Epic-blog Epi-logue

I think it's about time that I wrapped things up with one final post. I fully intended to write proper blogs about the events of the last few weeks, Mdumbi, Bulungula, assisting on a Caesarean, Pietermaritzburg etc but I think they will just have to stay as memories for those involved [I guess Ben is right, no one ever finishes 'the diary of their holiday' after they come back!] Here's a brief run down though:




The Final Weeks of Work



In general the last few weeks were, to coin a phrase, hectic. I spent lots of time hunched over the back desk of the pharmacy trying to [here comes another classic phrase] make a plan for the next couple of months so that the transition between myself and my successor goes smoothly. After some stressful hours trying to sort it out in my head, I ended up writing about 11 pages of handover notes and a six page plan and explained it all to a number of people so I left feeling [almost] completely confident that it will be okay. It definitely made me realise how much I have been responsible for over my time here, I'll miss the challenge of that when I go back to making cups of tea and toast...



With Ian transforming the pharmacy from a centre of randomness to the most organised place on the planet and Fesiwe back to work, things got a little easier for a time, but then Thabo went on some hard earned leave, so I continued running around like crazy until the very end. I'm sad that I wasn't there to witness Ian continue to improve things - in the few weeks that we worked together he made a phenomenal difference! Here's a typical Ian activity:

Ian Jordaan: pharmacist extraordinaire!

Ian Jordaan: pharmacist extraordinaire!




I did manage to get in a bit more work experience, shadowing Jo, Taryn, Sally and Liz in ARV clinic, wards and OPD which was really interesting; everyone has such a unique style when seeing patients! The part that sticks out the most was how calm Jo remained when a boy she had sedated with ketamine started waking up and going INSANE [;)], needing three of us to restrain him while she took some sutures out of his foot. But I guess the story that I'll end up telling the most is when Karl let me assist him with a Caesarean - something they would never ever allow in the world of health and safety that is the UK. It's unlikely that I'll get that sort of opportunity again for at least 6-7 years, at the very least until I've finished my degree [unless of course I come back]! It was incredible: even though I'm sure I was of very little use apart from holding the retractors and doing suction, even being scrubbed in and being up that close was fascinating. The feeling of touching someone else’s insides is so bizarre, and I don't think I'll forget what it was like to hold this woman's womb in my hand for a long time! It was a definite highlight of the entire seven months and I'm so grateful to Karl for letting me do it. It's been an absolute privilege to work in a hospital where there is so much opportunity to learn without all the red tape they have in the UK, and I am so appreciative of everyone who took the time to show and explain things to me and answer my questions. I should probably say a particular thank you to Liz who was endlessly patient with me and let me come on rounds, to ARV clinic, OPD, on call at all times of the day and night, and made an effort to teach me even when the situation at hand was stressful, what a legend :)



The final four weekends



The last four weekends saw us all going over the place. First up was a trip to Mdumbi with Annelou, a student from Stellenbosch who loved giving tips, being Afrikaans and having good times. It was a fun weekend although all of us got rather ill so didn't do anything too strenuous. We met a variety of interesting people, including these guys called Edward and Jacob [sadly nothing like their Twilight namesakes] who were so unimpressed with our chat that at one point Jacob even said, 'I don't know why we are even having this conversation, it's stupid'. We went through to Coffee Bay for the night, but I was feeling so sick that I just curled up in the back of the 4x4 and spent the evening trying not to throw up, not the most pleasant experience ever! We also had massages in the church, had less than appetising meal in a shabeen and played the most epic fail game of 30 seconds ever :)

The view over Mdumbi beach

Next up was our final weekend in Zithulele itself. After Friday night's epic braai at the Le Rouxs [the one where we all danced around the table for about 2 hours] I stayed over at Liz and Lisa's until we were woken up by a piercing scream which turned out to be Johann spraying himself [and everything else] with a hose. It ended up that Liz, Kate, myself and the Le Rouxs all spent a good hour or so on the grass at the Plaza chatting and playing the Xhosa version of Duck-Duck-Goose, which is something like Cow-Cow-Goat [I'm sure Lisa can correct me on that one!]. I then went up to Anita's house where Sam and I would be staying for the weekend, and we watched some very random things on their TV, most of which I'd rather not see again! Sunday saw me at Zithulele church for one final time: rather uneventful apart from when there appeared to be some kind of communion going on with only 8 giant cups and some Powerade...turns out it was part of the sermon [not sure how but oh well]. It was great to get the chance to go to the church here over the past few months, to be so warmly welcomed and included by the community there, and to learn all the words to hymn 74 [yes, we had to sing it AGAIN:)]. In the evening we had inaugural praise and worship at the Gaunts which was such a great way to end the week and get ready for the next one. So basically a chilled weekend, but one which was typical of all those I've spent here...




The penultimate weekend was Bulungula [see separate blog post] which was definitely one of the most awesome weekends I've had: just a chance to relax, spend time with friends, entertain some of the cutest kids in the world, eat great food, look at the most brilliant sky full of stars and just have good times in general :)



For our final weekend, Sam and I split up [sad times I know] with her taking a trip to Bushman's [aka THE CLOOF] with Anita and myself taking the long road trip up to Pietermaritzburg with Liziwe. As Liz's car is still being held hostage by the panel beaters, we were driven to Umtata by Tom and Jo and waited at the petrol station for a while, getting some stunning chattings up while we did so. Eventually we were picked up by the legend that is JULES and Kath [?spelled right] and drove through the night to Maritzburg, and uneventful journey with the exception of a crazy driver called Delmaine [get in the lane, Delmaine...ok, I think you had to be there].



I stayed at Liz's house with the crazy poodles and the world's best looking Transkei dog :) It was a brilliant weekend all round, mainly involving eating, although I should have been prepared for that given that when I asked what the plans for the trip were, Liz replied, 'You know, going out for dinner, meeting people for tea, going to coffee places, having braais, going for supper, having breakfast with friends....'. On Saturday morning, Helen (Liz's sister) made us a nutritious breakfast of muffins and coffee which we ate while watching some Glee, does it get any better? Then we went out for coffee, then for lunch, then for a very sarcastic [yet effective] shopping trip to the mall, came home for a rest and some muffins and brownies [once again courtesy of Helen :)] and then went out for supper. Kind of like an ideal day.



Sunday saw us repeating our morning activities [cake and Glee] before we went out for a very entertaining lunch to a place called Piggly Wiggly with the same people from the day before. We chatted in the Gatley house for the afternoon before having one of the most hilarious braais ever with Liz's mum, dad and sister during which there was much accidental insulting [:)] and after which we played the world's most complex card game (called Card Game with 79 Cards Game of Cards...or something) which I am sure Helen made up as she went along, either way it was a top night and I haven't laughed that much in ages! All in all, a brilliant final weekend, thanks Liziwe :)



The Final Week



Some highlights: Princess Bride movie night, our leaving braai, last combined cell/praise and worship, 'sunrise surprise' at Hole in the Wall, final trip to the beach, pizza at the Gaunts...it's weird to spend your days knowing that it’s the last time you're going to do certain things :(

The last supper - pizza at the Gaunts

And then Saturday came, and after saying goodbye to the Gaunts and Le Rouxs, Lisa and Liz drove us to the airport where we had THE most entertaining coffee experience ever (we managed to break the seats) before saying our final goodbye and getting on that tiny plane back to the UK :(




Epilogue


Now I'm back in Scotland and it's been over a week since I left Zithulele. The trip back was not bad, except for a looooooooooooooooong TWENTY SIX hours spent in Johannesburg airport [thanks PT].

