Bitten By a Penguin!!!

I apologize once again for the length of time between my blog posts as of late. Unfortunately, we have had quite an ordeal with our housing situation, which I will not discuss here for legal purposes since they are not yet resolved. Just know that we have all been under a great deal of stress - emotional, mental and physical - but we hope to be turning over a new leaf very soon.

SURFING - My introduction to surfing has not quite transformed me into an overnight surfing success. The first time out the conditions were crazy...the waves rolled in too quickly to set up and I therefore spent a lot of time being tossed around on the ocean floor. The conditions were SO bad that one girl who was out there with me had to be taken to the hospital because she got her chin sliced open by her board. As well, I cut both of my hands up really badly. There was lots of blood in the water and I was terrified of attracting sharks. It took two weeks for all the cuts to heal. I have since invested in a pair of surfing gloves to protect my dainty hands. I'm totally able to get up and enjoy myself out there, so although I'm not the pro I was hoping to be just yet, I am definitely loving it out there and I am committed to going surfing on a weekly basis.

AIDS CLINIC - I have been working very closely with some AIDS contacts here who have created an extra-curricular AIDS program for me that will include visits to private and public AIDS clinics, townships, etc. etc. Last Thursday I went to a private clinic where I sat in with the medical practitioner while he saw AIDS patients. This amazing opportunity provided me with a window into the lives of AIDS patients at the private clinic level. Beyond just their physical ailments (which ranged from TB to shingles), I was also given a window into the emotional trauma that they face with finding out whether or not their CD4 count has dropped low enough that they must go on rigorous treatment for the rest of their lives, with coming to terms with how they contracted the virus, with the stigma that they face in their home communities (some people travel a day's drive away to go to a clinic where no one knows them), with wanting to have children, etc. etc. It was a very emotional experience for me and I cannot possibly convey the depths of the experience via a blog, however, I will say that it has been the highlight of my trip thus far for so many reasons. I know that the public clinics will be much more difficult to handle emotionally and so going to a private clinic first was a good introduction to what AIDS patients must face here. I would also like to point out that the patients that I saw were black, white, young, old, married, single, male and female. It is not just a black African problem and I want people to know that if nothing else.

PENGUINS - I returned to see the penguins with two of my roommates. This time I wanted to see how closely I could interact with one. The signs say "do not pet the penguins" and I knew that there was probably a good reason why there were signs posted that said that, but stupidly enough, I tried to pet a penguin and the little devil bit me!!! Hard!!! Fortunately he got mostly my fingernail so he didn't break the skin, but I advise all of you to heed the warnings about petting wild animals! Haha. I promise not to attempt the same level of interaction with any sharks or lions!

VACATION - This weekend kicks off the start of our end of first quarter vacation. My roommate Jen has two friends visiting from Canada and so Ilya, Jen, her two friends and I are all travelling up the coast on a camping trip along the Garden Route to Lesotho. We have the craziest trip planned along the way including cage diving with great white sharks, riding ostriches, bungee jumping off the world's highest commercial bungee jump, going to see elephants in the wild, going caving, going white water rafting (gotta look out for crocs apparently), going pony trecking in the mountains of Lesotho, and going repelling down a 200m waterfall. WISH ME LUCK!!! Haha. This could quite possibly end up being the best week of my life. At any rate, I will DEFINITELY be blogging about it as soon as I get back so stay tuned!!

That's all for now. The weather is still fantastic and my classes are good. Other than a few troubles that we have had to be facing, I am thoroughly loving it and I wish everyone could get to South Africa at some point to see its natural beauty, get involved in its cultures and to feel its histories. Oh and I am currently trying to learn to speak Afrikaans, though I have not yet mastered the tongue clicking required to speak Xhosa!

Until next time, peace out!!