepovertyhistory.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=42

Crappy Church

2005-04-10T22:00:00.000Z

I’ve just been to church. Today’s service was a pretty standard service with a good sermon etc but I came out feeling pretty dejected. I think I’m feeling crap because I’ve realised I’ve got to a dangerous level of apathy. In recent months I have been decreasingly bothered about going to church and increasingly making up my own version of Christianity that I’m comfortable with.

This post as you may have gathered will be waffle about Christianity so stop reading now if that will piss you off!

It’s difficult to express what Christianity is like without making it sounds dogmatic and horrible and making people scared about organised religion. Christianity requires commitment, commitment to an ideology that you’ve got to let permeate your entire life. There’s a well used phrase of “letting God be in the driving seat” and the Christian cliché “let God’s will be done” rather than your own. In the culture that we’re in most people would cringe at the thought... thinking it’s about being told what to do. Having lived with the idea for 23 years I don’t have the same reaction to it.

When I have some conviction in there being a God (which I do at the moment) then I believe he’s bigger and more knowledgeable than me… So in principle his values are better than mine… So my actions should be grounded in God’s values not my own. In essence I don’t think the Christian lifestyle is about prohibition but about appreciating life to the maximum.

So what’s the problem…The thing is while I am quite pro the Christian way of life, right now I am ignoring God. I certainly haven’t made any attempt to nurture my faith at all recently and going to church is a rarity. I have lost my motivation for it… I feel alienated from half the Christians I know and by enlarge I get on with non-Christians better… Once you start to feel alienated you then don’t want to be in the Christian world at all. Then once I lose that I will lose my belief system which is what gives my life reason and me strength and hope.

So these were my thoughts during the evening service, but I don’t think anyone can understand them so feel isolated and lonely.

Banana Cake good!

2005-04-09T13:06:00.000Z

I failed to bake the cake on the day of my blog... largely because I was tinnless and my housemate was using the kitchen when I had finally aquired a tin. Then when I got round to baking it took double the recommeded cooking time... ah well watched a couple of episodes of Spaced while we were waiting for it to bake. (I love spaced -I'm currently watching series 2)

I highly recommend it -very nice and succulent.

(Markus, you will be glad to hear it did not suffer from lack of bicarbonate of soda!)

I now have loads of cake and am having to eat it at every available opportunity... I feel I may get sick of it!

Today I have decided to have a day off from work! woo!

Banana Cake

2005-04-07T18:58:00.000Z

I'm going to make a banana cake. Providing when I go downstairs I have a tin to cook in!
Here's a recipe I found.. .

2 ripe bananas (about 400g)
150g softened butter
150g soft brown sugar
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100ml vegetable oil

Courtesy of Waitrose: http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/wfi/cooking/techniques/0204094.asp

Although I'm ignoring some ingredients (bicarbonate of soda and sultanas)...
off to bake now.. I shall try and knick a digital camera so I can put a pic on, or perhaps I can save you all a piece :)

Beautiful Bearded Lady

2005-04-07T16:48:00.000Z

Sorry for the random photo of me here I needed a URL so I could put a photo in my profile!
This was a photo that appeared on the SUSU site after beard soc! I think I am the only beardy who got in the union gallery :)

I have a housemate!

2005-04-07T16:10:00.000Z

I am no longer all alone in the house! Bob has been back for 2 days and it's quite nice to see someone during the day a little... although to be honest Bob has been busy working in the library so I haven't seen him much. Bob was very surprised because I have been in the house on my own for a week and a half now but actually I love it :) I would get lonely if I didn't have next door neighbours to keep me company and Hallam round the corner. I think I have just got very tired of student houses. I can't wait to grow up and have my own house!

This week has been quite dull, although obviously the General election has been announced and the Pope died, but I haven't done anything exciting. On the general election front I am feeling warmed towards Kennedy but still confused as to whether I should vote Labour or not.... but found this cool site about vote swapping - http://www.tacticalvoter.net/
What are other people's thoughts about the election?

Yesterday I had to meet a friend of Hallam's which was scary.. cos it was a GIRL and Hallam doesn't really have female friends so I'm not used to meeting them.... especially very attractive ones with big breasts... Grrr.. of course I am irrationally jealous of him interacting with other women but surely all women will find him irresistable and then pounce on him. I certainly would if I wasn't his girlfiend.

(For your interest although I was a little intimidated by friend she was very lovely and I don't mind too much that he finds her attractive!)

I should probably publisize that I am blogging....

Catching up

2005-04-04T22:20:00.000Z

After some thought I have decided I would like to keep a blog. For quite a while now I have been out of touch with a lot of people for unclear reasons really but to be safe I shall blame myself.

Without dwelling on the past I would like to keep more in touch with people... I miss a lot of you!!
For example I didn't know PGD had been to India! I like the fact that people leave comments on blogs too... so from now on I shall attempt to let you all know what's going on and share any revelations I may have about life..

First of all how do people deal with anger....
I find I get very angry about life sometimes and having an online journal could be very dangerous indeed.
I may well be tempted to vent my anger through the blog which could be very hurtful if those involved read it.

For example - I just spoke to boyf about writing about him in my blog. He is an integral part of my life and cannot be emitted from my entries... however what about when we've had an argument... although rare... it's very likely I would put a biased view fwd and stir up another argument...

Right... here's a summary of me at the moment:

- This year I am doing an extra optional year of medicine (because I am a big geek)
- I haven't really done anything interesting this year so far which I find very depressing.
- I am enjoying my course but I have realised recently that I am going to kill myself with stress unless I'm realistic about my self-expectations
- I have been going out with Hallam for 17 months and he is lovely
- I have some really nice course friends -woo!
- I have decided recently that I want to get involved more with international campaigns... such as Make Poverty History
and that I should try and care for the environment more.
- I am currently making no effort to keep up with music, although I got the Kaiser Cheifs latest album for my birthday... any thoughts? I like it!
- I am going to be living with Christelle, my brother Ben and a guy called Luke next year, yay!

To blog or not to blog

2005-03-15T20:18:00.000Z

I'm feeling like I want a website and a Blog is the obvious option.... however I don't really understand why people blog.

In Kenya it was a wonderful way of keeping in touch with many people I know. However some people use blogs as a rather personal journal which I find odd..
How am I meant to respond to their pains and happiness?
Do I admitt that I know their innermost thoughts or is this something you can read and not talk about it?
If someone is angry with me in a blog does this mean I should see it as being told off or should I wait for them to approach me?

it's all very odd...
I think I want a website rather than a blog but I'm not very web design literate so not sure how yet....

Final Week Kenya -yet to write

2004-09-20T20:17:00.000Z

Week 8 -STILL ALIVE

2004-09-18T15:12:00.000Z

I tried to look at my last blog to avoid repetition but the computor won't let me! So I shall just start with Zanzibar.

We left Nairobi at a ridiculous time in the morning on Wednesday we had a short aeroplane journey to Mombasa. In Mombasa we had 3 hours to kill so we went to Nyali beach were we went on our previous visit to Mombasa. We managed to persuade a taxi driver to take us to the beach (30 min journey) and wait to take us back quite cheaply. The beach was lovely -the whole of Mombasa was dissapointingly grey and rainy and we were worrying that we were on our way to a beach. BUT amazingly Nyali beach was lovely and sunny.

