grateful

I hope everyone at some point in their life is fortunate to find friends are as amazing as my group of girlfriends. No matter where I am, what type of mood I'm in, what's going on in my life, I know I can count on the incredible group of women I am blessed to call my girlfriends.

I used to laugh at my grandmother (Ba) when she would refer to my high school friends as my girlfriends. I think its a term you grow into with age. Or a term you don't understand until you have a legitimate girlfriend experience. Okay, that sounds kind of raunchy and lesbo-esque but I think I'm truly onto something here! The girls you find to be completely, 100% honest with and are there to make you laugh, hold you when you cry, and talk to you when you just need to get it all out--those are your girlfriends. And I am so unbelievably lucky to have a large group of women that I get to call my girlfriends. Hold on, let me say it one more time...girlfriends. lol

Anywho, went camping in NH this weekend with my WAYWYG ladies and we had so much fun! A seriously awesome weekend. Water activities and laughing and boozing and just relaxing. Also some great girl talk, the serious heart to heart kind of talk (or what we call H2HG). Really eases my mind on what I've been mulling over in my mind all summer. Still thinking about the subject a lot but probably with more confidence in myself. Had some great zen moments while lounging by the fire, while exploring Ossipee Lake on a stand up paddleboard, and then after climbing to the top of a 1,000 foot mountain (pictured above in my WAYWYG tshirt!). Sometimes you just gotta change your environment to gain some perspective. And sometimes you gotta have some serious H2HG with your girls to gain even more perspective.

thoughts on life in general

i posted this on my livejournal a week ago.

and since then i've been thinking about blogging more. also because i'm reading a book about a mother who is a blogger but whatever, inspiration comes in all sort of shapes and sizes.

i was going to use my livejournal but 1) that felt very high school/emo of me and 2) i remembered i made this blog for my travels! while i will not be traveling abroad anytime soon, life is just one big adventure. or at least i hope for it to be!

the next year should be an adventure for sure: 2 more clinicals...moving back home...moving back to Boston (/Brighton) again...graduation #2...THE BOARDS...FINDING A JOB(?!?) what is life. this is craziness.

so you know what? i'm gonna go for it. i'm gonna GO places. might as well share.
and if no one reads this then whatever, no harm no foul.

It's incredibly disappointing when our reality contradicts our ideals, but the challenge and beauty of growing older is realizing that when our ideals embrace what's really important in life, our ideals and reality can dwell harmoniously more often than not. Because ideally, I simply want to see good and do good and find good and, in doing so, I want to be happy and I want my family to be happy. And reality? Well, when adversity strikes in whatever mask it's wearing, it brings with it a greater passion and greater tools to do just that...to find good. To see good. To do good.

Quote from Bloom by Kelle Hampton. Not totally related to what I wrote above but...sorta. I just really liked it.

I've procrastinated too much. Time to pretend I can focus on a homework assignment.

Till next time :)

LET'S GO ON A SAFARI!!

Paper’s done, poster’s done, project’s done. Life is good! Especially with two beautiful days in Kruger Park! Our first day was extremely lucky—out of the gate and BAM! A Rhino! 5 minutes later…Quit looking at the antelope!—we have a lion to chase! Pretty funny story about that lion, actually. After a few hours of bonding with Team CLAMPEG and spotting some great animals, we were cruising around with Chrisman (our leading safari man) and I told our group that I was very satisfied with the trip so far…but, “I would like to see a lady lion.” Yes, that is a direct quote and yes, I do talk like that. The best part was the look of confusion on my group’s faces…and apparently we SAW a “lady lion”. And it was with the MALE LION that I took ten pictures of 5 minutes after entering the park. It was on the other side of the road. I was totally oblivious and did not look on the other side of the road (which was opposite side that I was sitting on, I might add). There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the running joke of the past two days. Don’t worry, I am not upset about a lack of lady lion in my life…I had a pretty good laugh. Multiple times. I am still laughing about it…so silly :)

Seeing all of those animals so close though was amazing! I would recommend it to anyone. Adam brought up a good point today during our drive when he was talking about making it one of the culture groups for next year’s trip. It really is part of their culture here and I never thought about it until now. They have this huge park dedicated to the conservation of their wildlife, they protect animals from poachers, and they educate all visitors about the animals and their lifestyles and how they survive. The best part is that these animals aren’t sectioned off…there are no “lion areas” or “leopard areas”. These animals just roam free and go through the circle of life and no one interferes. (Speaking of “Circle of Life”, it is very much like the Lion King and I could not resist referencing to the movie more than several times throughout the past two days. Awesome!) But anyways, the animals impact the way the people of South Africa live. Whether they are a source of food, income, or some neighborly animals…South Africans definitely are connected to them in one way or another.

I also learned a ton of fun animal facts over the past two days…probably too much to actually recount. I’ll try a few. Waterbucks (a type of antelope) smell after going in the water and it keeps the lions away from attacking them. Watching rhinos urinate is like watching a sprinkler system or misting system (that was from a personal observation). Rhinos also create their own “rhino toilets” on the side of the road, have very poor eyesight, and there are two types (white and black...we only saw white). Zebras fart, especially when startled. Elephants have very large blood vessels on the back of their ears and when they fan their ears, it cools them down. Chrisman told us so many more.

