Wednesday, July 3, 2013
My Final Post
After spending the last month in Cape Town and London, I am finally back home in Kansas City!! This trip was an unbelievable, unforgettable, and life-changing experience for me, and I actually really enjoyed putting this blog together. There were some challenges along the way, but I really have no regrets and am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. This trip would not have been possible if it weren't for the support of my incredible friends and family. Thanks to all who followed along during my crazy adventure and I hope you all enjoyed it!! I'm sad this has all come to an end, but I guess it's time to get back to reality and get ready to start year 2 of medical school.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Goodbye Cape Town... Hello London!
July 2, 2013
On my way to Cape Town
from Kansas City a little over a month ago, I traveled for 36 hours straight
before finally reaching the Cape Town airport.
It was brutal!! So, when planning
this trip back in February, I decided I didn’t want to put myself through that
kind of travel day twice, and I decided to delay my flight through London for a
few days. It wasn’t any more expensive
to delay my flight and I have always wanted to see London!
I arrived in London
early Sunday morning after flying all night and spent all of Sunday and Monday
touring the city. I knew my trip to
London would be yet another challenge for me since I have never even traveled
alone in the US, but I was up for the challenge and am so glad that I decided
to go through with the trip!
I was actually
surprised by how safe I felt traveling alone in London (London was really a
breeze after having to watch my back every time I stepped out the door while in
Cape Town)! The city and the underground
were really easy to navigate, and I must have looked like I knew what I was
doing because several people asked me for directions. It was nice being able to see London on my
own schedule. I could do and see
whatever I wanted on my own time, but it was a little awkward eating dinner
alone. Two days in London was a perfect
amount of time for my little adventure.
I really was able to see the majority of the London attractions.
On Sunday morning, I
dropped my luggage off at my hotel and set out on foot to see the city. I walked through Hyde Park, Kensington Park,
and St. James Park before arriving at Buckingham Palace just in time to take
some pictures and find a place to watch the Changing of the Queen’s Guards
ceremony. After the ceremony, I walked
to Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall and Parliament Road to see Big Ben,
the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. At this point, I had probably walked about 5
miles and decided to visit Churchill’s War Rooms Museum. I’m not much of a history fan, but I was told
by several people that I needed to visit the War Rooms. Going into the museum I really had no idea
what the museum was about, but I really enjoyed learning about how Churchill
commanded the British forces during World War II via these rooms. I have really only learned about World War II
from the US point of view, so it was interesting to learn about it from the
British point of view. After a long
night of traveling and a long day of walking London, I decided to grab dinner
at this nice little Italian place by my hotel and get a good night’s sleep!
I woke up early Monday
morning and took the underground to the Tower of London museum. Fortunately I got to the museum right when it
opened because the place filled up quickly with tourists and students on field
trips. The Tower of London was
absolutely amazing. Once again, I really
had no idea what it represented before arriving (my sister is the history buff…
not me!) and I spent several hours roaming around the Tower grounds and
learning about its history. I got to see
the rooms and the devices used to torture prisoners, the types of armor and
weaponry used by the British forces over the years, the area where the Royal
menagerie was located, and the Crown Jewels!
The Tower Bridge was also located next to the Tower and spanned across
the Thames River. Even though the place
was pretty congested, it was definitely worth the time and money! After leaving Tower Hill, I took the
underground to Trafalgar Square where there was a huge party for Canada
Day. People were decked out in Canadian
gear and there was Canadian beer, a street hockey tournament, and live
music. It looked like a good time so I
grabbed a little Canada flag and joined in on the celebration! I really do wonder how many people
celebrating were really from Canada though.
I ended my last night in London at the Red Lion Pub and finished off my
trip the right way with traditional fish and chips and a beer!
I really enjoyed my
time in London and I’m proud of myself for taking on this trip alone, but I am
more than ready to head back to the States to see my family and friends!!
Changing of the Guards
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
A Cape Town Way of Life
June 29, 2013
Life in Cape Town this
past month has been incredible but it took some getting used to in the
beginning. For the first time in my
life, I really had to make some lifestyle adjustments in order to fit in and be
successful in Cape Town.
One aspect of South
African life that I had to get used to was the language. Yes, English is spoken to some extent by
nearly everyone in Cape Town, but I had to learn the lingo to really fit
in. Just to give you a few examples of
the different terminology… A robot is a traffic light; A garage is a gas
station; An “oke” is a “dude”; The theatre is the operating room; You don’t
call someone you phone them; You don’t pick someone up you fetch them. I really could go on and on.
Another aspect of life
that I had no problem adjusting to was the food. The food in Cape Town is amazing!! The Cape Town population consists of a
mixture of many different cultures and the food represents all those
cultures. Foods most popular to Cape
Town include: Samosas (fried savory pastries), koeksisters (donuts covered in
spices and coconut flakes), pies (similar to pot pies), bobotie (traditional
South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat and an egg topping), curry,
lamb, ostrich, gemsbok (type of antelope), gatsbys (gigantic sub sandwiches
filled with the meat of your choice along with chips (French fries) and various
sauces), biltong (South African beef jerky), just to name a few things. The chocolate in Cape Town was also unlike
any I’ve ever tasted. I can’t remember
the last time I actually bought a candy bar but I probably bought more
chocolate in this month than I have in my entire life :/ It was not difficult to find good food in
Cape Town and my house mom was also an amazing cook. I know I’ve gained a few pounds on this trip
and a detox is a must when I get home!!
Living in Cape Town
also forced me to live a simple life.
Back home, I am used to long hot showers, heat during the winter time,
and high speed Internet access anywhere and anytime. Saying this makes me realize how fortunate I
am and really makes me appreciate what I have, but it also makes me feel a bit
ashamed. In middle class South African
life, most homes do not have heating or a/c, water and electricity are limited
(if the country uses too much electricity at any given time, parts of the
country will get their power turned off until the usage decreases), and
Internet access is limited and there is definitely no such thing as Google
Fiber speed. Life in Cape Town definitely
took some adjusting to. I froze the
first several nights while I adjusted to the cold and I actually really enjoyed
being unplugged from the rest of the world for a while. After seeing the struggles that many people
in South Africa face on a daily basis, I think that I need to make changes in
my own life to live more simply, to conserve my resources and not waste, to not
take life for granted, and to not complain about the little things.
But… one of the most
difficult adjustments I had to make was driving on the left side of the road and
on the right side of the car!! I had to
take on a lot of the driving responsibilities while in Cape Town, and for those
who know me well, you all know that I don’t like to drive, especially in
unfamiliar and congested areas. For the
first few days driving I had to constantly tell myself to drive on the LEFT
side. It doesn’t sound all that hard but
it was a little difficult at first. And
to make matters worse, the drivers in Cape Town are crazy!! They cut people off, weave in and out of
traffic, and definitely don’t follow the speed limit, and… people generally
think that it’s ok to cross traffic on a busy highway. After a few days of stress, I finally
adjusted and tried to drive with the flow of the rest of Cape Town. If I get back home and start driving like a
maniac, you all will understand why!!
My Cape Town journey
has almost come to an end, and it has truly been an experience of a lifetime
and an experience that I will never forget.
I have grown so much and learned so much about myself over the past
month. While I am sad to say goodbye to
Cape Town, my journey is not quite over yet…
My home-stay family!
My lovely program directors!
Victoria Hospital
My Cape Town Home
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
My Last Weekend in Cape Town
June 24, 2013
This past weekend was
my last full weekend in South Africa and I spent it checking off the last few
things on my list of all that I wanted to do and see while in Cape Town. On Friday night, we began the evening with
dinner at Canal Walk Mall, the largest mall in the southern hemisphere. After Canal Walk, we met up with a group of
students from the University of Cape Town and we jolled (partied) Cape Town
style at the Tiger Tiger night club.
