“It always seems impossible until its done.” – Nelson Mandela

          So much blog catch up to do! So this past week and a half has been just as great, if not better, than the rest! Last week for clinical I was at a HIV/AIDS orphanage. At the orphanage we prepared medications for the children for the following day, then on our last day for the entire week. After we prepared the medications we were able to go into the cottages (the children’s homes) and play with the kids. They loved having us there so much and were climbing all over me for hours. It’s great to make them smile even for a little while, one “cottage mother” has so much on her plate and is so busy. It is amazing how the mothers care for the children as if they were their own.

            This week I am at a big hospital again (the same one I was at the first week). The nurses (called Sisters here in South Africa) were even more welcoming today because they remembered me and let me do everything a nurse would do. It was absolutely amazing how much they let me actually do, I felt like a real pediatric nurse (a dream come true)! The babies were wonderful of course too (they call me Auntie or Sister, SOOO CUTE)! Once again when the mothers left I was able to hold, play, rock and feed the babies and play with the older children. Even though most of the babies cry (for what seems like hours) because they are scared and in pain while you are holding them, its so worth it when you are able to comfort the next baby in your arms until their mommy comes back for them. 

          We have also been to many different places for fun in the past week as well. Last week I went out to dinner for amazing fresh sushi and to play pool on my night off during the week. After a long week of clinical, class and studying for our first test we all went out on Friday night to Long Street in downtown Cape Town. We all had a blast and our favorite place was called Dubliner where we danced and sang to great music from a cover band. On Saturday I went to my first Rugby game and it was so much fun! Rugby might just be right after football on my best sports to watch list. Saturday night a group of us went down to the Waterfront to have dinner and walk around. Of course it was absolutely beautiful and great to see at night. After dinner we all walked by the water and rode the ferris wheel, the view was absolutely stunning. Sunday was a relaxed day but also very fun. First a few of us went into downtown Cape Town to shop at Green Market Square. It was fun to barder with the merchants there and I bought so many fun gifts! After shopping I went down to the Waterfront again for Haagen-Dazs ice cream and then later was able to watch football. Watching football was definitely one of the best parts of the weekend (even though I am not pleased by the scores, as most of you know).

         Thanks for reading <3

Lions Head

So this was our first week of “real” living in South Africa. Monday through Wednesday we were in the hospitals and clinical sites. Thursday we went to school for the first time at the University of Cape Town! However, the weather prevented us from having a great first day. It poured on us for the duration of our forty-five minute walk up hill to campus. By the time we got there we were completely soaked! When I got to our classroom I was actually able to ring out my socks! The only really bad part was my backpack got soaking wet, so all of my homework and Ipod got wet too. But anyways, after being in class for eight hours my clothes dried just in time to walk home, and it was so sunny out! Then Friday we had class again, but Elaine (our professor) was kind enough to come over to our house to teach because we only had an hour of work to get through.

Last night we went to the American Consulate for a party at the marine house. It was a fun time and after we went out to Camps Bay. It was a little chilly down by the water but it was definitely worth it because it was so beautiful. And it was an added bonus to ride there and back in a bulletproof marine car!

Today a few of us went to Lions Head to hike for our first time! I was expecting to go on a hike and it turned into mountain climbing. The hike was 1200 feet above sea level, and included crawling, ladder climbing, and grabbing onto chains to get up to the top! It was so fun though, and it was absolutely beautiful the whole time. As you can see from the picture I posted, the view from the top was definitely worth it! The weather was perfect for hiking; I cannot wait to hike all of the mountains possible in South Africa.

So thank you everyone for reading my blog! I know a lot of people have been trying to comment on my blog and couldn’t, so I figured out how to make it so everyone could! I hope you all comment and enjoy my blog J

BABIES BABIES BABIES BABIES!!!

On Monday we visited all of the clinical sites that we will be at during our stay in South Africa. We went to two main hospitals and saw so many babies! Unlike the US the hospitals have wards instead of individual rooms. So one room is basically like a big open room with four to ten patients in it. It is really not like anything I have ever seen in the US. Then we visited our two volunteer sites. One was an orthopedic site and it was really sad to see all of the kids stuck and tied to beds in casts. The second site was the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, which is conveniently located right outside of my window! It was so busy there and it had all kinds of cases so I really think I’ll be able to learn a lot there. Two other sites that we will be at are orphanages for children who are in distress. Whether it is dying from a devastating childhood illness, parents dying or suffering from HIV, these sites take in these children. The seventh site is a clinic that people go into to get treatment when they don’t have healthcare. The site was very busy and I think we will be able to get a lot of hands on experience at the clinic.

