Well there are officially 22 days until UCONN Nursing Students return onto American land! I think I speak for the majority of us when I say how we are anxious to get home, see all of our family and friends and get back to the swing of our American lives. But it is without a doubt going to be bittersweet; I have developed a comfort level and sense of attachment to Cape Town. It does feel like home in its own way. I will be just as sad to leave to go back to America as I was when I left Storrs Hall for South Africa three months ago.

 

If I were to point out a few of the many highlights of my Cape Town experience thus far, they would be:

 

1. Rhodes Memorial, which sits to the right adjacent to the University of Cape Town, is a close-by scenic spot that is within walking distance. The memorial itself is beautiful, but the view fit overlooks is spectacular. It overlooks the entire side of the mountain that Rondebosch lies in. There is a café up there that is a nice place to grab lunch with friends after a long day of class learning about the stages of labor and so forth. Lol. 
2. Cable car to the top of Table Mountain. Amazing view, and a great time to go is 3-4p so you can grab a snack in the sky café and catch the sunset around 7 (at least at the beginning of the semester when the sun was setting earlier)
3. Chapman’s Peak for a sunset. I have been here once and the view is out of this world. This particular spot is high enough and central enough where you can see the sun setting, reflecting off the water like nothing you ever seen before. The colors change minute to minute from orange, to red, light purple, deep purple….a breathtaking and humbling experience. There is grass to have a picnic which I hope to do before returning home.
4. Nightlife is very big in Cape Town and is a great way to meet people; tourists, exchange students, locals, etc. Long Street is a where some of us started out. Then as we met locals we worked our way to Camps Bay, a more up-scale part of the city, and endless other venues around the city and in the suburbs. Night life can be whatever you want it to be; a night of dancing, parties, a relaxing dinner overlooking Table Mountain, or the beach, watching live bands perform, early nights (sundowner events), late night etc. etc. Just make sure you use a reputable, taxi service to have a safe ride home: Excite Taxis and Elite taxis and Cabs on Call have been out main drivers.
5. Half of the most memorable times I have had here in Cape Town were results of friendships formed with local Cape Townians. They not only inform you of the absolutely must-see tourist spots, but help integrate you into the culture and make you feel especially at home. It is these friendships we have made that really make Cape Town a part of your heart. Do not be afraid to chat, smile and be open to meeting all different types of people! They are as interested to hear about your life as an American as you are to hear about their culture!
6. Being a nursing student in Cape Town is such a unique experience. To be a part of the health care system, at both private hospitals and public clinics, is such a privilege. As a tourist, it gives you a special advantage to learn about the people of South Africa in a distinctive and fundamental aspect of their lives. The nurses and healthcare workers are so pleasant, animated!, and caring. They are enthusiastic about taking the “American nursing students” under their wings. They are so grateful for our help, which is a win-win deal because it is rewarding to come home from every clinical feeling like you’ve learned a lot AND helped reduce the nurses’ workload significantly. Not much time for “busy work:” here, which adds to the list of reasons why it’s great to be a nursing student in Cape Town!
7. ATVing (4 wheeling) in the Drakensberg Mountains on Excursion!!!! We went at 6 in the morning and it was awesome seeing the mountains at dawn. Totally worth sacrificing a morning to sleep in. J

Well there are officially 22 days until UCONN Nursing Students return onto American land! I think I speak for the majority of us when I say how we are anxious to get home, see all of our family and friends and get back to the swing of our American lives. But it is without a doubt going to be bittersweet; I have developed a comfort level and sense of attachment to Cape Town. It does feel like home in its own way. I will be just as sad to leave to go back to America as I was when I left Storrs Hall for South Africa three months ago.

If I were to point out a few of the many highlights of my Cape Town experience thus far, they would be:

1. Rhodes Memorial, which sits to the right adjacent to the University of Cape Town, is a close-by scenic spot that is within walking distance. The memorial itself is beautiful, but the view it overlooks is spectacular. It overlooks the entire side of the mountain that Rondebosch lies in. There is a café up there that is a nice place to grab lunch with friends after a long day of class learning about the stages of labor and so forth. Lol.

