Last day in MH

Tuesday 7th April
I started today with a shock - as I was eating my breakfast and reading the paper, I found our picture from the Rotary meeting last night! We are only in the country a few days........!! Thanks to all in the Medicine Hat clubs for giving us a great reception last night.

Another busy day at the (dental) office. I visited Riverside Dental Clinic, where Dr Al used to work. It has amazing views of the river, which I would find quite distracting if I was actually seeing patients! Then I went to visit the local Women's Refuge, which is like our Women's Aid. This is run by a Rotary member, Natasha. They have very little oral health input, so hopefully I might have raised their awareness of this?? (It IS supposed to be a two-way exchange of information!!). After lunch, I visited the Crestwood Dental Centre, where I met Dr Kershaw. He gave me a white coat to wear (the first time in about 12 years!!). He runs a busy clinic, using two dental chairs at a time, with the help of four dental assistants (nurses), who all have "intra-oral" qualifications. The work rate was impressive with so many pairs of hands! It is very interesting to see how working practice varies between our two countries.
We had a lovely evening meal at the Cypress Club (which used to be men-only, but not any more!), then went for a walk by the South Saskatchewan River, to burn off some calories (we have done a lot of eating since we arrived!). The river is still partially frozen, and large lumps of ice are just starting to float down the river - very spectacular.
We have already had to say our first goodbyes, even though it is hardly any time since we arrived. This is going to be one of the more difficult features of our trip!