5/1/09
Happy May day! This Wednesday I will have been in Cape Town for exactly a month. I will have been away from home for 5 weeks. It’s crazy how fast it has gone by, yet my first day seems ages away.
Two of my friends are leaving this week. Tami left last night and Cara leaves tomorrow night. There is always coming and going at Connect. It seems like a place that everyone should be arriving and departing at the same time. Like it was college or something. It’s hard to leave friends behind and to carry on without the old ones. Cara and Tami have both spent two months here in Cape Town. They were having trouble imagining themselves back in the states: returning to work and seeing old friends, how it felt like they’d been away for ages. I can only imagine how I’m going to feel after THREE months. I also didn’t realize how profound it will be to celebrate the 4th of July as soon as I get back. It will surely be an intense experience. But that’s a ways away. We talked a lot today about living in the moment. The past is the past and the future is unpredictable. “We have now. We have this. We are in AFRICA!”
Even though I’ve only known these girls for a month, our friendships run deep. We have the child life crew: Myself and Caroline from the North East coast, Jamie from Oklahoma/Arizona, and Cara from Missouri. Then there is Tami from the North West coast who Caroline met when she first arrived. My roommate, Lucy, and Jamie’s roommate, Pippa, work together at a Refugee camp. They are from England and have become good friends with Cara’s roommate, Megan from Philadelphia. We are intertwined into a diverse, comical, and-ever entertaining social group. Individually, we are pretty true to our region while at the same time crushing many of its stereotypes. Together (and against a South African back drop) we are as ‘American Female’ as one would expect. When out in the city (and particularly in the bush) our mannerisms, reactions, and morals mirror one another more often than we would have ever thought. A lot of it has to do with the humanitarian in each of us, but the gestures and language bleed red white and blue. It’s not until you are the only 4 or 5 individuals doing the opposite of everyone around you, that you realize the common ground that such a sundry group can share.
On Wednesday night we had a farewell dinner at The Kove for Tami. It’s pretty posh by Cape Town standards. Located on the beach at Camp’s Bay, the décor is elegant and refreshing. And the food: delicious!! We all sampled and shared so I can vouch that EVERYTHING was delicious. Later that night she, Caroline, Lucy, and a fellow connect-er, Bart, went out to a nearby bar. A total dive, we spent the majority of our time playing foosball. Tami left for her flight at 4:45 Thursday evening. Jamie, Cara and I helped her cart her luggage into her taxi and parted with a heartfelt and tearful goodbye. We were pretty “blah” for the remainder of the evening. Since it was our weekly dinner night, Cara, Jamie and I cooked up Cara’s leftovers (and some fantastic brownies). Everyone else was otherwise occupied (being the night before a holiday-yes ANOTHER holiday). We concluded the evening with a shopping spree and photo shoot of Tami’s leftover wardrobe that wouldn’t fit in her suitcase. Cara is spending the weekend with us in my spare bed. She had to be out of her apt by the first and Lucy and I were happy to host her. It’s like a slumber party!!
Happy May day! This Wednesday I will have been in Cape Town for exactly a month. I will have been away from home for 5 weeks. It’s crazy how fast it has gone by, yet my first day seems ages away.
Two of my friends are leaving this week. Tami left last night and Cara leaves tomorrow night. There is always coming and going at Connect. It seems like a place that everyone should be arriving and departing at the same time. Like it was college or something. It’s hard to leave friends behind and to carry on without the old ones. Cara and Tami have both spent two months here in Cape Town. They were having trouble imagining themselves back in the states: returning to work and seeing old friends, how it felt like they’d been away for ages. I can only imagine how I’m going to feel after THREE months. I also didn’t realize how profound it will be to celebrate the 4th of July as soon as I get back. It will surely be an intense experience. But that’s a ways away. We talked a lot today about living in the moment. The past is the past and the future is unpredictable. “We have now. We have this. We are in AFRICA!”
Even though I’ve only known these girls for a month, our friendships run deep. We have the child life crew: Myself and Caroline from the North East coast, Jamie from Oklahoma/Arizona, and Cara from Missouri. Then there is Tami from the North West coast who Caroline met when she first arrived. My roommate, Lucy, and Jamie’s roommate, Pippa, work together at a Refugee camp. They are from England and have become good friends with Cara’s roommate, Megan from Philadelphia. We are intertwined into a diverse, comical, and-ever entertaining social group. Individually, we are pretty true to our region while at the same time crushing many of its stereotypes. Together (and against a South African back drop) we are as ‘American Female’ as one would expect. When out in the city (and particularly in the bush) our mannerisms, reactions, and morals mirror one another more often than we would have ever thought. A lot of it has to do with the humanitarian in each of us, but the gestures and language bleed red white and blue. It’s not until you are the only 4 or 5 individuals doing the opposite of everyone around you, that you realize the common ground that such a sundry group can share.
