The primary reason for my long time absence from writing in this blog has been due to me a "good" medical school student. I have spent countless hours slaving away at the powerpoints (I know you expected me to say books, but we don't use those here... A bit of a stretch from reality in the states). Another study tool I use here is called MediaSite. It's simply a program that allows people to be lazy, not go to class, and watch the lectures at their own leisure. (It comes in handy way more often than I previously deemed necessary.) It gives me the ability to pause, rewind, and rewatch the lectures if a point didn't make sense. (It also gives me the ability to slow down lectures to understand the thick accents of certain professors, or speed them up to where they almost sound like chipmunks :-P) needless to say, it's a form of education and entertainment all in one. So I've been working hard the past few weeks and took my first exam for Histology (imagine looking at cells on slides with pretty colors like purple and pink with swirls) on Monday, followed by my first anatomy practical later that same day. I feel like I did decent on both, but I recently heard the average for the anatomy practical was around a 55%... So we shall wait and see. The following day I took my second "major" exam called mini 1.2 . I won't have those results until next week, so root for me and pray that my wrong answers become correct!
Shooting back to last week Friday, I had my second hockey game. (To recap, my team got blown out the first week by a score of 9-5, bring on the Dolly Parton comments) All week prior to the game, the weather had been stellar. The sun was roasting, the breeze was pleasant and rain behaved. Well, when you live on an island, the weather is unpredictable. Unless of course you predict torrential downpour followed by sun, followed by a flood, followed by sun, followed by more rain. (This is about a time lapse of 2 hours, not multiple days) So back to the story. We had great weather all week, so based on Murphy's Law, we saw all the rain we had so graciously missed all week. So we played the game in the rain against the team called "the empty netters" Med school students are punny and like to make fancy names. A quick web search of the name "Netters" will show the most famous medical textbook images used throughout the world done by none other than Frank Netter. A clever guy from my team suggested that we name our team "Multiple SCOREosis" based on unfortunate disease of the lack of myelination of neurons. Punny. I know. Stop laughing. Moving on...
Our opponents for this week are very talented. When they played last week, they won by well over ten goals. So we knew we would have our work cut out for us. Luckily for us, we had a very competitive game with both teams playing very solid offense and defense alike. In the end, we prevailed by a score of 10-9 after scoring a goal in the final minute of the game. I realize this is Ross Intramural sports, but I haven't had that much fun since I arrived on the island. It was a respectable game and I really look forward to my game tomorrow.
I would be a terrible friend if I didn't stop and give a shout out to my wonderful new friends Matt, Stephanie and Kim. These individuals have been a great outlet in the past few weeks and have really made the island feel (more) like home. Matt is a jokester, storyteller, expert conversation starter, marine and a father. He reminds me a lot of some friends back at home and it has been a riot to have met him. Not to mention he is super intelligent and a great study partner. Kim is my neighbor across the hall who reminds me very much of my cousin Danielle back at home. We have lots of chats, became good friends and go over lots concepts for classes together. Stephanie is generous person will all the heart and soul of the South in her blood. She is genuine and homey and likes to cook and is more than happy to help a person out and expecting nothing in return but a good friendship. So for the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time with these folks and I am very thankful for their friendship.
So yesterday after the exam The entire school came to the conclusion that one of two things was going to happen. 1) Party, or 2) Sleep. Me, being the smartest of them all decided to do both. After the exam I went back to my apartment and slept for 5 hours and caught up on all of the missed sleep from the passed month. (I don't know if that is scientifically possible, but just roll with it ok?) After I woke from my nap, I realized that I had slept through my appointment for a haircut. Oh well. So after my nap I went to Stephanie's apartment and hung out there until her Pot-luck party came into fruition. I got there early and helped her make a sauce (consisting of avacado's and a few spices) and mixed that with spaghetti noodles. It was divine! I was very impressed with the joint effort, but she got the recipe from pintrest so I can't take more than 10% of the credit. Here are some pics of the food.
The party eventually made it's way outside to the patio where I met a plethora of people, both new and old friends. We sat around and traded stories. I can say that one of the best parts about being at this school is that I have met people from every corner of the earth. I can honestly say that I am in the most diverse place I could ever imagine. Every person has a story, a background and a culture that is so unique and worldly. I can't express the shear excitement I feel when I get to meet new people and learn from them. After Stephanies I made my way to "an establishment" called Tulips and got to hang out with my fellow classmates and relax.
