Oh fish...

Hello ☺ Sorry my last blog had to be so short. The bus almost left me and the other people in the computer lab!! Let me expand on everything that’s been going on here. (AKA this is a long blog... but obviously SO worth the read!) ; )

Ok so we got to Cape Town Tuesday nigh. On Wednesday I went to the doctor in the AM and then met up with the group as we did a walking tour of Cape Town. The past few days I’ve felt “ok”. I am definitely interested to see what my stool sample shows and where my doctor wants to go with it all. When I was there she mentioned doing a scope (camera on a string down to your stomach and probably just my upper intestines) depending on what the results are. I on the other hand think if that’s the case I will wait until I’m home and have my regular doctor do those kinds of tests as I will be seeing her a lot this summer anyways. My guess is that I have stomach ulcers. It would make since if they were stress induced considering I got sick when I first got here, in the middle of doing service sites, and as I was leaving for Cape Town. My nursing friends here think that’s probable as well. So I’m trying to stick with the BRATS diet (Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast and something that starts with S…). It’s really hard for me to not have WebMd at my fingertips!!

Going on with Wednesday: so we had a whole walking tour which was enjoyable but very tiring. We didn’t stop walking from 11am-3pm for lunch and it was warm! But it was fun : ) We got back to our hotel which was in downtown Cape Town (which TOTALLY looked and felt like San Diego) and debriefed from our trip. It’s cool because this semester is so new they’re always asking us our opinions to make everything we do better if possible. Our main guy this whole time has been Reg, and now we have been passed onto Quinton. These guys couldn’t be more opposite in personality and approach to things so it’s been an interesting transition! But we really do love them both. After that we got back on the bus with everything we own and went to Cornerstone Christian College (CCC from now on).

At Cornerstone we all hung out for a bit, got our rooming assignments (I am with a wonderful friend and nursing student who’s about to graduate in July, Katie! She’s also Traci’s, Jeremy’s to be sister-in-law, good friend!) and then a few hours later met our host family. Katie and I have the CUTEST host family!!! Their names are Edward and Sonja and they’ve been married for 40 years. : ) We got to hang out with them and have dinner with them that night at CCC and with those few hours got to know them so well! Sonja is very, very soft and sweet. I’d describe her like my Grandma Dori, my Mom’s mom. She always makes sure we have food, are comfortable, and understand what’s going on. She also loves tea and makes sure we have our fill! : ) Her husband Edward is a little more outgoing and talkative and our right hand man this trip as he is our driver to and from school. We really love them both! They are both very protective of Katie and myself and have a policy that we are not to use public transport. They say they’d rather stay up and take us somewhere or pick us up then lay in bed worrying if we got there OK. So that was very sweet of them and I feel very looked after here!

So Wednesday night I wasn’t feeling all that great (as in I had some stomach pains and was pretty tired) but it wasn’t bad. Katie and I got into our beautiful home, met Sonja and Edward’s kids that were in town from Germany and their grandkids! We had a FULL house that night but it was so much fun! It made me feel like I was at home as we always have a full house! I loved waking up and a bunch of people were here. Also it was hilarious because one of the kids doesn’t speak English so I suddenly go from learning Zulu phrases to German ones! Even Zulu doesn’t help with the local people as they speek Kosa. (And yes, that name starts with a click! So “*click*osa”) Oddly enough three students on this trip have lived in Germany and know it pretty well, so they helped out.

Thursday (yesterday) Katie and I got ready and went to school and that’s when I blogged last. We spent our day on the coach driving around the city we’re in… to be honest I don’t even know the name. It’s about 45 minutes outside of Downtown Cape Town. We went to a few organizations and saw the biggest township in South Africa, holding over a million people. It was shacks as far as the eye could see. I’ve never seen so many houses on top of each other! And I’m going to be honest here: this part of the trip was a big dud. If this had been one of the first things we did while in SA it would have been so cool, but most of us worked in townships every day and got to know people well… so none of the things we’ve done so far in Cape Town have really fit our expectations since the program is still the same as when people came here for their first 3 weeks in SA. But it’s not all bad…we’ve just had some frustrating times.

Two girls who I’m close with, Laura Jane and Megan Goeman, live across the street from Katie and myself, so when we got done a little early yesterday, their house mom Gloria came and picked us up and we had tea over there. (FYI in all of SA tea is at 10am and 4pm! Love it!). They live with both Glora and Stella, two sisters who have lived in the same house their whole life together. Never married and now are in retirement. One works inside, cooking and cleaning and the other outside! So cute!