2. Cable car to the top of Table Mountain. Amazing view, and a great time to go is 3-4p so you can grab a snack in the sky café and catch the sunset around 7 (at least at the beginning of the semester when the sun was setting earlier)

3. Chapman’s Peak for a sunset. I have been here once and the view is out of this world. This particular spot is high enough and central enough where you can see the sun setting, reflecting off the water like nothing you have ever seen before. The colors change minute to minute from orange, to red, light purple, deep purple….a breathtaking and humbling experience. There is grass to have a picnic which I hope to do before returning home.

4. Nightlife is very big in Cape Town and is a great way to meet people; tourists, exchange students, locals, etc. Long Street is a where some of us started out. Then as we met locals we worked our way to Camps Bay, a more up-scale part of the city, and endless other venues around the city and in the suburbs. Night life can be whatever you want it to be; a night of dancing, parties, a relaxing dinner overlooking Table Mountain, or the beach, watching live bands perform, early nights (sundowner events), late night etc. etc. Just make sure you use a reputable, taxi service to have a safe ride home: Excite Taxis and Elite taxis and Cabs on Call have been out main drivers.

5. Half of the most memorable times I have had here in Cape Town were results of friendships formed with local Cape Townians. They not only inform you of the absolutely must-see tourist spots, but help integrate you into the culture and make you feel especially at home. It is these friendships we have made that really make Cape Town a part of your heart. Do not be afraid to chat, smile and be open to meeting all different types of people! They are as interested to hear about your life as an American as you are to hear about their culture!

6. Being a nursing student in Cape Town is such a unique experience. To be a part of the health care system, at both private hospitals and public clinics, is such a privilege. As a tourist, it gives you a special advantage to learn about the people of South Africa in a distinctive and fundamental aspect of their lives. The nurses and healthcare workers are so pleasant, animated!, and caring. They are enthusiastic about taking the “American nursing students” under their wings. They are so grateful for our help, which is a win-win deal because it is rewarding to come home from every clinical feeling like you’ve learned a lot AND helped reduce the nurses’ workload significantly. Not much time for “busy work” here, which adds to the list of reasons why it is great to be a nursing student in Cape Town!

7. ATVing (4 wheeling) in the Drakensberg Mountains on Excursion!!!! We went at 6 in the morning and it was awesome seeing the mountains at dawn. Totally worth sacrificing a morning to sleep in. 

This past weekend was quite an adventurous one.  Our first site visit while on the Garden Route was the Cango Caves.  Upon entering the caves, (before the real tour began) our guide mentioned that there might be spider, bats, and scorpions within the cave.  It was all fun and games until she mentioned that.  My excitement quickly turned to worry and fear but as we’ve been saying all along, “We’re only in Africa once”.  After making it through the easier part of the caves came the ladders, the “Tunnel of Love” (named that since it hugs and squeezes you from all directions), , the Devils’ Chimney (which I swore on everything I loved I would not make it through), the ‘Coffin’, and the Post Box (which many of us had to slide down face first).  I will admit if it was for Carrie-Ellen motivating me that I could do it I truly think I would have hung out with the other girls who chose to sit out the harder caves areas.  It was not so much the fear of the tunnels but the fear that since we were literally squeezing our way through areas that there was a possibility of a spider or scorpion falling on to me.  As Carolynn Z Said, “If a bat would have came flying out I would have had to be removed from the caves in a straight jacket and a serious sedative”.  I could not agree with her more.  However, we made it out in one piece with no surprises from our creature friends and it was an amazing experience and I have many beautiful pictures to show for it.  The day after, we decided to do a little bit of animal pediatrics (Clinical hours anyone?).  We visited the Knysna Elephant Park and were able to feed and hang out with a few elephants in an open field.  The last time I can even remember even having any associations with elephants was when I was about seven at a Circus going for a ride.  It was so nice to ‘mingle’ with elephants that weren’t tied up and were so used to being surrounded by people.  The elephants walked right by us and hung around with absolute comfort.  It was the first time I have ever fed an elephant and it was quite an interesting experience.  I was not quite sure whether it was a scary or weird experience having about 4-5 elephant trunks charging at you hoping to get some snacks.  We also visited Snake World.  I’m not too fond of snakes but I was willing to be open-minded that day.  To start off, our tour guide jump in a pit with about 30 snakes in it which made me cringe at the thought.  Then we learned a little about a variety of snakes and were able to hold non-venomous snakes for a few fun pictures.  At the end, they brought out the ‘big boys’.   The tour guides brought out an albino python and a boa constrictor.  Most of the other girls had already held some snakes which were smaller so leave it to me to finally build up courage to hold snakes when they bring out the bigger ones.  Kristen suggested that maybe we should hold one together hoping that would help ease our minds.  Not much to my surprise, we were still as scared as we were before the team work efforts.  As were trying to smile and laugh things off (it was either that or cry) the snake decided to slither on.  Here’s the catch.  Upon doing so the tail became wrapped around my neck further increasing my fear.  Luckily Dr. Engler has it all on film, so maybe after a few years I can look at it and laugh rather than panic.  Overall, this weekend was a much needed ‘holiday’.  Now I can say that I have official mingled with elephants, flew face first out of a Post Box, climbed up a devil’s chimney, laid in a very hard coffin, and even got Dr. Engler to hold the a snake !       

