Above is a picture of the entrance to our residence hall, I'm hangin out my window a bit :)

Well, still no internet access for this poor traveler L I’m in a woman named Maude’s office who works for the Department of Nursing at Wits University (the school that is accommodating us and treating us so well)! So this is another pre-written blog! We’re hoping for internet access very soon…so cross your fingers!!!!

I started on the Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Johannesburg General and I had SUCH a great experience the first day. My favorite part was the very beginning…the nurses (or sisters, as they are called here in South Africa) sing and pray every morning. They have the most beautiful voices and they dance around and clap, oh it’s just wonderful and so uplifting J The patients we get up there are incredibly sick & injured. The crime of Johannesburg truly shows I this ICU. Motor vehicle accidents (which also include pedestrian vehicle accidents, as my patient was the first day) and gun shot wounds are all we really see up there. I’ll spare most of the details since I know not all of you are reading this with a nursing mind like I have as I type this out! For those that are interested, I’ll tell lots of stories when I get back I promise!!! I already have a TON to tell and I’ve only worked two days!

Alison and I started planning our days in Johannesburg and are going to make reservations hopefully on Thursday for a trip to Kruger National Park for a safari and then a trip to Cape Town at the end of the month! Every person we’ve talked to says we HAVE to go to Cape Town before we leave. This weekend though we are going to Gold Reef City and the Apartheid Museum on Saturday. Then on Sunday we’ll be going to Museum Africa and Market Theatre which we’ve heard have amazing African art exhibits and then some great African music! So we’re excited to spend our first weekend in Johannesburg!

We’ve met a couple of other international students, all of which are studying medicine. Jason is from Australia and he has been such a help in getting us adjusted to Jo’Burg. We learned quickly that we couldn’t function here without a phone so we went and bought a “pay as you go” phone. There is also another Aussie name Catherine who is so nice, she actually asked us to join her for dinner the night we arrived which we were so grateful for because we were starving by then! Craig and Johnny are from the U.K. and are just hilarious. They’re like an old married couple honestly! Then there is Jacob who is from London who is just so sweet as well. The other guys make fun of him because he takes the security thing in Jo’Burg very seriously…but that’s a good thing we have learned!!! The bummer part is that those guys leave at the end of this week, so hopefully we’ll get to know some new international students as they arrive.

Tomorrow we are having tea with some faculty and students from Wits Nursing. I have a feeling that they are super excited that we are here, they have been SO good to us and I only want to learn as much as I can from them!

I hope I can get on here and blog again soon! I’m loving my time here so far, and especially loving the weather! There’s an occasional afternoon thunderstorm which I don’t mind so much J I’ll talk to you guys again here soon…miss you all!!!!!!

Below is a picture of Johannesburg from our campus...a little overcast :)

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!!!!

...8 hours from departure...

Well, I think it's begun to hit me! I've tried to hang out with family & friends the past few days and I can't tell you how much it means to me that I've gotten to see SO many of the people I love :) Thank you all SO much for supporting me in this adventure, I know it's going to be great for me and I can't wait to share it with you.

It is 11:10pm and I'm leaving in just under eight hours!!! My mom is taking me to the airport and we're picking up Alison (the amazing & incredible girl that I am sharing this journey with) at 4:45am!! I suppose I better get to bed here soon...it's a good thing I'm pretty well packed!!

We get into Atlanta around 10am and then we don't leave until 3pm for Johannesburg, so I'm sure I'll update a little on here on how the first (and shorter) leg of the flight went :)

Ahh, off to bed!!! However I highly doubt I'll be able to get much sleep!!

Hello Wheatridge!!!

So this entry is for my dad's eighth grade science students at Wheatridge Middle School in the Gardner-Edgerton school district...

Hello all you young and eager to learn students!!! I hope my dad hasn't given you too much homework already since coming back to school from winter break. I want to let you know that I am going to try and answer ALL of your questions you send my way, and we're really hoping that while I'm in South Africa we can set up a video chat with your class through a website called Skype. I look forward to hearing from all of you...so start thinking of those questions!!!

Love you dad!!!

Stress Overload!!!

Well, this weekend I went to Denver, Colorado (for those of you that don't know, I'm planning to move out there after graduation). A group of us gals looked at different hospitals and began to realize that nursing school is coming to an end soon and that we'll be in the real world soon. I began to feel overwhelmed with the thoughts of graduating, passing boards, finding a job, moving to another state, etc...

So I have been a little stressed after getting home and realizing all the things that need to be done. I had a talk with my mom & dad and realized that I just need to have faith that everything will work out. I have this amazing opportunity that is just TEN DAYS away!!! I hope to get a lot done in these next ten days so that I can truly be 100% present while I'm in South Africa. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I absolutely refuse to let the craziness of my life get in the way it :)

I decided to start packing tonight, and my room is a disaster. But I don't care, because I know starting a little early is going to be what saves me come next Thursday night (the night before I leave)!!!!

Here's a picture of my room...and you can't even see all the stuff on my bed!!!

Anyways, I'll keep everyone updated on my stress level over the next few days. My goal is to have a lot of my course work done before I leave so I'm thinking a day or two in the library will do me some good!!!

Three Weeks Away!!!

It's getting closer!! I think it's starting to become a bit more real...

I bought a little "South Africa for Travelers" book yesterday at Half Price Books, and I'm realizing there is SO much that I want to do!! Here are a couple of pictures of the places I would like to see...

Kimberley's Big Hole
The city of Kimberley is located southwest of Johannesburg and is home to the largest man-made excavation, the Big Hole. It was dug between 1871 and 1914 in an effort to discover diamonds.

Golden Gate Highlands National Park
The eastern part of Free State is filled with sandstone cliffs, streams, and green hills. Although there isn't as much wildlife, the landscape is what visitors truly come to see.

These are just two sites that I hope to see. I've already discovered that there's more that I want to see than I at first thought! Hopefully I'll get to cover at least half of them!!!

Happy 2009!!!

Well, I'm leaving in just 26 days!!! I'm finally beginning to think about all the things I need to go before I leave. It's actually beginning to feel a little bit real. Let's just say I'll be glad to get out of this cold Kansas City weather...

I had a wonderful Christmas and even got a couple of things for my trip. I got a new camera that'll be super handy because it'll tuck in whatever pocket I have!! (For those of you that don't know, I have my "big camera" that the photographer in me LOVES, but I'm not set on whether I'm taking it with me quite yet!) I got everything from sheets to towels, and a super cute pouch too that keeps my passport...oh and some $$$$

I've already begun to compile a list of people I need to thank for all of their support. I'm getting incredibly excited, and I can't wait to share my stories with you!!!