Home.

Gatwick-Mancs flight was delayed by just over an hour, but my luggage came pretty quickly at the other end, so they are forgiven.

It's so good to be home. In my own bed. With my housemates (but not in my bed, obvs..)

And it's all GREEN. Aaaaaahhhhhh.

Oh and, iPhone?

It's good to be back.


EW. Just stepped on a slug in the kitchen. Welcome home, Prilly.

Day 54: Perforated Ear Drum

I have FINALLY seen a perforated ear drum. FINALLY. It was so clear and in focus.. MAGIC. Definitely a Dr Sinclair "AH-HA!" moment.

Hamdullah (thanks to God)!

I am one happy happy HAPPY bunny.


In other news, I'm all checked-in and ready to go (well not quite, I still have to pack but that's a job for this evening.)

HOMEWARD BOUND HOORAY!!!!

Day 53: The End is Nigh!

Last day of diving yesterday.. :(

DId my last dives, cleaned and returned my kit, paid my bill (ouch) and then it was all over! Sad. Times. All good things must come to an end though, eh?

All that's left to do is to get signed off (that's today coz Dr Adel is on holiday as of tomorrow).


I can't believe I've been here for almost 8-weeks. It's slightly bizzare. I remember being in week 5 and thinking, "God, when will this END?" And now that it is coming to an end, it's weird! It's been amazing. Seen some good medicine, met some brilliant doctors and people in general and learnt to dive. It's hard to believe that this is a compulsory part of my medical degree!

I'm ready to go home though. I've burnt enough way too much cash out here doing various things. All ABSOLUTELY worthwhile, but..

I want proper tea with proper milk.
I want an Innocent Smoothie.
I want CHEESE.
I want to cook.
I want a family dinner whilst watch South Park on the sofa at 10pm.
I want to bake a cake.
I want to do the crossword (with Matt whilst bullying Nav).
I want a decent internet connection so I can talk to me mam proper.
I want to RIDE BIKES, especially tandems.

And most importantly, I want to see John, the family and all you other people. Yes, you.

I'm definitely ready.


Please, PLEASE let me fly on Friday, Mr Eyjafjallajokull-Ash-Cloud.

No. Let's be a bit more Egyptian about this, hey? Insha'Allah (!) (God willing), I will fly home on Friday.

Day 49: Kitten Care????

What. The. Fuck.


We went to T2 in Hadaba for some live music, which was pretty cool.

As we were leaving, Amr was talking to a frequent chamber client. I asked what was going on as we walked to the car, and he said, "No, she wants me to look after her cat for a few days."

Oh ok.


When we got in the car, there was a wee handbag. "Take the cat."
Er, what? "It's in HERE?" I asked.
"Yes," Amr said, "And you take care of her for me tonight, yes?"
Er, what?
"Because I need to go to Na'ama Bay now."
"Um, yeah, ok. What do I do?"
"Just sleep with her in the same room, it's ok?"


Aaaaaand, that was it. I am now looking after.. A kitten.

I've lined a box with some newspaper (or the Sharm Yellow Pages 2007), then a towel, then another towel wrapping her up. A wee milk bowl in the corner (aka ash tray) after attempting to feed her 30 minutes ago. (She had about 5 licks then looked very disinterested.)


And now she's meowing.

And meowing.

And meowing.


Bets on the amount of sleep Prilly will have tonight..?

Day 48: Tandems FOUND!!!!

As told by Nav,

"They raided a house with a SWAT team and dogs and tear gas and snipers on surrounding rooftops...... and they found the tandems in the back yard with a bunch of other stolen stuff. A scally has been arrested. Matt will go to the police station soon to make a statement at some point soon I think."

I think what actually happened was that the police were already onto some theiving scallies and when they busted into their house, they also found our tandems in their back garden.

Special special thank to Amna who spotted them twice and was good enough dial 999 and report the sightings.

Absolutely relieved (seeing as one of them didn't even belong to us!) and so so SO glad they are back (or in police custody..)

Day 45: Stolen Tandems

Gone. Both of them. Gone.

Stolen ?Friday. Spotted on Saturday with some scallies by Baz.

Matt has told the pol-pols.

Heartbroken. Absolutely heartbroken.

Day 44: To Tell Or Not to Tell

Wow, I'm awake. Can't sleep anymore either. The story goes:-

Alice is insistent on doing her Rescue Diver Course. She has about 35 dives but is very very comfortable in the water and has been told so by a couple of people. She had previously (when she first got here) asked Dr Adel about doing the Rescue, and he said to do the Advanced and see.

Yesterday, (Dr Adel was in a rather foul mood, however) she asked him. He disapproved of her doing it and said she should have at least 50 dives before she does it. Then we were interrupted by a patient.

Later, Ingrid (the nurse who has moved in with us) managed to put her foot in it, just as Dr Adel had finished writing an angry e-mail to one of the insurance companies, by saying, "So are you going to let this young lady do her rescue." This resulted in him giving Alice a MASSIVE lecture about doing her Rescue Course.