            Today (Tuesday) was our first REAL day of clinical and I was in the hospital. I LOVED every minute of it! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! Ok you all get it! I was assigned to be in a ward with a wonderful nurse that had four children when I got there. The nurse showed me everything she was doing with medications, treatments and charting and by the end of the day I was doing it all on my own! The doctors were so helpful and let all of us nursing students go on rounds as they checked all of the pediatrics. I think I learned more today in clinical than I did in a whole semester at the hospitals in the US. When the babies’ parents left the ward I was able to hold the babies, I was in complete heaven of course. At one point the nurses and caregivers kept asking me if I wanted a break from holding a baby, because I held him for about two hours and he would cry unless I was walking around with him. The nurses obviously don’t know me very well because I don’t think I have ever been better! I am so excited to go back tomorrow!

the penguins and me :-)

Trip Around the Peninsula

      Today we made a journey around the peninsula of South Africa. Our first stop was at Fourth Beach. When we got out of the bus we all went and climbed up rocks to get a better view! It was beautiful on top of the rocks with the ocean in front of us and the mountains behind us. After Fourth Beach we departed to Hout Bay. At Hout Bay we walked around for about an hour. Nisha, Sarah and I shared an order of REALLY fresh fish and chips. It was amazing. After we scarfed down the fish and chips we walked around the craft market for a little while and looked at all of the interesting crafts. We also saw sea lions! One was right up on the boardwalk and another was right below us jumping up for fish! Next we were off to Camps Bay where we took a lot of beautiful pictures and had both the ocean and mountains in the background. For lunch we journeyed to Cape Point. I had amazing fresh seafood curry and vanilla crème brulee! After lunch we hiked to the lighthouse and saw amazing sites and took great pictures.  Some believe Cape Point is the most southern tip of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. I will pretend I touched the tip of Africa too and experienced two oceans meeting (even though I know differently), just because it sounds cool!

            At the end of our trip we saw penguins at Boulders Beach! We were only able to stay for a little bit before it closed but it was so neat to see all of the little cute penguins waddling around.

            Tomorrow we are going around to all of our pediatric clinical sites and I am so excited to start work in the hospitals and clinics! This week of orientation was truly amazing and it is really all thanks to Reverend Rose who planned out our whole week (and my awesome parents and grandparents who have helped me make my dream here a reality). I am so grateful to Reverend Rose for choosing me for this program and taking me through all of the different parts of Cape Town. 

Altydgedacht… Always In My Mind

            I know I have said this before but I can definitely say, Friday September 9 changed my life and my way of thinking. This day made me realize how fortunate I am, as well as the miracles of life.  Throughout the day we went to different townships on the Cape Flats in South Africa. We started out in Langa, which translates to “the sun.” Langa is the oldest township on the Cape Flats. In Langa we drove around to catch a glimpse of what it is like to live there. At one point we all got out of the bus to go into a “project.” It was like a craft store in a way and we were able to see them make the crafts right on the premises. Most of us bought a few souvenirs there. All of the proceeds from our souvenirs went directly to the people of Langa, so it was great to help out in ways that we were able to.  The next township we visited was Gugulethu, again. Gugulethu was the township we went to when we went to the church, on the first Sunday we were in Cape Town. Gugulethu is Xhosa for “our pride.” In Gugulethu there were people on the street plucking, butchering and cooking chickens, that is something you sure don’t see everyday in the US! The next township we went to was Khayelitsha, the largest township in Cape Town. Khayelitsha in English means “new home.” There were many people on the streets of Khayelitsha selling shoes, clothes, food, jewelry and much more to try and make some money. I have attached a picture of a typical house in the townships of South Africa. There are typically six people who live in one of the houses and they usually do not have electricity or running water. If they do have electricity it is usually stolen and port-o-potties are outside for human waste.

In Khayelitsha we went to TAC (Treatment Action Campaign). TAC has made such a difference in South Africa and it was both interesting and informative to hear everything TAC has accomplished. TAC focuses on people with HIV/AIDS to get treatment, support, and much more. They run clinics around the districts of South Africa where they do testing, support and treatment. TAC advocates for people with HIV/AIDS in South Africa and hopefully other organizations develop that do the same.

