The Malta Experience

Hello Estonia!

Because it is 23.45 here in Malta, Im posting this still in the month of May. The final countdown in Malta has started and I have 29 days left here on this big "Rock". My placements in Mater Dei Hospital will be over in two weeks and one day.Right now Im in CT and I really like it. Everybody is so friendly and they were so welcoming from the first day. In one way its good that Im nearing the end of my placements, but in the other way I would like to stay here longer.

2 slice CT and 16 slice CT

Mataer Dei Hospital

But after the placements I have walked a little around the Island and took some pictures.

Sunrise morning in Marsaskala

Sunrise morning

Vegetable and fruit truck in Marsaskala. These trucks are very common to Malta, there are a lot of these fruit cars

Fishy Fishy

Snail Cactus 

Maltese salt 

Maltese old bus. This kind of buses were driving around Malta two years ago.

Manoel Island.

Good night and see you in June!

Kristjan Noormets

RT2

Busy times

Erasmus news from Portugal

 Erasmus students in Lisbon are really busy at the moment. Right now at least we can not complain about the weather because it is sunny and warm. 

But I must say that Erasmus does not mean only parties, travelling, new friends and sightseeing. We have  lot of work to do, at the moment I took a break and thought I should write about the schoolwork. In our physiotherapy course we have to compose two case studies of different fields of PT, but since we have to present something to Estonia also and there we have three different internships this year, then we do three case reports. Our reports are not just anamnesis and assessment of patients, they mean thorough research of the diagnosis, assessment  and reassessment, therapy program, discussion and so on.

In addition we have to put together a final report portfolio which contains  introduction (goals of therapy etc), characterization of the institution where took place the first module and the second module, diary of all the work done by the student during internship, records of assessments done... 

More, on 6th of June we have a presentation to all of physiotherapy teachers and collegues, there we have to present one of our patients, describe the treatment and other physiotherapy options , we have to justify why did we choose this kind of therapy for the diagnose and not some other and so on. 

Yes, Erasmus does not mean only fun fun and fun, it also means hard work, but I like what I do and I enjoy learning more and more about physiotherapy so I am not complaining. 

To show how beautiful is the surrounding of Lisbon, I'll add some pictures of Joa Pedro and Estoril. :)

Yes, we have time for the beach, for the tourism... but always lack of time for schoolwork :D !

Liina
FT

From Italy with love

It’s hard to believe I only have a month left to be an Erasmus student. Like they say: time goes fast when you are having good time.  It definitely has gone quickly and it definitely has been fun exploring Italy! I live in Rimini, which is an average size town with a long sandy beach. This makes it a desirable holiday destination for many Russian tourists as well for Italians themselves.  Besides being a well-known seaside resort, Rimini has one of the largest hospitals in the region.  The name of the hospital is Ospedale Infermi and this is where I spend most of my days.   

The endless sandy beach of Rimini

For the first two months I had to wake up very (very) early. It seemed like the only people up at that ungodly hour were the men who put up posters, garbage men …and me.  Thankfully this changed with the last week and the garbage men won’t see my pillow-shaped sleepy face hurrying down the empty streets no more.   Two weeks ago I also finally got the light blue uniform of a nursing student. Before that, because of a misunderstanding in the clothes storage, I was wearing a white coat meant for doctors.  Explaining (in a language I don’t speak) that I’m a student nurse while wearing a doctors’ coat did seem to puzzle some patients now and then.

Ospedale Infermi

There are quite many things I've seen in the hospital that have made me raise my eyebrows out of surprise. But there is only one thing has kept me wondering for days in continue.  Every nurse knows those spleen shaped cardboard bowls used for carrying things or for the patient to vomit in (depending on the situation).  Well, in my hospital they have a machine to wash(!) these bowls (plus other things made of cardboard). –I do approve the green thinking, but washing paper is something that just doesn't seem to fit in my little head.

 The paper washing machine that I think is using black magic...it must!

With no doubt I can say that Italy is one of a kind!  - For one thing, I couldn't imagine any Estonian doctor to slap my ass and say “Don’t worry!” when misunderstanding the patient’s wish - I thought she wanted to drink, when she really wanted her prosthetic leg…  

For now: Ciao tutti!