Our connecting flight from Mombasa to Zanzibar was on a very little plane with one too many passengers (there were lots of Germans on the flight) so the driver asked me to sit in the co-pilot seat!!! This was very cool as I felt like I was helping fly the plane, he even gave me one of his sweets. I kept forgetting I was sitting on a real plane as it felt like a flight simulator/computer game! Unfortunately I was not allowed to TOUCH ANYTHING which probably contributed to our safe journey.

Upon arrival in Zanzibar we were met by a nice 4-wheel drive which Andrew had hired for the duration of our stay. This has meant we have been able to go for gorgeous evening drives and visit other parts of Zanzibar. It took us over an hour to drive to Sensation Divers, Nungwi, where we are staying. Upon arrival we were given HOMEWORK! We were a little miffed by this as we were exhausted and wanted to relax on the beach. Instead we had to read a chapter of a book and then answer some questions. We did not finish the homework that night! oops.

Jemima, Andrew and I have shared a 3 person room. We all have double beds :) and we have a nice ensuite warm shower!

On thurdsay morning we met our instructor at 8.45 (ugh) we had a complimentary breakfast (egg, bread, fruit) and started our training.... Our instructor is a very nice South African man with long blond hair -he looks very much like a Scuba diving instructor. We watched 3 sections of the diving video and it turned out to be ok that we hadn't done our homework!

In the afternoon we started to Scuba dive!!! We did various skills and I was beginning to get the hang of it... although I have problems with equalising pressure in my left ear... this was a little distressing! Afterwards our instructor made us do a 200m swim... which I just about survived... I'm awful at swimming in the sea!

H/W Read chapters 1,2,4 and answer questions -didn't finish very well (fell asleep)

To make the most of the car we went for an evening drive. Zanzibar is beautiful... lots of white sand and palm trees... and lots of sea! We looked at an old ruins -followed by lots of local villagers and went for a walk along a beach. Gorgeous!

Came back for dinner and I went to bed early (10pm) to finish my homework... but fell asleep.

Friday! Day two of scuba diving.... managed to roughly fish homework and we watched the rest of the video... Homework was to read and answer questions on the rest of the text book (it's a pretty big book for 3 days reading!). Luckily we managed to get through it this time. Oh... we also had to revise for our FINAL EXAM!?!

In the afternoon we went for our second dive..... and I was pretty awful.... my Bouoyancy control jacket was too loose so my oxygen tank kept slipping round and making me roll sideways and then completely lose balance in the water. Unfortunately one of my legs seems surprisingly light and kept floating.... this did not help the balance problem (apparently a lot of women have this problem). I was also still having problems with my ears! GRRR.

So all in all I was feeling pretty disheartened after day 2 of diving. I was very annoyed because the others had mastered everything so well! I was not looking forward to diving again.

In the eveing while trying to revisie we went to Stone Town and went to a lovely restaurant called Monsoon which was looovely. We had to sit on cushions on the floor and we had a 4 course meal.... food was great and the atmosphere was wonderful.

Finally came home again exhausted and due to increasing anxiet about diving I woke at 6.30 and then worried till I had to get up at 7.30. We were going diving ALL DAY leaving at 8.30.

Today we were diving off a boat near an island.... and I was pretty good!!! Our instructor was VERY impressed with my imporvement and I felt very chuffed and relieved that I am not completely inept at all physical activity.... and I really enjoyed it!! Scuba diving is amazing we went along a reef a saw lots of cool fish and turtles!! We had a break in the day for some food and then came back and I was very relaxed and pleased..

Then we had to sit an exam which we all passed easily... so now I am a qualified PADI open water diver!!! YAY!

Tomorrow we leave and to Uganda we go!

Week 8

2004-09-14T22:17:00.000Z

This is very likely to be the last blog until I return to England. Tomorrow we leave Kenya for Zanzibar, then Entebbe. We have a very busy 10 days so I doubt email access will be possible.

The beginning of week 8 was spent in the Maasai Mara (see last entry) and today we went White Water Rafting.

We were met in Nairobi by the man who took us rafting. He drove us for 1 1/2 hrs out of Nairobi (on the road to Maua!) until we reached a rather nice water sports centre. I had to sign a very scary contract which basically said I wouldn't sue if I died. I hadn't not really taken into account what WWR would involved and I began to be pretty scared. Even more so after the safety talk!!!

I told Jemima to pass my love onto you all if I got squished against a rock.

We then drove for twenty minutes to the start of our journey. As the raft was pulled of the trailer our instucter instantly burst the floor of the raft. Great! This did not fill me with confidence. However apparently this did not matter.

Equipped with helmets, life jackets and oars Jemima, Andrew (Jemima's boyfriend) got into the raft on the river Tana, with the instructer of course. We started off with a teaching section of the river where we learnt various commands Right stroke forward, left stroke back, All stroke hard forward, jump right, Get into the front, Hold on, get down.... 45 mins into the journey our instructer decided that actually the puncture did matter!!! This was beacuase the water was low and the base of the raft was just scraping along rocks and we kept getting stuck.

So then we had to do a rescue operation. We had to get the raft out of the water. This was quite tricky. I found it most tricky because I had to do a little bit of climbing and was suddenly relying on strength and balance that I really don't have.... HOWEVER the boys looked after me and my balance was fine!! :) I surprised myself and we got the boat and equipment to shore.

A replacement boat was sent and we continued our journey. We walked any bits deemed too unsafe and our instructer was brilliant. We went down lots of rapids but there were quiet bits in between. The river was beautiful. There was one bit were were rowed to sit on the edge of a waterful and we got very wet.... and we got to one pool where Jemima and Andrew jumped from a very high rock...... I refused because I thought I might jump into the cliff. It looked fun though and they both survived!

All in all it was excellent. I did not hate any of it depsite a little initial anxiety. Our instructer was very good and clear (he had a brummy accent which was amusing to hear in Africa!). We got very wet and were given a barbeque lunch!

Tomorrow we fly at 7.30 so I must go to bed now!

Week 6 part 2

2004-09-13T23:53:00.000Z

I am now writing this at the beginning of week 8 so I apologise for briefer entries. I have had a avery busy two weeks!

At the end of week 6 I revisitted maternity as there is a lovely Danish doctor who is working there now who was on holiday when I was there previously. I had a brilliant three days! I did lots of examination and conducted ward bits of ward rounds. The highlight of my week was helping in a caesarian section. I have done this before in England but I was helping much more and Dr Else let me suture the skin!! This was pretty scary as all the theatre staff were watching me!! I was ready to hand the needle back to Dr Else after two stitches but she got me to continue and I practically did it all! We looked at the wound on Friday and it looked BEAUTIFUL! I was very very proud!

On Friday we were rather spontaneous and went to the Nanyuke River Camel Camp. Although this was on the cards we were not sure if we could go and on Friday we booked it then 1/2hr later jumped on a matatu to Nanyuke.

The Camel Camp has been set up by a man called Chris Field who has done a lot of research into nomads and has now married a Somalian. He has lots of lines of business but one of them is camel farming. He has quite recently set up them camel camp where there is a village of 8 traditional Somalian huts; the kind you can take down and put on a camel back. So for 2 nights we stayed in these huts. They were amazing!!! We were very comfortable as they had beds better than our hostel and they retained heat well. Each night the lit a bonfire and gave us gas lanterns. The food was delicious. We had pancakes, honey and camel meat for breakfast and the evenig meals were the best I have had so far in Kenya. We were the only guests (a couple appeared on our second night but stayed in a tent and didn’t eat) which was really nice and we felt special! On the Saturday we went for a half day camel ride! This was quite fun….. Jemima rode on a very fast Camel called Songa I rose Camel 1047 which I decided to name Humpy. Songa was very naughty and kept misbehaving and ate lots. Songa was very affectionate; mostly towards Jemima as she could reach me to sniff at. Camels are lovely animals, quite easy to ride (although we were mostly led) although a little uncomfortable. It was hysterical when they sat down or stood up and we had very sore bottom till 3 days later.