This was our camp in the airport...ending our trip in the classy fashion we are famous for!

 

The reverse culture shock was initially pretty insane; I couldn't get over how clean and green everything is - it really didn't feel like the real world! The whole last seven months feel so far away now, it's as if they never happened and sometimes [like when I had to go for a refresher meeting at my old work and they checked if I knew how to brush someone's teeth in a safe way] I can really believe they never did.



The time I spent in Zithulele was without doubt the best of my life so far: I saw so many amazing things, had some incredible experiences, met some brilliant people and made truly great friends. My perspective on life has been turned upside down and I have learned so much. I have to thank all of those who were part of it: the Gaunts, Le Rouxs, Anita and Etienne, Tom and Jo, Shannon, Marlie, Megan, Ian, Kate, Zandile, Asanda, Thabo, Sarah and Bernard, Fesiwe, Athini, Jules, Monique, Roger and Karen, Jess, JT, Lisa, Liz, Sam and all the other people who came through Zithulele at some point or another :)

Some of the legendary people I have been lucky enough to live among :)

I could monologue on about it all some more but I think seven months is enough!




I guess that's the end of KMAC in South Africa, it's been so much fun to blog about it all. Thanks for reading :)



Kayleigh xxxxx



P.S. maybe I'll start KMAC in Cambridge in October?

Bulungula II

This is only a partial account of our penultimate weekend in South Africa, but I thought I may as well post it:






For the penultimate weekend of Zithulele 2010, Sam and I, together with Liz, Lisa and the entire Gaunt clan made our way to Bulungula for a chilled weekend by the beach, enjoying some good food and life without electricity or mobile phone signal. Due to the ongoing saga of Liz's broken car [which, after 2 months, is still being not-fixed by the East London branch of the International Department of Inefficiency] we ended up having to take Kate's car. (Before I launch into a description of this car I would like to point out that we were all EXTREMELY grateful for having a form of transport for the weekend!)







Anyway, so this car has no shocks whatsoever and the road to Bulungula is, shall we say, not conducive to a smooth drive in any case. With no seatbelts to hold us down, we improvised by cramming all of our luggage in on top of and around us, creating a special sort of Transkei seatbelt. Although, to be honest, I think that if we were to crash at any sort of speed, the car would just have fallen into two pieces given that at one point Lisa had to reach up and screw the roof back on! The four of us enjoyed the next hour or so of being tossed around inside a very noisy motorised tin can immensely, probably because we were all so hyped up on the near death adrenalin rush that the experience induced.







[Okay, maybe I exaggerated that a little bit.]







I won't describe what Bulungula is like again, but I will mention that our good friend Ma Bru and his legendary 'Beat Tone Tone' drumming was still hanging around there, and had grown himself a beautiful afro, just to complete his chilled-out look. After catching up ['Hi, bru, howzit? then he walked off], all of us sat around for the evening chatting and had some traditional samp and beans [umngqusho] for dinner. The sky at night here - and particularly at Bulungula where there are no lights whatsoever – is AWESOME. I could look at the stars all night, in fact, even while I was stood outside brushing my teeth, I saw four shooting stars. Why would you ever want to live in the city?

The Gaunts' epic beach maze

The next morning saw us all down by the sea for beach games, Gaunt style. Most people are content with random sand castles and the like, but Ben and Taryn drew a giant maze in the sand that kept all of us [from Elijah, who is 2, Grace, 4, Josh, 6, me, 18 and Liz and Lisa who are...other ages] entertained for a long while. After some enormous toasties that were bigger than some of our heads, we just chilled for the rest of the day. I ended up spending a good few hours drawing random pictures [for some reason of Christmas themed objects] with Josh and Grace. For some reason, a whole group fo local kids also decided that they wanted to join in so were all crowded round my seat watching me ineptly draw a picture of Father Christmas...possibly one of the most bizarre moments of the last 7 months! None of them had any paper to draw on so resorted to drawing on their hands and showing me what they had drawn, fun times.

My art draws in some adoring local fans...

When had exhausted all the possible Christmas drawings, someone got the drums out so I had a brief reprieve before continuing my role as child entertainer [something I'm willing to embrace until my mental age reaches double figures] on the beach where after much discussion, the Gauntlets decided they wanted to dig sand baths. To be fair, I did most of the digging while Josh used his magic powers to keep the tide away, Elijah threw sand and made cute noises and Grace did...whatever Grace does. Either way, it was a great afternoon, lots of fun :)

100 Days Part II

So here are my main memories from all the rest of the days:




I will probably put up my final blog and an account of the epicness that was our journey home sometime soon as well [:)]



18th April – going to church in East London with Liz





19th April – Liz's road rage, all 5 hours of it



20th April – watching the midwife shake a newborn into life by holding him upside down by one leg



21st April – taking a step back and realising how stupid the stock take fiasco had become, watching an epic vacuum birth



22nd April – feeling the pressure of running the pharmacy/ARV dispensary alone

23rd April – killing myself laughing at Wipeout with Lisa, Jess, Sam and Megan



24th April – making a mug out of a Panado tub, emptying the contents of Liz's fridge



25th April – chilling with Liz and Lisa while Lisa mended my threadbare shorts



26th April – epically long Frisbee match, dinner at Anita/Etienne's



27th April – road tripping to Madwaleni with Liz and Lisa

Epic Madwaleni road trip companions

28th April – being kept up all night by our stupid kitten named Duck




29th April – extreme dessert making – custard, whipped cream and meringue with Sam



30th April – feeling so tired that I left actually work early [!], moving into our temporary new home :D





1st May – going for an exhilarating run and sitting watching the sun setting over Zithulele



2nd May – making homemade pizza with Sam and having a classy dinner with wine, candles and Army Wives



3rd May – writing my first [illegal] prescription at Mapuzi clinic with Anita and getting it dispensed



4th May – opening the box with all the o/s IV antibiotics, seeing the pharmacy tidy, meeting Bonga



5th May – the biggest clinic day ever, the Le Rouxs giving me the chance to go to Bulungula at cell



6th May – driving the JRHF Golf to Bulungula [first time I'd driven in 4 months]



7th May – walking along Bulungula beach before breakfast :)



8th May – walking to Hole in the Wall, braai/playing with kids at the White House



9th May – hand washing every single item of clothing I own [it was getting desperate!]



10th May – lunchtime cake with Sam :)



11th May – first Papazela's night in 2 months



12th May – really good Frisbee match, me and JT pretending to be HIV and ARVs



13th May – working with Bonga in ARV clinic, ceilidh lessons on the Frisbee court



14th May – epic Xhosa bread fail in the pitch black power cut with Sam and Asanda



15th May – pyjama day: House, banana bread and the eyebrow artist



16th May – being the only white person at church, 5 hour photo chats with Lisa, braai/getting post inc. East Lothian Courier



17th May – watching 2nd caesarean

18th May – spending a stressful 2 hours on phone fixing iDart

19th May – pharmacy staff meeting drama



20th May – ceilidh dancing – 'Ready to start again!'



