I'm sorry all of these posts are coming all random, I can't publish and rearrange posts which is frustrating.
Anyhoo, what I wanted to let everyone know.
As some people already know, I am staying with relatives of my dad who are not Christian- and my dad has not told any of my family here about my conversion.
This of course has been a problem and I have been wrestling with this issue all week and before I got here. I figured I would just have to do what I always did I home, which was to tell a 'technical truth'.
It did not sit well in my Spirit and I have been having major issues with this all week.
God has been speaking to me about 'deceit', kept propping up everywhere.
Now, I know what a lie is- or so I thought, and a 'white lie', 'half-truth' etc...- but the bible differentiates deceit separately- and it came to my attention.
So I did a quick online study on it and felt very convicted. I was planning on making some excuse and go to Church tomorrow. (I've been dreading what to do about this since forever) I realised I could not do this as I would be sinning intentionally.
So, I have just informed my aunt and uncle- and they both seemed very shocked. They did not expect it. I feel very angry at myself and also at my parents for putting them and me in this position. They have been deceived after all, and being deceived is breaking trust. I should have plucked up the courage sooner and told them straight away.
I pray my relationship with them can be mended, and also ( I think my uncle went to see my great-aunt- possibly also calling my parents in London) that our family relations do not become strained because of this. I also pray that they will let me stay here- they might feel I might be a bad influence on their children ( would be hurtful, but I would understand)
I don't think they will stop me going to Church tomorrow. (NB: Finally decided to attend the Church my supervising doctors go to.)
I know I have done the right thing for once on this, and not gone the easy way- and sometimes the path to righteousness is not the straight and easy one. This was worse than telling my parents because my parents sussed it out, whereas here I had to tell them upfront. I hate having to be a grown-up sometimes.
On a positive note, my trip so far has been great and you'll get a lot more positive updates from the last few days, and hopefully the remainder of the trip also.
(My apologies for being very verbose- but this would otherwise never get done :P, Ill try to keep short with the next updates)
Saturday, 27 April 2013
Hello and Welcome to my Blog :)
Sincere apologies for the delay in writing this- I promise I have not forgotten that I would keep in touch with everyone. The whole week has been crazy and tiring and there is an awful lot to write. So you will get tonnes of updates- and it is up to you what you want to read :P
I hope it is not too boring- I do know I have the tendency to ramble. A lot of exciting things is happening around here, and I am learning a lot.
Ill try my hardest to keep this updated more regularly from next week and answer any question
Enjoy :D
Sincere apologies for the delay in writing this- I promise I have not forgotten that I would keep in touch with everyone. The whole week has been crazy and tiring and there is an awful lot to write. So you will get tonnes of updates- and it is up to you what you want to read :P
I hope it is not too boring- I do know I have the tendency to ramble. A lot of exciting things is happening around here, and I am learning a lot.
Ill try my hardest to keep this updated more regularly from next week and answer any question
Enjoy :D
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Day 2- Tues- 1st Day in Endocrinology Clinic
So today was my first day in Endocrinology. A lot easier to find the place this time around. I can't help but think (most likely correctly) that I somehow stand out.
Either way the clinic was busy- I saw an actual goitre and lots and lots of signs! Saw a patient with acromegaly- which is dead rare in the UK. A UK consultant I did a specialist module in- told me in his 30 year career he has only every diagnosed 3 cases of this disorder.
However, whilst the incidence is not greater in Sri Lanka- NHSL is a tertiary centre which receives all the specialist cases- who will go on to need treatment (pituitary surgery for most of these patients).
The endocrine room is absolutely tiny compared to what we have in the UK. 1 consultant and 3 registrars in parallel rows each seeing patient- no sense of confidentiality or privacy here. All the patients and all other doctors aside Dr Somasundaram were Sinhalese. I found that challenging.
I discovered I arrived in the middle of the Tamil and Sinhalese New Year. After having left soon after the family celebration in the UK, I was surprised to find that the Buddhist festival lasts absolutely ages. The staff has a celebratory meal which they kindly invited me to.
Despite trying my hardest to keep neutral about the racial issue, it is proving a lot more challenging than I thought. I have very rarely encountered anyone from the Sinhalese community back at home, and everything I have heard from my parents and other members of the Tamil community has been less than positive. I never realised how ingrained those things had become. As a Christian, it is challenging for me especially- however I also realised how difficult it must be for the separate(for they were separate for many years in Sri Lanka). I was pleased to discover via Rev. Ian Blake ( contact back in Thornton Heath- another long story) that actually a lot of the congregration are now deciding of their own will to have united services in both languages. Traditionally the services have always been held at different times (btw that is ludicrously early like 8.30am at least) in the alternate languages. I was surprised to find that a lot of churches here also hold services in English as well as the local languages. Either way, the idea of a united congregration united in Christ, really excited me :D
Our Lord is definitely the Prince of Peace and the ultimate Healer and there is still a lot of that needed in this country. I am very looking forward to my first service this Sunday.
