Winter is quite terrible. Anyone who knows me personally knows how much I loathe this the dark, cold, and desolate period of the year. The beauty of snow is quickly undone by its frigid nature, just as the requests of snow days are quickly turned down (not elementary school any more, this).
However, in the cold of winter, people seem to do their most to make things better. Take the increased number of holidays, Christmas lights, tons and tons of special food etc. It does go some length to compensate for the cold.
Here in little Olsztyn, they have really put effort into making winter more enjoyable for all. The Old Town has been decorated with lights everywhere, and during the weekends there are Christmas Markets, with lots of attractions for both young and old. It is all very beautiful, so let me show you all a bit of what I am talking about.
The Christmas Tree
Lights beautifying the Main Square
Kids train track around Santa himself
Definitively the highlight: Ice Sculptures of the wonders of the world!
Pisa: Just the right amount of lean.
America!
The Pyramids of Giza, a bit of Africa in Ice.
Me with the Arc du Triomphe, I believe it was.
With friends in front of the Statue of Liberty
My personal favourite, the Taj Mahal. This pic doesn't quite do it justice though.
"March to the beat of your own drummer" is the general interpretation of that famous Thoreau quote I learned in English class a short eternity ago. Presently, I have taken a perhaps more literal approach to this philosophical idea, and managed to integrate it into my daily life.
Of late, I have found myself spending the large part of the working week, and indeed the weekend on many a sad occasion, staring into the diabolical abyss of words that are my textbooks. It is getting increasingly monotone, and even if the subject of study may change, the method does not. This is to be expected, I fear, I am in my second year of Medical School after all. My focus has thus changed to how I can make these long hours with my books more enjoyable, and by so means keep myself partly sane.
Music has come to my rescue, but it took me a while to find a fitting genre. The trick is that music needs to be simple enough as to not derail my attention, yet be a slight distraction to force me to focus better. There is nothing as distracting and eerie as the empty sound of silence while trying to concentrate.
I tried a couple of different genres, classical music, ragtime etc. and they fulfilled the purpose to some extent. However, this latest genre I have found very fitting to the study environment, and I now play it daily from my speakers. I am speaking of Drum and Bass, a genre I have not until now given much of a chance. There is something about its rhythm that makes anything you do while listening to it more efficient, be it studying, working out, cooking, jogging etc. I think I have found my own drummer, keeping me focused, and being entertaining while doing so. Let me include just a sample of what I am referring to with this great YouTube Mix. Not too much wubby wubby dubstep, and just the right amount of liquidity of the sound. Listen to it and tell me what you think in a comment below! --Pz.
btw, special mention to the track that starts playing on 19:31 minutes in. Marvelous.
Home. That word brings a picture or a smell of a certain place to the minds of most people. It is where you grew up, learned to walk, learned to ride a bike, learned to drive a car etc. There is a comforting sense of continuum in at all, a stability if you will. With all the benefits and perks of having the background that I have, the lack of the ability to call a certain place home is truly one of the drawbacks.
I grew up a bit all over the place. I learned to walk in Ghana. I learned to ride a bike in Sweden. I learned to drive in Sweden, Mocambique, and most recently Poland. That last one is still a work in progress, mind you =) Thus, there really isn't one place I could call home. One could argue the fact that I have many homes, which, of course, is true, but it is not the same as having one Home.
In all this confusion, however, there is one place where I always feel 100% at home. That is in the company of one or two, or more, people that have a desire to praise God. Being a Christian myself, that has always been something close to my heart, and I have had the fortune of being able to praise God freely wherever I have been. Lacking a true physical home here on this lovely earth, to be able to experience that feeling of belonging is something quite wonderful.
In the end, not having a true home would be a fair price to pay for getting to experience all the things one goes through as a TCK, and it is one I would be willing to pay. Happily, as a Christian, I believe that I can get to experience a bit of the feeling of being home, of having some place to belong. That, in my own humble opinion, is something to be very thankful for, and I truly am.
I'm there again. On the threshold of the doom and gloom. I have to admit, first and foremost, that autumn is a quite lovely season. There is, however, always that notion in the back of one's head that things are drawing to a close. The beauty of the colourful leaves is shadowed by the knowledge of their imminent fall. The cool evenings are slowly getting colder, and even if they are still decently enjoyable, the instances in which they are increasingly far apart. With the weather as it is, it may be a good thing then, that my focus is being shifted from the weather to other things. School is in full throttle, to say the least. New year, new classes, new teachers, same stress. This year though, I am expecting it, so the stress is more manageable. The management of stress, infact, is a thing that gets increasingly harder as the winter approaches. Cold and slippery roads limit such things as jogging and the like. However, with a brand new gym having been installed at the swimming pool close by, I think some hours at the gym are in order!
About a week back I had the honor of addressing all the first year students at the university and invite them to their new semester of studies. A friend of mine recorded the speech on her phone, and shared it with me. I had planned to post this last weekend, but due to the whole internet system being revamped, I didn't have internet for the whole weekend(!). This predicament was somewhat eased by the fact that for Saturday and Sunday I was off to a medieval castle. It was another welcoming gesture for the first years, and couple of my friends and I managed to tag along as well. However, it seems like we all came back with some sort of flu, so you win some you lose some. Anyway, without further ado, here's my little speech:
Note: In difference to most North American school systems, here in Poland, students wear the graduation gowns at the start of the school year as well. That's why they are all dressed like that.
As my twitter followers know, today I assisted in a surgery. I thought I would elaborate a bit more about that on here, share my experience and thoughts on the subject.
