I'll be home tomorrow! I am really sad about it though but partly looking forward to it because I have missed everybody so much. Anyways, I cannot wait to see everyone again! Amanda is already on her way home. I had such an awesome time with her (I just hope that she can say the same). It is good to be able to experience South Africa with someone - I wish more people came! But Amanda and I agreed that we are coming back so everyone is welcome to join us! Can't wait to see you guys!

Amanda is coming today! Countdown in T-7 hours. I am going to take a nap to be ready for her because I am exhausted. I hope she has fun - I am really nervous that I am not going to show her a good time but I really do hope that she has fun. It is kind of sad that everybody is leaving today but I am so excited that Amanda is getting here. Basically, I will be incommunicado for two weeks though because I will not have access to internet. My plane departs on the 9th of May so I will be home on the 10th. Amanda and I are going to take South Africa by storm! :) And then...my trip will come to an end. I cannot wait to see everybody!

My time in Cape Town is coming to a quick end. I cannot believe that it has been 3.5 months now. I look back on my previous entries and cannot believe how unhappy I was at first, just because I was nervous. I am in love with this country, I am in love with the people, I am in love with this place! It is amazing and it makes me sad to think that my time here is coming to an end. Where did the time go? I feel like I have been gone for maybe a month but not almost four. Part of me is ready to go home - I miss everybody so much but I know that once I go home, get back into the groove, I will miss Cape Town and I will be longing to return. All of the friends that I made this semester are leaving on Sunday. I still have to pack but I cannot bring myself to do it. Each day is a rush to buy things we didn't get before or to go places that we never got a chance to go to and it just makes me sad. The suitcases are coming out, the tears have started and the goodbyes have been occurring all week. This is the part that I hate - saying goodbye. How can I possibly say goodbye to this gorgeous country? I know that I have a couple more weeks because Amanda gets here on Sunday (which I am completely psyched about) but I really do think I am going to be sobbing on the plane. Can everybody I love just move here so I don't have to say goodbye to Africa? Sure it has its' crazies, psychotic killer bugs and its crime but where is this not present? Everybody should come here at least once in their life time - it is worth the flight.

So to recap what I have been doing since I haven't posted. I have been living life - trying to still find a roommate for John Hopkins next year, still trying to find a job for the summer which is a hassle when overseas. I am trying to spend as much time as possible with my friends here. I have finished, as much as I could have, my project at my internship for Dr. Rode. My study wound up including 105 patients (which means I looked at over 200 case files) and the only conclusion I could draw was that flame burns have a higher susceptibility to VAP whereas hot water burns had a higher susceptibility to nosocomial pneumonia. Obviously flame burns led to more inhalational burns which contributed to the VAP as well. When I showed Dr. Rode my results and everything I did, he was really pleased and said that he did not expect this much work out of me. If he didn't expect this work, I really don't know what he expected I was doing these past few months. My paper for this is not written, only the introduction and methods so I am going to correspond with Dr. Rode over the summer in order to finalize the paper and hopefully get it published in the South African Medical Journal.

I went downtown by myself, which is a first. Got on the minibus by myself (even after all of these muggings have happened lately), found my way to St. George's mall and Green market Square, by myself (which is not hard), and found Amanda and my hotel so I know how to orient myself. It is kind of fun, relaxing and liberating, being able to be that comfortable with this area in order to head downtown by myself using transportation that some locals are afraid to use. Yesterday I had an interesting encounter. I went to the beach with some friends and this man comes up to us. I was on my stomach reading a book but I could tell he was right behind me due to his shadow. He says "hi guys" and keeps saying this until I respond since everybody else is ignoring him, hoping he will go away. Now I thought he was one of the workers that go around the beaches selling cold drinks and ice cream. I was confused as to why I did not hear him say "GRANADILLA LOLLIE! COKE LIGHT! ICE COLD WATER FROM ICELAND!". Then and there I should have assumed that he was not one of those people selling things. Once I said hello, he walked around my towel and crouched in front of me. I looked in his face, saw the missing teeth and the dirty clothes and thought to myself "oh crap - what did I get myself into". It was obvious that he was homeless and was going to beg for money and food. He gave me this sheet of paper that was from an outpatient clinic explaining that he was coughing up blood in his sputum. The man explained this to me as well and I immediately thought TB. He mentioned that he had TB in the past and was on medication for it but can no longer afford the medication. Immediately, I thought of the fact that he was going to generate an MDR-TB which could spread to other people and that would be bad. Eventually, this man got to the crux of his story and said that he had no money for medication or food. I feel uncomfortable giving homeless/beggars money because you do not know what they are going to do with it. I went through my bag and found an apple and gave it to him. The man said thank you, looked at me like I should give him money and I explained that I had no money (a little white lie) but I did have an apple to give him. He looked like he put the apple in his bag and walked away. I turned to talk to my friend and realized that he had thrown the apple in the sand. How ungrateful! It was obvious that he was just looking for money and to do what with, I don't know. It is clear that he was not looking for food and it frustrates me that you give people the benefit of the doubt and they do this. That makes me not want to try to help others. Overall - I was astonished that it happened and I was a little angry. But, that is the only 'exciting' incident that has happened thus far since I last posted.

Amanda is coming in three days!! Soo excited and I cannot wait to show her South Africa. We are going to have a blast! I will be home in three weeks!

So the roommate situation at JHSPH kind of fell through. The girl that I was going to room with found somebody else that she met during visitors week which I obviously could not attend. I am going to contact the other girls that contacted me about roommate situations to see if they have found a roommate yet. Hopefully I will find one or I will just live by myself for a year which is fine - it will just be lonely.