Buddhism is the main religion in Sri Lanka, and then Hinduism. Muslims and Christians form a very small minority. The Muslims are also often considered an ethnic group of their own right. Which leaves Buddhism for the Sinhalese and Hinduism for the Tamils. The two warring groups have only ever been united together in peace in Church for many years- I am therefore incredibly excited as I can feel some major stuff is going to happen here.
Praise God! For it certainly was a long time coming :D
PS: At the end of the medical day, I went to a Baptist Church nearby to pray. Something interesting about Churches here- (1) there are incredibly beautiful (the old ones anyway) and there are a surprising number of denomination (2) There are nearly always open- most church have a wing about the size of a Lady's Chapel, which is linked but closed off to the main church and has a separate entrance. It is generally manned by a uniformed security person. It is such a great pleasure to have God' Church always open. I thought that the separate entrance thing was a really great idea- definitely something to keep in mind for the future. (3) The chapel had 3 bibles in the 3 languages which means that people could still hear the same message through the Word- I was really touched the idea of every tongue, every nation, that we are all one in Christ is certainly is highlighted here- not only that but churches here are not 'Tamil' or 'Sinhalese' like they are in the UK- people certainly forced to face their issues .
On a funny note, the sign at the front read-' Come to me....' and as it happened I was definitely heavy laden, and tired- another God joke.
PPS: I went to the Church to meet up with a Christian Law Student from the University. Dr Somasundaram put us in touch. It was great to meet with someone around my age and talk about God stuff. We went to the Focus (Christian organisation) office in Dehiwela- which is were I live. They have tons and tons of Christian books- I was like in a sweet shop. It was great to meet lots of Christians there. They organise lots of Christian Bible Studies and talks- which I've been invited along too :D They told me of a Christian Student Camp as well. However, I decided and I feel correctly that it wasn't right for me to go- but yh, I have my first Christian interactions here in Colombo, and it is only Day 2 :D
God is soo amazing! I'm so pleased every time THE plan becomes clearer.
My only sticking point is that I feel like I have deceived, although not lied, about where I was later in the day, to my relatives. I did not want to answer too many difficult questions, but I feel like bad in my Spirit about it- like you know when you were little and you did something really bad- well anyway- I'm not happy and I'm trying to keep the stress levels off for Sunday- I know I need to make a decision soon about what to tell my aunt and uncle.
Either way the clinic was busy- I saw an actual goitre and lots and lots of signs! Saw a patient with acromegaly- which is dead rare in the UK. A UK consultant I did a specialist module in- told me in his 30 year career he has only every diagnosed 3 cases of this disorder.
However, whilst the incidence is not greater in Sri Lanka- NHSL is a tertiary centre which receives all the specialist cases- who will go on to need treatment (pituitary surgery for most of these patients).
The endocrine room is absolutely tiny compared to what we have in the UK. 1 consultant and 3 registrars in parallel rows each seeing patient- no sense of confidentiality or privacy here. All the patients and all other doctors aside Dr Somasundaram were Sinhalese. I found that challenging.
I discovered I arrived in the middle of the Tamil and Sinhalese New Year. After having left soon after the family celebration in the UK, I was surprised to find that the Buddhist festival lasts absolutely ages. The staff has a celebratory meal which they kindly invited me to.
Despite trying my hardest to keep neutral about the racial issue, it is proving a lot more challenging than I thought. I have very rarely encountered anyone from the Sinhalese community back at home, and everything I have heard from my parents and other members of the Tamil community has been less than positive. I never realised how ingrained those things had become. As a Christian, it is challenging for me especially- however I also realised how difficult it must be for the separate(for they were separate for many years in Sri Lanka). I was pleased to discover via Rev. Ian Blake ( contact back in Thornton Heath- another long story) that actually a lot of the congregration are now deciding of their own will to have united services in both languages. Traditionally the services have always been held at different times (btw that is ludicrously early like 8.30am at least) in the alternate languages. I was surprised to find that a lot of churches here also hold services in English as well as the local languages. Either way, the idea of a united congregration united in Christ, really excited me :D
Our Lord is definitely the Prince of Peace and the ultimate Healer and there is still a lot of that needed in this country. I am very looking forward to my first service this Sunday.
