The Eye, Atlanta (Home of All Rappers), and the Best Cider EVER Invented!

Day 6: Monday, March 19

Monday was our first “real” day of our rotation.  I only put it in quotes because it was our introduction day by Peggy and took place at her lovely house.  So, it was quite school/London/education-oriented, just in a very comfortable environment.  In case you hadn’t noticed yet, Carmen and I adore Peggy.  She has practically saved our lives on more than one occasion (housing, transport to housing, feeding us), plus she gave us the gift of the amazing sparkly toilet.  She is so friendly and lovely to be around and has made us feel so welcome in a place so far away from home.  After our introduction and learning all about pharmacy education in American vs. England and us grilling her on vocabulary differences as well, she took us out to lunch at the neatest little café.  It’s right near a large park by her house and was opened by the community members to help support the local culture.  My BLT sandwich was delicious.  Side note: bacon in the UK is not like bacon in the States.  It’s more like a centercut of ham, as opposed to the crunchy strips of bacon I’ve grown so used to back home.  Slight adjustment for me.  This café is also apparently where all the young mothers gather in the early afternoon because there were babies EVERYWHERE!  Carmen got an M&M sugar cookie for dessert, and we learned that their M&M’s are actually called Smarties, which of course led to another discussion of trying to explain what American Smarties are.  Haha.    

Carmen and I on our last first day of anything school-related ever.  And all rejoiced!!!

After lunch, Peggy was kind enough to take Carmen and me to grocery shop in her car so we didn’t have to lug all of our groceries back on the bus (wouldn’t that have been fun?).  Sainsbury’s is the big chain over here, very similar to a Kroger.  This was our first trip to Sainsbury’s (unless you count my first day here, which by this point, we all know that I definitely do not, so you shouldn’t either).  To ensure the trolleys (aka buggy aka shopping cart for all you Northerners reading this!) aren’t stolen off the property (like by the crazy homeless people in Atlanta), you have to deposit £1 into the cart to unlock it from the rest of the buggies.  Then, when you are ready to leave and hook your trolley back up the rest of them, your £1 pops back out.  Quite ingenious if you ask me!!

The London Eye.  Yes, it's gigantic.

After Peggy took us back to the guest house, we rested up for a bit and unloaded our groceries, then headed out to see the London Eye!!  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I personally like to think that we brought the fabulous weather with us from the States, but apparently London is in a 2 year drought, which I’m not complaining about at all because 1) I’m only here for 6 weeks, 2) Georgia has been in a “drought” for about 8 years so I’m used to conserving water, and 3)it’s not raining, so I can be a tourist.  Selfish, I know, but I can’t help it.  Anyway, I have segued.  Back to the topic at hand: The London Eye.  First known as the “London Eyesore” after it was originally built in 1999, it has now become a national landmark.  It is essentially a giant Ferris wheel with 32 enclosed capsules, and you ride it hundreds of feet in the air to overlook the entire city.  Amazing views.  And we saw it right at sunset, so it was gorgeous.  

Big Ben and Parliament

Apparently, some of the most desirable (i.e. expensive) real estate in London. 

This sunset was gorgeous.  So spectacular seeing it up so high.

Yes, I just became that girl.  You know, the one who takes pictures of her ring everywhere.  But it was sunset and so sparkly and I couldn't help myself (plus Bryce did do a pretty good job, so I feel like I'm obligated to show it off some).  So sue me. 

After getting off the Eye and wandering about for a bit, we ended back up in Trafalgar Square, where we decided to try out Pizza Express, which is a very popular chain around here (no worries, we made sure it had “cheeseless” pizza as an option so my poor little lactose intolerant self could enjoy it).  Overall, Carmen and I were not that impressed.  Especially for the price we paid.  However, there was enough left over for dinner the next day, and it was actually much better once re-heated for the second time.  Go figure.  Then we got ready for our trip across the city the next day to Kingston University, where we would finally meet our preceptor, Chris Cairns.  

Day 7: Tuesday, March 20

So today, Carmen and I discovered that Kingston University is FOREVER away from where we are staying.  I’m pretty sure we traveled for hours.  We started out with the forever long train ride to Kingston (not to be confused with Kensington, the palace, which has been closed for a long time for refurbishment and will finally which will re-open in 6 days and we are so excited!).  We arrived at the Surbiton train stop, then took the bus to the university (aka Uni to any student you talk to).  Professor Cairns came down to meet us, and we went back to his office to discuss our schedules for the next 5 weeks (side note: we’re still not totally sure of our schedules. Ha!).  Then he took us to see some pharmacy classes.  We were in a room of 3^rd year pharmacy students (important side note: their schooling system is completely different than ours.  You go to secondary school, which is essentially the first 2 years of high school, then on to A levels [the rest of high school, persay] if your grades are high enough and are accepted.  You will only take 4 classes, of your choosing.  A levels last for 2 years.  After the first year, you drop one of the classes and only take 3.  So, if you are interested in pharmacy, medicine, etc., you would want to take a chemistry, a math, and perhaps a biology.  Once these are done, and assuming you have earned high enough marks, you then apply to pharmacy school, which is 5 years[-ish].  You graduate after the first four years, but then have a “pre-registration” year, which is essentially equivalent to our P4 year rotations.  Only after the “pre-reg” year can you take your boards and be a pharmacist on your own.  Sorry, long segue, but very important.)  What we learned:  Mercer actually taught us a lot more than we realized, and Carmen and I made Mercer look good.  You’re welcome, Mercer.  We were assigned to be the patients in the case scenarios, but ended up teaching the students something every time.  (No, you cannot take omeprazole and Plavix together and definitely should not recommend it to a patient!  I could almost see the proud look on Dr. Momary’s face when we were the only students in the room who knew the answer!)  They were very friendly and receptive to us and had about a billion questions about everything in the US.  Also, after they asked us where we were from, and we replied, “Atlanta,” they said (and I quote in complete honesty), “Oh, where all the rappers are from?”  We had to sigh and say yes! Ha ha.  So, Atlanta, are you happy?  You are known for being where all the rappers are from.  What an accomplishment.  That’s all the British teenagers know about Georgia.  *Shakes head.*

