Surfing with… Whales (?) August 29

Today is Sunday. I went surfing with Bryce at Muizenberg. We missed the train, and had to wait 45 minutes for the next Sunday train to arrive. Luckily, I had my book with me, so I read while I waited. When we got to Muizenberg the waves looked very disappointing, but since it was sunny, and not too windy, we decided we would go out anyways. There weren’t too many surfers out because it was the middle of the day and pretty blown out. I caught a few super fun waves. We went in after about an hour though because it was so mushy and blown out. When we were waiting for a train I saw something huge jumping out in the ocean. I could not tell if it was a whale or a shark…it was probably a whale though, since it is whale-breeding season. It was so rad! I’ve never seen a whale jumping in the ocean before, and to think that I was surfing with it :)

Kate told me that September is whale-breeding season. She says that Hermanus is the best land whale-watching site in the world. You can hike along the cliffs and see the whales below the cliffs with their babies. There is the Hermanus Whale Festival in late September that I really want to go to. It would be super cool to go kayaking with the whales.

After surfing today I went to Common Ground Church. It made me miss Flood a lot! It is a very college oriented church, which made me miss my Upper Room friends, and the community I have back in SD. But I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness, as he has given me a new community to be a part of while I am here :)

Tomorrow I will be giving a presentation in class on the Rwandan Genocide (super depressing topic…) and then after that I will begin my last paper that is due before break. This paper is for my medical history class, and is about Sister Henrietta Stockdale and her contributions to South Africa nursing…kinda dry. I don’t know how I will write 7 pages on her. But after that is done, then I can start preparing for the Botswana safari! yay!!!

District Six Museum and The Old Biscuit Mill, August 28

Today was yet another rainy Saturday. We went to the District Six Museum, located in downtown Cape Town. District Six was one of the many communities that were affected by the forced removals of the apartheid government in the 1960’s. District Six was a diverse community consisting of colored, black, malay and white peoples. It was declared a white neighborhood during apartheid and the people were forced out of their homes. They had to move 25 miles out to the Cape Flats townships. All of the buildings in District Six were torn down to make room for white developments. These developments never came into being, and the land has remained a desolate site in Cape Town, where the memory of those affected by apartheid lives on. The museum was in an old Presbyterian church that remained standing in District Six. It was filled with everyday objects, pictures, and art of people that were forcibly removed. It served as a memory to those who lost their community and homes during apartheid. It was a very moving museum, and a tragic part of Cape Town’s history.

After the museum some of us went to The Old Biscuit Mill. The Old Biscuit Mill is a farmer’s market that looks like it came directly out of an Anthropologie magazine. It was the cutest market I have EVER been to. The food was absolutely amazing :) I got a delicious lamb pita. I also bought a loaf of sourdough bread! (the lack of sourdough bread is one of the many things that I miss about the States…they don’t have very good bread here). We went and looked around at the shops that were set up - all of them looked very Anthropology-esque mixed with Urban Outfitters, and were unfortunately in that price range as well. It was a very cute market, but it made me miss home a lot, I’m not quite sure why.

After going to The Old Biscuit Mill we took a mini-bus cab home. (I’m getting quite good at flagging down mini-buses :) And now I’m at home, procrastinating. I should be working on one of my two papers that are due next week. After I get these two papers done it is spring break! Botswana here I come!!!

Piano Playing Friday, August 27

This week has been relatively ordinary. I have spent it going to class, doing readings, writing papers (or trying to at least), hanging out at the Student Y, playing piano, and learning how to cook dinners for myself. I walk to class everyday, up the huge hill, arrive at class winded, and then after a few hours walk back home. On my way home I always stop at the Student Y office, and say hi to whoever is in there. On Tuesday my house was being fumigated. I hung out at the Y for 3 hours, then came home (earlier than I was supposed to) and immediately fell asleep. This was probably a bad idea since none of my windows were open. I had a bit of a headache when I woke up. I absolutely love being able to play the piano everyday on my way home. I have been learning new worship songs, new classical songs, and have been composing new creations. It makes me feel so happy to sit at that old piano and play and sing!

