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. 

Back to the same old.. class and work

So the past two days have been quite quiet yet busy. We went out Monday so Tuesday we were all kind of tired so it flew by, we all ate dinner and went to bed early.  Class is extremely interesting. It's all about community development but all of our discussions are very deep and life-changing. Going to be a great class in the long run (even though it's kind of hard) It's intense. But my internship has picked up though, finally! I’m currently working to possibly initiate a family planning sector in our clinics as well as come up with a social referral network to hand out to the necessary patients. It’s a frustrating job as you find these relevant and interesting NGOs in the area but all you can do is call them (which 95% of the time it just keeps ringing or is an incorrect number) or email the organizations but it doesn’t seem to get very far. I also enter a lot of data into a computer, mainly patient information and diagnoses along with medications. It’s like I can never escape pharmacy, which I thought it was bad doing that but then one of the dispensing nurses (aka pharmacist basically) came into the office and made me go with her to do inventory and reorganize the mobile pharmacy. Like I said- cannot get away from pharmacy. It was fun though. Hah! I also had to count out a few big bottles of medications into its specific count number depending on the medication and it’s literally the same tray as back home, just broken, and instead of a metal counter it’s a popsicle stick. All same end result but it is just a little more creative down here.  Also- am currently talking to Jeanne and got reminded that the pharmacies here at called “Chemist” so you walk down the street and the sign is just for a chemist. So funny. But time for bed, class and work tomorrow. Miss you all at home!!! =)

District Six, Table Mountain, & Cheetahs

Yesterday, Saturday, we had two excursions- to visit the District Six Museum and to go to the top of Table Mountain. The District Six Museum was very interesting but also very sad. Basically the government intervened the community and forced over 6,000 individuals out of their homes.  They were then separated into 3 major categories with subcategories within those. The three major obviously being: white, coloured, & black. The government forced the different groups of people to live together in different townships. If a black man and white woman were married, they were separated and in order to see one another they were required to obtain a permit which allowed them to visit for 2 hours every 3 months. If you were found without a permit, you were sent to jail. The man telling the stories was directly affected and heart-broken by what happened. However, he knows it’s important to retell so it doesn’t happen again in history. Very sad.

After the museum we drove to the highest drivable point of Table Mountain. From there we took a cable car (sooooo scary) to the very top of the mountain. On the top were bunches of paths and amazing views. Everything looked absolutely gorgeous. It was freezing and extremely windy on top though so after an hour everyone was ready to go. The group was tired and being lame so after 4-hour naps we decided just to stay in.

On Sunday, Father’s Day, we went out to Spier to a farm with cheetahs and wine tasting. We did the cheetahs first and they were adorable!!! They were all hand-raised so they were very calm, yet we still couldn’t go in the cages if they were up and moving around. We had to go pet the one that was lying down the whole time which kind of sucked but was still a great experience. So cute! Afterwards we went to the wine tasting inside and got to sample 5 wines- all very tasty. We just got back and now I’ve got to crank out a 5-page paper due Tuesday. We’re going to a local café to get it done so hopefully it doesn’t take too long. Overall a great weekend. Now time to get back in the swing of things which means back to work and class. Next weekend we are visiting Robben Island and Sunday is SHARK DIVING!!!! Soooooo excited =)

Interning

Today I started ACTUAL work at my internship and was surprised as to how fast it went by. The first two hours they were conducting the "Jill's to do list" so it was pretty boring up until that point but afterwards I was busy the whole time. I will basically be doing health admin organization in the office the whole time. I wanted an internship that was a little more hands-on but realistically, I'm not trained to do anything like that so if I were to be in the clinics, it would be mopping up floors, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning up vomit, etc. Working in an office works for me. I am more than allowed to visit any of the clinics but it has to be on my own time so I will probably only attend 2 or 3. Today I had to contact all of the Community Health Workers (Afrikaans who are in charge of opening the clinics before the students come), the student volunteers, and the Doctors. I just had to verify their times and dates. I will also be starting to organize health data into computer files and getting a lot ready for our trip to the Eastern Cape. I had to look up rentals for the 10 days we will be there and try to find the cheapest ones that are actually available during that time. It's a lot of perusing through the internet and calling. I like it, it's better than the vomit-picker-upper position so I'm not complaining. Also, you are never bored with it. There's also something you could be looking up or comparing or verifying or organizing. Lots of work to be done in a NGO that is mainly run by volunteer students. I think it will be much easier once I get to know how everything runs but for my first day it went very smoothly. I think I'll be happy doing what I'm doing so I'm content. Headed to the District 6 museum tomorrow then hiking up Table Mountain in the afternoon- one of Cape Town's largest mountains.

