Updates are nice (:

Hello everyone! I'm sorry i've been so bad with my updating, I promise to try and do better, ok?

So another week has past and we are in our third week here in South Africa.
In the previous post you saw how we went to a Birds of Prey exhibit and showcase which was legit.
This past weekend, February 6th, we went to Umhlanga Beach in Durban! It was awesome. The nursing girls got to go on this separate excursion. I touched the Indian Ocean and swam in it. Haha. We soaked in the bright, bright sun and had a relaxing time. I was able to read and have some time with the nursing girls. After taking a quick shower, we headed off to the biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere! It was HUGE. It had rock climbing, a theater (the Barnyard), a movie theater, restaurants, eateries, and hundreds of shops! Popular stores here are: GAME, Woolworths, Pick N' Pay, Clicks, and many others. I like how everyone here is so friendly and you can just talk to anyone. A popular cafe here is Mugg and Bean. All the students love it there. They have an excellent menu as well as great coffee and other drinks. After two hours of mall fun, eight of us girls plus Janet and SJ (our coordinators) went to a 70s themed concert at the Barnyard Theater. It was great and so much fun. It reminded me of my dad and all his favorite songs.

Clinicals on Tuesdays and Thursdays have been good and life changing. I love the people of Africa and I cannot stress this enough. My first week of clinical I was at East Boom Clinic which exposed me to HIV/AIDS first hand. My second week I was at Ethembeni in Mpophomeni. Ethembeni is run by volunteers. They give out food parcels and other needs to the community who are suffering with HIV or other ailments. They are Christian centered (as over 90% of South Africa is Christian) and therefore give spiritual care as well. We have home visits and check up on families. Most of them live in mud-houses that are dirty with flies everywhere. They may not have much, but they are rich in their faith with God. I am so happy that nursing is not only a profession, but also a ministry to the people. I know God has a purpose and I feel myself changing in ways I cannot explain.

Yesterday I was at Mason's Clinic. This clinic is not as "top-of-the-line" like East Boom, but it is wonderful nonetheless with the friendly staff and the amazing work that they do. I feel so much more respect for nurses and nursing as a profession being here in South Africa. They deal with a lot of frustration with non-compliance here, and I don't blame them.
I was able to draw blood for laboratory today! WHOO! (Yah, it's that big of a deal). I was so excited! We also saw some pretty crazy things like anal warts, an infected boob, a weird cyst on the vag, and planar warts on the face and legs.

Life here is good. Tea and eats are always nice. I weighed myself on the scale at Mason's clinic (haha) and I lost 4 pounds! Whoo! I think it's because we eat regularly here and get much needed exercise. Yesterday we had mini-apple pies for tea time which were divine!

Did I ever type out my schedule? No? Here it is:

Monday: Class All Day til 1600
Tuesday: Clinical 0800-1430
Wednesday: Class at 0800-0900. Free time. Class at 1845-whenever
Thursday: Clinical 0800-1430
Friday:Class All Day til 1600
Saturday: EXCURSION DAY!
Sunday: Church at 0840. Free time.

Food schedule: yah, it's that important [:

Breakfast is 0730 every day except on Tuesday & Thursday its at 0700. We pack our lunch on clinical days and leave by 0700 to be at our clinical sites at about 0800.
Tea and eats at 1015 ish
Lunch at 1300
Tea and eats AGAIN at 1600
Din Din at 1800

Yes, we eat a lot here but sometimes I skip breakfast and have a late breakfast at tea and I usually skip tea at 1600. It all depends on how tubby I feel. lols!

So yah, life's good. This Saturday's excursion consists of a hike in the Drakensburg to go see original Bushmen cave paintings as well as other famous landmarks. I will share these with you again next post.

Take care all! (: