It’s definitely been an exciting week in the hospital! I got to see a ton of deliveries, and even a few c-sections!
Monday was pretty slow, but Tuesday we had a ton of patients come in. Throughout the day, I saw 6 patients, which is much more than our usual 2 or 3. Now that I’ve been there for a little while, I’ve been able to help out more around the ward and the nurses feel a lot more comfortable with me.
Wednesday we decided to “give back” a little more and go help out in the pharmacy for the day. Because it was the same day as the diabetes clinic and all the patients were renewing their monthly medications, it was crazy busy! We had a very very brief orientation, and then we thrown in filling prescriptions. After the first 5 or so, we got the hang of it, and were soon flying through each one. We still got stuck on a couple, especially with some of the doctors extremely messy handwriting, but the pharmacy staff was super nice and helpful. The day went by fast, even though our pile of charts was huge right up until 4 pm. We’re going to go back again next Wednesday, another diabetes day, so we’ll know most of the medications ahead of time.
Thursday was again a little slow, but Friday I got to see my first c-sections! I was helping out transport a patient down to theatre (what they call the OR here) and the midwife I was with asked if I wanted to stay and watch, so I readily agreed! We changed into scrubs, booties, masks and caps and went in to the OR with the doctors. After a little complication trying to explain to the nurses that I was there just to observe, not assist, the surgery got underway. It was definitely interesting, and even though I was nervous beforehand about feeling lightheaded, I was totally fine. The c-section only took about 45 minutes, and right after it was finished, the doctor told me he was just heading to another, and I was welcome to join! It turned out I got to scrub in on 2 more, and I learned a ton in both. Even though I was exhausted after being on my feet in an operating room for about 4 hours, it was definitely worth it.
This weekend was pretty relaxed, yesterday Sally and I decided to head down to a Saturday morning market, which was more of a tiny local farmer’s market and tea garden. It was actually one of the most adorable things I’ve ever done, we each got our own little teapot of chai tea and some rhubarb cake in the pretty garden. After, we headed to Pick n’ Pay (a huge grocery store chain in SA) for some lunch staples and headed back to the house. Today, we were feeling a little more adventurous, and decided to go for an epic walk. It turned out to be a little more epic than we originally inteneded, and after 2 hours of walking and getting a little lost we found ourself at the center of town and grabbed some lunch at Nando’s (another SA chain that has delicious spicy Portuguese-style chicken). Now we’re just relaxing, catching up on our daily logs for our project and looking forward to dinner.
I’m definitely excited for our next two weeks at Eshowe before heading back to Durban to finish up the semester. I can’t believe I’ll be home in only 3 and a half weeks!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Deliveries, birthdays, and more!
My first few days at Eshowe have certainly been exciting! To explain everything would take forever, but here's some highlights:
-I got to see my first delivery on Friday! Two girls came in at the same time around 9 in the morning, so I got to see the whole process from admission to delivery. It was pretty exciting, and the nurses were great at answering questions for me and explaining how charting works. Yes, the baby was pretty adorable, and no, I wasn't grossed out at all! I guess my career choice of being an obstetric & gynecology PA won't have to change :)
-Saturday was my 21st birthday! Not quite as exciting as many 21sts are in the states, but we had a good day including seeing some zebras, taking a walk on the beach (I've officially spent more time at the Indian Ocean than the Atlantic...), and having a braai (South African's bbq... delicious).
-Today we checked out the Dlinza forest, a 20 minute walk from the B&B. There's a cool aerial boardwalk, a viewing tower, and some trails that wind through the forest. It was beautiful, and our tour guide/security guy took pictures of us and let us climb some 600 year old trees in the forest (according to him, all the trees were "too old")
Tomorrow starts our first full week at the hospital. I'll be spending the majority of the time on the labor ward, but we're planning on helping out in the pharmacy for a day as well. This unlimited wi-fi is definitely a luxury, which means lots more posts in the next few weeks :)
-I got to see my first delivery on Friday! Two girls came in at the same time around 9 in the morning, so I got to see the whole process from admission to delivery. It was pretty exciting, and the nurses were great at answering questions for me and explaining how charting works. Yes, the baby was pretty adorable, and no, I wasn't grossed out at all! I guess my career choice of being an obstetric & gynecology PA won't have to change :)
-Saturday was my 21st birthday! Not quite as exciting as many 21sts are in the states, but we had a good day including seeing some zebras, taking a walk on the beach (I've officially spent more time at the Indian Ocean than the Atlantic...), and having a braai (South African's bbq... delicious).
-Today we checked out the Dlinza forest, a 20 minute walk from the B&B. There's a cool aerial boardwalk, a viewing tower, and some trails that wind through the forest. It was beautiful, and our tour guide/security guy took pictures of us and let us climb some 600 year old trees in the forest (according to him, all the trees were "too old")
Tomorrow starts our first full week at the hospital. I'll be spending the majority of the time on the labor ward, but we're planning on helping out in the pharmacy for a day as well. This unlimited wi-fi is definitely a luxury, which means lots more posts in the next few weeks :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Last week of pre-ISP and first few days of Eshowe!
Sawubona from Eshowe!!
Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week or so… the combination of having a HUGE paper due plus long days of lectures in Durban wasn’t too exciting! Some highlights from the past week and half:
Our classes are basically split into two (besides Zulu)… CHS and our ISP. Our final CHS (community health seminar) paper was due on Tuesday, and none of us had really work done on it, so most of our past week was spent researching and writing the 25 page paper. We did have some time for fun though :)
Saturday we had the whole day free so some of my penthouse-mates and I decided to head to Gateway- ACTUALLY the largest mall in the southern hemisphere (apparently Pavilion, the mall we go to all the time that I thought was the largest is just a really huge mall…). We decided to be brave and take a minibus taxi there, and we definitely got some strange looks as white people never take them. A metered taxi would have cost us around R300 (about $40) each way, while the minibus only cost R8 (a little over $1!) so it definitely fit our limited budgets.
The ride there was pretty uneventful (luckily) and we got to Gateway without incident. It’s located in the neighbourhood of Umhlanga Rocks, a very wealthy suburb of Durban. KwaZulu-Natal license plates all start with the letter N followed by a one or two letter code for which city the car is registered in. The way our van driver, S’du, taught us to find the “rich people” was look for NUR… as in Natal-Umhlanga Rocks or Now U R Rich! There was definitely no shortage of BMWs and mansions around the mall…
The mall was definitely gigantic, and even though we didn’t do any shopping we had a great time. We got some lunch, checked out the world’s largest indoor climbing wall, and went right outside to the “Wave House”, basically a water park deal where they recreate surfing waves for surfers and body boarders to practice on (it was essentially a super-sized version of the ones you see on cruise ships). We ended up spending an hour or so just watching all the guys on the waves… some were REALLY good, others not so much.
The ride home was a little more eventful, as our minibus taxi broke down on the side of the highway and we had to transfer to another one, but we made it back safe just fine. That night, we headed out to the AmaZulu-Kaiser Chiefs game at Moses Mabhida Stadium. The Chiefs are one of the most popular teams in South Africa, so there were tons of people there and seeing a game under the lights was awesome. We decided that AmaZulu was kinda boring and not very good, so our allegiances switched over to the Chiefs pretty fast. Good thing too, because they won 2-0!
Sunday and Monday were spent paper writing, so Tuesday after we turned it in we decided to go out and celebrate our last night in the penthouse. We went to the harbor for the first time (the busiest port in Africa) and had some dinner right on the water. It was an awesome last night :)
We woke up really early on Wednesday to pack up, head to the house to drop off our extra baggage, and me, Sally and Shuang headed off to Eshowe! It was a pretty short drive, and we got to our B&B around 11. The woman who owns it is super nice, and she makes all of our meals for us. Theres two younger guys who live here year round, and they were both really welcoming and friendly. After we dropped our things off we headed to the hospital, about a 20 minute walk from our B&B. We didn’t mind though, because Eshowe is beautiful! It’s a little strange, because we haven’t been anywhere like this in South Africa yet. Durban is a large city, and all of our rural stays were out in the middle of nowhere, but Eshowe is somewhere in between. I love it though, and it’s kind of like a South Africa version of Hebron.
We met the Medical Manager, who was really nice, and gave us a tour of the hospital. It’s definitely different than American hospitals, but pretty similar to the hospitals we’ve visited so far here. We headed back around 4 and spent the evening relaxing.
This morning we got to the hospital in time for the 7:30 doctors meeting, and then I went up to the labour ward and essentially walked into a delivery! Unfortunately the chaos was a little confusing for everyone and I didn’t get to go in, but I will be seeing plenty in the next few weeks.
The rest of the day was spent talking to nurses and roaming around the hospital- we’re still trying to get a feel of where we should be going and what we should be doing. We headed home around 2:30 in a torrential downpour so now we’re just hanging out warming up and drying out. I’m definitely excited for the next few weeks!