Aili

Madrid, Spain.. well, actually Lisbon & Montijo in Portugal ! :)

Ola !

How is life treating you, my dears? I cannot complain: nice weather, very beautiful environment and even more awesome people surrounding me. Just to explain what is up then I participated in a project in Portugal.. yep, took a vacation from my practical training. So what happened in Portugal? Let's start from the beginning. Though my flight got cancelled and I had to wait for the new one for like seven hours..

then I made it there with my luggage.. really nice change. ;) To specify then my last project in Poland took place without my luggage.. try to manage with one pair of socks and underwear and stuff. :P

But what can you see in Lisbon? Let's check out the view first from the ground..

..and from somewhere higher.

As you can kind'a see, they have really nice streets with palm trees..

..and orange trees. :)

And interesting people doing things..

Mmm, they have the best dessert in Portugal. It is called pasteis de nata and oh dear god it is delicious! I know it does not really look like that but if you taste it, it is like.. I will try to make them once I get back home! :D

Oh, the project took place in Montijo..

..which is connected to Lisbon..

..with the biggest bridge in Europe.

So, what was going on during this week in Montijo. All together there were 25 people from eight different countries. The coolest ones were from Poland. I start to wonder what is up with me and Poland.. Anyways, besides learning about employment, volunteering and entrepreneurship we also had a secret friend mission (you have a person to whom you have to be really-really nice to without him/her knowing that it is you). And you can believe my happiness when I got "stuck" with Peter from Poland.. Like a dream guy.. From Poland and named Peter.. The last thing I gave to him was a cactus, which according to him is with him and okay though I still highly doubt it.

And there was also this superawesome Polish girl. I think it is so much easier to be a girl from Poland rather than a girl from Estonia. Why do I think that? Well, I went to the bar to ask for some ice and while the bartender was filling up my glass with ice I saw some weird flower-kind-of-things in a glass and asked what were they. He explained that it is something to give flavor to this particular drink which he then gave it to me.. for free. Nice, cannot complain! The drink was awful though..

There was one more awesome Polish girl there. She actually lives in Slovenia now but still, awesome people come from Poland.. and everywhere else as well! But yeah. So we were going home from a party one night and we had a bottle of wine. Since we were both thirsty, we decided to open it but came across with a small problem : we did not have a bottle opener. But as genius as I am, I decided just to hit off the neck of the bottle and I have to admit, I am a master : no small pieces of glass and drinking from it was easy as well.. :P

Well, this was my week more or less.. Since it is late and the sun is setting, then here's a picture of a sunset in Montijo.

PS! Portugese guys are better kissers than Spanish ones.. Just my bad luck. 

MT

Greetings from Malta.
Took a long time for me to get something posted so
I'll try to give you a brief overview. 
My name is Eyleen and I'm a second year radiography student doing my placement in Malta. 
So, I'll try to start from the beginning.
It was the first time I traveled so far, needless to say the first time I had flown an aircraft. When I arrived, Malta seemed nice. Now I have been here for quite a while and maybe gotten used to it. There are a lot of things, that are different and maybe hard to understand for a typical Estonian. 
First thing I learned was, that buses NEVER arrive in time. Also, when you try to stop a bus in the bus stop, it may happen that it doesn't stop, because the bus driver just ignores you... Fair enough. The second option is, they don't arrive at all. Kind of sarcastic, because the name of the bus company is called 'Arriva' which means 'to arrive'. Well, yes, takes time getting used to. The second thing is, that Maltese are never in a hurry. They have all the time in the world. Sometimes a 15-kilometre trip by bus takes 2 hours. No worries. 
The thing that I was amazed of, was they throw their trash everywhere, doesn't matter if it's a bus stop or a family park, doesn't matter if the garbage can is 2 metres away. It's sad, because they have so beautiful nature so for me it's kind of stupid to trash it like that.
What else... Well, the Maltese are mostly very friendly people, I think it has a lot to to with their climate. Think, I would be happy and cheerful too, if I had the sun shining on me 300+ days a year. Actually, it kind of frightens me, that they are so full of energy all the time, I don't really know how to respond (considering I'm an Estonian). But yeah, its quite different from the places I've been in.
I can say that I have been to a lot of places in Malta already. My friend visited me and we managed to see quite a few things so I'm going to post some pictures. Here they are:


This place is called Golden Bay. Actually my instructor in PET/CT advised me to go there, it was supposed to be the most beautiful beach in Malta (?). There are 3 different bays in the northwestern area of Malta: Golden Bay, Riviera Bay and Gnejra bay. At first I didn't get, why the locals were wearing jackets and long pants when it was 30 degrees outside. Before I went to Golden Bay, I had already got sunburned twice. And then I found out.

 This is our local reggae bar in Marsaskala, where we live in, it is called called 'Zion'. Zion means a sacred, harmonious place. Well, it sure is. Me and Rasmus are weekly visitors there. :)

There are a lot of cats in Malta. Most of them don't have a home and they stay outside, but people usually go to feed them. I didn't see a lot of stray dogs though. Poor kitties. :(

If you are wondering about the colour of water in Malta then here it is: Bright blue :)
This picture is taken from the fishing village in Gozo (which is one of the islands in Malta). It's called Xlendi Bay. 

 





 Here is another one:

Since we didn't have anyone to talk to, because we don't really know that much Maltese, we tried our luck on a Maltese horse. Apparently he/she was the only one who wanted to communicate with us. This horse is from Valletta, the capital of Malta. Now we have a friend.

Well, these are only the few places, which I have visited, but I'm afraid the post is long enough. Next weekend, me and Rasmus are going to visit a festival called 'Earth Garden'. I'll post a picture from last year so you'll get a gist of it:

 So, basically, people come together, listen to good music, bring their instruments and play music and just relax and enjoy themselves. 

I think that's all for today, I'll try to make pictures from the festival and post them. Stay tuned.
xx

Riga is calling

Sveiki!

The time has gone so quickly. We have been to Riga now for about two months. We just finished our second practice.

 We have tried to take best of Riga so we have visited all kinds of sightseeings in here. Firstly, we have been to medicine museum. There was an exhibition which displayed vintage medical instruments to a two-headed dog. Also we went to Natural history museum, which is quite similar to Estonian zoology museum.

In addition, we visited the St. Peter’s church tower. The view there is just marvelous. Some of us also visited the zoo and we have also had lunch in tourists beloved eating place Lido. The nightlife in Riga is also amazing. The most clubs and pubs are open til morning. We have managed to get new friends here from all kinds of countries and learn about their culture and language.

Salo, Finland and the Operating theatre

Finally it seems that summer has arrived in Finland also. It has been really hot and nice weather about week. I have been waiting about two months and finally I can wear my summer clothes, jippi :). Yesterday my tutor and I had some picnic barbeque on the beach. It was really nice. Some people went even swimming, although water is not warm enough, but sun was shining and temperature were +25 C.

I have been practicing in operating theatre two weeks now. It has been really interesting, actually it is so exciting there, that sometimes it is hard to concentrate my anesthetic nurse role. There is very good team work and all the people are friendly and equal. The doctors are teaching me also, not only nurses, which is really good. In the coffee or lunch time, we are also together with surgeons and doctors, so it is like one big family and it really is supportive and nice working team. Relations are good and it is easy to come practicing and work.
As I have been here I understand that teaching/studying nursing is in Estonia quite high level. All the basic things that we need to know has been really useful here. When I was in school I thought there are some stuff that it is not so important or not so useful to learn, but when I came here and nurses, doctors are asking something I am very thankful that I have heard about these things and know at least something in basic nursing.
In operating theatre every day starts with coffee and welcome of operating theatre sister-in- charge. She is telling shortly what will happen in the day (what operations and which room) and which role everyone is doing and where they are. All the nurses have to do all the roles. There are four roles and nurses are working every day  in different room and they are changing their positions in their own team. The roles are: recovery room nurse, anesthesiological, circulation and scrub nurse. In my practicing time I will be in recovery room and in anesthesiological nurse role. 

Before operation: Waiting room for patients

A special room for C-sections only.

Railika Toim Õ3