Thar She Blows!

Hello folks,

Oh what a day. This morning, while the Telecom guy was here to install our internet (hooray! however, we won’t be totally up and running for at least a couple more days), the wind blew one of our balcony doors open (which were locked, by the way) and shattered the glass in one of the four doors. At the time, I was downstairs letting the guy out to check the box. At the sound of broken glass, I went upstairs to discover it!

The wind has been very, very strong since last night. I was loving it since we finally had a nice, cool evening, but obviously this is the downside. I have to say, our landlord was amazing about it—it’s already repaired. Phew. I couldn’t figure out what actually broke the glass, but the repair guy said very likely it was just a direct result of the wind. Geez.

Otherwise, it’s been an uneventful week. Studying, catching up on laundry, etc.

 I finally started that dreaded history paper and have a decent chunk complete. To prep, I read some of our professor’s (Howard Phillips) book UCT: The Formative Years. It was actually a really interesting read, especially as a student. When UCT first started training doctors, they were only able to provide the first year of medical school and then students would travel overseas to complete their studies. In 1920, they were able to offer the full program for the first time. It was soon evident that class rooms and clinical space were too limited for the amount of students training, so in the late ‘20s, they moved to a new Health Sciences campus in Observatory, which is where I take classes now! They also built Groote Schuur Hospital specially to be a University hospital, which I didn’t know. It was finished in 1938. I had thought the hospital was older than that.

Something else really interesting (and horrifying) was that originally Indian and Colored (people of mixed race) medical students were forced to complete clinical trainings abroad, as they were not to work in white wards. No one in the faculty really spoke up about it, because it was thought breaking that rule would place the medical program in jeopardy. Because of WWII, in 1943 Indian and Colored students were allowed to do clinical in Groote Schuur, but they weren’t allowed to see White patients—even if they were deceased! Seriously?! Seriously. And even that policy was thought of as liberal! His book says the policy continued until the 1960s, but I’m not sure what changes were put in place then.

Another interesting thing we learned in class was how the outbreak of the bubonic plague at the beginning of the twentieth century followed by the flu outbreak of 1918 (which was devastating…dead bodies in the streets, etc.) led to some of the first racially segregated living. The plague was blamed on dock workers (of color) for bringing it in with their cargo and they were driven out of Cape Town. A similar thing happened in 1918, especially because more and more Black residents were arriving.

I should totally get an A in this class, right? J

I’m working on some Epidemiology right now, since I had to miss class today for the repairs (thankfully this professor had made it very clear that it’s okay to miss class if we need to). Hopefully I’ll be posting this in an hour or so since my plan is to head to Sidewalk Café for dinner and internet! (actually, Sidewalk's internet cut out while I was there, probably due to the wind? So I'm posting this a day late, from another Vredehoek cafe with free internet that I recently discovered).

I’ve been spending so much time alone, it’s strange. Definitely missing my friends and family back home. <3

The Life!

Things are looking even more up since last I wrote!

Firstly, Thomas is home! He is in the other room doing his ironing as I type this. I get a weird joy out of doing normal things with him. Cooking and eating dinner, watching TV, being here when he gets home (or vice versa) is a beautiful kind of normal that we've never had before. Yesterday we went shopping and got some much needed things for our kitchen. Today's task is trying to figure out space for our (ahem, his) clothing. A pretty lazy Sunday before I begin Biostatistics tomorrow!

Last week was a good one at school. Monday began the block of Public Health and Society. This was a course I wasn't too interested in taking initially, but it's required, and I'm glad that it is! The three days we had were taught by health historian, so we studied definitions of public health from different time periods and also important health documents from South Africa. It really helped to contextualized where we are coming from and where we are going. Our first assignment is to do a comparison of different syllabuses of different time periods for public health at UCT. Hmm should be interesting!

On Wednesday, I went out to lunch with a few people from class: Kim and Whitney from the States, Yas from Swaziland (now a South African permanent resident through marriage), Federico from Colombia, and Bob from Swaziland. They're some of my favorite people I've met so far, so it was nice to spend more time with them. We also had a delicious lunch at a health food place. I had the most amazing mushroom and potato pie and fruit smoothie.

I also broke down Wednesday and finally started an antibiotic for my sickness. It seems to have done the trick, I'm feeling better everyday!

As I mentioned before, I was without internet for a week, but I should be more available in the coming week. Thomas and I are also talking about getting a different type of internet so that I will have it at home all of the time. Hopefully coming soon!

My days off (Thursday and Friday) were eaten by necessary repairs to our apartment. However, I now have a working front gate and no hole in the bedroom ceiling! It also gave me a chance to read. I just finished A Widow For One Year by John Irving, which Jennifer recommended to me. A wonderful book, I highly recommend it if you're looking for some well told fiction! I did also attempt to open my bank account on Friday, but they weren't happy with my proof of address. Hopefully I'll have it sorted out by the end of this week.

Excited for the coming week: intrigued to see what biostat is like (I'm thinking I will enjoy it, but eight hours a day for three days might be a bit much), and then Thomas, his sister Louise, and I are going to see Imogen Heap on Saturday! Absolutely cannot wait. Her music has been a part of our relationship for a long time (we bought and listened to her first solo album together in 2007) and I love her music. Check it out.

Time to get back to organizing. Hope to hear from y'all soon. Love!

January 23, 2011

Hi folks!

Unfortunately, I have been without internet for a week now! I wrote this last week but am only able to post now. Enjoy!

I have made it through my first week of block classes and am preparing for my second tomorrow. I am still surviving off of Sudafed, though on the whole I am feeling largely better besides a pesky cough that crops up here and there. 

Once I was feeling better, I immensely enjoyed my Gender and Health course! We had several guest lecturers which helped the long days go by more quickly. For a few years now, I have been on the 60percent listserv, which is based out of UCT and provides information about women and HIV (the name comes from the disproportionate ratio of women who have HIV vs men). Some of the guest lecturers were names I have seen before on that listserv that I am now finally meeting in person!  I also received a lecture on rape in South Africa by a woman whose book I own. Very exciting!

I am hoping to possibly intern with one of the organizations that provided guest lecturers. One is the Ivan Toms (health4men.co.za) health clinic, which works predominantly with men who have sex with men (MSM) and the other is Sonke Gender Justice, which is a larger organization working mostly changing the attitudes and understandings of men to achieve gender equality. I’ve really been on a kick lately for working with men and masculinities, so I’m thrilled there might be some opportunities with these organizations.

I have also been trying to make friends with my classmates. The Americans are nice, but I am also getting to know some of the South African (and other international students) as well. No bosom friends yet, but these things take time.

Getting home from school continues to be interesting. I have three different options, all of which are fine for now. The difficulty will be determining which is safest once the days are longer and I finish class when it is dark.

This weekend I had a visit from Thomas’ dad, Walter, as he was kind enough to drive Thomas’ car down after it was serviced in Durban. Overall, we had a good time. Last night we went out with some of his friends from the UK and we got home later than I normally would—those party animals! Today we went up to Signal Hill (which I am currently looking at out my window) to take some pictures of the City Bowl and harbor and then went to his Godfather’s son’s, Hans, home for tea. He and his wife Julia had a beautiful home. It was just stunning!

Tomorrow, Thomas will be home for a couple of hours before leaving for another job (fingers crossed that he will be able to pick me up from class so we can have a few minutes together!). However, I will have him home for about a week starting on Saturday. Monday-Wednesday I will have block class days of my next course, Public Health and Society, which is a compulsory course. My biggest goal for Thursday is to open a local bank account and then I will begin applying for jobs.

Home is beginning to feel further away. I can’t say that I’m sad here, but I am missing you all!

Welcome, new readers?

I have noticed a spike in readership in the last few days. I assumed it was due to my beginning school and perhaps folks were checking in for updates. However, I had the pleasant surprise today of seeing a shout out in the SJ NOW newsletter, The Equal Write, explaining my absence from the chapter due to studying at UCT. It included the URL to this blog, so I'm realizing that might explain more page views. If you found my blog through the newsletter, welcome! I will try to be more mindful that some folks who are reading may not know the ins and outs of personal life, so I'll try to explain as I go.

As a disclaimer (which I should have really made in my first post), everything in this blog is simply my humble opinion. I obviously can only have so much understanding of South African culture as an outsider. If anyone has opinions or experiences that contradict my own, please feel free to use the comments section!

