Arrival to South Africa

Day One: January 10th, 2014

This was my homestay. 6 Zenith Drive, Vanguard Estate, Athone South Africa. It became a home away from home. Cedric was the only one home when we arrived to the house for the first time. Barbara was at work and was expected home around 5. Cedric took Barbara to and from work, they share one small car. From the moment we stepped in the doorway, Cedric was welcoming and very relaxed. He gave me a set of keys for the house and front gate in order to have access for the next two weeks. He made it very clear that we had free rein of the house during our stay. He was laid back and easy to talk to, and wise beyond his years! He had such a positive outlook on life and was inspiring to talk with.   

The far right window was the window to the bedroom Brooke and I shared. We each got a twin size bed and cabinet space for our belongings. Hayley was in her own room in the back of the house because she preferred the darker bedroom! It all worked out really well with the rooming situations! There was no air conditioning or fans in the house and we survived just fine! Day in and day out, there was a delightful breeze making the heat seem a lot less extreme. The daily temperatures ranged from mid 80s to low 90s, with a breeze every single day. There was no humidity like the muggy summers in Maryland. Each day started with brisk morning air and gradually became a clear, breezy, perfectly warm day. The weather conditions were seamless every single day! We were told it rained the entire week before we arrived to South Africa, and the weather forecast called for rain the day after we left. Fortunately during our stay, we were blessed with sunshine day in and day out without a single drop of rain! 

This girl couldn't complain!  

This is the view from the end of the street we lived on. This is the back of Table Mountain which is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. We lived in a community known as Vanguard Estate off of Vanguard Drive. This large highway you see here is Vanguard Drive. They drive on the opposite side of the road which was very stressful! I got used to it pretty quickly, but it was terrifying to watch the driver turn the opposite way at first! 

This was the sign above the peep hole. It reminded me of my own grandparents! I asked Barbara who got the sign for them, and she said it was Cedric's idea! He is a big jokester! Cedric isn't a grumpy old man at all, but he definitely would let you know if you did something wrong! Speaking of...since I became the "key holder" Cedric called me out on locking the gate wrong! I had been living there for a whole week already thinking I was doing it all right, come to find out the way I was locking the gate wasn't right and you 

could easily open the gate with the lock on it! He got a big kick out of it and continued to pick on me endlessly for the next few days! At least it was the outside gate and not the front door lock! Ooops, I apologized and had a good laugh over that one!

These are the two other girls that were staying with  me in the house! The girl with the dog is Hayley

  and the other girl is Brooke. We found that cute little doggie on the first day, and didn't see her again. We think the owner kept her under close watch because a bunch of Americans came and stole the puppy! 

Braai: 

From here we went over to one of the CFHI coordinators homes to begin orientation to the program and to have a welcome Braai! I believe I explained the Braai in a previous post, but it is a South African style BBQ, and this is where the food was cooked! 

I knew my father would be jealous when he saw a picture of the stove! He loves fire and is always the "grill master" at all the family gatherings! Love ya Dad, maybe I'll build you one some day!

We started off with some cheese and crackers! They have a beverage called Ginger Beer here which is pretty much a more extreme flavored ginger ale. It was delicious!

These little fried triangles are called Samosas (Sa-mow-sa). They are a common finger food and are typically filled with curry chicken or beef. Yum! They are delicious! 

This is a few of my fellow students in Avril's backyard (one of the CFHI coordinators). 

This is Avril's backyard. Isn't it amazing? I fell in love with all the plants in South Africa, and her backyard was just the beginning of it! I was too busy eating all the food to take a picture of if, but man was it yummy! It was a nice opportunity to get to know the coordinators and fellow students along on the trip! 

GRAND WEST

Grand West is a casino in South Africa. When we arrived home from the Braai, we met Barbara and gave the two of them the presents we brought as house warming presents! Barbara loves magnets and Cedric loves calendars and we got two magnets and a calendar among other presents! Barbara was so excited she wanted to show us around the town and decided to take us to the casino. We were all beat and exhausted but we were excited to spend time with our family and experience something new! So off we went...