I now do my summer practicals at the surgical ward of the hospital, having done already 3 weeks at the nephrology ward. Yesterday I got to witness a couple of quite invasive surgeries, and I was asked if I wanted to assist in one today. To be honest, at first I was a little unsure, I mean, I had no idea what to do. I predicted that my assist competence would be about as good as that of Stewart Downing, in other words, not very competent at all. However, the junior surgeon who was explaining the procedure to me said I needed not to worry since I was doing it with the Chief of Surgery. I should just study up a bit on the surgery once I got home. Yeah, no pressure there.
We were performing an aortic bifemoral bypass surgery on an elderly patient who needed the surgery due to occluded arteries. In other words, the blood in the vessels had the fluidity of the traffic in Nairobi, and an alternative road was needed to avoid getting stuck. We were quite a team in the operation theater. There was the Chief of Surgery, another experienced surgeon and also a junior surgeon. Then there was an anesthesiologist, and a couple of scrub nurses as well.
Before we got started we "scrubbed in" as it is called. We washed our hands and arms in the surgical way, which takes as long as 5 minutes, and then we stood there T-rexing our arms in that boss surgical way waiting for our surgical gowns. When I had my gown on, and had put my squeaky clean hands in a pair of sterile surgical gloves we were ready to go. The chief and I on one side of the patient, and the other two surgeons on the opposite side. I'll now try to explain what the surgery was like, but if you don't feel like reading a bunch of medical terms, I'll include a short video at the bottom of the post of a surgery of the same type.
Firstly, an incision was made on each thigh, and the femoral artery was exposed at the location of the bifurcation of the profunda femoris artery. I held open the incision as the chief initially cut deeper to locate the artery. Then all the small blood vessels around the incisions were tied to prevent bleeding. Here I got to clamp the vessels, as the chief tied a suture around them. When the arteries had been exposed and the bleeding had been controlled, it was time for the big kahuna.
A long incision was made along the mid line of the patients abdomen. When the incision was deep enough to penetrate the peritoneum, I and the junior surgeon stretched open the abdomen using a pair of retractors. The chief examined the intestines to see that everything was ok, and enjoyed quizzing me on various anatomical structures in situ. That's right, not even I could escape having an oral quiz.
After confirming that everything was in order, the chief partly pulled out the intestines and put them on the patients belly in order to get to the aorta. Another incision was performed, now on the posterior side of the peritoneum, close to where the duodenum pierces it. And there, in all its glory, was the aorta. The aorta was cut open at the level which the inferior mesenteric artery branches off, and, obviously, there was a lot of blood splashing about. The chief commenced to pull out loads of old clots inside the aorta, part of which was causing the patient their problems. The aorta was then clamped, and the graft was prepared. The long part of the Y-shaped graft was implanted on the aorta, and using other tools, the two other short parts of the graft were pulled from the place where the incision had been made for the femoral arteries. It was quite intense throughout, as the surgeons were elbow deep in the patient pulling the graft along the original arterial course. The two short ends of the graft where then implanted on each of the femoral arteries. Thus, the bypass had been performed.
It was quite a gory procedure, with intestines and blood everywhere. The aorta was unclamped from time to time to test the sutures holding the graft in place, and whenever there was a small leakage the blood spewed out on everybody. The aorta was then clamped again, the leakages were fixed, and the aorta was again unclamped. This was continued until there was no leakage and the graft was firmly attached to the arteries.The main part of the surgery was now done, the two experienced surgeons left for lunch, and I helped the junior surgeon stitch the patient back up along all incisions, and bandage accordingly.
The surgery took 3 hours, and it was really tiring having to stand for all that time in a small space around the patient. However, for what I got to see and do, it was totally worth it. Even though what I did were things that could have been performed by anyone, I still felt very much part of the medical team. Tomorrow is my last day of summer clerkship, so to have got the opportunity to do this was really something fantastic. Hopefully this will be the first of many major surgeries I can assist in.
I have now spent 3 weeks at the Nephrology ward at the provincial hospital of Olsztyn, doing my summer practice. It has been very interesting, and I have learnt many things, and have gotten to see a lot.
The first year summer practicals whole focus is on the job of a nurse. Even though I am studying to be a doctor, it is important to learn the basics of nursing as well. At the hospital, the nurses thought me how to give injections, including insulin and heparin. I also got to learn how to prepare various IV's that are given to the patients, and of course administer them as well. Maybe most interestingly, I have been able to learn how to draw blood. It was a bit intimidating at first, having to stick someone with a needle is never fun (well, in most cases anyway) and if the patients are scared that only makes it worse. However, after a couple of tries I got the hang of it, and I have been drawing lots of blood samples since. Aside from this, I have also got to observe loads of procedures, and have been taught the basics of patient care. All in all, a good three weeks.
Now, for my final week of summer practicals, I will be at the Surgery ward. I am really looking forward to it, and expecting to see some interesting surgeries. Surgeons do have a reputation of being a bit emotionally void, but I don't think that will be a problem. In fact, as I was out on one of my driving lessons, and I was conversing with the instructor about this topic, he highlighted this fact. He said that many surgeons after grueling surgeries usually resort to vodka as a means to manage the feelings. Sounds both primitive and absolutely intense. I will report back if the butchers, as the driving instructor liked to call the surgeons, seem a bit hung over on Monday.
The cart with all the nurse's equipment. My steady companion.
Nosebleeds... for the 20 years of life that I have enjoyed, they have been my steady companion. Unlike most people, who actually need to be hit on the nose to get a nosebleed, all I have to do is think hard enough and the floodgates open. It can be dry weather, just waking up, stress, overexertion etc. my nose will tell me I need to chill by opening the tap and starting to release my blood. The severity varies each time, as do the instances. One month I might be totally free, another month I'll have numerous nosebleeds. It has become a part of my life though, I see it more as a minor nuisance than something severe.