But he still lent her the Rescue Course book...


SO. The issue now is me. I am going to go do my Advanced Open Water on Wednesday and Thursday. I spoke to Dr Ahmed about it and he said he would (as a friend) advise me to do more dives and do my Advanced at a later date, but if I really wanted to do it, then I should do it. He has also given me the time off I need to do it.

So what's the problem?

Well. I feel like I need to tell Dr Adel. Maybe it's because he cleared me for diving in the first place. I don't know. I feel like if I went and did the Advanced Course without telling him, I'd be going behind his back, or something. I dunno what my brain is up to.

But I know if I tell him, he'll be disapproving and give me a (fully legit) lecture about experience. And I don't *really* want that. So do I tell him? Or do I just go anyway? And what do I say?

I DO need to tell him though, coz I'm waking up at 6.40am when I don't need to be up till at least 9.30am.......

Day 42: Under the Sea

WHEY! Today, I am (officially) a PADI certified Open Water Diver. I got a congratulations e-mail and everything.

So it was a 4-day course which consisted of DVD-watching, pool-training (confined water dives) and then open-water training/ dives. We also had to do a swim test (200m swimming non-stop- ARG) and a float test (10 minutes floating in fresh water- double ARG). But (incredibly) I passed BOTH of them!!!!

The 200m (9 lengths of our pool) swim was tough. My course consisted of 3 boys, one of them was in the RAF and another one was an ex-police diver........ *thumbs up*

So I did like 2 lengths and was TOTALLY knackered. Eventually managed 9 lengths (even though everyone else actually did 10 so they could get back to the shallow end) and was "air lifted" out of the pool by Steve (our instructor). It was great.

We basically had 3 instructors: Steve, our proper instructor and Sophie, who didn't actually work for Emperor (our dive centre) but was shadowing Steve whilst waiting for her PADI to finish her instructor paper work. And also Nick, our Day 2 stand-in instructor coz Steve was away for the day doing... Something. They were all great! And boys of course were boys and were *constantly* telling dirty or BAD (so bad they're good) jokes.


Um, had a few panicky ("wobbly" as Nick described it) moments of GOD-I-CAN'T-BREATHE whist underwater in the pool (Day 1 & 2), but once we got out to the deep blue, I was ok.

Open water dives 1 & 2 was at Shark's Bay, where I'd been snorkelling with Alice, so it wasn't anything particularly new and/ or exciting. But today, open water dive 3 was at this place called White Knight and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There was soooo much reef which parted and made a canyon-type ?landscape. And the SEA! Was just BLUE. It was proper clear blue. You could see to such depths! We had to do a "compass swim" (so swim to a random place in the sea on a bearing then back again) and on the way back, the sun was almost directly above us, so you could see the rays of sunlight shining down into the water and down deep. It's so difficult to describe, but it was incredible. Absolutely beaut.

Open water dive 4 was at Near/ MIddle Garden, which were so called because the reef (supposidly) resembles an English garden... (They don't.) There are 4 parts to the Garden: Near, Middle, (Fiddle,) and Far.. They are named in relation to Na'ama Bay. Creative, hey?


Shit, I can't believe I'm an open water diver! It's amazing. And I now understand why people fall in love with it and rave about it so much.. Well, coz I pretty much have. (I'm even going to attempt to do my Advanced Open Water Course next week..!)

Day 38: Co-Inhabitant

Bummer. Someone has moved in to our house. Her name is Ingrid, she's a nurse, and she's (already) annoying.


First, I got woken up by Amr to say she was here. Then, I had to move out of my room (with internet) and into Alice's room (with no internet). And then, she complained that the house was "filthy".

Well, yes. I'm lazy. And I don't really give a damn.

THEN she took down Alice's washing AND our washing line. AND has Hahlet (the guy who came to pick me up from the airport when I first got in) cleaning and mopping the floor. Jesus, if you want the place to be clean, why don't you bloody CLEAN IT YOURSELF???

UGH.

And she's here for (and beyond) my remaining time here.


In other (better, more exciting) news, Dr Ahmed has cleared me to start my Open Water Course tomorrow - WOOPIE!!!! (Tomorrow is all theory anyway, the diving doesn't start until Thursday and even then it's just in a shallow pool to learn/ practice techniques etc.)

Day 36: Diving Fail.

Ugh. I have a cold. Not a bad one, but snuffles + sore throat = blocked Eustatian tubes = no diving.

HOW ANNOYING.

Was going to start the Open Water Course tomorrow, but will have to wait till next week and see if this has cleared up. Goddammit.

Cairo & the Pyramids

Upon our return from Gebel Musa, we packed and set off for Cairo.

The night bus up to Cairo took 7 hours and was rather sleepless. But hey ho, we got there for E£100 with free food and air-con.