21st May – using the laptop as a light while Jo saw patients in a blacked out OPD



22nd May – feeling nervous for the results of my HIV test, spontaneous Mdumbi night

Kate, Liz, Lisa and I at Mdumbi

23rd May – Liz trying to kill me by pushing me under water at Mdumbi beach ;)




24th May – delivering my second baby, receiving one tonne [literally] of vacolitres from the depot by myself at 7.30pm



25th May – epic quest to find money to pay the guys at Magic Tyres



26th May – working very very very late and Sam bringing me a cake parcel



27th May – pizza with Lisa, Max, Melissa



28th May – waking up to find Bonga gone



29th May – seeing Mum at the airport



30th May – eating Mars Bar cake all the way from the Town House on Coffee Bay beach



31st May – the stress of driving the Hole in the Wall road in a puny Hyundai car...







1st June – hiking to Hole in the Wall and seeing THAT cliff again



2nd June – sundowners at Coffee Bay...on the opposite side of a hill to the sun



3rd June – getting to Mthatha and realising Mum had left her bag in Zithulele



4th June – playing epic car games all the way to East London



5th June – Sam and I's Mugg and Bean Reunion



6th June – canoeing at Cintsa with Lisa and Sam



7th June – Megan and Joff's leaving braai



8th June – everyone running around Zithulele doing Lisa's birthday treasure hunt



9th June – busiest ARV clinic ever and coming home to a giant mug of hot chocolate

10th June – staying up until 11.30pm doing back captures with Liz AGAIN



11th June – the craziness that ensued when Bafana Bafana scored in the World Cup opening match



12th June – watching the football roll over our goal line in the England vs. USA match



13th June – spending a relaxing afternoon chatting with Liz :)



14th June – ventilating a baby for 3.5 hours then seeing it get airlifted to East London



15th June – watching American Dreamz, dreams with a Z



16th June – using maximum brain power while playing Pass the Pigs

17th June – finding out that the above baby had died...



18th June – the seemingly endless array of patients who seemed determined to delay our road trip to East London by crowding out the pharmacy door



19th June – the long long road trip to Durban with Liz and the two Sams



20th June – chilling on Durban beach in the Fifa Fan Park with an ice cream



21st June – having a beer in Joe Cool's whilst watching Portugal thrash Korea 7-0



22nd June – the incredible atmosphere in Moses Madiba stadium during Nigeria vs. Korea

Nigeria and Korea line up for their final group match

23rd June – watching traditional Zulu dancing in uShaka marine world




24th June – going to see Shuks Tshabalala, the South African version of Borat [HILARIOUS]



25th June – enjoying the atmosphere in Durban overrun with Brazil and Portugal fans



26th June – staying over at Liz's home in Hilton and watching Ghana beat USA



27th June – the long road trip back from Durban trying to think of uses for Watchtower magazine



28th June – reorganising the entire back room of the pharmacy so that is was IMMACULATE :), getting double bonus of phone calls from Megan and from Mum/Gregor



29th June – being told I couldn't work in ARV clinic anymore because patients had complained about the language barrier :(



30th June – seeing the long queues in ARV clinic and having to leave [see above]











1st July – the revival of Frisbee court ceilidh dancing



2nd July – running the pharmacy by myself after hours, being at Papazela’s watching that idiot Suarez cheat Ghana from a place in the quarter finals of the World Cup



3rd July – watching Glee and Britain's Got Talent all day...



4th July – ultimate dance party in our third temporary home in a week [Jo's] with Sam, Liz and Jules



5th July – first day at work with Ian, our new pharmacist

6th July – sitting in the dust storm at Jalamba waiting for my patients to turn up



7th July – feeling so dejected in ARV clinic that I walked out and sat with the doctors instead...



8th July – decorating the World Cup final cake with JT, Jess, Sam, Lisa and Liz



9th July – having another homemade pizza and wine night with Sammy



10th July – amazingly successful shopping day in Mthatha with Lisa



11th July – playing football on the beach at Roger's birthday breakfast



12th July – being in the best mood ever at lunch with Liz



13th July – Papazela's night with Ian, Sam, Shannon and Annalou



14th July – continuing ARV clinic trauma :(

15th July – watching/helping with fracture reduction and POP, Sarah and Bernard's cocktail party

16th July – getting my 4 month late birthday present from Fiona Cleat, feeling ultimately ill in the back of some random's 4x4 on the way back from Coffee Bay



17th July – having a back massage inside the church at Mdumbi



18th July – going to a shabeen for pancakes [bad idea]

19th July – sitting like tramps in our house full of dishes after 5 days without water, running to the hospital in my pyjamas to use the toilet



20th July – getting back from Coffee Bay and knocking all the chickens out of the tree in revenge for them keeping us up all night



21st July – sitting on the living room floor with no power and erratic water eating bolognese and having late night cell group [Cajun style] with Sam



22nd July – Annelou giving us all 'tips' at the steak braai :)



23rd July – Karl, Sally, Liz, Jess, JT, Ian and I 'walking like Egyptians' around the table after the braai



24th July – Liz, Sally, Karl, Kate and I playing with the Le Roux kids on the grass in our pyjamas



25th July – Sunday praise and worship at the Gaunts :)



26th July – climbing the water tower for sundowners

The view from the top of the water tower

27th July – 30 rock at lunch

28th July – restraining a 12 year old boy going mad and hallucinating with ketamine sedation for foot suturing...

29th July – ceilidh dancing in the dark on the frisbee court

30th July – brushing my teeth outside whilst watching the shooting stars at Bulungula

31st July – spending the whole day entertaining Josh and Grace colouring in and on the beach

Grace and I at Bulungula

1st August – the overwhelming rush of relief when Liz found my community report so I hadn't left it at Bulungula...




2nd August – scrubbing in on a Caesar, my first ever surgery assist:)



3rd August – having ice cream, milkshakes and apple pie at the goodbye braai with the Le Rouxs, Lisa and Liz



4th August – seeing 85 patients in the day and then staying up until 1am back capturing



5th August – spending all night baking muffins and flapjacks for grand tea with Sam



6th August – another long long drive to Pietermaritzburg with Liz, Jules and Kath



7th August – eating out with various people...all day :)



8th August – highly entertaining Gatley family braai and card games [inc. being called a retard;)]



9th August - last ever praise and worship [with the playlist I chose]



10th August – unrest due to strike action, watching the Princess Bride with everyone :)



11th August – watching the sunrise over Hole in the Wall with Liz and Lisa

12th August – working v. Late with Liz to put the pharmacy in order and turning up late at my own leaving braai...



13th August – leaving the pharmacy one last time, walking to the beach with Liz and Lisa, praying with Mfundisi and his wife, pizza night at the Gaunts



14th August – the most INSANE coffee experience at Mthatha airport where we broke the seats and then watching the place I have called home for the past 200[ish] days become smaller and smaller as the plane took off :(



And that was the end of the best 7 months EVER EVER EVER :)



xxx

How I Spent My Monday Morning...cajun style.

