Last few nights in Cape Town =(

The last week has been awesome!! Unfortunately, we had a giant 20 page paper which cause everyone to be shut down on the social aspect but everyone pulled through and got it done. Tuesday night we went out for half price everything at one of the bars. It was a quiet Tuesday night but still fun. Wednesday we went to the green market and I got some last minute gifts, then headed to the beach for the afternoon. We got strawberry daiquiris and just hung out, trying to soak it all in. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Afterwards we got the best ice cream ever and headed home for a nap. We all made and ate dinner at home, but as a group, which was nice because it was Ryan’s last night. We went out with a bang, probably a few too many tequila shots, but it was all worth it. Today we went to the township for the last time for a community presentation, which was a slideshow of pictures, nothing too fancy. After that we went to the winery we went to the first weekend and had an AMAZING lunch. Well, we were a bit early so of course we did a wine tasting at 10:30am. The lunch had an African drumming band and the waitresses walked around and did an African face painting with white dots on everyone’s faces. It was really fun and the food was so good. I think I ate a springbok sausage? And some fish? Delicious. After that we were given the opportunity to write a letter to ourselves, of our overall thoughts of the trip and about ourselves here in South Africa. Emma, the one who we have reflection with, will then send us the letters 6 weeks after we get home. I thought this was an awesome idea because in 6 weeks I will be so back to reality and that letter will be special to receive at the 55 E. Daniel in Champaign. We’re headed to some Italian tonight then out for THE LAST TIME so I must get in the shower and start packing. Oh, also bought a SECOND suitcase because I went a bit overboard with gifts for everyone. Totally worth every penny. Anyways, I’m going to London with Taryn & Amanada so that will be soooo much fun. So excited to fly out with people I know as well. I arrive at 8:05pm in Chicago ahhh Don’t wanna leave!!!!!

Safari

So my second to last week in South Africa flew by. I spent all of Monday/Tuesday catching up with the group and getting decent sleep. We went out Wednesday for a beer pong tournament with the Vanderbilt students who are here. It ended up being tin foil rolled up balls with Styrofoam cups. Not ideal for beer pong but my team still managed to win =) Thursday was our last day of class which ended up being a lot of overall reflection of our trip. We also had a family dinner and cooked for the reflectors (Emma & Emma) as well. We had salad, bread, homemade chili, baked potatoes, and brownies. DELICIOUS!!!! Ate WAY too much though. Thursday night we went out with the William and Mary students and went to a lounge called Blake’s. Drinks were very expensive but being an American girl made it easy to get free drinks & shots. We then went out our favorite Abuntu R5 shot bar then to another bar after. Stayed out quite late considering I was going to the clinic in the morning. A little sleep deprived, I went out on the clinic Friday morning to Sweet Home Farms. We ended up seeing over 35 patients. We conducted 5 HIV tests and only one was + so that was good. After work I got back home, got a nap and some dinner, then get to bed early. Saturday morning we got picked up at 6:15 to go on our SAFARI !! <3 It was two hours out of Cape Town at a reserve called Aquila. It was a little more “reserve” than I would have liked but we’re in the Western Cape, for a REAL safari you would have to fly the north eastern part of South Africa, which wasn’t quite in our budget. We had an amazing breakfast then started the adventure. We ended up seeing: hippos, wildebeest, elephants, springbok, zebras, rhinos, and lions. Unfortunately, the crocodile, cheetah, leopard, and warthog were caged when we saw them. Very exciting to see but in a reserve you would never see a leopard, hardly ever see a cheetah, and the crocs would fight with the hippos too much. Still cool though. The lion was the most exciting part. There was a little girl on our 4x4 and when we got closer to them, you could tell one of the females was STARING at her. She started crouching down and eventually she bolted towards us. She stopped about 5 feet away from the vehicle since she knew she couldn’t jump in so no harm was done, but it was so incredible to see. I have pictures of her staring and bolting- it was so cool. After the tour we had lunch. It was a beautiful day and the sun was out. On our way back we stopped at an ostrich farm, which was also part of the safari. I wasn’t sure how it would be but it ended up being just as amazing as the rest of it. We saw 7 day old ostriches which were soooooo tiny! Then saw the younger ostriches (4 months), a little older (4 years), and then the oldest ones (8 years). We also got to see the eggs in the incubator and got to stand on two unfertilized eggs. Apparently they can hold up to 150kg (roughly 300 pounds??) so that was fun. Eventually we headed home and all exhausted. Going to do the usual nap + dinner then going out. Tomorrow we are going to the gardens for a picnic and maybe back to the green market square. Overall great last weekend!!!