Getting to our hostel, Wake UP! Cairo, was hilarious.

First, we couldn't find it (we booked it on t'interweb, so naturally, the map was wrong). Then when we found it, it looked AWFUL. Then, the lift didn't work, so we took the stairs. And THEN, there was rubbish and POO on the stairs.....

When we finally got there, it was great! Clean, friendly and AMAZING showers!!! We just had to take the leap of faith.


So Cairo was pretty crazy. Lots and lots and LOTS of cars. Especially OLD cars. Great old bangers. Por example, one of the taxis we took (a Darcia) stalled maybe ?8 times in the 10 minutes we were in the car. It quite simply *couldn't* drive in 1st gear. Absolutely HILARIOUS.

Some Fiats and a green LADA!

Old fare meter in the Darcia.

Safest seatbelt in the WORLD!

We popped to the Egyptian Museum (no cameras allowed inside), so no piccys. The museum was amazing. But. The entire time I was walking around, all I could think was, "Why aren't these things where they belong? Why are the cooped up in a stuffy (essentially) warehouse?" I mean, I know why. If they'd been left where they were found, they might be stolen, damaged or maybe even destroyed.. But I dunno, it just seemed like such a shame.

Coptic Cairo was a complete maze of religion and beautiful churches.

Entrance to the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo

Inside the Hanging Church

Alice's mucky post-Coptic Cairo feet

And the Pyramids were breath-taking. Our camels (Moses and Mickey Mouse) were AWESOME, as were our guides.

The Pyramids of Giza.

Pretty self-explanatory..!

Alice shaking hands with the Bedouin "guard" at Sakkara

Pyramid at Dahshur where one can enter and see the burial chambers.

On our last day, we hit the Khan al Kahili market which was cooool. Then headed to a 3D cinema to see "How to Train Your Dragon" which was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY recommended.

Ugh, we were also informed by a fellow hostel-stayer that the Sound & Light show of the Giza Pyramids was a MUST-SEE when in Cairo.

First, we got the times wrong. The ?manager dude (very very kindly) signed our tickets and allowed us to return the next day (our last day) at the CORRECT time.

THEN. We were late. (Oops.) And.. It was RUBBISH, although the Americans seemed to love it, "Aw man, it was incredible!" OR NOT.


So it was a pretty rubbish way to end the trip, but hey ho, I went camel-riding, saw and TOUCHED the Pyramids of Giza!!!!!

Again, more piccys can be found here!

Day 33: EET, Summer

WHO knew there was an Eastern Eurpoean Summer Time.....????

This is tres mal, my friends as it is now 5am and not 4am.


SHIT.

Day 28: Gebel Musa (Mt. Sinai)

Back tracking a little.

So Friday night/ Saturday morning, despite very very stiff and rather painful quads (step aerobics Weds eve, then circuit training Thurs eve), we set off to climb Mt. Sinai. With a load of Russians.

It took us 2 hours of solid walking (including the 750 steps after Elijah's Basin) to get to the summit. And we only just made it for sunrise. Along with a Canadian army man, Keith, Alice and I were proper trekking at the front of our group. Our guide would make us pause every now and again to wait for the rest of the Russians, who would come huffing and puffing 5-10 mins later, "Go slower! Go slower, ah?"

We didn't go slower.. Slower was more painful on the legs! Half-way up, our Bedouin guide informed us that half of the group would never make the summit in time for sunrise and that we should just power on if we wanted to make it. Apparently our bus had arrived 45 minutes late, so we HAD to be fast if we wanted to get there.

Dawn over one of the many small coffee shops on the Camel Trail on route to the summit.

View overlooking the mountains on the way up the last 750 steps to the Summit.

Sunrise over Gebel Musa. (And lots of coupley coupley gayness!)

So after spending a good 30-40 minutes up at the summit, we re-grouped at the bottom of the steps (Elijah's Basin). Our guide told us there are 2 ways down:- the Camel Trail (the same way we came up) or the Steps of Repentance. The rest of the group all chose the Camel Trail. We decided to do it as the Lonely Planet suggests and took the Steps of Repentance.

The Steps of Repentance consists of 3000 steps, all the way down from Elijah's Basin to St. Katherine's Monastery (which is situated at the foot of Mt. Sinai. They were laid, single-handedly, by one monk as a form of penance.

Down the Steps of Repentance

?Significance of Rock Stacking

Once we reached the bottom, we had a bit of a wonder round St. Katherine's. Despite being absolutely manic at the summit, by the time we got down to St. Katherine's my brain and eyes were beginning to suffer from the complete lack of sleep.

St. Katherine's

The Burning Bush, believe it or not.

After that we went to a nearby restaurant for "breakfast", which consisted of a boiled egg, fried vegetables, feta cheese, and bread rolls with jam and/ or honey. It was one of the *weirdest* breakfasts/ meals I've ever had. THEN, we chilled the fuck out:-

More piccys here. Boogie (work) time. Cairo and the Pyramids soon..

