...how's everybody doing?
I just unpacked the suitcase where I stash my winter-warmy-goodness. This post therefore has a lovely fleecy lining.
I find myself, somehow, in week 7 of my Public Health degree. What with that, dragging the kiddies through Beauty and the Beast (and other such orchestral classics), Arabic classes (ana George, ana bin Britanya, tasharrafna!), resurrecting SCM Glasgow, and (come to mention it) rocking out in the Regions Portfolio of the SCM General Council, I am quite busy enough to be getting along with, thank-you very much.
Plenty to do therefore, so back to work I go!
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Monday, 10 August 2009
VERY LONG POST ALERT
I write this sitting in a rather pleasant hostel in Budapest. Having spent the best part of 2 hours catching up on a week's worth (244) of blog posts, I decided it was about time I made some dent on the blogosphere again. So. One girl's story of an epic, and convolute, train voyage from Glasgow to Brasov (sadly devoid of pictures until I can work out Blogger in Magyar...)
Day 1 (31/07/08):
A short (4.5h!) and uneventful (I say uneventful, but actually fairly eventful now I come to think about it - not that I plan to tell you what happened mind, just that something did...) jaunt down to London with my motherly person. Chinese food, repacking and a banana loaf baked all for me!
Day 2 (01/08/08):
The journey from Boringville to London is incosequential enough to merit no mention, but seems to have got one anyway. 2 hours on the Eurostar saw me on the continent, and I spent a couple of hours soaking up the evening sun in Brussels, while drinking a beer. Then 3 hours on the DB train to Frankfurt Flugzeug, where I made friends with a woman who was literally moving house by train. I passed the time sitting on one of her many suitcases watching the world go by and chatting away to her in French.
When asked if 6 minutes was enough time to change trains in Frankfurt, the guard said 'Doch, this is Germany'. I made the connection with ease and poise, and was soon in my couchette at Stuttgart station ready to sleep until Budapest. My 8 year-old half-German, half-Hungarian roommate had other ideas however, and woke me at 5.45 to ask if I wanted to play cards with him. His mother fed me coffee and pastries so it turned out to be far from the worst sleeper journey I've experienced.
The two roommates who joined us in Wien were Romanians, heading home to Sibiu - luckily as it turned out - and upon being informed by the mother of the aforementioned 8 y/o that we were taking the same train gave me fruit and water and chatted to me in German until our train arrived.
For a wee while we were sitting in a coach with no AC and 'nam viz' (no water - never has my exceedingly limited Hungarian come in so useful) until the father of a wee German girl I was drawing pictures to colour in discovered that the next coach over was faring far better, so all was well.
All was well that is until nice-Romanian-couple came to find me with an English-speaking compatriot they'd roped in to help to tell me that (I think) the bridge between Brasov and Sibiu had collapsed. At any rate, the train was terminating at Sibiu, and I wouldn't be able to get to Brasov until 0330h. Nice-Romanian-couple were desolated on my behalf and offered me a place to stay.
Still, after a brief panic, I realised that not only do I know Sibiu, I'd also been to Medias (the connecting station) before, and that I really, really wanted to get to workcamp.
Day 3 (02/08/09) :
So...
After a couple of hours to stretch my legs and have a schnapps (Romanian courage) in Sibiu, I found the single creepiest looking train I've ever seen - an ollld CFR train standing in the pitch black.
I climbed (and I mean climbed, anyone's who's got on a CFR train from a no platform station will know what I mean) on board and found a group of old ladies sitting in a carriage. It was at this point that I let loose the full force of my Romanian :
'Salut'
'Buna'
'Medias? (point down at ground so as to indicate 'this train will take me to Medias?')
'Da'
'Multsumesc'
At this point the old ladies held frantic conference, which resulted in another epic exchange :
'Buna'
'Salut'
'Medias?' (point to me so as to indicate 'you are going to Medias?')
'Medias - Brasov' (hand gestures so as to indicate connection
'Brasov?'