Anddd Happy Birthday Drew!

Eastern Cape

So today we had our first lecture at 10am. It was pretty much a discussion section of the readings we had due today. The readings are much more difficult to understand than they are at home, so it takes me forever to even understand what it's about. After class I went to my internship for the first time! It was actually pretty boring because we just discussed what I WILL be doing, but very exciting stuff! From July 2nd-July 11th I will be traveling to the Eastern Cape. I am currently located in the Western Cape which is the most industrialized province in South Africa. Eastern Cape is the poorest and most impoverish area in South Africa so as bad as I think it is here, it will be much worse there. It's a 16 hour drive so it will take a day to get there, then once I'm there I will be working in the mobile clinics. There's no health care at all in the area in which we will be going to so we will be providing STD tests, HIV tests, and TB tests. I'm the only student from our program going so I will be hanging out with the medical students from South Africa & Norway the whole time. I also will be doing other projects throughout the internship including visiting a fetal alcohol syndrome clinic and an Occupational Therapy clinic (which will count towards my OT shadowing hours!!!). It's stormy, cold, and rainy out so everyone called it a night pretty early but tomorrow is a "youth holiday" so we have class then the day free. Yay!

Masiphumelele

Went to the clinical tonight in a township called Masiphumelele. These townships, also called shandys, are past the mountains where the Afrikaans live. Each family (or two or three) have these tiny little shacks made out of metal and random pieces that they find. I was going to add a picture but the internet here takes forever and that would cost a lot of usage. Not worth it. Think of a junk yard basically. About five “houses” all share one outdoor toilet. No showers. If they need medical attention (which is free) they can go to these clinics and wait hours after hours to get seen by the staff. All of the staff is medical student volunteers and one volunteer physician. We got a short tour of the place. The pharmacy consisted of four bins in one of the back rooms. All of the posters around the place were about AIDS or TB. We got to sit in on one of the rooms and for one of the groups, the doctor welcomed them then looked at the patient and said, “I have bad news for you- your HIV test came back positive”. I walked out of the room I was in and 30 seconds later heard that. I could never imagine hearing the news that I have a chronic illness and here it’s like hearing you have strep throat. In South Africa, especially in these townships, AIDS is hardly a big deal and it’s horrible to see first-hand. This is just an example of what's to come in my time here.

Cape Town - finally!!!!!

Ahhh finally here!!! Almost forgot about this blog already- hah, have been so busy. So after I made it through the nightmare in Canada, I slept great through my flight to London. In London, I wasn’t able to go off and site see because you have to walk through immigrations first and it’s hard to leave after that. I had almost 10 hours to kill and I figured it wouldn’t be that mad but it was. My computer was almost dead and I forgot that I wouldn’t be able to charge it considering I didn’t have a European adapter. Also, in London they charge you for internet! I of course found someone to who gave me a password for a small café so I got to use it for a while but then my computer died. Finally boarded, had an hour and a half delay while sitting on the plane but was on my way to Africa and that’s all that mattered.