This is the first time I’ll have super reliable internet since I’ve been here- which means lots of blog posts!
Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week or so… the combination of having a HUGE paper due plus long days of lectures in Durban wasn’t too exciting! Some highlights from the past week and half:
Our classes are basically split into two (besides Zulu)… CHS and our ISP. Our final CHS (community health seminar) paper was due on Tuesday, and none of us had really work done on it, so most of our past week was spent researching and writing the 25 page paper. We did have some time for fun though :)
Saturday we had the whole day free so some of my penthouse-mates and I decided to head to Gateway- ACTUALLY the largest mall in the southern hemisphere (apparently Pavilion, the mall we go to all the time that I thought was the largest is just a really huge mall…). We decided to be brave and take a minibus taxi there, and we definitely got some strange looks as white people never take them. A metered taxi would have cost us around R300 (about $40) each way, while the minibus only cost R8 (a little over $1!) so it definitely fit our limited budgets.
The ride there was pretty uneventful (luckily) and we got to Gateway without incident. It’s located in the neighbourhood of Umhlanga Rocks, a very wealthy suburb of Durban. KwaZulu-Natal license plates all start with the letter N followed by a one or two letter code for which city the car is registered in. The way our van driver, S’du, taught us to find the “rich people” was look for NUR… as in Natal-Umhlanga Rocks or Now U R Rich! There was definitely no shortage of BMWs and mansions around the mall…
The mall was definitely gigantic, and even though we didn’t do any shopping we had a great time. We got some lunch, checked out the world’s largest indoor climbing wall, and went right outside to the “Wave House”, basically a water park deal where they recreate surfing waves for surfers and body boarders to practice on (it was essentially a super-sized version of the ones you see on cruise ships). We ended up spending an hour or so just watching all the guys on the waves… some were REALLY good, others not so much.
The ride home was a little more eventful, as our minibus taxi broke down on the side of the highway and we had to transfer to another one, but we made it back safe just fine. That night, we headed out to the AmaZulu-Kaiser Chiefs game at Moses Mabhida Stadium. The Chiefs are one of the most popular teams in South Africa, so there were tons of people there and seeing a game under the lights was awesome. We decided that AmaZulu was kinda boring and not very good, so our allegiances switched over to the Chiefs pretty fast. Good thing too, because they won 2-0!
Sunday and Monday were spent paper writing, so Tuesday after we turned it in we decided to go out and celebrate our last night in the penthouse. We went to the harbor for the first time (the busiest port in Africa) and had some dinner right on the water. It was an awesome last night :)
We woke up really early on Wednesday to pack up, head to the house to drop off our extra baggage, and me, Sally and Shuang headed off to Eshowe! It was a pretty short drive, and we got to our B&B around 11. The woman who owns it is super nice, and she makes all of our meals for us. Theres two younger guys who live here year round, and they were both really welcoming and friendly. After we dropped our things off we headed to the hospital, about a 20 minute walk from our B&B. We didn’t mind though, because Eshowe is beautiful! It’s a little strange, because we haven’t been anywhere like this in South Africa yet. Durban is a large city, and all of our rural stays were out in the middle of nowhere, but Eshowe is somewhere in between. I love it though, and it’s kind of like a South Africa version of Hebron.
We met the Medical Manager, who was really nice, and gave us a tour of the hospital. It’s definitely different than American hospitals, but pretty similar to the hospitals we’ve visited so far here. We headed back around 4 and spent the evening relaxing.
This morning we got to the hospital in time for the 7:30 doctors meeting, and then I went up to the labour ward and essentially walked into a delivery! Unfortunately the chaos was a little confusing for everyone and I didn’t get to go in, but I will be seeing plenty in the next few weeks.
The rest of the day was spent talking to nurses and roaming around the hospital- we’re still trying to get a feel of where we should be going and what we should be doing. We headed home around 2:30 in a torrential downpour so now we’re just hanging out warming up and drying out. I’m definitely excited for the next few weeks!
This is the first time I’ll have super reliable internet since I’ve been here- which means lots of blog posts!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Pre-ISP
Sorry for the lack of posting- not too much to report! I've been keeping busy with classes and assignments- both our huge Community Health paper and our proposals for our Independent Study Project are due soon. We've been having lectures everyday from 8-4 which can get a little tedious at times but definitely a nice break after a few weeks of craziness.
I just confirmed yesterday where I'm going for my project- Eshowe Hospital! I'll be looking at the steps the hospital is taking to prevent maternal mortality through labor and delivery practices. I'll be on the maternity floor every day, and I'm very excited!
Outside of school, we've been thoroughly enjoying our penthouse apartment. It's incredible, and I love waking up to sunrises over the Indian Ocean!
I'll be leaving for the hospital next Thursday, and in the meantime it's just class and assignments, but I'll keep you updated on any new and exciting things :)
I just confirmed yesterday where I'm going for my project- Eshowe Hospital! I'll be looking at the steps the hospital is taking to prevent maternal mortality through labor and delivery practices. I'll be on the maternity floor every day, and I'm very excited!
Outside of school, we've been thoroughly enjoying our penthouse apartment. It's incredible, and I love waking up to sunrises over the Indian Ocean!
I'll be leaving for the hospital next Thursday, and in the meantime it's just class and assignments, but I'll keep you updated on any new and exciting things :)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rural week and Drakensberg!
Hello everyone!
I made it through our rural adventure! It was definitely an amazing week, and got better every day. Here’s a little summary of what happened:
Monday
We moved out of Cato early Monday morning- it was a little sad but I was ready to move out. It gets pretty tiring being a guest in someone’s house for over a month. We drove about an hour and a half north to Amatikulu/Wangu and spent the morning listening about Community Health Workers. We then had a quick lunch at Steers (SA’s McDonald’s equivalent) and then drove all over Wangu to our homestays. My friend Alexa and I were the last ones to be dropped off, so we spent 2 hours in the van while everyone else got to their homestays- all of the houses were about 20 minutes apart. Our home was definitely the most rural of all the ones I’ve been in- it had just 3 tiny rooms with 7 people living in it! Our mama lived there with her two sons, Mthoko (11), and Bongani (7), and her two nieces, Noxolo (12), and Anele (6). Noxolo and Anele’s parents had both died five years ago, and lived permanently with our mama. There were also 3 other kids that spent the night with us, Banele (3), Nonto (3), and Wandile (4). Needless to say, it was pretty crowded! That night, we all packed into the bedroom that had three beds, and we ended up sharing one with Anele (and quickly found out that she punches in her sleep….). Here's a picture of our house:
Tuesday
We woke up around 5:30 on Tuesday morning; everyone else was getting up and since we were all in the same room, that means we got up too. After the kids headed off to school, we went with mama to visit some houses in the community. We visited all kinds of people with all kids of ailments- from arthritis to TB to diabetes. The last woman had to have her leg amputated from diabetes and had a large necrotic patch on her other foot. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many people to see that day, so we ended up heading back to the house around 11. Since it was pretty rainy and gross out, me and Alexa ended up spending the rest of the day in the house and got bored pretty quickly. Although we had electricity and a TV, we didn’t want to waste it so we spent most of the day reading in bed. I’ve already made it though 5 books since I’ve been here- we’ll see how many I get through by December! After the kids got home it was a little bit more entertaining, but we were both ready for the day to be over.
Wednesday
We got picked up in the morning and headed straight to Umthwalume, about 45 minutes south of Durban right on the coast. We first visited a school, which was absolutely amazing. They were very focused on teaching life skills, and incorporated gardening and recycling projects into their lessons. They were all so welcoming and we all wanted to go back! In the afternoon, we visited a Love Life center. Love Life was started in 1999, and was South Africa’s largest HIV/AIDS prevention program in the country. It targets teenagers, and has a range of programs and centers focused on improving their lives and keeping them from contracting HIV/AIDS. Apparently a few years back, Love Life was a huge presence in SA, but due to lack of funding, their impact has dropped a little bit. We were all a little unimpressed at the current state of this center, but could tell the impact it must have had in the past ten years. We then were dropped off at our homestays, and it was by far my favourite one yet. Our family was super welcoming and fun, and spoke great English which made communication a whole lot easier. My friend Sally and I spent the evening hanging out with the family (which included 4 aunts, an uncle, a gogo, and 5 kids) and watching Rhythm City and Generations (the soapies of choice for most Zulu families).
Kids in front of Bongibizo school:
Thursday
Our first stop of the day was visiting another traditional healer, which was pretty much the same as the other ones we’ve seen. We were all a little anxious for the rest of the day- it was definitely the most fun rural day we’ve had. For lunch, we went to a restaurant right on the beach, and got to spend a few hours taking pictures and hanging out. Even though it was super windy, we were all so happy that it wasn’t raining for once! We then went to an arts center, and learned how to do Zulu beading! Zulu beads are HUGE here, every Zulu woman has lots of necklaces, bracelets, belts, and skirts worn for traditional events, and we’ve all been stocking up at the little markets around Durban. At the center, we were taught how to make AIDS ribbon pins, and even though they were pretty small, it took us about 3 hours to make. Everyone was teasing me about my camp counselor arts and crafts skills, and challenged me to finish first. I’m proud to say that I upheld my title . We headed back that afternoon and had another fun and relaxing evening and got ready to head to the Drakensberg the next day!