'Da'
More old lady conferencing. Old lady number 2 approaches :
'Du (points at me) Brasov?'
'Da' (show her times of connecting trains)
Exclamation in Romanian, which I take to mean 'dear God, young girl wandering the streets of Brasov alone at 0330h in the morning!'
'Da. Friends. Freuden. Amigos.' (smile to indicate the warmth of loving relationship)
'Hmm'
There was no more conversation after that. Old lady number 3, who never spoke, continued to stare at me as though I was possessed by Satan.
When we arrived at Medias, old lady 1 reappeared next to me and held up 4 fingers (platform 4), nodded emphatically and said 'bon voyage!'
Finally at 0430h, when I had despaired of ever, ever arriving in Brasov, I got off the train to hear 'Georrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrge' and before I knew it Lizzie had pretty much demolished me with a hug.
The rest will wait for another time (as I'm sure you're much relieved to hear). There were just some stories here that I didn't want to forget. Sometimes it's more interesting to travel alone.
Day 1 (31/07/08):
A short (4.5h!) and uneventful (I say uneventful, but actually fairly eventful now I come to think about it - not that I plan to tell you what happened mind, just that something did...) jaunt down to London with my motherly person. Chinese food, repacking and a banana loaf baked all for me!
Day 2 (01/08/08):
The journey from Boringville to London is incosequential enough to merit no mention, but seems to have got one anyway. 2 hours on the Eurostar saw me on the continent, and I spent a couple of hours soaking up the evening sun in Brussels, while drinking a beer. Then 3 hours on the DB train to Frankfurt Flugzeug, where I made friends with a woman who was literally moving house by train. I passed the time sitting on one of her many suitcases watching the world go by and chatting away to her in French.
When asked if 6 minutes was enough time to change trains in Frankfurt, the guard said 'Doch, this is Germany'. I made the connection with ease and poise, and was soon in my couchette at Stuttgart station ready to sleep until Budapest. My 8 year-old half-German, half-Hungarian roommate had other ideas however, and woke me at 5.45 to ask if I wanted to play cards with him. His mother fed me coffee and pastries so it turned out to be far from the worst sleeper journey I've experienced.
The two roommates who joined us in Wien were Romanians, heading home to Sibiu - luckily as it turned out - and upon being informed by the mother of the aforementioned 8 y/o that we were taking the same train gave me fruit and water and chatted to me in German until our train arrived.
For a wee while we were sitting in a coach with no AC and 'nam viz' (no water - never has my exceedingly limited Hungarian come in so useful) until the father of a wee German girl I was drawing pictures to colour in discovered that the next coach over was faring far better, so all was well.
All was well that is until nice-Romanian-couple came to find me with an English-speaking compatriot they'd roped in to help to tell me that (I think) the bridge between Brasov and Sibiu had collapsed. At any rate, the train was terminating at Sibiu, and I wouldn't be able to get to Brasov until 0330h. Nice-Romanian-couple were desolated on my behalf and offered me a place to stay.
Still, after a brief panic, I realised that not only do I know Sibiu, I'd also been to Medias (the connecting station) before, and that I really, really wanted to get to workcamp.
Day 3 (02/08/09) :
So...
After a couple of hours to stretch my legs and have a schnapps (Romanian courage) in Sibiu, I found the single creepiest looking train I've ever seen - an ollld CFR train standing in the pitch black.
I climbed (and I mean climbed, anyone's who's got on a CFR train from a no platform station will know what I mean) on board and found a group of old ladies sitting in a carriage. It was at this point that I let loose the full force of my Romanian :
'Salut'
'Buna'
'Medias? (point down at ground so as to indicate 'this train will take me to Medias?')
'Da'
'Multsumesc'
At this point the old ladies held frantic conference, which resulted in another epic exchange :
'Buna'
'Salut'
'Medias?' (point to me so as to indicate 'you are going to Medias?')