Tonight I am the only one in the house. Everybody else went to an Akon concert. Boo...I do not like Akon and don't feel the need to spend $25 on tickets to see him, seeing as I will make up for that with other concerts I actually want to go to. Since everybody is gone, I rented a movie and plan on vegging out on the couch. The little house is going to Long Street but I really don't feel like going out tonight. I went out on Thursday night and it was fun but more than once in a weekend is a little much for me.

Amanda comes in two weeks! I am so excited!

Today I hung out with Mia and her coworker Lindy, plus her two kids Portia and the little boy whose name I cannot spell. They were so cute! Portia is not Lindy's biological child - Portia is HIV positive and her mother died of AIDS. Lindy used to go and help her Portia's mother (they were homeless) and when Portia's mom died and Portia was in the hospital, Lindy took her in. That woman is so nice and amazing. Taking in a child when you know that they have HIV is amazing, especially since that makes life so much more complicated and expensive. Portia is such a beautiful little girl though - I wanted to take her home. So Mia and I treated them to lunch and bought them presents at Cavendish mall. They were so thankful and had a good time. I am going to miss meeting amazing people like this and I am going to miss Mia, the one person on this trip that understands me.

More pictures from spring break

It was very windy on the game drive

Our couples picture - drinking our bottle of J.C. Le Roux

Ben, Mia and I at the revolving restaurant in Durban

Itchy baboon

Me on a horse in the Drakensburg Mountains

Word of advice: when in South Africa, never get bit by a bug on a Friday, have it swell on a Saturday and decide to go to the doctor in the afternoon, because doctors are closed. And when you decide that, because your eye is almost swollen shut, you really should go to the doctor on a Sunday - once again, every place is closed. The hospital does not make appointments, only during the week, and you have to go triage instead. Yeah - I will wait until tomorrow, I am not going to triage where they have more important patients to deal with than somebody with a swollen eye. All I need is some anti-histamine and antibiotics. Oh and even if I went to the hospital, there is no guarantee that I would get my prescription filled because all of the pharmacies are closed! Moral of the story: don't get sick on a weekend when in South Africa.

So the swelling of my eye due to the bloody bug has increased, not decreased. I called the doctor today but they were closed. I really do not think it is anything important. Compared to this morning the swelling has gone down but my eye was halfway swollen shut (if that makes sense) when I went to leave in the morning. If the swelling has increased when I wake up tomorrow I will bring a book and sit in the ER of Groote Schuur hospitals, just because I don't want to get cellulitis and have my eye swollen shut and have it be all hard and red. It is itchy...:( I look like I got punched in the face. Stupid bug. But do not worry - it will be fine and if it gets worse tomorrow, I will get some antibiotics. I still can't believe the bug latched itself to my face and bit me. Bloody beetle...

Anyways, today we went to an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Khayelitsha with Leon-Lee - a friend of Jung and Michelle's from TAC (Treatment Action Campaign - an NGO that work to educate people about HIV/AIDS). These kids ranged from 1.5 to 14 years old and according to the worker, all of them are HIV+ and all are orphans. Some were abandoned by one or more parents that could no longer care for them because of their HIV status, some had one or both parents die from AIDS. It was really sad. Every month they go to Red Cross to refill the children's ARV prescriptions. It is so sad that these children are already on ARVs. I understand that they do not want the kids to get AIDS but ARVs are pretty toxic and they have really bad side effects. Some people delay taking ARVs until their CD4 count is at a certain point because the of the side effects and the fact that the sooner you start taking the medication, the quicker the virus will become resistant to it. I wanted to cry but in reality, these kids have a good life, compared to other AIDS orphans. They live in the nicest houses I have seen in Khayelitsha. They all have food and a bed (although there may be two to three kids to twin bed). All of them go to school or to krish (day care) and they have somebody to look after them. Apparently, they are all up for adoption and if they are not adopted, will eventually go into foster care. Unfortunately though, because of their HIV status, there is little hope that they will get adopted. Who wants a child that has HIV and has to take ARV's every day? It is so sad but once again, these children were so happy. First of all, they were really excited that we were there. I got attached to them all so quickly. Vuyani was a young boy who had a birth defect - his left ear was not formed fully (it was more inside his head) and his face was crooked (that is the only way I could think of saying it). He walked with a little bit of a limp and it seemed as if he was mentally handicapped. Vuyani also had these polyps all over his face - there is a virus that causes that but I am not sure, if in his case, these polyps were from a virus or if it meant that he had a very advanced HIV status. He was so cute though! I picked him up and spun him in circles, we taught them Duck Duck Goose and played catch with them. I almost cried when I left - we spent at least three hours with them and they were all so sad that we were leaving. This is what I came here to do though - make a difference. These kids won't remember us but at least, for one day, we could give them joy. Hopefully, although we don't have too much time left, we can go back again.

I only have three more weeks left of my program, then an extra two weeks in South Africa with Amanda. How crazy is that?!

Sunset in Drakensburg


Horses

Drakensburg mountains

Storm coming in.

3/28/07





Today was amazing, like every day on this spring break has been. I woke up this morning very well rested. At 10 AM we left for horseback riding and arrived at this really cute farm. There was 10 of us in total, I believe, and we were initially separated into people who have ridden before and those who had not. I had ridden before, once, but in a tiny space with someone holding the rope and the horse was walking, not in a gallop or canter. Yet, even though I had done that once, I was placed into the group that had ridden before. Basically they did that so that the people who had never ridden before got the horses that were more tame (or so we thought). I rode Christmas - a beautiful brown horse. I tried to pet him but he was turned around backwards in his little pen thing and I was afraid of scaring him. When he finally turned around, I went to pet him and he ran away! My horse did not like me and tried to bite me. I got a little scared, just because he would not let me get near him but once I mounted him, everything was fine.





I pretty much got a really quick lesson a horse, given to me by Mia and not by our guides and we were off. Basically, a guide went up front and all of the other horses followed while a guide was in back to keep an eye on the less experienced people. Obviously Mia, Katie and Lara went up front because they had ridden before. Christmas, along with all of the horses, were not the most well behaved and was very temperamental. He kept eating while we were walking (we went through big fields in the valley, with gorgeous views of mountains on all sides). I kept having to pull his head up. To my surprise though, we had not been going long when the guide started to gallop - hence the rest of our horses started to gallop. I did not know the proper technique one needs to adopt in order to gallop so the first time, I was just bouncing up and down really fast. It was very uncomfortable and I could not understand for the life of me why somebody would want to ride a horse when it felt like this. Finally, I realized that you had to adopt a motion that was congruent with the horse's movements. Basically, you use your thighs to lift you up and you raise yourself up and down in motion with the horse in order to make it a less bumpy and fluid ride. Once I caught onto that, galloping was fun. I did get a tension headache eventually because it was still rather bumpy (and the exercising of picking myself up and down really hurt my knees). It was absolutely crazy though - here I was, a complete beginner on a horse, out on a horse on my own (as in nobody was leading it by a rope) and I was galloping. This would never happen in the states! First of all, it would cost so much money to do (unlike our situation) and you would have to have taken lessons for at least a year! I was astounded but it was so much fun! Oh and these trails were by no means easy. My horse was tripping and sliding up the hills. Frequently he decided that he wanted to pass the horse in front of me and would break into a canter. The first time I was so confused and was like "Oh crap...what is going on? Where are you going?" Also my horse liked to make his own paths through bushes and other random things that scratched me. And my horse was very stubborn. At times, he almost bit my ankles because I needed him to stop eating grass and to pick up his head. It was quite frustrating.





We took a break so that the horses could rest and eat. I took in the scenery. This is when I pulled out my camera to take pictures. Mia has pictures of me on the horse because her camera was smaller and could clip to my belt whereas mine was bulky, and with the galloping horse, would have left me with a huge bruise due to the camera.





On our way back, we galloped most of the way and Lara's horse decided it did not want to walk through a stream but jumped over it instead. After that, we made sure to make our horses walk through the stream rather than jump because not all of us would have handled that incident as gracefully as Lara did. A storm was coming in and you could hear the thunder in the distance and see the lightning. I think it might have spooked Christmas, my horse, a little bit because all of a sudden, he got out of line and cantered like someone just slapped him on the butt. Eventually I got him to slow down but I was scared for a little bit since I did not know what on earth he was doing. Overall, it was a very satisfying experience. I would love to take lessons at home, because I loved the riding so much, but I would be frustrated by how expensive the lessons are and by how slow I would be allowed to progress on the horse when I have ridden, galloped and cantered by myself on one in South Africa. Things are so different here - this is only one of many examples.





We made it back just in time because when we got back to the hotel, it started to rain. The rest of the day was spent around the chalets, watching various movies on t.v. and resulted in me finishing Jane Eyre, which was fantastic, by the way. Later that night, before writing this and going to bed, I turned my phone on to see that I missed a call from Mom. She left me a message saying that she got my official John Hopkins acceptance letter and that they were offering me full tuition, full dental, full medical and a $26850 stipend. I was ecstatic! I was leaning more towards John Hopkins anyways but this cemented my decision. How on earth could I not accept it? I called Mom back and she said she would kick my butt if I did not accept the offer. I AM GOING TO JOHN HOPKINS!! I cannot believe it! My dream - holy crap!! I am a little, scratch that, VERY scared but very excited at the same time.





Anyways, I went to go up and tell everybody else (we were having a dance party going on at the main house since it was our last night). When I walked out of my chalet (it was nighttime), I saw something moving and when it moved into the light, it was a bloody babboon! Scared the crap out of me, that is for sure! I told Mia - she got really excited and wanted to buy me a drink, as did Marita since both of them knew how stressed out I was about the decision that I had to make. All in all though - it was an awesome vacation and I loved it. We have to leave by 5:30 tomorrow morning in order to be in Durban to catch our 11 AM flight back to Cape Town. I am going to miss this relaxation but I am looking forward to being home (meaning Cape Town - we have just begun to notice that Cape Town is now home to us). I cannot wait to come back to the Drakensburg mountains - they were my favorite part of the trip. I cannot wait for Amanda to come!!











So that is the end of the trip - our drive home was uneventful and arriving home was fairly uneventful as well. I have now gone back to work (but very sick because I have a respiratory cold) and besides being bit by an absolutely awful bug, I am doing well! I have officially accepted John Hopkins and once I get a $600 admission fee waived, I can fill out the paperwork. Once that is done and finalized, I am going to reject Uconn and UMD. I hope people will visit me in Baltimore next year!

More Spring Break news

Baboon chilling on the side of the road

Waterfall


Jung, Mia and I swimming in the ridiculously cold pool in our underwear. And yes, I got made fun of for my matching underwear skills or actually lack thereof

At the lookout

I realize it is taking me forever to post these - sorry! I will be posting pictures on photobucket at some point, I promise! Anyways, for today (posting for the actual 4th of April), the only significant event today was getting bit on the face by a bloody huge bug. I was walking back from the train station and Checkers and a bug flew into my face, attached to my right eyebrow and bit me. I have never been bit so hard in my entire life. I screamed, people looked at me weird, my friend Sarah looked at me weird and I swatted the bug away. Another bug came after Sarah and the one that bit me came after me again. We ran away but these were the largest bugs I have ever seen! They were huge and black so not a bee but I am thinking more along the lines of a beetle from the way it felt when it was on my face. So anyways, my face, right above my eye were it bit me, was throbbing for a good 20 minutes until I took tylenol. I still have a headache and my face is swollen. :( Hopefully I don't get cellulitis - that would be very upsetting.





To continue on with last weeks adventures on our Spring Break!





3/27/05


Our first full day in Drakensburg! It was amazing - we went on this long 4 hour hike (not really a hike but a nice walk). Our guide was so knowledgable and pointed out San rock art (which was really cool but it took me a while to realize where on the rock the art actually was since the painting was so faded) and he pointed out various forms of plants and different animals. Shortly, we came to this great waterfall and a nice pool that we could go swimming in. I was brave enough to take off my shoes and walk around the river, with my camera, taking pictures of the waterfall and other people that wanted me to take their picture in front of the waterfall. I did slip a couple times but not to the extent where my camera got wet (thank god). The water was frigid, by the way. I looked over to the pool and saw that some of my colleagues stripped down to their underwear and were swimming. They dunked their head under the water, came up screaming because it was so cold and then headed for the rocks to dry off in the sun. After exploring around the waterfall for a while with Mia and desperately trying not to slip and get my camera wet, I went back to where everybody was sitting. I decided, spur of the moment, to strip down and went swimming in my underwear like everybody else. Lets just say that they had every right to scream when they got in the water - it was soo cold! Then I decided I was going to chill underneath the waterfall and realized that a lot of water falling on your head kind of gives you a headache, never mind the fact that it is freezing cold water. Our guide brought mugs and gave us tea and biscuits, which was a great snack. Eventually we all got dressed again and headed up the mountain further to the lookout point.





The lookout point was gorgeous. You could see all around and all around us, there were waterfalls in the distance. I cannot wait to go to the Drakensburg mountains again with Amanda. We are going to do a lot of hiking because it is GORGEOUS! I could have hiked all day but unfortunately, most of the people I am with do not have the same appreciation of nature and do no thave the stamina to do a lot of hiking. Did parents just not take their children hiking when they were little? It seems as if some of the people I was with NEVER did this and I can't remember a summer where we did not go hiking when I was little. But besides that and all of the complaining, once I tuned all of that out, I was able to fully enjoy the scenery.





After the lookout, we hiked up to another waterfall. This water was clean enough for us to drink and some people went behind the waterfall into this cave to fill their water bottle. The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. It was fairly flat and the scenery was gorgeous. We essentially hiked halfway up the side of one mountain and then continued around its side and went back down. Along the way we saw some wild antelope and a gigantic lizard - oh and a gigantic spider. I tried to take a picture of it for Aunt Ann since I realize she loves them so much but I did not get a chance to, sadly.





Once we finished our hike (which most people complained about - that really irked me) we went back to the hotel for lunch and to hang out. I was excited to go back and read my book. I was reading Jane Eyre for the first time and realized that it was really good. Mia and I chilled by the pool, reading our books. A huge thunderstorm came in during the afternoon and we sat on our porch and watched the lightning. I must say that South Africa has the most amazing thunderstorms. There are no flashes of lightning - every single time you can see a single bolt of lightning. Today, the thunder was so loud that it was shaking the little chalet. I loved it! It was just such a relaxing day. I could not have asked for me: a nice morning hike, chilling outside, reading a book in the afternoon and then watching a thunderstorm in the afternoon. At night we had another buffet dinner and I headed to bed early because I was tired. Several people made appointments for massages tomorrow but I really did not feel like it. Instead, I am going horseback riding tomorrow morning! I'm really excited!





Oh yeah and I forgot to metion that on my way to and from the hike, I saw a crapload of baboons. Just a whole caravan of them chilling out on the side of the road. Thought of you guys - and no I did not get eaten by them.

Leaving Durban and Heading to Drakkensburg Mountains!

Scenery on the drive to the hotel

more scenery

Mountains!

View from the main house of the hotel

Those little buildings are our chalets - this was the general property of the hotel

3/26





We left Durban this morning. Marita scheduled a talk with some lady about being a South African, something, at the hotel for two hours this morning. I really did not want to go because I would have rather spent that time exploring Durban a little more before we left but we did not have a choice. Fortunately for me, I was sick along with several other people and needed to get medicine from the pharmacy. Christine also had pink eye and needed to see a doctor in order to get medicine so we headed out with Ben to run our errands while everybody else had to sit through the talk. Apparently it was pretty good but whatever - I got medication (that I am still using) for Mia and I that allowed us to sleep. That is all that matters.





Upon leaving Durban, we had a 4 hour drive to the Drakkensburg Mountains where we were staying at the Mount Aux Sources Hotel. The drive was gorgeous. I tried to stay awake for most of it because I wanted to see as much of the country as possible and that obviously cannot be accomplished with your eyes closed. All of a sudden we were out of Durban and in this gorgeous mountaineous area. It did not look like anything you think you would see in South Africa, besides the Zulu huts. It looked like I was in North Carolina or England. I kept thinking that I saw scenery from the new Pride and Prejudice when we were driving by. It was absolutely gorgeous!





After a long hall, we arrived at our hotel and I must say that it was absolutely amazing! We stayed in these chalets - three people to a chalet when you could actually fit 6. I roomed with Sarah and Mia (we were the sick house). And this hotel was just in such a remote location where mountains were all around. There were no restaurants, pharmacies, nothing, to be found within a 30 minute drive - just mountains. The dinner we had at the restaurant was buffet style and man was it amazing. Oh and we had this great pool available to us and a human chess set where you actually move the chess pieces around the board (they were fairly large and very young children were playing chess, accurately I might add). A thunderstorm rolled in and the lightning was so amazing! I wish I could have caught it with my camera. Tonight we are just relaxing. Tomorrow morning we are going for a nice hike! I cannot wait!

Indian Market and Valley of 1000 Hills

Sun setting over water in Durban. This was literally right outside of our hotel

Festival of Chariots - they were chucking apples

View from my hotel room

The next morning walking along the beach

Valley of 1000 Hills

Since I am home sick from work today, I figured I would continue to post updates concerning my trip!





3/25/08





I forgot to mention last night, when we were about to go to eat at Castros, I saw this big commotion on the street from my hotel window. I went down, to wait for everybody else and to see what it was. For everybody that does not know, Durban is an Indian city - a very Indian city. Sabrina, who is Indian, said that while she was in Durban, she kept thinking she was actually in India - yes there are that many Indians in Durban. Anyways, the commotion was an Indian parade celebrating the Festival of Chariots. All of these Indians were walking ahead of this float thing and pulling it. On the float was some creepy old looking guys but they were throwing things. Now I was thinking of American parades where they throw candy for the kids but no, that was not the case here. Instead of throwing candy, they threw apples. Yes apples, I think Granny Smith if you want to be exact. I cannot tell you how many times I almost got pelted with bloody apples. I think it was good luck or something or would give you good health because all of the Indians were trying to catch them. The apples that weren't caught (all of them being thrown with such force) exploded upon hitting the ground. I was afraid I was going to get a concussion if I got hit in the head with apples! It was a very violent yet beautiful and strange parade. I got offered an apple by many Indians that had the good fortune of catching many (and hopefully avoiding those that were heading for their head). Upon giving me an apple they would say "god bless" or something along those lines in their Hindu I think...not sure what language but I knew what it meant thanks to Dimpi, Roh and Bend it like Beckham! :) I was proud of myself for that and said it back to them. It was just an amazing experience. You go to South Africa and get caught up in the middle of an Indian parade raining apples.





So today was the explore Durban day but we didn't really explore Durban like we would Cape Town. All of us started off the day going to the Indian Market where I bought many things. I bought two more paintings, many necklaces, many baskets, many masks and other presents for people. Almost everything was a present and I have most people figured out and done! :) So proud of myself for that. Oh and I was absolutely astonished by how cheap everything was in Durban! A wire bowl (yes the coveted telephone wire bowls) were R30 which is less than $4. You pay $70 in the States. My banana leaf pictures were R10 which is a little over $1. Ridiculous huh? I had so much fun and spent so much money, but got a lot of things for my money so I was happy with that.





After the Indian Market several people went to the beach for the day but I decided that I could go to the beach whenever. Yes it is the Indian ocean but I had swam in it before and realized how warm + salty it was. Instead, I went with a group of people to the continents largest mosque and learned about Islam, which was interesting. It was really sad that upon learning that we were Americans, our guide had to say that Islam in no way supports terrorists. Also, it was interesting to see that the women are not allowed to pray in the same vicinity as the men. Instead, they have a separate prayer room upstairs and the reason for this is that Islam does not want men and women touching shoulders while praying because it may distract them from their sole purpose in being there: to pray. Somebody asked something about women and our guide in turn says that under Islam, women are treated very well and then went on to give examples about how in the Koran, it tells a man how to treat his wife, what to do to discipline her etc. I was wondering how on earth Islam treats women well when they are still treated as property but I did not dare ask that question.





After the mosque, we journeyed to the Valley of 1000 Hills, a region outside of Durban that is supposed to literally be 1000 hills. Marita (our professor) was under the impression that it was a tourist Zulu village but for the life of us we could not get her to understand that the entire region was called the Valley of 1000 Hills and it contained Zulu villages, that it was not, as she believed, a single village. Anyways, we went there and the view was gorgeous. I was a little cranky because I was tired and had not eaten lunch but I did enjoy the view. There was also a couple shops that we went into and I found myself some beaded sandles (like the ones that Chesney got - I tried to find some in your size Mom but they did not have any). Overall, it was a pretty good day.





We ate dinner that night at the Rotating Roma Restaurant, one of 37 or 31 (there were conflicting signs) revolving restaurants in the world. It was kind of strange going into an Indian city and having Italian but it was good, nonetheless. Obviously I got ravioli because I have not had good ravioli since I have gotten here. Mia and I once again shared a bottle of J.C. Le Roux Le Domaine since I am in love with it and have our pictures sipping our "champagne". The food was good - unfortunately it took forever and a half to eat dinner which is something to be expected when you go out to eat in South Africa. Eating is an event in itself - there is no such thing as a quick stop.





After the restaurant, I decided to go for a late night and go to the casino with a couple of people. I had never gambled before and only put in R20 into the slots, just for fun. Lets just say that I came out with an extra R96. I was proud of myself! :)

Water Safari and Durban

Lazy crocodile in the sun

Hippo!!

The estuary

many many hippos

cute hippo sleeping

3/24:





We got up early again this morning to check out of the Sand Forest Lodge and to head to St. Lucia Estuary where we had to catch the boat at 10AM or else it would leave without us. This was pretty much a safari but of water creatures. I stupidly sat on the top of the boat and thus got burnt but was able to see all around the beautiful estuary. Once our 2 hour long tour started, we immediately saw several crocodiles, some bathing in the sun on the sand while others creepily swimming with only their eyes above the water (reminded me of the croc in Peter Pan). All I could think about was that I need to see and take lots of pictures of hippos for Ari. Lets just say I got my wish. We saw hundreds of hippos. Literally. They were everywhere! It is hard to imagine that they are such dangerous animals because they are just so cute and lazy! All of them were just standing in the water, walking around, sunbathing. I wish Ari could have seen them first hand. One minute you are looking at just water and the next minute, right where you looked, a hippo emerged - one that was previously submerged in the water. We were also able to see some monkeys by the shore and a couple birds. As with the game drive, it was really exciting to see the animals but then it became "oh wow..look...there is yet another hippo" or "yet another crocodile". It is sad how fast you become used to the animals and then, you are no longer excited by them.





After our St. Lucia Estuary tour, we left to drive back to Durban where we are going to stay for the next couple of days. We are staying at the Blue Waters Hotel which is right on the beach. By the way, this hotel is GORGEOUS! It is so nice! Our room has a balcony that overlooks Durban and part of the beach. I got to watch the sun set from my little balcony. We went to dinner at Castros (I think that is what it was called) and I had a steak fillet. It was the most amazing steak I have ever had in my entire life. I shoveled that thing (all 350g) into my mouth in a manner of minutes. Then I practically attacked the waiter for trying to take away my mashed potatoes (the first time I have had those since I have been here and they were sinfully good). I also had a bottle of J.C. Le Roux Le Domaine with my meal (sharing with Mia of course). That is the only wine I like...but it is more like champagne. Actually it is champagne except it cannot be called champagne because it is not from a certain vineyard in France. Anyways, the dinner was amazing. Some people went to the casino afterwards but I was exhausted and headed back to the room. Tomorrow, we are going to the Indian market = Cailin is going to spending money on gifts!

Pictures from Safari

A lone giraffe

Rhino with the biggest and pointiest horn I have ever seen!

Zebra running down the road

Vervet monkey watching us from a tree

Me in very close proximity to Momma and baby zebra

Easter in Omfolozi Hluhluwe Game Reserve

3/23/08

Happy Easter! I am exhausted but it was by far the best Easter ever! We had to wake up at 4:45 AM to be ready to leave at 5:30. All of us piled into these trucks and left for the game reserve that was ~30 minutes away. The game drive was 6 hours long through this huge reserve. There was a bunch of roads, dirt and semipaved, that were interconnected and we went on whatever one the driver thought animals would be on. For the things we saw: warthogs, tons of zebras, tons of giraffes, rhinos (black and white), water buffalo (all I could think of was 'everybody's got a water buffallo, yours is fat but mine is slow. Where they get them I don't know but everybody's got a water bufallooooooo'), impalas, a cheetah (really far away), vultures, antelope and wildebeast. oh and a vervet monkey! Plus some baboons in a tree. No lions, hippos or elephants today. :( Hopefully we will be seeing hippos tomorrow on our St. Lucia estuary tour. At first, seeing all of the animals was really exciting but after our millionth zebra and giraffe, it wasn't as exciting anymore. Both the zebra and giraffe came really close to us. When we stopped for breakfast, there was a zebra family, running around and I could almost touch the zebra (John did and they ran away scared). Often, we got stuck behind zebra, buffalo or a giraffe that was walking down the road. I do have to say that I love zebras and giraffes now though. Giraffes are so majestic and peaceful. Our driver explained to us that zebra and giraffe are usually seen together because the zebra use giraffe as protection. Since giraffes are so tall and can see farther, they can notice an approaching predator and will warn the other giraffes. This is also a warning to the zebra. I thought that the learned relationship was really interesting. We got caught in another downpour while driving around the game reserve but within an hour, it was blue skies again. The weather changes so quickly here, it is unbelievable! Anyways, I have tons of pictures of animals, particularly giraffes for Ari. Hope she enjoys them! No polar bears yet :)

Beginning of Spring Break: Game Reserve!

View of the Cape when flying to Durban

At the Sand Forest Lodge - the sun was going down. This field is where a ton of animals were

Some sort of antelope

And a zebra right behind my hotel!!

And the hotel - that was actually the eating area and bar. Where we slept was behind it.

I am copying the entries from my journal - sorry it has taken so long for me to do this, I have been really sick...:(





3/22/08:





So I am on the plane to Durban for the start of our spring break! I am so ready for a week of relaxation where I can just take in the scenery of South Africa and forget about all of my responsibilities. Good news, I also got into John Hopkins! I actually never thought that I would and now that I did, it is not an easy decision, or as easy as I thought it would be. I built up UMD so much and built down JHSPH so that I would not be upset about going to UMD. Now though I am torn. Yesterday I wanted to go to UMD, today I am leaning towards JHSPH. Who knows what I will feel tomorrow? A big problem is that I am doubting myself and my own capabilities. Honestly, I am terrified of going to JHSPH because I am afraid that I am not good enough. Mom is right though, I am turning my anxiety towards the fear of the unknown into a lack of confidence in myself. If I wasn't qualified, I would not have been selected I guess. I know that I have until April 15th to make a decision but I was never good at waiting. I just want someone to tell me what to do and where to go. Everybody has been so supportive of me and my fears. They are always willing to talk it over with me. I am being a brat though because I got into two amazing PhD programs, more than some people can say, and I am complaining about my decision. What if I can't do it though?





night of 3/22/08:





So we traveled all day today. It took about 4 hours to get to the game reserve from the Durban airport but we took an hour lunch at Steers at a gas station (really crappy food - don't ever go there!) This part of SA is what you would think Africa looks like, at least more so than Cape Town. It was rolling hills of grass with Zulu huts, rows of planted trees with a dirt lane in the middle, leading off into never never land. Men and women were walking alongside the highway, the women carrying baskets on top of their heads. Mia and I were listning to my iPod as we drove by houses the were falling down, rural shacks with naked children playing in the dirt, no electricity. Coincidentally, the song that came on was "Waiting on the World To Change". I could totally relate to those words as we were driving by extreme poverty, the people who are forgotten.