Tiger Tiger is located near the UCT campus and it was packed with
students from about 10pm to 4am, and for those who went to KU, the people and
the atmosphere was a mix between the Hawk Boom Boom Room and the Cave! If there is one thing that I learned while in
Cape Town, it’s that the people know how to party, and one of the best parts of
Friday, other than the cheap or free drinks because we were the “cute American
girls”, was the people watching!! Friday
night was definitely a good time and I’m so glad I got to experience a real
Cape Town college party.
Cape Town Jol!
On Saturday, we spent
the morning souvenir shopping at the Pan African Market, and then we took a
ferry out to Robben Island, the home of the prison where Nelson Mandela spent
18 years of his life. There are parts of
Robben Island that are absolutely beautiful, but the part of the island where
the prison is located is another story.
The tour of the prison was definitely a sobering experience. Our tour guide was an ex political prisoner,
a former member of the African National Congress who was imprisoned for six
years for fighting for the rights of his people. The conditions inside the prison were
brutal. The kennels for the guard dogs
were larger than the cells for the prisoners, and the prisoners spent long days
working in the limestone quarries. I’m
so glad I got the opportunity to see Robben Island and the prison before
leaving South Africa because it represents the tremendous amount of struggle
that took place in the fight for freedom.
Nelson Mandela's Prison Cell
View of the Maximum Security Prison
Sunday morning, we
visited the Hout Bay Harbor Market.
Harbor Market was very similar to Old Biscuit Mill, which we visited
last Saturday. There was live music,
lots of shopping booths, and lots of food and drink. I probably had my best meal in South Africa
while at the market. I had a Gemsbok
burger (Gemsbok is a type of antelope) with cheese, tomato, caramelized onions,
avocado, and pesto sauce on a ciabatta roll, and it was amazing!! After the market, we finished off the day at
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Even though
it is currently wintertime in South Africa, the gardens were lush and green and
several flowers were still in bloom. We
have seen a lot of beautiful scenery while in South Africa, but the scenery of
the gardens was equally as beautiful, just in a different way.
Harbor Market
Botanical Gardens
Even though I would
really like another four weeks to experience the Cape Town and the Western
Cape, I feel like I made the best of my time here and got the opportunity to
experience a lot of what this beautiful country has to offer!
Week 3 at Victoria
June 23, 2013
I just finished another
great week at Victoria and got the chance to do and experience a lot of new
things. In terms of procedures, I got
the chance to put in an IV line, perform a paracentesis on a patient with right
heart failure, and perform a lumbar puncture on a patient with suspected
meningitis. It is such a great
opportunity to get exposure to these types of procedures so early in my medical
training, because I don’t get a lot of hands-on training as a pre-clinical
medical student. Since I am interested
in emergency medicine, I have done a lot of shadowing in the ER and have seen a
lot of lumbar punctures performed, and I always thought it was a cool
procedure. I was so excited when my
preceptor handed me the kit and told me that I could do the procedure, and it
was such a great feeling when I pulled the stylet out and CSF dripped out on my
first try!! (I realize how nerdy that sounds but it’s true) I also watched my preceptor perform a fine needle
aspiration of a lymph node of a patient with a possible lung cancer, and he
said the next time is my turn to do it!
On Thursday, I went
with my preceptor to Groote Schuur Hospital (where the first heart transplant
in the world was performed!!) and watched him present one of his patients for
dialysis. In the US, dialysis is readily
accessible and if I am not mistaken, it is free. This is NOT the case in South Africa. I believe that Groote Schuur is the only
public hospital in the Western Cape that offers dialysis treatment and they
have very few spots available. So, in
order for a patient to be put on dialysis, the doctor has to present the
patient’s case to a board, the patient gets categorized based on his/her
current medical and social standing, and then the board decides whether or not
to accept the patient into the program.
It is a very stressful process for both patient and doctor, and there
are tons of patients with end stage kidney disease that are denied
treatment. Learning about the whole
process was definitely shocking, because in the US, we are very fortunate that
patients and doctors don’t have to face such problems.
On Friday, I got the
chance to watch the University of Cape Town sixth year medical students take
their practical exams. The medical
school testing process is very different in South Africa. At KU, the majority of our testing consists
of multiple choice tests on a computer.