Today I went to the Student Y Large Group, HUB. They had asked me to play the piano with the band. I played worship music with a band for the first time tonight! We practiced a little bit prior to worship. I didn’t know some of the songs. It was intense to play worship with a band, but I really enjoyed it. I am not used to being directed by other people, I’m used to playing with my own direction. A few times I felt lost while playing the songs, but since the music was so loud, my mistakes didn’t really matter. But I really liked being able to add to worship, and will hopefully continue to play with them. Nick, one of the student leaders, had asked me prior to today if I wanted to play a solo to show my God given talents. So I also got the chance to play on my own, one of the songs I have made up. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and I got a ton of compliments on it. My favorite compliment was from a man who said it sounded like “George Winston.” Haha, I listed to a lot of him growing up, so it is quite possible that my song was influenced by his style of playing.

Now I am at home with my friend Dudu, and am preparing a presentation that I have to give on Monday. Tomorrow I am going to the District Six museum and a barbeque after. This weekend is going to be really busy with fun stuff and a lot of writing papers!

Rain and Wellington, August 24

Sorry that I have been slacking on the blogging (as my dad recently reprimanded me for). School has picked up and I find myself doing lots of schoolwork and not much else to blog about. But here is what I have been up to lately/thinking about:

1. This weekend I was very sick. Luckily I am feeling a lot better now due to the magical “Corenza C.” I think I will stockpile this Afrikaans drug, and make sure to bring some home. Hopefully customs won’t mind?

2. I went to Wellington this weekend to visit the Bliss’s. Deborah and David Bliss had me, and Jade (a visiting Harvard graduate student) over to their cabin. It was an “ex-slave quarter” located on a farm that is now used for organic farming. It was a very stormy weekend and did not stop raining the whole time. Deborah made us delicious Mexican Enchiladas (she grew up in San Diego also :). I think she knew how much I had been missing Mexican food. Needless to say, I probably gained five pounds from this weekend! We listened to records, talked about missions work, and ate by the fireplace as the rain pounded overhead. It was splendid. We stayed in the loft of their cabin, and could hear the rain pouring down onto the tin roof above our heads as we fell asleep. In the morning we attended Deborah’s Presbyterian church, toured the town of Wellington, and visited some friends on a Vineyard. I had a lot of fun this weekend, and would love to go back!

3. I have been getting better at cooking! It is a gradual process, but today I made some delicious chicken pasta and had some garlic potato wedges on the side. My meals are random, but nonetheless improving.

4. I have two papers and a presentation due next week, so this weekend promises to be slightly unbearable. Wish me luck!

5. I am slightly obsessed by “Iron & Wine” right now, definitely digging this music.

6. I hope to go surfing this weekend (given that I am feeling better), and will probably play piano for worship this Friday! Yay!

And those are some of the random things I have been up to. Cheers!

Rainy Day and Corenza C, August 18

Today I woke up sick. I felt achey and my throat hurt. I was going to go running, but decided to sleep in instead. As I was walking to class it started sprinkling. I did not wear my raincoat to classes today. After class got out it was absolutely pouring! (I think this is the kind of rain that so many people warned me about as the Cape Town “winter”) I was very much underdressed, and thus by the time I had walked half of the way my pants and shoes were totally soaked. I stopped by the Student Y anyways, and played the piano and talked with some friends. After that, I ran home and quickly put on warm clothes.

Once I had warmed up I decided to go down to Main Street to do some grocery shopping and buy more Corenza C. (Corenza C is the meds that helped me get better with impressive rapidity three weeks ago, hopefully it works again!) I purchased some much needed chocolate, milk, and banana bread (among other things), and hauled my heavy groceries up the hill to my house.

