After the one day in Johannesburg, we hopped on yet another flight to Durban (a costal city) and then had about an hour and a half bus ride until we finally arrived at what will be our home for the next ten weeks; Pietermaritzburg. We are staying at a Christian conference center just outside the city called African Enterprise (AE). We stay in what are called "chalets;" basically they are little dorms. Each chalet has a hallway, bathroom, and four rooms (2 people per room). AE is located just next to a little wildlife reserve. Because of this, we go on many hikes and see bucks, frogs, other animals that I don't know the English name for and the Zulu name is far too hard to say let alone write, and ZEBRAS! It is fantastic. We spent our first few days exploring, going to the mall, hiking the many waterfalls that are just outside our chalets (literally-see picture), and eating really good food.Monday was a very sad day because school started (most of us had
forgotten that aspect of this trip, including me). We have lots and lots of class, but I have 2 great instructors and 13 friends to keep me company :) Tuesday we went on a tour of some of the locations where we are going to have clinicals. We went to the more rural sites and were oriented to these places. There will be more on this when I actually go there for clinicals. We saw cows/cattle who had big horns and utters and were utterly confused (they are a different breed from northern Africa). Wednesday the nurses don't have class, so we went to hang out and help with some local people (about 400) who's homes had been burned in recent fires (see picture). We gave away clothes, made and distributed sandwiches, and just loved on some people. Language barrier was something that I was very frustrated with, and was so excited for our Zulu class Wednesday night. I was not prepared for the humiliation that was to come. Zulu is a very, very difficult language with three different clicks and many sounds that we do not have in English. It was quite overwhelming and disheartening, but I am determined to try to overcome this language barrier! On Thursday was our first official clinical. I am placed at a clinic in Pietermaritzburg. I was placed in the pediatric ward and helped with weighing and vitals for the kids that needed to be seen. Here nurses are called "sisters" and diagnose, prescribe, and administer medication. It was interesting to see the huge difference between American nurses and South African sisters (they also couldn't believe that we pay to go to nursing school-here they get paid to go). I was again mega frustrated by the language barrier, but am not yet disheartened. After clinicals we came back and had a few more hours of class and then went out to dinner to an Indian restaurant. It was so good. I like curry from any country! Today was a day full of class and, of course, tea (we have 30 minute tea times twice a day, everything stops for them). Tonight we are going out for dessert for one of my friend's birthday!