Laundry, Pharmacy and Movie night

Today we started going round to a few departments that we hadn't visited yet. First of all Ann, Femke and I went to the pharmacy. That was good, nice and relaxing. We just sit in a room and count out pills to put in bags and label them. I can imagine that as a task that is good for relaxing and switching off a bit. Then we went down to the Laundry...the guy there is all alone and as I'm sure you can imagine has MASSES of laundry to do. We spent an hour of two helping him sort out some piles and fold them. He was a really nice guy too. But a lot of the laundry was quite dirty even after it was washed, but I think they use pretty powerful chemicals to kill anything dodgy. But still, its not nice to handle so I can't imagine what it must be like to lie on it, but the place couldn't possibly afford to replace everything that gets badly soiled.
After the Laundry we were taken on a tour by one of the nurses to try and give us more of an idea about what to do in the mornings with feeding, washing and changing beds. I'm a bit nervous about doing that, just because its quite hands on and it could very easily go very very wrong but there is strikes next week. Vincent says that 85% of the staff won't be in, so we'll have to make the food, serve the food, clear the food away, get the patients up, clean them, change them, change the beds, possibly even give out the medication. I'm really worried about that. The other girls are med students so they are quite up for that, but I'm expecting to feel like a fish out of water.
Anyway, we also went to the church today. It was amazing. It was a womens session, so men were there but some of the women would get up and share their stories and then singing would follow each story. When they sang they all got up and danced and waved their arms and clapped. I didn't understand a word (it was all in Zulu) but I could tell how moving it was. Some people would start crying. The music was absolutely beautiful and you didn't have to be religious or speak Zulu to be very moved.
We also had our first movie night, it went quite well. I spent a lot of time with Thandie and she translated the film for me. I get on with her really well and I think shes quite keen on teaching me some Zulu. I have a rubbish memory though, so I hope she's not too disappointed! I think she likes me though, she always asks me to come back to see her. So hopefully thats at least one patient who I'll bond with!
We've got a long day tomorrow. We're going for a trial run in the wards tomorrow morning so we have to be up and ready for 7:30am! Then we're getting picked up and going on a safari to Hluhluwe (pronounced shushshluie). It takes three days, so I might not be able to write for a while. Speak later!   

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