getting use to having a lunch hour, yippee!

I can't remember the last time I had a lunch hour, it's a lovely change after years of working an 11 hour day with no break, eating my sandwich on the go at my desk, and now we all have lunch together. We usually head to the stalls outside the office, the staple is sticky rice, i go for tofu and veggie dishes and we all come back and share, a favourite is meekong snails but i had to pass on those, not very adventurous! instead I ensure we all getting plenty of fruit for afters, now that I've been here for a few weeks the price is going down, a bargain at around 15,000 kip. Just noticed me on the picture, I am a giant in Laos, no wonder the child at the fruit truck was hiding behind his mum!

friday night, after work drinks

at the end of the week we all head off for a few beerlaos on ice! very handy for washing down the local cuisine, this weeks treat was duck prepared 10 ways including duck gizard in raw duck's blood, squares of duck blood cooked in broth, side snacks of duck feet and duck's head. I'm reverting to vegetarianism,  loving the beerlao

ex-pats

the ex-pats are a great bunch, they're very supportive, it's a small town so people knew that a new boy had arrived - have been invited to parties, dinner, drinks, went over to wendy's for a curry night, she's a great cook, has a stunning view from her veranda and shared all her tips for finding wine, cheese and snacks, now all i need is a branch of rococo! It's diverse bunch, all ages and backgrounds, mostly working for NGOs, I'm really impressed by people's passion and altruism in wanting to help the people of Laos and it's also been interesting listening to some of the frustrations faced on a day to day basis.

big belly

back at villa ban lakkham, great to see them all, they feel so comfortable with me they are happy to point at my belly and say "bigger", Gordon Bennet !!!! cheeky but true so went for a run today, it's 40'C and sweaty betty humidity, the belly has got to go .... love the view from my window

Lao Friends Hospital for Children

Currently a building site, due to open in February 2015, loving the view from my future office, until then it's classroom teaching, but today I was asked to see a 7 month old at the Provincial Hospital, she had a heart murmur and the Laos doctors wanted me to suggest a treatment plan! She might need to be flown to our sister hospital in Angkor for surgery

new colleagues

they're a happy bunch, very welcoming, we share lunch and they sort out everything; new mobile phone, post office deliveries, translation, snacks, lifts on the back of their motorbikes, IT - everything a boy needs

a new epoc

As I head to Luang Prabang to work with Friends Without A Border my overwhelming feelings are of excitement and it being the right thing to do. People have said I'm brave, maybe I'm naive but I don't feel brave, I feel fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to do something worthwhile.

I will miss things, mostly my pals, friends are very important to me and I have wonderful friends who I admire and love, but the world is a small place now and if I get my head around technology you won't be able to escape!  and when you visit please bring chocolate and Neil's Yard! I have left  a fabulous lifestyle working 3 days a week with heaps of time for friends, godchildren, yoga, holidays, London's culture, cooking and vino collapso! After eight years in a practice you build up so much trust with loyal patients, it gets easier and more fun, I didn't realise quite how much loyalty and trust until I left, the last couple of months I've been hugging patients and getting tearful when they have thanked me for being kind and compassionate or saying I had become a friend as well as their doctor.

Life is short, I loved having six months away last year, I was so happy getting to know the Burmese at Maela Refugee camp and the novice monks in Luang Prabang. The people of Laos are gentle and generous and the culture is geared around the community, sharing and looking after each other, living day to day calmly and gracefully. I want to experience more of that and  at the same time share my experience of teaching, doctoring and dentisting. Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world and there is little healthcare so I think even small changes will make a big difference. It's great to be able to get involved with a project building and equipping a hospital in Luang Prabang and developing outreach clinics to improve healthcare and to teach Laotian doctors the values of quality improvement in patient care and life long learning.

It was incredibly romantic arriving yesterday in the late afternoon sunlight on a propeller plane descending into the valley of limestone mountains carved by the Meekong and to be met by a familiar face in a red tuktuk, I just smiled broadly and thought yippeeee.