After the camels we went to the equator, where we payed 50 Ksh for someone to demonstrate the Coriolois effect with water going into a funnel. This was very cool to see. Chris the camel man was rather sceptical though as he said there was a dispute about where the equator was and there were two signs 50m apart from each other and the Coriolis effect could be demonstated at both!! Following taking some photos at the equator we were then forced into TWENTY NINE curio (souvenir) shops.

We went back to Maua on Sunday afternoon.
Hallam phoned. Hooray!

(Ben, I saw someone wearing a Norwich City shirt in Nanyuke!!!)

Week 7

2004-09-13T23:05:00.000Z

Our final week in Maua! This was a very busy week.

On Monday we went with Thimna the DCC volunteer to her school. This was an interestin experience. It was rather chaotic, we were told this was because it was the first day back. I hope so as mostly there seemed to be no teachers in the classrooms. We cause utter chaos at breaktime as practically the whole school gathered round Jemima and I as we walked round the school. Mostly just to look at us but some asked us our names “my name?” and others poked us!! Due to the disruption we seemed to be causing we left at lunchtime but before this we went into the Form 8 class and we had to teach them about English population!! This was a rather interesting experience.

On Monday Evening I went to inquire about the history of the hospital. It was really interesting. I am being sent back to England to find as much information as I can about the hospital. Especially names and dates. They have a lot of disconnected information. I have 3 photo’s of Grandad (which I MUST scan and return as soon as I am in the UK) and I also read that he “installed a water system which reduced much disease”. I was proud!

For the rest of the week I was on paediatrics. I began to feel a little disheartened as I did not feel I was doing enough on the wards and that I wasn’t intersted enough. I realised that this was largely because the Doctor currently on paeds did the ward rounds in Kiswahili and I was rarely involved –so for my final week I threw myself into it and really enjoyed it. I went back to maternirty and did another C-section and had avery full week.

Other than medicine this week has been hectic.

On Tuesday we had our hair braided (this would have been wonderfully if the hairdresser hadn’t refused to put elastic bands in so that my braids could have looked much better.) We went to dinner at two people’s houses to say goodbye. Went on call again. But by far the highlight of the week was killing a chicken!!! Jemima and I had decided that as part of our Kenya experience we should kill a chicken (inspired by dad’s memories of the gradener killing chickens). So on our penultimate evening Jemima with the help of a Kenyan went to choose a good chicken! While food buying was occuring I was intructed to boil lots of water. So I did. Jemima returned with a very handsome chicken that walked around the kitchen for a while (well flapped a bit because it had it’s legs tied). I felt quite attached to the poor thing.

Finally slaughtering time came. With it’s neck on a bench, a T-towel over its head (to give Jemima something to hold and hide it’s face with) and Markus firmly holding the chicken’s body we were ready for action. Jemima had borrowed a panga from the nursing students kitchen but began to feel hesitant. She finally attempted to the chop the head off…. But the first blow had definitely not killed the chicken…. We think the second blow did (or at least it stopped moving quite so much) but after around 20 we managed to decapitate the chicken…. It was a mildly unpleasant experence but we were hungry. Thus we dunked the chicken in the water I had boiled a surprisingly easily plucked the chicken.

The chicken was soon naked and we were able to carry out a very interesting dissection! We even found lots of semi formed eggs in the abdomen which we were amazed by. I set to work preparing the food and we ended up having a rather chewy but delicsious chicken stew with roast potatoes!

On Friday morning we said goodbye to Maua. We got a 7.15 bus to Nairobi. Our journey was much improved when we found out that rather amusingly a man from Maua was following us to Nairobi. He had made some wooden animals for us but in our last week we had been unable to purchase them as he had dissappeared from Maua. 2 hours before the end of our journey we founf him by the roadside where he was waiting for us to pass! The driver drove off leaving him stranded and we later found out that he had jumped on a Matatu Nairobi and met us there. He had travelled 6 hours to sell us some wooden animals. Now that’s dedication. You will be releived to hear we did actually purachase something!

On Friday night and tonight we are staying with Jemima’s relitaves and being looked after wonderfully. I have just had a delightful meal including 2 glasses of wine and a G&T. Feeling stuffed and very content.

This weekend we went to the Maasai Mara! I have been told this is where the Lion King was set but I don’t know how reliable this info is. It’s a large game park in the Rift Valley and I think is the same as the Serengeti (but the Kenyan bit is called the Maasai Mara). We went on four game drives and saw many wildebeast and we have now seen the “big five”; lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard, rhino! We stayed in a lovely but possibly rather expensive hotel (we got a cheaper deal) called the Mara Serena Lodge. We were staying in rooms based on Maasai villages, it had gorgeous surroundings, a pool and the food was delicious. We travelled there and back to Nairobi on small aeroplanes which was great as the pilot actually spoke to you and passed round the sweets for take-off!

There is probably much more to say but I am exhausted and tomorrow we are up early to go white water rafting (ooh er) and then the next day off to Zanzibar to go Scuba diving! Such a hard life!

Lots of love

Week 6 part 1

2004-08-31T16:30:00.000Z

It is very early on in our sixth week but we accidently ended up having most of today off and thus had time to email!

After writing the last blog we went to the market and bought a lot of vegetables for a dinner party we had for some friends in the evening. We decided to make vegetarian lasagne... although stupidly didn't realise that you cannot buy lasagne in Maua. Luckily Dr Else (Danish Dr) gave us some which we were able to replace after going to Meru. Although Maua is rarely found in Maua (no one has fridges) if you dig beneath the frozen sausages in Danros (one of 2 supermarkets) you can find some suspicious looking frozen orange cheese. It is surprising good melted, but Mum can you please have cheese and milk in stock when I come home! The lasagne was awesome and we even had red wine to accompany it! (this is not allowed on Methodist premises so shhhhhhh!) We had pinapple upsidedown cake for desert! Ate far too much and went to bed rather bloated!

At the weekend I had my first malaria scare.... On Saturday I woke up and felt nauseous all day, by the afternoon I was beginning to feel achey and had still not been able to eat, by 8ish I was beginning to feel feverish but my temp wasn't raised... the nausea went away after I had eaten some soup but then when I got into bed my temp had risen by 0.5 degrees C and I was rather scared it was about to soar. Luckily on Sunday after forcing myself to get up for church although I felt a little dizzy I felt pretty normal by the end of the day! So all is well and we decided it might have been too much lasange!

Despite having the excitement of the malaria scare we had a good weekend (though took it very slowly with lots of breaks to allow the nausea to supside a little) ! On Saturday we got a matatu to Meru the nearest town. The journey takes 1 hour 20 mins and if you recall my description of Kenyan roads you may understand that this was a rather difficult journey for me as I really was feeling queesy! Upon arrival in Meru (which Jemima bizzarly knew the geography of) we went to the Museum.... this had been recommended to us from various sorces but we were warned not to expect too much. However we really enjoyed it. We read about lots of animals, local geography, local geography, volcanoes, cluture, Kenyan men and women and evolution. Then we visited some animals they keep outside. They had monkeys and baboons, a crocadile, tortoises, turtles, snakes, chameleons, lizards and baby tortoises!!! They also had some imitation huts that you could go inside. Tried to pose for a photo next to an evil monkey called Columbus when he reach out of the cage in attempt to rip my nose off. Also waited for ages for the Chameleon to change colour but later found out it was just a large lizard and where mocked by the museum keepers! How embarassing!

