Ok so today was meant to be my first day of global elective clinical placement - instead it's been spent in the internet cafe celebrating National Unity Day which was actually yesterday but since it was a Sunday, the public holiday is today. We all got geared up, stethoscopes and lanyards and all - made the call then Winnie said something like "Umm actually we have a public holiday today so no need to come - I will see you same time tomorrow?" Well couldn't she have told us earlier? - then I could have an extra hour or two sleep!. Ah well - I'm not complaining about another free day off to do nothing but chillax!

Sundays in Vila are pretty much dead. I realised as we were walking about that this is probably the day the families get together - head down to the beach and swim. They all kinda congregated round the waterfront and were just sitting there enjoying each other's company. Pretty cool. I must say all the kids are very well trained in the water from a v. young age and are all pretty toned LOL. Yes, tis true. Y'day night we made risotto - fairly yummy but could have cooked it a tad longer. (Thanks mum).

Other random tidbits: every-freaking-person minus a few says HELLO and smiles - it is really quite uplifting - can only imagine if people did this in Melbourne, we'd be getting weird stares. At first, I perhaps felt a bit uncomfortable but now I know it's just part of their culture and they mean it in a good way. Bus drivers, since there are no real designated stops, sometimes slow down for you and ask if you want to get on. Taxis do the same, but charge more. The weather has been partly cloudy these days with breaks of full sunlight which is very intense - I feel like I'm back home in Malaysia! Which is good 'cos I'm, in a way, used to the weather. So far my mosquito bite count is a TWO - fairly minimal so I'm happy :) One was on my chin which was gross but there's nothing there now and the one under my knee wasn't even that itchy =o Interesting...

Night times are probably the worst in terms of being homesick. Thank goodness for the double bed! Been sleeping pretty early basically cos there's nothing on TV and bit tired to go out at night so far...we have this one TV channel - CCTV - the Chinese channel yeah Li? - and we have like ONE newsreader all the time - Li Dong Wing Wang or something..I am going to take a photo of her cos she is like there 24/7. Good worker. Miss all my besties and friends! CANNOT wait till SaraLee join meeeeeeee