Where is that little Ameriki nurse? She come....help me!

I have now been working on my own in MICU-C!  It is a LOT less stressful than the ICU at CCMH!  It can get very busy though. 

Ameriki is the Arab word for American.  King Faisal Hospital is a teaching hospital and the goal is to train Arab nurses and doctors so that soon they will be able to run it themselves.  The doctors I work with and many of the residents have trained in America.  I am so proud of my country when they tell me that in America where they trained they were treated so kindly and that everyone was willing to help them get the education they were there for!  They are fascinated that I am American.   They have missed the US nurses coming to work at King Faisal because after 9/11 they stopped coming.  Dr. Al Tarifi and Dr. Al Kheralla are two of my favorite doctors to work with.  They are both intensivists who work in the unit and they are also responsible for the training of the residents when they do their critical care rotation.  Dr. Al Tarifi is the one who started the phrase "Where is that little Ameriki nurse?  She come....help me."  He knows I do things to help the residents prepare for their rounds so they do not wast his time. ( I also do it because they are messy and make a wreck of my work space ;) )  I work with a lot of good people here and though I miss my co-workers back home I have made many good friends here as well.

I am keeping busy.  One of the things we were warned about was isolating ourselves if we become overwhelmed by all the life changes we made in coming here.  I pretty much do as I did back home.  When I want to be out and with people I go out.  If I need a quiet, be alone, gather myself, take care of Christine day I do it.  There are tons of new things to try here!  Gaelic football is a blast though very rough!!  Gabriella had her hands around Stella's neck and swears she was just trying to hold her up (Stella had another idea...).  There are no belly dance classes that I could find but there is a hip hop dance class that I enjoy on Saturday nights.  It is a two hour workout and boy do we sweat!  I have organized a reading group (for a quieter more cerebral activity) and we enjoy getting together and visiting.  I do not think the Embassy activities are going to be my thing...stuffy formal affars.  I did join the Riyadh Caledonian Society because they have lots of nice cultural activities and do a lot of charitable work.  Looking forward to the Robert Burns night in January.

I LOVE going out to eat!  Have been to some great Lebanese and Turkish restaurants!  The joke about Saudi Arabian food is:  kebsa=Saudi food.  Saturday, Monday and Wednesday it is chicken and rice.  Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday it is beef and rice.  Friday it is leftovers....and rice.  I do enjoy eating Saudi style which is with your hands (no utensils) and sitting on cushions.  For all of the eating I have lost another 10 pounds since I have been here...all the exercise I guess from having to walk everywhere I go!  It is almost a mile walk to work and a mile back so that is two miles just getting to and from work...and I enjoy it!!  That walk home in the evening is a nice decompression time from a busy day.

I have one more class and then  "halas" I am finished.  I looked at my next schedule and it looks very nice.  The trip to Egypt for Michelle's and my birthday is setting up nicely and I have the time off.  One of the doctors is Egyptian and has been telling me about all of the great places to go.  I work with a lot of Lebanese so I am looking forward to a trip to Beruit, Lebanon , with my Lebanese friends!  So many things to see and do!  So many places to go!!  Can I do it all?  Probably not but I will as much as I can!!

Christine xx