After visiting the museum we wandered around Meru, Jemima ate some food in a dodgy cafe where we shared our table with some random men and many flies. Hmmm nice. Due to lack of appetite and caution about the food I opted to just drink Chai. We had a nice wander through many shops and the market place (where a live chicken was thrust at me in hope that I would buy it) and a little out of town through some fields. We had a drink at a much nicer cafe before foing to an AMAZING supermarket. After 6 weeks of being away from England we had a some culture shock upion walking into this rather nice supermarket, as Jemima has phrased it -we were like kids in candy store.... there was so much selection of things we liked and recognised! Having to get a Matatu home we limitted our buying to some lasangne sheets, MARMITE(!!!?), a British paper (to read about the olympics etc, and a washing up brush.

The journey home was hideous as I felt pretty awful now....

In the evening we had been invited to Dr Rachel's house (our supervisor) as a farwell to Sarah the DCC volunteer. I had decided not to go and and collapsed in bed as being horizontal seemed to be a wise thing to do. But in a moment of feeling better I decided that I would go after all. Had quite a pleasant evening but I felt very fragile. However Dr Rachel mothered me a bit and encoraged me to eat some soup! We watched some of the olympics and saw England winning something (can't remember what... I was feverish!) after which Jemima and Sarah stood up and sang the National Anthem VERY loudly... tee hee.

On Sunday we went to church. This was the first time we have made it! We went ot the 830 Enlgish service, which was rather odd. There were lots of pauses where it was unclear what was meant to be happening. The preacher wore a gown and a Norwich City scarf and had a strong Kenyan accent so we are unsure as to what he spoke about! To speak he interupted a chorus in the middle of it and throughout his sermon said "Praise the Lord" to which the correct response is "Amen". This is an aspect of African worship I have always quite liked but he said it rather excessively and at times innappropriately... "There are very few people here today, Praise the Lord"!?!?! and the congregation was rather subdued so it didn't really work. Communion was also rather odd. (Can we send the MHMC's old red and white communion books they only had one for the preacher) As bread was thrust into my hand I was pushed quickly towards the wine man and then quickly back to my seat. I refused to be rushed I ate my bread and drank my wine slowly! :)

The rest of Sunday we went for a lovely walk with James a security guard. It was great but I struggled lots as I was rather energy depleted from being ill and not eating the day before.

Yeserday I was back on paediatrics. I had a painful morning watching a doctor failing repeatedly to get a line into a premature twin who has been losing weight since birth who they have been unable to feed successfully. It was all very sad. Then I was humilated as I was quizzed on my knowledge of dehydration and rehyrdation.... was very clueless! :(

Last night we had a wonderful fairwell party for Sarah at the Beehive. Before which we ordered food which we waited 1hr1/2 to come! We had a meat platter with rice which was gorgeous. I am now exhausted as I went to bed late and was woken at 6am by the hoard of new nursing students who are now living with us!

Week 5

2004-08-27T16:30:00.000Z

From Friday to Sunday Jemima and I went with the Germans to Samburu and stayed at Buffallo Springs game park. We were taken by two local men, John and Kim, who we thought were trying charge us too much money but in the end we had a pretty good deal. We payed 65 pounds for food (inc a chef), accomodation, swimming pool fee, gate entry which we have been assured was very good value.

The weekend was fanatastic (although being with four Germans the German language dominated somewhat so Jemima and I were a little isolated -this didn't really spoil our fun). We saw loads of animals which I will publish a complete list of soon. My favourite our definately elephants and giraffes (reticulated type)... but we also saw a leopard which apparently is pretty rare! Still no lions though. We sat on top of the landrover most of the time and have got some good photo's and video footage!Spent saturday afternoon in a lovely freeform swimming pool surrounding by monkeys and were joined by two mating lizards! tee hee! The rest of the time we were on game drive or eating. Food was pretty good and we were well fed.We were staying a in lodges that a currently not in use (think John and Kim got a weird deal) so we had the entire place to ourself... although the downside was that our shower didn't work. The bedrooms were lovely though.
On Saturday night after Jemima and I thrashing Kim at Kenyan poker (and singing the national anthem, very loudly, after each triunph to embarass him) we went to the dining area to find the German looking out of the dining room window (not really a wndow -no glass) at a............crocadile!!! It was amazing.... the croacadile had seen there was a possibilty of food (scraps not people) and had come to visit.... it was great as we were very safely (crocadiles can't climb) 1 meter away from a crocadile. It was very dark so got poor photo's. After dinner we fed it our left over roast goat and got to watch it snap!

Kim taught us how to count to 10 in Kiswahili...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...... just need to learn 20, 30 etc then I can count to 100!

I started on Paediatrics this week which has been great so far, I am with the clinical officer and doctor I was on Maternity with so got a bit of a head start. Also working with a lovely American Dr -Dr Sharon. I have been much more involved in the ward rounds on paediatrics and enjoy meeting all the children and mums! On Tuesday I also went on call with another lovely CO called Purity. Nothing very exciting happened but I enjoyed the variety of cases we saw.... was working from 815am till 10.30pm.... (had some breaks for food etc)

On Wednesday Jemima and I went on Community outreach to vaccinate some children.... 1 month arrived on time.... 40 mothers arrived 2 hours late.... apparently they were late because there was a water shortage... were they coming by boat?! (later decided they were having to spend more time looking for water!) but being 2 hours late doesn't matter in Kenya! Jemima did some injections and we weighed babes (realised 8 babies in the scales has not been set up right and all the babies had drastically lost weight....the student nurse decided not to re weigh them -tut tut) .... I tried to register some babies but the register made absolutely no sense and to find each baby I had to look through 1000+ names which were randomly ordered! I didn't get to do any injections (dissappointed/releived) but did some neonatal assessments. :)

In the evening we went to the Beehive and did some DJing! :)

Yesterday we went on Community outreach again... we went on a verry bumpy journey and ended up in thge village where we had met Henry (the man who introduced us to the witchdoctor and wrote a whole book asking Jemima to be his wife and for us to sponsor him)... we parked by a pentecostal church where we were to do some HIV teaching. While waiting to start for a bout one hour we persuaded a crowd of staring children to sing for us... this was a hard task but once they started they were unstoppable! Then we were given a soda..... while drinking this a random man shook my hand took my coke downed most of it and then handed me the bottle back... I insisted that he finished it.... I was informed he was a "pshyco"!?!

Eventually we went into the church which became packed with about 100 Kenyans.... after lots of introductions (in Kimeru) which I think all began with "Praise God" we were asked to introduce ourselves. I started with "Mugeni" (how are you all in Kimeru) which the crowd loved and then I waffled about being a medical student which someone then translated..... Then the crowd were asked if the would like the doctors (?!!? Me and Jemima) to teach them..... we heard lots of approving noises.. apparently everything means much more coming from a Musungu! Fortunately we had been expecting to talk on cancer and had prepared something. Although Jemima and I had written the speech together and she was brave enough to stand up and talk. It went down really well and we were even able to answer some questions after. The health promotion day included a very cheesy sex education video, and a long talk on HIV. Surprsingly with the few English words the speaker used and the the few Kimeru and Swahili words I knew I was able to follow vaguely where the conversation was heading.... We lost it completely when the moved onto the sex part of the talk which was a bit dissapointing as the crowd seemed to be finding it very amusing... but I think that might have been in an embarrassed naive kind of way!!!