Assisting Dr Le Roux with a Caesarean

So I used to spend Monday mornings making toast and cups of tea for the older folks of Haddy....

:)

Things to do before I leave (I)

In the car on the way back from Mthatha the other day, Lisa and I made up a big list of things to do before Sam and I leave [and subsequently Sam and I had the same conversation] and we're trying to do them all in the next 20 [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] days....








I – Sundowners on the water tower







In the hospital we have two giant water towers which somehow [not really sure exactly] collect water and distribute it to the various buildings and for ages we have been talking about climbing the ladder that leads to the top and watching the sun go down over Zithulele. So today, after a great day at work that miraculously ended at five, I texted Sam and we decided that today was to be the day we finally did it.







Sam brought some cider from the house and the two of us met at the bottom of the ladder, suddenly realising a) how high the tower actually was and b) how dodgy the ladder looked. Given our previous experiences in places far above the ground, my brain had already started with the 'this is stupid, don't do it, you're going to die'. Turns out I hadn't learnt anything from the death-on-a-cliff-incident and I started the long long climb to the top anyway.

A traumatised Sammy reaches the top

After about ten rungs I was shaking, after twenty I was contemplating the likelihood that gravity might switch itself off in the event I fell and after thirty I don't remember because I was focussing so hard on not dying. Finally the ladder ran out and I found myself on the top of the tower all in one piece:) GOOD TIMES. It's reassuring to know that the plan for me doesn't including falling off a giant metal tower...





Soon [well, actually not that soon] I was joined by a panic stricken Sam who had her shaky cliff voice on and told me that this was without doubt the stupidest thing we'd ever done. JT valiantly attempted the climb but gave up about half way, probably because her heart was actually on the Frisbee court instead [at least that's her excuse ;)]. Lisa tried once and climbed down again, only to repeat the exercise and join us on the top, alive but in desperate need of some cider. The three of us had just about got over our nervous breakdowns and had actually looked at the stunning landscape around us when we saw a tiny figure below us that turned out to be Liziwe, who sped up the ladder in about three seconds and casually wandered around on the top. Now that our Zithulele family was all present and correct, we sat around and watched a bit of an epic sunset fail [there were trees in the way], took pictures, ate chocolate and had sundowners, all the while looking over out this tiny village that we call home :)

Zithulele Village

Only nineteen days left. I think I'm going to need serious counselling.







x

One Month Left

[An account of 19th - 23rd July]






On Monday morning I went into work to find it a changed place – no longer was it filled with drugs arranged in a system devoid of any logical order, or cluttered with boxes to climb over or buried under heaps of paperwork, but Ian [our new pharmacist who I'm very pleased to say is still here and does not appear to be leaving anytime soon] had spent the entire weekend clearing it out, removing boxes and boxes of expired stock, introducing a revolutionary new system called alphabetisation [ha] and generally straightening everything out and making it look more like a real pharmacy. It was so cool to actually walk down the aisles without clambering over cardboard boxes and to know where things are without having to dig around all over the place! And on top of that, in a MIRACULOUS turn of events, all three of the pharmacy staff turned up for work so for once there was the possibility of having a productive day and actually finishing by 5pm...[Sadly, a possibility was all it turned out to be]

Order is finally restored to the pharmacy

Sadly for Sam and I, our water had been off for the previous five days which we were thoroughly enjoying [brushing your teeth outside and spitting in the compost heap is just GREAT, as is running across to the hospital to use the toilet :)] We hadn't been able to wash dishes so by Monday night had about one plate and one fork between us so ended up having cheese on toast for dinner served on plates that we deemed to be cleaner than the others. Not sure either of us has felt so trampy in our entire life!







Tuesday night we all went out for pizza in Coffee Bay and once again commanded about half of the four tables in the place. When we got back, Annelou, Chane [another student], Charlene [her mum who is volunteering], Sam and I decided to get vengeance on the chickens who have been keeping us up at all hours of the night. There are two roosters, about eight hens and countless chicks of various sizes and at night they all fly [yes, these weird chickens can FLY] up into the trees outside our rondavels and sit the whole night and make THE most annoying noise. They also have the talent of timing it so precisely that you have just forgotten how angry you are and are drifting back to sleep when, oh, there they go again! So we decided we would take some revenge and jumped on the branches, causing the chickens to almost fall out of the tree, and then proceeded to unsuccessfully throw sticks at them but sadly only managed to anger them more so they made a screaming sound and made noise the entire night. I ended up getting up at five to hit the rooster with a stick, but he didn't even flinch. It was a top night.







Wednesday was a fun day at work [not] because we had 146 patients in ARV clinic. I can't remember if I wrote previously about this, but I was recently thrown out for a few days because apparently I don't speak good enough Xhosa [which is true, but sometimes there isn't anyone else to do my job when attending work is cancelled due to lack of interest]. After about 2 weeks of feeling very annoyed, I was somehow let back in [apparently there was some miscommunication, how ironic] so Wednesday was my first day back in. It was a loooooong day and we didn't finish until half six, but it's not the latest ever so it wasn't all bad!

Abenathi, the CUTEST child in the world

Someone had come to fix our water so the toilet was back in use [yay!] but the shower was less than effective and the hot tap was no longer connected to the wall, but I guess we can't really be picky. Then to make life just that little bit more brilliant, the power cut out, so with a defrosting fridge and freezer and surrounded by pitch darkness Sammy and I sat in the middle of the living room floor next to our solitary candle, heating up some food on a gas stove and chatting until midnight...does it get any better?







Thursday morning came and went without any improvement in the situation so I decided enough was enough, took my phone charger and a towel and went to make use of the running water and power at Liz and Lisa's :)







Thursday night was Annelou's leaving braai where we all had steak because she had bought 15 steaks with her, expecting to eat them all over the course of her month long elective [and not surprisingly didn't! We then spent an enjoyable eating listening to her endless supply of 'tips' about how to live life and watching as she epically failed at blowing on the fire to make it burn better, only succeeding in blowing it out. Then Karl showed up with marshmallows so we all toasted them :) GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD TIMES.







Friday was a hard day at work because Monday had taken its toll and we were back down to one member of staff plus Ian and I in the pharmacy. Then the delivery guys showed up with an order of one zillion boxes, took one look at me and asked 'Are you the only manpower?' and proceeded to be the least helpful people I have ever met for the next forty minutes as they unloaded their truck. First of all, they decided that it was a great idea just to chuck these boxes that weighed about twelve kilos at me, which would have been fine if they were actually throwing them accurately and the boxes weren't pointy! Then when we moved onto using trolleys to move the boxes, they loaded about 100 kilos of stock onto them, then shoved them through the door and let go, at which point they careered into all the little kids waiting in OPD. When I shot them a horrified look, they just acted as if I was the one trying to kill the patients! Needless to say, I was very glad when they left. Ian then showed why it is better to work in a rural hospital where there are less rules when he turned up in his running clothes so that he could shift all the tonnes of boxes up to the store room, don't think you'd seen many first world pharmacists running around in shorts, a vest and a white coat!







