Hello everyone!! Hope all is well with you all- must first apologise for the last email- power cuts are frequent here - and right in the middle of sending, the computer turned itself off- which is why you had a bLANK EMAIL ENTITLED 4 BABIES!! Since writing last email- am pleased to say that I have now witnessed 6 deliveries-4 c-sections and 2 natural births- all exciting in different ways!! I can safely say that both flicky and I are a tad unsure whether to ever have children now!! So the birth thing is great- I get to clamp umbilical cords and present the babies to both the mother and her family-all very exciting! What is really cool is I can now guess the number of weeks pregnant a lady is-its all about the tummy button !! I also help with the ultrasounds- hard to interpret anything but the head to be honest- but in time!! Every morning I go around the hospital with the doctor- checking up on new mums- and taking stitches out after the c-sections!! I think my experiences will definately help when I start Birmingham- after just 2 weeks I feel I have learnt so much- so in 3 months I will have a huge amount of knowledge!! India is a fabulous place- but soooooo sooooo hot- it is 39 degrees in the day and at least 32 iat night- so as you can imagine sleep is a bit of a pickle- especially as the phone rings at 3 am to alert us of another delivery!! The people here are fabulous- very fascinated to see 2 white girls wandering around there area- apparently the majority of people in our town have never left Tamil Nadu- so we are the first white people they have seen!! So we wander down the street and people nudge each other and point - some even take photographs- which is all a bit strange!! We work in the hospital mon-fri- and have the weekends off!! The first weekend we made the 6 and a half hour rather dodgy bus journey to Kanyakkumari- the southern most tip of India- where the bay of Bengal, Arabian sea and the Indian ocean meet- very exciting stuff!! Kanyakkumari was seriously affectected during the tsunami-but it seems to have restablished itself completely!!! We spent the weekend site seeing- temples,palacees,waterfalls- absolutely amazing- but it was all a bit to go go go- and there was very little time to actually appreciate what we were seeing!! Then it was off to the beach in the evening to watch the sunset- apparently the best India- lol- it was a bit dissapointing really!! Then we went back to this rather nice hotel- only 2.50 a night for a double room- fantastic!! This weekend we travelled 6 hours north to Madurai- a very interesting bus journey with a learner bus driver- who was unable to change gears and missed all the turnings to Madurai. Eventually we arrived in Madurai-and travelled by rickshaw to our hotel- 8 km away!! Hotel a tad dissapointing as there were cockroaches in the bathroom and an indian stylee toilet- but what can you do!! We met up with about 20 other volunteers-all fab people-and enjoyed supper on the roof-overlooking the city- fabulous!! Sunday morning- we wandered around the city trying to find a shop with good old cadbury's so that we could celebrate in style- success!! Then off to the amazing markets-tailors actually attack you in the street- mam mam- I make you good pair of trousers for 40 RS- so we naturally had to take him up on hia offer!! I came across this amazing gallery-specialising in jewellry from al over India- I got some amzing pieces- amethyst and real silver rings,pendants,earrings-the whole set- for just 2500 rupees- 25 squid- not bad eh!! We spent Monday morning- in surgery- a double op- including an abortion and a sterilisation- I thread the wires through the fallopian tube-Flick and I also had to hold down the patients arms- as the anaesthetic was starting to wear off- she wasnt in pain- just the natural reflexes!! Anyways- thats enough from me!! Just awaiting more deliveries- its all gone a bit quiet in that department!! Let me know how you all are- its always nice to get mail from you!! Much love Amy xxxxxx ps. Where is my package mum? I think its lost- pps- Has Catherines baby arrived yet?!!