Recent Happs

I haven't blog about our trip to the Bedouin Desert "Restaurant" (for all intent purposes) yet, have I?

So, the day after Dr Adel's birthday (Day 17), Dr Adel took us to the desert for a Bedouin dinner. And it was amazing.

They kill a goat, and slow cook it in an underground oven (?quite common in many African countries). The meat was probably the best I'd ever had (very very tender and not overdone like most meats in Egypt) and the veg was amazing. I don't think I've ever loved overcooked-carrots so much!

Arriving at the Bedouin "Desert Restaurant"

The Bedouins retrieving the exceedingly tasty goat and veg.

Our Desert Dinner, courtesy to the Bedouin people.

After dinner I had a mini-camel ride (AMAZING!)

And this was followed by a bit of stargazing.

Dr Adel also invited his lady-friend and her ?visiting German friends, one of whom had a MASSIVE flash light for his quite posh camera which he insisted on using the ENTIRE TIME..



Then on Monday (Day 23), Amr (our mafia-esq father-like figure) took us desert quad-biking, and I *finally* learnt how to tie the Arabic scarfs!! We dined on the beach in Na'ama Bay with some of Amr's friends and I had the most *amazing* paella. When I opted for paella, Amr said, "How did you know!" It was GREAT.

Desert Quad-Biking at Sundown: Half-way Point

Dining on the beach by candle light..

And lastly, a couple of stragglers:-

The oh-so-successful Monty's Bar

The Moon and the Evening Star

Ah yes and last but not least, the afore mentioned "Egyptian sandwich" = Falafel + salad + yoghurt (+ aubergines, not pictured).

The Chamber will no doubt be eerily quiet again tomorrow, what with all this volcanic ash polava (do excuse the pun). Although with 3/4 of flights resuming.. Maybe not?

Either way, I must be orf to my bed.

Day 24: Diving is a GO!!!

YAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!! I passed my medication-free spirometry today with an FEV1/ FVC of 88% predicted. So not perfect (obvs, due to my history of asthma), but not horrendous (the cut off for asthmatic divers is when their FEV1/ FVC is >75% predicted).

My lung capacity is, I think, 113% predicted (so I have big lungs for someone my size), and my FEV1 (the amount of air you have forcefully blown out by the 1st second of expiration) was 96% predicted, so my big airways are good. But my medium-smaller airways are slightly restricted and instead of having the normal curve pattern, my curve looks a wee bit like this:-


Medicine aside, Open Water Diving Course, HERE I COME!!!!!

Day 22: Russian?

I was asked a most unexpected question today, "Russian?"

... I don't know. Do I *look* Russian...?

There are LOADS of Russians in Sharm and they all prance around in skimpy shorts and boobilicious tops (some of them might as well walk around naked..) And rumour has it, they're all slaaaags!!

We decided, "Russian?" is the Egyptian way of asking if you're "easy".

Day 21: CSI Miami...

... is proper SHIT.

It's one of the many - CSI Miami, Las Vegas, NCIS Los Angeles (which I actually quite like sometimes..) etc. - we are forced to watch with such limited English-speaking channels here in Egypt.

Yoga today was HILARIOUS. I've never done it before and I always thought it was a bit *silly*. And well, some of it is. (Did you know there's a position where you end up, quite simply, looking at your own vagina..? I had to refrain myself from having a proper giggling fit.) Most of it isn't and obviously it's not *supposed* to be funny. But I mean, when you're bent over, with your arse in the air, your head between your knees and staring at your own vagina.. How can anyone NOT think it's FUNNY????


Moving swiftly on.. Yesterday, we spent the day at Cleo Park, the water park in Sharm. It was ACE. I was 10 years old all over again!!

We managed to blag a 50% discount off at the door (because we, for all intent purposes, "work" here), so it only cost us E£100 instead of the usual E£200. And we got in pretty early before the hordes of tourists arrived, so it was easy getting on all the rides.

And today, the Chamber was exceedingly quiet. We saw ?3 patients.

So tomorrow, we are off to the Shark's Bay Bedouin Village, where there is a lovely beach and some nice snorkelling to be had.

But for now, some sleep would be good..

Day 19: Monty's

Tonight's attempt at finding "friends" was pretty hilarious.

So. Alice's diving instructor told her about this bar, Monty's, which was supposidly where all the cool kids hung out. Particularly on Thursdays. Alice was very VERY excited, "We're gonna make all these friends, we're gonna have an amazing time, and it's just going to be great!"

I, on the other hand, was not so enthusiastic.

Over the years, I've adapted a slight if-you-set-your-bar-low-you'll-be-less-disappointed mentality. Some would say I've become a bit of a pessimist, but I wouldn't go as far that.