Then Katie and myself came back to my house for dinner. Can I just say it’s been SO nice to have home cooked meals that haven’t been made for the masses! We had fresh fish, potatoes, salad and beans. And the salad had REAL romaine lettuce! : ) So I was a little skeptical about eating fish since last time I did I spent the night throwing up. But I figured, “Oh my body’s so sensitive to food… I’m sure it was just something else or my ulcers…” AND we had been told it’s extremely inappropriate not to eat what your host family gives you. Well, I think it’s a little more rude to throw it all up that night. Yes folks, last night I spent my night puking. Katie and I went over to Chad, Micah and Grant’s house to hang out and play games and watch movies and there I spent about an hour puking. They were all so sweet and really felt bad for me. Poor Grant came in to check on me and right as he walked in I started throwing up again. Haha… it was a pathetic sight. But in some ways I actually feel like a pro in this area. Pulled my hair all back. Took my earrings off. Got a glass of water and went to town. We were going to be picked up soon anyways so we didn’t have to call for Edward to pick us up again. He was very sweet and drove home at record pace. I kinda fell asleep but about an hour into it I was definitely throwing up again. Luckily that was the last of it. And I don’t think I popped any blood vessles in my face this time! YEY!

So the moral of that story is 1) I’m allergic to fish 2) my host family would much rather me say, “I’m so sorry, I can’t eat this” then have me spent the night that way! Sonja was the sweetest thing when I got home and got me everything I could need from hot water to a bucket. I love those two! 3) every time I throw up I am thinking “I can never be pregnant! How do people live like this for three months!?! I can’t have kids! How do people have KIDS?? Poor Mom! I can adopt. Yes, I can adopt kids. I can’t have more than two. I can’t do this more than two times!” Hahaha… so I’m either praying for boys (less morning sickness typically) or to have the miracle body that doesn’t get sick! And as you may guess, that’s not gunna happen!

So that’s where this blog leaves me at. I’m hanging out in my room… it’s about 4:30am on Friday, April 17th and I definitely can’t sleep anymore. I keep waking up being SO hungry so next to me is a bag of pretzels and some bananas, which I bought yesterday, praise the LORD!

Sorry if the blog has been too graphic lately for some of you. As you can tell I don’t mind letting people know what’s going on… but this isn’t the usual setting to share such details. Since being here I have had very, very, very limited access to email. So many times I can check my email but not have time to respond. (So FYI you can send, it just may take me a while to send back... if I can at all!) So for those of you who actually want details this is the place you’re going to get them, as I probably won’t be sending out individual emails. What I’m doing right now and what I’ll try to do is write out my emails on word documents then send them when I have internet. And things will get better when I get in a routine.

Today I’m feeling SO much better! Feeling the aftermath (soreness, tiredness) of having been sick but don’t feel sick anymore. We have class this morning from 8:30-about10:30 and then afterwards I think almost all of the group is taking the train into Cape Town which I’ll be skipping out on, considering. And if you know me well you know I HATE having to miss out on things!! But that just wouldn’t be the smartest decision. Luckily Sonja and Edward are more than accommodating. : ) So today I’ll hopefully sleep some and write out some more of these Word document emails and do a few papers I have.

Being here has made me really miss home and get ready to go home. We drove by the airport and I wanted to yell “Pull over! Send me back!!!!!” It’s hard because this part of the trip feels like a bonus or vacation… this it seems extra and not necessary! But it is really a beneficial time because the group is now pretty separated in home stays so we’re transitioning to not being together in our little commune 24-7! Which is actually really, really hard. And we’re getting used to being around new people who have no idea what our experience this trip is like so we’re having to do a lot of describing which is good practice for the next months… years... at home! Not to mention we’re close to a big, beautiful and exciting city. : )

Well, I think my body is calling for some more sleep! And maybe the rest of my banana! I really don’t want anyone to worry about my health here or be super concerned. I hope the doctor’s results come out helpful, but if not I will be home in less than three weeks and definitely am going to have mom make an appointment ASAP for me!

(Hey mom, can you make an appointment with Dr. Bisharat for me?? Sometime after the 13th for an appointment in the AM. You can say it’s for a check up and I want to be tested for food allergies, IBS, and am having health “issues” and need to consult about them! Sorry Jeremy… you may have to sit in an old people waiting room for a little bit!)

With my love from somewhere in South Africa : ) Sleepin’ on my wonderful queen size bed! : )

Paige

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Friday, 2:14PM update
Feeling SO much better today! Slept after I blogged. Took a shower. Went to class late. A lot of people went into Cape Town and I decided to hang back and luckily Katie did so we went to lunch at a restaurant connected to Cornerstone and then are back here doing "homework" :) I'm uploading my pictures on Facebook for you all to see what I've been up to! Probably won't be putting them on the blog so you'll have to check out Facebook to see them.