These past two days have been great to relax, take warm showers(!), and unwind from our packed month of travelling the country. It is really unbelievable that we will be leaving for the airport in the morning and going back to Boston. Back home? This date always seemed so far away. The past month has been crazy and amazing and the experience of a lifetime, definitely the best two classes I’ve taken with Northeastern so far! ;) As much as I would like to agree with some of my peers and say “I don’t wanna leave, I want to stay here longer”…I’m ready to go home. What we did here was great and even though we had absolutely no formal classroom time or lectures, I feel like I learned and gained so much more from this trip. I think I’m a very balanced kind of girl, I love to travel and see new things (even things with no heat or outlets or internet, in the woods) but I also like to stay connected with the outside world. Maybe that sounds too 21^st century, but I’m okay with it. Most of all, I want to get back to share with everybody what I learned, what we saw, and what we did. Show some pictures, tell a ton of stories. South Africa will always be with us and we have this fantastic trip to thank for that.

Cheers!

Simbaaaa...Remember...Who. You. Are.

Team CLAMPEG--WOOHAHA!

Doin' Work in SWAZILAND

So the past few days have been relaxing yet full of work in Swaziland. Good news! I finished my research paper (besides revisions) and my cultural group project so I have one last assignment to do and then I will be done—so exciting! :) Swaziland was full of driving, shops, a camping lifestyle (in another "sorority house"...we really enjoy giving nicknames to our accomodations), wild animals (antelope at your front door or hippo next to the dining area, anyone?), and culture not too different than South Africa’s. The area we drove through wasextremely rural but still seemed very similar to rural areas of South Africa.

OH! and everyone must know that I tried antelope! "Bushbuck", specifically. I did not like it. But I did try a piece of it...be proud :) haha

Now we’re at the Funky Monkey near Nelspruit, somehow still tired after doing nothing on a bus since 8am (it is now 3:30pm). A good time to knock out the rest of the work we all have to finish!

A hippo and her calf!--Our tour guide, Gavin, yelled at us though for being so close...those Hippos are very dangerous animals!

Dr. Fitz next to her hut (yes, she actually slept in there). I unfortunately did not get to experience hut-life while in Swaziland...bunk beds and a small room for me! :)

We Love African Children

Early this morning we went next door (like literally, down the road) to a Zulu village cultural tour. It seemed a little more set up and rehearsed than I expected but it was still cool. Seemed a lot more traditional/old school. Got to practice some Zulu words—See-a-bon-a (Hello) and See-a-bonga (Thank you)…pretty good huh? I think it was more “old school” because they had a system of how to tell if a young lady is taken or not. If you’re single then you don’t wear a shirt and a very short swishy bead skirt, if you have a boyfriend you wear a bra, if you’re engaged then you get to cover your top & you wear a shorter knee-length black skirt and if you’re married then you wear a shirt, longer black skirt, and a red hat. Also, if you’re married you don’t have to do as much work because of the hat—you can’t put a pot on your head if you have a hat there! That was interesting, especially since I wasn’t expecting to see a shirtless girl not too much older than myself.

After touring the village we went and sat to watch their Zulu dance. But first we had to drink Zulu beer. I will never be doing that again, that’s for sure. The dancing was cool, a little different than the other Zulu dances we saw: the men danced mostly and the women were the ones chanting and playing the drums. This one little boy (probably 3-4 years old) was sooo cute, he had a few solos and stole my heart; his Zulu kicks were fantastic. So good times at the Zulu village…and yet it still boggles my mind that people live that way every day.

Next we were off to Nkomo Primary School, a school associated with NOAH (Nuturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity). Many of the children at the school are orphaned due to parents that have died of AIDS and they are able to receive meals and uniforms from the school with the help of NOAH. The school has a total of 900 students and they can only afford to give meals to the kids that qualified for meals, even though most students are also in need of a good meal. It’s so great that we went and Morg, Linds, and I were just talking to DFitz at dinner about how awesome of an opportunity it was. We were only there for a couple of hours but we were able to plant some vegetables, sit in classrooms & participate in activities, play with the kids after school got out, and we left some donations that some of our group brought from home. Soon after we arrived, we met the assistant principal and she told us about the school, its history, and what they were doing. She told us all about the grades, the lessons they have, how NOAH helps. Then someone asked how far kids had to travel to come to school (we were in a very rural area). She said the longest some have to walk is 10 km—that is SIX MILES! To walk to and from school. To add onto that, she told us about a program she started with the older kids called “Soul Buddyz” to teach the kids about the dangers of rape and to form protective groups because sometimes the kids will get raped on their way home from school, especially if they hang around school for a little bit to play and leave later. So terrible. Some of these things are so unreal and heartbreaking. It is incredible.