            After we toured around the townships we went to the Elonwabeni Project. Elonwabeni is a safe place where children who are in some way or another affected by HIV/AIDS can go, when they are abandoned or need temporary housing. Elonwabeni is not supposed to be permanent housing but some of the children have been there for over five years and are taken care of by the volunteers and housemothers. When we visited there were fourteen children staying in the two houses and the housemothers were making crafts to support the project. In order to keep the project alive the housemothers learned to make and sell a wire and bead type art. After buying some crafts to help the project we all went to play with the children. When we stepped into the backyard a few of the children ran into our arms and hugged us. We toured around the houses that the children and housemothers live in and then the children sang songs for us and danced, it was beautiful. One of the little girls at the house was completely blind and she had the most beautiful voice. It was so amazing to see the other children walk her around the yard and the house to help her find her way. At the end of our trop to Elonwabeni all of the children came up to us and hugged us goodbye, it was probably the best part of my day. Elonwabeni and the women who make Elonwabeni happen, in my opinion, are miracles.

            For dinner I ate at my first Thai restaurant and it was so much better than I imagined it would be! Maybe when I come home I wont be so picky of an eater!

            Today (Saturday, September 10) we toured two of the wine estates. The first estate was Altydgedacht, translating to “always in my mind.” At the estate we tasted about four or five wines and then went for a tour of the vineyard. The vineyard was so beautiful and at the top there was an amazing view of the city. The owners of the vineyard told us all about how they take care of the vineyard, as well as the history of it. On our truck ride we even saw ostrich!

            After Altydgedacht we went to Spier Wine Estate.  At Spier we started out by eating at their African Cuisine Buffet, and their were so many foods I have never even heard of! It was so great to be able to try all of the different African dishes! While we were eating a woman came around and painted our faces and others came around to sing! It was definitely a lunch I have never experienced in America!              

At Spier they also have a cheetahs and if we wanted to we were able to go inside and pet them. We all thought that in order to have us pet them they sedated the cheetahs, but in fact they are really good at their job and after a while they will just lay down and let you pet them! They were so cute and purred and played just like a really loud/big cat! 

            This afternoon I had my first full grocery shopping experience. The twenty-thirty minute walk there was really great and pretty. On the way back we were five American girls struggling with all of our groceries as we hiked home! The groceries became so heavy after a while. We will definitely all be much stronger by the time we get home (and appreciate our cars a lot more!!!). Tonight we all went out for Michelle’s (another student on the trip) birthday. It was a lot of fun but we definitely need to try and scope things out more as we go because we realized half way through the night that most of the people at two of the clubs were high school seniors!!! We all still had a blast and cannot wait to go out and continue to try new things.

The ants go marching...

          This morning we took a tour of Slave Lodge. Slave Lodge is a museum in the city of Cape Town where slaves were once held. The tour was pretty informative and at the same time we were told very tragic stories. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures so I cannot show them to you all. Even though there weren't any artifacts from the actual Slave Lodge in the museum, it was definitely worthwhile to go and hear stories about slavery in South Africa. 

          After Slave Lodge we walked around the city for a few hours before going to the American Consulate. In the city we went to a little cafe to have sandwiches and coffee! Following lunch we went to the stands on the streets and bartered with the merchants for different arts and crafts, at the price that we wanted them to be! It was a lot of fun and there were so many interesting things that I can't wait to go back and buy! At the American Consulate we got a security briefing and were basically a little scared coming out of there from the horror stories! But don't worry everyone, the girls and I are all extra cautious here! The gentleman who held the briefing invited us all to a 9/11 Memorial that they are having in Cape Town for the ten year anniversary of 9/11 and to a party with the Marines. We are all very excited to go to these events since we don't know anyone in Cape Town yet.

          Today when we came back from downtown Cape Town there was a million ants in my room. That is why I titled today's blog as such! The ants where all over the extra bed in my room, the curtains, walls and the carpet looked black because of the ants on one side of the room!!! Anyways, all is good, our landlord came and sprayed my room, the girls helped me get rid of the ants and I put my bed (with clean sheets and blankets) in the middle of the room away from where those things (ants) were!

           Tonight for dinner we went to Blue Chip. On Thursday evenings Blue Chip has jazz music (just like Swingers) but tonight the music was much more personal. The musicians played music that we all knew from the United States and Joe (our tour guide from the District Six museum) got up and dedicated  "What a Wonderful World" by Luis Armstrong to our group! It was so much fun to listen to the music and dance with Joe, Vernon, Parks, Elaine and the girls! Tonight was just another example of how great everyone has been to us in Cape Town so far.

          

Here is a random picture because I didn't have any from today but it is Jill, Nisha, Sarah and me jumping because we are so happy to be in beautiful Cape Town. This was at Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean is in the background!

p.s. Happy Birthday Abby! I hope you had a great 21 bday, can't wait to celebrate with you when I get back and bring you back fun African surprises!

