Cheerio!
I am slowly getting settled in, or as the Brits would say, I am getting sorted...I got to know Charlotte, the woman I am living with, a bit better. She is about 50 years old and grew up in Cornwall, England (western most point in England). She spent a lot of her youth traveling about as a nanny...spent time in Canada, Australia and a few other spots...she says she is not much of an academic hence she never went to college, but she feels one can learn a lot by traveling and meeting new people. She has been renting out her spare room for a year and a half now to visiting medical students. She said I am actually the second female she has had, all others were male....I found that interesting since in the US, at least, females have now started to outnumber males in med school!! She has had visitors from Belgium, Syria, Australia, Japan (to name a few) and most recently from Malaysia. She says she has gotten on quite well with all of them except for a few that were "arrogant" as she put it...she had a few men that seemed to expect her to mother them and even do their washing (aka. laundry). I think she likes me though!! She made me tea and gave me biscuits (aka. cookies) when I arrived and also said to help myself to whatever I wanted til I had a chance to do some food shopping. Charlotte works basically as a home health aide so some will have to sleepover with her clients on some nights...it is nice to have her around or else I would be lonely. There is no television here to fill the silence...she says she didn't get a TV because she is really hooked on listening to radio programs on the BBC4. Now I am kinda jealous that I don't have a radio too!! Charlotte is not married but she has been with the same man, called Roger, for 13 years. He lives about 30 minutes away more out in the country and she maintains her flat here in Streatham (south London) which she has owned for 20 years now. Roger is a musician, playing bass guitar, and goes around doing gigs and used to work with some famous person on British TV.
I can not say that I got the best sleep last night...I will blame part of that on jet lag, part of that on too many cuppa teas...and mainly on the thin walls and noisy neighbors. First I heard a child throw a temper tantrum, then I heard it's mum (yes, I am using British terms now so deal) having a row (aka. fight) with someone on the phone...she literally bitched that person out for an hour!! Finally that stopped and just as I was drifting off, her baby started to cry. That dreaded baby cried and woke me up throughout the night...I mean it doesn't sound like a tiny infant but it must be young to be crying so often! I might as well be breastfeeding him myself because I woke up every couple hours...
Anyway...I got up and tried to use the shower...it was a bit confusing to me...not sure if I used it properly either...it is like a bathtub/shower that is elevated quite high. The shower head is one of the hand held types but there is no where to mount it on the wall as I am used to seeing...so I had to hold it whilst (aka while :)) showering which proved to be quite a juggling act when I attempted to pour out my shampoo and conditioner into my hands. Perhaps I will do like the Brits and only wash my hair every other day...It was also so chilly this morning...I swear the heaters over here only work for a select few hours in the evening and all other times it is frigid!!
Charlotte was nice enough to not only give me an umbrella to use whilst I am here, but also to help me to get to the hospital on my first day!!! She walked me down the block to the bus stop and helped me to get an Oyster card...this is like a metro card thing that is used on buses and tubes...you just put money on it and then hold it up to the sensor and it deducts from your stash...then you can top it up as needed...it also gives you a pretty sweet discount...what was a £4 tube ride, is now just £1.50! She even rode the bus with me too…so nice. She told me on the way how she has a special travel card that is basically free and provided by the government since she is legally blind in her right eye due to a tumor as a child… Anyway, it was about a 10 min ride to St George’s hospital which is in Tooting. It is a busier area there than Streatham where I live now. She walked me the 2 blocks to the hospital campus and left me to find my way.
St. George’s is a large hospital campus much like large tertiary care centers in the US. There are buildings devoted to different things like Renal Transplant, Occupational Health (OH), Oral Maxillofacial surgery, etc. I had to first visit OH to get approved for work…the nurse wanted to take some more blood samples from me…I inquired as to whether that would really be necessary as I already sent my health forms in and hate getting blood draws…She asked if I would be working with children? No. Delivering babies? No. Going to the operating theatres? No. But when I told her I would be in the ICU, she said “Well perhaps they will have to open someone up there to massage the heart…so you might as well.” She didn’t like that my Hepatitis B immunity titers were at a level of 32, considered immune at home, but she says they want them over 90…she also wanted me to get tested for Hep C and HIV as that is required here…so I gave in especially when I heard it was no charge to me, gotta love the NHS (National Healthcare System). I also had to get yet another TB skin test….it never ends.
From there I wandered around until I found the medical school. It is attached to the hospital and actually quite nice. I went to the Student Centre first and filled out some forms including signing up to be notified of any international student social events!! The man helping me had an American accent but it was funny to hear him using British words like “pop back in later.” From there I went to try to find the ICU dept which turned into a bit of a wild goose chase…when I finally located it, I was told that everyone was having rounds in the theatre…not sure what that even means….but I had to wait about 2.5 hours to find someone in the dept who could sign my papers for ID cards. Finally did and met some of the doctors, one called Dr Newman, my contact person is Dr Grounds who wasn’t in. Dr Newman popped me into the ICU real quick to meet some of the other people, I think they were like residents, 2 guys. The ICU was one big open place without even curtains in between the patients…somewhat reminiscent of Cambodian wards! They told me to come back tomorrow at 8am to start my day and that I could speak with them about what I would like to experience. So far, St Georges seemed pretty much just like any hospital at home!
I ate lunch in a coffee shop there, I had a smoked salmon, cream cheese, and chive sammy (aka sandwich). After I was done, I decided to head into downtown London to take in a museum. It took me just about 20 minutes to get to the Waterloo stop which is close to the Tate Modern art museum. I walked from the tube stop to the museum along the Thames…the weather was just awful though…cold with steady rain. As soon as I got to the Tate, I got a nice hot Earl Grey tea…it is starting to make sense why the Brits drink so much tea….anyway, I spent about 2.5 hours at the Tate modern. Can’t say I was blown away by their exhibits but at least it was free!! There were a few interesting pieces…but overall I found my recent visit to the Guggenheim in Manhattan to be much more stimulating. When I left I was starved and sore from so much walking so I rewarded myself with a dinner at Giraffe (thanks, Christina!) which as on the way back to the tube. I had some hummus with naan bread, and butternut squash risotto with grilled courgettes (aka zucchini). It was good. I have to say that it is getting a bit lonely to eat every meal alone though…I hope it won’t go on forever like this. Charlotte said she would eat dinner with me.
I was exhausted after that and dreading the trek home in the rain. I got off the wrong bus stop, too early, and had to do extra walking…UGH. When I returned home, I met Charlotte’s partner, Roger. He had come up today because Charlotte just found out her dad died today…he was sick and in hospital already but she was sad. She still managed to offer to hang my coat up to dry and invite me to eat with her and Roger. Very nice lady! Well it’s nearly bed time now…so far no loud noises next door…
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