After our talk we went to the kitchen area where the gardening stuff was stored and there was a big group of kids SINGING for us! It was beautiful and I wanted to cry, especially after hearing the terrible stories about children getting raped. So lucky to get it on video. Not to mention actually witnessing it.

We gardened and then had the opportunity to go into classrooms to watch/play activities. The classroom I went into had a great teacher—really energetic, enthusiastic, and so pumped that we were there. It was a 3^rd grade class and we did an activity where the kids drew wild animals, wrote the names in Zulu, and then we told them the English word, wrote it out, and helped them practice. It was a little confusing at first because the kids don’t know that much English at that age but once we got into the swing of things it wasn’t as hard. We even went over their names too, had them write it and then Paige and I got to try our best Zulu pronunciation of their names. Except the kid next to me was easy, his name was Freedom and I thought it was the coolest name ever. As time went by the kids became less shy and the teacher had us do a competition “Home vs. Visitors” and we practiced the wild animal vocab…the kids won. And they rubbed it in our faces. They even had this song/chant that they were yelling at us after we lost…a little intimidating but still hilarious. After class was dismissed, a ton of kids stayed and played…it was chaotic and awesome all at the same time. All of us wished we could have been at the school for more than just one day. But even as we met up with the vice principal before we left and gave them our donations and thanks, she couldn’t express how much we made an impact in those few hours. It totally brought me back to my ASB Honduras trip. So little can go such a long way and just playing for an hour with one of those kids can make all the difference. Again, I am so glad we visited Nkomo today. Yay small children! :)

One Night Here, Two Nights There

Yesterday we left Cane Cutters and drove to Twinstreams. This is also in the middle of nowhere, or “middle of forest” as our host said. It’s probably a good thing we only stayed one night. Four people in one room, 2 bunk beds, and minimal space to move/breathe/store our stuff. I’m guessing the room was 6x6? 7x7? It was small! Our bus also had a little trouble because of the roads and such; we couldn’t drive right up to the place so we all rolled/dragged our bags to the place. I think Africa is beating my suitcase up a little bit, hopefully it does not break in the next week (knock on wood). The path to our rooms was all sand and dirt and my suitcase kept getting stuck because of rocks or I would be dragging a pile of sand along with my 57 pound bag…definitely worked up a sweat.

Anyways, we had lunch at this café/restaurant/bar down the road (had a grilled cheese for the first time in forever—yum!) and then dinner at Twinstreams. After dinner, we were offered the choice to go back to the place we had lunch at to watch the rugby game because our tour guide & bus driver were planning on it. So most of us went, had a drink while watching the game. Not going to lie, rugby is complicated and I did not try that hard to follow along. But I do know that Karel’s team won—woohoo! Lol It was hilarious though walking into the place, the other people already there for dinner or for the game looked horrified as our 20+ group piled in. I was sitting next to Jackie though and this girl who seemed to be a little older than us started asking Jackie questions about who we were, what we were doing, etc. So I was listening in, curious what she was asking. She seemed impressed that we were visiting a good number of hospitals and clinics. But, not so impressed that none of us knew any of the South African languages besides English. I think she expected us to know Afrikaans because she kept throwing out phrases and stuff and then giving us this look when we told her we only knew a few words. I wish Americans were forced to know more languages than just English. It is so crazy how South Africans usually know at least 2 or 3 languages and are fluent in them. Then here I am, English-speaking and after taking 4 and ½ years of Italian I’m still hardly even close to being fluent. (I wish!) I guess what I got from my eavesdropping is that other cultures think it’s weird that we don’t know more than one language. And I wish we were more like other cultures. If anyone wants to buy me a Rosetta Stone program for my birthday, you are more than welcome to ;)

Now we’re at Isinkwe Backpackers Bushcamp and we’re in bunk beds again, this time in a room with 10 girls (we’re calling this room our brothel!) We’re here for 2 nights and I hear the showers are warm. I think that’s what the rumor is. This place is pretty cool though…has a pool that we all laid out by (where I finished listening to Harry Potter 7 on my iPod—can’t believe I actually finished it!) and they also have hammocks. Right now I’m in the reception office where they have TWO outlets (score!) and I was writing my paper until I hit a little road block and decided to journal instead. Guess I should get back to writing… :P

Last Medical Visit!

Today we went to see a sports medicine doctor. We were there a long time and we even waited in the waiting room like the patients do. Cause the doctor we came to see was taking patients and just talking to us in between patients. Is that normal? I don’t know. He talked to us about the World Cup though because he was part of a medical staff for it. Pretty cool…he showed us a bunch of pictures too, including some awkward MySpace-like pictures of himself. But we also got to see the hospital he works in, it was a really nice private hospital.