Well there are officially 22 days until UCONN Nursing Students return onto American land! I think I speak for the majority of us when I say how we are anxious to get home, see all of our family and friends and get back to the swing of our American lives. But it without a doubt going to be bittersweet and I know I have developed a comfort level and sense of attachment to Cape Town. It does feel like home in it’s own way, and I will be just as sad to leave to go back to America as I was when I left Storrs Hall for South Africa three months ago.

If I were to point out a few of the many highlights of my Cape Town experience thus far, they would be:

1. Rhodes Memorial, which sits to the right adjacent to the University of Cape Town, is a close-by scenic spot that is within walking distance. The memorial itself is beautiful, but the view fit overlooks is spectacular. It overlooks the entire side of the mountain that Rondebosch lies in. The café is a nice place to grab lunch with friends after a long day of class learning about the stages of labor and so forth. Lol.
2. Cable car to the top of Table Mountain. Amazing view, and a great time to go is 3-4p so you can grab a snack in the sky café and catch the sunset around 7 (at least at the beginning of the semester when the sun was setting earlier)
3. Chapman’s Peak for a sunset. I have been here once and the view is out of this world. This particular spot is high enough and central enough where you can see the sun setting, reflecting off the water like nothing you ever seen before. The colors change minute to minute from orange, to red, light purple, deep purple….a breathtaking and humbling experience. There is grass to have a picnic which I hope to do before returning home.
4. Nightlife is very big in Cape Town and is a great way to meet people; tourists, exchange students, locals, etc. Long Street is a good place to start out, then as we met locals we worked our way to Camps Bay, a more up-scale part of the city, and endless other venues around the city and in the suburbs. Night life can be whatever you want it to be; a night of dancing, parties, a relaxing dinner overlooking Table Mountain, or the beach, watching live bands perform, early nights (sundowner events), late night etc. etc. Just make sure you use a reputable, taxi service to have a safe ride home: Excite Taxis and Elite taxis and Cabs on Call have been out main drivers.
5. Half of the most memorable times I have had here in Cape Town were results of friendships formed with local Cape Townians. They not only inform you of the absolutely must-see tourist spots, but help integrate you into the culture and make you feel especially at home,. It’s these friendships we’ve made that really make Cape Town a part of your heart. Don’t be afraid to chat, smile and be open to meeting all different types of people! They are as interested to hear about your life as an American as you are to hear about their culture!
6. Being a nursing student in Cape Town is such unique experience. To be a part of the health care system, at both private hospitals and public clinics, is such a privilege! The nurses and healthcare workers are so friendly and enthusiastic about taking the “American nursing students” under their wings. They are so grateful for our help, which is a win-win deal because it is great to come home from every clinical feeling like you’ve learned a lot AND helped lighten the nurses’ workload significantly. Not much time for “busy work:” here, which adds to the list of reasons why it’s great to be a nursing student in Cape Town!
7. ATVing (4 wheeling) in the Drakensberg Mountains on Excursion!!!! We went at 6 in the morning and it was awesome seeing the mountains at dawn. Totally worth sacrificing a morning to sleep in. 

