Alotau

Well..I'm here...thought i never would! nearly missed my plane at Port Moresby but thankfully it was delayed! It's so humid! can barely move without breaking out into a horrible sweat! and it pours down without a seconds notice! Alotau is a very friendly place, everyone so willing to help! Groups of kids keep running up to me shouting "dim dim! dim dim!" translated as "white man, white man"! It's so funny as their parents are clearly embarassed! lol! Hospital is larger than i thought, with medical, surgical, TB, paeds and O&G wards, 2 operating theatres, out patient clinic, although it is all very basic. They have an xray machine and a lab which does basic blood tests and a rickety old ultrasound scanner! I am based with internal medicine at the moment and even though i am itching to get into the O&G wards Dr Yaubihi, the director, says i should do internal medicine for a while to appreciate the general health problems the people face. Yesterday, my first morning, i got shown a clinic room and told that i see patients from the left hand side of the door first! agh! Talk about being thrown into the deep end! lol! was fine though and i had plenty of guidance! have met a little boy with the same name as me on the medical ward. he has thalassaemia and TB. he's so cute though and everytime i walk into the ward he comes running up shouting GARY GARY GARY! hahaha! All the staff are amazing too and are very keen to hear about Scotland and my "wantok" [one-talk, family] Well better go, this internet is costing a fortune! and it's sooooooo slow!

gary x