Oh this is a funny story. While we were touring the hospital, we went into the different wards and some of us were asking questions specifically related to the topic we’re writing about in our research paper. So after seeing the maternity ward, Morgan asks if there are any teen pregnancies that come through the hospital. Our guide replies, “Oh. Unfortunately, no…” and then she says something about the population around the hospital which is why there are none. I look at Morgan and I’m like—what the heck? Unfortunately no?? We continue. Downstairs at the end of the tour I decide to ask a question regarding my topic: “Do you have any cases of child malnutrition in the pediatric ward?” Her response: “Unfortunately, we don’t.” Behind her is my professor, Adam, and his face was priceless. Everyone was looking at each other like—did she really just say that? Then the lady starts to elaborate her answer and tell me why, I’m trying not to crack up and doing a terrible job at it. I’m thinking she was just misusing the word “unfortunately” but ohmygoodness, quite the laugh.

Then we were able to go to Gateway again for an hour and a half to use the internet so I emailed and blogged and talked to the fam and Bobby. No internet for another few days—woohoo! But in all honesty, this week went by really fast and I hardly noticed the no-internet thing. And now there are only 10 more days? Pretty crazy.

We just had dinner & a show, basically. Some more braai food (braai=barbeque) and then a surprise Zulu dance show! It was so cute & I seriously do not know how they memorize those dances. They even had us come up in small groups & taught us a few moves. I’m going to be a Zulu dancing pro by the time we leave Africa ;)

Everyone Must Go to Glenrock Trout & Game Farm!

So I totally thought it was Wednesday...definitely losing track of time here!

ANYWAYS! We spent the last 2 days @ Glenrock Farm and it was awesome. I think it’s safe to say everyone would have been fine with staying there the rest of the trip.

Beautiful landscape, great people, 18 person rooms, AWESOME food. Only problem was no heat so at night it was freezing but, we were fine. I got to run for 2 days in a row. Saw some zebra (now pronounced, ZEB-rah). The hosts were so nice too. It was really good stuff.

We might have also had something called South African Beer Olympics go down on Wednesday night. (This was right after we saw the lunar eclipse! SO COOL!) But anyways, Beer Olympics. 4 teams, 2 games, tournament style. Our tour guide Gavin, our bus driver Karel, and someone else might have participated…I don't think I’m supposed to publicize the fact that “someone else” was there. But the gist of the night: it was a good time, everyone had a blasty blast. Then the power went out throughout the whole complex & we were left in total darkness. We went back to our room, which was pitch black. It was very…dark. Good thing I had my handy-dandy prepaid South African cell phone that I love 10 times more than my other cell phone because it has a FLASHLIGHT! Saved the night, basically. :)

Yesterday we went to see a Sangoma that is pretty well-known. Well-known as in, he’s written a book and he’s supposed to be legit. It was a little bit of a let-down. He really commercialized himself and kinda gave us a sales pitch a few times. Not to mention he claims to have stayed under water for 5 hours with his ancestors and also talked about his trip to Hollywood for the Oscars at least a dozen times. Still don’t know why he went for the Oscars. All I know is that, he went. And he has pictures in his office to prove it!

It was a lovely trip to see the Sangoma. Kind of. I guess our expectations were just a lot different than what we saw. Oh! And according to him, PT’s only give massages. That’s it. Then all we get from it is negative energy from the people we give massages to. Lol

So yeah. Now we are at Cane Cutters Resort. Not the kind of resort you would find in Florida or the Bahamas but it is really nice. They keep playing like, club music. Even while we’re eating dinner. It’s alright though, I enjoy dancing and Adam taught Morgan & I a few dance moves to bring back to the States….really get the party going ;) Hah!

Driving, driving, driving to the middle of nowhere!

So currently we are in the middle of nowhere. And we got here by driving…or at least, we all sat on the bus while Karel drove. I don’t really know how he managed the last few roads leading to the Trout & Game Farm because they were quite a doozy. On our way, we stopped at a few places to get in any shopping people needed to do (I finally finished getting all my gifts for the fam & my friends, YAY!). We also stopped at this place for lunch and it was really nice out so we all got to sit out in the sun. The locals still think we’re crazy because we’re in short sleeves or shorts and they think it’s freezing out. Pretty funny. But now it is later and really cold and I am dressed in layers. I wish there was a little bit more heat in our dorm area…or that I had my fake Ugg boots hahaha. I think hot tea will suffice for now. We’re all in tight quarters for the next two nights so that should be comical; like a big sleepover. Hopefully it will be a good time to get some work done on that paper of mine…if I can snag 1 of the 5 outlets (in our 14 person room). Oh boy! :)

Update: tonight’s dinner was AWESOME—probably my favorite so far (Sorry Karel) Just like Mom’s home cooking: delicious cooked carrots, chicken, BREAD, salad! So great. Oh and malva pudding! Definitely bringing that dessert back to the States.

