I just finished my first week in the Emergency department. I am not really sure how I feel about my day today... I don't know if I was prepared to see so many people die in one morning.

Maybe this is an odd thing to say, coming from a medical student. Death is probably as much a part of medicine as the living, but I must have been expecting this death to come in smaller doses. It was really hot today; combined with it being 'cholera season' and a few chronic illnesses in some susceptible people it was a rough one.

My husband is coming tomorrow so I am taking tomorrow and Saturday (the regular holiday day) off.

I started at the hospital today. It was wholely overwhelming, but strangely not as much as I anticipated. Since I still find all my clinical encounters overwhelming this wasn't too much different. So far I would say the biggest difference from the emergency expereince I have had so far is that everyone gets less space. As in the beds are really close together. Everything is done in english (orders, charts, etc) except the talking, which, at this point is probably shielding me somewhat. I have been studying the phrase book but I still haven't made it much past namaste and hajur. I attached myself to a first year resident (I can't tell how pleased she was about that) and she was great. All of the residents there were very helpful, if a little suspitious that I was just finished first year, or that there was such thing as a three year medicine program. I learned how to take my own ECG and do a pelvic exam. I saw some regular stuff like cystitis, COPD and pneumonia but also mumps, a partial miscarriage, rat poisoning and cholera. (That is probably the part where I wish I hadn't given my mother this address. It is all good mom, I am being careful.)

I am now a week into my vacation/medical elective in Asia. It has been a whirl wind up to now. I have started to settle in the Guesthouse that I will be staying at for the next month in Nepal, but I don't think the whirl wind is about to stop anytime soon.

So far my husband and I landed in Bangkok for the vacation part of my time. We went to the grand palace and a couple Wats, got Thai massages (I think this was my husband's favorite part), took a train (and bus and long boat) to Railay beach in Krabi, enjoyed some sun, explored some caves, and flew back to Bankok. We then parted ways and I flew to Nepal.

I am not sure how to describe Nepal so far. I landed at the airport and, after a bit of confusion about my name, found the driver to the guest house. The drive to the guest house was more than chaotic. There seem to be no rules, which seems to be a bit like Nepal in general. Everyone is really nice and seems to be getting where they are going, but with no apparent order. the guide book is not wrong when they say things (sights, sounds, smells) are a bit overwhelming at first.

But my room at the guesthouse is great. Surrounded by trees with a roof top patio and a school on one side. Fairly quiet except for the kids playing during the day and a wedding brass band that played last evening. I am starting to find my way around and really starting to enjoy it here (all 24hrs that I have been here so far). I am going to go exploring a little today and find my way to Patan Hospital where I start my elective tomorrow. All the best.