After putting away all of my laundry I did some reading and homework until 6 pm, which is when I left to go volunteer for a SHAWCO adult’s clinic. This was my first Adult Clinic, and I was seriously considering skipping it because I still didn’t feel that well. It is a good thing I didn’t skip it though, because it was another great SHAWCO experience. It is amazing the cases we see at these clinics. Among a lot of minor cases a man came in complaining of chest and back pains. He was extremely weak, dehydrated, and his skin lacked elasticity. We found out that he had already been treated for TB multiple times and that he had been diagnosed with HIV a year ago. He hadn’t been taking his medications, and was in a bad state. The doctor classified him as having State 4 HIV, which is the most developed form of AIDS, and he probably only had a week to live. We had our driver take him to the hospital ER where with help he might live for another year. It was a very sad situation. It was hard to see that someone would let HIV progress so long without being able to do something about it. So that is what I saw at SHAWCO today. It was definitely something I would never see in the US, but is a very common medical experience here in South Africa. I am thankful to be able to help out with the SHAWCO clinics, and look forward to learning more about what it means to be a doctor in poor urban township communities.

Oh, and hopefully I will get better soon so I can go surfing :)

Mzoli's, August 16

Yesterday I spent my day in the township of Guguletu. (I also volunteered in a township on Saturday…it feels like I spent my whole weekend in townships :) I took a minibus with some newly made friends to Mzoli’s. Mzoli’s is a crazy bbq party, that happens every Sunday. It is a time where township residents, other Capetonians, and lots of students go on Sundays to stuff themselves with meat and party. You order raw meat, pile it into a huge bowl, and send it off to the oven rooms. The rooms with the ovens are stockpiled with wood, and smoke is pouring out of them. Inside, the walls are lined with cooking meats, its crazy! The tables and the place (can’t really call it a restaurant) of Mzoli’s itself is super dirty. There are no utensils given or napkins. The experienced Mzoli’s goers bring picnic baskets with utensils and plates. I was with a group of ten people, we order 500R (about 70$) worth of meat. We got a huge bowl with chicken, steak, pork, lamb and sausage. After you purchase your meet you have to go and snag a table, and steal some chairs from neighboring tables. Most people don’t get to sit down, because it is so crazy crowded. Music is blaring and the whole place smells of delicious smoked meat :)

It took about 2 hours for our meat to come. Once it did, we all dug in (using our hands of course). It was extremely messy, and not for the germaphobic, but super delicious. The meat was barbequed in some sort of a sauce. I ate so much meat my stomach hurt, lol. After five hours of eating and hanging out, I left Mzoli’s, stuffed and in desperate need of a nap. It was a super fun experience, unlike any other I have yet experienced. Definitely not a habit to get into going to…not too healthy!

After Mzoli’s I came home, napped, and wrote a paper. I am finally having to start doing homework…not fun!

Today was relatively uneventful. I went to class. I also discovered that I have a really intense two weeks coming up due to multiple papers and presentations, time to buckle down! I was invited by Deborah Bliss to spend the weekend with her and her friend this upcoming Saturday and Sunday at her home. I’m excited, she is really nice :) After class, I went down and played the piano for about an hour. And after the piano I went and did my laundry/studied for my MCAT’s. And that is what I’ve been up to thus far.

Footlong Burrito, August 14

I haven’t been up to anything too exciting this week. I went to class, procrastinated on assignments, went surfing, grocery shopped, and eventually did some homework. On Friday night I went to the student Y HUB event, where I got to hang out with the friends I made last weekend. We worshipped and heard a talk on “Is Jesus the Only Way?” It was pretty rad. Oh, and I signed up to play piano on the worship band. I’m excited to get the opportunity to learn how to play in a worship band, and to get to know the others in the band better :)

Today I volunteered for SHAWCO for my second time. We went to the same township, but this time it was a lot more organized. I was given the task of weighing and measuring all of the kids that were to be seen (about 35 of them total). It was fun, and I got to interact with a lot of them through this. It was hard to weigh and measure the babies, though, seeing as we only had a “stand on top” scale, and a measuring stick. After weighing the patients, I went and observed what the other doctors/med students were doing. I got to see them diagnose and prescribe treatments for a lot of patients. Some of the stuff I saw today was infantile staff infection, fungal infections, boils, infant asthma, and the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. (Mom, there were also OT’s working with the kids, it made me think of you :) It was hard to see the medical problems that some of these kids had due to their living environments. I really enjoyed the experience though, and cannot wait to become a doctor, so I can help kids like these.

