Yesterday capped off one of the most
memorable weeks in recent memory, beginning with the first day of internships
and ending with my 20th birthday.
It all started with my first 3 days
at Tafelsig, where I got more medical exposure in that amount of time than I
had in my entire life. I was thrown right into the mix: I hunted for patient
folders; observed treatment; triaged patients by recording symptoms and measuring
blood pressure and pulse; and learned how to perform glucose and HIV tests. Each
day was busy, but socializing with the staff during teatime and lunchtime made
me feel like a part of the family. They are all genuinely invested in making
sure that we learn something new every day and return to the United States with
a wide breadth of medical knowledge.
On Thursday we boarded the Jammie to
the University of Cape Town. Campus was buzzing with orientation activities for
the new students. For our first class, our instructor Vincent Williams
presented 300 years of South African history in two hours, from Jan van
Riebecek’s “accidental” colonization of Cape Town to Nelson Mandela’s election
as president in the first truly democratic vote in the country’s history.
Having read Long Walk to Freedom,
Nelson Mandela’s seminal autobiography, I thought I knew a good deal of South
African history, but I learned even more when Vincent presented it from both
the colonizers’ and resistance fighters’ perspectives. We went in depth on the
transition years, from when President P.W. Botha made his Rubicon Speech
(declaring that South Africa will not cave to the world’s concerns about
apartheid) in 1985, to the “talks about talks” between the oppressive National
Party and African National Congress that ensued, to the eventual writing of a
progressive constitution and election of Mandela.
These lectures made for some
interesting connections to Marita’s class about race and its role in the early
history of our nation. I found myself paying very close attention as the
documentary shattered the notion that our country was built on the premise that
“all men are created equal,” as stated in the Declaration of Independence. As I
listened to how our early leaders made it so difficult for Africans and Native
Americans to gain equal standing with whites, I couldn’t help but relate it to
the apartheid policies of the National Party that we learned about earlier. The
only difference between our government and the National Party is that our government
was never met with fierce opposition by the native, majority population. If it
had, I wonder how different the noble narrative we are taught in elementary
school would sound.
After an educational start to the
week, it was time to properly unwind and explore beautiful Cape Town. On
Friday, a group of us boarded the train en route to Muizenberg for a beach day and
a surfing lesson. The train dropped us off right at the beach and we quickly
made our way to feel the sand beneath our feet, not forgetting that it was in
fact February. Our surfing lesson went much better than expected; I think all
of us caught at least one wave in to shore! Fortunately for us, the sharks were
not out to play.
Finally, on my birthday, we awoke at
6am to venture to Table Mountain to finally conquer the famous landmark.
Unfortunately, Table Mountain was wrapped up by a massive cloud that brought
with it 40mph winds, precipitation, and poor visibility. We settled for a trip
to the top of Lion’s Head, where just 3km away, the weather could not have been
any sunnier. After a delicious Italian meal at Meloncino on the Waterfront and
chocolate cake (courtesy of Marita) at home, I was feeling particularly
thankful for all of the incredible people that have become my family 8,000
miles away from home. I have no doubt that my co-educators will be my friends
for a long time, and I can’t wait to make more memories with them while we are
here!
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