Buddhism is the main religion in Sri Lanka, and then Hinduism. Muslims and Christians form a very small minority. The Muslims are also often considered an ethnic group of their own right. Which leaves Buddhism for the Sinhalese and Hinduism for the Tamils. The two warring groups have only ever been united together in peace in Church for many years- I am therefore incredibly excited as I can feel some major stuff is going to happen here.
Praise God! For it certainly was a long time coming :D
PS: At the end of the medical day, I went to a Baptist Church nearby to pray. Something interesting about Churches here- (1) there are incredibly beautiful (the old ones anyway) and there are a surprising number of denomination (2) There are nearly always open- most church have a wing about the size of a Lady's Chapel, which is linked but closed off to the main church and has a separate entrance. It is generally manned by a uniformed security person. It is such a great pleasure to have God' Church always open. I thought that the separate entrance thing was a really great idea- definitely something to keep in mind for the future. (3) The chapel had 3 bibles in the 3 languages which means that people could still hear the same message through the Word- I was really touched the idea of every tongue, every nation, that we are all one in Christ is certainly is highlighted here- not only that but churches here are not 'Tamil' or 'Sinhalese' like they are in the UK- people certainly forced to face their issues .
On a funny note, the sign at the front read-' Come to me....' and as it happened I was definitely heavy laden, and tired- another God joke.
PPS: I went to the Church to meet up with a Christian Law Student from the University. Dr Somasundaram put us in touch. It was great to meet with someone around my age and talk about God stuff. We went to the Focus (Christian organisation) office in Dehiwela- which is were I live. They have tons and tons of Christian books- I was like in a sweet shop. It was great to meet lots of Christians there. They organise lots of Christian Bible Studies and talks- which I've been invited along too :D They told me of a Christian Student Camp as well. However, I decided and I feel correctly that it wasn't right for me to go- but yh, I have my first Christian interactions here in Colombo, and it is only Day 2 :D
God is soo amazing! I'm so pleased every time THE plan becomes clearer.
My only sticking point is that I feel like I have deceived, although not lied, about where I was later in the day, to my relatives. I did not want to answer too many difficult questions, but I feel like bad in my Spirit about it- like you know when you were little and you did something really bad- well anyway- I'm not happy and I'm trying to keep the stress levels off for Sunday- I know I need to make a decision soon about what to tell my aunt and uncle.
Day 1- Monday @ NHL
I managed to get a lift with my uncle to the hospital today. Ill eventually be travelling on my own, but everyone is very cautious here, as I am female, doesn't know the language and the risk of kidnap- whilst low, is actually still higher than it would be in the UK (especially in broad daylight).
After a long list of precautions, I arrived at the hospital outpatients department. Thankfully Dr Noel Somasundaram- was able to text me ( I receive my first phone yesterday :D God's provision is great, which means I have a local number which is also very cheap for me to do international calls on :D) So anyways, I at least had an idea of where and when to get there.
The outpatient department was funnily enough like I expected exactly. I was very busy and CROWDED! Goodness, patient walking on patient (or near to) in certain areas. The signposts were all over the place, and I eventually found an English speaking doctor who kindly drew me a map- in the maze of numbers and corridors to get to the Endocrine clinic.
I arrived at Dr Somasundaram's office and we spent the majority of the morning just sorting out what I wanted to do during my trip and also arranged for me to contact the right people.
I then went to introduce myself to Dr Ragunathan in the medical ward- where I would be spending the Wednesday mornings. He was about to start a teaching session with the medical students (lucky for me :)!) So I was able to do this, unfortunately it overran and I was not able to attend the guest lecture (would not have had a clue how to get there)
This would be a good place to point out, the hospital is very much spread out- people at UHNS (City General for the non-medics) have nothing to complain about. Walking around here is certainly not fun when you cannot get decent directions(caus apparently my English is confusing- lol) and did I mention the heat(not too bad, but certainly makes you thirsty) and everything is far and not labelled properly- including on my road map.
I finished early thankfully. My uncle works at the Red Cross office- which is near the public library. After a delay, he got me there (I missed it on the way and no one knew where it was (how can they not know????)) Getting into the library was difficult, as I find in Sri Lanka- big backpacks like the ones I am used to carrying around with everything are not popular. In fact big bags are not popular at all. By this I mean, everything always need to be left at the reception downstairs and/or sometimes exchanged with a key and number. The former is obviously not very safe- thankfully I had my little satchel bag, otherwise I'd been carrying my purse, passport and others in my hands everywhere!