On Wednesday night we had a farewell dinner at The Kove for Tami. It’s pretty posh by Cape Town standards. Located on the beach at Camp’s Bay, the décor is elegant and refreshing. And the food: delicious!! We all sampled and shared so I can vouch that EVERYTHING was delicious. Later that night she, Caroline, Lucy, and a fellow connect-er, Bart, went out to a nearby bar. A total dive, we spent the majority of our time playing foosball. Tami left for her flight at 4:45 Thursday evening. Jamie, Cara and I helped her cart her luggage into her taxi and parted with a heartfelt and tearful goodbye. We were pretty “blah” for the remainder of the evening. Since it was our weekly dinner night, Cara, Jamie and I cooked up Cara’s leftovers (and some fantastic brownies). Everyone else was otherwise occupied (being the night before a holiday-yes ANOTHER holiday). We concluded the evening with a shopping spree and photo shoot of Tami’s leftover wardrobe that wouldn’t fit in her suitcase. Cara is spending the weekend with us in my spare bed. She had to be out of her apt by the first and Lucy and I were happy to host her. It’s like a slumber party!!
FYE: For the past 2 weeks we have had these two (reconstructive pt) boys roaming the unit awaiting surgery. My theory with healthy children in hospitals is that they do not belong there. Their daily expended energy requirements can not be met in a hospital setting. However, when the situation presents itself, Child life accommodates. J These boys are noted to be 4 and 5, but we agree they are closer to 5 and 7. Neither of them have a guardian staying with them so the staff certainly have their work cut out for them. Between all of us (as in all staff-not just child life), the boys have been consistently entertained and staying out of any real trouble. We only had one run-in with a particularly out-of-sorts staff member. I had the boys playing with a beach ball on the front porch. The play was under control, but the boys kept walking in and out to get things from their room, use the bathroom, or chase us down for a hug. The staff member said to Jamie, “I can’t have all this back and forth, they must pick one place or another.” After Jamie relayed this info, we told the boys to pick an area. They chose the porch and we provided them with anything they might need. We took turns walking back to the porch to check on the boys. This same staff member finally approached us, “You really must stop this back and forth, it is too distracting.” I announced that these expectations were unrealistic, but she ignored me and closed the door. Beginning to feel slightly intimidated, Jamie and I were trapped on the porch. We began to once again engage the boys, wondering how to get back to the floor where our other patient’s were waiting for us. Well, we didn’t have to stress too long and hard because only minutes later, the staff member came back out on the porch. This time she was visibly upset and told us we MUST leave the porch. We were not allowed to be out there because outpatients were coming. ?!?! A whole lot of pressure could have been avoided is she had just kicked us off the porch in the first place…but that’s just me.
FYE: During the boys first week with us, I was assigned to their bay. Already in high gear at 8am, I set off to find them an activity. I sat them in the small art/music therapy area at the end of the hallway. No more than 3 minutes later, I returned with a memory game, to the muffled sounds of fighting. I entered the doorway to find the boys out of their chairs in a full fledged FIST FIGHT. Being 8am and utterly astonished, I said the first thing that came to my mind, “Hands are not for hitting!” The three of us took a moment to process what came out of my mouth. I seized the opportunity and instructed them, “you sit here, you sit there!” They immediately started in with the, “he called me this..” game. I did not have the brain capacity or the energy to mediate the argument so I only said, “It’s all over! The moments passed. It doesn’t matter. We are going to eat our breakfast and then start over.” Anytime they opened their mouths to whine, I repeated one of those phrases. It worked marvelously. Before long they were friends again and we all played a riveting and entertaining game of memory. One of the child life team’s favorite quotes is now, “Hands are not for hitting”; nouns and verbs substituted as appropriate.
FYE: During the boys first week with us, I was assigned to their bay. Already in high gear at 8am, I set off to find them an activity. I sat them in the small art/music therapy area at the end of the hallway. No more than 3 minutes later, I returned with a memory game, to the muffled sounds of fighting. I entered the doorway to find the boys out of their chairs in a full fledged FIST FIGHT. Being 8am and utterly astonished, I said the first thing that came to my mind, “Hands are not for hitting!” The three of us took a moment to process what came out of my mouth. I seized the opportunity and instructed them, “you sit here, you sit there!” They immediately started in with the, “he called me this..” game. I did not have the brain capacity or the energy to mediate the argument so I only said, “It’s all over! The moments passed. It doesn’t matter. We are going to eat our breakfast and then start over.” Anytime they opened their mouths to whine, I repeated one of those phrases. It worked marvelously. Before long they were friends again and we all played a riveting and entertaining game of memory. One of the child life team’s favorite quotes is now, “Hands are not for hitting”; nouns and verbs substituted as appropriate.
Afrikaans:
Lollipop Ice Cream = popsicle
Alice Band = Headband
Candy Floss = Cotton Candy
Howzit = How are you?
Now now = in a little bit (we will be done now now…mommy will be here now now)
“The Monkeys are having a wedding” = when it’s raining while the sun is shining
“Noon-Zan” = What’s your name?
Billtong = Beef Jerky
Shame = awww (so if you saw a baby or a puppy-aw so cute!..OR if you saw a crying child-aw so sad)
Lollipop Ice Cream = popsicle
Alice Band = Headband
Candy Floss = Cotton Candy
Howzit = How are you?
Now now = in a little bit (we will be done now now…mommy will be here now now)
“The Monkeys are having a wedding” = when it’s raining while the sun is shining
“Noon-Zan” = What’s your name?
Billtong = Beef Jerky
Shame = awww (so if you saw a baby or a puppy-aw so cute!..OR if you saw a crying child-aw so sad)
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