Me and Sally's family in Umthwalume:
Friday
Before heading north, we stopped by at a TB hospital- I’m not too interested in TB, but it was interesting to see. We then had a 4 hour drive inland to Underberg, and then another short drive to Cobham, where our campsite was. Because it was pretty rainy, most of us chose to sleep in the hut that was right next to our site, it had tons of bunk beds and even a flushing toilet (but no electricity…). There was still a little sun when we first got there, so we got to see our beautiful surroundings. I’ve seen lots of mountains in my life, but these were by far the coolest and most epic ones. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, making some dinner, and got to bed early for our big hike the next day.
Saturday
We were all a little nervous for our big hike… we were told that it was rare the whole group made it to the top! The first hour of the hike was completely flat and followed along a stream- and because there were very few trees, we had amazing views the whole way. After the first hour, we started heading up. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was the hardest hike that most of us had ever been on. It was incredibly steep, but luckily the view was incredible. A few of us (including me) were feeling the altitude, and had to take a pretty long break before we didn’t feel so dizzy. Luckily, it was easy to continue at our own pace so we ended up splitting up. After what seemed like an endless climb, we finally reached the bushman paintings almost at the top. Even though they were only a few hundred years old, they were still pretty cool! After that, the trail seemed to end, and we couldn’t see the rest of the group, so we kind of had to figure out our own way to the top. My friend Kelsey and I thought we found a relatively easy way, until we were trying to traverse a near vertical drop to get to the top. It was pretty scary, and made me realize that I actually do have a fear of heights…. We finally reached the top, but had to scale a rock face (and almost died again) to reach the rest of the group. It was definitely worth it when we got to the top! All of us made it up, and Zed, our director, was pretty impressed. Clouds looked to be rolling in, so we started heading down pretty quick, but luckily we got tons of pictures. By the time we got to the base our feet were killing and we were exhausted, but Zed pointed out a pool in the stream that we could swim in! It was pretty cold but super refreshing after our long hike, and we had an amazing time cooling off. We then had to walk the hour back to the site- a 6 hour hike in all! We were all sooo tired by the time we got back, and spent the afternoon relaxing and eating.
View from the top of the mountain!
Sunday
Today we packed up early and began the trip back to Durban. After stopping at the house quick to pick up our extra luggage, we got to move into our penthouse at Windemere! This definitely one of the nicest places I’ve ever lived- our apartment is HUGE and we even have DSTV (which means Sportscenter every morning!!). Right now, we’re all enjoying the view and laying in our own beds for the first time in a week.
This week was definitely an adventure, but I’m happy to be settled again. I’ll be here for another two and a half weeks before we start our project!
Also, I just added a TON of pictures to facebook, here's the link to the album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070757&id=1084770080&l=efa4e94fe3
I made it through our rural adventure! It was definitely an amazing week, and got better every day. Here’s a little summary of what happened:
Monday
We moved out of Cato early Monday morning- it was a little sad but I was ready to move out. It gets pretty tiring being a guest in someone’s house for over a month. We drove about an hour and a half north to Amatikulu/Wangu and spent the morning listening about Community Health Workers. We then had a quick lunch at Steers (SA’s McDonald’s equivalent) and then drove all over Wangu to our homestays. My friend Alexa and I were the last ones to be dropped off, so we spent 2 hours in the van while everyone else got to their homestays- all of the houses were about 20 minutes apart. Our home was definitely the most rural of all the ones I’ve been in- it had just 3 tiny rooms with 7 people living in it! Our mama lived there with her two sons, Mthoko (11), and Bongani (7), and her two nieces, Noxolo (12), and Anele (6). Noxolo and Anele’s parents had both died five years ago, and lived permanently with our mama. There were also 3 other kids that spent the night with us, Banele (3), Nonto (3), and Wandile (4). Needless to say, it was pretty crowded! That night, we all packed into the bedroom that had three beds, and we ended up sharing one with Anele (and quickly found out that she punches in her sleep….). Here's a picture of our house:
Tuesday
We woke up around 5:30 on Tuesday morning; everyone else was getting up and since we were all in the same room, that means we got up too. After the kids headed off to school, we went with mama to visit some houses in the community. We visited all kinds of people with all kids of ailments- from arthritis to TB to diabetes. The last woman had to have her leg amputated from diabetes and had a large necrotic patch on her other foot. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many people to see that day, so we ended up heading back to the house around 11. Since it was pretty rainy and gross out, me and Alexa ended up spending the rest of the day in the house and got bored pretty quickly. Although we had electricity and a TV, we didn’t want to waste it so we spent most of the day reading in bed. I’ve already made it though 5 books since I’ve been here- we’ll see how many I get through by December! After the kids got home it was a little bit more entertaining, but we were both ready for the day to be over.
Wednesday
We got picked up in the morning and headed straight to Umthwalume, about 45 minutes south of Durban right on the coast. We first visited a school, which was absolutely amazing. They were very focused on teaching life skills, and incorporated gardening and recycling projects into their lessons. They were all so welcoming and we all wanted to go back! In the afternoon, we visited a Love Life center. Love Life was started in 1999, and was South Africa’s largest HIV/AIDS prevention program in the country. It targets teenagers, and has a range of programs and centers focused on improving their lives and keeping them from contracting HIV/AIDS. Apparently a few years back, Love Life was a huge presence in SA, but due to lack of funding, their impact has dropped a little bit. We were all a little unimpressed at the current state of this center, but could tell the impact it must have had in the past ten years. We then were dropped off at our homestays, and it was by far my favourite one yet. Our family was super welcoming and fun, and spoke great English which made communication a whole lot easier. My friend Sally and I spent the evening hanging out with the family (which included 4 aunts, an uncle, a gogo, and 5 kids) and watching Rhythm City and Generations (the soapies of choice for most Zulu families).
Kids in front of Bongibizo school:
Thursday
Our first stop of the day was visiting another traditional healer, which was pretty much the same as the other ones we’ve seen. We were all a little anxious for the rest of the day- it was definitely the most fun rural day we’ve had. For lunch, we went to a restaurant right on the beach, and got to spend a few hours taking pictures and hanging out. Even though it was super windy, we were all so happy that it wasn’t raining for once! We then went to an arts center, and learned how to do Zulu beading! Zulu beads are HUGE here, every Zulu woman has lots of necklaces, bracelets, belts, and skirts worn for traditional events, and we’ve all been stocking up at the little markets around Durban. At the center, we were taught how to make AIDS ribbon pins, and even though they were pretty small, it took us about 3 hours to make. Everyone was teasing me about my camp counselor arts and crafts skills, and challenged me to finish first. I’m proud to say that I upheld my title . We headed back that afternoon and had another fun and relaxing evening and got ready to head to the Drakensberg the next day!
Me and Sally's family in Umthwalume:
Friday
Before heading north, we stopped by at a TB hospital- I’m not too interested in TB, but it was interesting to see. We then had a 4 hour drive inland to Underberg, and then another short drive to Cobham, where our campsite was. Because it was pretty rainy, most of us chose to sleep in the hut that was right next to our site, it had tons of bunk beds and even a flushing toilet (but no electricity…). There was still a little sun when we first got there, so we got to see our beautiful surroundings. I’ve seen lots of mountains in my life, but these were by far the coolest and most epic ones. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, making some dinner, and got to bed early for our big hike the next day.
Saturday
We were all a little nervous for our big hike… we were told that it was rare the whole group made it to the top! The first hour of the hike was completely flat and followed along a stream- and because there were very few trees, we had amazing views the whole way. After the first hour, we started heading up. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was the hardest hike that most of us had ever been on. It was incredibly steep, but luckily the view was incredible. A few of us (including me) were feeling the altitude, and had to take a pretty long break before we didn’t feel so dizzy. Luckily, it was easy to continue at our own pace so we ended up splitting up. After what seemed like an endless climb, we finally reached the bushman paintings almost at the top. Even though they were only a few hundred years old, they were still pretty cool! After that, the trail seemed to end, and we couldn’t see the rest of the group, so we kind of had to figure out our own way to the top. My friend Kelsey and I thought we found a relatively easy way, until we were trying to traverse a near vertical drop to get to the top. It was pretty scary, and made me realize that I actually do have a fear of heights…. We finally reached the top, but had to scale a rock face (and almost died again) to reach the rest of the group. It was definitely worth it when we got to the top! All of us made it up, and Zed, our director, was pretty impressed. Clouds looked to be rolling in, so we started heading down pretty quick, but luckily we got tons of pictures. By the time we got to the base our feet were killing and we were exhausted, but Zed pointed out a pool in the stream that we could swim in! It was pretty cold but super refreshing after our long hike, and we had an amazing time cooling off. We then had to walk the hour back to the site- a 6 hour hike in all! We were all sooo tired by the time we got back, and spent the afternoon relaxing and eating.