Was invited to have cake with Dr Else a Danish doctor in the evening.
Today I was in paediatrics with lots of very unhappy babies. Including a twin in the neonatal end of the ward who they are struggling to feed.... it is all very sad as in England they would easily be able to treat. They just don't have the fascilities here. Although they are very creative with what they do have -the incubators are turned up by adding another lightbulb!!

This weekend we are staying in Maua. Tomorrow we plan to visit Meru and on Sunday we are being taken on a hike by a very nice security guard!

What a busy week this has been!!

Week 4

2004-08-27T16:27:00.000Z

I am writing this at the end of week 5, it has been AGES since I have had chance to write I have to bring my journal along as a reference. I think I still need to write about week 3; Finished my medicine attachment... I'm getting really good at communication considering I know very little Kimeru or Kiswahili.... Almost had awhole conversation with a man about the coldness of my hands!!! Think it consisted of him gasping then muttering something in Kimeru, then I apologised 'pole' (said polle) and he made reasuring noises.... I was very proud! On the Thursday MORE Germans arrived. A 24 yr old female medical student, her Husband Markus and his brother Thorston. Markus will be working in the DCC and Thorston is here for a holiday.

On Friday morning Jemima, Thimna and I set off on a very long journey to Mombasa. It took us 17 hours!!! It should have taken us 15 but two hours into the journey we stopped in a small village where the coaches equal in weight of Miraa was strapped onto the top of the bus.... the bus doubled in height!!! This was rather amusing until we got to a single laned dust track with a sharp corner with a big dip to fall down.... I had been on this road on our way here from Nairobi and it was scary enough the first time... but this time there was a Matatu (minibus usually driven very fast and dangerously) which was balanced on the edge of the road about to topple in. As a result of this the single lane dust track was having to double to allow cars coming from both directions to continue their journey.... A vehicle ahead managed to tow the matatu back on track and traffic started to move again and we had a VERY scary 5 mins as we slowly drove along the edge of the dust track with a dip on one side... Jemima and I actually feared for our life and I no longer found the miraa stacked on top of the bus even vaguely amusing... and did not appreciate the cheesy kenyan song 'Hakuna Matata' (not the Lion King song -it means "no worries")... Incidently loud music played throughout the 17 hours hence we got no sleep (Dad you would have hated it!)... Our journey continued much more safely... though punctured a tire at one of the speed checks where spikes cover half the road.... this was a 2am in the morning in the middle of nowhere... fortunately we had a spare tyre and with the aid of Jemima's torch we were back on our way! Had one more stop at a hideous toilet in Nairobi and got into Mombasa at 930.....

Once we were in Mombasa our task was to find some accomadation. We decided to stay at the YWCA which was recommended in our guidebook. Getting directions was rather amusing as no one seemed to use road names. Walking through the streets of mombasa was very different to Maua. Jambo was shouted at you from all direction.... Jambo means hi and is a phrase mostly reserved for tourists... I tried to reply with mzuri sana to demonstrate that I knew some Kiswahili! Mombasa is also much hotter than Maua and has real roads and pavements! We were very relieved to find the YWCA and had no problems booking oursleves in.... and were pleased to find we had sheets, moskito nets, breakfast and warm showers... at approx five pound per night!!

To make the most of day one we went to "Fort Jesus" which I'm sure you can read about on the net somewhere. Although keen historians will like to here all about the Forts history I have forgotten the details. I enjoyed the sites and the architecture and the little museum showing weapons, kitchenware, clothes and jewelry from the differently clutures that had ruled to fort (Arabs, Poruguese and British)... A guide enforced himself upon us which we thought initially was free... but after forcing us on a tour round the Old Mombasa he asked us for money. This was rather annoying as all along we had said we wanted to go alone. This was similar to many experinces we has in Mombasa. Many people seems happy to be welcoming and show you round, or offer you coconut juice to try.... and then would ask for a little money for their time! It was very wearing and we felt very guilty for presuming any gesture of kindness was actually about money! There were also lots of street children asking for money. We tried to find "Recoda" restaurant (recommended in the Kenya guide book) in the old town but another helpful person informed us that it was closed so we ended up going to "Island dishes" and had a gorgeous coctail of swahili food which they prepared especially as we were being indecisive. I asked for a mixed fruit juice to accompany my food and was given a pint of fruit.(banana, mango, papaya, avacodo and red stuff)... which was more of a desert than drink... was lovely though!

On Sunday we went to what turned out to be a private beach "Nyali beach". We went on a Matatu to get there which was rather exciting (driving is less dangerous on real roads) It was a gorgeous beach with white sand and green sea and palm trees! At the edge of the beach was a lovely hotel... we wondered onto hotel property to get some food. This was not really allowed as it was meant to be guests only..... however the security guards let us have free roam of the grounds!! I thought this was pretty awful as they were only letting us because we were Wusungus (plural for musungu -white person) and they described there job as stopping guests being hassled....... later they told some Kenyan boys to leave us alone when they were talking nicely to us on the beach.... it all annoyed me quite a lot. However I was quite glad to be allowed to get an icecream as we hadn't eaten lunch (sorry Dad I know you told me not to eat icecream). Later the security guards asked for our mobile numbers, asked us to marry them and come and work in Mombasa (said no to all 3) then showed us the inside of the hotel! Got sunburnt despite being careful (Jemima got VERY sunburnt) and had a lovely swim in the Indian ocean!

In the evening we went to the branch of Recoda which was still open... we tried to order a coctail of swahili food again and were rather dissappointed after a lot of misunderstanding (the man we ordered from finished his shift) we were given very little food.... however the food we has was nice -chipatti, a scary looking fish, kebab meat and salad.... Afterwards we went for a beer in a very nice bar. Got home feeling rather ill -I think I had sunstroke and the mixture of beer and dodgy food with that didn't help.... was very releived to have a good bed to sleep in.
The next day (Monday) we had a lovely coastal walk and then did some craft and fabric shopping... then finally went home and packed ready to go home.
The journey home was rather uneventful, was 2hours shorter and I slept most of the way. Bought some chips at a service station which were given to us in a sandwhich bag. Tried to spread the salt evenly over the chips... but upon shaking the bag the bag split and chips flew everywhere.... this was inside the bus and Jemima and I tried to have quiet hysterics so that no one noticed our stupidity.Got back to Maua at 9ish and it was very cold!

From 10 O'clock, Tuesday after getting back from Mombasa to Friday I have spent my days on Surgical wards and in theatre. This was lots of Fun as I was also accompanied by Jemima (it worked well for our timetable if we did it together). It was quite cool... the majority of patients are people who have deep cuts or various limbs and bits of limbs cut off with Pangas.... the people of Meru are apparently the most violent in Kenya and those in Maua the most violent in Meru. It's ok though as I am not stealing anyone's miraa nor am I sharing anyone's husband I should be pretty safe from panga cuts :) Saw some pretty gruesome surgery.