Brief thoughts from today:
School
-Eight hours is a LONG time to be a student in a grad course.
-Eight hours is also a long time to teach a grad course. Our professor let us out a little early and gave us three or four breaks, including lunch. Hooray!
-I love being in class with folks from all over. However, it is a little strange to have so many Americans in such a small class in South Africa. There are four of us in a class of about fifteen. Could it have to do with the subject matter (Gender and Health)? I've noticed that many of the Americans, like myself, have a strong interest in HIV and maternal health.

Transportation
-Getting home after 3:30 is a struggle! The public bus is almost taxi like in that it does not keep to the schedule. Today the 4:10 bus arrived at 3:40, which meant I ran after it for a few seconds before accepting I had simply missed it. Yes, it was the last bus.
-Busy areas, like hospitals, have a lot of taxis going by. Phew!
-Taking a taxi alone from and to a new place for the first time can be nerve wracking...but just pretend you understand exactly what you're doing.
-I haven't tested this yet, but another way the city bus is a bit like a taxi is that you can get on and off at places that aren't necessarily stops, but are along the bus route. I was told by some nice women at the hospital that although there weren't any more buses coming up to the hospital stop, that I would be able to catch one by waiting on the main road. May test that idea out tomorrow.

Health
-Apparently there is a way I can see a doctor through UCT as a student, though I haven't gotten any straight/easy answers about that yet. My head and ear were pounding this morning, so if this doesn't clear up by the weekend, I'll be trying to make an appointment.
-Although many medicines here seem to have different names than back home, Sudafed does exist here and it IS a God(ess) send!
-Be resourceful. If you scrape your knee on the way into a taxi, take a band aid from somewhere else on your body and use it on your knee to stop the bleeding. Okay, actually, that is probably a terrible idea, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! (fun fact: in Durban, folks called band aids "plasters." Remains to be seen what they are called in Cape Town)

Til next time....

Too School for Cool

Hello friends!

I've just completed my second day of orientation, and overall I am very pleased!

I managed to register on my first day (which is quite the success after the hoops I jumped through at UKZN). It was a little tricky. Once my form was filled out, I discovered I need to register as an international student first. With the help of another international from California, Eliana, I was able to hop on the shuttle to another campus, get to the office, do what I needed (special thanks to the awesome desk worker who let me print off her computer despite the rules), and get back to the health sciences campus before long. There was still a problem with registering which made me a little late to part two of registration, but it's all sorted now.

The way the MPH program works is that each course begins with three block days, each from 8:30 to 4. Sounds awful, right? The trade off is that for the rest of the semester you only go to each course for two hours every two weeks. I go back and forth between how I feel about this, but I think it might work well, especially when I find a job.

I'm registered for four courses this semester (although they make you register for the first and second semesters at the beginning of the year): Public Health and Society (required), Intro to Epidemiology (required), Biostatistics 1 (may be required depending on my track), and Gender and Health (elective). I start my three day block for Gender and Health tomorrow, with some misgivings since it is being taught by a professor with a psych background, not a sociology background...we'll see how that goes.

As of now, I am registered in the "General" track for the MPH. There are five: General, Epidemiology, Health Economics, Clinical, and Health Systems. The Health Systems track is brand new, and actually was not available while I was applying. I am considering switching to that track, but decided to put off that decision until the end of the semester. Any thoughts from other MPHers out there? Biostatistics is not required in the Health Systems track, but I decided I definitely wanted to take it either way. Plus, I want to get a little taste of everything my first semester so that I can figure what I gravitate towards and am skilled in. I loved my intro to stat course I took over the summer, so maybe I'll love Biostat, too. Or figure out that I hate it. :) But either way, it's a skill I'd like to have.

Orientation has given me a chance to meet a variety of people. I've been trying to be friendly and introduce myself while also branching out and sitting with different folks once I've become friendly with others. I love being in this program, because we all have similar interests, yet enough variety to keep things interesting. There are a lot of doctors, but also plenty of folks like me without other medical degrees.

I've been trying to step out of my bubble and not gravitate towards Americans, but I have become friends (if you can call it that after two days) with two: Eliana (see above) and Phumelele. Eliana and I are too similar to not talk to each other--we both have backgrounds in reproductive health care and she did a "honors year" in gender studies at the African Gender Institute here at UCT last year (a program I was looking at for a while). Since she's been living here for a year, she has some good information, though she is also a bit tied up in her work, it seems. Phumelele is interesting because although she has a South African name (her mom is Zulu), she has an American accent since she mostly grew up in Pennsylvania and is a duel citizen. She is very outgoing and also has been living here a few months longer than me, working on campus.

