Lists, Academics, Campus and Health

So far I've knocked off many things on my Africa list (if you count flying over Namibia as "seeing Namibia" and this week I took off another two: Jackass Penuins (cute, but ultimately a let down) and Judo. I don't know anyone's surname, and in many cases their first names, but the Sensei is called "Uncle Jon" (pronounced "Yon"). It is possibly the most welcoming place I've been, and he instructed the black/brown belts that they had to kiss me each time they threw me- so needless to say it was very different from what I'm used to. I appreciate the kindness on my first tentative visit, but they had better start getting more rough pretty quickly or I'll lose interest, for sure.

Academics:

The first week of classes here, you attend all the courses you want (that you were approved for, if mainstream, and any of the Int'l Students Cake classes) and at the end of the week you actually register for what you want to. The courses in which I'm officially enrolled, are:

1) Entomology, 8 US credits (eight), 12 hours of in class/practicum time a week (on the plus side, I can go barefoot in lab). This course is two semesters combined into one course. I must use a killing jar and learn how to set/preserve insects- but worry not, because apparently: "killing for science is justified." I'll learn taxonomy as well as morphology & physiology. While lectures thus-far have been in english (some Afrikaans slides), the practicums (6hrs a week) have been almost all in Afrikaans. While I did prepare, my Afrikaans is nowhere near a level that would allow me to understand what ABOUT "butterflies" they are talking about. I can pick up a slide and know that it has something to do with grasshoppers, but that's all. I will prevail.

I will have to amass a collection of 150 specimens (different families), preserved by standards set by a retired professor who has been doing this (he's still there full time, to help apparently) for 55 years, so that tells you a bit about his level of perfection. I like him. He assured me that the caterpillars "love" the boiling water. We will also have to know how to identify, on sight, 200 families (gulp).

This is what I'm up to in my room now, in the evenings. How is this not something they take you away from society for doing?

2) Biome Ecology, 4 US credits (3 hrs lecture, 3 hrs practical). This one's pretty self explanatory. There's a huge focus on Biomes of S. Africa, so it's particularly interesting. Having said that though, there are no textbooks, so no way to show up to class prepared. I do not care for that. Ten points to anyone who can tell me why this department logo makes me smile.

3) Afrikaans for Beginners. This week all we've had is our "First Meeting," and classes for it don't start until next week. First Meetings are held for courses to take care of administrative issues rather than waste time on the first day of class. I am not going to tell them that I know a little Afrikaans, so that they think I'm extra smart. It will be good to actually use what's floating around in my head. I hear things all over, and it takes me too long to process it to be able to immediately respond. I want to be faster on my feet with what I DO know.

Campus

This picture is of what we'd call a "Student Center" and is called "The Neelsie." The first floor is mostly restaurants, like a food court- though some banks and a 7-11 (no Slurpees, but lots of their meat pies). There are a few African dishes, but it's mostly burgers/fries/things with sauces poured all over them. There is a "Health Burger" I get from one place, and if you ask for the "Health Sandwich" they are confused, even though there is no burger of any kind on the sandwich.

The second floor has the school bookstores (there are 2), travel shops, the campus (and residence hall) Post Office and clothing stores (like the mall). The second floor has the best place on campus for espresso (which is, if a single, about $1.50). Finally the 3rd floor has meeting rooms and a radio station (apparently).

I spend as little time in The Neelsie as possible.

Health

This week i visited campus health services building (the clinic) to inquire about contraceptive medications. Before I get too deep into this story, I should be clear in my reasoning for telling it. People don't often tell you the gritty things about their travels, and I don't want this "blog" to be simple propaganda. There will be blogs about the Americans here, black/white people and the bathrooms, too. Readers can rest assured that I'm not whoring it up (I mean, I did only just arrive); I'm being practical. Babies are like the huge handwoven rugs they sell here. Sure they're interesting and tell a story, but what would I ever do with one?

Alright- here we go. I show up with the form I found online which had been requested to accompany me, filled out. They were stunned at this, and it caused quite an uproar. I may have literally been the first personto do what they were asked to do online. Several nurses were called together to marvel over it.

I was called to the back almost immediately, and I while there was an exam table, it was more like a cot, and more strangely, the room appeared to be another nurse's office. She was typing on her keyboard, sitting behind a large wooden desk. Both women had stethoscopes around their necks, so I'm not sure of the hierarchy. I was seated in one of the chairs in front of her desk, I assumed for some sort of verbal consultation.

Instead, the nurse (oh, in this clinic I saw no white people, which was a nice change) who had brought me into the exam room/office asked: "What kind of birth control do you want?" I asked her what my options were and she started to tell me all the free options provided by the state. I asked some questions, as I'd not had the methods they offered (pill/shot), but as with most information in SA, it was pretty glossy. I opted for the 2 month shot vs. the 3 month shot (I have no idea why I chose that). During the discussion, there were no questions about my background or health- nor did the woman behind the desk look at me or speak to me, though I was sitting directly in front of her.

After my choice was made, the nurse opened door #1 and pulled out a small brown glass vial. Imagine you're watching a movie about the transport of polio vaccinations to Central Africa and you'll be imagining the vial she was holding. She told me to go over to the cot/exam table where she took my blood pressure (which was normal). I watched her snap the glass top off the vial and get a syringe from the coffee table that was being used for organizing supplies and open the sealed package. She dipped the needle into the now exposed medication and sucked it in and set it on the counter.

I'd like to point out at this juncture, that while I jest about the condition of things here, I really do love it. Who cares if tables are old and wobbly, if coffee tables are used in Dr's office or if your shot doesn't come in a pre-packaged brand name bo? I hate our consumer society in which everything has to be sterile (poor choice of words in this story) and new. Having said that, this all-purpose needle she unveiled caused my jaw to drop. I'm no sissy about needles, but this was the size of a blood donation needle- if not larger (and WAAAY longer). Quickly, I regained my composure and thought, "At the least, this will be interesting."

She indicated with a pat on her rump that I was to get down, and turn around so she could stab me in the ass. I hopped off the table and turned, facing the woman sitting at the desk, doing her taxes for all I knew and had to bite my lip to stop a laugh. Is this normal? Who WAS she? What is going on? The injection was uneventful and didn't hurt at all.

The nurse filled in my book so that I'd not forget to return and asked if I wanted my free AIDS test. Not free AIDS test pen or ribbon, but the full on test itself. Now, here I am in Africa getting free birth control without having to spend weeks on paperwork and providing documentation from my employer 6 years ago, and on top of that they're offering a free AIDS test? They were surprised to learn that I'd never had one and that in the US, the standard practice is to not test "non-high-risk-patients." Since I've never had unprotected sex with deviants on their pamphlets, I've never been considered to be high risk, thus never tested. I'm tickled at the health care I'm getting here---as a foreigner.

The whole strange event took less than 10 minutes and they were more friendly than any Dr's office I've ever been to before. AND, they were free. As a side- here are some gems from the booklet they gave me to teach me about my chosen drug (from Bayer)- which also takes the time to educate on the actual event of conception itself:

"On each side of your womb, there are egg nests...If the egg meets a man's seed, you become pregnant and a baby is formed...."

"It (the medicine) stops the egg nests from preparing another egg. Because no egg is released, it prevents you from falling pregnant. It thickens the mucus so the man's seed can't reach the nest..."

If I find out what that woman at the desk was doing, I'll share it at another time.