This past week I had one of those nosebleed frenzy weeks. In fact, when I came home from work yesterday, and cranked up Rattle by Bingo Players, I got a nosebleed from the sheer amount of bass that was pumping through my subwoofer. I love my sound system!
However, as I was lifting the latch of the wheels on one of the hospital beds, my nose started bleeding again. The doctor nearby told me it was not very healthy that I was getting so many nosebleeds from such trivial things, so she booked me an appointment with the ENT. (Ear-Nose-Throat Doctor, not Treebeard, even if that would have been way cooler.)
The ENT looked into my nose with one of those tools they use, and it took him about 1.57 seconds to confirm, "This is not good..." Apparently I have a congenital disorder which leads to dilated blood vessels in my Kiesselbach's plexus. Which in other words means that since birth, the small arteries in my nose have been exposed, and have had thinner walls due to their larger size. No wonder then that my nose is synonymous with the Niagara Falls.
Obviously, this problem had to be fixed. This is where it gets gory. First I was given an anesthetic spray up my nose, which was so sharp and stinging, very much like pepper actually, that any effort of keeping my tears back was utterly pointless. Anybody who has ever accidentally got piri-piri up the nose will know exactly what I am talking about. This was only the very beginning though. Then the doctor pulled out what can be best described as an electric rod, with which he was to cauterize (close, basically) my blood vessels with. I cannot even begin to describe the pain which followed, I swear that anesthesia had no effect, whatsoever. Each zap, nay, each freakin' Thunder of Mjölnir that rod delivered, was like a million siafu each clamping their powerful jaws on the floor of my nasal septum. Time and time again. When it was finally done, the doctor begrudgingly told me that he wasn't able to get all the arteries in one go, I would have to return for more. I just gave a blank stare as an answer. The fun wasn't over yet! He propped up my now abused nostril with a bandage roll and told me to come back later. As if people weren't staring before, now I had a tampon up my nose to attract further viewers. Marvelous...
Seeking refuge in the Russian Toilet after the Electrocution
After two hours, when my bandage was so saturated with blood that it was starting to drip, I made my way up to the ENT ward for another dose of death. This time, either the anesthesia worked better, or my nerves had just had enough and were slowly abandoning me, because I didn't feel as much pain. That said, it was very far from pleasant, very, very far. About as far as the gap between Arsenal and Sp*rs #mindthegap. Anyway, I got it done, and the doctor felt he had got all my little bleeders. I go back tomorrow for a checkup. Oh, and I no longer have to wear that thing in my nose (hurray!).
I might indeed miss my random nosebleeds, I think over time I have developed some sort of Stockholm syndrome for them. However, it will be nice not having to fear for my life each time I have to blow my nose. So is this the end of me and my life long nasal companion?
Working as a nurse's aid after my first year of medical school has brought me in contact with a lot of special people. Since I am doing my practicals at the Nephrology department, the patients are mostly elderly. One of the big barriers of communication with the elderly is of course the language. Unsurprisingly, English is rare, with only the very well educated (doctors, professors etc.) knowing any at all. English is usually found, if at all, among people under the age of 30. Middle aged and elderly individuals usually know some Russian, having been born during the Communist days. Interestingly, the eldest of the elderly, people around 80 years old, know German, since Olsztyn used to belong to Prussia. Then the city was called "Allenstein". However, with my limited Polish I can usually get by, but anyway, back to the peculiar patients.
As I was accompanying a couple of patients and keeping check on them while they waited for their tomography, the secretary in the waiting room turned on some nice classical music.
-"Great", I thought to myself "every old person loves some nice classical tunes!" So I nudged the old gentleman sitting beside me and asked him if the he liked the music. He replied with a half-raised eyebrow that it was indeed OK. Not really convinced of his answer, I questioned him further,
-"Don't you like Bach, Mozart, CHOPIN!!" (Chopin is to Poland's classical music as George Washington is to America's politics, eternally exalted and without any faults whatsoever.) Unimpressed, he told me he was more into modern music. Now it was my turn to raise the eyebrows.
-"Yes, you know," he began, "I really like that music with the nice base, like rap". My eyebrows were now almost one with my hairline. "I don't now any names, but I really like those artists. Oh, do you know where Ostroda is?" I nodded, saying that I had indeed heard of this little town outside Olsztyn. "Well, there is a big reggae festival there," he said with an undoubted smile. Remember, this man was like 60-70yrs old, and he was telling me where the best concerts where at. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.
A bit baffled by the surprising reggae fanatic of an old man to my right, I switched my conversation to an even older lady on my left. She was one of those people who also knew a bit of German, so we had a nice little Polish/German converstation, which is peculiar since I don't actually speak any German. I just "Germanified" my Swedish, and it seemed to work.
As I was getting ready to head back home, another old lady, a visitor at the ward, saw me with my phone. Observing that I indeed knew how to operate such a machine, she asked me to come quick and help. We entered the room were the patient she was visiting was lying, trying to figure out what to do with the phone. It was currently ringing, and they very excitedly asked me what one should do in such a situation. I, trying very hard not to seem condescending, pointed at the big green button and told her to press it. With her whole body strength she pressed the big green answering button, she could have broken it with the determination she had, and started talking very fast and happily with the person on the other end. Hero deed of the day? Well, yes, yes indeed!
When I lived in Kijabe, I had the opportunity to go and witness many kinds of surgeries. However, due to a combined lack of time and actual connection to any of the cases, I started medical school without ever actually witnessing a surgery. Thus, when one of the patients where I do my summer practicals needed a surgery to implant a permanent catheter, I was very happy to observe. I initially thought I would be watching from a separate room, looking down at the surgeon and patient from a little window perhaps. I blame Grey's Anatomy for this hasty presumption. I actually got to get all dressed up in green scrubs, and witness the surgery first hand, standing right next to the surgeon and his assistant. To say it felt incredibly legit would be an understatement.
Now this was actually a very simple procedure, and didn't even involve much cutting and blood, and it was all over in a little more than half an hour. So even though I didn't witness a radical hysterectomy or something absolutely crazy, I was still awed by my first surgical experience. Yes, let's call it that.
The following day, which would be today in fact, I got to observe when the doctors performed a kidney biopsy. The doctor, knowing my Swedish roots, was keen to point out that the equipment used was of Swedish origin and invention. A moment of personal hubris ensued as I watched the BARD Biopsy Gun (which is manufactured in Uppsala) pierce through the patients back and into the kidney, which was displayed for all to see via Ultrasound. Then "BANG" went the needle gun, taking a part of the patient's kidney, before being swiftly and skillfully withdrawn. All very quick. However, recovery time is about a day, as the anesthetic wears off and the patient's body starts to realize someone stole part of their kidney, and makes sure the brain is aware of this hideous crime.
Until next time folks, and remember, whenever you are walking through a dark alley, protect your kidneys! Organ robbers lurking everywhere, you have been warned, Ha!
Today was my first day of my summer practicals. I am doing them here at the provincial hospital in Olsztyn, at the Nephrology Department. I wasn't really sure what to expect of my summer practicals, not sure how much hands-on experience I would be able to gain and so forth, but I must say I have been happily surprised. After the nurse explained to me how it's done, I got to inject a heparin solution (an anti-coagulant given to bed-ridden elderly patients) into a patient all on my own. The first person I did it on was very skinny, so it was a bit tricky and I thought I might hurt them unnecessarily, but it went well. The other 3 patients I injected had some more fat on them, so it was quite easy. The nurses seem to trust me quite well after just the first day, and don't seem to be to annoyed at having someone steadily on their tail. That's good, wouldn't want to be on the nurses' bad side now would I? Tomorrow, however, me and a doctor from the department are going to observe (from the gallery) an operation carried out on one of the patients. This will actually be the first operation that I witness, and I am very much excited about that.
Now to the bewildering piece of bathroom equipment that is the Russian Toilet. They have one at the Nephrology Department, most likely a remnant from former times. One would think all water-closets should look the same, but like with everything else, the Russians have an alternative idea. Instead of one's excrement's landing in the water where the stench is somewhat subdued, they land on what can best be described as a little ridged holder. There they lie, not very far from their origin, and I can only imagine the difficulty that must haunt all Russians with acute diarrhea. The splashing effect would be devastating. To all my worried readers, I can confirm that my visit to this exotic toilet did indeed go smoothly, but I am perhaps a bit shaken.
Notice the little "pool" at the back, this is where everything lands...
Yo-yoing. You know, when you have to go to town to do something in the morning,then head back home, then back to town in the afternoon. Then back to town the next day etc.. Instead of everything just flowing along smoothly in one direction it's rather is like a yoyo: up, down, up, down. (Before everyone gets too excited, by "one direction" i am not referring to some British boy band neither am I talking about RVP's ambitious little boy inside of him; please, let's keep it real here)
To get started with my driving license, I had to go get one of those eye-checkups where they test if you can see the letters on the board (which is very hard when I never really bothered learning the Polish pronunciation of the letters themselves, so I just started wording my way through it and sounded like a fool: "Aa", "Behh" "Kuhh" "Pe" etc...) Anyway, i got my little note saying that I was good to go, just to be notified later on in the day it was the wrong sort of test. I had to have an eye- plus cardio-respiratory check. Sigh, it's not like I am signing up for the army...
I went to the proper place the next morning, managed to get the point across that I needed to see this very specific doctor (making sure I made no mistake now). Unfortunately she was out for the day, "return tomorrow" they told me. Yo-yo.
I returned the following day, zooming past the cars in the traffic jam on my bike on my way there, feeling ever so good about myself. I told the secretary that I was there for my appointment, and she looked through my documents and passport. I let out a small sigh of relief, finally things were happening. "Ok, everything looks good with your documents, come back Thursday before lunch and the doctor will see you then." It was currently Tuesday. Yo-yoing over level 9000.
Being an incurable optimist I tried to focus on the good of it all. The exercise from biking up that slope for the up-tenth time was terrific. Really great... No, really, it was awesome. Wish I could spend the rest of my life doing just that.
Anyway, I went back on Thursday, and after about 2hrs of waiting, I finally got my stupid little checkup done. The doctor who did it was lovely though, to be fair. 70 plus year old lady that used a magnifying glass to read my fine-print documents. Sort of ironic that she was checking my eye-sight, but oh well. She even ordered me to get a Polish girlfriend so that my Polish language skills wouldn't be so crappy. I guess now I can say that I will be partying on the doctor's orders.
Oh.. and I finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight Rises. Best movie I have seen in a cinema, even better than Inception, in my opinion. Thoroughly satisfied.
My trip back to Olsztyn after vacation in Sweden was annoyingly eventful if anything. Flight and the like went fine, managed to squeeze my bloated luggage along, even though it was borderline overweight. However, the bus taking me from Gdansk to Olsztyn broke down about an hour outside Gdansk, leaving us all stranded in the Polish wilderness for 2 very long hours. Thankfully a backup bus did arrive, and to make up for the time lost the driver engaged Ludicrous Speed (Spaceballs anyone??) and we made it back in one piece, albeit a bit shaken and tired.
Traffic is still slow in Olsztyn, with the numerous roadworks everywhere. I know opinion is divided on the subject, but as far as I am concerned, everyone I've seen seems to be working hard to get it done quickly. However, I don't expect it to be done anytime soon. As a result, I went and bought myself a bike. Terrific purchase if I may say so myself, been using it a lot already. Olsztyn has got some pretty good bike lanes, so it's not a bad investment. Although, I'll be back to using the buses come winter.