'Medias - Brasov' (hand gestures so as to indicate connection
'Brasov?'
'Da'
More old lady conferencing. Old lady number 2 approaches :
'Du (points at me) Brasov?'
'Da' (show her times of connecting trains)
Exclamation in Romanian, which I take to mean 'dear God, young girl wandering the streets of Brasov alone at 0330h in the morning!'
'Da. Friends. Freuden. Amigos.' (smile to indicate the warmth of loving relationship)
'Hmm'
There was no more conversation after that. Old lady number 3, who never spoke, continued to stare at me as though I was possessed by Satan.
When we arrived at Medias, old lady 1 reappeared next to me and held up 4 fingers (platform 4), nodded emphatically and said 'bon voyage!'
Finally at 0430h, when I had despaired of ever, ever arriving in Brasov, I got off the train to hear 'Georrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrge' and before I knew it Lizzie had pretty much demolished me with a hug.
The rest will wait for another time (as I'm sure you're much relieved to hear). There were just some stories here that I didn't want to forget. Sometimes it's more interesting to travel alone.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Other voices...
I've been following the happenings of the CEC assembly via Twitter / the blog, and it stirred up an oft-voiced frustration.
Only the first day of the Assembly and already complaints are being made as to the under-representation of women and young people. As a woman involved in church ‘politics’ (and also studying medicine – still a male-dominated profession) all I can do is roll my eyes and say ‘what’s new?’. Not that anyone would ask my opinion anyway; what can I possibly hope to know about the world at the tender age of 21 (and a half)?
In the planning stages of every church event it is said that 'we really must allow the women and young people to contribute'. Not only a patronising statement, but, inevitably, a futile one. And why? Church hierarchy is necessary (for the sake of argument) to the running of a denomination - and the majority of those in positions of leadership (in most denominations) are men. But these leaders have no more ownership of their tradition than any member of it.
Women and young people shouldn’t only be invited for the sake of balance, out of a sense of duty. We should be welcomed, because we have something to say. We have something to say that you may not like – that doesn’t mean that we should not be allowed to say it. We have brains, faith and life experience just like you.
I for one am tired of having to nag, and shout, and repeat myself until I’m blue in the face to get my voice heard. I am one of the lucky ones though – if I kick up enough of a fuss I can have some small impact. In CEC terms I am one of the lucky ones because English is my mother tongue. On a global scale a university education, internet access (not to mention access to clean water) and the right to vote give me more of a voice than others can even dream of. And with that voice comes responsibility, but that is a sermon for another day...
We – man, woman, rich, poor, old, young, gay, straight, Orthodox, Catholic, shades of Protestant – are called to one hope. We hope, together. We hope in a Saviour who embraced ‘the other’.
I have said this so many times I almost tire of it. But each time I voice this frustration it shakes me out of my own complacency, and reminds me to seek out other voices. It reminds me to listen, really listen, even if I don’t like what I hear.
Only the first day of the Assembly and already complaints are being made as to the under-representation of women and young people. As a woman involved in church ‘politics’ (and also studying medicine – still a male-dominated profession) all I can do is roll my eyes and say ‘what’s new?’. Not that anyone would ask my opinion anyway; what can I possibly hope to know about the world at the tender age of 21 (and a half)?
In the planning stages of every church event it is said that 'we really must allow the women and young people to contribute'. Not only a patronising statement, but, inevitably, a futile one. And why? Church hierarchy is necessary (for the sake of argument) to the running of a denomination - and the majority of those in positions of leadership (in most denominations) are men. But these leaders have no more ownership of their tradition than any member of it.
Women and young people shouldn’t only be invited for the sake of balance, out of a sense of duty. We should be welcomed, because we have something to say. We have something to say that you may not like – that doesn’t mean that we should not be allowed to say it. We have brains, faith and life experience just like you.