I gave up on work at around half one, resolving to come back around three to finish all the ward orders. Four hours later, after having a leftover steak sandwich and watching Prince Caspian with Lisa, I eventually returned to finish up...At home I hopefully switched on the shower, only to watch a few solitary drips of cold water come out so once again picked up my stuff and went to the Plaza, where an crazy dance party was taking place [Zithulele is a bit insane at times]. The evening was spent at, yes, another braai, this time hosted by the legendary Le Rouxs :) We had such a nice meal together, then had milkshakes and coffee and then an epically long eighties dance party until late in the night, culminating in the final seven of us dancing round the table to the Bangles 'Walk like and Egyptian', another classic moment :)







Do I really have to go home?







x

Umtata Miracle

10th July






Last Saturday was a miraculous occasion: for the first time in Zithulele history, two people [namely Lisa and I] had a successful shopping trip to Mthatha. Usually you arrive in that wonderful city, drive around all day trying to buy things that are out of stock, battling with crowds, traffic, unhelpful shop assistants and broken ATMs...it's just not fun. So we got up early, expecting one of those kinds of days and made our way along the steadily improving strip of potholes that lead to Mthatha.







The first stop was the post office which admittedly was not so promising when they informed us they didn't sell padded envelopes or air mail stamps and only had a measly six international land mail stamps [and I'm convinced they are the other half of the sheet I bought way back in February]. We bought out their entire stock anyway, resolving to do the usual and 'make a plan' which is the standard Zithulele response to any situation from someone's car breaking down to the entire hospital running out of gloves and syringes...







Then we went to PEP which is a cheap shop that sells everything and I finally bought some a new pair of flip flops [exactly the same as the old pair:)]. My old ones were literally, and I'm not exaggerating, a few millimetres thick in places and had various holes in them from where I've stood on sharp stones so I was in desperate need of the replacements!

A before and after shot of my flip flops

First stop in Umtata itself was the car wash as Lisa's car was in somewhat of a state with mud crusted all over the bottom of it and dust everywhere else. We were in the queue and Lisa got out to buy a coffee, leaving me with the keys and instructions just to move the car forward when the time came. The first time I moved the car it was fine, but the second time I couldn't seem to get the clutch in the right place so when I pressed the accelerator the car shot forward. I slammed the brake on, but it didn't seem to do anything so for some RIDICULOUS reason, I shoved my foot back on the accelerator and the car rocketed forward and smashed straight into the wall. Lucky I was only moving at a high speed of about 2mph so there wasn't too much damage apart from some scratches. I was so shell shocked at what I had just done that I scrambled out the car to look, expecting people to run up shouting at me for being so stupid, but no, no one even moved, and Lisa casually walked over to examine the damage [something I am eternally grateful for, most other people would have gone mental at me!]. With Lisa safely back in the driver's seat we went into the car wash where the attendants looked the car up and down in disbelief at how dirty it was and emerged about fifteen minutes later in what looked like a completely different car.







Next up was the Plaza [Umtata's shopping centre thing] where we spent the rest of the day. Everywhere was World Cup crazy and all the shops were cashing in on it, and as it was one day before the final, it was all on sale. In all the clothes shops you could buy a huge variety of team shirts and jumpers, t-shirts with flags etc – Lisa and I spent over an hour in the one shop looking at it all. We also spent an age in Ackerman’s looking for baby clothes for one of Lisa's friends, and ages in Game [different from the British one] trying to find cockroach killer and looking at DVDs.







We went to Mr Price [kind of like Primark] to buy me some new shorts as I have had one pair stolen and have got holes/rips in another three. While we were there, Lisa asked if she could bring a top she had bought back for a refund. The woman said yes and just took it so we assumed that the money came off the receipt, however when we checked it later, there was so sign of it. So we went back and Lisa asked about it, so they asked if she had a receipt from the original purchase but she didn't. The manager then phoned someone else to ask, and they decided they could give a refund anyway, but only for the discounted price that it was on sale for now. Lisa asked why they couldn't just give the whole sum, and after a lot of chat between the staff, they decided they could give a voucher for the original value. The only thing they need is the date that Lisa bought it, so Lisa says that she doesn't know. The staff told her she could just make it up so she said it was probably about March time. Turns out that they only refund up to 30 days, so instead of saying that she couldn't take it back, they asked for a date that they could use instead! And that was how Lisa accidentally defrauded Mr Price...







By the end of the day the two of us had bought lots of random things between us [and some not so random ones] and we considerably less rich than when we started but it was so cool to have had a successful shopping day in Umtata!







x

Durban: bright lights, late nights and lots and lots of football

After the trauma that was The Saga of Sam's Phone bill, we had to rearrange our holiday plans a bit, eventually deciding on a long weekend in Durban and two weeks on the Port St John’s-Coffee Bay hiking trail. Somehow we ended up spending a week um-ing and err-ing as to whether to go to Cape Town instead but didn't and eventually [can't remember how] we signed on for a week in Durban.







And so it came to be that Liz, Sam and I were on the road to East London where we would pick up Liz's friend also named Sam, spend the night and then embark upon the long road trip up to Durbs. It was a mildly traumatic road trip because Liz's car was imminently about to fall apart after she had an epic crash whilst returning from the leave [thankfully only the car was harmed:)] but aside from some interesting noises there was no trouble. There were a large number of people who took it upon themselves to point out the large sheet of metal hanging off of the front of the car [as if we didn't know] so I'm sure if things had got worse and the car had broken into a few pieces, one of those many good Samaritans would have stopped to help. [Or would have stolen the car parts, you never know with the Transkei.]







We subjected Liz to some of our highly entertaining car games until we finally arrived in East London at her friend Lara's house [turns out we had actually met before] where we were going to stay for the night. We went all went out for a Chinese which was good times, especially when they got out the jasmine tea and for some reason we ended up having some rather questionable conversations :)







The next morning we got up early and got on the road to start the 7+ hour drive to Durban which I won't bore you with details with. About nine hours later [2nd longest road trip of my life I think] we were there in the BIG city – it was very strange to see skyscrapers again after months and months of rondavels. The first task was finding out where our backpackers was which is somewhat of a mission as the powers that be [in their infinite, no wait, non-existent, wisdom] have changed all the street names in the city without producing any updated maps and with the only stipulation being that the new name has at least 15 unpronounceable syllables. We were looking for the corner of Prince Alfred and Pine Street which is now known as Monty Naiker and Florence Nzama [okay, so those two are reasonably pronounceable] so after a few wrong turns and sitting in some traffic for a while, Sam and Liz dropped us off and we were alone in Durban.







From the outside, Banana backpackers looked, shall we say, unpromising. We didn't have any other choice as I'd spent an evening the previous week phoning every place in the Coast to Coast and this was the only one with space available [probably should have been a sign]. It was quite a bizarre place – some kind of converted block of flats with a central courtyard and a random blow up paddling pool in the middle with some algae floating ceremoniously in the middle. To be honest it was fine for what we needed but did not have the same vibes as Mdumbi/Bulungula etc :)







Contrary to Liz's single piece of advice which was not to walk around after dark w spent the first evening exploring and wandering around the massive FIFA fan park that had been built for the world cup. We did consult with this random old English guy in the backpackers who assured us that it was safe so decided we would risk it and it actually turned out fine because there were so many other tourists in town for the football. When we eventually returned to Banana backpackers we realised that we had some absolutely stunning neighbours on the ground floor in a rather dodgy looking 'massage parlour' that was definitely selling more than massages... It was going to be a good week!

