"You know what today may be? A medium cup at the ice cream place?"

I have reached my half way point and it’s hard to believe that I only have a month to go. I realized that I only 3 weekends left and so many things I still want to do. It’s been a really good month and feels like I have done a lot, experienced a lot and developed some good friendships. 2 of my new friends Cara and Tami left this past week. It’s sad to see friends go, I think it would just be easier if everyone came at the same time and left together. But we definitely had some quality time together the last few days reminiscing and eating (what we do best)! It also was a 3-day work week because of more public holidays. But Friday was my last Holiday in Africa. The hospital still continues to be good. Next week there will only be 3 of us for 2 weeks and then for my last 2 weeks it will just be Danielle and me. My high light from this past week was getting to work with an 8-year-old patient that has Cranial Facial Abnormality. She has had a tracheotomy since age 1, has cardiac problems, and now is having spinal constriction. The pain management team asked Child Life to get involved because the patient gets very anxious and has a fear that she will not wake up when she has procedures or operations, which is a real possibility when she does have an operation. Patient was scheduled for angiogram on Friday morning to see the vessel structures in her brain. When I met with patient and her mom Friday morning I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but it truly was a privilege to work with this family. Not sure I did anything great, except build rapport with pt and family, provide support and understanding before, during, after procedure. But it appeared to be helpful. The patient is this cute talkative girl that is very aware of her condition and is understandably anxious. Her biggest thing was that she wanted her mom to hold her hand as she was falling asleep. Jenny was the anesthesiologist (she is the one that helped bring Child Life to SA) and was awesome. Mom held her daughter and sang Amazing Grace as she feel asleep. The procedure went well and now the neurosurgeons just need to figure out what the next step will be. They are talking about sending her to New York for an operation down the road. Through talking with the mom afterwards, we discovered that her best friend is on Mercy Ships right now serving as a nurse and will be leaving in August. So not sure if I will be able to meet her or not, but I love the small world of Mercy Ships and the connections that are made around the world. I also learned that one of the sisters (nurses) on the ward is planning on doing Mercy Ships in February of next year. I love it!

Friday was a Holiday and Cara’s last full day in Cape Town, so we decided to hike Lion’s Head, but it was not the best weather. When we started it was cloudy and we only made it about half way up before it started to rain. So we decided it was best to come down, mainly because the rocks were getting slippery and didn’t want to be the stupid Americans on the mountain. Since we were already wet we decided to pass on the taxi and walk back into town for brunch. We ate at a great bakery/ breakfast place. South Africans sure do know how to eat… I have not had a bad meal since I have been here (except the time we decided to eat fast food and I couldn’t even finish my burger… so no more fast food in SA). That night I went to a braii with some alumni Mercy Shippers. It was fun to talk with them and get a different perspective of Mercy Ships (people that have lived on the ship between 1-5 years). Saturday we went on another hike/walk around the base of Table Mountain. It rained on us again. That night I went to my first Rugby game, which was a lot of fun. Not only to watch Rugby, but also to attend a South African sporting event and to see how things are done. My first disappointment was that they did not sing the National Anthem, but they did walk around serving donuts and hot chocolate, instead of peanuts and hot dogs. The game was between the Cape Town Stormers and New Zealand Chiefs. The stormers lost, but it was a good game.

Sunday I woke up to my phone ringing and it was not a regular South African number, but my friend Denise calling all the way from Oklahoma. As soon as I answered I knew why she was calling… she was engaged! We always talked about how I would be the first person outside of her family to call and knew with me being in SA that would be a little more difficult, but it absolutely made my day that she was able to call me. We literally have been friends since my first day of college and our friendship has only grown since then. For the last 5 years we have not lived in the same state, but that has not made a difference in our friendship. Jon is a lucky guy! Looking forward to her wedding at the end of July (just before I leave for Africa again). So if that wasn’t a perfect enough way to start my day… I also woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Cape Town. Autumn in Cape Town has been a lot of cloudy, rainy days, so these sunny days are hard to come by and the plan was to go to the beach today and so I was so happy to see the sun and no clouds. After church, Danielle and I spent the whole afternoon at Camps Bay, walking around, sitting, eating and then ended the day with a beautiful sunset. The waves where lovely, loud, and so peaceful to watch. It was a good day and perfect way to end the weekend.

Sorry that only one picture made the blog, I was wanting to post more pictures, but my internet is not allowing that, sorry there aren't more pictures. Hopefully next time!