bye vacation, hello work...

A few days has past, and not much happened.
This week was our first week in Banjul. I didn’t tell you, but we are staying in a kind of campus with all students from nursing or medicine (nursing school). I will try to put the pictures on my ‘mijnalbum.nl’ page for the weet ik veel hoeveelste keer (many times of trying), so you can see were we staying. Other side of the school is the hospital. Banjul is not very big, its smaller then Utrecht. Maybe you can compare it with Wijk. Anyway, we almost know the way.
This week was the first week we could do our own shopping!!! Now we’re really living like Gambians….we thought…
Just to describe a picture: Walking on the street hearing ‘hoe gaat het/ hello how are you, he sexy, hello beautiful, he sexy girls etc etc’. So nice that we are by just saying we’re fine, thank you. We arrived at the market (5 min walking). Trying to get in to the market, some guy who said that he was from the school and wanted to help us to get our stuff. We’ve went 2 times with babel (abdoel), but then still it is a dolhof. Even we didn’t recognized the guy, he helped us to get our stuff to cook. Although we wanted to do it on our own, it was much easier that somebody directed us to the right stores and so that the people didn’t ripe us of. Just for the information, after this shopping, we never seen that guy again. Next day we went again to the market. And just like the day before, another guys come to us, who wants to help us. Saying that he helped us the day before, what was also the case, but still, we wanted to do it on our own.
We can say that as today no guy is trying to help us and it seems that the people from the market is used to our presents. We dingen ook af, although it is cheep. We don’t want that they ripe us of, because we’re white.
People in Banjul recognized us also from Bakoteh (where we staid for the first week) or from the party on Sunday (maybe even from the videoclip…you never know). Because all the faces look all the same, we don’t know them…except when they telling us where we met them and it seems to be the truth.

We also went to the hotel next door. The girls from last year used the swimming pool from the hotel, when they had the time after work. But helaas pinderkaas, they renovating the swimming pool for this month, so when we’re going to Bansang (other hospital in the inland of the Gambia) the swimming pool is ready.

But its good that my sweet parents are coming next Friday. I’m very looking forward to see them! Also renate and marja are looking forward. So that will be a lot of being at the beach, if the hours of working is allowing it. We want to show our apartment, the market, cook for them on our own fire and a lot more things! Just to show them the Gambian experience (that’s how the people around the beaches are telling us).

This weekend we went back to Bakoteh. Because mrs. Haffner (head of the school and our supervisor) said that we could settle down and take it easy, we took it easy! And with easy we mean 4 days of beach. It is a shame to work so hard…Friday we went very early to bakoteh, so we could go to the beach. We had that Friday a nice talk with the crazy man of that town, we think he is schizophrenic. We are also invited to the women’ house from last week. That women who was celebrating her birthday. She wants us to come, so we can see the film, which was taken at her birthday. I hope you cannot hear people are saying things on the film, because I told some things in the camera about myself what is not entirely true. (I was very geirriteerd because the camera was pointing in our direction every 5 minutes)
Saturday we get up very early (6.30) so we could go bird-watching and go to the reptile-farm. Well, I can tell you, the bird watching was like hell! The trip to the bird watching was already a hell. We went with a bushtaxi for like an hour. Ze stampen die busjes helemaal vol met mensen! After that hour we had to go in to another bushtaxi (its like a van). After the trip, we walked to the man, who was going to show us the birds. With a book and a verrekijker in his hand he showed us the birds, that you also can see here in Banjul. After a walk of 1,5 hour in the burning sun at a normal road, showing us a few birds (the rest was hiding for the sun, I don’t blame them!) we had to pay the guy less then 10 euro per person. It was crazy and waist of money!
The way back we went to the reptile farm. That was fun! We held 2 snakes, a turtle and a frog. I was very proud of myself! Babel was self afraid. And just like the other days in Bakoteh, he is working on our nerves. Treating us like babies. After the trip we went to the beach with Sheriff. Nice guy, but very very very polite. When we were back at Bakoteh, a guy from the motel came to us, telling that we had to pay the full price for the room. The girls from last year, could stay for free, but because we are with 3 we had to pay the half of the price for the first night. (Even then it didn’t make sense, because there was just one extra, so it seems more logical when you have to pay for one person extra). But for the second night we had to pay the full price. So we went back to Banjul. We also have to pay for the room here, so that would be crazy. We felt really welcome in Bakoteh (NOT!).
Sunday we went to the beach (voor de variatie, je moet toch wat doen om een kleurtje te krijgen). Tomorrow we will start our first working day. I’m curious what it will bring us. We’re going to work at the medical ward. When I know more, I will write about it.

