Mariko's week of exciting adventures

I’m starting to really feel like I have a purpose and a place at my internship, which makes me dread the end of this program even more. This past week was the busiest it’s ever been in the maternity ward since I started interning there, and the nurses seemed to need as much help as they could get. At one point, there were over twelve babies in the nursery, versus the usual three or four, meaning I got to be very hands on. They now trust me (and I finally trust myself) enough to do the full initial assessment and standard procedures on the newborns, which is really awesome, considering I was nervous to just hold the newborns during the first couple of weeks. I also had the incredible experience of getting to go into the OR when one of patients I had been talking to throughout the day was unexpectedly scheduled for an emergency C-section. Earlier in the day, I had the privilege of chatting with all of her family members and her parents, who were extremely nervous to see their first grandchild. The mother of the patient, who also ended up in the operating room, was so emotional and excited during the procedure that she kept coming up to me for moral support and to ask questions that I definitely did not know the answers to. After forming such a quick but unique bond with the new grandmother, I couldn’t help but cry when I saw her hold her grandchild the second it was delivered. I have always said that there is something extremely captivating about surgery and that watching it is surreal, but seeing a human enter into the world in theatre adds an entirely new and unbelievable dimension to it. Another highlight of my week at Melomed was the delivery of twelve-pound baby. In case you’re wondering, that’s about twice the normal size of a normal newborn, so you better believe that Baby Abrahams was quite a spectacle in the nursery last week.

           

Following an exciting three days of internship and Thursday classes, I attended my first First Thursday, which made me fall even more in love with the heart of the city because there is always something fun and unique going on. After strolling through the art galleries and street vendor-filled sidewalks, we attended a play called Kanala, with everybody else from the program. Kanala, which is about District Six, surpassed my expectations of theatre in Cape Town, and was a great start to a packed weekend that let me cross some things off of my bucket list. Yesterday was the more relaxed day of the weekend, which started with a quick “shopping trip.” All of us working on the Khayelitsha Firefighter activist project finally got the chance to meet up with Bongi and take advantage of our donations by buying new uniforms, soccer balls and equipment for his soccer teams. It was great to see our activist project have such a direct impact in that sense. Afterwards, we went to Muizenburg to soak up some sun before it cools down again. Once we’d spent enough time at the beach, we walked along the boardwalk to Kalk Bay so I could see what all of the hype was about. It ended up living up to its reputation of being an adorable place to walk around, with lots of hippy shops and beach themed storefronts. We even managed to find a place that sold American-tasting ice cream!

           

However, the best day of the week, and possibly of the entire trip, was definitely today, considering I finally conquered my fear of heights. Nine of us made reservation to go skydiving a few weeks ago, and I’ve been doubting that I would actually jump ever since then. The drive to the jump base felt like it took a lifetime because I was so nervous, but it ended up being in an incredible location about an hour outside of Cape Town. Once the dinky plane reached peak altitude, you could see the stunning outline of Table Mountain in the distance and the entire coastline below us. As far as the jump goes, I can confidently say it was the most insane sensation I’ve ever felt and I would definitely do it again tomorrow if I could afford to!