There are two days left in Cape Town. There are so many thoughts running through my mind. Will I be able to be the strong, knowledgeable person that I have become at home? How will my friends and family react when they hear about my experience? The most worrisome thought is, will I be able to hold on to these experiences and goals and not assimilate completely back into the privileged American life? It is terrifying and exciting to think of what will come in the future.
All I can say is that I would not be the person I am right now if it weren’t for all the people I have met here. Although currently we are all pretty sick of each other, I have learned so much from each one of my housemates. Every single one of them is uniquely amazing and we will forever have a bond that most people will not understand. Just being in this house alone has been a learning experience. Living in an extroverted dominated house has definitely taught me to speak up more. We have had the most hysterical stories and experiences in this house and out side of it.
Prof Rode has also been an extremely influential person in my experience here. Going to khayelitsha with him each Tuesday has taught me so much more about the major health issues in South Africa. Shadowing Prof in the burn unit has also been influential. He always makes the point to his students that to be a better doctor you have to take interest in other things outside of medicine. He always tells his students that you need to have a real relationship with your patient in order to be the best doctor. Although he can be intimidating and loves to put you on the spot, I have learned so much from him and will greatly miss this internship.
This experience would not be anything without our amazing professors. Vernon took the best care of all us, he made sure everyone was happy at their internship placement and spent so much time organizing this program so we could get the most out of our time here. Marita’s class helped us talk about issues that we are seeing here and in the U.S. We were able to debrief our weeks and enjoy a wonderful home cooked meal while watching a documentary that directly applied to what we were learning. Vincent taught us the tumultuous history of South Africa so we could relate what we see and our internships to what happened in the past. He spoke of the fight against apartheid not as an outsider but as a participant, which made everything so much more powerful. Instead of having a history teacher read from a textbook and just relay information they studied, we had a professor who made history and is still working towards bettering the future of South Africa. Of course Ben our house mother, who talked us through everything, showed us around the city, listened to our ridiculous stories that he has probably heard dozens of times, took us on late night magnum bar runs and so much more. Ben was always there for us when we needed him. I am going to miss all of these people so much.
Most of all I am going to miss the gorgeous view of table mountain every day, the sunny, mostly dry gorgeous weather, the smiles and friendliness of people everywhere, the accents, the languages, the phrases (howzit, is it, shame man, aybo, etc), basically everything. I cannot imagine running at home and not being able to see Table Mountain, Red Cross and the shadow of UCT. I could go on and on about what I will miss here but it won’t do anything. All I can say is that this has been the most amazing experience of my life so far; I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to come to Cape Town, South Africa.
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