The Nomadic Veterinary Nurse!

What I HATE!!!

Driving on the left side of the road I mean come on people, most of the world´s countries drive on the right (literally) side of the road and after being here a total of 7 months all in all I STILL need my boyfriend to save my life when we cross a street because I look the wrong way. To not talk about when I try to drive here…I don’t know if I fear more for my own life or the life of others… haha who am I kidding – move out of the way bitches, I´m new at this!

Cheesegrillers. For real, sausages filled with melted cheese…they are probably delicious to normal people but I can promise you that anyone in the veterinary medicine field who ever saw an abscess explode will, without a doubt see the extreme similarities with these cheesegrillers. Sorry if I just spoiled someone´s dinner, my bad.

Taxi. How about a no?! If you walk past a taxi parking, they ask you (actually they tell you, they never ask) to get in. when you say no thanks as polite as you can, they still don’t get the message. When you even walk away from there, they either follow you or shout at you to take their taxi. How about a god damn freaking no? what if I want to be a healthy, happy human being and walk, let me walk people!

The need of a car. Okay, I come from Sweden right? We have busses, trains and trams everywhere, and I mean literally to anywhere. You want to go to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night – no problem (you might take a few detours, the trains don’t show, and God forbid there is a snowflake on the train tracks…) but you´ll get there…at least in theory. Here – not so much. Want to go to a supermarket? Take the car. Want to go to your neighbour´s house (I´m not joking – 3 houses away). Take the car. Want to go to work? Take the car. Why? Because there are no damn public transports. And if you by any chance find one, the likelihood of you getting robbed is huge.

The lack of Pick and mix candy. I have to blame me being from Sweden for this one. But I sincerely miss my pick and mix candy. For you who don’t know what that is (poor you, my soul feel for you!!!), it is different types of candy that you pick yourself, put in a bag and pay according to weight.

The wildlife!!! I can´t emphasise this one enough. Here is amazing wildlife, and for me with an interest in wildlife medicine it´s like a gold mine!! The photo opportunities you get here in Kruger national park, I can´t even begin to tell you, you have to see for yourselves!!

The language. I am a big language nerd and this country has 11 (not joking guys!!) official languages. But the one spoken mostly among the white population is Afrikaans, a dutch-based language that I just love! Ask my boyfriend, he knows that speaking to me in Afrikaans makes me more easily convinced about stuff haha.

Fizzers and cool drinks. In the absence of pick and mix candy I had to hunt for a substitute. And I found my love for fizzers!! A soft candybar that comes in a variety of flavours. Seriously addictive. Here in South Africa they are not big water drinkers, to every meal you drink a cool drink (a soda). The cream soda one has become a stable partner in my life, I mean come on, it´s neon green, and tastes like…ehm… cream soda? Can´t honestly describe the taste.

Bakkies and dirtroads. Bakkies, my new dream cars haha. It´s basically what the rest of the world calls a pick-up truck, but you have to agree “bakkie” sounds a hell of a lot cooler! To drive these monsters on the red dirtroads in the sunset or sunrise, or actually any part of the day is an amazing feeling!! No Mercedes or BMW for me, I am all set on a Toyota Hilux (just gonna win the lottery first, but hey no biggie right?)

The petrol station staff. Okay so the first time I was supposed to put petrol in a car, I drive to the petrol station, make sure I get to the right side of the pump, go out of my car at trying to figure out how to manage their machines to put the damn petrol in my car. That´s what any normal person would do right??? But No here you have people putting petrol in your car while you sit in the driver´s seat and wait, you pay through your window and voilá – all done! I got a lot of funny and weird looks that day, I must have looked like a complete idiot to them… but it is quite soft to not even having to get out of your car! 

What I HATE!!!

Driving on the left side of the road I mean come on people, most of the world´s countries drive on the right (literally) side of the road and after being here a total of 7 months all in all I STILL need my boyfriend to save my life when we cross a street because I look the wrong way. To not talk about when I try to drive here…I don’t know if I fear more for my own life or the life of others… haha who am I kidding – move out of the way bitches, I´m new at this!

Cheesegrillers. For real, sausages filled with melted cheese…they are probably delicious to normal people but I can promise you that anyone in the veterinary medicine field who ever saw an abscess explode will, without a doubt see the extreme similarities with these cheesegrillers. Sorry if I just spoiled someone´s dinner, my bad.

Taxi. How about a no?! If you walk past a taxi parking, they ask you (actually they tell you, they never ask) to get in. when you say no thanks as polite as you can, they still don’t get the message. When you even walk away from there, they either follow you or shout at you to take their taxi. How about a god damn freaking no? what if I want to be a healthy, happy human being and walk, let me walk people!

