Byebye Brizzy My last full day in Brisbane I went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is the oldest and largest koala refuge in the world. It was basically like a zoo, but only for native Australian wildlife. There were loads of koalas (as one would expect). I got to pet one and get my picture taken. Among the other wildlife were: dingoes, Tasmanian devils, wombats, many snakes, freshwater crocodiles, emus, kookaburras, platypusses (platypi?), and of course, kangaroos. The neatest part was a large park area with emus and kangaroos just milling about. Any zoo attendee could go in and just go up to the kangaroos, take pictures, feed them, lay on them, pet them; really anything you wanted to do. I took a few self portraits with some of the more sociable animals. My transportation ... read more

Scrubbing In Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week I have been with Dr. Jim Radcliffe is surgery. On Tuesday, I got to scrub in for the first time. The procedure was a biliary bypass. The patient had an inoperable tumor obstructing the bile duct from the gallbladder, so Dr. Jim incised and drained the gallbladder, incised the stomach, and then sutured the gallbladder to the stomach so that the bile will now drain into the stomach. During this operation, I got to hold retractors, clamps, and sutures, suction blood and bile, and once Dr. Jim was finished suturing the fascia, he left to fill in the patient's charts and I stapled the epidermis back together. Other operations I saw on Tuesday included two tubal ligations, a finger amputation, and a colostomy. Wednesday was a day ... read more

Security Guards and Puppies The security guards at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital are hired through a third party, Asila Security Services (conveniently abbreviated ASS, with badges places on their hats and sleeves). These guys are pretty nice and friendly when you talk to them, but most of the time they strut around, empowered by their uniforms. Sometimes they carry a bushknife or a club as guns aren't legal in the country. At the front gate, the guards will often question each person entering the hospital area. They will act like they're doing you a favor when they let you pass. White people are an exception though; they hurry to open gates for us and greet us. Again, they're really nice guys, they just like having authority. Anyway, one day after I finished in ER, I made the ... read more

Sunday night I was walking around the station at sunset. I walked past the ER and saw Dr. Bill inside with several nurses, leaning over an exam table. I went inside to see what was happening. Remember, this is Sunday night, if something is happening in the ER, it is actually an emergency, not someone needing a bandage changed. A little girl (2 months old) had been brought in and was clearly underweight and having severe difficulty breathing. Dr. Bill was hesitant to make a diagnosis, but suspected meningitis, possibly with other complications. The baby gasped for breath, exposing her ribs each time she inhaled. She was clearly not aware of her surroundings, as her eyes floated around the room, unable to fixate on anything. The nurses could not get an IV started in the girls ... read more

Lessons in Language As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the main language in PNG is Tok Pisin, which literally means, "to talk like a bird." This language was developed from a mixture of English, Spanish, German, and a few other languages. I've been working with four native guys who don't speak much English, so this has provided me with the opportunity to learn some Tok Pisin. The following are things that I have gathered about the language thus far. Pretty much every preposition is "long", with the exception of on top, below, and a few others. This means that you must know the context to know what a person in talking about. "Yu kum long haus bilong me" can mean "You come to/in/out of/through/by/from/on/beside etc. my house" Verbs don't get conjugated, as far ... read more