Willy Wonka Met Disneyland

Tuesday we took a tour of the District Six Museum. Going through the museum definitely caused a lot of emotions and it was really a great educational experience. For those of you who don’t know, because I didn’t know before this week, District 6 is the area where non-whites were forced out of by whites. Whites wanted this land because it was excellent real estate due to the view of Table Mountain and the close proximity of the ocean and downtown Cape Town. When we got to the museum Joe, a gentlemen who once lived in District Six, gave us a little history about District 6 and what happened when non-whites were forced out of the area and onto the Cape Flats. It was heartbreaking to hear the stories from Joe and read about the events that happened during apartheid. Once I get faster internet I will put up a lot of pictures of the museum on facebook or another public site so everyone can see the different artifacts that I was able to take pictures of.

             After the tour we went over to Charly’s for lunch. Ben told us on our second day that Willy Wonka and Disneyland met and created Charly’s. I cannot think of a better way to describe this lunch and the bakery itself, except I might add that it is bakery for a princess! For my meal I had roasted vegetable and cheese quiche. After our lunch we had two cakes come out for Vernon’s birthday, a scrumptious cheesecake with chocolate swirl and icing and a delicious chocolate chocolate cake! I still cannot decide which was better, the surprise and huge grin on Vernon’s face or the outstanding food, I think it was a tie J.

            After Charly’s it was definitely time to walk off the cake around the astonishing downtown Cape Town. Vernon gave us a tour of all of the main spots in the city and where to go for great food, fun and shopping. There were so many little stands on the streets that were selling artwork and I am so excited to go back and bring some home to the US! After our tour with Vernon we went with Parks (another one of the gentlemen who has been helping out with bringing us around and looking after us) to see how to use the public transportation. It was definitely hectic in the Mini Bus station but I am so excited to get the cultural experience of taking a Mini Bus. Mini Bus (taxis) look like white works vans but they have rows of seats inside and pack in as many people as possible in. While driving through the streets of Cape Town the bus drivers and passengers yell and whistle to people walking on the streets to get them to ride the Mini Bus. Unlike the US, taking a Mini Bus into the city or to the beach will only be about R7 ($1 US)! I will definitely blog all about that experience when the time comes.

            For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant and I have to admit I was very skeptical at first. At the restaurant you share a table and food with the people sitting with you. You don’t eat with silverware so the first thing the servers do is bring over a pot of water for you to wash your hands with. It is hard to explain the food and how we ate it (pictures will go up of course later on). For an appetizer we dipped bread (kind of) into a feta and spinach dip, along with a hummus tasting dip. For our main course we had a variety of “mush.” Lamb and beef (which I am still not adventurous enough to eat either of), chicken, shrimp, chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach mush. We took a piece of bread (kind of) and used it as a wrap with our hands to pick up the mush. Our professor described the bread substance, as looking like gauze, which is true but only a nurse would say that! Overall, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the food, and the experience of the Ethiopian atmosphere only added to the amazement!

            This morning (Wednesday September 7) we departed for Robben Island. I was so excited all morning because I have really been anxiously awaiting this adventure. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandella spent seventeen out of his twenty nine years in prison and where many political activists were sent to prison. This was so they were further away from their families and others during apartheid. We took a ferry from the waterfront over to the island and even though it was windy and a little chilly it was beautiful! We took a tour of the whole island by bus, saw some interesting wildlife and all of the different buildings, and then took a walking tour. A prisoner who was on Robben Island for five years for political activism led the walking tour. He told us all about what it was like to be a prisoner on Robben Island and showed us all around the cells, courtyards, etc. We were able to read different quotes from the prisoners and we got to poke our heads into Nelson Mandella’s jail cell. While reading his book, A Long Walk to Freedom, I was constantly picturing what it was like on Robben Island while he was there and it was amazing to see what it is really like first hand. As you can see I wore a perfect shirt for the tour of the prison!

            After our bumpy ferry ride back a few of us had delicious chicken paninis on the waterfront. During lunch there were people dancing and singing on the sidewalk and we were able to watch and listen the whole time. It was really great to have free South African entertainment while we ate our meals! Subsequently the girls and I walked around the waterfront to see all of the different shops and enjoyed sitting outside in the beautiful 80-degree weather with our frozen yogurt!

            Over the past few days I was able to skype more than I ever thought I’d be able to, due to the South African internet! Tuesday night I talked with Katie and Abby when they got out of clinical for 40 minutes and it was great to see  friends from back home! Tonight I was able to skype with Karen and Olivia a little bit until we ran out of electricity (yes, in South Africa you just run out). Then later on this evening I skyped with my mom and Erin. I loved skyping with everyone, it makes me feel like we are so much closer than we really are and I love to know what you are all up to as well! Thank you for reading my blog, I really hope you are all enjoying it!