Rural Trip to Zithulele in the Eastern Cape!

Wow, what an AMAZING past 12 days.

The Saturday before my trip we went to Boulder’s Beach and to Cape Point. Boulder’s Beach had the penguins and they were so precious! You had to pay to get closer and we were just stopping through so unfortunately we did not get closer, however, I was still within a foot of a penguin so I was happy. Cape Point was also gorgeous. We went on an hour hike out to the most southwestern point of Africa and literally got to see the Indian Ocean & the Atlantic Ocean crashing together.  The trip was breathtaking and even though it was pouring rain, we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Saturday night I don’t think I realized what I was getting myself into. They told me the bus ride was 16 hours, but it was actually a 21-HOUR BUS RIDE! It makes me sick to think I spent a total of 42 of my South African hours in a smelly bus, but I’m over it. On the ride there I got talking with the younger guy sitting next to me who was originally from Port Elizabeth. He took a 10-hour bus every Friday night and Saturday night to attend a class Saturday morning at UCT-, which I found fascinating and very dedicated. He started explaining more about the rural areas and he mentioned a statistic that young girls are more likely to be raped than to be educated. This must have been where he was from because the community I stayed in was very friendly and safe but that is still unbelievable to me if it is true. 21 hours later, we arrived in Mththa then had a 2-hour car ride out to Zithulele. The roads were nothing like I have ever seen, so bad that we had to wait at the hospital while the other vehicle dropped people off since our little car would not have made it. I was so tired at the time and frustrated because I didn’t believe what they were saying but once on the road- it made a bit more sense. We had three 4x2’s and one 4x4 and the 4x4 was the one pulling out the 4x2 every other hill. They roads would have massive rocks in the road and potholes 6 feet long all made of clay. In the rain, no one was making it up the hills.  Oh and then you would have to come to an immediate stop because a goat, cow, horse, pig, or donkey was passing. The animals are everywhere and are not afraid of the cars. It was funny the first few times but annoying thereafter.

Once we finally got to our accommodation, I found out I was staying in a hut with eleven others girls. Not a problem until I heard there was ONE bathroom. The room was actually very nice but the overall stay was a little too rural for my liking. You could not drink the tap water, only rainwater that drained from the gutters into a giant jug outside. Electricity was only on from 5pm-5am to conserve. Showers… yea we boiled water and took bucket baths. The shower was a trickle of water that was ICE cold, so cold it would literally give you brain freeze if you tilted far enough back. Needless to say it was not my most hygienic week, but we were directly on the ocean, which was GORGEOUS. The sunset and sunrise were so beautiful each day and it made for washing a bit easier. Also got to see dolphins every other day- very cool. The stars at night were also beautiful- got to see the Southern Cross along with the Scorpio constellation, not something you can see everyday from Beecher or Champaign.