View from the top of the mountain!
Sunday
Today we packed up early and began the trip back to Durban. After stopping at the house quick to pick up our extra luggage, we got to move into our penthouse at Windemere! This definitely one of the nicest places I’ve ever lived- our apartment is HUGE and we even have DSTV (which means Sportscenter every morning!!). Right now, we’re all enjoying the view and laying in our own beds for the first time in a week.
This week was definitely an adventure, but I’m happy to be settled again. I’ll be here for another two and a half weeks before we start our project!
Also, I just added a TON of pictures to facebook, here's the link to the album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070757&id=1084770080&l=efa4e94fe3
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Rest of Red Cross
I’m writing to you from my bedroom in Cato Manor for the last time! Sadly, I’m moving out tomorrow morning, and while I’m excited to start the rest of the semester, I’m definitely sad to be leaving my homestay family.
The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, we spent every day at the Red Cross and we all passed our First Aid test on Friday morning. The class was definitely an experience, and I’m not sure I’ll take a ton away from it (considering they told us that under no circumstances were we to feel for a pulse, which pretty much goes against everything I’ve ever been told in the States), but it was a lot of fun and now I’m level 2 certified!
We finished up early on Friday, and decided to go to the beach for a few hours before heading back to the house. Durban installed a new bus system before the World Cup, which is clean, relatively reliable, and much safer than minibus taxis, and only costs R10 for a day pass (about $1.50). I’m definitely getting used to spending lots of time on the beach- I’ve been more in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 6 years! I also just found out that I’ll be living in the penthouse apartment of Windemere (where we stayed a few weeks back) for my pre-project time, and I’m incredibly excited. It’ll only be about $18 a night- definitely a deal!
Yesterday I spent a little time at the mall buying some goodbye gifts and getting stuff to make dinner that night. Having grocery stores in the mall is super convenient- something I’m going to miss when I get back to the States. Without a working oven I was a little limited in what I could cook, but I made some delicious pasta and garlic bread for my family, which they loved.
Today I’ve been busy packing and writing essays in preparation to move out tomorrow morning. Next week is going to be pretty crazy- we’ll be rural all week finishing with camping and hiking in the Drakensberg! I’ll be in the village of Amatikulu on the North Coast until Wednesday morning, then the village of Umthwalume south of Durban on the coast until Friday, before heading to the Drakensberg. I’ll probably be going a solid week or so with no running water- we’ll see how it goes!
I won’t have any internet access for a while- but expect a long update when I get back!
The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, we spent every day at the Red Cross and we all passed our First Aid test on Friday morning. The class was definitely an experience, and I’m not sure I’ll take a ton away from it (considering they told us that under no circumstances were we to feel for a pulse, which pretty much goes against everything I’ve ever been told in the States), but it was a lot of fun and now I’m level 2 certified!
We finished up early on Friday, and decided to go to the beach for a few hours before heading back to the house. Durban installed a new bus system before the World Cup, which is clean, relatively reliable, and much safer than minibus taxis, and only costs R10 for a day pass (about $1.50). I’m definitely getting used to spending lots of time on the beach- I’ve been more in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 6 years! I also just found out that I’ll be living in the penthouse apartment of Windemere (where we stayed a few weeks back) for my pre-project time, and I’m incredibly excited. It’ll only be about $18 a night- definitely a deal!
Yesterday I spent a little time at the mall buying some goodbye gifts and getting stuff to make dinner that night. Having grocery stores in the mall is super convenient- something I’m going to miss when I get back to the States. Without a working oven I was a little limited in what I could cook, but I made some delicious pasta and garlic bread for my family, which they loved.
Today I’ve been busy packing and writing essays in preparation to move out tomorrow morning. Next week is going to be pretty crazy- we’ll be rural all week finishing with camping and hiking in the Drakensberg! I’ll be in the village of Amatikulu on the North Coast until Wednesday morning, then the village of Umthwalume south of Durban on the coast until Friday, before heading to the Drakensberg. I’ll probably be going a solid week or so with no running water- we’ll see how it goes!
I won’t have any internet access for a while- but expect a long update when I get back!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Durban Weekend and First Aid Course
This has to be a short post because we're about to go home from the SIT house, but I just had a great weekend in Durban and am having a great week in our First Aid Level 2 class!
Early Saturday we left for Tekwini Backpackers, and 6 of us moved into our dorm-style room. The place was awesome- nice people, nice rooms, and fun to hang out at. It was pretty rainy and gross so we spent the day hanging out at Tekwini and cooking dinner. That night, we managed to find another bachelor party and went out to a bunch of bars and clubs.
Sunday we spent some time around the city, and just relaxed before the week ahead.
This week I'm taking a First Aid level 2 course at the Red Cross- it's definitely an experience! A lot of what we're learning is very different from what I've been trained in in the States, so it's a little tricky figuring out exactly what they want us to do. Our instructer is also a little morbid and intense, so pretty much every kind of illness or wound in her mind ends in death. At least we spend the last hour of every class practicing bandages- definitely the highlight of the day.
Sorry for the short post, I'll definitely post another one when the week's finished!
Early Saturday we left for Tekwini Backpackers, and 6 of us moved into our dorm-style room. The place was awesome- nice people, nice rooms, and fun to hang out at. It was pretty rainy and gross so we spent the day hanging out at Tekwini and cooking dinner. That night, we managed to find another bachelor party and went out to a bunch of bars and clubs.
Sunday we spent some time around the city, and just relaxed before the week ahead.
This week I'm taking a First Aid level 2 course at the Red Cross- it's definitely an experience! A lot of what we're learning is very different from what I've been trained in in the States, so it's a little tricky figuring out exactly what they want us to do. Our instructer is also a little morbid and intense, so pretty much every kind of illness or wound in her mind ends in death. At least we spend the last hour of every class practicing bandages- definitely the highlight of the day.
Sorry for the short post, I'll definitely post another one when the week's finished!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Impendle!
Sanibonani abangane bami!
The past few days have definitely been eventful! The weekend was very fun and relaxing- Saturday we got transportation to the beach and we took the opportunity to get into the city for a little bit. We took the People Mover (the bus system that only costs 10 rand- about $1.50- for a day pass) to Victoria Market, an indoor market filled with Zulu crafts, spices, clothes, and everything else you could possibly think of. My friends Alyssa, Alexa and I spent a few hours going through all of the little shop, and I bough some traditional Zulu beads and a skirt for the rural homestay. Afterwards, we decided to head to the Moses Mahbida soccer stadium to check out the sports store and cable car to the top of the stadium. The view was absolutely incredible, as you can see from the pictures! The stadium was built for the World Cup and it’s gigantic… the only problem is they don’t think they can sustain it because not enough people come to the local games. After grabbing some lunch, we headed back to the beach for a little bit before going back to Cato.
On Sunday, the group decided to go to the AmaZulu v. Moroka Swallows soccer game at the stadium. Even though the stadium was only 1/8 full, there were enough vuvuzelas blaring to make it seem like there was a lot more! The game was lots of fun, even though AmaZulu, the local team, blew their 2-0 lead in the second half to tie 2-2.
Monday brought our first rural homestay! We were all a little nervous, but not nearly as nervous as when we moved into Cato. The 24 of us were split into 2 groups of 12, half of us going to Impendle and the other half going to Amatikulu. I went to Impendle, and was partnered up with my friend Sally for our homestay. We left early Monday morning and went straight to a secondary school where we practiced our Zulu with the students. We were matched up 1-on-1, and it was lots of fun for them to practice their English with us. I was paired with a 15 year old girl named Wendy- she was so sweet and really helped me with the hard to pronounce Zulu words. We then headed to the Gomani clinic to have some lunch and speak with some of the community members. The clinic was a little busy, so we didn’t get a tour the first day, but we were able to learn about organic gardening, Impendle culture, and community health care workers.
The highlight of the day was definitely visiting a sangoma, a traditional healer. We all took off our shoes and piled into a round hut filled with animal skins, traditional beads and straw mats. The sangoma was dressed in everyday clothes while we asked her questions about what she does until someone asked her to show us how she talks to the ancestors. Then, she put on her sangoma robe and headdress, set some bones and herbs on fire, and began the ceremony. It was pretty intense, and even a little scary at some points. The ancestors told us that they were happy that we were in Impendle and they hoped that we would bring the cure for HIV. I’m pretty sure my ancestors don’t speak Zulu so not really sure how they communicated that, but you never know.
