Six weeks ago was the last time I wrote for the blog. At that time I was in the airport waiting for my flight. That seems like a long time ago. Since I have been back in The Netherlands I feel like I am being spoiled. My aunt and uncle have loaned me this red car which I am using to travel through all of The Netherlands.
In addition to this I can stay with friends anywhere I go and they feed me delicious meals. There is nothing that I do not have or want! I have already gained 10 pounds! Right now I am mostly at my parents in Oosterbeek and from here I travel throughout the land.

At the end of October I worked in maintenance aboard the Eendracht. The Eendracht is a 180 foot long 3-masted schooner. Before I left for Bangladesh I was a voluntary boatsman on this ship. The ship was in dry dock, so we didn’t sail, but there were many things to repair to keep it in good working order. At the end of my 10 day stay on the ship, it was the put back into the water. I always enjoy this time of hard work, without too much complicated thinking, and coming in all the nooks and crannies of the ship that you normally do not see. I did notice that I was getting older! After 10 days of work on the Eendracht my knees were bothering me!

For the last 2 weeks I have been doing an internship at a burn center in Beverwijk. In Bangladesh I come in contact with more burn injuries than that I have been trained to deal with. My skills in dealing with burn wounds were not enough. Now I had the opportunity to see modern burn procedures — how you determine when and how you should operate and what the care possibilities are or are not. Here I also had the opportunity to show pictures of my patients and talk with the doctors and plastic surgeons about the procedures that I had done. It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn more.
During this internship I stayed with a colleague that had organized this internship for me. I know her from Maastricht and she treated me like a queen! It was great to be able to get to know her and her husband better.

I have no more internships or congresses planned but I am busy with visiting people (my red car is indispensable!). I will tell about my work in several different places. You are more than welcome to come and hear about things in Bangladesh.

7 december 10.00: in the church service of the Baptistengemeente Maastricht
21 december 10.30: in the church service of het Baken, Eindhoven
4 januari 15:00: by my sister in Schoonrewoerd

For more details (Dutch) see ‘Nieuws vanuit de TFC' on the home page.