Anyway, we headed to Camel Bar to get some food and picked up our 20% discount cards (which we are allowed because we "work" in Sharm). Chicken Jhal Freze (with the *correct* Egyptian spelling ofc) with rice. Followed by a couple of cocktail taste tests and some free cocktails (NOMNOM Mojito) off the nice Mancunian chica.

Then, we headed to MONTY'S. And,

Oh.

My.

God.


It was probably my worst nightmare, but very much DOWN-sized. The entire bar was black with a black and white checker tiled floor and UV lights "lighting" (!) the place. It was about the size of your average living room and the music was THIS LOUD you literally have to SHOUT in the other person's ear for them to vaguely understand what you're trying to say. Half the people in the bar were army blokes on leave, I think (looking for a bit of nookie), and the other half were ?Russian girls gyrating with the army blokes and... "Having a good time," I think is what they like to call it.

We stayed awhile. Alice introduced me to her instructor and his girlfriend, then was chatting away with him. I stood about, drank my kiwi milkshake (AMAZING) and people-watched/ looked bored.


When we left, Alice decided that as Monty's had been so awful, we'd go scope out the other supposidly cool bar where all the divers congregate: Pirates' Bar. Pirates' Bar, we were told, was inside the Marriott Hotel, which was 500m down the road from Na'ama Bay. Let me tell you now, it bloody didn't FEEL like 500m. And when we got to Marriott.... We found Harry's Pub (known as "the English pub" in the Egypt Lonely Planet). Not Pirates' Bar.

Ailce was most disappointed, but I thought what-the-hell and insisted we at least go in to have a look. So we walked into Harry's Pub, which had TECHNOTECHNOTECHNO music, strobe lighting and

*tumbleweed*


Yes. It was like walking into a deserted town in the desert.

It was UTTERLY hilarious.
(For me anyway, I think Alice found it a little bit more traumatic..)


And to top it off, on the way home we stopped for some small crispy-munchy round ball things coated in syrup and got chatted up by the THREE Mohammeds running the stall. (I had my first taste of Egyptian man-hassle, which I did not enjoy in the slightest.)

All in all, a great/ RUBBISH night out! HUZZAH!

Day 16: Bona Fide DR April..!

OhmyGOD.

I just saw my own patient. With mask squeeze. Did a telephone consultation with Dr Adel. Gave him a prescription. Signed it.

And off he went.


Aaaaaagggghhhh!!! FREAK OUT- I'm like a bona fide doctor!

Day 16: FRIEND!

I MADE A FRIEND..!!!! YAY! (Ok, acquaintance..)

Some Italiano dive instructor (Filippo). He left me his card and said to let him know if Alice and I are in Camel Bar/ Na'ama Bay in general.

And that we could HANG OUT!!!!!!!!

(Do you think it's because I introduced myself as Dr April..!?)

Day 16: Grey's Anatomy

Today, I was called "Grey's Anatomy" by an Italian boy.

(When I say "called", I mean I walked back into the consultation room, he pointed at me and said, "Grey's Anatomy!" One can only smile and nod at that kind of remark/ outburst...)


I am manning the station alone this afternoon (Alice has gone diving again)- it's hard work. This morning, flocks of people came, so it was pretty much one-in-and-one-out until 12ish when Alice had to bob off.

Then. It got CRAZY busy.


We had an Italian lady (mother of the "Grey's Anatomy" boy) who'd walked INTO a glass door on Friday night, banged her head and had since suffered from intense dizziness and nausea = not good. Her balance was AWFUL. Romberg's +ve and tandem gait RUBBISH, but apart from that full neurological examination was more or less normal (had some slight sensory discrepancies on her R-forehead and R-lateral thigh), no nystagmus, no flashing lights and no vomiting.

Anyway, we sent her off for a CT scan at the "Pyramid" (coz it's shaped like a pyramid)/ Sharm el Sheikh International Hospital, following which Dr Adel advised her to stay under observation at his hospital (the Sinai Clinic) for 24-48 hours.



And now, it is relatively quiet again. Phew. I haven't stopped since half 10. Not even for a drink. So I've stealt a can of cooooool Fanta Orange out of the fridge, teehee. NOMNOMNOM.

Also, circuit training last night was ace, but I am currently in so much PAIN!!! I can't actually get out of bed, I have to *roll* out of bed no thanks to my non-existent abs. Uuuuuugh...

Day 14: Snorkelling

The Chamber has been very very quiet. We had no customers today until noon. And no further decompression sickness cases to report.

Having said that, there was a Swiss guy who came in the other day with ?DCS. Alice joked that he was like the man of my dreams because he was ULTRA organised. He had *everything* with him: we asked for his passport, he had his Swiss ID; we asked for his dive profile, he had his ENTIRE log book with him; we asked for his insurance details, he logged into his e-mail and gave us MORE information than we needed. It was like being in heaven. The only thing that was mildly hilarious was (this isn't breaking doctor-patient confidentiality I don't think) that his name was BORIS.

