First Impressions

It has been almost 1 month since I left my amaze-balls life in the city of Cape Town to embark on an adventure as a community service physio in a little village called Ingwavuma. As I assume that most of you have never heard of this place let alone pronounce and remember it, I request that you participate in a quick elocution class: say it with me “in” - “gwa” - “voo” - “ma” . Now put it all together “in-gwa-voo-ma” ***virtual hand clap-well done dah-lings***. This village which will become my home for the next year can be found in rural (VERY rural-so rural the other rural people feel sorry for you) north KZN; its 10 km from Swaziland and about 2 hours from Kosi bay. After my first few hours in Ingwavuma (affectionately referred to as “The Voomles”) I made peace with the possibility that my first week here would be dubbed the “The Week of Revelation”  

When I departed from my comfy Cape Town cloud, I was aware that I was heading for rural KZN but I don’t think I ever “processed” the facts, in addition to this I made many assumptions; for this reason my first few days in Ingwavuma was filled with “surprises”.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed in the CT...dazed and confused in the Voomles

For example:

Fact #1: I knew that my village was 400km from Durban

Response to Fact #1: Ag, 400km, chilled vibes bra! That’s like from Cape Town to Knysna

Reality of Fact #1: first 300km-easy. Last 100km=pot holes for Africa + kamakazie cows + never ending road + no street lights + no signal = FREAK OUT OF NOTE!!! Total travel time from Durban to The Voomles 5,5hours

Fact #2: The population is Zulu…thus they speak Zulu

Response Fact #2: so what they speak Zulu, I will have a translator…chilled vibes

Reality of Fact #2: uhm…sorry dah-ling, no translators-you must learn ama-language

Once I got over the initial shock, there were a few more discoveries to be made. Winter is not my favourite season…its wet, it is cold. If Winter had Facebook I’d click the like button just so that I could immediately click unlike, I would unfriend it and block it. Summer on the other hand is by far my favourite! Summer = no rain which equals sunshine which in turn equals happiness…this is of course if you live in Cape Town. Since KZN has a sub-tropical climate summer is their hot and rainy season and winter is their dry season, so though it is raining it is not cold-its hot/humid-so you sweat…but its raining…this leaves my medulla oblongata most confused and disturbed. People have always said that KZN is humid and hot, seeing as I am such a fan of warmth and sunshine I assumed that I would LOVE the sweltering heat this sub-tropical climate brings-uhm, NO…FAIL! Running here is like running in a sauna-you sweat because it’s humid, you sweat because you are running and you sweat because you are sweating.

Eventually I built a bridge and got over my wealth of surprises, which allowed me to start absorbing my environment. I swapped the hustle and bustle of the city for the rustle of leaves and the creaking of crickets. The dreaded load shedding is a problem of the past, however it has been replaced by inconvenient water cuts, I’m more likely to be held up by a heard of cows than a pile up on the N2, you compete with goats, sheep and potholes for a place on the road instead of a taxis (mind you, the mad skills of city taxi drivers have carried over to the country side…the use of indicators and blind spots are so over rated when changing lanes) I swapped Cape Town where everything is a mere 15-20 minutes away for a village whose nearest “big city” is 300km. My new “mall” consists of Pep stores, iThala (a local bank), Elerines, a small electrical winkel, Spar Trader and 2 Chinese shops; a massive step down from Cavendish to say the least.  I live in a little park home on the hospital premises with my housemate - this means I leave my house at 7:57 to get to work by 8:00-BOOM!. The park home is like a container that they have converted into a house, it has an open plan kitchen and dining room, three bedrooms, a shower, and toilet and most importantly it has air-con. In essence I’m surrounded by kilometres of untouched natural beauty; lush green hills that roll into eternity, aloe trees and beautiful people. 

Artistic impression of my housie