On Sunday morning, we got up early to go on a guided bush walk. Our guide taught us quite a few things about nature in the bush. We had to dodge alot of huge spiderwebs too. We learned about the marula fruit, which is in season right now. The animals, especially the elephants, love it. The locals actually make a "marula wine" from it and sell it on the streets. In the intestines of some of the animals that eat the fruit, it doesnt break down the pit, so it comes out whole in their feces. Our guide found some, cracked open the pit with a rock and ate the nut inside. He offered some to us, but we passed for obvious reasons. Later he even ate giraffe poop! Its supposedly edible and good for fiber intake, but I don't care if its just leaves and grass, it came from intestines of an animal.
Once we returned to the camp we packed up our things and gathered for breakfast. Look who joined us:
The breakfast was very nice. Supposedly, the meat provided was from a warthog. It tasted just like ham, which I guess it would make sense because they are a pig, so I don't know how you'd tell the difference anyway. Regardless, it was really good. After we finished, we were back on the road to the airport with a couple of scenic stops planned along the way. The first stop was Blyde River Canyon. It was a beautiful sight.
On Friday, our guide suggested we see The Potholes as well as the canyon. When we asked him to explain what the Potholes were, he said "they are holes, that are pots." And he kept giving the same explaination! After much laughter and failure to explain what it was to us, he just decided he had to take us to let us see for ourselves. It was definitely worth stopping at to see. It would be a nice place to sit and relax for a few hours if there weren't tons of people around.
We wondered around there for 15-20 minutes, then we were back on the road to the airport. When we were halfway there, we came into a town with a road block. There were large rocks thrown out into the road, as well as a cut down tree covering the entire length of the road. The tree was in flames. Many people were out surrounding the streets. Turns out, they were making a road block in protest because their town needs water. Our driver kept saying how stupid the people were, that blocking the road is only impeded drivers, and didn't do anything to actually bring them water. We didn't wait long before he turned the car around and had to find another way there. I could tell he was stressed because he had another pick-up after our drop off. But we made it there in good time, and he was only about 10 minutes late for the other people. Even though he was running late, he took the time to help us map out a different way home so we didn't have to use those horrible roads again. We thanked him for everything, we had a great time with him.
While our route back to Manzini looked way out of the way on a map, it went so much smoother than the drive up here. All paved roads, not nearly as curvy and winding. And we still made it back in roughly 4 hours. So, note to anyone who comes to Swaziland in the future and rents a car - get a VERY good updated map, and avoid the roads labelled on it as "untarred". DON'T TRUST GOOGLE MAPS ONLINE! Its great in the states, but not so much in Africa (at least not this time). Also, rent with AVIS through their website, their prices are the best and they don't charge an additional fee to take the car across the border (Europecar charged us an extra 750R last time).
This past week has been fairly uneventful. I'll admit I've been rather irritable, the stresses of being in a foreign country get to you after a while. I really miss American food. Stephanie made Lasagna Wednesday night for dinner, and it was soooo good! Maybe it tasted so heavenly because I haven't had food like that in a while, but still, it was delicious. I hope to try making her recipe sometime in the near future. Emily and I have been craving Mexican food since before Rachel left, so I plan on that being one of my first meals after I get back to the states! Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed this trip very much and I would absolutely do it again (in fact, I plan on doing alot more traveling in the future). But I'm definitely looking forward to returning to the comforts of home very soon.
Wednesday morning and today, I rounded in the Special Care Unit, where the premature or sick newborns are kept. I have never seen so many tiny babies in my life, especially all at once like that. There are a total of 15 in the unit currently. Not one of them weighs more than 2 kg (4.4 lbs), most being in the 1.2-1.5kg range. The tinest baby was 950g, thats just barely 2 lbs! Most of them are doing fairly well considering the circumstances. Its amazing.
Each afternoon I have continued to work in the Pediatric Out Patient Department (OPD) as I have since the beginning. I am seeing patients essentially on my own now. This is the most independant I've been since starting rotations period. I have to say, I kinda like it :) While I was initially put in that position quicker than I felt ready for, it actually helped me start my growth into the practitioner I need to become. I still ask their advice on patients, but sometimes all I need from them is to sign off on my orders and scripts, and they do so without hesitation. For once I feel like I'm being useful and actually helping, rather than just taking up additional space and time. They often thank me for helping out, and once Dr. Pawelos said I've been a blessing. I don't know that I would go that far, because I don't take that much off their hands, but it was still a nice thing to hear.
Its our last weekend here, and the start of our last full week! Like I said before, I've had a great experience, but I am getting excited to go home. Its been the longest Brant and I have ever been apart, and we still have to wait two weeks after I get back until we can meet up. It sucks, but we're almost done with this long distance thing for good. I'm also looking forward to seeing my family and friends when I get back. We have lots of things to do and plan for in the upcoming months! I'm going to be a very busy girl this year. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to fully enjoy my last week without getting side-tracked by everything I have waiting for me at home. But that wont be an easy task!
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