When I arrived in the airport I got my luggage with no problem and had a man standing with a sign that said “Arcadia” on it. The rest of the group was already together so that was a little intimidating. We had an hour an a half drive to an iron-oaks type setting with a little house out in Worchester. The place was called Bonamanzi. The other Arcadia students moved out Friday morning and the staff had to clean our house first, leaving us stranded at this Bonamanzi place for the weekend. Janye, Chris, & Dion made us breakfast, lunch, and dinner and made us go through different types of team-building. We also went kayaking and for a hike up a hill. The place was gorgeous, beautiful mountain scenery everywhere. We bunked in two rooms- girls room and a boys room. Each room had 7 sets of triple bunks. Bathrooms and showers were outside- I felt like I was at Girl Scout camp.  The people in my group are great! I’ve been with them for three nights now and it feels like weeks. There are only two boys- Matt & Joe and six girls- Justice, Maxie, Ryan, Amanda, Taryn, & myself. Our SHAWCO rep is Ainsley and she is with us at all times.

Come Monday morning we took a two-hour bus ride to Cape Town to our houses- finally! There are two, a larger one in front and a smaller one in back. They are basically connected but you do have to go outside to enter into the other. I’m in the back house with Matt, Amanda, and Taryn. We each have a set of four keys. 1. For our front gate 2. Gate in front of the front door 3. Front door and 4. My room. Even though crime is extremely high, I feel safe at home. We also have electric wires on the top of our gate to the houses. I love our little house, it feels very home-y.

After rearranging our rooms and unpacking, we took a bus over to the University of Cape Town campus to get our student IDs. We got a small tour of the UCT campus, which is HUGE, and it is gorgeous. Mountains everywhere. We got our pictures taken for our IDs and then took a tour of the library and took an hour pit-stop in the computer lab- first time I had internet in four days.

After our tour we went to the market down the street from us. Towels, shampoo, conditioner were needed among the group. I also bought airtime (which is like minutes) for the cell phones we were given. I can call/text the US but it’s obviously more. My number is 0711237159. At night we went to a Mexican restaurant with the whole group. We got margaritas (wasn’t very good) and the food was decent. I got two tacos and they weren’t that good but other people’s were. After dinner Taryn, Maxie, Ryan, Matt, & myself went out to Long Street to an Irish Pub. Ahhhh so much fun! Beers were R22 throughout the night. There was an live singer that could literally sing anything, and sing it good, REALLY good. Oh, besides Jimmy Buffet. He made references to our US group the whole time which made it fun. Out the window we had a nice show of a he/she attempting to find money or a home for the night or both. It was a man dressed as a women in tights, a small tank, and a wig. She was constantly fixing her hair and make-up and was dancing the full three hours we were there. Very entertaining.

Today we had a tour of Cape Town scheduled at 10am. We took a bus down to the downtown area and got on one of those double decker buses. The bus stopped every couple minutes and you chose whether or not to get off. We went all the way to the top of Table Mountain and then ended by the coast. We got off at the beach and it was so gorgeous. The mountains are in the background and the beach is so pretty. After the bus tour my little group of five decided we wanted to walk through the aquarium. It was only about $10 so we figured why not. Right when we got there it was feeding time for the penguins, which was fun. We spent about an hour walking around and it was time to go.

Tonight we are taking a tour of the health clinics- which is where I will be interning the whole time I’m here so I’m very excited. Everyone’s planning to chill tonight since we have our first day of actual lecture.

I love Cape Town and we have so much planned already for the six short weeks we’re here. I’m having a wonderful time and could not ask for anything more at this point. So much exciting stuff to look forward to this week  =)

Canada

Well, my layover didn't turn out TOO bad....

9 vegetable pasta with chicken and a liter of Canadian Belgium White. 

Now I'm full and pretty content. Only 3 1/2 more hours til I can check my 48 lb suitcase!!!

New York?