This weekend was a lot of fun! We left on Friday morning at 6am for the mid-coastal area of South Africa. We drove seven hours and arrived at the Cango Caves just after lunch time. We did an adventure tour of the caves which was incredible. The tour took about two hours and it consisted of climbing through tiny passageways and tunnels in a large cave system. The picture with feet showing here is showing one of the holes that we had to climb up to get to another opening. It was tiny and my first impression was that there was no way that I could fit in it, let alone actually attempt to climb up it. But with a little pushing and pulling with my arms and legs, I made it up! In the other cave picture I am about to slide through a narrow opening to get out of a tunnel. The entire experience was a great adventure!

On Saturday morning we went to the Knysna Elephant Park. We went and fed elephants that were in the reserve. They are free-roaming elephants and it was really neat to be right there next to them while they were free to run anywhere (the food was definitely keeping them there!). I think they said that they were all orphans and they are obviously used to people visiting them everyday and that’s why they are so tame. I must admit that I was a little nervous when they would start to get excited and move quickly. I kept hoping that I wouldn’t get trampled. I felt really small next to them!

After the elephants, I went to Monkeyland. It is a forested area of 12 hectacres that has a fence around it to keep the monkeys in and safe from predators. There were 8 species of monkeys in there and we ended up seeing 7 of the species which was pretty neat. We also walked across the longest suspension bridge in the southern hemisphere (it is in the park apparently). The monkeys were fun to watch and definitely entertaining. Our guide warned us at the beginning to hide anything that could be snatched away (i.e. cameras) or hold onto it really tight. He also made me laugh when in a serious voice he announced that if we learn one thing, it should be that monkeys cannot be trusted.

After the monkeys we went to Birds of Eden. This was a similar set up with a forest that was literally netted in. It was really weird to see a huge green net that was draped between poles in a huge area of forest. The birds were beautiful and I even had a friend parrot who decided that my shoulder was a nice place to rest and my hair was tasty. Once we toured the bird sanctuary we headed to a snake farm. My favorite thing at this place was the bunny pen which was filled with many baby bunnies. My least favorite part of this place was realizing what those bunnies are for. I ended up holding a large python and at the beginning of the event it was fine. But then he decided that he wanted to do something weird with his head and I started to freak out that he was going to bite or kill me… a little extreme thinking.. but when you have a large python wrapped around your neck it’s hard to say what you imagine.

On Sunday we headed home and stopped by Cape Agulhas which is the Southern-most tip of the African Continent. It was pretty amazing to be there and think about that.

-Carrie-Ellen

Dear Friends in South Africa,

I just reviewed the Web site again and am envious of the short sleeves and warm weather. It has just gotten chillier here in Connecticut, but has been gloomy and rainy for most of the last week. Looks to me like the chairs are much more comfortable in UCT classrooms than at Storrs.

Recently, we held our Reflection of Excellence dinner in which scholarship donors, recipients and alumnae were recognized. You were with us in all our thoughts. Your courage to be the first group to study nursing for an entire semester abroad is great. Your amazing experiences both in clinical settings and life in SA make us proud!

We are getting ready for the Pinning Ceremony for the MbEIN Students, which is a real prelude to your pinning in April. This will be the first group that includes students from the Waterbury and Storrs Campuses. The hallways here are decorated with paper snowflakes, in recognition of every pound of food we donate to a shelter. We hope to touch some lives here, as you are touched and are touching people there.

As we approach Thanksgiving in the US, know that I am grateful that the health care of the future is in the hands of nurses like you-with the courage to lead, explore and learn from different perspectives.

