I'm HERE!!!!

Wow!!! So sorry it took so long to post but we haven't been able to get the internet!!! Here is something I typed up last night...

Wow!!! I’m writing this little blog entry ahead of time because it turns out I don’t have internet access where I am staying :( So here is my recap of the beginning of the trip to right now…this could be a bit long, sorry!!

I woke up at 4am to catch my 7am flight to Atlanta. We picked up Alison and I was just all full of excitement. We got to Atlanta and wandered all around that massive airport since we had a nearly six hour layover. I got real excited and child like when I heard my first South African accent. Granted it was in Atlanta at a ticket counter, but I was satisfied for the time being!

The flight from Atlanta to Dakar was about 9 hours long and I filled it with two movies, a number of rounds of “in flight trivia,” and then I did an itty bitty amount of homework. We talked to a guy name Lowe who is from Dodge City and was visiting Jo’Burg because he had lived there back in the seventies for two years. He was super nice and gave us lots of advice and informed us we had to go to Cape Town.

We landed in Dakar and by this time it was midnight back home which made it 6am in Dakar. I had been up for twenty hours and I was getting sleepy and sick of being on a plane. The problem in Dakar is that we weren’t allowed to get off the plane, so we sat there and waited as new crews came on and maintenance checked the plane and refueled. I took two Dramamine and hoped that would knock me out for the flight but I because suddenly overcome with this pressure in my sinuses. It was weird, I can’t explain it…but it hurt, really bad. So I took two Tylenol PM and thankfully I was able to get some sleep and not concentrate on the pressure build up. The flight was filled with tosses and turns because I sure couldn’t get comfortable in that tiny economy seat. Let’s just say I’m super glad I don’t have to make that trip for another five weeks!

We were greeted by a guy named Michael who had our names on a sign  One quick thing about the airport, there was a HUGE crowd there so I asked Michael what was going on. Apparently, South Africa’s cricket team had just had a big win in Australia and came back and was greeted by a ton of fans! That warmed my little sports-loving heart! Oh and here’s a great one, when we went to get into the car I tried to get into the passenger seat until I realized it was the driver’s seat!!! Michael just laughed at me and asked me if I wanted to drive, but I declined! The drive to our residence hall was quick and we checked in without a glitch!

We were hungry and had no idea what to do for food though. Luckily we ran into a girl named Catherine who is from Australia and is doing a 6-week elective for medical school. We went to this AWESOME restaurant called Mike’s Kitchen, and it was super cheap so I think we’ll be frequenting that place quite often. We got home and showered and went to bed and then….

We were awoken at 5:30 in the morning!!! Apparently we live in an all girls freshman dorm and this is the weekend they moved in (they just got off summer break). They were running down the halls banging on doors to get people up. Obviously they missed the memo that the second floor is for international elective students!! This early and VERY loud wake up call did however cause us to meet a guy named Jason, whom is also from Australia and in medical school. There wasn’t much time for chit-chat though as we were all ready to go back to bed.

At about 9am then we decided to catch a bus to a place called Rosebank that we were told had a supermarket-like place and also internet cafes. Well, we ended up taking the wrong bus not once but twice so we decided to go lay down and try it again in the afternoon. This turned out to be a good idea because Alison wasn’t feeling well. So around 2pm we hopped on the bus (Alison was feeling much better), and headed to Rosebank. However, since it was a Sunday most all of the shops closed at three and therefore the last bus came at three. So we grabbed some snacks and stuff to do laundry, but didn’t have time for the Internet Café  When we got back we walked around the campus and crossed the street to the next campus (the business campus, we’re on the education campus) to go and eat at Mike’s because we still hadn’t eaten. Well, we busted again because Mike’s closed at 5pm and we walked up to the door at about 4:57pm.

We walked back to Reith Hall (our residence) and saw Jason sitting outside with a few other guys. We sat around and talked for about an hour and learned quite a bit! Jacob, who is a medical student, is from the U.K. and is working at Jo’Burg General which is where Alison and I will be starting tomorrow so he had a lot of good advice for us...including how to get there! Then there was Craig and John whom already knew each other and are from the U.K. as well. Those two and Jason are “at the Burrow.” I have no idea how to spell the name of the hospital but I can assure you I’m thrilled that I won’t be working there. I won’t even begin to tell you the stories they told us about this place. Let’s just say that in the two years I’ve been in nursing school I’ve never heard such horrific things happen. I’ll go into detail for those curious minds, but my jaw was on the floor for pretty much every story they had to tell. Jacob seemed to enjoy Jo’Burg General so I know I’ll still be getting a lot of good experience.

Well, the boys left for a movie and we kindly declined their offer to join them because we wanted to greet the three med students that were coming from KU. They were pretty exhausted when they got here, so they pretty much took a shower and went to bed. I don’t blame them, they have a full day ahead of them tomorrow while Alison and I had a day to adjust when we got here.

Okay, I think that’s it for now. I really really really hope that I can get this posted tomorrow (Monday 2/2), but we’ll see. Oh and I’m going to bed tonight very upset because I’m missing the freaking superbowl!!! Okay, sorry this was so long. Hopefully I’ll find a way to get to the internet more frequently. I miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!


TODAY....
This morning we did a little "orientation" to the hospital and the nursing department. They have just treated us like royalty today, you can tell that the nursing department has been really excited to have us come. Alison and I both will be in an ICU and will get an opportunity to do a shift or two in Trauma/ER and then also in a community setting (yay!!) so I am beyond thrilled!!!

I will try and get on again here soon...we'll see :) LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!