Within the Casino we realized it was not just for gambling. Grand West is an all-encompassing facility full of all sorts of entertainment! There is an arcade room, ice skating rink, movie theater, bowling ally, amusement park (as pictured above), sports bar, restaurants with live music on the weekend, clubs, and then of course there is the gambling portion. It was a really amazing place and full of fun for all! 

My roommates/sisters: 

Brooke Price, Chelsea Stigile, Hayley Freemon

xoxo

Chelsea

Sister Sister

Each and every day has been packed full with exciting events and clinical experiences. During the weekend we do excursions where we sight see and do touristy type things from 8am to 6pm (sometimes later). We have definitely been blessed with a great staff that has planned our days out to the T. We have an awesome bus driver who drives us around each day starting at 8am. Sammy (the bus driver) picks each of us up from our homestay house and drives us to each and every one of our clinical or excursion sights. During the week, we  come to the University of Western Cape where we meet up with the Nursing staff here who coordinated our program. CFHI (Child Family Health International) is the third party program who has coordinated our trip here to Cape Town, South Africa. We are the first group to do this particular program. Most students who study abroad come for a four week program and are placed at a hospital site where they participate in hands on care. We, on the other hand, are a two week program where we travel to different sites every day. With this being the first time this particular program is being ran, there are definitely glitches and uncertainties in our daily schedule each day. We have learned to be flexible and left "in the dark" about a lot of our adventures. They like to call this "African time" where you just go with the flow and let things happen as they will! Our first few days were all excursions for fun. I have briefly mentioned some parts already but I want to tell you more about a few of my clinical experiences.


Monday, January 13th we began the more serious classroom and clinical experiences. Monday we had orientation to the campus and to the professors and nurses (sisters) who would be accompanying us during our stay here as registering as a student at The University of Western Cape. I'm technically an exchange student here! Woooo!

Tuesday, January 14th we had the rare opportunity to be incorporated in the 'Sangoma' traditional and spiritual healing ceremony. This was the first of the kind held on the campus of the University. It was very touching and interesting to say the least. This allowed me to appreciate the culture and practices of others first hand by watching and listening to personal experiences of a 'sangoma'. One of the professors here is a nurse as well as a 'sangoma'. She lead the ceremony in song and dance, calling the ancestors to protect and watch over the practices being performed. Traditional African religions tend to be focused on the respect and ability to connect with their ancestors. A 'sangoma' is able to interact and communicate with ancestors in order to spiritually heal their needs. The professor who plays the dual role, does not force her own beliefs on patients. She said she would never try to heal anyone with a disease such as leprosy, she is meant to make peace within their soul by communicating with her ancestors. It is a part of her culture and she feels it should only be practiced by those who choose to do so on their own. The ceremony was beautiful and powerful, and I am glad I was able to see it first hand!

Wednesday, January 15th was the first clinical day. We traveled to Lady Michaelis in Plumstead. The Primary Health Clinic is an all-encompassing facility where the people in the community come for various health needs. Located in the clinic is a Physical Therapist, Dietician,  HIV/AIDs intervention, Dentist, Pharmacy, and various other health related interventions. It was crazy and mind blowing to look at how differently this facility was ran and organized compared to a clinic in the states. There are no appointments so it is a first come first serve basis. A patient may come and sit at the clinic all day and never be seen by the professional they want to see. This is the first step where the patient "gets into the system" and may be referred to a Secondary Hospital to better suit their need. The facility is not very spacious, and patients are lined up along each wall sitting in chair, patiently waiting their turn. I can't even imagine how annoyed an American would be sitting at a clinic all day, but here it is normal and it's what you have to do.