Today, Monday, we went for our first day at work. First we visited mrs. Haffner to give us our timetable. This week we start at the female medical ward. Here in this hospital you have the male and female ward. At the medical ward are patients admitted with hi blood pressure, Tuberculosis, Malaria, meningitis or diabetes. Diabetes is our specialty, our project is on this subject. In the first hour that we were there, we all get sick. It wasn’t even that shocking, but it was hot and we didn’t had any water with us. I don’t know how the people working and fasting. We came when the doctor was doing his round. It wasn’t really clear what they were doing. I just gonna write it in Dutch, because it is to hard to say it in medical, English terms.

Het was dus niet helemaal duidelijk wat ze aan het doen waren. Ze gingen per bed langs. Arts vroeg hoe het met de patiënt ging. Patiënt vertelde waar ze langs van had. Dokter schrijft dat op in de rapportage. Bloeddruk, pols, temperatuur wordt 2 keer per dag gemeten, sochtends en savonds. Dat wordt tijdens de ronde vermeld. Meestal wordt er bij het beleid neer gezet: continue. We kregen vandaag de opdracht om van 1 patiënt de rapportage te lezen en dat ziektebeeld te bestuderen. Nou, dat was een gemakkelijke keuze. We gingen ons inlezen over een diabetes patiënt waar een teen van was geamputeerd.. Heel veel dingen waren onduidelijk in de rapportage. We hebben t een beetje geprobeerd over te schrijven zodat we ons er verder over konden inlezen, maar er stonden van onze kant veel vraagtekens bij. Het beleid is ook moeilijk te achterhalen wat het is. Ik ben overigens blij dat de andere meiden net hun ziekenhuis stage hebben gehad, en niet zoals ik een half jaar terug. Heel veel termen of medicatie weet ik echt niet meer, dus zelfs hier leer ik weer wat. Moet wel zeggen dat ik er naar uit kijk om verder te gaan in de psychiatrie! Om half 2 waren we al klaar en morgen gaan we weer verder, kijken wat de dag brengt.

@ tantetje:
videoclip heb ik nog niet gezien. weet ook niet zeker of ik die nog wil zien (vrees voor mijn ergste verschijning!). Er zijn ook vrouwen bij het uitgaan, maar op de dansvloer staat 95% alleen maar mannen. en daarnaast een paar vrouwen. dat valt erg tegen. ook t contact met vrouwen hebbenw e weinig. Vrouwen zie je niet veel opstraat en anders achter een kraampje. Vandaag wel een medestudent leren kennen, eerstejaar nursing. Hoop oko dat we meer in contact komen met dem ensen van de school. Contact met gambiaanse familie niet echt. zoals je al kan lezen uit dit verhaal, zijn we gedwongen om weg te gaan uit het guesthouse. Wel goed contact met baks, maar met abdoel loopt het gwoon niet. wij koken voor ons zelf. we eten heel vaak kip met groente en rijst. Van een oude vrouw hebben we gamba (geen gambia's gerard!) gekregen om te eten. Dat willen we nog leren maken. Net als met vis. Vanavond gaan we proberen pannekoeken te maken. Gelukkig hebben ze hier ook supermarktjes, waar je vissticks kan kopen...mjam!


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