After class ended, Professor Cairns picked us back up and took us to lunch at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant.  He then showed us around Kingston-Upon-Thames.  It was gorgeous.  We then parted ways, and Carmen and I shopped around for a bit.  Primark is a huge store over here.  Not even quite sure what to compare it to, but it was tons of clothes, shoes, accessories, everything(!) for really, really good prices.  The one in central London is always crazy busy, so we when happened upon one in Kingston and it wasn’t so busy, we went in and got some great deals!  Carmen got shoes for only £4!  And I found some fleece-lined tights (shout-out to Carmen and Megan for the heads up to look for them) for just £3!!  For everyone who knows how ridiculously cold I get, this is the most amazing invention of all time.  It’s like a fuzzy, warm heaven on the inside of tights!!

 

Traveling back to our house, we finally figured out the most reasonably priced rail/tube/bus pass and purchased the unlimited week card for all travel through zones 1 and 2 and all the buses.  After arriving back at the house, we ate the left over pizza, and I got to enjoy the amazing lactose free yogurt (!!!) I found at Sainsbury’s!  Seriously, it is great (perhaps because I haven’t gotten to eat yogurt in about 10 years, but still!).  They really should make this stuff in the States.  Perhaps I can smuggle some back…along with Peggy’s sparkly toilet seat!  And another great day ended with the usual nightly Skype date with Bryce (what would we do without technology?!).

Day 8: Wednesday, March 21 

Wednesday was our first day at the hospital!  And it was another very pretty day.  Like I said, we brought the good weather with us!  The ride to the hospital was pretty easy and straightforward.  We just walked up to the end of our road and the bus stop is RIGHT THERE.  Very convenient.  Then we hop on the 136 Bus to Lewisham and get off at Lewisham Hospital.  No stress of jumping from train to train and different rail line to different rail line (which is not hard, it’s just not how you want to travel to work when you haven’t been awake for very long!).  Once we arrived at the hospital, we met with one of the pharmacists.  Remember how I mentioned in the post from Day 7 that we weren’t really sure of our schedules?  Well, they definitely weren’t either.  At some points, Carmen and I were asking ourselves if they even knew we were coming, which we decided that they must have because they would have had to have given permission, but they still seem so surprised…and not sure what we were supposed to be doing there.  Hmm.  Well, we got badges made (just picture IDs though; nothing cool to get us into special places…we still have to ring the bell to get in the pharmacy, which I suppose is quite understandable).  We met with 3 of the pre-reg pharmacists, who, like the pharmacy students, grilled us about pharmacy education in the States (they are all so fascinated by it!).  Even more so, they are interested in our non-nationalized healthcare.  I could probably devote an entire post to nationalized (socialized) healthcare versus US healthcare, but I won’t bore you with that.  Even though it’s nice that so many of their items are “free” (someone’s paying taxes, people!), I still think the US is much more advanced with technology and many other items.  There are definitely good and bad to each.  I’m sure I’ll have more of an opinion after spending a week in the community pharmacy (next week).  

Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime Cider.  Best.drink.ever.

After our time at the hospital, we just had an afternoon of down time.  Carmen and I met my parents at a pub for dinner, as I hadn’t seen them since I moved to the guesthouse, and they were leaving for the US the day after.  So we all know that I won’t drink any alcohol that wouldn’t look appropriate without an adorable little umbrella in it, which has posed a slight problem in London as everyone drinks beer.  That’s it, people, that’s all you get if you don’t want to get judged.  Beer and cider.  Well, we have made a breakthrough.  I found a cider that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!!  It’s a strawberry and lime cider (which Aimee and Megan suggested I try that night at The Slug and Lettuce but I was hesitant).  It’s fantastic.  And tastes just.like.pop.rocks.  No joke.  And it’s a beautiful color pink.  I mean, really, what’s not to love?!  Bad news?  It’s made in Sweden and is most certainly not available in the US.  But no worries…I’m still trying to find a way to get at least one, maybe two, cases home with me.  I’ll keep you updated…