Karnevalzeit - Time for Carneval!

Finally getting round to a new post! It's been a busy few months. From November to February I have been working on 'die Notaufnahme', the emergency department for internal medicine - a busy, challenging and learning-rich experience. My last shift was particularly memorable, with the first festivities of Karneval beginning that day. Imagine a drunken warzone with clowns. Shortly after being greeted by a nurse in an orange wig, I began to take a history from a Sumo wrestler. A further 15 minutes was then spent trying to persuade an argumentative Cowboy to give a urine sample for toxicological screening. Highlight of the shift however was when a patient asked me to pray with her. She'd overheard me talking the night before to another patient that I knew from my church. She said that she also trusted in Jesus but was scared about what lay ahead. It was an immensely moving experience and dare I say it provided more peace and reassurance to the patient that the senior ward round that morning.

I'm now preparing to head back to the UK. From April I will be working in internal medicine again in lovely Preston. However, before I head back to the UK, there's just about time for a trip with my friend Dilu to Mainz for Karneval (see photos). 40 days to Easter!