First Few Days In Durban

New city, new challenges.  Last weekend I flew from Cape Town to Durban on the eastern coast of South Africa.  The most interesting thing: my plane was orange.  The seats were pretty cramped, but thankfully it was only a two hour trip.

My new host family consists currently of a mother and her two daughters.  They speak both Zulu and English.  With a group of eight students, the other seven of which are also girls, there isn't much of another male presence to be found.  But I'm getting used to it.  The other students are of a diverse range of ages and stages in their education as well.

Our first couple days consisted of driving tours of the surrounding townships and city.  The main difference between the landscape here and in Cape Town is that it is much more hilly in the suburbs.  Neighborhoods are built on the hillsides instead of the densely-packed townships in CT.  That doesn't mean a lack of people, the township of Umlazi is home to over two million, the second largest in South Africa.

My time here is divided by week: The first two I will be working in the gigantic tertiary hospital downtown, known as King Edward, the first in pediatrics and the second in surgery.  My first day there today was informative; the primary medical concern for children under the age of two is gastroentilitis(sp?), a condition causing diarrhea and dehydration.  The pediatrics facility was recently updated and seems much nicer than anything I've seen here in the country before.

As far as anything else to do around here, it's tricky.  The internet is even more difficult to come by so I can't say as to when I'll be able to post again. We're also still working on renting a car; it's hard to go anywhere inexpensively without one.

Into my fifth week away from home, I'm starting to miss it more and more.  I'm trying to repress the feelings of wanting to go back because I still have three weeks left here to learn and enjoy.  I know when I leave, that it will be uncertain as to if and when I can come back so it's important to keep that in mind.

Sorry for the lack of a photo today, I promise I am still taking them, but I'm working from a desktop in the library without an SD slot.  Hope everyone's enjoying their summer, it certainly feels like summer again here :))

Best,
David