Mosque, minibus, and aquarium!

On Tuesday we went to a mosque during the day and it was absolutely beautiful inside (the picture of us on the right is some of us before we left, before we put our headscarves on). When we got there they had a women’s empowerment group and there was at least two hundred women there. It was really great to see so many women there to try and better themselves. One of the amazing things that I learned in the mosque was their soup kitchen serves about 4,000 children each and everyday. I thought this was absolutely outstanding for a community that barely has anything compared to what most of us have in the United States Everyone was so welcoming there, just like everywhere else we go.

  After the mosque we went out to dinner at a Muslim restaurant and the food was actually really good. It was buffet style and they had everything from seafood, to curry, vegetables, chicken and so many more yummy things! Gram, Grandpa, Gram Roccy, and Dad you guys would all be impressed at all of the different things I’ve been trying! But that doesn’t mean I am going to eat anything besides pasta and meatballs when I get home!

On Wednesday Sarah, Nisha and I went down to the waterfront to go to the aquarium and have lunch! On our way there we took a minibus and it was my first experience on a minibus. So a minibus taxi is basically a work van and they pack as many people as possible into it. The minibus drivers race the other drivers to get to people first and it is really quite the experience. So on my first minibus taxi ride we broke down on the side of the road and we all had to evacuate the bus, talk about an interesting first experience. While walking to the aquarium we passed three seals chilling out on the dock so that was pretty fun to watch for a while! The Two Oceans Aquarium was a lot of fun and I am so glad we went. We saw all different sea creatures and each one was so neat. We also saw African Penguins and we were just in time for the penguin feeding. I was bummed while we were in there because the sea turtle was hiding so we couldn’t see him, but then on our way out THERE HE WAS J. I was so excited and grabbed a few good pictures of him. After the aquarium the three of us went to a Thai restaurant for lunch, and for the first time I used chopsticks for my entire meal! I am really becoming culturally diverse here (haha)!  On our way home we took the minibus taxi again and of course we had another interesting experience. We were on the bus in the terminal waiting to pull out and the driver was yelling at a white man, “No white people, no white people! This is the new South Africa!” He was definitely joking because he let us on but it was still sooo awkward and all we could do was laugh! So we all crammed on the bus and were mushed the whole way home, but we made it!

So it is official, I have been here for half of the amount of time that I will be in South Africa and I really cannot believe how fast it is going and how much I am loving every second of it. Cape Town is absolutely beautiful and I would really suggest everyone to put it on your bucket list! I just finished final exams and tomorrow I am off to safari for the week so hopefully I’ll have plenty of great blogs and pictures for when I come back!

Hope you had a great birthday gram! I love you J… I miss and love my friends and family so much, even if I am having the time of my life!

The back of the minibus, before ten more people got on!

Climbing Table Mountain

 Last week a group of us hiked Table Mountain and it was seriously an experience of a lifetime! It took us about four and a half hours and the whole way up (3000 ft) was full of rock climbing. Our legs felt like jello by the time we were at the top but the view from was so worth the exhaustion. At the top there was different "look-outs" to see all of Cape Town, amazing spots for pictures, a restaurant and gift shop. It was really such a beautiful day and I have never seen a sight so amazing in my life. The hike was unlike any other hike I've ever done and I am not sure anything else can compare to it. I really cannot wait to climb Table Mountain again!!!

Hermanus Whale Festival

    This past Saturday we went to the Hermanus Whale Festival and it was a blast! When we arrived in Hermanus we walked along the Indian Ocean and took pictures down by the water. There we started our day by seeing three whales!

  After hanging out by the water a bunch of us went zip lining (tree top sliding) and it was really a blast! The site where we went included about six different lines of different lengths and each time was better than the one before! I never thought I’d be able to say I zip lined through the forest in South Africa!

  Following zip lining we went into the town of Hermanus to have lunch, fresh fish and chips! We then shopped around Hermanus and bought sooooo many souvenirs! Maybe even too many, hehe!!! After souvenir shopping/bargaining we walked along a trail where we saw two whales who gave us a show! I felt like they knew we were there and kept coming up for us so we could get amazing pictures.

  After seeing the whales and buying all of our souvenirs the whole group went to an Italian restaurant down by the water where we ended our journey in Hermanus. The Hermanus Whale Festival was a blast and I am so fortunate to have that amazing experience.

“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 :-)