An Antibiotic, a Probiotic, and Date Changes

Today, my countdown to Wisconsin was upped from 47 days to 55 days. My brother Erik recently landed an internship in Hamburg, Germany, so he and Jana will be moving there until August. Since I will be going through London in late June already, I've decided to spend a week with them while visiting Germany in the process. I've never been to Europe, and the convenience of adding another small flight to my itinerary was too good to pass up. After consulting with my brother, my travel agent, my boyfriend, my boss, and my sangoma, I've moved the flights!

I'll be getting home on July 1st.

This, however, presents a few logistical issues. First, my blog is called "Aukland in Africa." Can I blog about my trip home? I won't be in Africa. Also, does my adventure end when I leave Cape Town, or when I arrive in Chicago? Likewise, when should my countdown end? I've thought long and hard about these questions, and you can probably guess my decision since I have already changed my countdown. Despite the name of my blog, it is still intended to cover my time abroad, and Germany is still abroad. So you can expect some updates from the glorious land of beer and bratwurst. Well, that's Wisconsin, but I'll be sure to report on Germany also.

On a more personal note, I have had an earache for about six weeks now. I was ignoring it for quite a while, because it wasn't so bad. I'm sure that diving in Mozambique made it worse, but I thought it would go away. My right ear has now been hurting badly when I burp our hiccup, and is also more sensitive to pressure, to the point that I need to pop my ears and equalize the pressure just to get from upper campus to lower campus at UCT. Anyway, I went to the Student Wellness Center to have it looked at. The visit was free since I'm a student, and the nurse even prescribed me Amoxicillin, costing just over $1 for the five full days. Score!

My stomach has also been hurting lately, maybe I have some type of bug. For this, she recommended a probiotic. At first, I thought it would be counter-productive to be on an antibiotic and a probiotic, like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and just letting them battle it out, but I guess they will both help. Here's to feeling better.

Brought to you by Thebe Pharmaceuticals

It's weird being in a country where you aren't familiar with any of the medications. There are a few brands that are available from the US, but not many. For instance, I went into the pharmacy looking for Neosporin for a cut, and couldn't find it. After going to the pharmacist, the had no idea what I was talking about, and actually looked at me like I could be a terrorist. I threw words around like "ointment" "salve" and "antibacterial". Eventually a light turned on, and they grabbed me a tube of Bactroban. However, they needed my name, address, and phone number before it could be sold. I'm still not sure why. Pills are usually not coated, and I'm taking Compral and Paracetamol for headaches lately (they taste disgusting). I just love Advil, including the taste!

I was really happy with the medical care though, she was knowledgeable and I had no problems. Another study abroad student jammed her finger a few months ago, it was crooked, so she went to the doctor. His response was, "Not everybody is perfect, darling." She was appalled and went to another doctor, only to get a less than satisfactory solution this time. Another guy went to the doctor and was prescribed too many medications, ones that he would need to buy at their "in-house" pharmacy. This included some pills that would help his body handle all the others. Sounds a bit suspect to me. These are generally the private clinics though, the public hospitals and doctors here are phenomenal, I hear.

Unfortunately for me, my night dive was cancelled for the second week in a row. Very unfortunately. This might actually be a good thing for my ear, but it's a bad thing for my adventure-seeking and desire to get out of the house. Last week, the weather was too poor, and this week we didn't have enough people available because of classes. In its place, though, I've been promised a wreck dive this Sunday. Provided that it isn't cancelled, I'm excited see a shipwreck and to tell stories about it.

From my living room, wearing my British Airways blanket and having just finished watching Anoop and 'Lil get voted off of American Idol, I bid you adieu.

I'll leave you with an amusing series of photos of my friend Jamie from our trip to his house in Breede River, where we had a great weekend of debauchery. Highlights included amazing sunsets, traditional South African potjie (said poykie), the largest spider I've ever seen outside of a cage, and watching Jamie and Cartsen get sprayed with fire extinguishers. If you'd like to see an album of the photos, click on Jamie.

Jamie is silly. Click him to see our Breede River photos.

Trying to beat the heat

The last few days have been scorchers! The temperature has been above 90ºF every day, if not at 100º. I keep finding myself very sweaty from just walking around Obz or campus, which isn't very pleasant. It is actually nice to have all the sun most of the day, but getting to sleep at night has been difficult.  It is now March, so the temperature should start to get more moderate soon.

With the arrival of the weekend, we got a lot of pool time. We've found ourselves getting more creative, and put lawn furniture in the pool to have underwater parties. I was hoping for my scuba gear.

Kara was having a bit of difficulty with her underwater comfort level, as you can see. I also mentioned that I would be going diving on Saturday. We went to Long Beach at Simonstown. It was a gorgeous day, warm, and the water was perfect. I didn't realize at first, but the beach is near the naval base, so you can see ships docked that belong to South Africa's navy. Here are some photos of the bay and my very heavy dive gear after the first dive.

Long Beach, the dive site.

We actually did two dives, which went great. I did some skills tests, and also just some swimming around at about 15 feet depth. We found some smaller kelp forests and a small boat wreck that sunk. Nothing amazing, though.

And yes, I did bring back the mustache. It wasn't for any particular reason, but I suppose I could offer some options.  You decide:

1. For a change of pace this week. 
2. To look more intimidating the next time the burglar comes back.
3. Lyndsey said my mustache was outta control in my last scuba photo.  Had to fix that.
4. Kara encouraged it.
5. I wanted to scare all the other UCT students, that have surely never seen as American of a mustache as mine.
6. To continue to rub it in everyones faces (especially Kyle, David, and Eric) that my mustache is far superior.
   
7. I'm entering a lekker sleaze contest soon.

Actually, they are all true except number seven.  In other news, Daylight Savings Time has begun in the US. The time doesn't change here, but I really like that it has changed at home. Instead of being eight hours apart it is now just seven, and oddly enough, that matters. There is something very psychological about the time difference that makes me feel so much further away.  The limited 'awake overlap' is frustrating at times.  Even an hour less has me feeling closer to home. It means that Wisconsin will be starting their days earlier in the afternoon for me, I'm not sure why I care, I just don't like wanting to call and having to wait until like 6pm so as not to bother someone too early in the morning.

Lastly, I have gotten sick. I'm not sure what it is from, maybe once the temperature dropped after the heat wave left, but I've got some head cold and was up all night with a very sore throat and the such. I need Advil, I don't like the "Compral" that they sell here. I'd rather take acetaminophen than this 'paracetamol' mixed with aspirin and caffeine. I don't even know what paracetamol is.