Pfff-AHAHAHAHHA.

Ahem. Anyway.




We took another day off yesterday (Day 13) because Amr, our mafia-esq father figure for all intent purposes (more on him another day) was taking Mohammed (the 22yo geeky IT tech guy who can't swim) to the beach and invited us along. As if we'd ever say no to the beach.

So we bobbed along and Alice taught me how to swim breast-stroke with my head above the water. FINALLY. Apparently (I don't know why I was never told or maybe I just never fully understood what I was being told), it's 1 *arms* and 2 *legs*. How did I never realise that..??? Now, I can leisure swim! HOORAY!

We rented a pedal boat (with a bendy slide on it = ACE) and pedalled out to sea. Alice and I did quite a bit of snorkelling and it was amazing. SOOOOO many fishies! Some proper fat ones too. And the colours! It's proper amazing below the surface. You'd never guess.

I'm going to have to get me a disposable underwater camera methinks so I can at least take some piccys.



Oh and yes, birffday (Day 10) was cool. We went snorkelling IN THE SEA (drove to Ras Mohammed National Park, which is about 20 minutes outside of Sharm) and I was absolutely petrified because I hadn't swum in YONKS.

Our Snorkelling Site in Ras Mohammed.

My first attempt was awful (plus I managed to lose my R-contact lens even before I'd immersed myself underwater = tres gay). Ugh, and I kept putting my foot down on the coral (BAD BAD BAD). My 2nd attempt was a little better, but still put my foot down a couple times. All together, I managed to sustain 3 minor injuries to my legs. At least it was PROPER salt-water, so the wounds were pretty clean.



Snorkelling yesterday was much much improved! (I'd also purchased my own snorkel + mask, which was more suited to my face.)

Trying out my new snorkel and mask! (Amr price: E£105)

So that's the happ. There are other snorkelling-related story..

But another time maybe.

Re: the War on Mozzies-3

I think the remaining mozzie took revenge after I went to sleep. I covered everything but my face, woke up at 2am with an intense itch on my forehead.. The mozzie was basically eating my face off, so hid my head under the blanket too.

EPIC FAIL.

And now I look like I am DISEASED. Great look for your 24th!

Re: the War on Mozzies-2

Today's mozzie kill count: 7 Make that 8.

Get. In.

Bites are still accumulating though. Bloody things.

Think I've gotten all the ones in my bedroom.. *fingers crossed*



.. Ugh. No. Just missed another. GODDAMMIT.

Day 8: Mystery of the Free Diver

Remember I said about the body Dr Adel and I went to examine?

Apparently, Dr Adel heard from the police the day before yesterday (Friday 2nd April) and it was confirmed that yes, he was a man; and yes, he was indeed a free diver who went diving from the beach; he was Russian (Dr Adel guessed he might be, because apparently quite a few Russians come to Sharm to free dive); and his body had been in the water for 3 weeks and 2 days.

BOOM! Get in.

So he is no longer a mystery. And he had actually been reported missing to the Russian Embassy in Egypt, but not to the Search + Rescue.

Case closed.

Life at the Chamber

It's cloudy today. No sun = no beach.

Well (*yawn*), at least I'm awake and can do some photo blogging. So here we go:-

Daddy Gecko (who I think is still not back..)

The worst of my mozzie bites (no thanks to Skyping JW outside on my 1st/ 2nd night when there was no Wi-Fi signal inside the accommo)

The Chamber = massive cargo containers welded together.

Inside the chamber: O2 and air cylinders with valves on the Left and the Chamber on the Right.

Sahara Secrets: Where we go for dinner with Dr Adel Mondays & Thursdays

Sahara Secrets is pretty cool. It's the cafe area at a dirt-bike track (one of the best in Egypt/ ?the World) which Dr Adel and his mate Iman rent out in the evenings so they have somewhere nice to eat and socialise. (Iman works as the accountant for Dr Adel at the new Sinai Clinic he is building and is also the "hobby chef" at Sahara Secrets.) There is a massive TV screen, so the evening goes a bit like this:- Dr Adel drinks coffee/ tea, smokes shisha, watches TV, eats, drinks more coffee/ tea, smokes more shisha, continues watching TV. Repeat. It's all rather sedate.. (But nice.)

The view from Sahara Secrets

I think the sun has actually re-appeared from behind its cloud. Oh well. It's too late to go now anyway!

Day 7: Na'ama Bay

This evening we went for an (Egyptian) fish dinner at Safaraf (seafood restaurant) in Na'ama Bay. On the menu, you couldn't order crab, but you *could* order a "carb". Hehehe. Ahem. (I didn't quite manage to take a photo coz the waiter came to take our order waaay too quickly, who would've known! Next time, for sure.)

Fish fish fish. NOMNOMNOM.

The "lantern" for the candle on the plate is a tomato!