Next week I'm starting my summer practicals, which I am looking forward to. Many of my colleagues have already done them, and I've mostly heard positive feedback, so I'm excited. Alongside my summer practicals I will also be taking my driving license (finally). This will be third country in which I learn how to drive, I started out with some lessons in Sweden, then I attended driving school in Mozambique, and now hopefully I'll get it all done in Poland. Thankfully the driving instructor knows some English, so I won't have to resort to my limited Polish =) Expect to hear lots about both these new adventures in the coming weeks.
Yet another little crazy idea my brother got, that I most gladly helped him execute. After putting the bumblebee in the freezer to make it less active, we managed, after many many tries, to tie a string around its abdomen. Then we let it warm up in the sun, and in no time it was flying around again, but now it had been domesticated =)
Back on the west coast! This time as a youth leader at a Christian youth camp. Unfortunately the rain is quite persistent, but we are hoping for better tomorrow. One feels sunshine should be a constant at seaside resorts, but higher powers seem to disagree. Speaking of higher powers, there was an earthquake last night (!) It wasn't that serious though, like 4 on the richter scale. Didn't even wake up to feel it to be honest, but it was all over the papers in the morning. Bet this is everyday stuff for people in Japan, but here in Sweden it is classed as something quite exraordinaire. End of the world? Well, maybe?
There used to be a big tree by the edge of the garden, where the local road and our drive-way intersect. By the authorization of powers greater than me, namely my parents, it was cut down. In all fairness, the place looks better with it lying in separate logs on the ground, rather than it blocking the view. In any case, my father thought it would be nice if we could move one of the logs into position and turn it into a make-shift bench.
Only thing though... it's a massive log. Absolutely enormous.
There are lots of farmers around the area where I live, so it wouldn't have been all that hard to get some heavy equipment brought in to do the job, but what's the fun in letting big machines take all the glory? Thus my dad and I tried to wiggle the big log loose, but it moved little. Swallowing our manly pride, we decided to give in and let a machine have a go at it, not a heavy duty one though, because that would still be cheating.
We tied a rope around one end of the log, and hooked the rope onto the car, as to rotate the log into place. We feared the rope might break, but figured it was worth a try.
The log moved! Ever so slowly the log was getting into place, and the rope wasn't breaking either. Fantastic! Then my dad shouted from inside the car, "it's on fire!!"
I looked up and saw a bit of smoke coming from the bonnet, and my dad hurrying to open it up to let the engine cool off. Yes, the log was too heavy even for the car to deal with it and the added difficulty of having to drive uphill caused the engine to over-heat. No damage was done to the car itself, it just needed a breather so to speak. However, since we are selling it in the coming months it would be a sad shame if something actually happened to it, so we gave up on that idea.
Finding ourselves back at square one, we turned to that aspect of humanity that ever so often proves our ally, our blunt stubbornness. That log was going to move, one way or the other.
We dug our heels in, and with our last strength (plus some added help from my little brother who came out wondering what all the commotion was all about) we actually managed to get it into place.
The car might overheat, but not the will of a determined man. How beautiful. It was such a sentimental glorification of the power of the the free man that I almost heard "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing in the wind, and shed a solitary tear. Well, no, I certainly did not, but you get the idea. The log was in place and I was happy with my effort.
I could get all deep now and compare the log to the troubles in life, heavy and seemingly unmovable. The car to that perfect quick fix that never actually works. Get all worked up and gloriously promote "will-power" and the "never-say-die attitude". But I'm too lazy for that right now, so you can write that last part for yourself.
It all started the day my little brother Joel ventured into the forest armed only with his little knife, and brought back a stick from a rowan (svenska= rönn) tree. He carved the stick to make it bend nicely, we stringed it, made some arrows, and the rest as they say is history.
Enjoy this little video clip, depicting what me and my crazy siblings do to enjoy our summer vacations.
Disclaimer: Don't try this at home, unless your awesome, then, by all means, do try =P
What you are about to read are the filaments of
a somewhat diffuse idea that has finally been put into words. Imagine, in a
different dimension perhaps, where the attractive percentage of women could all
be grouped into three different categories. Each not better than the other, as
the saying goes "the beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but yet
different in their own way.
Alright, now that you have laughed at the
impossibility of that idea, endure the sarcasm as I detail my presumptions of
what these groups might have looked like.
The idea is that every single attractive woman
on the planet belongs to either of three groups, which defines the reason for
their attractiveness. In my opinion, these three groups are "Pretty",
"Beautiful" and "Hot". Ok ok, sit down already, I'm not
engineering some sort of human segregation project, those never seem to work, but
bear with me as I elaborate.
The Pretty Girls: These are
the girls that in a pinch could substitute for coffee sweetener. They might
often use the "puppy face look" to get whatever they want, but one
should not be tricked by their soft demeanor. They are not helpless at all, but
know very well what they are doing, and can use this with equal finesse for
both good and bad. They will let other people feel like they are in control,
but let's be honest; we all know who is actually in charge here. A good example
of The Pretty Girl is country singer Carrie Underwood. There is a YouTube
clip of her stating that she thought Europe was a country, obviously a bluff to
enhance her prettiness...(right?!?)
Carrie Underwood:
The Pretty Girl
The Beautiful Girls: These are the girls that
have an almost regal gleam about them. Very self-confident, driven, successful,
and absolutely gorgeous, They are very adept at commanding attention, and can
silence a room and send jaws crashing down faster than the economy by just
opening the door and walking in. However, they may sometimes tread a little
close to that fine line which separates beautiful queen and pretentious diva.
