Long time, no blog entry.

The title basically speaks its own language, dunnit?

A friend of mine (whose identity will remain unknown) coined that as "blogstipation", and she couldn't be more correct! Yes, I hereby declare I am suffering from a bad cause of blogstipation.

Have gotten home from a visit at a friend of mine's and though it was only what, 2 and-a-half hours, it was really nice to see her again. She'd been in Thailand where she joined a Christian outreach program. Seeing pictures from that trip made me miss the Philz, as the scenery around bore a striking resemblance to the area from where my Mom's from... I MISS MY CLAN!!! I WANNA GO BACK!!! :-D

Anyway, what's so nice about her (Kim, her name is) is that she's such a fervent believer in the word of God and His power. That's what I truly admire in her, as with the rest of my Christian friends. There are times like this where I feel thankful for having such great friends as I have, not only for those who are believers, but also the non-believers. Wasn't that nicely put? :-P

Another batch of friends have come home for this summer! Yeey! *Doing a little happy dance* Anni's back from Finland to work at an old people's home in Stavanger; Liz is back from Spain and Siri's back from Scotland! Weeheey! *Happy dance #2* We' got together last weekend just to catch up and I must admit it was really fun seeing all of us toghether again! That which was perhaps a small downer to the whole meeting was the choice of location (Kvadrat). As Siri isn't exactly what one would call a shopoholic (elementary, my dear cyberpals), I believe she might have found it ever so slightly dull... Ehrm... I should perhaps have considered another location instead... Ah well, never mind. It was fun seeing all of them again! Gotta love those gals! :-D

To change the subject completely, as of now I've completed my five weeks at work at the Sterilization Unit at Stavanger University Hospital. I've got to admit, despite all the gossip from the - ehrm -middle-aged ladies working there, it really is a nice place to experience the dynamics of the hospital and get a feel of the routine there. Besides, you learn one heck of a lot about the instruments used in various types of operations. Really, really interesting.

One of the slightly more depressing aspects of working there is experiencing when an operation does not go quite as planned and the patient ultimately dies. That was what had happened a while ago when a dreadful motorcycle accident involving two people in their 50s had just come into our attention. Apparently the motorcycle had collided with one car (or possibly two; the exact number hadn't been clarified properly) and the male motorcycle driver (I think; don't quote me on that...) died on the spot. The passengers - I believe it was a female - was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state. The doctors tried desperately to save her, but she didn't survive. One of my colleagues went upstairs to the operating room to check on the washers, and she later related that the hallway was quiet. The doctors and nurses hung their heads and the atmosphere was depressing indeed. This, of course, spread out to the rest of us downstairs. The rest of the day the mournful atmosphere engulfed all of us, yet, as cynical and inconsiderate it seemed, we had to continue working. I didn't feel like working at all, yet we were all obligated.

Though it was an incident I'd rather not experience, it was a small "blast to reality" as well. I experienced first-hand one of those rare moments when a doctor - after having done everything in his power to save someone - just can't save his/her life. Doctors aren't invincible. Doctors can't play God. This was a stark reminder of just that.

Just thought I'd share that experience with you all.

Elise