Monday morning came around and we had to push the car more than ride in it, forcing us to walk to the hospital. I got to spend all week with the Occupational Therapist which was SOOOOO exciting for me! Work starts at 8 for them, then from 10:30-11 is teatime, then lunch from 1-2, and you’re home by 5. Not exactly the American working lifestyle, but it worked for me. In the afternoon we got to see an autistic patient, did arts and crafts with the chronic tuberculosis patients, and playtime with the peds. I was excited to play with the little kids but when we walked into their ward, 2/6 of the children instantly starting crying and were carried out of the room by their mothers. Apparently, being white is associated with the Doctor, which is not a good thing to a little kid, so the children were actually scared of us. There were two little boys who were excited we brought them toys so we played trucks and soccer for over an hour. After that, we got to see a child who we thought had slow development, but actually had a disorder with her leg. The 2 year old had one leg that was almost 3cm shorter than the other, causing her not able to walk yet, which for a 2 year old is not normal.  After the day was over, we eventually got home and it was my turn to cook. The 22 students were broken into 5 groups, each with a specific night to cook dinner and I was glad to get it out of the way. We made some delicious chicken and couscous? Cooking for 22 people is so much harder than it seems, it took us 2 full hours to cook- not fun but glad it was out of the way.

Tuesday we started the day with playtime again with peds and the same children were the only ones excited to see us. Later in the day I got to see 2 stroke patients, a diabetic women with an amputated leg, and a woman with three mysterious dermatological holes in her leg. Lastly, I saw a woman (about 70 years old??) who had gotten into a fight and was actually bitten by another woman, she waited three weeks to come to the hospital and it was grossly infected and you could still see the tendons. If it didn’t improve in three days they were going to have to amputate it. Day 2 was pouring rain again, more rain than they have had in years. Winter is their dry season and it was a record for the amount of rain they received- that would happen.

Wednesday we were given a project to create a standing probe for a cerebral palsy child- 1 year old. Resources given: cardboard, flour, water, and a broken electric blade as a cutter. This ended up being an engineering project since the calculations were not as simple as we thought it would be. We also had to glue 4 pieces of cardboard to each piece to ensure sturdiness. Sounds simple but this took ALL DAY. Very, very frustrating. After we got back we went for a nice swim at the beach and it was the boys turn to cook which was so good, and since they attempted to out-do the girls at cooking, they had appetizers, dessert, the whole nine yards. We then had a nice fire with marshmallows and bed early.

Thursday it finally stopped raining!!! We finished the standing probe and spent the afternoon with patients. We saw a  2 year old child with spina bifida who was just starting to walk and a depressed woman with somatic manifest (?). Once we got home one of the Doctors bought some oysters from the neighbor and they were delicious- fresh from the ocean. Again early bed after dinner.

Friday we said our goodbyes to the OT’s and went with the medical students on house calls. We literally walked up and down hills all day and went house-to-house educating families and taking blood pressures. We mainly taught them sexual education and introduced them to a condom- which none of them have ever seen before. If you stepped back and observed you couldn’t help but laugh when 10+ people are holding up a condom learning how to use it but on the other hand it was an incredible thing to see, a young population learning to protect themselves from HIV which majority of their population has and is dying from- which is incredible to think about. We also had a translator with us everywhere we went since all of the patients can only speak Xhosa. It was a beautiful day and it was such an experience to see inside the houses of the community. The scenery was also gorgeous along the way so it ended up being a great day.

Saturday morning we finally got to sleep in. We went to the beach for the day playing soccer, cricket, and swimming in the ocean. Afterwards we took a trip to hole in the wall, which is a giant hill along the coast with a huge tunnel carved out of it, due to erosion. Beautiful sight. We had a brie (South African BBQ) in the evening then again went to bed early.

Sunday we packed our bags and were gone by 10am. Of course, we got a flat tire on the way to the bus, which pushed time a bit but had no problems. 21 hours later I arrived back in Cape Town at my favorite Bollihope resident and took the longest, hottest, shower I’ve ever taken. I got the day off since I had been in a car the whole day before so I went to Green Market Square and got gifts for everyone. Very successful trip! Now I have to strategically calculate how in the world these presents are fitting in my suitcase, but I’ll worry about that in 2 weeks. Then I wrote my paper for the week and now it’s already time for bed. I’m getting persuaded to go out but I think I need to postpone until tomorrow. It’s been an exhausting week and need to start my week off on the right track.

Overall I had an amazing experience and got to see so much more than I could have ever asked for. I also got 30 OT hours in which is huge! And again I was presented with situations that make me more and more thankful for all I have and I must admit- it’s a beautiful thing.