P.S. In South Africa they refer to a Nurse as a 'Sister'

xoxo
Chelsea

The first weekend

The views here are breath taking. Within the first weekend here, we were able to cram a ton of tourist "must sees" into two days. We traveled down the coast of South Africa stopping at various viewpoints to take in natures beauty. We saw the islands featured on shark week where the largest sharks are located. (Don't worry, we were far, far away from the water) We saw baboons, ostrich, and eland (a type of antelope) when we drove through The Cape of Good Hope. I trucked my out of shape body to the top of a steep mountain to see where the two oceans come together. (Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean) This point is also the most southern tip of South Africa where the land ends and there is nothing but ocean to see! We traveled through the up scale parts of the country to only then be faced with shacks right around the corner. When I am able to shard my photos, this will make better sense. This was all in one weekend! Until next time, Barbara has cooked breakfast and it is calling my name!

xoxo
Chelsea

Short summary of day one

Upon arriving in Cape Town the first day, we left straight from the airport to Hotel Verde. It was around 1030 at night here and such a drastic weather change from home. Even the nights here are lovely, but a bit brisk. It was a very beautiful and modern hotel we stayed at, where most everything was eco friendly and energy efficient. From there we went to meet our homestay families the next day (Friday). Hayley, Brooke, and I are all staying with the same family and were one of the last groups dropped off so we had the opportunity to see where everyone was living. All of our homes are located within a short walking distance of each other. We met our homestay dad, Cedric, upon arrival. Barbara, our homestay mom was at work and was to be expected home around 5pm. When I introduced myself to Cedric, I said "Hi, I am Chelsea! Your new daughter", boy oh boy he got a riot out of that and immediately started laughing with joy and said "thank you, thank you. I like this one already!" I'm a charmer, what can I say? Friday evening we were invited over to one of the CHFI coordinators house for orientation to the program and a braai. A braai is their form of BBQ. The food at the braai was hoek, a local fish, chicken, salad, corn on the cob, and a plum for dessert! I was stuffed to the brim and couldn't be happier! Everything was delicious! Sorry to cut it short, but I'm off to play soccer with some school kids! I will keep periodically updating everyone! Internet access is limited here!

xoxo
Love
Chelsea

Sorry for the late updates!

I have not been able to have access to a computer until today. Upon logging into my blogger account I realized my blog was missing! Hopefully my loved ones and followers will be able to find my new blog! My teachers just walked into the room, so my time here is limited. It is beyond beautiful here and I might just stay... are you all okay with that? I'm only kidding, but I might come back. My homestay family is fabulous, sweet, and kind. Cedric, our dad, is loving and protective just like a father would be. Barbara, our mom, is very soft spoken and kind. They have a very beautiful relationship and I enjoy their hospitality very much. Barbara has been cooking different curry dishes each evening. The typical meal I have become accustom to is a little something like this...chicken curry, white rice, squash, and some sort of cold vegetable salad. The food is delicious! Dad, you would love all the spices! I'm almost out of time here, I wish I could share more. Thank you all for supporting me and following my blog. I apologize again for the late update! I hope everyone can forgive me, and find me at my new URL!

xoxo
Chelsea

Up, Up, and Away!

Up, Up, and Away!

Before I set off on this global health experience, I wanted to make sure to thank each and every family member and friend who supported and encouraged me to take this adventure! I am truly grateful of all the love and support I have been given from the day I decided to go to South Africa. I have been surrounded with an overwhelming amount of financial support and verbal encouragement to begin my excursion! I am looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience and will keep you all updated throughout the trip! So long, farewell, I’ll be back before you know it!

Side Note:

I wanted to give a SUPER big thanks to my main supporters, my parents! For saying YES! I’m not going to lie, I almost figured the answer to my question “What do you think about me studying abroad in South Africa?” would be an abrupt “NO!” from my parents. Anyone who knows my mother knows “No” is her favorite word! (Her words, not mine) Surprisingly enough my parents e-mailed back with the most beautifully heartwarming response any daughter could have wanted. They encouraged me to take advantage of this opportunity because they understood how much this would mean to me to be able to reach those less fortunate! I cannot thank you both enough for everything you have done and continue to do. I love you with all of my heart, thank you.

xoxo

-Chelsea Stigile, July 7th 2014