Anyways, the lodge is amazing! We are staying at the Sand Forest Lodge and we saw a giraffe, actually several, on the way here and right outside our little house is a huge field with some type of antelope, wildebeast and a zebra. Sarah, Amanda and I almost got run over by a stampede. I got such good pictures! They were so close that it was unreal! After that, a huge thunderstorm rolled in. We got soaked by downpouring rain and it felt like stereotypical Africa - a storm running in and within 20 minutes, completely gone. If you watched the field, when the lightning would strike, you could see the animals standing there - it was kind of creepy. Currently I am in a house with Joelle, Ruth, Steph, Abby and Mia (who I am sharing a bed with and consequently have gotten sick from). Yay for interhouse correlation! Tomorrow is game drive at 5:30!!

Leaving on my trip and I will be incommunicado for a week. See you next week with lots of adventures to tell about!

Explaining The Awesomeness of Yesterday

So....yesterday - an amazing day and very eventful.

It started out at work (like all Wednesday do) and I was following up on a couple of patients that I had seen in the ICU a month earlier. They were on ventilators and had pneumonia so I was taking down their information. Today, I did a follow up on them in the burns ward. One of the boys that I saw intially was very close to dying - they were not sure if he would last the rest of the week. He was on a high frequency oscillating ventilator and when you are on this type of ventilator, you know that their condition is bad. Because of the frequency of the ventilator and his condition, it blew his body up and he looked at least twice his size. I saw him yesterday - he was a happy, healthy 18 month old baby. All he needs is one more graft and he should be all set. Need I tell you how amazed I was? I did not even recognize the child! The mother had to go somewhere and basically asked me to watch him. I sat there, for an hour, holding this child that, a month ago, was on the brink of dying. Obviously the child was a little bit scared of me because I was a brand new face and his mother had disappeared but I could not help believing that I was holding a miracle. It was not the treatment that saved him - the doctors withdrew treatment. Dr. Rhode told his mother that his name should be changed from Lorenzo to miracle man. It was such an amazing experience though, to see not one but both boys so healthy, smiling and laughing.

After I met with those two kids and went over their files to determine how they contracted pneumonia, I heard music playing outside. the Friends of the Children's Hospital raised money and put on a parade that went around the hospital for the little kids. It was a parade for easter so there was a guy dressed up in a bunny suit, lots of clowns, a horse drawn carriage, a little VW Bug carring people all dressed up and waving. There was also a contest to see who could make the funniest/ most creative hat. The children got their faces painted and had an easter egg hunt outside, along with one of those huge blow up things to play on. It was so touching, especially because most of these kids have never even seen a balloon...they have never even seen a lot of the stuff that they got that day. Dogs came in on leashes to see kids in the oncology ward. To see their smiling faces and look of surprise was priceless.

I had to leave work at around 3:00 so that I could be home for 3:30 in order to have an interview with Pfizer. I actually have two interviews with Pfizer (one of which I am waiting for right now). The one that I had yesterday was with a pharcokinetics groups and I would be designing a protocol to use RNAi to study, in a more indepth manner, what the drug actually does to the body. Not really sure the details or how it would work but I love RNAi so I thought that it would be cool.

Oh, to interrupt my train of though, I just had my interview with Joe from Pfizer. It turns out that it is the Joe that I used to take blood from all the time during my first internship with Pfizer when I worked with Paul. I was so excited that it was him! I loved him! Basically, with this job, I would be looking at heat shock proteins, specifically heat shock protein 90 I think and how it affects the lining of arterial walls in terms of obesity. So once more I would be on an obesity project but they are trying to purchase this brand new really cool technology for me to use. I am soo excited! I will find out next Monday whether I have the job or not. Joe said that the other candidates are really good so I am not sure...I think he said that my enthusiasm about the project would make his decision easier but the phone was kind of staticky so he could have said harder. I don't know but I am really excited! He said that Paul told him that he has to hire me. I said that I would totally understand if he didn't because there are much more qualified people out there but he stated that I bring enthusiasm, work ethic, passion etc. to the table. And he likes that I always want a lot to do and am always looking for more work to do. So, hopefully I got the job!

Anyways, back to yesterday, I had an interview with University of Maryland right after my interview with Pfizer. Last time I updated, UMD was saying that I would be put on the waiting list until I could have an in person interview with them and that although my credentials are very good, the committee was concerned about my GRE scores. I emailed Jeff (the graduate director), saying that it would be impossible to have an in person interview because I am not getting home until the beginning of May and that I need to make a decision regarding other schools prior to April 15th. Also, I explained my GRE scores to him, especially the fact that my SAT scores were only an 1110 and that score was not indicative, in any way, of my performance in college. Thus, if we are using that train of logic, my GRE scores will not be indicative, in any way, of my performance in graduate school. I also made the argument that the GRE tests your ability to take a test whereas I feel that I bring a lot of other aspects to the table such as my motivation, work ethic and passion. All of those combined make me who I am and I feel that there is much more to graduate school than your testing ability. So, after ranting and raving to my friends about how stupid the GRE's are and how stupid UMD is, I get an email saying that Jeff would be willing to have a Skype video interview with me on Wednesday at 4:30 my time (10:30 at home). I was really nervous yesterday and was all ready to be grilled during the interview, in order to show that my GRE scores really aren't indicative of my knowledge. The interview was not really even an interview. It was Jeff trying to sell the University of Maryland to me. Apparently they are in a brand new science building (a definite plus), told me all about the program and explained that he felt that the stipend was one of the highest (which it isn't since UConn would pay me $4000 more, to live in a cheaper area, I might add). Throughout the 'interview', Jeff kept hinting at giving me an offer but I did not really believe him. He never once asked me a scientific question, just what my interests were. I felt like I needed to ask questions so I thought of some random questions to show that I was interested. Then, at the end of the interview, he said that he really hopes that I do well in whatever I do but really wants me to choose UMD and I will be getting an offer from him shortly. I got the offer in about 1.5 hours. So, I am really excited because now I have options! I will probably choose UMD but the only thing holding me back is that at UConn, I would be closer to family and being in South Africa right now has really showed me how close I am to my family and how much I miss them. That is the only downside to going to UMD. Besides that, I need to do some research on what Uconn is working on to see if there are multiple projects I am interested in. I will go to the school that is doing the coolest research.

