arrived.

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Hello everyone. I guess this is the first official posting after commencement of the journey. I arrived in Mthatha (or Umtata) on Thursday evening after a bit of improvization while traveling. My initial flight out of Chicago Monday morning was delayed and I missed my connection in LA. I took a flight out later that night and arrived in Hong Kong early in the morning, I think it was Wednesday there. After the missed connection, spilling orange juice all over myself during an intercontinental flight, and opening a container of yogurt that proceeded to spray me in the face, not unlike Yosemite Sam looking down the barrel of a shotgun, I was beginning get nervous at all of the poor omens at the start of the trip. But then my luck changed during my layover in Hong Kong. As I ventured into the city amist increasingly violent rain and winds, I discovered I was in the midde of a class 8 typhoon. This promply washed away the orange juice from my pants and gave me a much-anticipated trial of my new raingear. It worked! My spirits soared.

Eventually I caught my last leg to Johannesburg and then Umtata, arriving disoriented, hungry, and stinking, but ready for the adventure to begin.

I had my first day of work yesterday (Friday) which is a half day. The hospital is the primary orthopaedic center for the entire Eastern Cape. For a center of that magnitude, they are functional but hardly adequate to address the need (I feel this will be a common theme). The services are divided into teams on pediatrics, male, and female. I have been assigned to the "male" service, but the actual design seems to be more of an "all hands on deck," which seems appropriate. There is a CT scanner in town at another hospital, an MRI a couple hours away in Durbin, no nuclear medicine, and one testy fluoro machine for the 3 ORs. The hospital complex is subject to brown-outs throughout the course of the day, with cases continuing under emergency lighting systems. But, again, although the resources are lacking, it is a functional hospital and they appear to do a lot of good. I'm excited to roll up my sleeves a little and see what happens.

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Comments

[Stephanie and Scott]

Thanks for the update
Hey Ben! We just got done reading your first update and it sounds as though you have had an adventure already! Congrats are in order for your wedding to beautiful Noor. We loved the pictures, and you both looked incredibly happy which made us smile. Scott, I and Max and Caro send you hugs and wishes for a great journey. Take good care, love Stef and Scott

[Mark]

Ben, Hee haww!! Loving your blog already! I declare your first "real" entry a great success!! Keep it coming! Mark