After visiting the Sangoma, we finally met our homestay families. Sally and I were staying in the house right next to the Impendle coordinator, Zandile, with a gogo (grandma) and two boys, Jabula (12) and Wandile (4). I was surprised by how big the house was- or really, how big the THREE houses were. We quickly learned that rural areas aren’t always synonymous with poverty. Although there was no running water and corrugated tin roofs, there was electricity, nice furniture, and even TV! The family also had a ton of animals- cows, goats and chickens. The first hour or so was a little awkward because gogo didn’t speak much English, so we were happy when Zandile came by with two other SIT students to ask if we wanted to go for a walk. The village is beautiful- as you can see below!
On Tuesday, we woke up early again and headed to a woman’s house about 10 minutes down the road. She and some other woman get together once a week to do traditional Zulu beading.
We then went to a primary school where we learned a little bit about eco-schools and the kids even prepared a song for us- they were amazing! We then went back to the clinic for lunch, met with one of the nurses, and took a tour. Although small, the clinic was very well maintained and looked like it was running smoothly. We learned a lot that afternoon, some of which was startling. If there was an emergency at the clinic, it usually took the ambulance 3 hours to get there, with another hour drive to the nearest hospital. However, the nurses at the clinic are able to do a lot more than American nurses- they can prescribe medications and don’t have to work under a doctor- so were able to handle most emergencies.
We went back to our homestays early, and unfortunately found out that Sally’s camera had been stolen sometime during the day. A 5 hour long hunt insued, and we ended up moving into Zandile’s house for the night. The camera hasn’t been found yet, but we have at least 10 people in the village looking for it!
Wednesday we woke up early to head back to Durban. Impendle was definitely a great experience, and I’m already excited to go to Amatikulu and Umthwalume in a few weeks.
We have a day of lectures today, and a holiday tomorrow! (It’s Heritage Day in South Africa- not sure exactly what it means but we’re going to the beach with our families). This weekend, we’re staying at a backpackers in Durban to have a nice relaxing weekend after our busy week.
The past few days have definitely been eventful! The weekend was very fun and relaxing- Saturday we got transportation to the beach and we took the opportunity to get into the city for a little bit. We took the People Mover (the bus system that only costs 10 rand- about $1.50- for a day pass) to Victoria Market, an indoor market filled with Zulu crafts, spices, clothes, and everything else you could possibly think of. My friends Alyssa, Alexa and I spent a few hours going through all of the little shop, and I bough some traditional Zulu beads and a skirt for the rural homestay. Afterwards, we decided to head to the Moses Mahbida soccer stadium to check out the sports store and cable car to the top of the stadium. The view was absolutely incredible, as you can see from the pictures! The stadium was built for the World Cup and it’s gigantic… the only problem is they don’t think they can sustain it because not enough people come to the local games. After grabbing some lunch, we headed back to the beach for a little bit before going back to Cato.
On Sunday, the group decided to go to the AmaZulu v. Moroka Swallows soccer game at the stadium. Even though the stadium was only 1/8 full, there were enough vuvuzelas blaring to make it seem like there was a lot more! The game was lots of fun, even though AmaZulu, the local team, blew their 2-0 lead in the second half to tie 2-2.
Monday brought our first rural homestay! We were all a little nervous, but not nearly as nervous as when we moved into Cato. The 24 of us were split into 2 groups of 12, half of us going to Impendle and the other half going to Amatikulu. I went to Impendle, and was partnered up with my friend Sally for our homestay. We left early Monday morning and went straight to a secondary school where we practiced our Zulu with the students. We were matched up 1-on-1, and it was lots of fun for them to practice their English with us. I was paired with a 15 year old girl named Wendy- she was so sweet and really helped me with the hard to pronounce Zulu words. We then headed to the Gomani clinic to have some lunch and speak with some of the community members. The clinic was a little busy, so we didn’t get a tour the first day, but we were able to learn about organic gardening, Impendle culture, and community health care workers.
The highlight of the day was definitely visiting a sangoma, a traditional healer. We all took off our shoes and piled into a round hut filled with animal skins, traditional beads and straw mats. The sangoma was dressed in everyday clothes while we asked her questions about what she does until someone asked her to show us how she talks to the ancestors. Then, she put on her sangoma robe and headdress, set some bones and herbs on fire, and began the ceremony. It was pretty intense, and even a little scary at some points. The ancestors told us that they were happy that we were in Impendle and they hoped that we would bring the cure for HIV. I’m pretty sure my ancestors don’t speak Zulu so not really sure how they communicated that, but you never know.
After visiting the Sangoma, we finally met our homestay families. Sally and I were staying in the house right next to the Impendle coordinator, Zandile, with a gogo (grandma) and two boys, Jabula (12) and Wandile (4). I was surprised by how big the house was- or really, how big the THREE houses were. We quickly learned that rural areas aren’t always synonymous with poverty. Although there was no running water and corrugated tin roofs, there was electricity, nice furniture, and even TV! The family also had a ton of animals- cows, goats and chickens. The first hour or so was a little awkward because gogo didn’t speak much English, so we were happy when Zandile came by with two other SIT students to ask if we wanted to go for a walk. The village is beautiful- as you can see below!
On Tuesday, we woke up early again and headed to a woman’s house about 10 minutes down the road. She and some other woman get together once a week to do traditional Zulu beading.
We then went to a primary school where we learned a little bit about eco-schools and the kids even prepared a song for us- they were amazing! We then went back to the clinic for lunch, met with one of the nurses, and took a tour. Although small, the clinic was very well maintained and looked like it was running smoothly. We learned a lot that afternoon, some of which was startling. If there was an emergency at the clinic, it usually took the ambulance 3 hours to get there, with another hour drive to the nearest hospital. However, the nurses at the clinic are able to do a lot more than American nurses- they can prescribe medications and don’t have to work under a doctor- so were able to handle most emergencies.
We went back to our homestays early, and unfortunately found out that Sally’s camera had been stolen sometime during the day. A 5 hour long hunt insued, and we ended up moving into Zandile’s house for the night. The camera hasn’t been found yet, but we have at least 10 people in the village looking for it!
Wednesday we woke up early to head back to Durban. Impendle was definitely a great experience, and I’m already excited to go to Amatikulu and Umthwalume in a few weeks.
We have a day of lectures today, and a holiday tomorrow! (It’s Heritage Day in South Africa- not sure exactly what it means but we’re going to the beach with our families). This weekend, we’re staying at a backpackers in Durban to have a nice relaxing weekend after our busy week.
Friday, September 17, 2010
One Voice and Inada Special School
This week was definitely one of the most eventful since we've been here... lots of traveling around Durban and going to all sorts of new places. On Wednesday I went with 6 others to One Voice, an NGO that has a program on HIV that they teach to 8th grade students in 77 schools in KZN, the eastern cape and the western cape. Everyone there was very nice, and even though the NGO didn't really have anything to do with my final project, I still learned a lot and it was very interesting. We even ended early and had time to go out to lunch! (where I finally figured out that 'chicken mayo' is the same thing as chicken salad... best discovery ever)
Yesterday I went to the Inada Special School, a school for ages 6-21 for students with some kind of mental disability. The school was definitely different from any American school I've been to, but the kids were all so happy to be there. They were all preparing for a heritage day celebration next week, so there was plenty of dancing and singing going on! I got to talk to one of the teachers (who was my age and using teaching to pay for college... he taught every morning then went to classes in the afternoon) all about the school, sports, music, pretty much everything! Even though it was kinda rainy (the first time it's rained during the day since we got to Durban) we still had a good time.
This morning we went to UKZN Westville Campus and met with a woman named Vino Reddy, and Indian woman who participated a lot during the rallys against apartheid in the 70s. She told us her whole story about being arrested, put in solitary confinement and even visiting Nelson Mandela on Robben Island! She had close friends who were imprisoned with him, and her visiting times usually coincided with Winnie Mandela's visiting times and they became good friends. It was incredible to hear her story- she's an amazing woman.
I just finished up my Zulu exam, which means I'm officially done with Zulu! I think it went ok... I still have the oral portion coming up so we'll see how that goes...
I got my first package from Andrew yesterday and it was filled with amazing American things- People magazine, mac & cheese, reese's peanut butter cups- so I'm going to go indulge a little bit before my oral :)I'll leave you with a picture of the elephant crossing the road from last weekend!
Yesterday I went to the Inada Special School, a school for ages 6-21 for students with some kind of mental disability. The school was definitely different from any American school I've been to, but the kids were all so happy to be there. They were all preparing for a heritage day celebration next week, so there was plenty of dancing and singing going on! I got to talk to one of the teachers (who was my age and using teaching to pay for college... he taught every morning then went to classes in the afternoon) all about the school, sports, music, pretty much everything! Even though it was kinda rainy (the first time it's rained during the day since we got to Durban) we still had a good time.