The FIFA Fan Park

I won't bore you with a day by day run down of what we did all week but there were some memorable moments:



We went on an EXTREMELY cool tour of Durban on a tour bus with all the German tourists and older couples which mainly consisted of an eccentric tour guide reading the road signs to us. I think the best bit was when we went past an Indian restaurant and she read out its advertising board to us.



Watching the South Africa vs. France game in the fan park was amazing – it was completely packed out, must have been around 10000 people there. Bafana Bafana were playing so well and when they scored the place exploded and everyone was cheering, waving South Africa flags, jumping up and down, just going crazy. For a moment I think everyone believed that we would make it through against all the odds but in the end it wasn't meant to be and the host nation got kicked out of the tournament :(

During Bafana's 2-1 defeat of France

Continuing our cinema tradition, we went to see three movies: Letters to Juliet, Death at a Funeral and Schuks Tshabalala's Survival Guide to South Africa. The first two were pretty mediocre [especially Letters to Juliet which bordered on creepy with quotes like 'the greatest pleasure in life is having someone else brush your hair] but the Survival Guide to South Africa was BRILLIANT. It was like a less controversial version of Borat set in South Africa: the guy went round the country setting people up in various ways with some hilarious results that we could actually properly appreciate having lived here an experienced the culture. The best bit was probably when they had a stand at a football stadium and were 'testing' the vuvuzelas to see if they made too much noise. They then cut the vuvuzelas in half so they make a stupid noise and the people went SO mad and got angry and started hitting the 'tester' – shows how crazy some people are! I think you have to see it to appreciate it, but it’s by far the best film I've seen in the cinema here :)



On the Tuesday night we saw a sign up in the backpackers offering tickets for one of the Durban matches so the next day we enquired and ended up getting Nigeria vs. Korea tickets worth $160 for only R300. We were so excited for the match [despite the rather obscure nature of the teams involved] and went to get out faces painted with the country flags. Lots of people were backing Nigeria because the general feeling after South Africa went out was to support any of the African teams left in the competition and I ended up with a Nigeria flag on my face in what I'm sure was actually just wall paint... Anyway, we walked the couple of miles to the stadium which is an absolutely stunning building and made our way inside in record time [the organising of the whole thing was surprisingly efficient!]. As you walk up into the stadium you get this amazing view of the pitch and all the stands and it was so bright and loud that you couldn't help but be impressed. Everyone was so hyped up for the match and you could barely hear anything for the sound of the vuvuzelas echoing in the air. We briefly met up with Liz, Sam and Liz's sister Helen before heading to our seats which were amazing [but then for $160 you should expect that I guess!]. The atmosphere was absolutely electric once you were in the stands and continued throughout the game. The match itself was one of the better ones I'd seen in the world cup with plenty of goals and drama on the pitch. At one point one of the players had to be epically stretchered off writhing in pain but then two seconds later was sprinting around the pitch which is a testament to how dramatic some of these players are! In the end it was a draw, with Korea going through on goal difference. I'd say it was one of the best experiences of our trip so far :)

Sam and I at the match

There are two ice cream places on the beach front, Milky Lane and Waffle Express. After going to Milky Lane for the first few days we decided we would try out the other one to see how it compared. The weird thing was that the menu was the EXACT same as for Milky Lane [which was next door] but had a different logo at the top. Sam ordered a fruit smoothie and I ordered a chocolate milkshake which [as you'd expect] were depicted in the menu as a bright coloured fruit drink and a light brown milky drink. However, when our waiter [who we reckon didn't even actually work there] went to make it he decided to take two ice cream sundae glasses, fill them both with ice cream and then pour fruit sauce on one and chocolate sauce on the other, and then to top it off, mixed it around at the top with his finger! So we were rather unimpressed when he turned up with two large glasses of vanilla ice cream with finger marks in the top. We pointedly looked from the picture in the menu to the hideous creation in front of us trying to work out the correlation but he ran away before we could protest. Deciding to just go along with it, we tried them, only to find that they tasted like cold milk with dust in it [or, as the day went on and the story got exaggerated more, we decided it was like atomic bomb dust with weed killer in it...]. They were really horrible, and given that usually the two of us will eat anything, we decided we'd tell our suspicious looking waiter that there was something wrong cue this conversation:



Sam: Excuse me, there's something wrong with our order.



Waiter: What is wrong?



Sam: Well it's just that it tastes like dust.



Waiter: Dust? What?



Sam: Taste it! It's like dust, it's horrible.



Waiter: *sticks his finger in [again] then decides against tasting it* I'll make you another one.



And at this point Sam and I ran away back to Milky Lane...



We went to Ushaka Marine World for the day which has a giant aquarium, dolphin shows, Zulu dancing etc. It was a good day: watching some crayfish have a fight, seeing the most bizarre dolphin show ever which had a random cross-dressing man creeping around in the background, spending a long time in a weird shop that sold novelty phones...the usual. At the end of the day we went to this restaurant which looked really nice but was quite full so they had to squeeze us in a random table at the back. The waitress then bought us a giant wine list made of metal [which should have been a clue] and the menus only for us to discover that if we were to eat there on our budget we would be having a slice of garlic bread and a glass of water between us. Not wanting to face the waitress and confess our mistake, we tried to think of an excuse but ended up grabbing all our things and running out the back door, not stopping until we had completely left Ushaka Marine World and were halfway along the beach. Does it get any classier?



Sam and I were sitting on the balcony outside our room watching the world go by [and by the world, we mean a whole load of dodgy people who were frequenting the 'massage' parlour below]. This one woman was wandering up and down trying to pick people up in their cars and we found it so surreal to be watching this that we started laughing. Unfortunately for us, the woman must have heard and started yelling abuse up at us in broken English, telling us to mind our own business and I'm sure other things that were less polite. We genuinely thought she was going to come up and kill us but eventually she gave up and went away down a backstreet...how stunning.



We went to Victoria Market which is full of shops selling traditional 'African' things and loads of Indian shops selling spices, all brightly coloured and piled up in giant bowls. The first shop we went in was one of the spice shops and before we even set foot in it we were accosted by a tiny Indian woman who turned out to be one of the world's greatest [and most persistent] saleswomen. She was chatting away to us about the spices and how English people usually like such and such and how this one is spicy so you can give it to your mother in law etc and as we started to back away in a bewildered manner picked up a pot of curry powder and started explaining its benefits. When she finished with all its culinary uses, she started on about '...and it's in a tough plastic pot which is useful for transporting it around so it won't break' and at about that time we made our excuses and left before we ended up buying random things out of fear that she would kill us. The next guy we went to, however, also had a brilliant selling technique as when we asked what something was he let us try it, and when we said we wanted three of something he just threw about ten in the bag and didn't let us argue. Gooooood times!



I went to the post office and on the way there was accosted by two young guys who said they wanted to marry me and would play 83 cows for the privilege [which is an ENORMOUS amount]. When I refused that, he said he owned a giant fleet of taxis in Jo'burg and Durban and would build me a beautiful house in St Lucia and I was just starting to think I might go along with it when he asked if I supported Brazil or Portugal. When I said Portugal, then ran off as fast as they could so that was the end of that...







