More tales from a small island

Yesterday I walked into and exam room to check a patient for one of my students. I introduced myself. The blonde girl in the exam chair said, "We've met before on a bus a long time ago." I looked at her and thought she looked vaguely familiar, then it clicked. In late January, I was waiting to ride the bus home from the main university campus when I ran into her with her girlfriend. She'd cut her finger and was bleeding quite badly and also had a clotting disorder (which I don't know if I knew at the time). They were taking the bus to the hospital and were panicking and talking about 100 miles a minute. I told her to apply pressure and keep her hand elevated. We talked the whole bus ride until they got off at the hospital. Who'd think I'd run into her again? So better be nice to all those "strangers" you meet!

In other news, I think I've finally hit my groove here. Or something. I had about a week or two of sleeping 10 hours a night (was starting to wonder if I was a bear going into hibernation) but I think it was just regeneration. We've moved into a very cold spell, which means I see my breath outside. If I don't get my space heater going way before I get home, my place is a giant refrigeration unit. When the temperature first dropped, I had to sleep with my hat on. New Zealand doesn't have insulation or heating in their homes, so I have a little unit that's plugged in to heat my entire place. Recently in the news here, they said the number of deaths is much higher during the four months of winter and they think it could be reduced by improving insulation and heating. You think?

I also advised the university this week that I would not be staying beyond this year. Financially, I cannot reconcile the pay and working hours. But also mentally, I don't think I would achieve much more by staying and I don't want to stay in New Zealand long term. One year of living as a student is fine, but not a lifetime of it.

So next year I will be travelling and volunteering around the globe. I'm open to itinerary advice. If anyone would like to meet up somewhere in the world, let me know - it would be lovely. Tentatively, I would like to start in SE Asia, do a month of volunteering in Ghana at a cataract center and then I am not sure--- I also think I will try to do some Woofing- which is Willing Workers on Organic Farms. It's something I'd like to learn about so when we start our family compound in Montana, I can help with the horticultural end of things!