"After three days they'll start biting"

That's one of the first pieces of advice I got from the professor of medicine at Sarawak General Hospital.

It was in reference to the mosquitoes and he was spot on. I'd been in Kuching for three days when I started getting bitten - did they really have to develop a taste for Western blood or was it just that it took me three days to start getting lax in applying the deet?

So it's been over a month since I last wrote a post for my blog, not really sure where the time has gone. One minute I was having a jar of honey confiscated by Australian customs and the next I'm sat here with only a few hours left before I fly back to the UK.

Anyhoo, no use moping on about how little time I have left until I have to get back to reality...

What have I been up to?

Well, the consultant who helps to organise the elective here in Kuching advises students that there are three parts to this elective - medical, cultural, and gastronomic - so I may as well break down what I've done into these areas (and try and keep it short & sweet).

Medical

I've been to quite a bit of teaching out here, which is helpful after spending four weeks in a highly specialised environment. One of the sessions was on my major weakness too (ECGs) which is always useful. I spent some time on the ward over the past few weeks and have found that on the whole most of the medicine is very similar to what I have already experienced back in the UK, just at a much higher humidity! I'm not joking about the humidity thing, it's usually between 25 and 30 degrees with high humidity - and some wards only have some very weak fans for cooling. It may be unpleasant for the elective students but it must be much much worse for the patients who have to deal with it all the time they are in hospital.
The clinics ave been very interesting too. Often the doctors are communicating in both Malay and English (conversations and teaching are usually conducted in English between HCPs) which makes for an interesting experience as a student observing the process.

Cultural

I'll admit I still know embarrassingly little about the cultures of the various groups that make up the population here but I have been trying. During my time here there have been celebrations for Malaysian Independence on both August 31st (Independence Day for Malaya) and September 16th (Independence Day for several states including Sarawak). The second date was much bigger here in Kuching as it is more relevant to the people and so we had a good amount of celebrations including a parade and fireworks (which I managed to miss due to flying back from KL).
It's also been great to see how all of the various cultures appear to get along out here. If there's one thing Kuching could teach much of the Western world it would be how to live side by side and be more tolerant.
I'll try to write a bit more about the culture on this blog once I get back to the UK.

Gastronomic

The food is great! I've had the opportunity out here to try a number of the local delicacies which has been an enjoyable experience. Amongst the things I've tried are:

• Sarawak Laksa
• Sea cucumber soup
• Kolo Mee
• Mee mamak
• Nasi goreng
• Roti

I'd say food is one of the big things to travel to this part of the world for...but a word of warning, some of it is quite spicy!
I could write pages and pages on the various dishes but I think I'll leave it at this.


I think I'll try to write a few blog drafts during the flight back to the UK - only a 12h 35m flight from KL to Heathrow, so plenty of time to get some writing done.