Week 4

2004-08-27T12:46:00.000Z

Week 3

2004-08-10T12:51:00.000Z

At the end of last week I had a warm shower!!! It probably was the highlight of my week... we are currently looking after a doctor's cats while she is away (a danish doctor who insists of feeding the cats meat!!) and the doctors have the priveledge of warm showers... and although she didn't specifically say we could use her shower we decided she wouldn't mind as she had told our friend Thimna that she could use it.
We spent thursday and Friday at the doctors house and cooked a cake and sang happy birthday to mum (I felt left out of the celebrations!).
On Saturday we went to Meru National park which was brilliant... Our local boys had quite spontaneously decided to go to the park and had arranged transport... so at 10ish we rushed home to get money etc... but due to their laid back attitude to timing it then took us 2 hours (!!!?!) to leave Maua...
It then took us about an hour to get to the park...
Just need to talk about Kenyan roads: I have never before realised the importance of road maintenance... tarmaced roads (where they exist) are in general poorly maintained and have pot holes everywhere and ragged edges.... drivers have to swerve around the pot holes and when walking you sometimes have to jump off the road (no real pavements).... and although these roads are awful you really appreciate it as the tarmac often stops and you are suddenly driving on a rocky, VERY DUSTY, track.... added to this is the danger of the Mirraa (Chat?) drivers who drive very recklessly and fast.... Although one good point the drivers vaguely drive on the left and there is never as much traffic as England.
At the park as non-residents we were to be charged 2800 KSh... residents of Kenya have to pay 100Ksh!! The boys thought this was ridiculous so ended up bargaining with the bossman and we got in with student cards for 800 Ksh... though we were told later that we were supposed to be under 18 too!!! Though 2800 KSh is about 22 pounds and I thought maybe we should pay the non resident fee and support the Kenyan economy....
We went to the park in a Landrover but our driver then let us sit on top in the luggage rack... The prospect of this scared me lots as I don't like climbing anything even cars... but it was very easy to get on top and I felt quite secure inside the luck rack.... and the park was beautiful and so much better when sitting on top of the car!!! Although we weren't actually meant to be doing this and had to get back in when we went past the main office...
It really hit me that I was actually in Kenya and inbetween subdued monents of awe I wanted to burst into songs from the Lion King!! Teehee....As far as I could tell Meru national park has less animals than most but becuase it was my first game park I enjoyed it all anyway and the few animals that we saw was very exciting... we saw elephants, giraffes, lots of waterbucks, antelope, buffallos, gazelles, ostriches, monkeys, babboons, one hippo's bottom, lots of birds and butterflies... there was a special area for rhino's but we didn't see any and I was very dissappointed not to see any lions... but we have to more game parks planned!
On Sunday in the afternoon we went and met a man who we had met last week, he showed us around more of the hills surrounding Maua. We met a witchdoctor who showed us the cures for ths common cold, arthritis, and worms, we went on a mirraa and tea farm, we saw 2 big rocks which featured in local legend and suposedly housed lots cobras and pythons and other scary snakes... we were told "Don't worry, just be careful"..... ugh.... I was told this as I have walked half slid down a steep dusty hill....
A new physio, from Nairobi, arrived yesterday and is staying with us for a week.... chose last night to attempt and fail to make Kenyan food..... she laughed as us and threw it away... and made fresh Ugali for us! Tee hee. Thankfully also experimented in making corn bread which was very tasty!
This week I am on medicine again and enjoying it a little more... although today has been disjointed as I went to the dedication ceremony of the disabled community centre... the president of the the Methodist conference form UK was here - Rev William Morrey, it was lovely to meet someone vauguely connected to you all from home... he and his wife knew mum from Methsoc days! Next week I will go onto Surgery just to pop in and see what it is like.
Haven't got malaria yet.
But injured knuckles while cleaning white coat.
Hopefully going to the coast (Mombassa) this weekend... but haven't asked permission for a 4 day weekend yet!
Miss you all.

Week 2 part 2

2004-08-06T11:57:00.000Z

I am back at the post office with a little more time to spare. Although Jemima has just left me so I am the only white person in a very busy post office full of Kenyans who find it very interesting to read your emails as you type!!!

It is now friday and the medicine has been ok this week. I am starting to get more involved now so it's getting more interesting.

On Monday evening we went to a bible study with all the white doctors (I don't know why the Kenyan doctors don't go) which was interesting and I was amused to see there were the same awkward silences as in student bible studies whenever anyone is asked to pray, read etc!

We went out for a meal on Tuesday to the Maua Basin Hotel. It is so cheap so we have decided to eat out once a week. The restaurant is the poshest (is that a word) in Maua and is a lovely restaurant and would be pretty posh by UK standards.... I had a tenderloin steak with chips (not very Kenyan.... but it sounded so good!) with a coke, and a dessert and it porbably cost me four pounds!!! It was excellent food although the icecream that came with the desert was rather odd and a fluorescent pink colour!

On Wednesday afternoon me and Jemima finished at 3 o'clock so we went for a wander... we walked up a road which led to two small villages. In the second village a man apporached us who spoke English.... he then offered to lead us to the top of a hill and back to the road to Maua... we then had possibly 15 children running alongside us and holding our hands.... and dusting our trousers off... it was very sweet... apparently none of them had seen white people before. We might go back on Sunday with a camera this time!!!

We are eating well here, cooking is ok, mostly vegetarian food and we are trying to make a Kenyan dish this weekend -skwama weki (sp??) and ugali.... which is a green vegetable this with this maize white, mash potatoe-type thing..... it's nice!! We're also making our own bread as the bread here isn't great. One of the American doctors, Dr Jerry, is going to give me a recipe for corn bread. We might also make cake tonight in honour of mum's birthday!!! tee hee

I have a cold. It's getting better here. I also got bitten approximately 6 times on my right leg... although I am baffled as to when it happened. They might be mosquito bites... so i might get malaria next week sometime. I have scratched them lots so they are very red.... but they don't itch now!!!

Mum asked what words I know... so here goes Kimeru: Muga (greeting - hello how are you), muga muno (reply - hello I'm fine) ena (breathe in) , mama (lie down), gokora, (cough), mwanki (fever) murimu (pain) Kiswahili: Habari, (greeting) Mzuri (reply -good), Hakuna Mata (no worries), Sawa Sawa (ok ok, fine fine), Sa Sa (hi, how are you?), Fit (good), Tafathali (please), nakupenda (I love you), nimekukosa (i miss you), habari yako(hello, how are you?), pesa ngapi(how much?), nipa (give me), ona (see this), chora (draw), asanti sana (thankyou very much), poa (cool), pole (sorry)... Muzungu (said lots by small children =white person)

Teehee, nice kenyan just offered to correct my spelling! Changed a few 'S's to Zs!!

week 2 part 1

2004-08-04T13:48:00.000Z

I have had an ok week so far. On saturday we went on a very steep walk up to a plateau... I am incredibly unfit and nearlly died. Ok.... so I wasn't anywhere near death and I successfully completed the walk.... but it was very tiring. Kenya is beautiful!! In the evening we went to a local bar where we have made friends with some local Kenyan boys.... we stayed very late and I think I was in bed by 230am.... ugh.
I decided if I woke up spontaneously I would got to church... however I didn't wake up and the English service is at 830!!So rather than being holy on Sunday we went for another walk. This time with our local boys... called Tabu, Walter and Ndambuki (Fred) they talk us on a lovely walk to a waterfall but just as the waterfall came into view the boys were horrified to see it had dried up!!!! It is apparently the best waterfall in Kenya and the pool is normally up to their chests.... but it was completely dry!
This week I have been on Medicine, both to medical clinics and the medical ward. I have left Shadrack behind and I am working with a new clinical officer who appears to be completely clueless.... which is a little frustrating as I don't really know what I'm doing either! however I'm now working with two American Doctors which removes some of the language problem as the Kenya doctors don't need to talk in English, I'm kind of enjoying medicine although still feeling a little overwhelmed!
have learnt some Kiswahili and Kimeru.
I have to go before the post office closes.
Will finish this later on in the week.

