An adventure in and of itself! I came here to Durban actually from Eldoret, Kenya, where I was doing HIV linkage to care research for my MPH thesis. I had such an amazing time in Kenya doing fieldwork, can't wait to see how the epidemic compares to South Africa, which I'm sure is completely different. But I thought it would be easier getting here since I came from within Africa already. Kenya is about 2800 miles to the north, not terribly far - would be a 5 hour flight in the US. However, there are hardly any direct flights within Africa, and so it took 4 planes and just about 24 hours for me to get from Eldoret to Durban. But like everyone keeps telling me, "T.I.A." or, This is Africa :)
And when I arrived, my bags were missing because they didn't make the connection in Ethiopia - I myself barely made it. But to be honest with that many connections I'd be surprised if everything did arrive without complications ;)
Maureen, the CFHI director and her husband picked me up from the airport and were very kind and assisted me in navigating the Ethiopian Airline chain of command to find my bags, which would arrive in a few days. The drive from the airport was quite long and I began to develop a sense of how big and spread out Durban is, the 3rd biggest city in South Africa after Cape Town and Johannesburg. Durban has these beautiful large rolling hills that make up the city, with millions of tiny houses dispersed throughout. Growing up in the valley in Arizona, which is completely flat, I find the dynamic landscape here incredible. And in the urban areas it seems every last little bit of space is occupied, if not by proper houses then by the tin "informal settlement" shacks, which I'm told are quite a problem in all of the big cities in South Africa right now. I'm sure this has major implications for public health and the HIV epidemic as well.
I met my host family that evening, very kind and hospitable. My host mother is older, and told me to call her 'Ma', a term of endearment as well as respect here :) Her niece also lives with her and is in high school. And lastly a neighbor who lives with them part-time as a house help is also here. I'm told it is very difficult to talk about families here and the family structure, ie. who is a "brother" or "sister" or "daughter" or "mother" due to the HIV epidemic, which killed so many people. As a result, many youth who lose their parents move in with grandparents or aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. The implications of the HIV epidemic have truly permeated all aspects of life here it seems, not just health.
On Sunday I had my orientation with another student, Gabriel, who is also studying public health. Maureen came to my house along with the other student and shared with us all the information about the upcoming clinics and gave us our schedules. I'm so excited to start!
That evening, Gabriel invited me to tag along with him and his host brothers to a South African braai or BBQ. Now that was quite the experience! We showed up around 5pm and the place looked like an outdoor club almost! There was security at the entrance, no children, bottles in ice buckets on the tables, everyone was dressed very fancy with a bunch of fancy cars in the parking lot too. There was a second level overlooking the floor, and a bunch of disco lights and a DJ. We paid 50 Rand ~ $4.50 for a full plate of meat and this type of maize meal block called pap and had the consistency of grits, but solid. SOOOOO delicious! The ambiance, the food, everything ~ I was blown away. Clearly I am going to be going to more braais during my time here.
We then headed to a mall so that I could buy some clothes/shoes appropriate for clinic, since my luggage was still missing. The malls seem to be epicenters for city life. You can do everything there, from grocery shopping, to topping up airtime on your phone, and even studying at a library - everything is at the mall. Prices seem to be slightly cheaper than the US, but not by much. After all, South Africans call themselves the "America" of Africa. So that's pretty much it for my first weekend - and now, clinic starting tomorrow! :)
And when I arrived, my bags were missing because they didn't make the connection in Ethiopia - I myself barely made it. But to be honest with that many connections I'd be surprised if everything did arrive without complications ;)
Maureen, the CFHI director and her husband picked me up from the airport and were very kind and assisted me in navigating the Ethiopian Airline chain of command to find my bags, which would arrive in a few days. The drive from the airport was quite long and I began to develop a sense of how big and spread out Durban is, the 3rd biggest city in South Africa after Cape Town and Johannesburg. Durban has these beautiful large rolling hills that make up the city, with millions of tiny houses dispersed throughout. Growing up in the valley in Arizona, which is completely flat, I find the dynamic landscape here incredible. And in the urban areas it seems every last little bit of space is occupied, if not by proper houses then by the tin "informal settlement" shacks, which I'm told are quite a problem in all of the big cities in South Africa right now. I'm sure this has major implications for public health and the HIV epidemic as well.
I met my host family that evening, very kind and hospitable. My host mother is older, and told me to call her 'Ma', a term of endearment as well as respect here :) Her niece also lives with her and is in high school. And lastly a neighbor who lives with them part-time as a house help is also here. I'm told it is very difficult to talk about families here and the family structure, ie. who is a "brother" or "sister" or "daughter" or "mother" due to the HIV epidemic, which killed so many people. As a result, many youth who lose their parents move in with grandparents or aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. The implications of the HIV epidemic have truly permeated all aspects of life here it seems, not just health.
On Sunday I had my orientation with another student, Gabriel, who is also studying public health. Maureen came to my house along with the other student and shared with us all the information about the upcoming clinics and gave us our schedules. I'm so excited to start!
That evening, Gabriel invited me to tag along with him and his host brothers to a South African braai or BBQ. Now that was quite the experience! We showed up around 5pm and the place looked like an outdoor club almost! There was security at the entrance, no children, bottles in ice buckets on the tables, everyone was dressed very fancy with a bunch of fancy cars in the parking lot too. There was a second level overlooking the floor, and a bunch of disco lights and a DJ. We paid 50 Rand ~ $4.50 for a full plate of meat and this type of maize meal block called pap and had the consistency of grits, but solid. SOOOOO delicious! The ambiance, the food, everything ~ I was blown away. Clearly I am going to be going to more braais during my time here.
We then headed to a mall so that I could buy some clothes/shoes appropriate for clinic, since my luggage was still missing. The malls seem to be epicenters for city life. You can do everything there, from grocery shopping, to topping up airtime on your phone, and even studying at a library - everything is at the mall. Prices seem to be slightly cheaper than the US, but not by much. After all, South Africans call themselves the "America" of Africa. So that's pretty much it for my first weekend - and now, clinic starting tomorrow! :)
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