Sunday
Dear Elsie
Today I am going to tell you about my first days I spent in Cape Town. My friend R met me at Cape Town airport and took me to the Nurse’s home. Somerset Hospital Nurses Home had just been built but wasn’t quite finished, so they housed all the Somerset nurses at Woodstock Nurses’ Home. R was a little unsure about this. Woodstock back then was highly undesirable, but I didn’t know that. R was a couple of years older than me and so self-assured. She had a car and had no trouble driving in Cape Town, confidently navigating from the airport along the freeway to the off ramps Woodstock. On arrival, she made sure I was expected and then off she went.
In those days Woodstock nurses home was well run, clean and organised. It was on Mountain Rd and down the road there was a glimpse of the sea. Looking up the road was Devil’s Peak.
Everything was new and exciting. I couldn’t believe I was in Cape Town! On arriving at the nurses home, I was shown to my room. I was something out of the ordinary. The staff had all been told that I was arriving from Zimbabwe & to make me feel very welcome. They did. Another student nurse named Sonia who had been there a little longer than I, was asked to show me around and let me know how everything worked. She gave me a guided tour of the building, told me about meal times, where the laundry was and when I would start working. Then we went outside the TV lounge and sat in the sunshine. She said, ‘tell me about yourself.’ It was the first time I was free to be whoever I wanted to be. I was under no jurisdiction of anyone. I was far from home and family and this was the dawn of a new life for me. If I wanted to explore everything through a new lens, now was the perfect time. The first thing I said was, ‘I’m a Christian – that’s very important to me.’ Within days everyone knew the new girl was religious! There was no going back.
I had a day or two to settle in before I began my nursing career. New Year of 1982 was very quiet. I spent it on my own. I remember going to the laundry and doing some washing. I stood on the stairs outside where the washing machines were and looked out the window. It was dark, a few hours before new year. I wondered what 1983 would bring. I felt very alone. I was disappointed that R hadn’t contacted me to join her and her friends for new year. She knew I was alone and knew no one, so I expected some sort of contact. It never came, so I spent the evening on my own and went to bed early. After all, I had to get up at the crack of dawn to start work the next day.
And that was what I did. By 5am I was up, dressed in my brand spanking new nurses uniform with my funny little nurses cap perched on my head. My hair tied firmly in a pony tail. I had breakfast (was it Weetabix?) and at about 6.30am all the Somerset nurses piled into the kombi and were taken across to Somerset Hospital. The upper freeway became my friend. I sat on the right side of the vehicle and opened the window a crack. A fresh whiff of salty seaweed greeted me. It was a memorable smell that would define my first month in Cape Town.
And that’s it for today. I’ll see if I add more in the days ahead.
Psalm 147:11
The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip
Gran xx 🙂