So I thought the hour & forty-five minute flight to Canada would be the easiest part of my 34 hours of traveling. They had me fooled!!!! Ahhhh,  WORST AIRPLANE EXPERIENCE EVER! When I got through security in Chicago I find that my gate was switched. No big deal, happens all the time. When we finally all got the correct plane and boarded we started our trip delayed. Then, after a few minutes I could hear discussions of an incorrect count of passengers. Oh and before I start that story, we took an Embraer RJ145 (only Dad and Dustin can appreciate that). Meaning- our flight had 2 seats on the left hand side, and one on the other. TINYYY plane. I was in seat 2A so I was right in front. I didn’t even have people next to me other than the flight attendant’s station. Being nosey and eavesdropping on the conversation, turns out someone had a duplicate ticket on the flight and had to be escorted out. That was frightening to hear and watch. Then after we took off we get to the Montreal area and are circling the area due to storms. We circled so much that we ended up flying to Syracuse, New York to land, refuel, and wait for storms to pass. The “quick stop” took over an hour. After finally arriving in Montreal, I turn on my phone and see its 9:38PM, my flight to London was supposed to leave at 10:20PM. Once we landed we were in the longest line of planes and could not pull into the gate until all the other planes went first. I ended up getting off the plane at 10:36, completely freaked out at this point. I walk up to the connections counter and it’s all closed now. I had to go to the arrivals area where I found some guy that assisted me, but then had to redirected me to a women. After she reviewed my passport and boarding pass, she had to go check and see if my flight had left- this whole five-minute interval was the longest of my life. Turns out it was extremely delayed like all the others so I made ittttttt!!! I still felt obligated to sprint to the gate just in case. I get to the gate and they redirect me to another gate, right in the area I just was. Once I get there all of the passengers going to London were redirected to the gate I was JUST had. I ran/walked past this one group of people at least three times, they probably thought I was crazy- that or just a stupid, blonde, American (most likely a combination of the two). I am now sitting down waiting for our plane to arrive and have never been happier to be sitting waiting for a delayed flight. And during all this I was starving because it was over nine hours since I had eaten. Found the one and only café shop still open and all the wraps were in French so I got stuck with a breakfast burrito. Gross. Now I’m already exhausted, feel sick, and am tired of hearing French over the intercom. Get me on this plane so I can fall asleeeeeeeeeeep.

And to add to my misery I find out that wasn't my flight at all. That just happened to be another flight to London. I will be sitting in the airport of Montreal for 24 hours. American Airlines had to books me 2 more flights both 24 hours later. Never have I ever slept at an airport- this is a first. So. Gimme a call/text/facebook message .. I'll be sitting here bored.  =(

3 more days!

Three short years ago when I was started college I hoped to spend the summer after my junior year studying abroad. With the support and generosity of my parents, this dream turned to reality when I got accepted through Arcadia University to intern in Cape Town, South Africa.

For those of you who do not know where Cape Town is located:

It is on the very southern western tip of Africa. During my stay it will be their winter meaning the climate includes cold, wet, & rainy with average temperatures of 45-70 degrees F (7-20 degrees C). Oh. And no central heating. But after spending yesterday morning in the hot, humid 90 degrees setting up tables and chairs for Daniel's graduation party, 60 degrees doesn't sound too bad.

South Africa has eleven official languages, but thankfully for me the three most spoken are English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa- English being primary. South Africa's currency is the Rand. Today's US exchange is $1=R6.71. So if lunch is costing R35, that's only about $5. South Africa is also 7 hours ahead of Chicago.

I will be leaving Wednesday, June 8th (3 days from today!!!) and will return Saturday, July 23rd. My flight leaves around 3:45 PM on Wednesday to Montreal, Canada. After a four-hour layover, I will take a 6-hour flight to London, UK in which I will arrive at 9:45 AM and have a 10 hour layover! Day plans TBA. And finally at 7:30 PM, I will take my final twelve-hour flight and arrive in Cape Town. If 34 hours of traveling doesn't sound exhausting and terrifying as it is- throw in the idea of doing it all ALONE! Although there will be a number of other US students traveling, I am the only student from the University of Illinois. Getting to Cape Town safely with all of my luggage will be an adventure in itself, but that's just the beginning of a life-changing experience.