Needless to say after SHAWCO I was exhausted. On the way home we stopped at this hole-in-the-wall Indian food place, called “Sunrise.” I ordered a chicken curry burrito thing. It was literally the size of Subway footlong, and made me miss Mexican food so much! (They don't have many ingredients for cooking Mexican food, its killing me). It will probably take me two days to eat, haha. After that I went home. I took a nap today for the first time since I’ve been here. (Shocking, I know!) Tonight I plan on going to my friend’s double birthday party. And that’s it for now!

Vuka Sizwe! August 10

This past weekend I took part in a Christian retreat put on by the Student Y. It was an awesome, tiring, and intense weekend of teaching and worship. The theme of this retreat was “Vuka Sizwe!” meaning, “arise nations.” The camp hosted 120 students, and was nestled into the hills outside of Simonstown. To the left of the camp was a towering mountain, and to the right was the ocean. It was gorgeous. The students, who went to UCT, were from different countries all over Africa. I made friends from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia….and the list goes on. It was great to get to know such awesome individuals from all over Africa.

The days were jam-packed with messages given by speakers, bible studies, worship, and seminars. My favorite speaker that we heard was David Bliss, an elderly man from Boston, who works as a minister in youth prisons. His speaking was enrapturing, as he told stories of his travels as a missionary throughout Africa, encouraging us to take on a missional attitude. His wife, Deborah Bliss, was really nice. She was from San Diego originally, and invited me to come visit them on a weekend. (they live about an hour away inland…I will definitely visit them soon :)

The worship this weekend was amazing! It was such an experience to worship with people from at least 15 nations. Not only did we worship in English, but we also sang worship songs in Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, and a few other African languages. My friend Dudu (who I was roomed with, and loved getting to hang out with), translated the songs for me when we were singing. It was amazing to worship in so many languages. Dancing, clapping, and joyful shouting filled the worship sessions. I am so amazed to see how God’s message of love is global, and how he is worshipped all across Africa.

During free times we hiked around and explored the area of Simonstown. The first day we went on a small jaunt up the mountain. I was craving ice cream and desperately needed to go into town. On the second day, our newly made friend Grant, who had a car, offered to take us into town. We saw the penguins at Boulder’s beach, talked about shark attacks, drove up to the top of the mountain overlooking the town, and most importantly went downtown where we got ice cream and hung out at the harbor. There were tons of fish restaurants in Simonstown. I will definitely be taking the train back soon to experience South African Fish and Chips.

Overall, my weekend was amazing. I got to know some awesome girls. I made tons of friends, most of which go to UCT. I got to worship in crazy African languages. God taught me a lot over this weekend about what it means to be completely fulfilled through my relationship with him. I learned that I wasn’t putting enough trust in the plans that God has for me. I felt fulfillment and complete love, something that only He can give. I found so much joy in this weekend, and thank God for teaching me, and giving me the opportunity to make so many African friends.

Koi fish surfboard, August 5

Today I had class. Not too exciting. I did two things of interest today:

First, I played the piano at the student Y. I met a guy named Mark, (pronounced Mahk :) from Kenya. He pushed me off the piano, and played me some of his pieces. I was very jealous with his ability to memorize technical pieces. I have never been good at memorizing pieces all the way through, thus why I like to improvise so much. He had like ten classical pieces memorized, crazy!

Secondly, I had my inaugural surf session with my new board. My dad says it looks like a koi fish…hopefully sharks don’t eat koi. After class I met up with my friend Vinnie on the train. We went down to Muzberg only to find that the wind was like 30 knots. The surf wasn’t good, but we paddled out anyways. I caught reforming waves, because I was too lazy to paddle all the way to the outside. But I did manage to catch one fun little right, and get some walking in. This board is a better noserider than my one at home, yay! We only lasted 45 minutes in the water (the sun had already set). We showered, changed out of our wetsuits, and then caught the train back to Rondebosch. On the trains people sell snacks. We bought little hand-packaged peanut bags for 2R (which is like 25 cents). I wish that people on our trains in the US sold 25 cent packages of peanuts.