Anyhow. It was tasty. And the restaurant was nice, although the nice balcony-esq place we were sat at overlooked (basically) the Hard Rock Cafe's dumping ground. *thumbs up* (We chose to sit overlooking the restaurant stairs instead of the dumping ground.)

Then we headed to unt bar (the Camel Bar) which was pretty sweet- I had a Lipton Lemon Ice Tea = TASTY. NOM. E£30..! (Alice's small glass of red wine was a whopping E£55!!) So pricey, but very nice atmosphere and pretty much overlooked Na'ama Bay.

Camel Bar & its view overlooking Na'ama Bay

So Na'ama Bay is basically tourist-central. It's where all the posh (and not so posh) hotels are. It's "the happ", as it were. Rather different from Old Sharm.. More trendy. And more organised.. Proper shops (with doors etc.), not just stalls small shops (with no doors). But Dr Adel says stuff you buy in Na'ama Bay is always priced at least 10x its value, even with bartering. So I guess souvenirs will have to be from Old Sharm (± a bit of bartering..)

Work-wise, you will be pleased to hear that our DCS man has left us today, although he has not been given the all-clear. However, he was desperate to get home, so Dr Adel let him go (with a modified Rx regime, to make sure he was fit-to-fly) with a view to continuing his hyperbaric recompression therapy at a chamber nearer home.

We also had another case of ?DCS or ?pneumo-enchephaly on Thursday. He's been in the chamber with our DCS man twice now and will be back tomorrow to see if he is fit to be discharged.

Oh, and the geckos are back. Yay!

There is much to tell, but now I must go to bed. It is late and we must pay the beach (and our friend, Totti, the beach-owner) a visit tomorrow am, seeing as we snuffed it this morning for more sleep.

Day 4: Decompression Sickness

Our DCS man was unfortunately back in the Chamber today. We examined him this morning and there was *some* improvement, but Dr Ahmed asked him the big-money question re: presence of urinary retention (which we should've asked about yesterday, but didn't..)? And he said yes.. = BAD.

He has a spinal thoracic lesion (around T10, the belly button area), which can result in paralysis and/ or paraesthesia from there downwards (so groin, legs, feet).

So he was back in the Chamber for another (4hrs 45mins) USN T6 session today. His friend went in with him (instead of Alice), which I thought it a much better arrangement, since they had much more to chat about and were a bit more at ease with each other.

Bueno.

This is actually a pretty serious case. Dr Ahmed said ~1 in 50 DCS cases are this severe, so we are very lucky to have been able to see one and follow one through.

So he'll be back again tomorrow am and we'll see how he is.

Beach tomorrow am. Hopefully we'll find the one you have to pay for (didn't see it on the way back from the Old Market). Tum tee tum.

Day 4: Beach Tips

There are two beaches near us: one public, one paid. Of course, the one you pay for is much nicer (and also does breakfast, NOM).

Dr Ahmed's wife goes with their 15 month-old baby boy (the CUTEST thing you will have ever set your eyes on, tanned skin, big light hazel brown hair with big brown eyes and the most ADORABLE smile) every morning to chillax with other Mummys and babies. It's 5 minutes walk down the road and apparently there are hardly any tourists in the early morning, so since we only start at 10.30am.. Plenty of time to go to the beach in the mornings before work!

Yes that's:- plenty of time to go to the beach before work!

Hell yes.

Day 3: Much Much Excitement!!

Today was much more exciting! No bodies, but:-
1) The shower is GREAT.
2) I found the room with t'internet and moved into it.
3) There was a diving accident..!
4) And another elective student arrived. Huzzah!

Dr Ahmed got the call at ~11am and I was down at the Search + Rescue (again) half an hour later, waiting for the boat to get in.

In an almost anti-climatical way (the patient was reported over the radio to be "paralysed"), the boat pulled into the jetty and the patient-to-be *jumped* out of the boat. Then again, I suppose that was good sign = not too severe.

We red-lighted him (the two minutes down the road from the Search + Rescue place) back to the Chamber, took a thorough history and examined him then chucked him in the Chamber for some decompression Rx. With the newly arrived medical elective student (she'd been diving before, so was much less complicated for her to go in the Chamber than me).

"The Chamber" (not in action).

They stayed in for 4hrs and 45mins (decompression treatment adhering to the US Navy Decompression Treatment Guidelines, Table 6) with the patient taking air and O2 at timed intervals and Alice taking just air. We are going to see him again tomorrow and see if his symptoms have improved.

SO! The newly arrived elective student is Alice from Nottingham Uni who is here for 6 weeks. I am well happy and excited that I have someone to do stuff/ go to the beach/ plan trips/ travel with. YAY!!

(On a not-so-exciting front, where have all my geckos gone..? I found 2 giant American cockroaches playing dead this morning. Not impressed. I hope my geckos (?gecki) come home soon!!)

Day 2: The ?Free Diver Mystery

Having said nothing exciting happened yesterday, in the evening, my supervisor, Dr Adel was called to examine a body the Search + Rescue had found in the water.

