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