Week 1

2004-07-30T11:18:00.000Z

hello All!
I have now been in Kenya for one week! Unfortunately although we have accessed the internet we cannot currently access hotmail. So I hope some of you can read this. You can also contact me by text messages but you need to get the number from mum or Ben as I don't know it! I don't think texting from the web works either. If someone can find a way please feel free to text lots. It only costs me about 8p to text England!

Kenya is amazing. We are staying in a hostel within the hospital compound. We hae very basic accomadation, toilets are reasonable, showers horrible and freezing (may get hair braided to escape washing hair) and a very basic kitchen. Luckily the kitchen no longer has kerosine stoves as one medical student nearly burnt the kitchen down and we have a small electric oven and two electric hobs. I also spent 1600 Kenyan shillings on a kettle yesterday so we could speed up boiling water.... with no hot tap the kettle has now made things so much easier. Especially washing up plates, clothes and making cups of tea. We don't have a fridge but meat and cheese isn't that readily available. The kettle cost about 13 pounds and the supermarket offered to test is before we bought it. This involved them actually filling it with water to see if it would boil!

We have been up at 730am every day so far, except on Monday we we had to go to morning prayers so we got up at 645... ugh. I have been working on maternity this week which has been very quiet so I have been a little bored. We fortunately are not in a position of responsibility which has changed hugely over the past few years. Five years ago students were relied upon to be an extra pair of hands but we can use this just as a learning opportunity.

I have been examing babies in the nursery this week which was good fun. One died today which was very sad.... there is also one in the nursery who's mother dies at birth and it is waiting to be picked up by relatives. The medicine is much more basic here as probably about 5 diseases dominate, less drugs are available and the only investigations available are Xray an ultrasound.

The Doctors are mostly lovely although there is one who I am hoping to avoid. They also have 'Clinical Officers' who only train for 3 years but they are very much like house officers. I have been working with Shadrack who has been very nice to me and taken me under his wing (this may be because he wants my clinical tropical medicine handbook when I leave!) Hoping to go to a medical ward next week.

Dad I think I have found your old house.

We are eating well.... and it is also very cheap to eat locally. We went to the the most posh restaurant in Maua last night (which was lovely) and it cost about 2 pound!!! A pint of beer can also be bought at local bars for about 60p!!!

There are two students living with us in the hostel and this week there is also a visiting doctor who did her elective here 5 years ago... there were also 4 danes who left on Tuesday. Sarah a volunteer has been here for a year has introduced us to her local Kenyan boys who are lovely. We celebrated one of their birthdays this week.

We visited a lovely waterfall this week, which was meant to be prohibited but the Kenyan gatekeeper took us up to it (in flip-flops) and was very kind and stopped me falling over on my way down. I return for his kindness we gave him some money but promised to send him a photo of Jemima and him!

We are a real novelty to the Kenyans. Most say 'Hello, how are yoooou, fine, fine'..... the children as well. Athough some just stare, some wave, some say 'give me pen', 'give me sweet'. They all love having their photo't taken and get very excited when they can see themselves on digital camera.
We took a picture of a small group of children who spontaneously all ran to grab tea leaves to hold for the photo!!!!

There is lots I am missing out but I want to try again to receive my emails.
Miss you all lots

Approximately 3 hours till I fly off!

2004-07-23T17:28:00.000Z

I'm very very scared now. Having moments of huge anxiety followed by waves of sadness.

I am pretty much all packed, I have done very minimal packing but need Jemima (fellow student) to arrive to help me decide which T-shirts not to take. We are trying to share clothes so we can take less. I have bought food for the journey, sought out travel games to amuse us for 9 weeks, purchased travellers cheques, photocopied various important things... and now I am completing my penultimate task of the day -updating my blog.

All that needs to be done is to label my bags and eat dinner.
I am flying at 10:30.
I hope you all have a very enjoyable summer, feel free to leave messages on my blog or email me. Prayers will also be appreciated!

See you all in 9 weeks

1 week till I go!

2004-07-16T21:16:00.000Z

Wow, I can't believe my exams are over.

The exams were ok, I had two written exams... the first consisted of two essays which I felt went well. The second was a a short notes paper which everyone felt was very difficult. Then finally we had a practical exam where we examined and talked to "patients" (actors). I really enjoyed this one and somehow got over my nervousness. I got some results but not an overall grade... which I think is probably going to be a B which I will be very chuffed with.

Due to my results I have been accepted onto the intercallated BSc course. For doing an extra year I can get an extra degree (seems very good value for time!) in biological sciences... but also 2 out of the 8 units I choose can be non-science related, which is very exciting!

Since the exams I have been running around Southampton organising the Kenya trip, sorting out my new house (had to move mid exams), meeting external examiners (as a student rep) and sorting out my intercallated year. Finally saying goodbye to friends.

I am now home and exhausted after a very busy month. I am feeling sad because I going to miss lots of very important people for the entire of the summer. I will really miss holidays, festivals and days out with friends and family and miss being at home.

This all makes the prospect of Maua hospital even more daunting.

Amusing videos a la weebls

2004-06-24T20:48:00.000Z

I was just going to the weebls website to get this link:
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/29/
when I saw this one
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/34/
both very amusing.

Revision week 1 has gone ok, obviously about 4 days behind. I despise cardiovascular diseases....

I payed to be injured!?

2004-06-10T18:36:00.000Z

Today I payed money to be jabbed twice, one in each arm. OUCH! And it was flippin expensive! Ah well the thought of getting rabies or yellow fever scared me so the pain is probably worth it. Also received advice about long haul flights and DVT's...

I marked my mock exam paper today, an average C, not bad as I haven't properly revised yet!

I voted for European parliment and the local elections today... and I started to mark in the wrong box and had to ask for another one....... oooops!

Mock Exam

2004-06-09T16:27:00.000Z

I just did a mock exam. It was a little calming, but I could not take it seriously as it was not being marked. About to look at the answers online. I have now raised enough money too get to Kenya! Yay!

Blogg two, the email challenge

2004-06-08T19:10:00.000Z

This will hopefully be my second blogg.

I was hoping to be able to send messages to my blogg via email. Does this work!?

Also noticed I keep spelling blog with two Bs. I presume it only needs one (web log -> blog)

I apologise. Will try and spell correctly from now on!

The First Post

2004-06-08T18:05:00.000Z

It seems necessary that I start to blogg.... partly because I need more exuses not to revise (tonight's is that I am too tired) and also I need to inform all of my time in Kenya and it would be good to keep some sort of journal..... Hopefully I will have internet access in Kenya.... ooh er.

Web images 2

2001-01-01T00:00:00.001Z

Web images1

2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

2000-04-01T19:14:00.000Z

2000-03-01T19:04:00.000Z

Books

2000-02-01T19:04:00.000Z

In April 2003 the BBC's Big Read began the search for the nation's best-loved novel, and asked the nation to nominate your favourite books. Below are all the results from number 1 to 100 in numerical order. I thought I’d have a bash at reading some of them.