So all in all, it comes down to the fact that if I did not email UMD and fight them about the GRE's, I never would have gotten an interview and I never would have been accepted. That kind of makes me mad in a way but also makes me proud of myself. So, that is what has happened in the past couple of days. I am on a personal high right now and could easily jump up and down, screaming in a very high tone but I will save everybody the agony of hearing me go into an octave that only dogs can hear. Miss you all!

I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND!! It is not official but he said that they are going to be sending me an offer. OMG!! I will explain more later and how I actually was able to get an interview. I have to get ready to go to Shocko. Oh and I might potentially be working with RNAi this summer at Pfizer (that is if they want to accept me). One more interview to go! (tomorrow at 3:30 with more Pfizer people). I AM SO EXCITED!

Spring Break Itinerary

This is my itinerary for our spring break starting the following week. Sooo excited!!!


March 22
Depart from Cape Town International Airport at 8am
Themba will pick us up at Durban Airport for transport to Sand Forest Lodge
Dinner, settle into rooms, etc…

March 23
6-hour morning game drive through Omfolozi Hluhluwe Game Reserve
Visit traditional village/homestead in the afternoon

March 24
Ferry boat tour through St. Lucia Estuary and Wetland
Depart for Durban in the late afternoon
Check into Blue Waters Hotel on Durban beachfront, dinner/dancing at jazz club

March 25 & March 26 spend days in Durban
Meet with Narissa Ramdhani (time and place depending on her availability)
Spend time on the beach,
Ushaka Marine World (if some students are interested)
Possible visit the Old Courthouse/Gandhi Memorial, Indian Market

Depart for Drakensburg Mountains
Settle into Mont-Aux Sources Hotel, dinner, etc…

March 27
Drakensburg experience- hiking, craft markets, etc…

March 28
More of the Drakensburg Mountains, Blood River Tour (if some students are interested)

March 29
Depart for Durban in the morning for 11am flight
Return to Cape Town in the early afternoon

Update on Graduate Schools

I just wanted to update everybody on my status with graduate schools. I found out today that I did not get into Columbia, which I was not surprised by seeing as I was never even asked for an interview. Using that logic I am guessing I did not get into Emory or Georgetown. I did get into Uconn PhD program in Biomedical sciences. That is exciting - at least I have somewhere to go to next year, although it is far from ideal. Today I emailed University of Maryland to determine when I would hear from them. The lady I emailed, who originally emailed me a while back asking for an interview, stated that if I had not heard from the program director that meant I was no longer considered for the program but that she thought my application was very good (like that is any consolation to me now). I am a little angry because they stated that they wanted an interview with me but when I asked for a phone interview, they said that the program director would contact me if I needed one. So does this mean that because I am in South Africa I am not being considered? Do they realize that I am in South Africa solely for an internship? I am broadening my cultural and research horizons, is that not important? I am pretty disappointed right now because it looks as if I am going to UConn next year. People say that you should not go to the same place for graduate school that you went to for undergraduate. Plus I really want to get out of UConn, even though I would not be at Storrs but at the Health Center campus. I know that with John Hopkins, I am 'on hold' and will find out at the end of this month/beginning of April but I highly doubt that I will be getting in there. It is the number one school of public health. Why would they want me if University of Maryland, Columbia, NIH, Emory and Georgetown do not want me? I could always take a year off but to do what? I do not regret coming to South Africa because I have had the most amazing time here and this experience has changed my life but I really wish that it, along with my bloody GRE scores, did not put me at such a disadvantage.

Bungee Jumping and Zip Line Canopy Tour Pictures

After the jump (these are out of order but you can see the tears in my eyes)

Canopy tour! Ziplining my way over some gorgeous waterfalls


The bungee jumping crew, minus Noelle since she did not jump.

The zip lining crew!




The bridge that I jumped off of. Crazy I know.



Before the jump, getting my legs tied up like a mummy. I was laughing from nervousness



Being carried to the edge of the bridge. This is where I started to cry.



And off I go (you can tell I am already screaming)



Long way down

Pictures from Plettenburg Bay Trip

On the beach during our Robberg Peninsula hike. At this point we wish we brought bathing suits so that we could swim. :(

On the sand dunes looking down onto the seals

Seals - there were hundreds of them. If you couldn't see them you could most definitely hear them

Our home sweet home for several days: Starling backpackers

Feeding Harry a treat after a nice ride




Swimming in the Indian Ocean - very warm by the way



Our mode of transportation. This is us before we said goodbye.



Playing the drums



Jung and I riding Harry the elephant :)



Robberg Peninsula. That little patch of sand is where we hiked to but we did a big loop.