It is quite
difficult to believe that I well into my second week, as the time has passed
both quickly and pleasantly, though not without its stresses and challenges.
The getting back into the work situation and getting the brain to compute all
the various programs and systems plus switch into Haematology mode plus
recognise terms, diseases, drugs etc has been quite tedious at times, but the
cogs have been turning and the blank facial expressions when terms are used are
receding!!! I really have enjoyed looking at the cells again and have even got
better at doing the actual bone marrow procedures - a good thing as I have had
to do 2 this week and have another few
in the pipeline. The staff are very pleasant and helpful plus there are even a
few that I recognize from my last visits. Bermudians tend to hold onto their
jobs and even the 'outsiders' stay a long time.
The
lab is still in the old hospital with a new acute hospital having been built in
the last couple of years. It is very modern with massive security, single bed
rooms, but also masses of empty areas – the general consensus seems to be that
it was badly designed added to which there is a general shortage of beds now.
The old wards seem to be being used as long term chronic care and geriatric
beds. Seemingly there are also a number of private clinics now scattered round
the island.
I
changed my accommodation last Wednesday evening and am much happier. The first place
consisted of a room-en-suite with a defunct cooking unit in a rather large
house with lots of empty rooms, but I am now in a unit with a small lounge-
kitchen and a fabulous view. I even have neighbours and we enjoyed supper
together on Thursday which was helped on by a very nice bottle of red SA wine.
There is quite a good selection of SA reds at the local supermarket - a number
that I haven't seen before, so am sampling them (with company!!!!).Red wine
seems to be favoured but then the price of the whites seems to be in the same
region as the reds, so I am not surprised.
Last
night I went to dinner with a sister from the blood transfusion unit. Met a
number of UK visitors – some of whom have lived here for 30-40yrs and others
who are visiting temporarily. It was a very jolly evening with some rather
tasty French reds – but didn’t get to see the labels, unfortunately! It was
fascinating listening to some of the local festivities and also hearing about
some of the politics – in all spheres of
island life!!!
Figure
1: A view across the water on the walk
into town with boats!! All buildings have the white roofs which are painted
with lime and have small ‘furrows’ in them which siphon off the rain water
which is stored underground – Bermuda’s main source of water.
Figure
2: Dinghies overwintering on a small
stretch of beach off the Hamilton Bay.
The weather has been rather disappointing as
it has been overcast and rainy for most of the time with wind and the
occasional thunderstorm. Despite that
the average temp remains at 20C – though it can feel warmer and more humid
during the day and cooler at night. I haven't ventured out too much after work
as a result, except to walk to the shops and back and one afternoon found the
way to Hungry Bay. This is a small, fairly private inlet, quite near the hospital,
with the requisite mooring of boats and beautiful sea. I sat of the side and
was very pleased to spot a number of large brilliantly coloured fish that were
feeding near the edge. I am really looking forward to doing some snorkeling!!!
My
weekends have been spent exploring further afield, usually by bus or ferry with
a lot of footwork in between. Protection from the rain has been required – my
white ‘condom’ raincoat has got a good airing!!! Sunday last week, I walked to the one high
school where they were hosting an international dog show - it was rather
disappointing as there were very few dogs, though I did get to see the best
gundog on show judging and rather liked the golden retriever, who only placed
4th. The labrador who won best gundog bitch, apart from being chocolate, had
nothing else going for her!!!!!! I then walked back to town and caught the bus
to the opposite end of the island - the naval dockyards and wandered round the
festival that they were having, had some lunch which consisted of rum swizzle -
very nice - and wahoo (a type of firm fish which was tasty), looked at some
art, wandered through the tourist shops and then caught the ferry back to
Hamilton in the middle of the island. I was rather surprised to find some of
the big department stores open, none of the banks open on Saturday, and found
one that sold wool, so - bought some and have been crocheting a baby's blanket
- no surprise there!!! the TV is really awful so it keeps me occupied!!!!
Figure
3: A piece of art / sculpture that
captured my imagination – unfortunately this is probably the closest that I
will get to whale watching as the weather has cancelled many trips and the
season ends this week.
This
last weekend, I visited Elbow Bay, which is a very beautiful beach on the South
Shore
Figure
4: As you can see the water is a beautiful
colour and very clear close in shore with a fine soft pinkish sand due to coral
and shell particles. The water was relatively warm but choppy so no one was
swimming.
Sunday I
planned to go to St Georges which is on the east side of the island, near the
airport, but the weather was pretty gloomy, so aborted my trip at the Caves and
spent a couple of hours under the earth. The Crystal Caves were discovered late
in the 19th century by 2 local boys looking for a cricket ball – or
so the story goes and the caves were then opened up, first for a film about
Annette the Mermaid and then later to the public. Numerous stalactites now have
flat bottoms, as the first tourists were allowed to bring saws to take home
souvenirs – touching not even allowed now. The formations plus the colour and
clarity of the water was quite phenomenal with the one cave tending to have
mainly white formations and the other pink (due to iron in the soil) – only a
short distance from each other.
Figure
5: Chandelier stalactite formation in
the Fantasy caves.
Due to the
rain, I repaired to the Swizzle Inn next door for lunch. The main entertainment
was an English soccer game, so it was very rowdy but the food was good. My
liquid diet was another rum swizzle!! And this time I had mahi mahi – also a
firm fish which was served in a very nice citrus sauce. Afterwards, I caught
the bus into St Georges – that bus came first, but was very disappointed as the
town was deserted apart from some aimless tourists like myself – definitely
only really operational during the week or Saturday! Frustration because by the
time I got home the sun was shining, but my adventures were over for the
day!!!!
This weekend
there is the Caitlin End-to End walk, run or cycle – basically a marathon, but
there is a mid-to-end ‘race’ of a half marathon which I am considering doing as
it goes through areas that I am loathe to explore on my own – however, I do not
set out to walk long distances in the rain and….. rain is forecast!!!
Chat again
soon
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