So after a week of fun and games, running out of two restaurants and watching almost every single football game on the giant fan park screen, we were all Durbaned out. Liz came and picked us up and took us back to her home in Hilton and we stayed there for the night :) We spent the night watching Ghana's epic win over the USA and then were introduced to the legendary Glee [which we are now hooked on] before heading off the next day on the long long long drive home.







After seven more hours on the road during which Liz, Sam and I came up with 101 uses for Watchtower magazine [it was a long trip okay?] we arrived back home in the Transkei. Lisa had driven out from Zithulele to meet us part way along the road so we did a car swap and after a traumatic final 20kms [including Lisa successfully rally driving through the mud and Liz informing us that we couldn't actually return to our own house for another two weeks as someone else had moved in] we were finally back home.







So I guess all that remains is a MASSIVE thank you to Sam for driving us all that way and to Liz for letting us come and letting us sleep at her house and also to Lisa for coming to pick us up [and not driving off a cliff in the process ;)]







xxxxx

Farewell Asive

Farewell Asive

Asive

Just thought I'd post about one of our long term inpatients who recently passed away. Asive was a thirteen year old girl who originally came in with severe burns on her leg. There wasn't really anyone to look after her at home and she had some level of intellectual impairment so she ended up staying for a long time. She really became a part of the furniture of the hospital and would wander around everywhere, turning up in the pharmacy, in ARV clinic, wandering through OPD, even in and out of labour ward while women were giving birth. She sometimes followed us on grand rounds and would sit and watch as the doctors gave their presentations. It was interesting to see her develop over her 4-5 months with us [and I didn't even see her very often] – just spending so much time with people made her infinitely better at interacting with people socially and by the end I'd often see her sitting with other patients who would share their food with her and chat to her even though she didn't really chat back, a far stretch from the start when she would try and escape the hospital and walk around screaming at people!







So it was a sad day when we returned from Durban and Jo told us the news that she had died after having an epileptic fit that she never woke up from. Even though I had no real personal experience with Asive [except for one or two occasions when I caught her trying to escape and took her back to the ward] she was still a familiar face around the hospital and it was weird to think that we wouldn't be seeing her around anymore. I guess it’s yet another example of how transient life can be, particularly here in Zithulele.







Rest in peace







X

A Temporary Escape from the Transkei

A Temporary Escape from the Transkei




[June 4/5/6]



So after Mum left, I was left alone in Umtata [scary thought huh?] and watched TV in the B&B for approximately 7 hours, [the low point of which was an episode of Hannah Montana, how can Miley Cyrus actually take herself seriously if she watches that back?] until I was picked up by two members of my other 'family' also known as Sam and Lisa. We were going on an epic road trip to East London so that Lisa could go to a speech therapy course on the Saturday, and as you are well are, Sam and I will go anywhere if good times are involved!



It was a rather wonderful road trip :) In the Transkei tradition, Lisa's car is without a CD player so we had to play car games the whole way there – never has there been so much hilarity over I-Spy, but I think you had to be there to appreciate how funny it was. We also played the game where you have to name ten things in certain categories which provided amusement for about 150kms including these classic lines:



*trying to guess types of currencies* 'Africa money! Canada money! Indian money!

*trying to guess the German currency* 'Hitler! Deutschenschplau! Adolfenschplau?

*trying to name Katy Perry songs* 'That one, you know, it's about opposites.'

*trying to guess something...* 'Was it a man? 'No.' #pause# 'Oh, a woman.'



[As I said, you had to be there.]



Eventually we arrived at Sugarshack [after experiencing the grimness of Buffalo backpackers and the less than welcoming cat lady that ran Niki-Nana's backpackers we decided we'd try something else!] which was actually pretty cool, except for the fact that my bed was about 3mm away from the roof so I had multiple brain traumas by the time the night was up.



We decided to go out to the cinema for some civilised evening entertainment, ending up in Hemingways [no surprises there] which packed with about 1 zillion people who obviously had the same idea. At the entrance to the cinema part of the shopping centre there was a sign [I sadly didn't think to take a picture] that said: 'No trolleys or firearms past this point.' which I found rather interesting...



We watched Killers with Aston Kutcher and Katherine Heigl which was er, not brilliant, but having witnessed the travesty that was Bounty Hunter on our previous Hemingways trip, it was decent enough to watch. [But don't bother buying the DVD.] After that it was back to the Sugarshack where I spent the night listening to the roar of the sea and giving myself brain damage.



The next day Lisa was up early for her course so Sam and I checked out a bit later and waited for our faithful taxi driver friend Charlie to come and pick us up. You may remember that in my previous post about East London in April that I described him as 'a bit crazy'. I'd like to update and correct that analysis of him to 'slightly dangerous and inappropriate'. That's not to say that we didn't enjoy our ride in his taxi, or that it was inefficient or expensive – he was very helpful and charged us an excellent price – it's the added extras that he throws in that were less than desirable. First of all, he phoned me 5 minutes before he was meant to turn up and told me he had forgotten where to pick us up because when we had made the booking he had had a few shots and was drunk. Then he decided he would take us on a tour of all the places in East London where you could find a brothel which was most wonderful [or, NOT] and then proceeded to tell us all of the stories that he had told us on our previous drive with him. But I'll give him his due, he drove us around for about forty minutes and found all the places that we gave him a vague description of and only charged us R100.



Sam and I had decided we would really go wild and do something different in East London and therefore went to, er, Hemingways AGAIN. This time we went to Mugg and Bean for breakfast, earning a grin from the waitress who remembered us from the previous time. We desperately tried to do some actual shopping but had no desire for it and went to the cinema yet again [the fifth film we've seen in that place]. We were actually pretty excited to see Sex and the City 2 because for once it was a film we'd heard of but it was also rather atrocious. As Sam put it, it's about some sad aging women who put on ridiculous clothes and have scandalous conversations...I think we've been in the Transkei too long because all I could think about was how unneccessary it was for them to wear six billion different outfits each day and to wear a full length dress to go riding on a camel etc etc etc....



After the film we met up with Lisa and went food shopping then headed to Cinsta and Buccaneer's backpackers for another night of good times. Cintsa is just outside of East London and the backpackers was pretty empty so we had a whole giant dorm to ourselves. We had a 'traditional Xhosa meal' which turned out to be a mixture of Cape Malay and Afrikaans cuisine then collapsed into bed because we were so tired from our hard day of exertion – because doing nothing is SO hard.

The stunning view over the beach at Buccaneer's, Cinsta

The next day it was completely stunning weather so we wandered down to the beach and made use of the free canoes. We went along the river for a while as the sun rose which was so peaceful and relaxing that I didn't actually want to get back on the road to Zithulele but I guess we had to in the end :)



Thanks Lisa for taking us on an awesome weekend away!



xxxx

Zithulele Family Reunion

It's taken me a while to get around to writing this blog post but here goes. On May 28th I woke up to find that text from Bonga saying she had bumped Zithulele and after a hectic day at work in the aftermath of that, I set off from Umtata with Taryn and the Gauntlets. They were heading towards Durban for so Ben and Taryn could attend a TB conference [TB is somewhat of an issue here...as in, it's EVERYWHERE]. We picked up Ben from Umtata airport, smallest airport in the world, then drove to the backpackers where I was meant to be staying. However, when we got there, they wouldn't open the gate or answer the phone so I was in a bit of trouble as Mthatha doesn't really have another option, mainly because no one in their right mind would actually stay there except out of necessity! [Turns out the entire city had a power cut so nothing was working...]



