Week 13/14: Cape Town, South Africa! I'm in love with this place!

Cape Town was AMAZING!! Guys, it was so much fun and its such a beautiful city and country!

So, I fly to Cape Town to visit a long time friend of mine. She was there with some more Germans and they knew more Germans so I primarily spoke German. I had 8 complete days there and they were packed with activities. Even though we hardly had down time, I still feel like I haven't even seen the beginning of all the things you can do there!

The weather was sunny almost all the time and hot! I highly suggest a visit there around this time of the year. Since this isn't a travel blog, I won't go into great detail about all the places we went and all the yummy restaurants we visited but rather, I show some pictures in the hopes that you can get a sense of how great the place is!

Stellenbosch: Tokara Wineyard, one of very many in the area

Table Mountain and Lions Head

Ocean View

Chapman's Peak

African Penguins in Boulders near Simon's Town

World of Birds: My monkey friends and I

Got a bit of inspiration for drawings

Big Bay: Red Bull's "King of the Air" Kite boarding competition

Boulders

We hiked up Lion's Head and the view was lovely

Probably my favorite of all. Table Mountain seen from Lion's Head

Lion's Head

Clifton Beach 1

The sunsets were the most beautiful I've ever seen

Cape Town, I'm in love with you :)

Reluctantly, I returned to Germany. I woke up the first morning at 5:30 again to get a round of studying in before work. Might as well get back to my normal routine as quickly as possible. I shadowed the consultations again on Thursday. Friday I hung around the outpatient department and tried to see new things here and there. The consultant working the department that day was really helpful. He had me watch different diagnostic procedures and then made me explain them to him.

I learned how a cystomanometry works. It used different pressure detectors and measures while the patient has their bladder filled with fluid and is then asked to either hold it or void. In doing so, we can interpret if the bladder is overactive, if the patient is using their abs instead of their bladder muscle and so on.

I watched a prostate punch biopsies being taken. It sounds and looks more painful than the patients make it appear to be. The biopsies are then looked at for prostate cancer.

There were a few cystoscopies performed which I watched.

My free time back home was then mostly spent with studying and editing. Now my music selection has a few songs that remind me of Cape Town and my tan that compliments my lab coat well. Already looking forward to the next travel oppurtunity!

Doesn't get much shorter than this....week 7

I really don't have much to say. I went to work on Monday and the doctors from the New Years Rotation were shocked to see me there. One of the doctors wanted to send me home almost immediately. Since I was already there and had gotten up at 6 a.m., I stayed.

The day was a busy one. I was sent from one task to another, one blood draw after another (some patients twice), one phone call after another.....

The doctors had all agreed to get the work that had to be done, done in a timely fashion. This meant that I was out of the hospital around 2 and was told not to show up for the rest of the week. (I would have came Tuesday and Friday but I'm also not going to beg them for that....I can handle a few days off of work. Gives me the opportunity to study.)

New Years was rather relaxed. I had dinner and watched a movie with two friends and watched the fireworks at midnight being lit on the streets.

I also booked my first vacation in the mean time. Stay tuned to find out where it is I am heading in February for 9 days.

When my dad heard I had booked my vacation, he insinuated that interns now a days have a much more relaxed life style.

I won't argue with him that getting paid nowadays is a fabulous improvement opposed to back then. I also really can't complain about my work environment which might allow me to leave work earlier (I usually end up staying anyways). However, I still work a 40+ week for minimal pay (its pitiful when calculated on the hour). Also, its really all about optimizing the time and money you do have. I don't fly direct because layovers are cheaper and I spend a lot of time looking for the right flight that incorporates weekends or holidays so I don't lose vacation days.

Over the many years of looking for and booking flights (in the meantime not just my own but have become somewhat of a personal travel agent for family members) I've developed my system of finding just the right flight.

I'll be working the weekend shift before I leave which gives me Monday-Wednesday off.....3 less vacation days used!

I hope everyone had a good holiday season and had fun over New Years. Now its back to the real world tomorrow!

Stay healthy!

V