I could not get in the library because I was a foreigner and had no card- which surprised me a bit, because here we can just get into a library without a problem. Anyways, we left the nicely air conditioned building to the study hall located nearby. It was up a couple of stairs and the receptionist(think strict headmistress) did not let me take my books, so up I went with A LOT of books upstairs. The rooms had fans(like everywhere pretty much in Sri Lanka) but they are useless compared to AC, especially during a heat wave. So despite my best intentions, I fell asleep for an inordinate amount of time.
Sleeping a lot seem to be a permanent problem- possibly this 'jet-lag' everyone goes on about.
Other random notes to finish off for today:
Never realised the luxury of being able to drink tap water- all water here has to be pre-boiled first, which is an enormous pain- and unfortunately necessary due to the heat and resulting dehydration. Water can be bought- however my travel guide informs me that some of the bottle are 'fake'- in that people have resealed all bottles with tap water and sold them on. Thankfully not been a problem and it will not be.
Either way, everyone here uses notes for everything- which means you take out tons of notes every times you want to buy something ( I still cannot recognize them). Its very embarrassing. Think about being in a poor country buying water only, and having £200 in your hands. Most people can only speak very basic English which is also frustrating.
I'm getting by so far without any Sinhalese- wonder how long that's going to last?
Did I mention that people's driving here is absolutely I-N-S-A-N-E! + No one wears car belts- except the driver in the middle of seriously insane driving. For all the road rage people in England- seriously have nothing to complain about until you come here. I find myself often praying at some point in every car trip.
Despite all the craziness, I'm absolutely love it here so far. It's pretty and I definitely can imagine myself living here one day- the heat doesn't bother me. This is the only thing that bothers me a bit- as I have had thyroid problems before, and now would not be( or perhaps God's playing yet another joke on me) it is the best place in the middle of an Endocrinology placement. Certainly would be easier to get your thyroid levels checked here- and I suspect cheaper too.
After a long list of precautions, I arrived at the hospital outpatients department. Thankfully Dr Noel Somasundaram- was able to text me ( I receive my first phone yesterday :D God's provision is great, which means I have a local number which is also very cheap for me to do international calls on :D) So anyways, I at least had an idea of where and when to get there.
The outpatient department was funnily enough like I expected exactly. I was very busy and CROWDED! Goodness, patient walking on patient (or near to) in certain areas. The signposts were all over the place, and I eventually found an English speaking doctor who kindly drew me a map- in the maze of numbers and corridors to get to the Endocrine clinic.
I arrived at Dr Somasundaram's office and we spent the majority of the morning just sorting out what I wanted to do during my trip and also arranged for me to contact the right people.
I then went to introduce myself to Dr Ragunathan in the medical ward- where I would be spending the Wednesday mornings. He was about to start a teaching session with the medical students (lucky for me :)!) So I was able to do this, unfortunately it overran and I was not able to attend the guest lecture (would not have had a clue how to get there)
This would be a good place to point out, the hospital is very much spread out- people at UHNS (City General for the non-medics) have nothing to complain about. Walking around here is certainly not fun when you cannot get decent directions(caus apparently my English is confusing- lol) and did I mention the heat(not too bad, but certainly makes you thirsty) and everything is far and not labelled properly- including on my road map.
I finished early thankfully. My uncle works at the Red Cross office- which is near the public library. After a delay, he got me there (I missed it on the way and no one knew where it was (how can they not know????)) Getting into the library was difficult, as I find in Sri Lanka- big backpacks like the ones I am used to carrying around with everything are not popular. In fact big bags are not popular at all. By this I mean, everything always need to be left at the reception downstairs and/or sometimes exchanged with a key and number. The former is obviously not very safe- thankfully I had my little satchel bag, otherwise I'd been carrying my purse, passport and others in my hands everywhere!
I could not get in the library because I was a foreigner and had no card- which surprised me a bit, because here we can just get into a library without a problem. Anyways, we left the nicely air conditioned building to the study hall located nearby. It was up a couple of stairs and the receptionist(think strict headmistress) did not let me take my books, so up I went with A LOT of books upstairs. The rooms had fans(like everywhere pretty much in Sri Lanka) but they are useless compared to AC, especially during a heat wave. So despite my best intentions, I fell asleep for an inordinate amount of time.
Sleeping a lot seem to be a permanent problem- possibly this 'jet-lag' everyone goes on about.
Other random notes to finish off for today:
Never realised the luxury of being able to drink tap water- all water here has to be pre-boiled first, which is an enormous pain- and unfortunately necessary due to the heat and resulting dehydration. Water can be bought- however my travel guide informs me that some of the bottle are 'fake'- in that people have resealed all bottles with tap water and sold them on. Thankfully not been a problem and it will not be.