I for one am tired of having to nag, and shout, and repeat myself until I’m blue in the face to get my voice heard. I am one of the lucky ones though – if I kick up enough of a fuss I can have some small impact. In CEC terms I am one of the lucky ones because English is my mother tongue. On a global scale a university education, internet access (not to mention access to clean water) and the right to vote give me more of a voice than others can even dream of. And with that voice comes responsibility, but that is a sermon for another day...
We – man, woman, rich, poor, old, young, gay, straight, Orthodox, Catholic, shades of Protestant – are called to one hope. We hope, together. We hope in a Saviour who embraced ‘the other’.
I have said this so many times I almost tire of it. But each time I voice this frustration it shakes me out of my own complacency, and reminds me to seek out other voices. It reminds me to listen, really listen, even if I don’t like what I hear.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
I've had a pretty productive week. Mainly, I learnt to levitate :
Also, but decidedly less importantly, I passed my 3rd year exams and got a place to do a BMedSci in Public Health next year.
To celebrate, I finally got round to de-exam-cluttering my room. 2 hours and 3 bin bags later is ceases to pose any major health hazard.
I am much enjoying the community psychiatry block. I've discovered that my new favourite ward rounds involve getting the patient to come to you, while you sit in an armchair and drink tea. It's been great to gradually feel more and more part of the team, and to be able to contribute in meetings etc. Some heartbreaking stories, some great banter and some moments of absolute hilarity.
I was informed, very indignantly, by 3 separate patients yesterday, that I had a man's name. One of them still hugged me goodbye though!
Very excited for thePROJECT at the weekend - A day for the deliberate exploration of the arts, culture and faith. A comfortable place for insiders, outsiders and maybe especially those at the margins of the church.
Alas Sunday marks the last week that our lovely Shona will be at church, before she leaves to take her awesomeness to her new congregation.
So that's me!
Also, but decidedly less importantly, I passed my 3rd year exams and got a place to do a BMedSci in Public Health next year.To celebrate, I finally got round to de-exam-cluttering my room. 2 hours and 3 bin bags later is ceases to pose any major health hazard.
I am much enjoying the community psychiatry block. I've discovered that my new favourite ward rounds involve getting the patient to come to you, while you sit in an armchair and drink tea. It's been great to gradually feel more and more part of the team, and to be able to contribute in meetings etc. Some heartbreaking stories, some great banter and some moments of absolute hilarity.
I was informed, very indignantly, by 3 separate patients yesterday, that I had a man's name. One of them still hugged me goodbye though!
Very excited for thePROJECT at the weekend - A day for the deliberate exploration of the arts, culture and faith. A comfortable place for insiders, outsiders and maybe especially those at the margins of the church.
Alas Sunday marks the last week that our lovely Shona will be at church, before she leaves to take her awesomeness to her new congregation.
So that's me!
Thursday, 4 June 2009
How to make orange* soup...
*the colour, not the fruit
Vegan friendly =] dedicated to Herb the herbivore to whom I keep promising a soup recipe.
Gather some ingredients. Generally you want a portion of protein, a portion of carbohydrate and a portion or two of fruit/veg for each serving. So for this (4 servings as a main course) I chose 2 cups of red lentils as my protein, 2 cups of brown rice for carbs, 2 peppers for my veg. You also want a large onion. For this recipe I add a tin of tomatoes, a sweet potato, 2 red chillies and a thumb size chunk of ginger. Pink chopping board optional, but awesome.
Find a decent sized pan, preferrably quite a heavy one with a nice thick base. (Then figure out how to get the damn thing out the cupboard).
Roughly chop the onion, top/tail and de-seed the chillies and chop them into tiny pieces, peel and chop the ginger into tiny pieces.
Put a large dollop of oil in the pan and put it on the heat. Wash your hands thoroughly, with washing up liquid - you don't want chilli juice in your eyes, trust me. Fill the kettle and put it on to boil.
Fry the onion, chilli and ginger.