This morning I was woken up by my cleaning lady who seems to have the hands of the hulk. She had no problem checking to see if I was home as I heard the hinges loosen from the door frame. I had to scramble to find anything to cover up, (It's freaking hot as hell here, I sleep in boxers) only to realize that I had run out of the last of every type of clean clothing I own here. So I yelled "ONE MOMENT" to avoid giving her show like Tom Cruise in his socks and underwear in the movie Risky Business,(just minus the singing and dancing) (For those that don't get the reference) Needless to say I grabbed my stuff and made my way to the library.
Before reaching the library I stopped at the post office because I was expecting mail from my beloved Sarah :-). I was happy to see that my name was on the "You've Got Mail" list so I merrily made my way inside. I don't believe I have ever been so upset when getting a piece of mail. PLEASE give me a chance to explain myself! Or perhaps, look for yourself...
Yeah right...
I find it funny that they scratched out the "Priority."
I think they made sure my mail was of the highest "Priority"...
So yes, the envelope that my wonderful Sarah had sent me had been destroyed, run over by a truck, or given to the stray dog to chew on. I don't know. And here is where the story turns around. I happily read the letter with a grin from ear to ear. Sarah has always been a wonderful letter writer and even this one was no exception. Let me tell the world something right here and now. Even with all of the technology and the ease of picking out a card at Hallmark, there is nothing that can say "I love you" more than the hand written, old fashioned snail mail. When someone sits down and takes the time to use the ancient piece of technology called a pencil to express the way they think and feel, that my friends means something. Anywho.
Included in this letter (I should say originally, because it never actually made it due to the gaping holes in the envelope (AHHHEEEEMMMMM UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE) was a flash drive with a wonderful track that Sarah composed just for me. All of the songs included have some special significance to our relationship in some way. It's super sappy. (you are so sweet you are going to make me vomit kind of sappy) Yeah, that's us. Here is the link to the song:
COMING SOON, the second I figure it out how to do it...
Now, it may not have had the same effect on you as it did me, but I wanted to acknowledge how awesome Sarah is and how happy that she can make me from thousands of miles away.
Before returning home from the library I stopped to get my hair cut at "Benjie's." I waited my turn as several people went before me, still on cloud nine from the letter that Sarah had sent me. When I finally made it into the chair, I told him how I wanted my hair cut and off he went. I made small talk with him and asked him how long he had been cutting hair. He told me he had been doing this for 18 years. He followed my question up with, "so how long have you wanted to be a doctor?" I told him I had wanted to be a doctor for quite a while, about 10 years or so. I mentioned also that before my dream of becoming a doctor, (as a kid) I had wanted to be a professional hockey player. Our conversation hopped from the ideology of America and how we (as a country) seem to value our athletes more than any other profession (based on paycheck alone). (A slight tangent- I have watched a few hours of an unfamiliar game called Cricket, and in my interpretation, is a hybrid game with baseball as the foundation, with elements of bowling and dodgeball mixed in) I mentioned my interest in the game of cricket, and asked him about several aspects of the game. With this question I made an instant connection with him. We talked and talked about cricket until my haircut had ended and I could hear the excitement in his voice as he taught me something about his culture. I am blessed to have had this experience with him. It really is a special feeling when you can connect with another person on a level based solely on cultural difference. He is a great guy and I would highly recommend that people check out "Benjie's" when they go to get their next haircut. Here is Benjie:
I had a great experience with him. Get your hair cut at Benjie's :-)
After my haircut, I made a stop at a coffee place and bought a couple fresh cookies for some friends that could use a little treat on Valentine's day. I stopped and gave one to Stephanie, and the other to Kim and wished my two friend's a happy Valentine's day before coming home to write everything down while it's fresh in my head.
And here are some pictures to fill in the gaps of the passed few weeks:
Some funky bird
Doing the chicken dance
Only at Ross... (the dog is happily sleeping)
My little friend outside Bob's Chinese Restaurant
"I peench" It's a crab
Matt, eating the crab... kind of.
Resident kittens having fun the night before the exam
"Scrappy" The unofficial Ross mascot
A well deserved breakfast after the exam
My peanut butter-banana milkshake
Let's race! A race? I hope I ween :-) click me :-)
I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog, and I want to wish you all a happy Valentine's day. I'd also like to give out a few special Valentine wishes to my dear girlfriend Sarah, my sister Katrina, and my mom Cheryl.
Thanks for reading,
Nick
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