Honiara - Solomon Islands

Wow, we are finally here!! It is so so so hot at about 31 degrees and am melting more as the day goes by.
We arrived here yesterday afternoon after travelling for about 36 hours, stopping at Hong Kong and Auckland airports and had a night stop over in Brisbane before arriving in the Solomons.
We were picked up at the airport by Yvone who has organised all this for us, and then driven to our accommodation, the United Chirch rest house. We were meant to be staying in Kiwi house at the hospital which is free, but it is currently full with some Warwick medical students and the other Nottingham students. Hopefully we will move in there on Thursday next week.
We are at the rest house with two of the other Nottingham girls. It has basic facilities but it is clean, there is electricity and we have a fan in our room, a kitchen to use, and there is running water. I had my first ever cold shower this morning, and I loved it!!
We have been for a wander around Honiara It is an industrious city, and the main port for the solomon Islands. There is a lot of hustle and bustle, and men standing around everywhere, and I think we definitely stand out in the crowd as the only white people around! Still have managed to obtain some food and cook for ourselves - but it is so expensive here as everything is imported, and we obviously pay for it!
Still, first dinner of noodles was good and then managed to sleep for the rest of the evening under my mosquito net.
This is truly something I have never experienced before but I a loving it already.
We went into the hospital this morning andf met the medical and nurse superintendants. Medcine is already full with medical students, so Anna and I will be starting on Paediactrics (children) for a week or so and move on to medicine when the others go off to the other hospitals. Everyone is really friendly and says hello. Have seen about 6 cases we would never expect to see in the UK, including 2 cases of meningitis and 2 cases ascending paralysis I think the kids here have to be ultra-resilient as the facilities are basic. There are 2 wards with about 10 children in each of the wards on basic beds, with their family with them, and about 3 side rooms for the severly ill kids. Still I'm sure we will learn alot, epsecially as I haven'ty done any of this for at leadt 15 months!
We met up with the other Nottingham students hewre. There are about 8 of us in total, and we are all going to Savu this weekend, one of the neighbouring islands Then next weekend we are off on a diving trip. Hopefully tonight will be spent in the pool at the Honira hotel.
Anyway, must go and will update soon,
Kylie xx