Peel the sweet potato (you can use a regular potato peeler) and chop it roughly into thumb-size pieces. Chop the peppers - don't worry about being neat, it's all going to be blended anyway...
Whack it all in the pan and give it a stir.
At this point you want to check you remembered to boil the kettle.
Then chuck in your lentils and rice. Keep stirring it so it doesn't burn to the pan.
Yes, that is a Jack Daniels whisky glass.
Add the tomatoes and 3 cups of boiling water. Stir it all together.
Let it all come to the boil (big, slow bubbles) then pop a lid on it and leave it for about 1/2 hour. Keep an eye on it and give it a wee stir once in a while.
If it's boiling over, take the lid off. If things are sticking to the bottom, add some more water.
Once it's done, take it off the heat, add a couple more cups of water and blend to the consistency of your choice.
Once it's blended you can keep it in the fridge for a good few days, or freeze it (best to split it into individual portions to make defrosting easier...)
When you're re-heating you can add some other veggie goodness to change it up a little. Today I put in a handful of frozen peas, but sweetcorn or spinach would work well also.
Eat with yummy bread...
Omnomnom...
Vegan friendly =] dedicated to Herb the herbivore to whom I keep promising a soup recipe.
Gather some ingredients. Generally you want a portion of protein, a portion of carbohydrate and a portion or two of fruit/veg for each serving. So for this (4 servings as a main course) I chose 2 cups of red lentils as my protein, 2 cups of brown rice for carbs, 2 peppers for my veg. You also want a large onion. For this recipe I add a tin of tomatoes, a sweet potato, 2 red chillies and a thumb size chunk of ginger. Pink chopping board optional, but awesome.
Find a decent sized pan, preferrably quite a heavy one with a nice thick base. (Then figure out how to get the damn thing out the cupboard).
Roughly chop the onion, top/tail and de-seed the chillies and chop them into tiny pieces, peel and chop the ginger into tiny pieces.
Put a large dollop of oil in the pan and put it on the heat. Wash your hands thoroughly, with washing up liquid - you don't want chilli juice in your eyes, trust me. Fill the kettle and put it on to boil.
Fry the onion, chilli and ginger.
Peel the sweet potato (you can use a regular potato peeler) and chop it roughly into thumb-size pieces. Chop the peppers - don't worry about being neat, it's all going to be blended anyway...
Whack it all in the pan and give it a stir.
At this point you want to check you remembered to boil the kettle.Then chuck in your lentils and rice. Keep stirring it so it doesn't burn to the pan.
Yes, that is a Jack Daniels whisky glass.
Let it all come to the boil (big, slow bubbles) then pop a lid on it and leave it for about 1/2 hour. Keep an eye on it and give it a wee stir once in a while.If it's boiling over, take the lid off. If things are sticking to the bottom, add some more water.
Once it's done, take it off the heat, add a couple more cups of water and blend to the consistency of your choice.
Once it's blended you can keep it in the fridge for a good few days, or freeze it (best to split it into individual portions to make defrosting easier...)
When you're re-heating you can add some other veggie goodness to change it up a little. Today I put in a handful of frozen peas, but sweetcorn or spinach would work well also.
Eat with yummy bread...
Omnomnom...I'm back...
So, nearly 2 weeks after exams finished, what on earth have I been up to? Bullet points methinks...
-Firstly, during exams I managed to (in no particular order) pull the ear off the auroscope dummy, hit myself in the nose with my tendon hammer and introduce myself variously as a first year, a second year and errrr... one of the GPs here, I think. I also spectacularly failed to find a lump in the most ridiculous plastic-breast-things I've ever seen.
-Also, you know you're a medic when... the last line in your exam paper is the patient died. You know you're a Glasgow medic when... the last line is the patient died at home surrounded by friends and family who had been appropriately counselled.
-Saw In the Loop. Amazing. Best film ever. Learnt some wonderful new insults which I have struggled to avoid using in relation to a certain former minister of mine.