Valley Trust Day 2

Today we visited some Zulu villages in the area and were taught a lot about their culture. It was both very interesting and shocking. There are so many customs that really surprised me. Marriage sounds like a process that is tiring and long and…wow. I can’t even imagine going through all that to get married. I wonder if my boyfriend would pay for 11 cows to marry me? Lol But really, there was so much to take in…their traditions are quite complicated. A 4 day wedding, 2 days to bury someone who has passed but wearing a skirt for a whole week to respect them, slaughtering for ancestors, sangomas, Zulu chiefs and the Zulu King…I don’t know how she remembers all those rules! It was really cool though. I think it’s really fascinating how they believe in the spirits of their ancestors. Makes you think more into any dreams you might have about dead family members. Two things that sort of “weirded” me out: taking off our shoes to see the sangoma and then eating with our hands. I mean, I was fine with taking off my shoes and socks but it was a little strange at first. Then lunch…yeah, I wasn’t into the whole eating with my hands thing. My dad would have starved—he eats pizza with a knife and fork haha. I did eat our lunch though…maybe not as much as other people but I tried to maneuver the hand eating by picking up maize meal and then trying to scoop up the butternut squash with it. It was difficult. It was also difficult because I am a picky eater and traditional food in foreign countries makes me nervous. Definitely a cultural immersion experience though! So glad we got to try out the Zulu dance! Gave my hamstrings a great workout :) lol Next is another traditional meal made by Karel, our favorite bus driver. Wish me luck! ;)

Update: Karel is the best cook in South Africa by far. End of story.

Bye Bye Durban...Hello Valley Trust Area!

Another relaxed day, good for a Sunday. We packed up the coach bus at 11am but hung around the Gateway mall until 1:30pm, utilizing the last of free wi-fi we’ll get for a while. Then we departed around 2pm and arrived at our next destination a little after 3: Valley Trust Day Backpackers. I still have no idea what the area's actual name is. Maybe it's a rural secret.

It’s like we’re at school, a flashback to freshman year Bouvè LLC in Stetty West! Haha In my room we have 4 beds for myself, Morgan, Lindsay, and Gabby. It’s different but hey, I’ve gone camping before and I’ve stayed in not-your-typical-dorm-room before so I think we’ll be fine for 2 nights. No biggie. It is pretty comical though: the one outlet in our room doesn’t work, there’s no soap in the bathroom, we don’t know what kind of meat we ate for dinner, and in one “bathroom” there is a toilet & bathtub and in another next to it is a shower & sink. Lol, talk about a change in scenery. We can’t really walk around…our tour guide pretty much told us to stay on the grounds of our new place.

But we did make some new friends! Outside there is a basketball court where 4 boys were playing basketball. Since we had some time before dinner, Morgan, Gabby and I decided to be friendly and ask if we could play. They all ended up being the same ages as us and we started playing with them. It was especially funny because it was basketball…but with some new rules and without some usual ones haha. But it was a lot of fun—we were even working up a sweat a little. For some reason, they seemed to only remember my name so while we’re playing they kept calling “Cassieeeee! CassiEEEE!”. So funny. Especially since I would miss the ball half the time when they passed it to me, thanks to my great basketball skills. Then after a while some other girls came to play and after an hour we had a pretty big game going. It was getting really intense! We finally decided on a stopping point and MY team won! Ohhhh yeahhhh!

We told the guys that we would play again tomorrow afternoon. So yay for making friends in Africa! :)

Post for Adam

Alrighty so on Saturday, Adam asked me to write up a blog post for our class blog. He posted that one on Sunday on the blog, which you can get to by clicking here

So definitely check that out. Because I wrote it :) And Adam also has some pics up from the trip on a few posts.

We Love Durban!

Our two medical stops today were great, especially our last stop at Durban University. Our first stop was at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital (say that 3 times fast lol). It was such a nice hospital AND it was a public (government run) hospital. It was just a little confusing though because it was this huge beautiful facility but I didn’t see as many patients as we’ve seen in other hospitals. They’re also a tertiary or referral hospital so a lot of patients may not get to that level. And if they do then they are assessed, stabilized, and then sent back to a district hospital. Our guide at the hospital also gave me some info for my personal research project so that was awesome :)

Next was Durban University of Technology to learn about their HIV/AIDS Center. We were hanging in limbo when we first got there but once we got into a big lecture hall there were a lot of good questions and discussions happening. In the lecture hall was our group, 29 students strong (plus our 2 professors and our tour guide) along with a pretty large group from Durban U consisting of counselors, a nurse, various staff, and many students that act as “peer-educators”. The peer-educators are hired and trained students who spread HIV/AIDS awareness among the other students and their communities. It was really interesting because we got to hear how South Africans view HIV and AIDS and what they’re doing to try and lower the rate of HIV+ and then the tables were turned and we were being asked questions. It was just crazy because after thinking about it—we don’t talk about HIV or AIDS that much. Maybe in health class but the amount of time we are given information about HIV/AIDS is minimal and the last time I had a health class was in 10^th grade. That’s 4 years ago. It was an eye-opener for sure. We even got to talk to the students afterward and they told us stories of “sugar daddies” (50 year olds having multiple teenage girl partners and will give them clothes, money, anything) and of other Zulu traditions involving one man and multiple partners (which in turn, increases the risk of getting and spreading HIV). It’s unbelievable. There is such a big difference in our cultures when it comes to that topic but I would have never even thought about it if we didn’t have that discussion at Durban U.

