Signing off....

As promised a while ago, it's now time for this series of disconnected ramblings to finally fizzle out, at least for the time being. 

I left Indonesia on Friday 11th June (after five days in a row of hospital visits) and flew to London where I was met at the airport on Saturday afternoon by my good friends Michael, Jane and Sarah who took me directly to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead for yet another session of doctoring. This was (by a long way) the longest wait and the least impressive encounter of the three doctors I had been under the care of that week. I decided then and there to cut short my stay in London and get home to Ireland on the Monday for some expert care. Saturday night was an opportunity to meet some more London based friends over a very un-Indonesian meal HERE and Sunday was spent relaxing, drinking wine and catching up...

On Monday, I took the boat and train from London to Dublin where I was reunited with my car and my nephews (but not in that order) and on Tuesday I visited one of my former customers, Dr. Mary Paula Colgan, in St. James's Hospital, Dublin for some expert attention. Now, two weeks and a number of dressing changes later, I am delighted that the "hole" in my leg has finally almost healed and that the lab results and X-ray results showed that there is no infection and no foreign body in the wound. 

While being rather preoccupied with all that, I have also had great fun catching up with friends and family and getting back into sailing in my club. VSO have maintained their excellent support by sending a "welcome home" pack with lots of useful information about settling back in, including information about registering with the Department of Social Welfare, joining Comhlámh, dealing with Reverse Culture Shock (some good information HERE if you want to read more) as well as some VSO paperwork.

 On that subject, it is certainly more than a little strange being back. In some ways, it's like coming back after a holiday in that many things are more or less the same. However, I keep seeing things that have changed while I've been away - the motorway network in Ireland is one of them ! One thing that I have really enjoyed since I arrivd home has been the weather : it has been warm (well, warm for Ireland anyway) and sunny continuously since I got back, a pleasant change from the relentless heat of Maumere ! I've also had lots of contact with friends from Maumere via SMS (I've discovered that you can now send free international texts using Vodafone's webtext service), email and Facebook, plus a couple of phone calls (thanks to Skype). These continuing contacts have really brought home to me just how many friends I made while I was away and, even in a relatively short time, how close some of these friendships are. (They have also made me realise that my Bahasa Indonesia is going to disappear very quickly if I don't keep using it !)

Looking back on the time I spent away I can say that, while I didn't necessarily enjoy every minute of it, it was an experience that I will value for the rest of my life. The contributions that I made while I was in Flores may have been small and insignificant when viewed in the context of a Western organisation but I am confident that some of them will have a lasting effect. On the personal front, rising to the challenge of living in a completely different culture and learning a completely new language at my advanced age were achievements that I am proud of, and I am certainly looking forward to going back to Indonesia at some point in the future.

The sales pitch : to anyone who ends up in a situation where you have to ask yourself "what am I going to do now ?", I would seriously encourage you to consider volunteering. In the past, most of us have probably thought that this was for doctors, nurses and teachers but a quick look at VSO's website will show you that there are almost endless opportunities for the right person. What is most important is probably not your formal qualifications but your experience, your attitude and your flexibility ! 

Finally, I'd like to thank the loyal band of readers who have had their inboxes invaded by my ramblings over the last year and a half. This blog has had about 15,000 hits from far more countries than I would ever have imagined and the comments and feedback has been most encouraging - thanks to everyone who chipped in ! 

So, that's it - thanks for reading ! Terima kasih banyak !!