I have been successful in meeting folks from South Africa as well,
including Malrich (not sure if that's spelling right) who was kind enough to drive me home last night since they provided us with a dinner in the evening, too late for me to take transportation besides a cab. I have also chatted with classmates from Germany and Colombia, and have classmates from the UK, Canada, Zambia, Namibia, DRC, Zimbabwe, and still more places!

Perhaps I should knock on wood, but taking transportation has been working out quite well. I take a taxi (basically a minibus taken as a group that follows a semi-set route) into town, which is super easy and cheap. Then I get on a city bus, which drops me off at Groote Schuur Hospital. From there, it is about a ten minute walk to the Health Sciences campus, which is where all of my classes are. Driving would probably be shorter, but at least I don't have to deal with the EXTREMELY limited parking at UCT! It's been a long time since I've lived in a new place, so it's funny to remember what that's like--learning to sit on the right side of the bus in the morning to be out of the sun, where your stops are, that sort of thing.

I had a very productive day between orientation, shopping, and having our landlord come by to see about fixing a couple of things. I bought some food, but I'm thinking I may need a pan for the oven (or at least some tin foil) to cook what I'd like. So I'll either save it for tomorrow, or treat myself to some pasta. As I said, tomorrow is the first day of classes, so I'll probably just do some leisure reading tonight before the homework starts up!

Hope all is well on that side! Until next time...

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my first day of orientation for the MPH program. I am a little nervous, though mostly curious and excited. Also, since it is an eleven hour day (not including transportation!) I am hoping it will hold my interest.

Jennifer left this afternoon, so it has been very quiet around here. I felt a little teary once she had gone, but it's almost impossible to feel sad when you look up and see the mountain. Natalie, our fabulous hair stylist in Vredehoek, told us today she really believes that the mountain gives everyone here a positive energy. I'm thinking she's right. It's a privilege to be here, and as I said to Thomas earlier, moving here may be the best decision I've ever made.

I was feeling pretty under the weather today, but I'm hoping allergies are to blame, not a sinus or ear infection. I suppose the benefit of being in the public health department is that I can get the scoop on the easiest/best way to see a doctor if needed!

Keep your fingers crossed that I get the courses I want tomorrow at registration. I'll try to update again soon!

Visa, check. One week til take off!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog. I'll be updating here for the next two years while attending the University of Cape Town (UCT) and completing a Masters in Public Health (MPH).

The primary purpose of this blog is to keep in touch with friends and family back in the States. I will, thankfully, be living with one of my best friends and partner, Thomas, after spending three years in different countries. This is both of our first times living in Cape Town, so he'll be the only person I know there when I move. I'll certainly be missing you all!

If you followed my blog from when I was living in Durban and attending the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) for four months in 2007  ( you can read it here), you might remember that my posts came rather irregularly. I am following the lead of my friend Ashley whom did weekly updates while completing her Masters in England. Once I decide on a good weekly time in my new routine, I'll let y'all know when to expect posts. I should have fairly reliable internet to keep up.

The name of my blog came originally from reading one of my favorite quotes (from Rubyfruit Jungle), but it's coming to have a little more meaning for me. Sometimes I feel a little bit like a cliche--young American woman wanting to change the world, heading abroad to learn about HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa (HIV/AIDS won't necessarily be my focus, though I certainly have a strong interest in it). However, I like to think that this decision is being made for many good reasons and that I have my head on straight going into it. If I have time, I'll write another post this week about the "why" of going to UCT.

The list below my blog title (top of the page) summarizes what I plan on addressing on here. Admittedly, many of my posts might be quite mundane, just catching up. I hope to also reflect on what I learn about public health, the challenges of finding employment and a niche in the feminist scene, and of course my stumbling through South African culture. :) For Thomas' sake, I won't delve too deeply into our relationship on here, although I think addressing the joys and challenges of going from open long distance to living together is certainly an important piece of the next two years.

I'd like to have a bit of fun with this blog, so enjoy! To your right you can visit my virtual pet fish and below them is a little survey--answer it, why not! Comments are welcome on all posts. Anonymous comments are fine, but please put your first name at the end (if you're comfortable) so that I can think of you and respond!

My visa and passport finally returned home to me today, so it looks like after three years of thinking about it and eight months of intensely preparing for it, this is really happening. Here we go!