In the end, Ben and Taryn took me with them to their friends house where they were staying and I had a lovely evening with the Gaunts, Barry, Louise and their kids. It was properly nice of them to let a complete random stay with them, especially as the next morning they let me stay even after the Gaunts had left for Durban and then drove me to the airport! I'm so grateful to them and am not exactly sure what I would have done otherwise [except walk there...].



Anyway, the point is that I was going to meet Mum who was coming to visit me and see my life here in Zithulele :) After our initial reunion [it's the longest time we've been separated since, er, my birth] we went out into the big wide world that is the Umtata, managing to successfully navigate the lack of traffic lights and general randomness of the city. Then we were on our way to Coffee Bay and Mum got a taste of the Transkei when navigating the pothole ridden strip of tar that serves as a road here. [Just as a measure of how bad it is, they are now carting in tonnes of earth to turn the tar road BACK into a dirt road in certain places. You have got to love progress.] Eventually we arrived in the metropolis that is Coffee Bay and checked into Coffee Shack. After introducing Mum to the resident bead sellers and drug dealers we went for sundowners on the hill then to Papazela's so she could taste the legendary pizza that I am always going on about...

Mum comes to the Transkei

Sunday was spent in the beautiful/a tad run down area around Coffee Shack. We had a walk along the beach in the morning sun and sat on the sand then spent some time chilling in the Shack with the legendary Joe and Silas. We went for dinner at White Clay which proved to be rather stressful as there was extreme doubt as too the capability of our miniscule rented Hyundai of getting up the vertical hill that the restaurant sits at the bottom of!



On Monday we braved the never ending steepness and potholes on the road that leads you to the best place in South Africa [aka Zithulele] so Mum could be the first [and only] person from hope to truly appreciate what it is like here and what I'm actually spending all my time doing. [Contrary to popular belief, I don't just eat, sleep and go to the beach!] After a long and tiring journey which I think is summed up by Mum's comment 'I feel like I'm driving in a Playstation game!' we arrived. It was weird to come back here with Mum, I felt like I was seeing everything for the first time again. I'd forgotten how bizarre it is that people come to hospital on their horse and tie it up outside the gate and how people in the UK don't rountinely carry their posessions on their head...



We had a brief tour of our house and I introduced Mum to Sam and all the other people who make up my everyday life here. I showed her the hospital and the pharmacy which has really become my entire world over the last 6 months before going for coffee with Sally :) It was great to finally have someone from home realise what a different world it is in Zithulele; there's definitely something about this place that you can't grasp unless you are actually here.



On Tuesday we went on a hike to Hole in the Wall - the reverse of the famous walk that Sam and I never completed due to our unfortunate detour onto a cliff face. It was an absolutely stunning day and despite most of the hike being conducted on precarious cliff ledges [OH, the flashbacks were bad] it was an enjoyable day – we even saw some dolphins swimming off the coast. When we arrived at the Hole we had a toastie and a swim in the sea, a perfect end to the day.

The cliff! (from afar)

On Wednesday we went back to Zithulele to pick up Sam so she could share in the good times that take place in the Coffee Shack. When we got back, Jo, one of the staff who had rather taken to Mum and I and kept coming over and sitting with us, said everyone was going for sundowners at 'the most beautiful place in Coffee Bay'. However, there were too many people for that so we went to another place which was apparently better...something tells me he makes it up as he goes along. Anyway, it was a bit of an epic fail as far as sundowners are concerned. You see, the point of sundowners is to have a nice drink and watch the sun go down. We, however, were sitting on a cliff ledge on the opposite side of the hill to where the sun was setting, so not only did we miss the sunset, but we faced imminent death while we did. But I guess it's part of the Coffee Bay experience and afterwards we had a lovely meal together and spent the night chatting to various people who were staying in the backpackers.



On Thursday we took a rather tired out Sammy back to Zithulele and started the long road trip back to Umtata, and it seemed Mum's visit had lasted a grand total of about 5 seconds. There was so many more parts of my life in Zithulele that I had wanted us to see but I guess there's never enough time :( We checked into our hotel then went to the Country Club for a slightly more sophisticated dinner than those at Coffee Shack. On the way home we had extra good times at the petrol station: it was deserted so all the attendants were fighting over who got to serve us, so at one point there were nine guys all washing the car with watering cans and then drying it with toilet roll, all of them scrambling over who actually got to put the petrol in. We only had a single note to give them as a tip so chucked it out the window in the hurry and watched them all jump on the guy who received it and try to share out the one note in a somewhat aggressive manner...you can't help but love the Transkei!



And that was it! It was brilliant to have Mum and visit and finally share what I've been experiencing here for the last 6 months with someone else. Better prepare yourself for all the stories when I get home in, would you belive it, 38 days!



Xxxxxx

Why I Love Zithulele: Reason #38347

I love that I can be working in the pharmacy one minute, then walk down to the lab to get results, and on the way back end up playing with some local kids and then continue on with my day as usual. Being allowed to come and go as you please is definitely a major plus of being a volunteer :) And it's random things like that which I'll miss the most x

Youth Day [or some random public holiday]

The 16th of June was yet another public holiday [good times all round] so we had Wednesday off, yay! Sadly, Sam and I had to work as we were taking the next week off so we both headed into the pharmacy to get everything done as soon as possible. Even though the hospital was technically closed like at the weekends, there seemed to be a never ending array of patients and I ended up not helping Sam and at all as I spent my whole morning running the pharmacy like a normal day.


Sam and I went down to see Liz and Angela [a doctor who regularly makes the epic road trip to Zithulele to escape life in {Sc}Umtata] had come down for the day so we had an entertaining afternoon relaxing at home :) The highlight was probably a very serious game of Pass The Pigs, the basic principle of which is that you throw tiny plastic pigs in the air and get points depending on how they land. As you can tell, it requires an extreme level of skill and brain power so was perfect for the high level of intellect of the players....Either way, it got rather heated when the crucial final point appeared to be a 'Making Bacon' [or some other cheesy name for the way the pigs landed that meant you lost all your points] which resulted in Liz lying on the ground to examine the exact position of a tiny plastic pig...

<>

Liz judging the final point

Aaaanyway, then we watched Life is Beautiful, a film about the Holocaust which actually manages to be quite cheery (except at the end). A group of people from a church in Cape Town had come up to Zithulele on some kind of mission trip so we had a giant congregation of people at cell group and crowded out the entire living room at the Gaunts. However, we had to stick to a strict time schedule in order to go and watch the football [so the World Cup is having an impact in more ways than one!]. Sam and I went up to watch England's opening game in OPD but it wasn't as exciting as the Bafana game without everyone going so crazy for it. Plus, we didn't play so well so it was not promising for the rest of the tournament!



And that was the end of Youth Day and yet another highly exciting blog post [not:)]



xxxx