I’ve noticed Durban is very Indian influenced. Too bad I don’t like Indian food, but I’ll survive cause they have so many Italian restaurants here. Speaking of restaurants, the atmosphere and culture of restaurants here is very different than in the States. Waiting is a very big component. It takes a while to get drinks, order your food, get your food. Then once you have your food, you can probably stay forever. Because every single time we’ve been out, we have to ask for the check…it isn’t automatically brought out to us. Imagine that: a restaurant that doesn’t rush to try and get you out the door! Crazy. But it is weird, just because I’m so used to it. Oh! Ordering tap water (or pitchers of water) is also strange here…I think that they think it’s weird for us to do that. Especially refills of water. I got my water glass refilled like 3 times in Cape Town and the waitress was laughing because…idk I guess it’s funny lol. Finally, there are so many RAINBOWS in South Africa. Almost every time it rains, you see a rainbow after. I’m not complaining, I think it’s lovely :)

That’s all for now. If I don’t update tomorrow then don’t get too worried if you don’t see much for a while because we won’t have internet access for at least 5 days after leaving Durban on Sunday morning. But I’ll try to keep ya posted ;)

The Internet

I’m sitting in the airport at this café, coffee shop, whatever you wanna call it. We all got excited because there was a sign about Wi-Fi. So naturally, the reaction is “Awesome! Wi-fi! Let’s go cause we have a good amount of time to waste!”

Wellllll…guess what. You have to pay in the airport too. Which is why I decided to write this. In the US, we can get free internet in soooo many locations—any airport, Starbucks, ABP, the library, SO many restaurants, on campus at NU (pretty much anywhere on campus), and home (okay yeah, you pay for that. but it’s easily accessible!). Between having to do research online for our course work here, blogging, emailing, etc…our group here is like—what the heck, why is this so hard? But this is normal here…we’re just internet-obsessed Americans lol. Really though, we’re spoiled.

The reasons we want/need/are asking for internet are understandable; we have to do research for our papers and we need to let our parents know we’re alive. Or least I do, idk about everyone else though lol.

Soooo yeah, that’s my culture confusion at the moment. Maybe this trip will help me become unaddicted to Facebook? We shall seeeeee ;)

Day 2 in Worcester (SA, not MA)

I’m really pumped for Durban. Worcester is so sketch lol. I would have totally went for a run but this area just makes me wayyy nervous. I’ll just do crunches in my room or something haha.

Anyways, today we went to two schools associated with the National Institute for the Deaf—a college and then De La Bat (a school for kids aged 3-20). The college is more like a vocational school for deaf teens/young adults. They were really happy to have us there and show us around. It’s pretty different than the US, or at least I think so. I’m going to have to check with my mom because she would definitely know better than I would. That will just have to wait until I actually have internet (aka: Durban, definitely getting my 30 Rand back). The De La Bat School was really cool, the principal was a good speaker (someone said it was like hearing a graduation speech, which I thought was pretty accurate b/c he was very inspirational lol) and the staff was so eager to answer questions and give us more info. They take students whose primary disability is deafness. But they said that there’s an increase in deaf children with autism. So that was interesting. We got to see their preschool, the kids were soooo cute. I wish I knew more sign language, except it’s a little different here because they use South African Sign Language, not American, and most of the kids speak Africaans not English. But overall, we got their message that deaf people are not as widely accepted or integrated in South African as one would hope. This is why these schools exist, to try and prepare them for the real world and to live among “normal” people.

The Institute for the Blind was a lot of fun—very interactive. We watched a quick DVD, met a blind woman named Sharon who showed us how she typed on her Braille typewriter, and then we were given blindfolds. We had to pair up, one person was blindfolded and the other was the guide. That was pretty comical. We took turns and went into their fossil museum, feelin all the rocks and fossils. Lots of rocks. We were able to see a few different sections of the institute. They teach the members (who are either blind, deaf-blind, or multi-impaired) different skills so they could get jobs in certain workforces; they make hand-woven baskets and mattresses and are also taught secretarial skills. I couldn’t believe how much they do for the blind there, it’s awesome.

So we had a good day. And I gave in and got a salad from McDonald’s…bad choice. Swearing off McDonald’s for the rest of the trip lol. But other than that, there’s nothing else. Durban tomorrow!

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Alright, really really busy day! We got up early, left Cape Town, and headed toward Worcester (South Africa, not Massachusetts). It might be like Worcester, Mass a little…I mean from what I’ve while on the bus to and from Hartford and Boston. A lot different than Cape Town…there’s not much here. The lady at the hotel kept suggesting McDonald’s down the road for dinner.

But our first stop in Worcester was a public hospital, Worcester Hospital, and a clinic right next to it, called the Community Day Centre. Most go to the Day Center for regular check-ups if they have a chronic illness or if they are feeling like they have something or even if they are having a baby (they have a maternity ward there). The Day Center was pretty crazy just because it’s mostly nurses or nurse practioners and basically, everyone goes there first unless it’s an emergency…then they go to the hospital. There were so many people at the Day Center. Lines and waiting rooms and lines and waiting rooms…the nurses we met said the entire process could take all day. There were people in line when we got there and almost an hour later we saw them in pretty much the same exact spot…still waiting. But, it’s free. No one has to pay.