This morning we went to UKZN Westville Campus and met with a woman named Vino Reddy, and Indian woman who participated a lot during the rallys against apartheid in the 70s. She told us her whole story about being arrested, put in solitary confinement and even visiting Nelson Mandela on Robben Island! She had close friends who were imprisoned with him, and her visiting times usually coincided with Winnie Mandela's visiting times and they became good friends. It was incredible to hear her story- she's an amazing woman.
I just finished up my Zulu exam, which means I'm officially done with Zulu! I think it went ok... I still have the oral portion coming up so we'll see how that goes...
I got my first package from Andrew yesterday and it was filled with amazing American things- People magazine, mac & cheese, reese's peanut butter cups- so I'm going to go indulge a little bit before my oral :)I'll leave you with a picture of the elephant crossing the road from last weekend!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
St Mary's Hospital
I was very excited for today… we would be visiting our first South African hospital! I chose to go to St. Mary’s hospital, a semi-public hospital about 20 minutes from the SIT house (to give you a little perspective, the SIT house is about 15 minutes from Durban city center).
When we first arrived at St. Mary’s, we were given a tour of the hospital, which included a children’s ward, labor and delivery, palliative care for those with HIV/AIDS, operating rooms for minor surgeries, an outpatient clinic, a PMTCT clinic (PMTCT stands for prevention of mother to child transmission, and is a program so HIV positive mothers don’t transfer the virus to their babies), and a ARV (antiretroviral) clinic. Even though the hospital wasn’t very big by American standards, I still learned a lot.
The most shocking difference I saw in the hospitals compared to American ones was that in every ward, patients did not have their own rooms, and were instead kept in wards with about 20-30 other patients. Besides a few select isolation areas for patients with severe infections or burns, they were all generally in the same room together. After our tour, we went to the children’s ward to play with the kids and help out the volunteers and nurses. There were about 16 children in the room we were in, with another 3 kids in the burn room, 4 babies in the birth-3 month room, and 2 in the isolation room. Out of the 4 babies in the birth-3 month room, 2 had been abandoned by their mothers. The hospital said that because the adoption process was so long, the children would probably remain at the hospital until they were a year old. The kids in the burn room were also really interesting- all had been scalded by hot water- one of the volunteers told us that burns on children were very common in South Africa.
Of the kids in the main room, roughly half were babies and the others were between 5-12. We generally didn’t know what they were there for, but the nurses told us that most of the babies were suffering from kwashiorkor (severe malnutrition) or HIV/AIDS. The babies were so tiny and fragile, but we all spent some time holding them and walking around the room. The older kids were very energetic and excited to have some new faces to color and play games with. It was hard leaving the children’s ward without taking all of them with me!
Tomorrow I’m heading to an NGO called One Voice, which has something to do with HIV prevention in teenagers- I’m not really sure exactly what yet. I’ll be writing lots this week as we keep traveling to all these new places :)
When we first arrived at St. Mary’s, we were given a tour of the hospital, which included a children’s ward, labor and delivery, palliative care for those with HIV/AIDS, operating rooms for minor surgeries, an outpatient clinic, a PMTCT clinic (PMTCT stands for prevention of mother to child transmission, and is a program so HIV positive mothers don’t transfer the virus to their babies), and a ARV (antiretroviral) clinic. Even though the hospital wasn’t very big by American standards, I still learned a lot.
The most shocking difference I saw in the hospitals compared to American ones was that in every ward, patients did not have their own rooms, and were instead kept in wards with about 20-30 other patients. Besides a few select isolation areas for patients with severe infections or burns, they were all generally in the same room together. After our tour, we went to the children’s ward to play with the kids and help out the volunteers and nurses. There were about 16 children in the room we were in, with another 3 kids in the burn room, 4 babies in the birth-3 month room, and 2 in the isolation room. Out of the 4 babies in the birth-3 month room, 2 had been abandoned by their mothers. The hospital said that because the adoption process was so long, the children would probably remain at the hospital until they were a year old. The kids in the burn room were also really interesting- all had been scalded by hot water- one of the volunteers told us that burns on children were very common in South Africa.
Of the kids in the main room, roughly half were babies and the others were between 5-12. We generally didn’t know what they were there for, but the nurses told us that most of the babies were suffering from kwashiorkor (severe malnutrition) or HIV/AIDS. The babies were so tiny and fragile, but we all spent some time holding them and walking around the room. The older kids were very energetic and excited to have some new faces to color and play games with. It was hard leaving the children’s ward without taking all of them with me!
Tomorrow I’m heading to an NGO called One Voice, which has something to do with HIV prevention in teenagers- I’m not really sure exactly what yet. I’ll be writing lots this week as we keep traveling to all these new places :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Nongoma Reed Dance and Weekend in St. Lucia
This weekend was definitely one of the most amazing and eventful weekends I’ve had in a very very very long time! We woke up early on Saturday morning to take the 4 hour ride to Nongoma, where the Zulu king lives. The ride was not so great… it was pretty gray and rainy but it cleared up once we got there. Nongoma is literally in the middle of nowhere, so we didn’t really know what to expect when we drove up. From a little ways away, we saw TONS of giant white tents and people everywhere. When we finally parked, we found out that our estimate of fifteen thousand Zulu maidens was a little off… there were literally 50,000 girls there to perform the ceremony for the king. It was staggering how many were there… and as the only young white women there, we felt a little out of place. The girls first went to collect their 20 foot tall reeds, then processed by province up the hill to the king’s palace. Along the way, they sang and danced and even posed for pictures for us. We weren’t allowed to go past the gate into the palace, but there they dropped off their reeds and performed briefly for the king before exiting out the back. We met up with them around the back of the palace, and they looked so happy and relieved to be done with what they had practiced for months to do. After, we waited around for a little to wait for the next part of the ceremony, where the king would address everyone, but apparently they had gotten started late because of the rain and there were still 2 more provinces that had to process in. We wanted to get to our bed & breakfast before it got dark, so we had to leave a little early. Still, we got to see an amazing tradition.
The bus ride to St. Lucia was almost as eventful as the actual reed dance. To get there, we had to drive through a game park. Though it’s not as big as Kruger, it’s well known as being one of the best in the country. The through road went literally right through the park, and 30 seconds into the drive, an elephant crossed the road! We were all absolutely amazed… our driver Sdu told us that we probably wouldn’t see anything!! Throughout the next half hour, we stopped many times to take pictures of zebras, rhinos, water buffalo, springboks, wildebeests and warthogs. It was absolutely insane!
We finally arrived in St. Lucia, a tourist town a few hours north of Durban right on the coast. The town was gorgeous and very safe, so we felt comfortable walking around at night. We all had dinner as a group then made our way back to the b&b. On the way, we decided to stop for a few drinks at a local bar, and ended up staying a few hours when we inadvertently became part of a bachelor party…. Definitely an interesting night. We all had a ton of fun though, and got back to the b&b not too late to wake up early (againnn) the next morning.
On the drive back to Durban, we got to stop first at the beach (which was absolutely gorgeous, even though it was a little windy), then at the estuary where we saw hippos! We were totally not expecting to see this much wildlife this early in the trip so we were all pumped. A few hours later, we got back to Cato, and I’ve been hanging out and relaxing since.
This week, were visiting hospitals, NGOs, and schools, so I’ll definitely have lots of exciting updates coming up!
Hope everything is well overseas :)
The bus ride to St. Lucia was almost as eventful as the actual reed dance. To get there, we had to drive through a game park. Though it’s not as big as Kruger, it’s well known as being one of the best in the country. The through road went literally right through the park, and 30 seconds into the drive, an elephant crossed the road! We were all absolutely amazed… our driver Sdu told us that we probably wouldn’t see anything!! Throughout the next half hour, we stopped many times to take pictures of zebras, rhinos, water buffalo, springboks, wildebeests and warthogs. It was absolutely insane!
We finally arrived in St. Lucia, a tourist town a few hours north of Durban right on the coast. The town was gorgeous and very safe, so we felt comfortable walking around at night. We all had dinner as a group then made our way back to the b&b. On the way, we decided to stop for a few drinks at a local bar, and ended up staying a few hours when we inadvertently became part of a bachelor party…. Definitely an interesting night. We all had a ton of fun though, and got back to the b&b not too late to wake up early (againnn) the next morning.
On the drive back to Durban, we got to stop first at the beach (which was absolutely gorgeous, even though it was a little windy), then at the estuary where we saw hippos! We were totally not expecting to see this much wildlife this early in the trip so we were all pumped. A few hours later, we got back to Cato, and I’ve been hanging out and relaxing since.
This week, were visiting hospitals, NGOs, and schools, so I’ll definitely have lots of exciting updates coming up!
Hope everything is well overseas :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Back in business
I have a laptop again! Luckily SIT had a few extra that belong to the program, and they're lending me one for the rest of the semester. I'm very very very happy, especially because we have a paper due on Monday!
Life hasn't been too terribly exciting in Durban, we've been having daily Zulu, community health and field study lectures. Next week, we'll be traveling to different hospitals, NGOs and schools for some primary research time.
