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 :)