Wagga Wagga

The whole building stank from the fish some guy decided to cook tonight, so I had to escape to the library. Its quite useful to have after-hours access to the library it turns out, and not just for study. The nights are far too cold in Wagga Wagga to go anywhere outside. So, when someone cooks something that has a disgusting, penetrating smell, one has two options- go to the library or go inside the hospital. The hospital has its own assortment of olfactory delights in store for the unwary wanderer, in fact, to get from the dorm to the library requires one to pass through the hospital kitchen area....

I've only been in Wagga for one week in my six week attachment, but it already feels as if I'm completely out of touch with the outside world. Kind of like when I was staying at NIMHANS in Bangalore, except that then I could go to my aunt's place on weekends. But despite being isolated and sequestered in what seems like the middle of nowhere, I've had a pretty good time here. The hospital is quite decent considering its isolation and lack of senior staff. Sure it could use some touching-up but all the equipment is up-to-date and things seem to work quite well here. The teaching is also quite good considering the lack of teaching resources and personnel.

Around Wagga, there isnt much to do!! I walked down to the river which is quite muddy and hardly flows even though the grass fields and forests at the banks of the Murrumbidgee are quiet and peaceful. The botanical gardens, in the middle of a residential area, are also very peaceful, if a little featureless. The other major "attraction" in Wagga is Lake Albert, which I hear is basically dry, I havent as yet visited. I'm planning to ride there on the bicycle that the clinical school has generously lent me for my stay here.

The advantage of rural towns is that hospitals often (not always), are situated near the town centre. So all the shops in Wagga are easily accessible to me by walk or bike if I need. This is very convenient as I can quickly duck down to the shops whenever I need something. Some of my friends had a tough time when they went to Broken Hill and had to walk over 30 minutes to the nearest shop for basic supplies. In Grafton, the hospital is right opposite a maximum security prison, so obviously you've got to walk a fair way before there'll be any shops. So thats been pretty good I suppose.

But the best thing about Wagga is probably that because there is nothing to do, I've been doing a lot of studying. This is very useful with final exams coming up in October. I've studied, in the last week, as much as I studied in the whole year before I came to Wagga. So hopefully by the time I'm back in Sydney, I'll be ready at least in terms of theory, for the big exams...