I'll break down the flight for you guys in 2 words: 46 hours. (Including layovers). It's neither easy for me nor fair for you for me to leave it at that, so the first phase of my LONG travel adventure started at PDX and temporarily ended in Las Vegas, Nevada....
I walked out of the plane tunnel and I kid you not, the first thing I saw was SLOT MACHINES! Realizing that I had 10 hours before my next flight to New York, I figured I would go down to the strip and see what Vegas had to offer. But getting down to the strip was an adventure in itself. I decided to take the buses down to the strip and encountered some interesting characters on the way! And everyone had a different way of explaining the transit system and where and when I had to be at a place to make it back in time. After switching buses three times I found myself outside the Flamingo, with a miraculous view of Caesars and the Paris Casino. I LOVED Caesars! I wandered around the great casinos and Pure nightclub for at least 2 hours, and can't wait to go back and experience it in all its glory as a guest and during a time in which everything is open. (I arrived after 11pm, so most of the shows and attractions had already started or were closed). I'll sum up the rest of my experience on the strip real quick-like: Paris: didn't bother. New York New York: hooker central, seediest place ever. Planet Hollywood: Nice atmosphere, tiny casino, few attractions. MGM Grand: Biggest letdown of the night, only two bars I could go, long lines- one I actually decided to wait for couldn't get in because I was wearing flip flops.
By this point I was cranky, sore and tired, and walked to the Luxor for a cab back to the airport.
When I got back to the airport, I took a 2 hour nap and then got my stuff out of a locker and waited to board the plane. That was when the pilot got on the PA and said that we were going to be leaving 30 minutes late, and when we finally did leave, we had an 8 plane queue to get out of the airport. It took a little under an hour and a half to get through the queue and wheels up.... Problem: I had a 2 hour and 6 minute layover in New York..... I arrived at JFK with FOUR MINUTES to catch my connecting flight to Dakar, Senegal. Imagine some guy sprinting through 16 terminals carrying a duffel over his shoulder dragging a mini-suitcase behind him through a packed corridor and food court. Yeah, I was that guy. Somehow I made it! But my luggage didn't...
Despite the setbacks in Vegas and NYC, a Cape Town doctor and myself ended up getting a front row three person row all to ourselves so we had massive leg room and arm space, and myself getting excellent company for the 19 hours it took to go from NYC to Cape Town. Once in Cape Town, I took a terrible flight to Durban and am pretty sure my on-flight prayers helped that pilot land that plane. Moral of this paragraph: Don't fly Mango.
MORAL OF THIS STORY: Pay the extra $50 for less connections and layovers.
Coming soon: THE FIRST DAY, WHERE IS MY LUGGAGE, and PHOTOS!!!
Stay tuned!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Welcome to my South African adventure!
Hello, my name is Chris Moser and I am going to South Africa for the fall term of my senior year at Oregon State University. This blog is going to serve as a journal of my endeavors as well as a site for information on my experience and ways to get in contact with me. Please feel free to send me an email with questions not addressed on this page. Let's get down to it!
Where I am going:
I will be spending my first 5 weeks in Durban, South Africa. Durban is a large, fairly modern city with a population of between 4 and 5 million people. Durban has a warm, and very humid climate with the fabulous Indian ocean and great surfing! It also has a significant Indian influence, Durban has the largest Indian population in the world outside of India . It was the banning of the Indian indentured laborers from the purchase of land in Durban in 1922 that was one of the first laws to sow the seeds of the apartheid legislation that was to follow.
The last 5 weeks will be spent in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa, behind Johannesburg, with a population of 3.5 million. Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East more than 200 years before the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869 (wikipedia). It is the largest tourist hub in South Africa and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
What I will be doing:
Simply put, I will be taking part in a medical internship. The rotation sites in Durban are more focused on public health issues and HIV/AIDS while the sites in Cape Town are more clinically-focused. Durban will experience a wider range of health facilities including rural health care, hospices, teaching hospitals and public and private clinics. In Cape Town, I will get to spend time primarily within two major urban hospitals and associated township clinics, getting familiar with the different wards within these two large medical systems. I will probably opt to spend most of my time in the Emergency and Orthopedic departments as these are my current top selections for medical school.
Where I will be staying:
I will be staying with different homestay families over the course of the internship. These are people that graciously have opened their homes to study abroad students, and the first family I will be staying with in Durban is a single mother household with three children. I am not sure of the second family I will be staying with, but will post that information upon receiving it.
When I leave and how long I will be gone for:
I leave for South Africa on Wednesday, September 24th, and will return to the United States on December 11th.
How to get in contact with me:
I can be reached either by email or mobile phone, but the number is a South African number and I recommend purchasing a phone card from www.nobelcom.com as it is much cheaper than normal cell phone carrier international long distance rates. You can also get in touch with my mom to call me, as she will likely have multiple cards. Due to the moving nature of the internship, I will not have an address to have things sent to, but feel free to send me yours and maybe you will hear back!
My email: moserch@onid.orst.edu
My cell phone: TBD
My moms email: Artzymom2@hotmail.com
My moms cell phone: avail upon request.
STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG FOR FUTURE UPDATES! I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN 3 MONTHS!!
Where I am going:
I will be spending my first 5 weeks in Durban, South Africa. Durban is a large, fairly modern city with a population of between 4 and 5 million people. Durban has a warm, and very humid climate with the fabulous Indian ocean and great surfing! It also has a significant Indian influence, Durban has the largest Indian population in the world outside of India . It was the banning of the Indian indentured laborers from the purchase of land in Durban in 1922 that was one of the first laws to sow the seeds of the apartheid legislation that was to follow.
The last 5 weeks will be spent in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa, behind Johannesburg, with a population of 3.5 million. Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East more than 200 years before the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869 (wikipedia). It is the largest tourist hub in South Africa and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
What I will be doing:
Simply put, I will be taking part in a medical internship. The rotation sites in Durban are more focused on public health issues and HIV/AIDS while the sites in Cape Town are more clinically-focused. Durban will experience a wider range of health facilities including rural health care, hospices, teaching hospitals and public and private clinics. In Cape Town, I will get to spend time primarily within two major urban hospitals and associated township clinics, getting familiar with the different wards within these two large medical systems. I will probably opt to spend most of my time in the Emergency and Orthopedic departments as these are my current top selections for medical school.
Where I will be staying:
I will be staying with different homestay families over the course of the internship. These are people that graciously have opened their homes to study abroad students, and the first family I will be staying with in Durban is a single mother household with three children. I am not sure of the second family I will be staying with, but will post that information upon receiving it.
When I leave and how long I will be gone for:
I leave for South Africa on Wednesday, September 24th, and will return to the United States on December 11th.
How to get in contact with me:
I can be reached either by email or mobile phone, but the number is a South African number and I recommend purchasing a phone card from www.nobelcom.com as it is much cheaper than normal cell phone carrier international long distance rates. You can also get in touch with my mom to call me, as she will likely have multiple cards. Due to the moving nature of the internship, I will not have an address to have things sent to, but feel free to send me yours and maybe you will hear back!
My email: moserch@onid.orst.edu
My cell phone: TBD
My moms email: Artzymom2@hotmail.com
My moms cell phone: avail upon request.
STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG FOR FUTURE UPDATES! I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN 3 MONTHS!!
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