Thursday
Rubbish.
Friday
Amazing. Saw some really cool stuff at work; we had three new admissions overnight so it was all go during the morning. Got to assist with a salivary gland biopsy. By "assist" I mean "hold a tube" but still... It was a bit mental how they did it actually - in particular the environment they chose to operate in, which basically looked to me a lot like the coffee room - loads of crap lying about, flies circling, people wandering in and out etc. The doctor doing the actual cutting and rooting around was at least wearing sterile gloves, but no-one else even washed their hands! The poor patient was barely consented, and then had to put up with us three students peering at her the whole time while the doctor pretty much ignored her obvious discomfort, with no nursing staff to assist...
The whole ethos of medical ethics seems to be really different here. It kind of fits in with their laid back attitude to life and work in general - people basically want to do the bare minimum, and will do anything for an easy life. My friend Chris did a night shift in A+E and even there it was the same - doctors and nurses just sit around chilling while patients suffer. I guess it makes sense that their work ethos applies to the medical profession too, but you kind of get the feeling that if they could just be bothered to work a little bit harder, their patients would really have a much better time! I think some of it is to do with Ramadan - and to be honest, if I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for fourteen hours in forty degree heat, I'd probably be quite keen to take it easy too! Perhaps the rest of the year things are better. Ridiculous idea if you ask me.
Dinner for bloody THIRTY
On Tuesday the Italian couple who are also here on an exchange cooked dinner for the fifteen people who had already arrived. We decided it might be nice to make a kind of routine of it - whenever there's an evening where we have nothing else scheduled, one nationality gets together and cooks dinner for everyone. We have 8 countries represented, which should take us through to the end of the month. So, Chris and I volunteered to go next, showcasing the delights of British cuisine. Unfortunately then fifteen more people arrived and he had to work a night shift, leaving me with quite a task. Luckily it worked out very well. The central market is completely brilliant - a huge warren of meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and spices. Sorted me right out. Then I recruited some minions and we cooked a feast, the likes of which have never been seen before. Literally. Potatoes with honey anyone? Peanut and coriander swordfish? Dates with blueberry yoghurt? Bit weird, but seemed to go down very well. I'm a little concerned that people will be heading back out to the four corners of the globe to tell all and sundry that that's what we eat in England, but hey...
The weekend
Yeah! Weekends! Woo hoooo! It's been great. Tiring, but great. We've just got back from Hammamet, which is a beach resort about 50 miles from Tunis. Really very nice indeed. We lay on the sand, played frisbee (actual proper ultimate frisbee!), read books, chatted, and generally had a merry old time. It got a whole lot merrier when we found the supermarket that sold the BOOZE which we've been without for the last week. We bought pretty much all of it, afraid that it was the only opportunity we might ever have. Then we sat on the beach and drank a whole load of it. Night swimming ensued, revealing that phosphorescent algae stuff in the water! Glowing trails following your hands. Lush. Sunrise followed, as did an enormous buffet breakfast before bed. Sadly forty minutes later I was rudely awakened, rushed out of the hotel, bundled onto a bus, driven down the coast and before you could say, "Shit the bed I feel absolutely TERRIBLE" I was on a BASTARD PIRATE SHIP. Bonkers. You'll be pleased to hear it wasn't one of the scary ones full of machine-gunned mentalists who actually rob people, but it wasn't a whole lot better, I can tell you. The sun was beating down, the boat was heaving to and fro, weird Euro house was playing and men with swords were forcing us all to bloody DANCE. Literally forcing us; as in they threw you into the sea if you refused. Wow. After a while they stopped and then we could jump off really high bits of the boat into the sea, which is always great. After that it was fine.
Now we're all home, eating dates and chilling out before another hefty dose of hospital tomorrow morning.
Good times!
Rubbish.
Friday
Amazing. Saw some really cool stuff at work; we had three new admissions overnight so it was all go during the morning. Got to assist with a salivary gland biopsy. By "assist" I mean "hold a tube" but still... It was a bit mental how they did it actually - in particular the environment they chose to operate in, which basically looked to me a lot like the coffee room - loads of crap lying about, flies circling, people wandering in and out etc. The doctor doing the actual cutting and rooting around was at least wearing sterile gloves, but no-one else even washed their hands! The poor patient was barely consented, and then had to put up with us three students peering at her the whole time while the doctor pretty much ignored her obvious discomfort, with no nursing staff to assist...
The whole ethos of medical ethics seems to be really different here. It kind of fits in with their laid back attitude to life and work in general - people basically want to do the bare minimum, and will do anything for an easy life. My friend Chris did a night shift in A+E and even there it was the same - doctors and nurses just sit around chilling while patients suffer. I guess it makes sense that their work ethos applies to the medical profession too, but you kind of get the feeling that if they could just be bothered to work a little bit harder, their patients would really have a much better time! I think some of it is to do with Ramadan - and to be honest, if I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for fourteen hours in forty degree heat, I'd probably be quite keen to take it easy too! Perhaps the rest of the year things are better. Ridiculous idea if you ask me.
Dinner for bloody THIRTY
On Tuesday the Italian couple who are also here on an exchange cooked dinner for the fifteen people who had already arrived. We decided it might be nice to make a kind of routine of it - whenever there's an evening where we have nothing else scheduled, one nationality gets together and cooks dinner for everyone. We have 8 countries represented, which should take us through to the end of the month. So, Chris and I volunteered to go next, showcasing the delights of British cuisine. Unfortunately then fifteen more people arrived and he had to work a night shift, leaving me with quite a task. Luckily it worked out very well. The central market is completely brilliant - a huge warren of meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and spices. Sorted me right out. Then I recruited some minions and we cooked a feast, the likes of which have never been seen before. Literally. Potatoes with honey anyone? Peanut and coriander swordfish? Dates with blueberry yoghurt? Bit weird, but seemed to go down very well. I'm a little concerned that people will be heading back out to the four corners of the globe to tell all and sundry that that's what we eat in England, but hey...
The weekend
Yeah! Weekends! Woo hoooo! It's been great. Tiring, but great. We've just got back from Hammamet, which is a beach resort about 50 miles from Tunis. Really very nice indeed. We lay on the sand, played frisbee (actual proper ultimate frisbee!), read books, chatted, and generally had a merry old time. It got a whole lot merrier when we found the supermarket that sold the BOOZE which we've been without for the last week. We bought pretty much all of it, afraid that it was the only opportunity we might ever have. Then we sat on the beach and drank a whole load of it. Night swimming ensued, revealing that phosphorescent algae stuff in the water! Glowing trails following your hands. Lush. Sunrise followed, as did an enormous buffet breakfast before bed. Sadly forty minutes later I was rudely awakened, rushed out of the hotel, bundled onto a bus, driven down the coast and before you could say, "Shit the bed I feel absolutely TERRIBLE" I was on a BASTARD PIRATE SHIP. Bonkers. You'll be pleased to hear it wasn't one of the scary ones full of machine-gunned mentalists who actually rob people, but it wasn't a whole lot better, I can tell you. The sun was beating down, the boat was heaving to and fro, weird Euro house was playing and men with swords were forcing us all to bloody DANCE. Literally forcing us; as in they threw you into the sea if you refused. Wow. After a while they stopped and then we could jump off really high bits of the boat into the sea, which is always great. After that it was fine.
Now we're all home, eating dates and chilling out before another hefty dose of hospital tomorrow morning.
Good times!
No comments:
Post a Comment