Apres ski

I was going to write another entry about more of my medical joys and woes, but then I thought: “No, I won’t bore people with yet another tale of how I didn’t quite save the day. What they need is a little light reading: an interlude.” So, I thought I’d scribble something about what I get up to outside of work. Saying that, however, the job has been very engrossing; I say that in the most positive way. Hence, my etchings may seem rather thin, but I think they have been rich and rewarding.

The hospital is rather far out of town. There is no bar or discotheque in the local area that I can just “pop down to” for a beer and a boogie, unlike in Camberwell. Actually, there is a bar about 5km up the road; however, it tends to be the scene of a lot of the stab wounds we see in the evenings. So, when I say there isn’t a bar, I mean not one that I would feel entirely comfortable in. This is especially true when my local colleagues tell me I would be giving myself a death sentence, or more likely a few cosmetic alterations. Either way, I’m not too keen on finding out. Unfortunately, my fridge has a distinct lack of beer or wine at the moment, so I have resorted to drinking a lot of tea and coffee as a sun downer in the evenings. But, just in case there is an impromptu party in the area, I have plenty of glow sticks primed and at the ready.

Work is meant to finish at 4:30pm, but at the moment with the shortage of doctors we tend to finish a little later. Hence, I tend to finish as the sun is setting, which is about 6pm at the moment. If I’m lucky and get out in good time, I don my trainers and hit the local surroundings for an evening jog. I used to be a very keen runner, and still am, but after sustaining an injury in May, together with a 4 month job in psychiatry, I somehow ended up spending a lot of time in the pub. My once running prowess took a stroll. It’s only recently that I’ve really got back into the swing of things. However, the local geography is not kind on drainpipe legs that are out of shape. When I exit the hospital grounds I have two options – run up hill right or run up hill left. I always go right: seawards. The road meanders along rolling green hills towards the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, I am not quite fit enough to make the 45km to the coast at the moment, but I’ve put it on my list of things to achieve whilst out here. Instead, I run as far as I dare, knowing that I’ll have to turn around and get back in good time before it gets dark. The bandits, rabid dogs, snakes and vampires come out when the sun goes down, don’t you know. If, however, I finish work at this witching hour, then I tend to run circuits around the hospital grounds, but it’s not as fulfilling and I tend to get bored quite quickly. Once the construction workers leave the hospital at the end of the year, we’re going to make a volleyball court. Something I’m exceedingly excited about.

The evenings are rather quiet here. I have an absolutely incredible view of the valleys beyond from my sitting room and porch. They’re both great places to take a pew with some dinner, write a few notes or delve into a book. So far, I have been steadfastly reading about HIV, TB, obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics, medicine etc. whilst dabbling in and out of a novel to keep me sane. It’s interesting, because without the distraction of the hubbub of city life I’ve found it really easy to sit down and swot up. Something I was never too good at back home. I expect it is partly because there are fewer distractions, but I think there’s another more overriding reason. I think I’m compelled to read up more on the diagnosis and management of certain conditions because I know that the decisions that I make here actually count. They make a difference, whether good or bad. I hope I mainly make the former. Maybe this is why in the UK I never really had that gravitas to delve into the books each night because I always knew I had colleagues or seniors to help if I was having difficulty with a particular case. However, I expect the draw of the local social scene was a large contributing factor in that case.

Once things calm down on Fridays, I pack my bags and shoot off to new lands. However, at the moment, this shooting off requires me to borrow a car – something one really needs out here to be independent. So far I have seen small snippets of the “Wild Coast” consisting of tremendous jungle lined cliff tops dropping down into the rolling waves of the ocean; spent a weekend in Durban, where I failed to get a curry or a motor, but instead met up with friends. I’ve worked 2 out of 5 weekends up until now. Hence, I haven’t really had the chance to explore that much.

As one may gather, it is quiet here, but I am enjoying the tranquillity outside of working hours. It can be quite demanding in the hospital. But don’t worry, I haven’t started meditating or converted just yet. My sanity remains, or at least I like to think so.

By the way, sorry for the lack of photos - my internet connection is too slow at the moment.