In Cape Town I will be interning with an organization called SHAWCO - Students' Health and Welfare Centres Organisation. Although I cannot give exact details of what I will be doing, I can say I will be learning in formal lectures along with hands-on experiences and learning activities. Special excursions are also planned for some weekends to expand learning experiences to more of the country. I will also be receiving six approved hours of credit under my major.

Here are more specific details of which my internship will include:

The Health Sector:

SHAWCO Health co-ordinates 6 general clinics and 3 paediatric clinics in various Cape Town communities. These clinics often serve as the only port-of-call for community members who work during the day, or who cannot make the trip to the neighbouring Day Hospital. The clinics either operate from permanent Health Facilities or from SHAWCO Health’s three, fully-equipped Mobile Clinics.

During clinics, patients are seen by medical students under the supervision of a qualified volunteer doctor who oversees the proceedings, verifies diagnoses and provides advice. Clinical year students are responsible for clerking, examination and treatment of the patients, while also guiding and teaching pre-clinical students who observe, examine patients under guidance and complete admission forms. SHAWCO is now registered to dispense medication, and we have a fully stocked pharmacy with dispensing sisters who attend each clinic.

Health and Rehabilitation students also volunteer at some of the clinics – and run a special clinic for Cerebral Palsied children - contributing to the much-needed holistic health care model which SHAWCO aims to provide. 

Clinics operate weekly from the first week of February until the last week of October each year (approximately 30 sessions for each clinic) and see over 6000 patients in a year.

Students are transported to the clinics sites via SHAWCO buses – leaving UCT campus at 18h00 and returning once all the patients at the clinic have been attended to – approximately 22h30, sometimes as late as 01h00.

Students from the Faculty of Health Sciences also run the WREMS project: Waiting Room Education by Medical Students. Wrems employs a creative approach to empower people to adopt healthier lifestyles through information about their own health. Medical and Health Rehabilitation students, many of whom are also gifted in art, drama, music and computer graphics, employ various media to provide information regarding chronic lifestyle diseases, other common medical problems and general healthy living. This encourages patients to actively seek more information from the doctors during consultation, ask for various tests to be administered if they suspect they might have contracted one of these medical conditions, and in general, adopt healthier lifestyles. WREMS is active in all 6 general SHAWCO clinics.

Some of the areas in which you will or can be involved in are as follows:

• We are currently in the process of establishing a social referral network for all of our mobile clinics. This involves co-ordinating and  accessing information regarding the communities in which our clinics are based. This involved site visits and meeting with various organisations in each of the communities. Relevant people will be available to assist and accompany you on such visits. it will be a great opportunity for you to really see what is happening on the ground in terms of health care in our communities.
• We have a rural health trip to the Eastern Cape taking place in June. You are more than welcome to join the students on this trip and experience rural health care in South Africa (a once in a lifetime opportunity). Your job here would probably involve data collections rather than clinical work as you will not be registered. If this does appeal to you, don't worry about the classes for the course, I will make the necessary arrangements in this regard. 
• We are currently also conducting a health review for the sector. I am meeting with the relevant people on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of you being involved in this project.
• We have a group of visiting medical students from Norway who will be running clinics on Thursday and Fridays. You will also have the opportunity of attending these an assisting where necessary if you'd like to go out and see the clinics being run during the day.

Sounds like a great organization to be interning with- I'm very excited!

I will be staying in apartments just off the University of Cape Town campus in which I will be sharing with 4 other students- 2 girls, 2 guys. I will be paying and cooking my meals and will pay for internet by my usage.

Mailing Address for Regular Mail:

Jill Knuth

c/o Arcadia University

Postnet Suite #69

Private Bag X18

Rondebosch

7701

South Africa

Mailing address for private courier deliveries (e.g. UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.):

Jill Knuth

c/o Arcadia University

Postnet Rondebosch

Shop 35, Riverside Mall

Main Road

Rondebosch

7700

South Africa

As for now, that is a majority of the information I have on my trip. I take the GRE (basically the Grad School ACT) tomorrow night and now would be the time to stop procrastinating. But in less than 70 hours I will be on a plane!!! Wish me luck :)