Sweet Home Farms

Today I had an amazing experience out in the Sweet Home Far clinic. We got to the township a little early so we were able to walk around and see the “houses,” or shacks. I felt bad taking pictures of all the innocent children but I got a few good ones (look at my Facebook).  During the clinics I got to sit in on a few consultations. The main conditions in which people have are UTI’s, worms, & ear infections for kids, and for adults a lot of back pains, STD/STI’s, & dermatological conditions. The skin conditions are all so gross. You can tell they do not receive adequate health care because they have sores that are like the size of a tennis ball – not normal. I did a lot of data capturing as well so I was back to pharmacy stuff but I kind of enjoy seeing the differences yet similarities. I’m not huge on kids but the little black children are soooo cute, and I feel so so bad for them. They all seem so happy playing with something as simple as a yo-yo though which is beautiful in its own way. There were also so many stray, dirty dogs too. I felt so bad. The community spoke Xhosa so I could only have conversations with every third patient but even without conversation, they were all still friendly. Once we saw 35+ patients, we left and I had to go write my paper because tomorrow I leave for EASTERN CAPEEEE! No electricity, no running water, and way worse health conditions. Bring. It. On. See you in a weeeeeeek! =)

Mama Afrika & Karaoke

Alright, so Monday we had a chill evening, we all wanted to upload our shark pictures from Sunday so we went to Cocoa Cha Chi for fast internet & dinner. Everyone had papers to write so it was uneventful. Tuesday, after class & work, we came home, made dinner, and start playing drinking card games. After a while some people went straight to bed but Matt, Joe, and myself went out. Doug, our favorite cab driver, picked us up and took us to a bar called The Shack. It was shady so after a beer we went to another bar, and this one had a cover charge AND they had to pat you down before you could enter, so that was a no. Then we went to a bar called Stone and it was a lot of fun! There was a lot of pool tables and I had three drinks in front of me at one point that people kept buying so I was satisfied. Doug also had no calls on his Tuesday night so he hung out with us as well- not drinking of course but he’s hilarious so that made the night even better. Wednesday internship wasn’t too eventful, got some social referrals back, which was exciting for me but it was a slow day after that. Once I got home I took a quick nap then the group was planning to go out to eat. The restaurant was called Mama Afrika, and the menu consisted of ostrich, crocodile, wart hog, springbok, etc. They also had an African band that was AMAZING. I ended up getting a garden salad and spicy chicken wings (to be safe). The garden salad is not what it is at home- it is literally like a garden on your plate. Dad- remember when you had that dish with 7 appetizers for that Christmas “house-crawl” ? It was similar but with salads, like side salads. Very delicious. My wings were good but after trying everyone’s food I liked the crocodile the best. The ostrich steak was pretty good too but the croc was better. After almost three hours at dinner, we went to our favorite Abuntu bar with R5 shots (R7=$1 so it’s like .85 cents for a shot). After a while there, we met up with the William & Mary students that are here and went to The Long Street Café- and Wednesday night is karaoke night. It was soooo much fun. Ryan, Maxie, and I sang Time of Your Life and jumped in on a lot of other groups as well. Lots of fun, great night. Class was more interesting today and during our break I got a UCT sweatshirt so I was happy. Now time to write my paper as I won’t have internet this next week then reflection session at 7:00 then maybe out? I’m so tired but I can sleep when I’m in America =)

