Patrick's amazing and completely full week

You can’t have a non-insane week in South Africa. Monday through Wednesday at Tafelsig was crazy as always. On Wednesday, I even helped save a life! This man came into the clinic and immediately collapsed on the floor. It turned out he was an epileptic who was mixing alcohol with his medication. He was having terrible fits for almost an hour and a half, seizing so bad that he was smashing his head into the floor. The nurses and I had to wrestle with this man so that he would not hurt himself or anyone else. It made me think about how the clinic really does not have any bigger stronger employees to hold anyone down. On the chance that two people came into the clinic having seizures, what would happen? Would the other be left to die? It’s a sick reality that epileptic people in Tafelsig have to deal with, hoping they are the only ones to be having trouble that day. Anyway, he was seizing terribly and the nurses had given him a pill which he almost threw up, an injection which took a while to work so they were going to start with an IV. They had pricked him probably seven times, but the vein would blow every time and he wasn’t getting the effect of the IV. I had found a vein in a place the nurses hadn’t looked, so I informed them and they told me I could try. I was so nervous because I had never been in this position before. My heart racing, I administered the needle, and it immediately filled with blood meaning I had hit a vein! I attached the drip, taped it down, and he started to calm down. I was probably freaking out more than him at this point. I was so excited and proud of myself. Apparently now he is still in the hospital but in stable condition. I don’t think he’ll ever realize the impact he had on me.

We also didn’t have class this week because it was human rights day so that was cool. But the day itself started off rough. We got to the school and discovered that all of our paint and most of our supplies were stolen. I was pretty upset all day because now we had to start going into our own pockets to buy new supplies. The taxi ride over is only 12 rand but it all adds up really quickly. I hadn’t started feeling better until we got to the Eastern Food Bazaar that afternoon, and that was just because the food was so good. We even got to go to the Casinos that night for my ‘fake bachelor party’. Yes, Morgan and I got fake married here. We had the ceremony at the house, where Anna was the minister, Aimee was the ring bearer, and JR was the flower girl. Lindsay, Brianna, Ethan and I also sang. It was just because we wanted to do something together, and that we did. Almost everyone came, and even some of our South African friends joined as well to celebrate our fake marriage. Usually I would be really uncomfortable with this type of thing, but it was just a stupid event which everyone turned out to love. We also went to a karaoke night after the wedding which was crazy, stupid and fun.

The next day Allie, Anna, Liz, Kelsey and I went to Nyanga with Allie’s dad who came to visit. Allie’s dad drove, and we ended up getting lost in Guguletu, the township connected to Nyanga. He was actually getting really antsy when we were in the car, while we were all just hanging out enjoying the view. Cape Town has such a relaxed environment that we have gotten used to and so it was weird having a little part of the fast pace of the US back in our lives. That day was awesome though because we got to finish almost all of the painting. We completed the walls with our new paint and started to lay the first couple coats of our quotes on the walls. I even dedicated part of the big wall to the Sandy Hook school shootings. The quote read ‘We Should Meet in Another Life We Should Meet in the Air Me and You 14 December 2013’ and was in green and white, the Sandy Hook school colors. It was an awesome way to tribute the victims and their families and I was so happy to be a part of it.

Patrick painting a message in memory of those killed in Sandy Hook School 12/14/12

That night was the soccer game. There aren’t words in any language that could describe how much fun and how exciting that was. It was a FIFA qualifying match in the 2010 World Cup stadium. The South African national team Bafana Bafana played Central Africa Republic’s national team and won! We had our flag, faces painted, fresh jerseys, and vuvuzelas. We went absolutely nuts every time Bafana Bafana scored.

Jerard, Janiel, Allie, Ethan, Carl Patrick, Sharon and Anna ready for the Bafana, Bafana Game

My ears were still ringing the next morning when I woke up but I powered on and went to Mzolis’. It had amazing piles of meat. We only had to wait 2 hours for our food which wasn’t too bad because in the mean time we all were dancing and having fun. After Mzolis’, some of my friends and I went to the prep school down the road to play soccer. We met some highschool African kids who absolutely destroyed us.

Overall the week was amazing and completely full. I also remember Morgan said on our way home from the karaoke night, “Everyone we will never have this moment back and never be together like this again!” That really resonated with me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. It gave me such a different perspective and I really appreciate Morgan for it. It has been almost two and a half months and has felt like one day. Mom and Dad, I really miss you, but I really, really love it here.