Nevertheless, beautiful girls usually don't let their angelic looks get the best
of them, but at the same time tend not to be overly humble. In contrast with
the Pretty Girl, The Beautiful Girl doesn't attempt playing dumb to get
attention, but rather the opposite. Ne-Yo sums it up pretty well in his song
"Miss Independent". As far as beautiful girls go, no one does it
better than Beyonce Knowles, the Queen of R&B. She is married to one of the
greatest music artists to have ever lived, and no one would refute the fact
that Jay-Z is the one who got lucky here.
Beyonce Knowles: The Beautiful Girl
The Hot Girls: Sexy and I know it and not
afraid to show it. In addition to good looks, this girl is also adept at
communicating, and thus is very popular, with plenty of friends. Usually a
trendsetter, and thanks to the emperors-new-clothes mentality of people around
her, usually quite a successful one. People may get the notion that The Hot
Girl is very superficial, not caring much for what is of actual worth, the
validity of this of course varying from case to case. She is not as
"Innocent" as the Pretty Girl, and not as admired as The Beautiful
Girl. Nevertheless, even though she is a bit "dangerous" and receives
mixed opinions, everyone certainly wants to be her friend. Kim Kardashian is a
pretty good example of "The Hot Girl", extremely popular and
definitely a trendsetter. I say pretty good, because she hasn't done much to
better her reputation, but then again, maybe that's a Hot Girl trait, what do I
know....
Kim Kardashian: The
Hot Girl
There you have it, that's my grand theory, all
spelled out. Hate it, Love it, whatever. Let me know in a comment below what
you think. I have spoken with some people about this idea in the past and I
know I am not the only one to have this sort of theory. Looking forward to hear your ideas.
This past week I have been away to the west coast of Sweden on a Christian Music Festival called "Gullbranna Festivalen". It was my first time there, and I very much enjoyed it. The quality of the bands playing was very high, with bands such as Leeland and Stryper performing, as well as some less known but quality Swedish bands such as Rånarligan and Billion Ocean. However the highlight of the whole concert was hands down Switchfoot. This was their first concert in Sweden, and I for one thought it lived up to all its hype. The concert hall was PACKED and when Switchfoot came out on stage the whole crowd erupted! At one point, the lead singer Jon Foreman, waded into the crowd and started singing atop a chair or something in the middle of everyone (see video). Switchfoot later rounded off the evening by having the lights dimmed and singing their song "Only Hope" with everyone in the crowd shining their flashlight-apps. All in all a great concert in a fun festival.
Note: Due to how incredibly loud it was, the sound got a bit muffled, but you get the idea...
I have been thinking and discussing with various people over the last couple of days about places on this dear earth that I would like to visit. Sure, I have been around quite a lot compared to the next guy, but lets be honest, there is still so much to be seen, and it would take a couple of lifetimes to really say one has "seen it all". A mere mortal as myself cannot, so I have narrowed down the places I'd like to visit in the next 10 years to five different cities. Bucket list of travel destinations if you will.
Enough talk, here they are in no particular order:
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro
Rio... there is so much good crammed into one place here. Beautiful ocean and landscape, plenty of football, people from all over the world, Portuguese, beautiful statues and architecture, hot weather, hot girls ;) I have had Brazil on my "go to" place for a long time. I have a feeling I would really like the culture there, where everything and everyone is just one whole mixture of different places. Definitively a top travel destination. Oh, and the fact that the World Cup 2014 is held here is just a nice little bonus.
Korea: Seoul
This particular choice has a lot to do with the fact that I have many friends and former classmates who come from this country. One's interest are influenced by one's surroundings, this here a perfect example. Other than wanting to see my friends' national capital, I also am yet to really experience Asia. Obviously this is a huge continent, but as far as the Far East is concerned I think Korea would be a nice choice. Its not as communist and creepy as China, and not as crammed and chaotic as Japan (at least, this is the notion I get). It is a nice in between ("lagom" if you speak swedish). I hear the have pretty intense internet connections here as well, and the Swedes have Pirate Bay; this could be the start of a wonderful partnership =)
Czech Republic: Prague
This choice might come as a bit of a surprise to some people, but Prague is a seriously underrated city, and absolutely worth traveling to. Czech Republic shares a border with Poland, so it's not like it's on the opposite side of the world, and for many Poles it is a favorite tourist destination. Spending a weekend roaming around the Staré Město, exploring all the little
cafe's hidden around the corner is something I am planning to do sometime
within the next few years. It doesn't get more European than that =)
United States: New York
America... the country where everything is bigger and better =) Nah, but jokes aside, going to America one day is an absolute must for me, and what place could be better than the Big Apple itself. If Jay-Z and thousands of other artist are to be believed, this is the place to be. Another reason for me being interested in America is obviously, since just like Korea, I have a lot of friends there. Maybe not in New York in particular, but hey, if I made it across the Atlantic, one would think they would jump on the Greyhound and meet up. Wishful thinking? Hope not! =) Central Park, World Trade Memorial, Broadway, Times New Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, the sights to see go on and on and on. Might have to spend a month here to see it all, probably more.
England: London
I see your smiles, that's right, LONDON! If you even know me in the slightest you can be assured that I have one motive and one motive only in going to London. This is of course to see the Emirates Stadium. The Mecca of any Arsenal fan, the Holy Grail of English Football. Without a doubt, if I am ever in England, Ashburton Grove is where I will be. After I have seen the stadium, however, there is of course a lot of other things to see in London, for example The Eye, Big Ben, The Tower of London etcetera etcetara. As a side note, I do have a little bit of a connection to England, as my dad was in fact born under the Queen's rule in the British Empire. Ghana got their Independence a year after he was born, which we all are thankful for, but there is my claim to England.
