Habari from Tanzania

Evening everyone,

Well, I made it here to sunny Tanzania.
I have no doubts you can smell the mozzie spray from there.



What can I say about it all?


I had good flights - thanks to Qatar Airways for the good service received.
Doha airport is as good as I was told it would be.

Would deffo fly with them again.

Haha, yes, I mean other than my flight back to the UK that is - doh. 

It's fabulous. There are some great people here who are on electives also. It's nice to be able to discuss nursing and how the different countries have different ways of doing things.

There are students here from the Netherlands, USA, Australia and of course the UK. Turns out there is one student here who also attends the UEA and started at the same time as me!

So what have I done so far? Other than soak up the sun and the warmth....

So, today has seen us having what is called an orientation day.

By the way, I need to say that the bottle that I was given by Water-to-Go is damn handy. I needed to get a drink in the middle of the night. Da-da...use tap water and put it my magic bottle. Voila and the job's a goodun'.

Us newbies took a Dala Dala (local bus) to the Muhumbili Hospital so that we could meet some of the staff there. The hospital is huge!

The staff seem lovely so far and I have heard positive things about the mental health bit of the hospital. So fingers crossed.

We then went on to have something to eat and drink at some restaurant nearby.
Granted there were some things that I put on my plate that I was unsure of but hell, when in Rome...

We headed back to the house for some time to chill before heading out again to get some money exchanged.

We then wedged ourselves into a convoy of Tuk-tuks and headed across to another part of the area and had ice cream! I was happy to try this ice cream parlour as it was a place that Work the World go to so it can't be bad.
The ice cream was lovely in fairness and there were so many flavours to choose from.

Then we headed back towards the house to buy a SIM card so that I could communicate easier round here. Especially if the wi-fi in the house fails.

However, the most likely reason it fails it because there are loads of people using it and it can-nae handle it captain.

Fair enough really.

Finally, get that sorted out and come back to the house for a beginners lesson in Swahili (or Kiswahili as it is known here).

The teacher made me giggle...he was so energetic and passionate about teaching us all to speak his language. I'm glad I read a bit before I came out here.

But you lot already know that from my previous blog posts.

"Brilliant" I hear you say "but what else did you do? 

Well, thank you for asking.

We had our Kiswahili lesson and then had our evening meal. Again there were things there that I put on my plate that I wasn't sure of. But still...

So it turns out that the kinda rubbery stuff that I had eaten was octopus!

I mean...octopus??? I would never dare touch that in the UK.

It was cooked in a sauce of the local variety and seemed to be more of a texture than flavour.
It wasn't in-edible though as the chef here is professionally trained and food so far has been lovely.

So then as if today hadn't been busy enough, 5 of us newbies headed out to the local cocktail bar called Shooters. Needless to say I had a Mojito - yes only the one but it was nice.

I think the fact that it has a rooftop bar had something to do with it and I managed to send some piccies back home to my dear admin'.

On that note, my dear admin' has resigned his position.
Karen is not a happy bunny but, bless him, he couldn't do that for always.

He did a fantastic job for me tho'.

So there we are. I am now back in the house and typing this wee blog to you all and would readily recommend it to anyone.

Granted I was a little upset at leaving the UK and doing this on my own. But...I did promise to come here and enjoy it and get the best from it. And indeed I am trying to do that.

Doesn't stop me walking round thinking how my family would most likely enjoy it here.

Anyways, I am going to get a coffee and then get to bed. I think the water is back on now so I may just get a shower in too.

Keep 'em crossed for us, would ya please? If all else fails then it'll be a shower in the morning.
Oh well needs must and it's just the way of things here.

Hakuna Matata. 

Yes it is said here!! as is Rafiki and Simba.

Right, night all and sleep well.

I will update you lot again at some point.

ttfn

K xx

Result - It's August 2017

Good afternoon all

How are we all doing? You ok? I do hope so.

Do I have some news for you? 
Totally right I do.

Hmm where to start?

Ok...in my last blog entry I said about awaiting the exam results for the resit.
Well good news...I passed.

Yes, it's capped at 40% because it's a resit, but hey, I don't mind, I passed it.

Then I had some assignments to hand in. Which I have done.

Yesterday, I met with my personal adviser who signed all my progression paperwork so that I can go into Year 3. So I guess that's me done for Year 2 then.

WOOHOO

Me and the girls went to Revolucion de Cuba for cocktails to celebrate the end of two years hard work. And why not, especially as they have a 2-4-1 offer on! Be rude not to.



What else? 

Ah yes, I completed my nursing placement and after 11 weeks they would like me to apply for a job.

However, I still have a year to go but have applied anyways. There is no harm in trying.

So imagine my surprise when I get asked to come for interview. This will be when I come back from Tanzania so that gives me time to prepare a bit and give examples of the work I have done to progress my career.



Am I proud of what I have achieved?
Yes I think I can now allow myself to be proud of my efforts.


What else? Ah yes...I know...

A little while back I applied for some funds through the Uni'.
I did my presentation on what I will gain out of my elective and how I am hoping that it will give me some tools for the nursing toolbox.

I hadn't heard anything and thought that was that. No biggie I thought, at least I tried. I totally dismissed it believing that I hadn't been successful at all. I was pleased because I knew that others would have been helped by them.

So imagine my surprise when I get an email this morning saying that I had been granted a prize of a sum of money, towards the cost of my elective.


Well between the offer of interview, the cash award, finishing year 2 and about to go on my elective, I have been totally gobsmacked!

I mean how lucky can one person be? My head is still trying to process it all.

As a treat to myself yesterday, I bought myself a kite! Yes, a kite.

"But you're 47 years old....you don't need a kite"

Maybe not, but I have one now.

My plan is to get out and get some fresh air and fly my kite.
I'm hoping that it will allow me to process all this happy information before I go on Saturday.

Talking of Saturday and my forthcoming trip to Tanzania, I am happy to say that I am now packed and ready to ship out.

I have the required anti-malarials to start taking on Thursday. I am jabbed to the 'inth degree to protect me from nasty stuff. I have everything that I could possibly need to enjoy my time away to learn.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the support, donations and gifts that I have received in a bid to raise funds for my elective.

I realise that perhaps my blogs have sometimes been very slow to arrive and for that I apologise.

However, I have just felt so clogged up with Uni stuff that everything in my life has taken a back seat.
Poor excuse you may think but it's true. I may have sat playing on my phone but with a clogged brain, the simplest of tasks is welcomed.

This period of acting in a solitary fashion has included paying less attention to one most dear, and without whom none of this would have been possible to achieve. I am, of course,  talking about my dear admin', Marc.

You have heard me talking about him a fair bit. He has organised me and encouraged me and just been an absolute star.
He is my life rock and is there to pick me up when I fall, dust me off and get me on my way again.
Needless to say that I love him with all my heart and will miss him for the coming weeks that I am away.

That said he has continued with a dastardly campaign telling anyone that will listen that I am abandoning him. He says he'll be left with the cats and their litter trays while I go sunning myself on foreign shores.

Pfft...I mean...Doesn't he know I'll be working??

"...but what about...?"

Well yes, ok there is the safari.

"...and ...?"

Oh alright, yes there is the beach and the warmth and the sun.

But - I  will be working every Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 16:00hrs. I have no doubt that everyone back here will be looking after him. Not that he needs looking after mind you, but still.

I am hoping that I can add some piccies once I am there so that I can update you on my progress too.

Apologies but this may have to be done by the pool. Needs must and all that jazz. I'm sure you will understand.

So, for now, I bid you all a good afternoon and look forward to sharing with you, more trials and tribulations of a student mental health nurse.

ttfn

K xx