-Enjoyed the shortest post-exam holiday of all time (a leisurely three days), of which a good portion was spent studying.
-Started my next module, community psychiatry. Soundtrack in the car has been somewhat interesting (spotify 'whalefish' by mr scruff for illustration). I am forcefed tea on an approximately hourly basis and spend a couple of soul destroying hours every day reading through the world's longest patient file. Learning a lot, especially about schizophrenia, and looking forward joining in with art therapy on Friday.
-Eating lots of ice cream. Well ice pseudo-cream. Realised how much I love living in the city when I was able to buy vegan ice cream when the fancy took me at quarter to midnight one evening.
-Still entirely in love with St Mary's (or should I say the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin?). There is so much love I don't even know where to start, so instead I shall tell you that if you ever visit you should look out for the rocket painted on the ceiling.
-Myself and Holly (with regular guest appearances by Beth, Coralie and Emma) have perfected evensongchipsday. It is a thing wonderful in its simplicity. First there is evensong, then there are chips. Sometimes pakora. Then there is Desperate Housewives (although, the season finale aired last week...*sob*).
-The first barbeque of the season was rained inside, but was awesome nonetheless. Then there was Emma's wonderfully sunny birthday barbeque.
All-in-all a rather spiffy couple of weeks. I have however failed in a most epic manner to return my room to something approaching tidy. I should get on that...
-Firstly, during exams I managed to (in no particular order) pull the ear off the auroscope dummy, hit myself in the nose with my tendon hammer and introduce myself variously as a first year, a second year and errrr... one of the GPs here, I think. I also spectacularly failed to find a lump in the most ridiculous plastic-breast-things I've ever seen.
-Also, you know you're a medic when... the last line in your exam paper is the patient died. You know you're a Glasgow medic when... the last line is the patient died at home surrounded by friends and family who had been appropriately counselled.
-Saw In the Loop. Amazing. Best film ever. Learnt some wonderful new insults which I have struggled to avoid using in relation to a certain former minister of mine.
-Enjoyed the shortest post-exam holiday of all time (a leisurely three days), of which a good portion was spent studying.
-Started my next module, community psychiatry. Soundtrack in the car has been somewhat interesting (spotify 'whalefish' by mr scruff for illustration). I am forcefed tea on an approximately hourly basis and spend a couple of soul destroying hours every day reading through the world's longest patient file. Learning a lot, especially about schizophrenia, and looking forward joining in with art therapy on Friday.
-Eating lots of ice cream. Well ice pseudo-cream. Realised how much I love living in the city when I was able to buy vegan ice cream when the fancy took me at quarter to midnight one evening.
-Still entirely in love with St Mary's (or should I say the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin?). There is so much love I don't even know where to start, so instead I shall tell you that if you ever visit you should look out for the rocket painted on the ceiling.
-Myself and Holly (with regular guest appearances by Beth, Coralie and Emma) have perfected evensongchipsday. It is a thing wonderful in its simplicity. First there is evensong, then there are chips. Sometimes pakora. Then there is Desperate Housewives (although, the season finale aired last week...*sob*).
-The first barbeque of the season was rained inside, but was awesome nonetheless. Then there was Emma's wonderfully sunny birthday barbeque.
All-in-all a rather spiffy couple of weeks. I have however failed in a most epic manner to return my room to something approaching tidy. I should get on that...
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Winter photos that make me smile...
Lutzi at my birthday
Stevo bashing out some carols
Dad and Marcus taking a break from carol singing
Emma chilling out in the awesome chair
Emma and Holly with post-yogi chai smiles
Cat the cookie monster
Hannah the fencing queen
Andy - high five!
And finally George being a tad emo...
Stevo bashing out some carols
Dad and Marcus taking a break from carol singing
Emma chilling out in the awesome chair
Emma and Holly with post-yogi chai smiles
Cat the cookie monster
Hannah the fencing queen
Andy - high five!
And finally George being a tad emo...
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