In South Africa, the students have written exams, but they also have a
lot of oral and practical exams. In the
exam that I watched on Friday, the students examined four different patients,
all currently in the internal medicine ward.
I believe the four cases were stroke, heart attack, right heart failure,
and bronchiectasis. The students got ten
minutes to take a history and examine the patient, and then they had to present
the case to a doctor who then asked them various questions about their
assessment, differential diagnoses, and their plan for treatment. I’m sure this testing style really helps the
students to perfect their clinical skills, but I’m sure glad that I was the one
observing and not taking the test!
This past week has yet
again been a great learning experience and I’m excited to see what this fourth
and last week brings!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Weekend in Cape Town
June 19, 2013
Thanks to National
Youth Day this past Monday in South Africa, I got to spend three days exploring
Cape Town. Even though I live only about
20 minutes from the city center, this past weekend was really the first time I
got to venture out into Cape Town, since last weekend was spent along the
Garden Route. The scenery along the
Garden Route was unbelievable and I didn’t think that anything else would be
able to top it, but the beauty of South Africa continues to amaze me.
Cape Town has so much
more to offer than just beautiful scenery.
Cape Town is also well-known for its wine and its endless variety of
foods due to the diversity of the population.
We spent Saturday morning at the Old Biscuit Mill, a huge market that
really has something to offer everyone.
There are booths selling clothes, jewelry, arts and crafts, beer and
wine, and every type of food under the sun.
There was also a tent for live music.
The atmosphere of the market was amazing and I’m pretty sure I left
there about 5 pounds heavier. After
spending way too much money on souvenirs and eating a week’s worth of food, we
spent the evening relaxing at the Asara winery in Stellenbosch. The winery was beautiful and the perfect way
to end the day!
Old Biscuit Mill
Asara Winery in Stellenbosch
On Sunday, we left
early in the morning and spent the day touring the Cape Peninsula. We started off the day with breakfast at Casa
Labia in Muizenberg, a popular surfing town.
Casa Labia is a Venetian style mansion that was once home to Prince
Natale Labia, the first Italian ambassador in South Africa, and we enjoyed a
fancy breakfast overlooking the ocean.
After Muizenberg, we stopped at Boulder’s Beach to visit the African
penguin colony. From Boulder’s Beach, we
drove down to the Table Mountain National Park to see Cape Point (the point
where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet) and the Cape of Good Hope (the most
south-western point of the African continent).
The national park was beautiful and we even had an encounter with a
baboon. Within the park we kept seeing
signs warning us about the baboons (apparently they are very dangerous and they
will jump inside your car window and they will pick-pocket you) and it wasn’t
until we were leaving the Cape of Good Hope that we saw one. It was sitting on top of a Land Rover and we
got out to take pictures, and it really did not like the attention so he jumped
off the car and started chasing us!! I
really wish we could have had that moment on video because I’m sure we all
looked ridiculous as we sprinted back to our car screaming…
Muizenberg
Boulder's Beach
Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope
After we left the park,
we drove up the Atlantic coastline along the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive. The drive was stunning. We were surrounded by beaches and mountains
and we stopped at Hout Bay to watch the sunset.
The night ended with dinner on the beach in Camp’s Bay. It was a long day and there was a lot of
driving involved, but I can’t complain about driving alongside mountains and
coastline all day.
Chapman's Peak Drive
Monday was a national
holiday so we got the day off work and decided to spend it climbing Table
Mountain. We could not have asked for a
more perfect day to hike. The sun was
out with no clouds in the sky and it was about 80 degrees, all of which is a
little rare for this time of the year since it is winter in South Africa right
now. The hike took about 2 hours and was
actually a lot more difficult than I expected.
There were tons of stairs and really no flat areas, but the view made up
for the fact that I’m in terrible shape.
We overlooked the city and the ocean as we were climbing, and once we
got to the top of the mountain, I truly felt like I was on another planet!
Table Mountain
This weekend we were
able to cram in the majority of the big tourist attractions that Cape Town has
to offer!! The time has flown by since
I’ve been here and my days are numbered, but we still have one more weekend to
enjoy the city!
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