Either way, everyone here uses notes for everything- which means you take out tons of notes every times you want to buy something ( I still cannot recognize them). Its very embarrassing. Think about being in a poor country buying water only, and having £200 in your hands. Most people can only speak very basic English which is also frustrating.
I'm getting by so far without any Sinhalese- wonder how long that's going to last?
Did I mention that people's driving here is absolutely I-N-S-A-N-E! + No one wears car belts- except the driver in the middle of seriously insane driving. For all the road rage people in England- seriously have nothing to complain about until you come here. I find myself often praying at some point in every car trip.
Despite all the craziness, I'm absolutely love it here so far. It's pretty and I definitely can imagine myself living here one day- the heat doesn't bother me. This is the only thing that bothers me a bit- as I have had thyroid problems before, and now would not be( or perhaps God's playing yet another joke on me) it is the best place in the middle of an Endocrinology placement. Certainly would be easier to get your thyroid levels checked here- and I suspect cheaper too.
Pre-travel and Arrival in Sri Lanka
So after a good start before the crazy packing day on Thursday (left Stoke and Friarswood Road at around 2am).
My friends Deborah (GP registrar) has very kindly to agreed to come and give me some last minute things for my elective and then went off home with more than she came back...
Last minute and everything but I realise the day after that I had lost my wallet- which included ALL my debit/credit and other cards- mad rush to try and find, in the midst of shopping for the trip for the first time. My card was eventually found by Debs.
My dad listened in to all our conversations as always but anyhoo- that was a crisis averted -
up to when my mom in the midst of my packing found my debit card statement for my tithing money I gave St George.
So anyhoo, Debs arrived to bring my stuff all the way from Birmingham- the day I was due to go. Hope she had a nice time meeting everyone- even though it was really rushed. It certainly was crazy.
I wont bore you with the flight and so forth but to the important bit: THE ARRIVAL.
Arrived in Sri Lanka with no problems- thank God. I was greeted by my 2nd aunt(really complicated genealogy here) but she is my 'mammy'- the Tamils out there will know what I mean. I am staying with her daughter(+husband, and 2 children).
They were very welcoming. I have my own room upstairs and bathroom. The room is HUGE and there is really good internet access- which I have finally got round to setting up.
The weather is the hottest it has ever been but strangely I rather like it- whilst even the locals are sweltering away.
My first day has been great. Not done much except sleep a lot. Did I mention I arrived with practically no clothes(long story)? - I was too tired to shop locally, but this could be a problem if it is not sorted out soon.
Thankfully, however, my aunt came to my rescue there and took me shopping (the shops here- all of them, close ludicrously late). So I napped till 6pm- and it was already dark outside, but the town (Dehiwela- district outside Colombo). The sizing were all different, and I- a size 12 btw- fit into an XXL- feel kind of offended, not ever been bothered much with clothes however.
Anyhoo by the time we returned home, I was exhausted- and I have an early start tomorrow.
My friends Deborah (GP registrar) has very kindly to agreed to come and give me some last minute things for my elective and then went off home with more than she came back...
Last minute and everything but I realise the day after that I had lost my wallet- which included ALL my debit/credit and other cards- mad rush to try and find, in the midst of shopping for the trip for the first time. My card was eventually found by Debs.
My dad listened in to all our conversations as always but anyhoo- that was a crisis averted -
up to when my mom in the midst of my packing found my debit card statement for my tithing money I gave St George.
So anyhoo, Debs arrived to bring my stuff all the way from Birmingham- the day I was due to go. Hope she had a nice time meeting everyone- even though it was really rushed. It certainly was crazy.
I wont bore you with the flight and so forth but to the important bit: THE ARRIVAL.
Arrived in Sri Lanka with no problems- thank God. I was greeted by my 2nd aunt(really complicated genealogy here) but she is my 'mammy'- the Tamils out there will know what I mean. I am staying with her daughter(+husband, and 2 children).
They were very welcoming. I have my own room upstairs and bathroom. The room is HUGE and there is really good internet access- which I have finally got round to setting up.
The weather is the hottest it has ever been but strangely I rather like it- whilst even the locals are sweltering away.
My first day has been great. Not done much except sleep a lot. Did I mention I arrived with practically no clothes(long story)? - I was too tired to shop locally, but this could be a problem if it is not sorted out soon.
Thankfully, however, my aunt came to my rescue there and took me shopping (the shops here- all of them, close ludicrously late). So I napped till 6pm- and it was already dark outside, but the town (Dehiwela- district outside Colombo). The sizing were all different, and I- a size 12 btw- fit into an XXL- feel kind of offended, not ever been bothered much with clothes however.
Anyhoo by the time we returned home, I was exhausted- and I have an early start tomorrow.
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