Week 3 in Adelaide

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Weekend was fun. Friday I went to the repatriation hospital (it was a former veterans hospital) and worked with Mr. Chris Brown (in Australia, Mr indicates surgeon and Dr indicates medical doctor. So technically, I'm Mr. Palanca) who is a foot and ankle surgeon. It was nice to see a few foot cases, since I've been only doing trauma this far. We worked until 5:30 or so (Which seemed quite late in Aussie standards from the way the nurses were talking). So then I met up with Ai and we went to the central market for dinner. The market is amazing! There is produce, and coffee shops, and artisan shops with nuts and cheeses and mushrooms - all actually reasonably priced. On Fridays there is also live music. We stopped at an Indian booth and had vegetable samosas so greasy that they soaked through the wrapping - so needless to say they were delicious. We then went to a lounge bar called Le Boheme which specializes in specialty cocktails. Ai had a rose infused drink served up with a fresh rose on top and I had a pear citrus cocktail and both were delicious. A DJ was playing and we wrapped up around midnight freezing at the bus station until the bus came.

Saturday was a bit dismal and rainy, so I laid low for most of the day, which was nice. I then went to rundle mall and did some window shopping and then walked down to meet Kaitlijn at her house downtown.

Kaitlijn is a lawyer from Belgium who has lived in Adelaide for a few years now. She is an instructor at the law school. She is smart and tough and direct, but also very open and kind. She is only 27 but her mature presence is undeniable. She lives in a cute older house just a few blocks from downtown with two Aussie roommates. Her friend Katie who is a teacher at and all girls private school met us as well. We shared a really really nice bottle of cab sav from McLaren Vale and then had Indian food and a posh downtown spot. We then met up with some of the flinders fellows and residents at the Loft bar downtown.

Today the sun is shining and gorgeous so Ai and I are heading to Glenelg, a quaint beach town, for a run on the beach. All in all, a fantastic weekend!

I am in love with Glenelg. It's honestly not anything insanely special, but the sun and the beach and waves just make me happy. We took a long run along the water and then had lunch at a cafe. It's only a 30 minute bus ride from the flats, so I think I may make a habit of the trips. If I were here for more than two months, I would definitely move here.







The week has been pretty status quo. Monday morning greeted me with a bilateral subtalar dislocation in a young man, with an associated talar neck fracture on one side. Bharvin and I scrubbed the case and it was good to see how others would handle and approach the management. There's also a calcaneus pending which hopefully will be ready on Monday. Wednesday and Thursday I worked with Peter Stavrou, a sports foot and ankle surgeon who knows Roger Mann. He's fast and efficient and a good teacher. I was able to see a few more hospitals as well, St Andrews in the city and the repatriation hospital (the repat) which is a former veterans hospital. The theaters are huge. I wasn't complaining about the free espresso and smoked salmon plate for lunch either.

Wednesday I went to trivia and Thursday I met up with Ai to check out her new place in Walkerville, a nice suburb just north of the city. She is in a service apartment which is attached to a hotel. It is brand new and still under construction, a boutique type artsy place. I'm nice and jealous. It's new and beautiful with a gym, pool and sun deck and cars and bikes for hire. We found a nice trail and went running and it was a trail that reportedly goes all the way to the Adelaide hills.

We picked up some Indian take away and cracked the bottle of Veuve champagne which was her welcome gift. We got full and giggly and both embarassingly face timed our boyfriends together. Two Ortho surgeons or two teenage girls? Debatable.

Weekend plans are for dinner in the city with a few of the private Ortho guys and their partners and a dinner beach side with another consultants wife on Saturday and an all day wine event with Nicole on Sunday. I know, tough life.

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