However I’m awful at reading and haven’t got very far! The one's highlighted are those on my immediate reading list.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
~~2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen~~
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
~~5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling~~
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
~~18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott~~
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
~~35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl~~
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
~~41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery~~
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams | Discussion
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas | Film review
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh | Listen to interview
~~46. Animal Farm, George Orwell~~
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
~~49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian~~
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
5~~1. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett~~
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
~~56. The BFG, Roald Dahl~~
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
~~58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell~~
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
~~74. Matilda, Roald Dahl~~
~~75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding~~
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
~~81. The Twits, Roald Dahl~~
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
~~85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy~~
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons | Film interview
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo | Film review
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho | Theatre review
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

All About Me

2000-01-01T13:00:00.001Z

I've used one of those silly email questionnaires. Post a reply if you want to do it yourself :)

YOU
Time and Date: 21:00 06/06/06 (wow!)
Name: Rachel
Age and D.O.B: 24 years old 18/03/82
Gender: Female
Living Arrangement: Homeless! I have a car and a boyfriend's house with a toothbrush in it. (Also get free accommodation on placements)
Location: Farnborough at this moment
Were you named after anyone? My Dad's cousin
Nickname(s) Rach, Rachyroo, Roo
Star-sign: Pisces
Hair colour: Brown
Eye colour: Brown
Height: 5ft5
Do you have contacts or glasses? Glasses for driving and lectures
Do you care about the way you look? Sometimes I get jealous of pretty people but mostly I aim to look presentable.
Are you trendy? Hehe
Which 5 words describe you best? Outgoing, Thoughtful, Organised, Clever, Neurotic, Eccentric!
Strange fact about yourself: My left leg is shorter than my right
Do you have any obsessions and bad habits? I like making lists
Words or phrases you overuse: "Kind of like" "Yeah but" "You know what I mean"

Your favourite…
Smell? Roast Dinner
Subject? At school, Maths and Art. At uni - Physiology because I love Alan Noble
Band? The Beatles (have many others but they are the most persistent)
Love song?... will come back to you on that.
Time of year? Summer
Childhood toy? Sylvanian Families and Lego
Chat up Line?
Possession? Photo albums
TV show? Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scrubs, Peep Show,
Movie? Dead Poets Society, Dirty Dancing, Silence of the Lambs,10 things I hate about you
Magazine? I don't really like magazines - too many adverts.
Soundtrack? Billy Elliot
Food? Bacon Sandwiches
Item of clothing? Hoody and Jeans
Item of make-up? Mascara
Alcoholic drink? G&T

Miscellaneous

Worst subject? P.E
Music you hate? Not sure
What was the first record you bought? Blur - Leisure
Do you play a musical instrument? Piano badly
Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? hehe
What is on the walls in your room? I have no home and thus no room
Have you ever been on radio or television? Songs of Praise!
Could you be a vegetarian? No (see favourite food)
Do you untie your shoes every time you take them off? Mostly -My podiatrist told me I should
How many rings before you answer the phone? Depends
If you could go back to any point in time, when would it be? I'd like to see me as a child
What do you feel about Ouija boards? They scare me
What's the first thing you'd do if you won the lottery? Phone Hallam.
Do you often read books? I have phases... at the moment I am at the end of a phase of reading regularly. Reading Hannibal.
Do you support a football team? Norwich City- but I have been a rubbish supporter for many years now.

People
Have you ever met anyone famous? Nope
Which celebrity do you fancy most? It's still Brad Pitt after many years.. but mainly because I'm rubbish at remembering celebrity names.
If you were making a movie about yourself, who would play you? Sandra Bullock
Who knows you best? Hallam, Becca and Ben but all in different ways.
Who’s your best friend? Hallam
If you could be anyone for a day who would you choose? If I could retain all their medical skills and knowledge afterwards, I would like to be a medical consultant for a day.
Who are you jealous of? People knowledgeable about Politics and Philosophy, People who are genuinely passionate about improving the lives of others, Pretty girls, Cool people,
If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Yes
Who is your idol? My mum and Dad
Who is your second family? John and Judy Bull, Hallam, my old-housemates (Christelle, Ben and Luke)
Do you trust others easily? If they seem genuine.
If you could meet one person dead or alive who would it be? My Granddad who died before I was born.
Who would you like to hug right now? My mum and Becca (who I haven't seen since she got pregnant)
How many people do you have in your address book? Not sure
What do your parents do? Mum - Primary School Teacher Dad - Methodist Minister
Do you have any annoying siblings? All siblings can be annoying. I have a twin brother (Ben) and a big sister (Becca)

Personal Stuff

What’s your most embarrassing moment? Mounting the curb this morning after overcorrecting my steering. In front of an old lady with dog and a neighbour. (first car - collected 2 days ago)
What’s your earliest memory? Being jealous of someone's birthday celebrations in Nursery and asking when it was going to be my birthday.
What makes you cry? When I get overwhelmed with work, when I'm angry, When I'm scared and when someone upsets me... sometimes films too.
When and why did you last cry? Reading a book -My Sister's Keeper a book by Jodi Picoult
What makes you angry? People letting me down
What do you do to vent anger? I whinge and aggressively complain (ok ok... so I bitch about people) but it really is just to vent the anger until I can think about things more rationally.
Do you believe in God? Yes
Do you pray? Sometimes
Do you believe in Life after death? Hmm I think so.
Have you ever told a secret you swore you wouldn't tell? Yes
Have you ever stolen anything? No
Do looks matter? Unfortunately looks say a lot about a person and the image you present can matter... which really annoys me... and also means I need to buy lots of smart clothes to go back on the wards soon.
Do you have a journal? No
Have you ever intentionally hurt another person? In arguments as a child
Do you like sarcasm? Mostly no.
Do you feel understood? Not by most.
What are you worried about right now? The fact that I can't really drive and I need to be able to in 3 weeks.
What do you do when you are bored? Check emails, surf the web, looks at peoples blogs, read books,
What's the best feeling in the world? Feeling relaxed and loved
What's the worst feeling in the world? Feeling stressed and lonely
What’s the best thing that has ever happened to you? I found Hallam
What’s the worst thing that has ever happened to you? I found a burglar in my house.
What’s one thing you couldn’t do without? Family
What’s your idea of heaven? Being with everyone you've ever known and God.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Cynicism
What do you like most about yourself? I can make people feel welcome
What’s one thing you regret doing? Being horrible to Emma Hardie in Primary school
What scares you most in the world? Being a rubbish Doctor and killing all my patients.
What do you remember most about last year? Passing my driving test!
What do you value most in life? Family and Friends

Lurve!

What would your ideal partner be like? Funny, Clever, Thoughtful, Kind
What is the first thing you are visually attracted to in a person of the opposite sex? Smile
What’s the most romantic thing that ever happened to you? An ex-boyf who I had wanted to go out with for a long time shocked me by spontaneously asking me out in front of a post-box. It doesn't sound romantic but it was!
Have you ever been in love? Yes.. just once.
Who was your first crush? David one of my brothers friends
Do you have a boy/girlfriend? who? Yes, Jonathan Hallam
Do you have a crush now? I guess I kind of have a crush on Hallam..
Would you take advantage of your crush if they weren’t sober? Absolutely
If you had a chance to talk and confess your feelings towards your crush what would you say?.. N/A

Future

Do you know if you are gonna go to uni'? -to study? I will be a doctor in approx. one year.
Where do you plan on living when you leave home/ finish uni? Hmm maybe Cambridge area
Where do you see yourself in 10 Years? Married with 3 children, and aiming to be a consultant (doctor)

And Finally

Well, how exciting this has been for you? No
What time is the time and date now? 22:22 06/06/06 (went for a drive in the middle though!)