And those are the two interesting things that happened in my life today. I will be gone this weekend, so no blogs for like 4 days! I will be at a camp in Simon’s Town, put on by the Student Y. There are supposed to be 150 university students. I’m excited, I’ll let you know how it goes!

Missing the Train, August 4

I woke up this morning before the sun rose at 7am. I got ready and walked to meet some friends at the train station to go to Muizenberg. The plan was that I would buy my longboard today while Bryce and his friends surfed. The surf report said 0-1 feet though, which means at Muizenburg that anything but longboarding is nearly impossible. But nonetheless we headed out as the sun was rising over Cape Town. I am now pro at riding the train to Muizenburg. It costs 15R roundtrip, and takes approximately 39 minutes. (We timed it today and placed bets on how long it would take, I said 35-40 minutes. I won the bet.)

We got to Muiz, and as predicted, the waves were very small and super mushy. It looked fun for me, but the other guys were shortboarding. They decided to help me get my board. I ended up buying a red painted performance longboard that is around 9’0. It has a fatty fin, and is super thin and wide. I’m excited to take it out, and see how it rides (pics are on fb if you want to check it out :) After finishing up the dealing process with “Lifestyle Surf Shop” we went to get breakfast at a local café. We ate big breakfasts for 20R, food here is pretty cheap (which is less than $3…although with the way the exchange rate is going, it might be more soon.) After eating we went to the train station, arriving just as the 9:45 train was leaving.

I had a class at 11am, and unfortunately the next train did not arrive until 10:20. Once it arrived, we boarded and sat anxiously, knowing that we would be late for class today. The train is around a 40 minute ride. I arrived at the train station at 10:59 am. Upper Campus, which is where my class was at, was uphill about a mile away. Needless to say, I booked it up to campus (being the nerd that I am), and arrived 14 minutes late in class, sweaty and breathing heavily. Now I know that if I’m surfing, I need to be at the train station no later than 9:40 am.

This evening I went to a bible study. I got a ride from one of the leader’s, Matteo. The bible study is called “Vintage Jesus” and is exploring a novel about discovering the true Jesus. It is put on by Common Ground Church. There are 11 other South African’s in the group. The bible study was pretty cool, and I think I will be going back again. After the bible study we got a little lesson on how to roll start a car, due to a problem with Matteo’s battery. Yep, it was a pretty good day (Oh, and I forgot to say that the weather today was again in the 70’s. Perfect! I’m starting to doubt that Cape Town ever gets rain.)

Laundrytime, August 2

Today was a relatively uneventful Monday. I ran around doing errands. I did however get to sit down and play piano at the Student Y building. Although the piano is quite used (with a few important keys either missing/broken) it was great to sit down for a bit and play songs that I made up and worship songs. The hall was empty, so I sang and played for quite a while. I felt so happy after playing the piano and worshipping, and the joy lasted me the entirety of the day. It was great :)

After playing the piano I embarked upon my last errand, which was laundry. I have managed to go without doing my laundry for two and a half weeks (a personal record). I was down to my last pair of socks and underwear, and thus I knew that I could no longer hold out. I threw all of my laundry into one of my huge suitcases and headed down the road to the Laundromat. I felt a little silly because to get to the Laundromat called “wash and web”, a dual Internet café/Laundromat, I had to wheel my huge suitcase down my street and along Main Road. I eventually made it to my destination and put my laundry in for a wash. While my laundry was washing I went to go get some lunch. After lunch I returned, put my laundry into the drier, ran my wet clothes up to the house for hang drying, and ran back down to the Laundromat. I walked up the hill to get to my house too many times today.

Unfortunately my clothes didn’t dry in the first drying cycle, so I had to put them in for another cycle. In the end it took me approximately 3.45 hours to wash my clothes, and cost me 60R (which is approximately $8 - laundry here is a little more expensive). It was quite an ordeal. I think I will take my laundry to be washed at the cleaners next time.