My best to you,
Dean Anne Bavier

Hi everyone!
Where shall I start??? I have done and seen so much here in South Africa I do not know where to begin. I will start by listing some of my most memorable experiences that I have had so far: watching breathtaking sunsets, trying snails, sushi, ostrich and Indian for the first time in my life, ATVing through the Drakensburg mountains as the sun was rising, attending a church service in a township, horseback riding in the Drakensburg mountains, renting costumes and attending a Halloween ball, taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, exploring Cape Town’s gorgeous mountains and beaches, trying body boarding (I’m slowly working my way up to surfing), meeting locals who know all of the best hidden little spots in town that tourists would have no idea about- from nightlife to restaurants to hiking trails to the best spots to watch sunsets and sunrises, braaing (South African work for barbecuing), cliff jumping into a lazy, crisp refreshing river, whale watching while having breakfast, touring the Southern hemispheres largest mosque, dancing, rock climbing, and the list goes on and on.
There are so many more things that I have seen and done, and so many more things that I plan on doing before our time here ends. What I have on my bucket list before we head back home includes ostrich and camel riding, learning how to surf, paragliding, watching some more sunsets and sunrises, bungee jumping from the tallest bungee in the world, and of course enjoying another braai or two!
I would like to say to all of the nursing students considering doing this study abroad program in the future… DO IT!!! It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity that you will cherish and look back on for the rest of your life, if you decide to take part in it. I can honestly say that I have not had a bad day here, not one. Each day is very different, unique and exciting here in Cape Town. Each day I learn something new, and I feel myself growing not only as a nursing student, but as an individual.

Well it’s been over 2 months now that we’ve been here and I feel like we’re all in a groove now with our new pediatric schedules. Things are definitely very different here and I’ve had a lot of experiences that I know I would never have gotten back home. For our clinical rotations, I’m spending time in the Gatesville Medical Center pediatric unit and at Tafelsig clinic in Mitchell’s Plain. It’s taken me a while to get used to everything and I think one of the recurring themes for me on this trip has been feeling completely out of my element, which has made for some interesting and amusing experiences.

We’ve been seeing a lot of respiratory infections and gastroenteritis at Gatesville Medical Center and this past week we got to see a really amazing surgery where a doctor reconnected a little boy’s tendons in his wrist. During the surgery the doctor would pull on a tendon and the corresponding finger would bend. It was nuts! The nursing staff has been really great to us. It’s amazing how differently things work here than they do in the states, but just like at home, the nurses really know what they’re doing. They’re also really patient when I need to ask them to repeat themselves over and over again. I’m having a little trouble adjusting to the accents. I’ve also realized that no matter where you go, kids are kids, and they’re the same everywhere.

At the clinic last week, three of the other girls and I were split up to do different things and I ended up helping a nursing assistant with admitting patients for the first half of the day. After watching her do it a few times, it was my job once I received their charts to call patients in, which meant yelling nearly unpronounceable (for me) names in a very crowded room, to which I heard audible chuckling in return. Then I weighed the children, wrote their weights down on their hands or their mom’s hands and then called them back up, to write in their charts the date, the child’s age, the child’s weight, who was bringing them to the appointment, and what was their reason for being here. When I found out why they were here, I would put their chart in the corresponding bin and direct them to the room where they would get immunized or see a sister about a rash or some other ailment. Needless to say the morning went by very quickly.

For the second half of the day I observed a nurse who was seeing kids for skin rashes. It was really interesting but occasionally she and the child’s parents would start speaking in Afrikaans and then I would get a little lost. We saw children with scabies, cellulitis, jaundice, and some fungal infections.

At tea break a doctor noticed Dana and I talking and exclaimed, “You’re American?!” and then he proceeded to talk to us for a while, about our health care system, the differences between home and here, and what we’d seen of South Africa so far. He was trying to think of what he knew about Connecticut and we’d assumed he couldn’t think of anything when suddenly he yelled “Who’s The Boss! That was set in Connecticut right?” I’ve discovered that Tony Danza is very popular in South Africa.

This past week at Tafelsig I worked with the immunization nurse. I mostly did paperwork for her, but I got to give injections to a little girl for her 18 month immunizations. It was a little nerve wracking to give injections to someone so young, knowing she was going to cry and probably hate me afterward. The look she gave me when I finished, oh boy, it was withering. My hat is off to the immunizations nurse, because that is a hard job.

School at UCT has been a really interesting experience. Last week in class two birds flew into a window that we thought had been closed and we realized they had a nest on top of one of the speakers. Then Friday in class I swear I saw the same two birds hopping up the spiral staircase outside of our classroom. I think they must have an interest in either pediatrics or ethics. The bus system has us a little confounded too. Usually we just ask the other students if this bus is going to the same place we are. One day when we were trying to get into Rondebosch one of the girls made the mistake of asking someone else if the bus was going into town without specifying which town. The student said yes but what we didn’t realize was that she meant Cape Town. The bus was so full we had to stand, and we were so busy holding on for dear life that we didn’t realize until halfway through the ride when we saw Table Bay that we were going all the way around Table Mountain. We got a good laugh out of it and it was a nice little adventure for a Friday afternoon.

