Blood, Electricity, and Home

Friday, February 1-Sunday, February 3

So I shall begin with sharing that I donated blood for the first time. I was unsure if I would still be able to donate because I wasn’t from South Africa, but it didn’t matter. Let me just state that I have never given blood before in my life and I was influenced by some other first timers so I thought what the heck. My dad used to donated blood ALL the time (I believe he donated over 5 gallons at some point… obviously not all at one time). Okay, so I admit I was incredibly nervous! I just kept thinking if my dad could do it, I can too. So I sat down on the chair and they inserted the needle in my vein (I didn’t feel it at all… thank goodness. I didn’t want to see the needle to begin with). So I was doing alright for about the first five minutes. I kept squeezing that thing they give you to squeeze so the blood doesn’t coagulate (clot) and I’m sitting there and for some dumb reason, I looked down at my arm and I see the needle in my vein. Okay so that was mistake number 1. I sort of went into a panic thinking “Oh my gosh, how long is this going to take?” “I feel sick.” “Get this needle out of my vein.” So I told myself I needed to chill out and took deep breaths. At this point, I believe I started getting really pale because everyone around me kept asking, “Are you alright?” and of course I replied with “Yeah, I’m fine.” (WHAT? NO! I’m not fine… I have a needle in my arm... atleast that's what I was really thinking...). So finally the thing buzzed to let them know my bag was full. The lady came over to finish with the process and then said, “I’m going to lay you back for a little bit.” That’s when I knew I must have been REALLY pale. So after about 5 minutes of having my back parallel to the floor and my legs straight up in the air (literally, no joke), the lady came back over and sat me back up again. A guy came over and looked at me again and was like, “Are you sure you’re alright?” and I replied, “yes, I am fine. I’m just going to go sit down.” As I got up to walk, I felt woozy and went to sit down on a chair. As I sat there for about a minute eating my biscuits (cookies) and juice, I felt weak and dizzy. The lady gave me some of this smelly stuff on a cotton ball and made me sniff it to prevent the dizziness. I eventually had to move to the floor to lie down because I felt terrible. So here I am on the ground with a couple of other girls (including one that fainted). Needless to say, after about 25-30 minutes of finally regaining myself, I got up and headed to get my bag to go home. I was completely exhausted and ended up going home and sleeping for a couple of hours. Overall, I’m glad I did it... even if I do have to lie on the floor with some of my students!

Later that night, Terrez, Wendy, Ron, and I headed to the Waterfront. I was actually pretty excited about that because the girls from my school were trying to raise money for Habitat for Humanity by having a cyclethon. I went and supported the girls for a little bit and then Terrez and I headed to The Spur (I believe that was the name of the restaurant). Everyone had been telling us how good this place was so we decided to try it. About 25 minutes after sitting down, the flights flickered and then everything went pitch black. Thank you Eskom for making me eat in the dark due to your “load shedding.” WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA… BEWARE OF LOAD SHEDDING! Oy!!!! Talk about a pain. Everywhere in Cape Town was without power from about 9:00 PM-3:00 AM (aside from places who have generators). Traffic lights go out, people eat in the dark, people can’t pay their bills because they don’t have cash, etc. It really is such a pain and I hope they come up with a solution quickly. Something like this would never happen in the States. I kept thinking what if this happened in New York or Chicago. Wait, it wouldn’t and if it did, it would be chaos. Woohoo load shedding! You can see I am thrilled about it.

Other than that, I haven’t been up to any good. I find myself getting rather homesick or at least thinking of home when I’m not busy. Imagine that. I am so used to being crazy busy that my time here has been a test of patience and I’ve done lots of thinking – wondering what people are up to, wondering how it’s going to be when I return home, wondering how much this whole experience really will change me, etc. I’m getting along pretty well though – and for this I am quite happy. I knew I could manage being here in South Africa, but it was just a matter of how well I would do and I’m proud of myself thus far. I’ve definitely noticed I’ve become more confident and independent (which I was at home too, but definitely here. I need my “me” time). I listen to music a lot… in fact, that gets me through just about anything. I think about a lot of things when I go running – running definitely clears my head and there’s nothing like running in Africa (wind, mountains, sun, dodging cars heading towards you on the wrong side of the road than you’re used to).

Thank you to those who have e-mailed and been keeping in touch. It really does go a long way and I love checking my e-mail and blog first thing in the morning because there is always something to smile about from what someone has posted or has written.

Love always!

PS. I’m going today to get my University of Cape Town ID card so hopefully I will be able to register for the Two Oceans Half Marathon here shortly. Pray that I will be able to have the strength to get through training! It’s the toughest part!