This weekend we're going to the Zulu reed dance, where the Zulu king traditionally picks a new bride out of 15,000 virgins. Apparently the king probably won't pick a new one (apparently he already has 10 or so...) but the male Zulu royalty will be making their selections. It should be really interesting, and we're all excited to go.
That's about it for now... I'll update soon after this weekend.
I just figured out how to add pictures, but our internet is kinda slow so I can only do one at a time, but here's a little view of what I woke up to over the weekend in Durban :)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Broken Computer....
So my not-so-trusty laptop only made it two weeks before crashing in Africa :( I'm working on getting it fixed but in the mean time my blogs will be limited as I'll be relying on friends and the SIT computer for internet. A quick update before I get kicked off:
After a long week of classes and lectures, we had a wonderful weekend in Durban. We stayed in apartments that were right on the beach, I wish I could describe how beautiful the view of the Indian Ocean was! We spent the weekend hanging out, shopping, and even had time to go to the aquarium and water park. Because it's still very early spring, there were hardly any people and no lines! Once I get reliable internet again, I'll post some pictures.
Alright time to head off to the minimall, hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!
After a long week of classes and lectures, we had a wonderful weekend in Durban. We stayed in apartments that were right on the beach, I wish I could describe how beautiful the view of the Indian Ocean was! We spent the weekend hanging out, shopping, and even had time to go to the aquarium and water park. Because it's still very early spring, there were hardly any people and no lines! Once I get reliable internet again, I'll post some pictures.
Alright time to head off to the minimall, hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Cato Manor
Hello everyone!
I'm finally settling into a routine, and I'm so glad I have! Every day, we wake up pretty early (6:30-6:45) to catch the van by 7:30 to head off to the SIT house. There, we have a few minutes of internet time before 2 hours of Zulu. After, we have a short break before either having our Community Health Seminar class or our Field Study Seminar class. Luckily, we have a nice long lunch break (1-1.5 hours) to catch up on emails and such... which is how I'm writing now! After lunch, we have another 2 hours of class, then have a little time before we get driven back to our families. Definitely more class time than I'm used to at Syracuse!
At home, I usually spend a little time outside (for the runners in my family- I attempted a run yesterday... not too bad! We'll see if it keeps going...) before the sun goes down around 6. It is still late winter here in SA, so the days are much shorter right now than they are in the US. When I go inside, I usually try to get my reading done for the next day, work on a little Zulu, and hang out in living room with my homestay family. I sometimes attempt a "bath", which involves boiling a few kettles of water, mixing it with the cold water from the tap in a bucket, and washing with just a wash cloth. No hot water or full american baths here! It's not bad at all though, and I've almost mastered washing my hair already.
Every night at 8 we watch Generations, which I'm slowly picking up the story too. My family has a TV package that has random American channels, like the Style Network and the Home network, so I've watched lots and lots of makeover and home improvement shows. We have dinner (rice with some kind of meat) and around 9 or so I usually head into my room to read a little and get to sleep pretty early. I think I've gotten more sleep in the past few nights than I got all summer at camp, even with waking up at 6:30 everyday.
I don't have too much time now, but next post I'll let you know what I'm planning to do for my independent study project!
I'm finally settling into a routine, and I'm so glad I have! Every day, we wake up pretty early (6:30-6:45) to catch the van by 7:30 to head off to the SIT house. There, we have a few minutes of internet time before 2 hours of Zulu. After, we have a short break before either having our Community Health Seminar class or our Field Study Seminar class. Luckily, we have a nice long lunch break (1-1.5 hours) to catch up on emails and such... which is how I'm writing now! After lunch, we have another 2 hours of class, then have a little time before we get driven back to our families. Definitely more class time than I'm used to at Syracuse!
At home, I usually spend a little time outside (for the runners in my family- I attempted a run yesterday... not too bad! We'll see if it keeps going...) before the sun goes down around 6. It is still late winter here in SA, so the days are much shorter right now than they are in the US. When I go inside, I usually try to get my reading done for the next day, work on a little Zulu, and hang out in living room with my homestay family. I sometimes attempt a "bath", which involves boiling a few kettles of water, mixing it with the cold water from the tap in a bucket, and washing with just a wash cloth. No hot water or full american baths here! It's not bad at all though, and I've almost mastered washing my hair already.
Every night at 8 we watch Generations, which I'm slowly picking up the story too. My family has a TV package that has random American channels, like the Style Network and the Home network, so I've watched lots and lots of makeover and home improvement shows. We have dinner (rice with some kind of meat) and around 9 or so I usually head into my room to read a little and get to sleep pretty early. I think I've gotten more sleep in the past few nights than I got all summer at camp, even with waking up at 6:30 everyday.
I don't have too much time now, but next post I'll let you know what I'm planning to do for my independent study project!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Homestays
Sawubona!
Wednesday evening we moved into our homestays! We were all really really nervous beforehand… the van ride there we were all freaking out. We drove up the huge hill to Sandgate Rd of Cato Manor. Cato Manor is a large township of Zulu, black South Africans just northwest of the Durban city center. It has a long history that we learned about today in class… but I’ll save that for another time
When we got off the van, our new families all came to meet us. My new mama was still at work so my brother, Sandiya, and his friend Kwenza (nicknamed Buwa) came to pick me up and help carry my stuff to the house. Sandiya is 19 and just finished high school a few months ago. We walked just a little bit down the road and he showed me to my new house! It’s very nice, and I even have my own room with a double bed and wardrobe. Sandiya and some of the neighborhood kids took myself and my SIT friends Leah and Meredith for a tour of the small section of Cato Manor we live in. There were tonnnnns of people that we met and we stopped by quite a few houses. When we came back, my other brother, Andile, age 15 was there. Sandiya, Buwa, Andile and I hung out, watched TV (which is ALWAYS on in the house) and talked about the differences between South Africa and America. I learned so much in just the first few hours of my homestay!
We had a delicious dinner of chicken and rice around 7:30, then sat down to watch Generations, an EXTREMELY popular soap opera here in SA. When I say extremely popular, I mean that almost every single Zulu family watches it every night at 8. It was very entertaining (and luckily had English subtitles for the parts that were in Zulu) and I’m excited to watch it every night! Soon after, my mama, Nokuthula, and her sister, Penny, came home from work at the Pavilion (the large mall that you can see from my house). We chatted a little while I unpacked and got ready for bed.
I fell asleep fast, which was good because we have to wake up at 6:30 everyday to catch the van to the SIT house at 7:30. I’m quickly discovering that everyday from here on out is going to be veryyyyy long. We have class essentially straight through from 8 until 4 every day, with just an hour or so break for lunch in the middle. Today we had 2 hours of Zulu, finished up the last bits of orientation, had lunch, then had a lecture about the history of Durban and Cato Manor.
I finally got my cell phone in working order! We “topped up” our minutes during our lunch break (first adventure with a pay-as-you-go phone). A few days ago, my friend Alexa told me about a service Skype offers where you can call abroad using a mobile phone at local rates. For just $7 a month, I get unlimited minutes to the US! The only problem is that I still have to pay local rates, which could get quite expensive, so I just have to keep an eye out for that. I’m still very excited to be able to call back the states for very very cheap (I was looking into the service going the other way too… for a person in the US to call South Africa, it would be $25 a month for only 120 minutes).
Right now, I’m hanging out in my bedroom about to go to sleep. No, I don’t have wireless in Cato Manor, but I’ll be posting this as soon as I get to the house tomorrow. I’m really excited to be in a routine now, and to have an actual house and family to go home to every night. If I knew how to say goodnight in Zulu I would, but I still have a relatively limited vocab… so instead I’ll just say sala kahle, stay well!
Wednesday evening we moved into our homestays! We were all really really nervous beforehand… the van ride there we were all freaking out. We drove up the huge hill to Sandgate Rd of Cato Manor. Cato Manor is a large township of Zulu, black South Africans just northwest of the Durban city center. It has a long history that we learned about today in class… but I’ll save that for another time
When we got off the van, our new families all came to meet us. My new mama was still at work so my brother, Sandiya, and his friend Kwenza (nicknamed Buwa) came to pick me up and help carry my stuff to the house. Sandiya is 19 and just finished high school a few months ago. We walked just a little bit down the road and he showed me to my new house! It’s very nice, and I even have my own room with a double bed and wardrobe. Sandiya and some of the neighborhood kids took myself and my SIT friends Leah and Meredith for a tour of the small section of Cato Manor we live in. There were tonnnnns of people that we met and we stopped by quite a few houses. When we came back, my other brother, Andile, age 15 was there. Sandiya, Buwa, Andile and I hung out, watched TV (which is ALWAYS on in the house) and talked about the differences between South Africa and America. I learned so much in just the first few hours of my homestay!
