Hello Africa!!!

Well, the first few days have been very exciting and we all have a lot of adjusting to do. We love it here, though it can be somewhat mind-boggling, as things are just so exotic and different in Africa than in any other continent. The chaos here is one of things that magically draws me to this place; I just can't have that at home, so it becomes something like a treat! A simple transaction like opening a bank account for e.g. can easily take three hours, so there are many ways here to fill your days (not that it ever gets boring)! However, our patience and acceptance certainly gets tested in many ways. Some days the water is working, but the power is out, or the other way around...you just can't have it all - you don't need it either, so it's great!

Most of all, the people here have given us such a warm welcome, that indeed we may never want to leave....this seems to be a running joke as you are entering the country, and surely there is a lot of truth to it.

Yesterday was very eventful; we spent most of the day at the hospital and also met all of our supervisors. Most of our placements are spread around the hospital grounds, so we will certainly get a very good impression of all the challenges they are dealing with here and will meet tons of interesting people. We can barely wait to start our practicums next week!

Seraina