It was a bit surreal.

Yes, it was a body. But all the humanly features had gone. We were left with mainly bone (apart from the intestines, which was definitely not a pretty sight).

Dr Adel estimated it had been in the water for ~21 days. The body came with the last remaining bits of Lycra on his R arm and L foot + a long flipper, size 11-12. The ribs were a bit mangled. Dr Adel guesstimated him to be free diver (ie, from the beach), possibly attacked by sharks or maybe a propeller..? But there have been no missing reports lately. So it's a bit of a mystery..


Must dash. Meant to be meeting Dr Adel... Now.

Re: the War on Mozzies

Mozzies-bites 39 - 2 Prill-kills

So... Itchy.................. *scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch*

GODDAMIT. 50% DEET spray ain't doin' it's job!

Day 2: Diving Medicine

We've had no patients/ tourists who need to be certified medically fit to dive since.. 12pm? And now, I have been left alone in the Centre (or "the Chamber" as they like to call it).

Today, I have seen nothing exceedingly exciting. Yet. 2 perforated eardrums (oto-barotrauma) and certified (under supervision, ofc) 3 people medically fit to dive. Out of the 3, one was a doc who suffers from very mild exercise-induced asthma and another was a type I diabetic. Dr Ahmed (my supervisor, Dr Adel's lieutenant) nearly said no to both of them. Who knew diving was so medically dangerous..!

Asthma and DM are both very common and well-recognised in the UK. Most of the time, I feel that they are promoted as diseases which mean can't stop you from doing things. But in reality, it can.

Asthmatics, especially exercise-induced asthmatics (see me), are at especially high risk. When you are diving in the sea (and not your local swimming pool), there is a lot of surface swimming and you may encounter very strong currents, which means you have to swim. A lot. Therefore = a lot of exercise, which (in exercise-induced asthmatics) can lead to severe bronchospasm.

Also, the air pressure in the scuba tanks can be up to ~200 bar (= 3,000 psi), which means it will inflate your end-alveoli. So imagine you are diving along happily, then you hit a strong current and you have to work very hard to get to safety. As a result of this, you suffer some bronchospasm in your small airways. Result? Air-trapping in your end alveoli. Doh. Air trapping ==> popping ==> pneumothorax.


But anyway, this guy who suffered from very mild exercise-induced asthma was also an intensive care SHO (I'm guessing, he was 25), so Dr Ahmed said to him, "As long as you understand the possible consequences," He did, "And you know your own body," He also did, "Then I am happy for you to do the course."



And now, I am cold. They *insist* on having all three air-cons ON at freeze-your-arse-off degrees in this tiny tiny space. I switched 2 of them off while Dr Ahmed was out, mwahaha. He came back, saw a wee kid with a blunt finger trauma in his freeezing room, sat back down in the "main office" and said, "Why is it suddenly warm in here?"

....

Coz I'm cold-blooded..?

Stitchys.

Some stitchys I did last night, whilst battling the mozzies.

First Impression of Egypt = Rocks + Sand.

The Hyperbaric Medical Centre at Sunrise

More soon (though nothing very exciting..)

Day 1: Passport Control

So. Here I am at the Hyperbaric Medical Centre in Sharm el Sheikh. And connected kinda too, which is a *big thumbs up*.

The trip down (on Saturday) went pretty smoothly, except I somehow managed to get "final call for passenger Lu"-ed on the Manchester-Gatwick flight. Hehe, oops. All I was doing was buying a couple of adapters at WH Smiths..

The 5-hour stop-over in Londres was a barrel of laughs (or not), especially since there was no *whistles McDonald's promo tune*, as Navdeep Gill promised. Hrumph. Had a good old fish 'n' chips instead. NOM. (Then also got fed on the plane, mwahaha.)

And there are lizards in my flat. Ick.

Arrived at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport at ~5am (GMT+1) and had a silly man at immigration:-

I filled out my landing card, as per usual; queued, as per usual; then handed the immigration man my passport + landing card. The immigration man looks at the passport and says, "China?"
Confused, I say, "No, Taiwan."
"Taiwan? No, China."
More forcefully, "Taiwan."
He held my passport up to me and says, "Where Taiwan?" "China," he says, pointing to the Republic of China text on my passport.
"Oh," realising reasoning behind the misunderstanding, "It's the same."
He looks up at me, "China."

Not. China. TAIWAN. Ugh.

Then he decides to go ask one of his chums. Comes back a couple minutes later and waves me along. I put on my best "And my passport?" face. Realising he'd left it with his chum, he retrieves it, returns, then asks, "This real, yes?"

....

"No actually, it's fake," "Yes," I smiled. (As IF I would've said on..????)



Anyway.

I've taken some noice piccys of where I am to reside for the next 8 weeks, so will post them up at some point. Maybe when (if ever) the internet stops being so temperamental..