The two wards that really stuck in my mind were the maternity ward and the allied health ward (where they have 1 PT and 1 OT). The maternity ward was unbelievable. They have about 150 babies born a month, 15-20 babies born HIV+ a month, two beds for giving birth, and a few for pre-birth and post-birth. The average age of mothers coming in to give birth was low due to high percentages of teen pregnancies. The best part: they send the newborn babies and their mothers home 4 hours after giving birth. FOUR hours. I have not given birth yet so I am not 100% sure on the trend in the US but I’m pretty sure mothers stay 2 or 3 days. Right? But 4 hours…no way. Couldn’t believe it. We also got to talk to the PT and OT, just one of each. They both have set appointments with patients with 16-20 patients a day. The patients in PT have 4-6 sessions before being discharged. But since there are so many patients, there is very little time for each session—she does a modality (hot or cold), joint mobilization or soft tissue mobilization (massage) and then teaches them an exercise or two and gives them more exercises to do at home. I can’t imagine how frustrating that would be…just trying to teach your patients exercises and just hope that they’ll actually do them at home. Then seeing very little progress because of the short amount of time you have with a patient. That’s a tough job.

Then Worcester Hospital…we had an informative meeting with them in a conference room before touring around just to get some background info. For a public hospital, it was a lot more put together than I expected. Not too far from a private hospital. And the hosts meeting with us were telling us how in Worcester, there isn’t a big difference between private and public. The big difference is that in public hospitals, you just see whatever doctor is on call and available. But after my hopes were raised up and I was starting to think that health care in South Africa wasn’t as far from 1^st world care as I originally thought. Then our guide told us, “This is not what health care really looks like in South Africa.” The blunt truth. The hospital was still really great and there were many services and they serve most of the Cape Winelands plus another district south of the Winelands (700,00-800,00 people). They also have many pioneering programs that are serving to give medical students more experience and exposure before entering the work force. Many times, our hosts would tell us of a new teaching program or an initiative to bring more doctors to the rural areas (because 70% of health professionals work in a private setting that serves only 20% of the population). The position of a Physician’s Assistant is being created and becoming an option in schools. Health insurance availability is being discussed in the government to try and provide those in poverty with medical aid….it’s all in the works.

Our hospital guide also took us 6.8 km down the road from the hospital to a township/informal settlement called Avian Park to show us a service learning center that she created to provide care to the residents there. The building is pretty…simple. I would personally describe it as a gated patio surrounded by four rooms and a roof. Running water but no electricity. One flushing toilet. Another work in progress. She built it because those in Avian Park basically live off $1 a day and since they have so little money, they can’t afford transportation to the hospital or day center. They could walk the 6.8 km but if these residents are suffering from chronic illness or anything serious, that’s not possible. So they have this clinic. I think to put it short, my hopes and expectations for South African health care are not lost. All of these professionals are pushing forward and really making the effort to expand and better their health care system. Not only are they putting in the effort, but they are also so passionate and they appreciate what they have and what they foresee happening in the future. I love it.

After lunch, I was caught very off guard when it was announced we were going to one last stop—the Tuberculosis Hospital! This was not on our itinerary. And we were tired. Maybe it’s because I like sticking to schedules or maybe it’s because of the whole TB thing but either way…I didn’t welcome this hospital with open arms. Adam or DFitz, if you are reading this…I’m sorry. I mean, it was interesting because I never even heard of such a thing and it was cool that they are helping TB patients in such a way. But I’m already sick with a cold and getting TB would be terrible and the wards weren’t closed off, we didn’t have any masks…I felt a little exposed.

So we weren’t there too long and then we headed to the hotel. Well, there is not much in Worcester. The hotel manager kept insisting we should go to McDonald’s for dinner. Our other options were KFC, a pizza place, and a few sit down places with prices we didn’t feel like paying. The rooms are really cozy and cute but there a few quirks. Like, the bath tub. Not a shower but a bathtub. I cannot even tell you the last time I had a bath. So bathing in the morning will be interesting. The hotel is also split in half—main reception & some rooms on one side of the street and more rooms on the other. So this creates problems with the internet because the router is only on one side…the side I wasn’t on. But the others said it was flaky and took 15 minutes to send one email. Awesome. Well I am getting a refund if it doesn’t work by tomorrow.

But yeahhhh! Worcester…so charming. Are we going to Durban yet? :)

Cape of Good Hope

Today was great! Exercise, going to the beach, the weather, and animal spotting! This morning we left early to head towards Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern tip of the continent of Africa. We drove along the coast and then up into the mountains so the views were amazing. The bus passed a ostrich farm so we got to stop and take some pics of them :) Once we got to Cape Point, we hiked uphill towards the lighthouse to get a great view of the ocean and rocks below. Very beautiful, definitely worth the hill workout it took to get there. After that, we reconvened and started the trek to the Cape of Good Hope. We also got to see more ostriches on the trial. On the way we came to a set of stairs that descended down to a beautiful beach, another steep climb (especially on the way back up!) but it was absolutely gorgeous!! The weather was great, the sun was shining, and the water was a bit cold. Everyone was in pure bliss :) We got back up from the beach and headed on towards the most southern point which was another climb up a rocky hill. We also saw some antelope during that section of the hike. Once we got there, everyone took pictures at the edge and the view was so sick. Pretty epic to be able to say that we stood on the most southern tip of Africa :D We got a big group picture with the sign, too.