There you have them, my wishlist for travel destinations in the next 10 years. Let's see how many of them I can fulfill.
As I think many of you have heard, I participated in a competition called Golden Scapula and did quite well. I decided to take the time to explain exactly what it is, especially so that my non-UWM friends will understand what it is going on. I guess the best way is just to tell the story as it happened, so here goes...
Golden Scapula, or in Latin Scapula Aurea, is an anatomy competition that is held annually in Poland. Polish divisions of the Medical Schools compete against each other, and the English Divisions, which are composed of international students, compete against each other. The competition consists of a 2 hour Anatomical Theory section, which is composed of 100 MCQ, followed by a Practical Anatomy consisting of a "Pin" test on specimens of all different types of body parts, from brain tissue to metatarsals. Each year it is held at a different University in Poland (Krakow, Szczecin, Warsaw etc.) and this year we had it on home turf as it was held in Olsztyn.
The test day was Friday June 1, and we started with the MCQ. It was quite difficult, and tiring, like an AP exam, except more intense but a little shorter.
Getting ready for the MCQ
Then after this we all went to hotel to have lunch. We were treated to some nice Polish cuisine and a quite marvelous dessert. However, after this we had the next session of the test, the practical part. There were 50 specimens, and each worth 2pts (Correct name and correct side of the body) so all in all 100pts to be had.
It was most definitely the hardest Pin test I have ever taken, with extremely complicated CT and MRI images, and terribly tricky specimens. After that test the term "Mind Raped" was most fitting, as to get an idea of how it was.
The following day we got to know preliminary results. It was very positive as we were told that my team from Olsztyn, along with the teams from Krakow and Warsaw had progressed to the the Team Competitions. That we were quite excited, Krakow and Warsaw are the two biggest cities in Poland and have very bright students.
The team competitions which were the following day were less serious, and more like anatomy games. Our professor, Prof. Gielecki has been working on a virtual anatomy program for quite a while, and games from that was used. Games included anatomy puzzles, quizzes on arteries and the different Brodmann's areas of the brain. Xbox Kinect was used, allowing us to move things around on the big projected screen by simply moving our hands, grabbing things and moving it to the right area etc. Very futuristic and quite cool actually. Well, I was impressed anyway, I have lived in Africa for far too long =)
Anatomy games on Xbox Kinect, that's the future =)
Then came time for the award ceremony and everyone got back to being all serious. First they gave the prize for the best Team. The scores of students were added together, and results from the Team Competitions were also factored in. Olsztyn came third! We were very excited, and me and my teammates (Justyna and Peter) went to claim our prize.
Receiving 3rd Place Award for Team Competitions
Then it came to the individual competition, every man's and woman's score counted for themselves, and no team competition involved. There was a quite a tense feel in the air, everyone fancied their chances. Third place was given to a lad from Canada attending the Medical University of Warsaw, he had got 145 points from the MCQ and Pin tests. Second place was to be announced, and it went to a Norwegian attending the Medical University of Krakow. He had accumulated 146 points from the MCQ and Pin tests. First place of Golden Scapula English Division, cue drumroll.... went to Joshua Manu of Olsztyn! 147 points! (yes, that's how tight it was!!) I was literally over the moon!!, but at the same time also in a state of disbelief, had I actually pulled this off!? I went up to receive my award, which not only included a trophy and a certificate, but also hundreds of dollars worth of medical books. Yes, textbooks as prizes, as anticlimactic as it may sound, it is actually great since they are quite expensive for a poor MK like myself ;)
After receiving the First Place award.
Medical Textbooks for Prizes
For all the success of Olsztyn English Division, (the best Team Competition placement for the Division as well as the first individual competition win) Olsztyn Polish Division absolutely killed it! As in they won basically everything! They won their Team Competition, and in the individual competition they claimed first place AND second place. So overall a very good day for Olsztyn and Prof. Gielecki (teacher for both divisions) He is the somewhat shorter and content-looking gentlemen at the front of this picture.
Olsztyn = Najlepszego
Oh! and another cool thing, we were recognized for our efforts by not only the University TV, but also got a full page in the local newspaper!
The title reads: "Anatomy Demystified" or something like that.
This week was the first annual (we'll, hopefully it will be annual) Dean's Cup. There were four teams competing, one made up mostly of Swedish students, one made up of students from the Polish medical division, two teams of Saudi students.
In our first game we came up against one of the Saudi teams, the team from Pre-Med. The Saudis at my school are decent at footy, but most importantly, they have all played together for quite some time, so their chemistry is pretty good. The match started with them doing most of the pressing, and we looking to catch them on the break, but we gradually built confidence and started getting into the match. We managed to go one ahead as I was put clean through on the break, coolly poked it past the 'keeper, and watched as the ball slide in for 1-0. The crowd went wild, and I kissed my Ghana badge as I had decided to wear my Ghana jersey, since it also is yellow, it could double for both Sweden and Ghana. See what I did there =)
However, Pre-Med managed to get a lucky goal back from a corner, and even though we pressed for a second goal, sort of Barcelona-Chelsea style, it was them that managed to get the vital goal a minute from time, and they proceeded to the finals as we were left to play for third. It was a bitter blow, especially since we had so many chances, but that is life.
Against the Polish Division, who had lost their game against the Saudi Medical division, we started brightly. Lots of possesion, and when I was allowed the space to turn in midfield I found Atul with a pass and he made no mistake and buried it into the net for 1-0. Get In! We even got a penalty which was dispatched Zambia style by Alaa, and we were looking good value. We increased our lead to 4-0, after a goalie-defender-striker scramble, I could just tap it into an empty net for my second goal of the cup. Someone else scored as well, and we entered sort of cruise mode. However, they Polish managed to pull back to 5-3 before we finally woke up and finished the game in style, winning 8-3.