SHARK DIVING!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!!!! SHARK DIVING WAS AMAZING!!!! And I’m still alive to be writing this! =) Okay so we got picked up from our house around 8:30 and had a 2 hour drive out to Gansbaai, the waters of the largest population of the GREAT WHITE SHARK- where 70% of the great whites live. So we got to the place and had to wait around for almost 2 hours. It was getting so boring but as soon as it was time to go everything went quick. We took a 15 minute boat ride out to the shark areas and put down anchor. We each had to wear a full-body already wet, wet suit, which was so hard to get on in 50-ish degree weather. Our group went second so we went to the top deck to watch as the first shark came up to the boat. THEY ARE HUGE! Ahhh it seriously looked so massive. I guess the biggest one we saw today was almost 13 feet, which is still mind blowing to think about. It got to our turn and I started freaking out. You get in the cage in the water so fast and are so scared to put your feet anywhere so it was like a work out to stay up. Next thing I know a shark is coming right at the cage so the instructors tell you to go down. You hold your breath and are face to face with a great white. I had my amazing underwater camera (thank you dad!) so I got some great pictures. It was kind of hard to take pictures while trying to look while holding on, but it was worth it. After we got out it was freezing until our turn again and the second dive was so much better. I figured it out more because there is a bar for your feet to tuck under so it holds you down rather than floating up and the first time I was too scared to go that far down. After figuring it out though the experience got so much better. Also, the second round was when the shark smacked into the cage 6 inches in front of me followed by his tail smacking in right after. INSANEEEEEE TO SEE!! I bought the video and when I’m not underwater, I’m screaming the whole time- but it was a good/excited/omg-there-is-a-13-foot-shark-right-in-front-of-me kind of scream. We were at sea for 3 hours total and there were probably 5 people who got seasick. The waves were UNREAL and the boat was so shaky the entire time, so after 3 hours you’re ready to go. Getting out of the wet suit and swimsuits was a challenge as it was FREEZING out but the boat ride home was just as exciting as the one out there. The sun looked gorgeous on the water and it felt good to just take it all in. The bus ride home went quick and before I knew it, I’m in my bed dreading writing my paper. Overall this has been one of my most amazing experiences EVER, if not THE most amazing experience and loved every second of it. 100% chance I’m coming back to Cape Town and diving again =)

Robben Island

Ahhh another great weekend (so far). Last night we were VIP at this awesome club and got to go to the VIP upstairs and it was amazing! We met some professional South African rugby players aka we got free drinks at their table ALL NIGHT. We met lots of interesting people and it was just a great time. Getting back around 4am left us all a bit tired to start our trip to Robben Island today though. We had to take a 45 minute boat ride out to the island and I have been on a good number of boats but never have I ever been on one that felt THAT much like it was going to flip over!!! It was so windy it was crazy. Ironically, the only girl that doesn’t drink was the one throwing up off the side of the boat the whole way there so that was lovely (not). Once we got there we got on these buses, which everyone was crammed into but little did we know that was going to be half of the tour. We would go ½ mile then stop and the man would talk. I was not a fan of the set up- at all. Then we finally got to walk around but again you would walk, then stop every 30 feet to listen to the guy talk. It was very, very interesting though. We got to see Nelson Mandela’s cell (#7!), the quarry in which he worked, and the court in which they played tennis and basketball. He spent 18/27 of his prison years on Robben Island so there were lots of interesting facts. Long day of history though, almost too much. Everything dragged on and we didn’t get home until after 4, which everyone thought was a extensive. On the boat though we saw 3 awesome animals- a dolphin on the way there,  then 2 seals and a whale on the way home!!! Seriously INCREDIBLE to see in real life!!! The whale was kind of far off but it was still breathtaking to actually see the water getting blown out as he came to the surface each time. Incredible. Another interesting story was on the way there we sat next to this 40-ish year old women who was there with her 70-ish year old mother. It’s her birthday tomorrow so they went out to Robben Island for it, which was her first time going so she was excited. As we got talking she told us how she had eight children, four of which have already passed. Very sad, makes me again appreciate where we live and all we have. But anyways, after we got back we all took naps and are now about to go out for some South African food then out for a little bit. The bus to get picked up tomorrow for SHARK DIVING is at 6am so it won’t be a late night for us- hopefully.

Side note: dad you asked if their language is the one that makes sounds as they talk and yes- that is Xhosa. It’s crazyyyy to listen to and impossible to ‘click’ like they do mid-word. I’ve tried too many times and have gotten no where. Worth googling though.