I made it!! I landed in Cape Town at 4:23 am. After collecting my luggage, exchanging my money and declaring my orange, I met my ‘driver’. We loaded the van and for the first time I sat on the left side of the car as a passenger. That was bizarre. Never mind that it’s 5 am, I’d just been on a plane for 11hours (without so much as a nap), and was in a foreign country. Near the end of the ride to my apt I thought I had adjusted to flip flop driving until we turned down a side street and continued on to the left side of the road. White knuckling the dashboard, I thought I might wait a while before I attempt driving…
My apartment is glamorous!! We have a very spacious living room/kitchen lined entirely with windows looking out to the city and a peek of “lion’s Head” and “Devil’s Peak” on either side. Turns out Lucy and I have not only our own bedrooms, but our own bathrooms as well!! I think they messed up my paperwork somewhere…anywho, I’ve got an extra twin bed in my room. Any takers?!!
To excited to sleep, I’m writing this as I wait for the sun to come up, welcome me and show me this beautiful city. I’m tempted to take pictures, but my camera battery is currently dead. I think it’s a sign though; my first sunrise in Cape Town on my very first day. It’s all mine and I don’t want to share it.
I did finally crash a little after 8 this am. I met my roommate. She seems super sweet and friendly. She also has the greatest British accent. I unpacked my stuff and began to set up my space. In doing so I managed to break something within my first few hours. I plugged in my clock radio to get some tunes going. All of a sudden I heard a loud pop. I looked over at the plug to see the adapter smoking terribly! Luckily I had opened my window earlier and immediately stuck it out on the sill to cool. In meeting the program orgaizers, I learned that US volts are different than South African ones. Laptops and things are usually fine, but smaller, personal items are usually too much. They took my mishap in stride and were very nice about it. I said, “yup! Here I am!”
Soon after I met the girls I will be working with at RCCH. I had already heard about them from some people, “Oh! The child life girls! They’re great. You’ll be fine. They do everything together.” They came right up after getting out of the hospital and marveled at our apartment (we really are hooked up!!). We talked about the work we are doing at the hospital, made transportation plans, weekend plans and even plans for a “pot-luck” dinner for tomorrow night. I was also invited on a safari with one of the girls. It’s two nights three days in Johannesburg (Jo-burg). I’m so excited because that is the one thing I really wanted to do here. Check!! Another girl showed me the grocery store and “mall”. The prices here are SO much better than in Europe. The neighborhood is fantastic with views of table mountain and devils peak everywhere!! We are so close that you can see the detail in the rock at the top. It’s crazy. I can’t believe this is my HOME for the next 3 months. I feel so blessed.
Jamie and Caroline in my apt
4/8/09 (22:04)
I am eating the most delicious hummus with crackers and carrots right now. It’s “North Africa” Hummus-with red pepper salsa and mini chic-peas. Yummmm!! The supermarket had a lot of “American brand” foods (such as skippy, oreos, and some cereals), but I purposefully avoided those and went for the local stuff. In most cases I didn’t have a choice…but I love all the new choices in food! It’s like a dream.
This evening Connect-123 organized an outing to a local pub. The drinks here are DIRT cheap…as are all the prices on just about anything….but I’m talking the equivalent of 2 and 3 dollars for cocktails and martinis! I did try some fancy raspberry champagne. It was delicious.
FYE: I’ve had to explain and describe “twinkie” more times than I would have ever guessed…well once is prob more than I would have guessed... I’ve said it once or twice in passing or someone will actually ASK me about it, “What IS a twinkie?! I hear that all the time.” ?? You wouldn’t believe the audiences I’ve captivated with this little snack cake.
I kind of enjoy being a foreigner. I know it’s still new to me, but I love the adventure. When you are a foreigner you have SOO much to learn; a whole world of things to discover, and I want to see it ALL. My new hobby is finding (safe) people to tell, ‘I’m not from around here,’ just to see what they will teach me. In return, it’s cool to teach them stuff too, because they inevitably ask about the US. I imagine my work at RCCH will be like this. Being in a new environment and working with new people gives all of us an opportunity to learn from each other, integrate our skills and develop our own plan. We are all so excited about our small “child life team” and what joining our forces can do for the hospital.
Afrikaans:
“Buy-a-Dankey”=Thank You
The other popular language is Xusu. You pronounce it by first clicking your tongue and making a “k” sound at the same time…then “sa”
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