We got the bronze, but our sights are for next year, when we will be looking to grab the gold.
Croatia vs Spain. 18th of June. 20:45. Category 1. Yep, it is happening, for my first top level football match (not counting the Mozambique vs Benin match I saw back in Maputo) I am going to be watching the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Modric, and Casillas grace the pitch. I am actually in a state of disbelief at this fact.
Getting tickets was quite a pain I must admit, and the fact that the Euro's happen right during exam session doesn't make it easier either (I have Chem final exam on the morning of the 18th for example).
So how did I get the ticket? Well...I had heard from a friend of a friend that there was maybe a possibility to get a ticket to Croatia vs Spain, so I made sure I was free that evening and the following morning, and offered a fee I thought reasonable. 600 PLN. Ticket prices inflate at a whopping rate though, and it was not long before the buyer in question had received a higher offer, and that ticket was lost to the world. I despaired a little, but I wasn't surprised, I had actually given up hope of gettting a ticket for the Euros long before that in any case.
Then I got an email from UEFA, saying that the Ticket Portal had opened up again, and that one could buy the remaining tickets that had not got sold during the first Ticket Portal opening back in December. I logged in, but the website was lagging due to the massive amounts of people with the same idea as myself, and it was taking forever to order the tickets. My friend Peter also tried to log in, and after several attempts he managed to select the tickets, and buy them as well. Going to the Euro 2012 was suddenly not a dream, but an approaching reality.
It was pretty incredible that we actually got the tickets, because later on that day I heard from another friend that she had also tried to get tickets to that match online, but that they were now sold out.
It is also nice that I have actually been to the stadium where the match is taking place (Album on facebook page). I went there with my friend Muhammad Husain when we went to Gdansk for some sightseeing. It will be remarkable to see it now packed with 40 thousand people. Can't Wait!
But now it is all work and no play up until that day, exams are coming and they always manage to sneak up around the corner and catch you by surprise.
You know it, *Sniffles*, something is certainly going around, everyone, including myself, seems to have a mild case of the runny nose. This makes life difficult and rather uncomfortable, especially at all and every public place. Take the library, for example, where btw they have like doubled the guard (lol) since some radio station came for a visit or something. I think it is safe to say that the library director or whatever is suffering from a severe case of paranoia, but that is old news of course. Anyway, the library, where everyone is bent over trying to read something makes for quite a hilarious place to have a runny nose. I am sitting there, seriously contemplating my options, go to the bathroom for the up-tenth time to blow my nose at risk of looking like I have other less noble intentions, or stay and join the orchestra of sniffles. The latter option is not too bad at the early stage, when one's part in said orchestra is like the flute, soft and not very noticeable, but when it evolves into something like the tuba, its less pleasant. So there I am, stuck in the snotty dilemma (excuse the image) whilst trying to bend my head down to read about, ironically, the nose's function in the respiratory system while not letting the Niagra fall lose from my nares. Oh the troubles of this world...
On a lighter note, the worst seems to be over, and I can go to bed gladly knowing that tomorrow I will be faced with one less difficulty. Oh, and a bunch of fellas who have had a little bit too much of something are outside my window at this moment happily singing "Koko Euro Spoko" (what did I tell you!)
Unless you happen to dwell under a rock, or insist that a game played with the skin of a pig should be termed football, you know this summer is the Euros in Poland/Ukraine. As the event draws ever closer, Poland has prepared itself well for the summer spectacle, building fancy stadiums, expanding airports, revamping the infrastructure, all to make sure that the Euro 2012 is the best it can be. Then it came to that little detail of choosing a anthem for the Euro. In 2008 Enrique Iglesias got everyone moving with "Can You Hear Me", and before that Nelly Furtado pumped it up with "Forca". So when Poland chose a song to represent the Euro, surely they would choose a Polish superstar to deliver the goods. Hahaha, oh no. The ones entrusted were a band called Jarzebina, made up of a group of Polish women aged between 32 and 82(!) dressed up as grannies in a traditional custom.
At first glance this seemed like utter and complete madness, like, beyond insanity madness, but on a second thought, maybe its a genius move? The phrase, "So bad, that it is actually kinda good" comes to mind.
I mean, the song is awfully catchy, as in when you walk around you sorta bob your head to "Kokokoko Euro Spoko, piłka leci hen wysoko!" and on top of that, it is awfully original. You've not heard much like it.
I recall for at the World Cup in 2010, when shakira released her "Waka Waka", not many
people liked it at first, everyone wanted K'naan's "Waving Flag" to be the sole anthem of the
world cup. 2 years later, its Waka Waka thats still playing at clubs and football stadiums around
the world, not Waving Flag. Sure, Shakira's fantastic hips may have something to do with this
remarkable turn of events, but don't hang these grannies out to dry yet, I feel that the world will
warm up to this song. You heard it here first, "Koko Euro Spoko" will be a huge hit.
Ok, so I guess it is fair to say that Olsztyn is "my town" now. I don't know, it is always weird for a TCK like myself to try to belong to a place, and that funny feeling of home sickness when I see an airport on an episode of Grey's Anatomy is just one of those things I have to try to suppress. So, for the time being at least, this is my town. Anywho, to get back on topic, my family visited this last week, so I got to show them around Olsztyn. Not that there is a whole lot to see, and many interesting things I have yet to come across, but I showed them what I knew. Interesting thing it is, touristing a town where one has lived for about 7 months, but I definitely came across some new places, and it just goes to show that there are always novelties wherever one goes. The break has been good, but now it is time to get back to real life and finish school well before summer. Work Hard, Play Hard. =)
On a side note, This good weather has really got me itching to play some more futa... gotta find time to get on that. My feet are itching for some action.