Yesterday in our South African History and Politics class we talked a little bit about the fallout after apartheid. It was so interesting. They formed a truth and reconciliation committee with Desmond Tutu at the head and they asked people to come forward and tell their stories to have a record of the crimes and human rights violations that had been committed during apartheid. We watched a short video that showed several people crying while telling their stories, and had some footage of policemen beating protestors on city streets or in townships with their batons. It was really powerful. They also had an amnesty committee, so people could apply for amnesty for the human rights violations that they had committed during apartheid and if the committee decided that the act was politically motivated and that you had given full disclosure of all of your acts you could be granted amnesty and could not be prosecuted. 7,000 applications for amnesty were received and only 2,000 were granted. Many of the victims who came forward to share their stories just wanted to know the truth of what had really happened to their loved ones and to get some closure. Some of the stories were very graphic. Our professor even shared one of his experiences about protesting during apartheid and being chased by police.

It’s just amazing because it’s only been about 15 years since apartheid ended, so nearly everyone here has lived through it and has a story to tell on one side or the other about such an infamous time in history. So many times when I’ve looked at people I’ve just wondered what their experience was like growing up. If they’re Afrikaans I wonder if they were for or against apartheid and if not I wonder what kind of oppression they faced under it. While South Africa has come so far they still have so far to go as far as racial divides and the extreme poverty. They have the same sort of wealth as we see in America, but I feel like the poverty here is so widespread and severe, that it’s truly inescapable for those living in it and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is really staggering.

So far this experience has been so eye opening and unbelievable. Being here has made me realize a lot about America, both how lucky we are to live in our country, and how materialistic we are as a society and how much value we put on things that don’t matter. When you see the shacks that so many people are living in and adults and children on street corners begging for food or money, it puts things in a different perspective. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world and the beauty of Cape Town almost makes you forget the ugliness of its history and the poverty that still exists here. Along with the amazing beauty of this place though, I know those are things that I’ll never forget about the time I spent here.

While I’m having a great time here in Cape Town, I’m still very excited to get back to good old CT.
See you soon!
-Kari Nilsen

Hello Everyone!

First off I have to say that it is absolutely beautiful here in Cape Town. The weather has been very warm and beautiful. I’m not sure if I want to come back to cold dark days in CT from these long warm days here!

Being a nursing student down here has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. For my pediatric rotations I am one day at an HIV/AIDs orphanage and another day at a private hospital. At the orphanage I assist with the daily care of the children. The children are starved for attention and want to be held as soon as they spot us in the morning. I love working with the children there because their smiles are worth it all. Besides changing their nappies (diapers), feeding, and playing with the children, I also work alongside the head nurse. Currently with Carolyn M and Olivia, we are working on projects to help the orphanage function better.

The other day I’m at a private hospital. Working with the nurses there is great. The first day on the floor was very interesting, because I had to get used to the Afrikaans accent. For example, Tegaderm, a typical product used in the medical setting, is pronounced “Te-sha-dom” by the nurses here. It took a while to understand what the nurse meant, but now I know what “tes-ha-dom” is! Everything that the nurses do here is analogous to what they do at home, such as assessments. However, the major difference is there are no computers anywhere on the floor. That to me was a huge shock because I am so used to using computers for everything at home.

Besides working hard at the clinical sites, and classes, I do find a little time for fun. We celebrated Halloween this year by making yummy food and watching scary movies. It was so much fun! Also, I have met many people down here. I’ve meet a group of Egyptians who are working down here for a phone company called Vodacom. They are just like any American person, except they have a heavy Arabic accent! They are teaching me to speak a few words Arabic. I am also learning a great deal about the Muslim faith. It is completely different than what I perceived from American media. It really makes me think of how much the media skews our views.

Another great thing that I learned is how happy Africa is that Obama won. I read a paper that said “Obama is the Mandela of America”. I wouldn’t go that far, but people are very happy that he is president!

Take care everyone and stay warm!

-Katie Jobs

This is a photo of a baboon stealing food from a car… it was super funny.

Learning in Cape Town

Click on the photo to take a look at our students in action!

Art