The need of a car. Okay, I come from Sweden right? We have busses, trains and trams everywhere, and I mean literally to anywhere. You want to go to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night – no problem (you might take a few detours, the trains don’t show, and God forbid there is a snowflake on the train tracks…) but you´ll get there…at least in theory. Here – not so much. Want to go to a supermarket? Take the car. Want to go to your neighbour´s house (I´m not joking – 3 houses away). Take the car. Want to go to work? Take the car. Why? Because there are no damn public transports. And if you by any chance find one, the likelihood of you getting robbed is huge.

The lack of Pick and mix candy. I have to blame me being from Sweden for this one. But I sincerely miss my pick and mix candy. For you who don’t know what that is (poor you, my soul feel for you!!!), it is different types of candy that you pick yourself, put in a bag and pay according to weight.

The wildlife!!! I can´t emphasise this one enough. Here is amazing wildlife, and for me with an interest in wildlife medicine it´s like a gold mine!! The photo opportunities you get here in Kruger national park, I can´t even begin to tell you, you have to see for yourselves!!

The language. I am a big language nerd and this country has 11 (not joking guys!!) official languages. But the one spoken mostly among the white population is Afrikaans, a dutch-based language that I just love! Ask my boyfriend, he knows that speaking to me in Afrikaans makes me more easily convinced about stuff haha.

Fizzers and cool drinks. In the absence of pick and mix candy I had to hunt for a substitute. And I found my love for fizzers!! A soft candybar that comes in a variety of flavours. Seriously addictive. Here in South Africa they are not big water drinkers, to every meal you drink a cool drink (a soda). The cream soda one has become a stable partner in my life, I mean come on, it´s neon green, and tastes like…ehm… cream soda? Can´t honestly describe the taste.

Bakkies and dirtroads. Bakkies, my new dream cars haha. It´s basically what the rest of the world calls a pick-up truck, but you have to agree “bakkie” sounds a hell of a lot cooler! To drive these monsters on the red dirtroads in the sunset or sunrise, or actually any part of the day is an amazing feeling!! No Mercedes or BMW for me, I am all set on a Toyota Hilux (just gonna win the lottery first, but hey no biggie right?)

The petrol station staff. Okay so the first time I was supposed to put petrol in a car, I drive to the petrol station, make sure I get to the right side of the pump, go out of my car at trying to figure out how to manage their machines to put the damn petrol in my car. That´s what any normal person would do right??? But No here you have people putting petrol in your car while you sit in the driver´s seat and wait, you pay through your window and voilá – all done! I got a lot of funny and weird looks that day, I must have looked like a complete idiot to them… but it is quite soft to not even having to get out of your car! 

I have been raised by an incredibly strong woman, she taught me that I could do anything, and that I didn’t need a man to do so. Growing up it was just me and my mom, and she rocked it! I know she struggled, hustled and swore probably many times but she managed and today I am an adult, taking care of myself, having a bachelor’s degree in a subject I love and started traveling solo. So for me there was nothing strange in going places alone, I didn’t have time to wait for friends to figure out if they wanted to come with me, I had a life to live.

I had it all planned, at least the rough edges of it, where I would stay, which scholarships to apply for, when I would need to fly where and when I knew I would need an actual job for a few months to make ends meet. But you know how it goes with plans…usually to hell (not necessarily a bad thing haha!). Mine was no exception…because there I was happily following my plan, spending time in South Africa March-May writing my bachelor thesis when I got invited to a birthday party at one of my South African friend’s house. That´s where I met him, the guy that would take my plans and toss them around until I didn’t know what was up and what was down anymore. Before I knew it we were dating, and I found myself in yet another situation that I had sworn I would never be in, oh yes – the long distance relationship. We all know it, hate it and fear it…but we managed 3 (long) months apart while I worked my butt off in Sweden at my first job as a licensed veterinary nurse. And voilá here came the next move I did not plan for – I didn’t only go back to South Africa for the guy, I moved in with him, that’s right… Now you are probably thinking about all the but, how and when´s and believe me so did I but then I realised I should really stop thinking so god damn much ( I spent 3 years in university overheating my brain.. no need for that now) so I did, and I have never been happier.

I guess what I´m trying to say here is that love is rare, so when you get a chance to have it… hold on people, like you would hold on to your underwear on a beach full of people. You can change plans (hell if you don’t change them they usually change themselves no matter if you like it or not), you can make new plans, and best of all, you have someone to make plans with.

I was a solo wanderess and now I´m not – and I love it!

 

 

 

I´m always up to something, here with the sweet leopard Kekane!

 

 

Somewhere along my travels I bumped into the man that put all my plans on edge

 

 

 

 

The two men that changed my so very well planned life.. 

 

 

I know alot of travelers are afraid of precisely this, to meet someone in a different country. believe me when I say it isn´t easy, but it´s worth it!

 

 

Meeting someone doesn´t mean that all my independence goes away, oh no I am still the same wierd, crazy, outgoing, wild problemsolving woman I was before. it just means I have someone to share it all with, the good and the bad!