Besides laundry and piano playing I didn’t do much else today. I am still feeling a bit sick, but definitely not as bad as Sunday. With the amount of sleep and vitamin C that my body is taking in, I should be healthy by Friday! (Oh, on Friday I am going on a retreat with the Student Y for the weekend. It should be really cool. It lasts for four days, and I’ll hopefully be able to get to know some of the students better. Thus I won’t be writing that weekend. We are staying in dorms, and it is kinda like a church camp thing…or so I gathered. There are about 150 students signed up for it.)

Mystery Drugs and Volunteering, Aug 1

Yesterday I fell victim to the dreaded South African studying abroad head cold. All of the abroad students seem to be sick, and I now am unfortunately joining in with them. Although I will admit that surfing on Friday probably didn’t help it out, it was still totally worth it. This cold was going to befall me no matter what. I have now spent the whole of the day sleeping and drinking vitamin water. (I’m so thankful they have that here!) I went to the pharmacist yesterday and he gave me a mild drug called “Corenza C,” to help my cold. He told me that it would help but that what I needed most was sleep, ordering me not to go out. I am obeying his orders to the full (although I will be attending church in 2 hours) and have slept for most of the day. It would be just my luck that today is absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm, and that my friends invited me to go surfing. I would rather recover though, than go out surfing today.

Yesterday I volunteered at SHAWCO. I woke up in the morning at 6:45 am . I arrived at the SHAWCO offices at 7:45 (I was told to be there by 8:00). Unfortunately I forgot to take into account that, due to what locals call “South African time”, 8 am really means 9 am. Thus the bus did not leave until 9:30 am. So I did a lot of waiting outside yesterday morning in the cold wind, probably not the best thing for my sickness.

We drove out in the SHAWCO van to the township where the pediatric medical clinic was supposed to be set up. The poverty in the townships is striking. Picture the worst shacks in Tijuana constructed side by side into a city. These townships are expansive and the conditions are the lowest concentration of poverty that I have ever seen in my life. It is hard to take in, because just a few miles away in Cape Town there exist nice neighborhoods. The shanty townships are a haunting reminder of South Africa’s past of apartheid, and there is currently little being done in order to change the cycle of poverty within them.

We arrived on the site to discover that the head of the clinic was not there this morning, so there were no patients waiting for us. Some of the students who were there were doing a project where they handed out soup. Once the soup was brought out, children came piling in. There were about 75 kids on the premises, playing and yelling, it was utter chaos. After soup was dispatched a few parents came in with their children for the medical students to see. I was not able to help out much with the medical side of the examinations yesterday, due to the small number of patients. But, I was told that when it gets more busy I will be able to assist by measuring and weighing the children, in order to chart their growth and ensure they aren’t suffering from malnutrition/nourishment - a problem among township children.

I did some menial work, and once I was finished, I played with the kids. They of course were very fascinated by my hair, and loved my ring on my finger. We played games similar to duck, duck, goose, and ring around the rosie, but of course they were played in Xhosa. I do not speak Xhosa thus I was a little lost as to how to play duck, duck, goose, when I was chosen. They thought that this was very funny. I lost once in one of the games, and next thing I knew, all of the children had surrounded me, hitting me and chanting something in Xhosa. It was crazy and I couldn’t escape. I later found out that this is what they do when someone loses the game, and normally the loser should run away to avoid being hassled. I did not know this, thus I was a little shocked when it happened. The other leaders of the clinic thought it was very amusing, and were laughing and taking pictures. I had a ton of fun playing with the kids and observing how a clinic is run. I will be volunteering for SHAWCO a lot more while I’m here.

After we returned from SHAWCO volunteering yesterday, we had a Brai with our landlady. It was very fun, and we all brought food to share. Hanli’s house is even more artsy and gorgeous in the inside. It was great talking with her about her views on how South Africa is doing in the post-apartheid period.

And that is all I have been up to over this weekend. As I said before, I have literally done nothing today but sleep. I’m excited to go check out this church called “Common Ground” this evening. It is supposed to be the church where a lot of UCT students go. Pray that I can get well soon, because its lame to be sick when you’re living by yourself!