We had a delicious dinner of chicken and rice around 7:30, then sat down to watch Generations, an EXTREMELY popular soap opera here in SA. When I say extremely popular, I mean that almost every single Zulu family watches it every night at 8. It was very entertaining (and luckily had English subtitles for the parts that were in Zulu) and I’m excited to watch it every night! Soon after, my mama, Nokuthula, and her sister, Penny, came home from work at the Pavilion (the large mall that you can see from my house). We chatted a little while I unpacked and got ready for bed.
I fell asleep fast, which was good because we have to wake up at 6:30 everyday to catch the van to the SIT house at 7:30. I’m quickly discovering that everyday from here on out is going to be veryyyyy long. We have class essentially straight through from 8 until 4 every day, with just an hour or so break for lunch in the middle. Today we had 2 hours of Zulu, finished up the last bits of orientation, had lunch, then had a lecture about the history of Durban and Cato Manor.
I finally got my cell phone in working order! We “topped up” our minutes during our lunch break (first adventure with a pay-as-you-go phone). A few days ago, my friend Alexa told me about a service Skype offers where you can call abroad using a mobile phone at local rates. For just $7 a month, I get unlimited minutes to the US! The only problem is that I still have to pay local rates, which could get quite expensive, so I just have to keep an eye out for that. I’m still very excited to be able to call back the states for very very cheap (I was looking into the service going the other way too… for a person in the US to call South Africa, it would be $25 a month for only 120 minutes).
Right now, I’m hanging out in my bedroom about to go to sleep. No, I don’t have wireless in Cato Manor, but I’ll be posting this as soon as I get to the house tomorrow. I’m really excited to be in a routine now, and to have an actual house and family to go home to every night. If I knew how to say goodnight in Zulu I would, but I still have a relatively limited vocab… so instead I’ll just say sala kahle, stay well!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
First few days in Durban
Sawubona! (yes, thats hello in Zulu)
So after moving into the Happy Hippo Backpackers the other day, we had a few intense days of orientation and moving around Durban. On Monday, we had "dropoff" day, where pairs of us had to scatter throughout the city and talk to South Africans. After about an hour and a half long chat about how to not get mugged, we headed out on the bus to our assigned locations. The experience was a little unnerving, but I definitely feel more comfortable walking around Durban city central! Afterward, we got dinner at the aquarium park next door, walked around by the beach on the Indian Ocean, and relaxed at the rooftop bar at our hostel.
On Tuesday, we went to the SIT house for the first time! The house is very nice, and has a kitchen, laundry, showers and even a pool. Then we had our first official Zulu lesson... it's challenging but we're all doing pretty well so far! We had a few more orientation sessions, then headed out to the megamall to pick up adapters (SA has plugs that no other countries use so we all had to get new ones), locks for our lockers at the house, and some lunch. Then we headed back again to the hostel to relax and do some homework.
Today, we woke up early (6 am... these early mornings all semester are going to be rough) to move out of Happy Hippo and went straight to the house. We just had another 3 hour Zulu lesson with Jaqui, our teacher, and Nhalo, Mne and Fanele our tutors. We're just about to have a homestay orientation, a health talk, and then this afternoon we move in with our homestay families!! I'm pretty nervous, but all of us will be in the same position. I'm living with a mother, her 25 year old sister, 16 year old brother, and 21 year old son. It should definitely be a new and exciting experience!
Still haven't had time to figure out how to put up pictures, but I will soon!
Sala kahle!
So after moving into the Happy Hippo Backpackers the other day, we had a few intense days of orientation and moving around Durban. On Monday, we had "dropoff" day, where pairs of us had to scatter throughout the city and talk to South Africans. After about an hour and a half long chat about how to not get mugged, we headed out on the bus to our assigned locations. The experience was a little unnerving, but I definitely feel more comfortable walking around Durban city central! Afterward, we got dinner at the aquarium park next door, walked around by the beach on the Indian Ocean, and relaxed at the rooftop bar at our hostel.
On Tuesday, we went to the SIT house for the first time! The house is very nice, and has a kitchen, laundry, showers and even a pool. Then we had our first official Zulu lesson... it's challenging but we're all doing pretty well so far! We had a few more orientation sessions, then headed out to the megamall to pick up adapters (SA has plugs that no other countries use so we all had to get new ones), locks for our lockers at the house, and some lunch. Then we headed back again to the hostel to relax and do some homework.
Today, we woke up early (6 am... these early mornings all semester are going to be rough) to move out of Happy Hippo and went straight to the house. We just had another 3 hour Zulu lesson with Jaqui, our teacher, and Nhalo, Mne and Fanele our tutors. We're just about to have a homestay orientation, a health talk, and then this afternoon we move in with our homestay families!! I'm pretty nervous, but all of us will be in the same position. I'm living with a mother, her 25 year old sister, 16 year old brother, and 21 year old son. It should definitely be a new and exciting experience!
Still haven't had time to figure out how to put up pictures, but I will soon!
Sala kahle!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Drive to Durban
Today we drove on our epic journey to Durban! The drive was about 7 hours, but I was so tired that I was able to sleep at least half of it, if not more. It was absolutely beautiful, and we kept saying how it looked like it was right out of the Lion King. No lions, but we did see an ostrich! I'll post pictures in a few days once I get them uploaded on my computer.
We arrived in Durban around 4pm, and were able to walk down to the beach by a giant seaworld-type theme park called uShaka. The beach is gorgeous, we'll definitely be spending a lot of time there this semester. After, we got some dinner and headed back to our backpacking hostel, called the Happy Hippo. It's very cute and has showers that aren't scalding hot!
We took our first mini Zulu lesson this morning... so far it's not too bad! But we haven't gotten into the clicks yet.... Some of the words we learned: Sawubona (hello), ungani (how are you), yebo (yes or good), ngilaphila (goodbye). Theres a few more that I don't remember... but we have our first official lesson tomorrow!
We're at the Happy Hippo until Wednesday, and the wireless is pretty cheap, so I'll update a few more days until we start our homestays :)
We arrived in Durban around 4pm, and were able to walk down to the beach by a giant seaworld-type theme park called uShaka. The beach is gorgeous, we'll definitely be spending a lot of time there this semester. After, we got some dinner and headed back to our backpacking hostel, called the Happy Hippo. It's very cute and has showers that aren't scalding hot!
We took our first mini Zulu lesson this morning... so far it's not too bad! But we haven't gotten into the clicks yet.... Some of the words we learned: Sawubona (hello), ungani (how are you), yebo (yes or good), ngilaphila (goodbye). Theres a few more that I don't remember... but we have our first official lesson tomorrow!
We're at the Happy Hippo until Wednesday, and the wireless is pretty cheap, so I'll update a few more days until we start our homestays :)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
I made it!
aSo after a very very very very long 15 hour plane ride, I landed in Joburg around 8:30 am (2:30 am in the US) yesterday. Most of the group didn't get in til the evening, so the 5 of us who came in on the early flights got a ride to our backpackers house and got to hang out for the day. We spent lots of time sitting in the sunshine, even though it's winter here in South Africa. Because Joburg is pretty far inland, the temperature have been in the 40s and 50s, pretty chilly coming from 80s and 90s. Once we leave for Durban, we'll be in more of a subtropical climate so it'll be more like 70s and 80s which I'm already looking forward to.
Once the rest of the group arrived, we had dinner and had a brief orientation with Zed, our academic advisor and general director of our program. The two other SIT staff with us are Thula and S'du (pronounced Stu) who drive our vans. We've already been asking them how to pronounce things in Zulu and figuring out how to distinguish between the 3 different clicks in the language.
This morning we had an early breakfast and traveled to Soweto, where the movement against apartheid originated. We toured the house where Nelson Mandela and his family lived for 40 years, then went to the Hector Pieterson museum, named after a 13 year old boy who was killed in protest riots. Afterward, we headed to a mall to have some lunch and pick up some basic supplies and food.
Tomorrow we're driving 6 hours to Durban, our home for the next 3 months. I'm actually looking forward to having a longggggggggg nap... I still haven't gotten over my jetlag.
Hope everything is well in the United States! I don't know the next time I'll have internet, but I'll try to make another post in the next few days :)
Once the rest of the group arrived, we had dinner and had a brief orientation with Zed, our academic advisor and general director of our program. The two other SIT staff with us are Thula and S'du (pronounced Stu) who drive our vans. We've already been asking them how to pronounce things in Zulu and figuring out how to distinguish between the 3 different clicks in the language.
This morning we had an early breakfast and traveled to Soweto, where the movement against apartheid originated. We toured the house where Nelson Mandela and his family lived for 40 years, then went to the Hector Pieterson museum, named after a 13 year old boy who was killed in protest riots. Afterward, we headed to a mall to have some lunch and pick up some basic supplies and food.
Tomorrow we're driving 6 hours to Durban, our home for the next 3 months. I'm actually looking forward to having a longggggggggg nap... I still haven't gotten over my jetlag.
Hope everything is well in the United States! I don't know the next time I'll have internet, but I'll try to make another post in the next few days :)
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