By then we had done a lot of walking/hiking so lunch was great cause I was starving. While we ate, the bus started moving towards our next destination—Boulders Beach to see the penguins. We saw some zebras while driving by, not too far from Cape of Good Hope, so cool :) We got to Boulders Beach and took a ton of pictures of the penguins because they are sooooo cute! There were a lot hiding under brushes or just laying down in the sand. After looking at the penguins we walked back from the beach and stopped by the curio sellers on the sides of the streets. I bought a 3D painting of a township, it’s pretty small but perfect for packing in my suitcase along with all the other souvenirs. These sorts of paintings are pretty popular in the townships or in the craft barn at the Waterfront. I’m glad I finally decided to buy one :)

By now we were all exhausted and I think most people fell asleep on the bus, including myself lol. Last stop was at the botanical gardens. We were tired and it wasn’t as sunny, plus it’s winter here so the flowers weren’t in full bloom—probably a lot prettier in spring and summer. But now we’re back, and I’m listening to Harry Potter 7 on my iPod…about to head to dinner soon. Tomorrow we leave Cape Town for Worcester!

We've Been Here A WEEK? What??

I honestly can't believe that we just got here a week ago. It feels like we've been here for so long. But in a good way! We have done so much already because our days are so packed with activities. It's really good that we've been so busy though, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we enjoy it :)

Today I went to a wine tasting with a few other girls from our group...most of the others went shark cage diving. Not kidding! lol But anyways, the wine tasting was awesome...started at 9:30am so that was interesting hahaha. Our guide was great--gave us some wine history and some entertainment. We were trying to imitate his Xhosa/Zulu clicks....not working so well. Hopefully we can get it within the next month :)

Now we're at a restaurant in the Waterfront mall, had lunch and are currently using their free wi-fi. Tomorrow we have a tour of the Peninsula so that should be awesome...except for the whole leaving-at-8:30am thing ;P

This past week has been great though. I feel like I've learned so much just by visiting all of these sites and also from our awesome tour guide, Linda :) Did you know that South Africa has 11 official languages? That Mandela spent EIGHTEEN years in prison on Robben Island? How about the fact that if you don't have "medical aid" you have to go to a public hospital rather than the nicer private hospitals? I also now know that scoring in rugby is called a "try", schools here have cut out gym class (which is why ASI is trying to become more involved in schools), hospitals have a shortage in nurses, and you only have to go to school for four years to become a "Physiotherapist" (aka: Physical therapist as we say in the US).

Also, "takkies" are sneakers, a lift is an elevator, you must mind your step rather than watch it, wear a costume if you're going swimming, you don't watch movies in theaters but in "movie houses" because a "theater" is an operating room (lol). Oh, and in case anyone was wondering....they do drive on the opposite side here (lots of European influence).

I can't believe tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town either! Monday we leave for Worcester and then Wednesday we have to get on a plane again to go to Durban! (Noooooo! Not the PLANEEEE!) The culture here is truly incredible and I feel like I can't even describe it....definitely more relaxed. I'm hoping the Eastern Cape is just as awesome :]

OH! And I just uploaded some pictures to Facebook so you can view them here!

Friday!

Pretty relaxing day here, not going to lie. I like it :)

Right now i'm at a cafe down the street using their free Wi-Fi again. The weather is sooo nice and the doors are open in the cafe so there is a slight breeze coming through. The sun today was glorious :)

We went to Robben Island in the morning by ferry. Being out on the water was fabulous. We had a nice tour around the island and heard all about the history of the prison there. Also got to go into the prison but I didn't actually see Mandela's cell...kind of a bummer since I thought it would be the main attraction but I think the cell's all pretty much looked the same. So I suppose it doesn't really matter.

Then after getting back and having lunch, we went to a private hospital. It was really interesting and their wards were really nice. Probably one of the nicest hospitals we'll see while we're here. We also got to learn more about their health care and "medical aid" (insurance) so that was good.

But i'm off to dinner now...pizza at the Diva Cafe tonight! hahaha...i hope there's dessert included :)

New GREAT Heights!

its really nice out today!!! like over 60 degrees and no rain...so beautiful :) it was a pretty relaxed day...we went back to the school to finish our little projects and then we played a few games ourselves but there were no kids really cause its a religious holiday. so there were only about 4 kids that played with us. bummer :\ it was still a real good time though and it didn't take too long so we went to Table Mountain and took the cable car up to the top. and it was SOOOO COOOOOL!!!! i wish we could have stayed up there longer, the view was so awesome so i attached some pics :) enjoy!