Kimmy's Comments - my fading tan

It’s winter in South Africa now and my tan had faded along with my enthusiasm. I feel like I am in the middle section of the trip now. Right in the thick of the experience, and I’m tired. Pete too I think. We are lucky that our great friends Alexis, PJ, Douglas and Crawford all came to see us last week from Scotland and we did a swanky game drive with plush settings and luxurious accommodation, at a luxurious price too might I add! Think Pete’l tell you more about that.

Now it’s quite clearly post-holiday-blues time and I feel I just need to get my head down bit and let time fly past as fast as possible. Is that bad that I feel I want the time to whizz by? A big part of me can’t wait to be in the ease of home. Of knowing how things work and where to get what I need and that friends and family are nearby. I’m sure I’ll miss South Africa when I’m gone, but it gets tiring being the odd one out all the time, you know, not in the same culture, white skin, different hospital experience here, TB HIV all things I never learnt about at med school, can’t speak the language. I always feel at work I’m accommodating their inability to do stuff proper. You know, how can it be right to have NO hospital transport to get patients to a specialist clinic 1 ½ hrs away? I juts fund it myself these days and give them 50rand towards a taxi ride.How is it ok for authorities to not pay you correctly. How can we run out of basic things. The latest ‘run out of’ is none sterile disposable gloves. The depot where we get them has run out so we’re waiting on them to get more so we can have some. We only have the expensive sterile gloves left...which cost lots more. Poor Monique our pharmacist is going nuts (she is in charge of such stock). She found the cleaning ladies with a big box of these expensive gloves (the gloves meant to be worn only for sewing up stuff or intimate examinations). They were literally changing one set of bed sheets in a pair of gloves, whipping them off, tossing them in the bin then getting another pair for the next bed. I hear screaming in my head at the wastefulness when Monique tells me this. Monique had words with them and has just decided to try to find her own solution by buying 40 pairs of rubber cleaning gloves so each cleaner has one. But she shouldn’t have to do stuff like that, that’s the point I’m making, or the point that is bugging me right now. Government should make these public hospitals run better. I’m on a political rant now so I’ll change subject I think.

Did I tell you about Taxi Queens? The taxis here are like white mini vans with lots of seats and everyone crams on like sardines. Everyone that is except The Taxi Queens...I’ve been told that the pretty girls who the driver takes a liking to can ride up front with him and get free transport...this then entitles him to a bit of loving with the lady. Sounds like a rubbish deal to me, I’d rather walk personally, but I guess if you have no money these sorts of things happen when you’re desperate.

I’m trying to have some hobbies again. I keep meaning to plant veg in the little garden plot out back – mum you would be very disappointed at my lack of green fingers. However, in my lunch break today I made a hanging mobile from shells and driftwood. Hung it in the bedroom tonight... I hope pete doesn’t think it too voodoo! He helped me for ages combing the beach for shells with natural holes in them to my specific liking. Oh the wild life we lead!