It has been a couple academically arduous weeks since my last post, and a few interesting things have happened. Floods, pigs and HIV, to summarize it with a few words.
First things first though, the obligatory weather update. No more PMS weather (knock on wood), but from hear on out spring is properly present. As I type these words people are having the seasons first grill parties out by the lake, and everybody agrees that life is worth living again. The buzz is back, and the optimism (mine included) is just about bearable. In stark contrast, and I excuse the deviation from my usually lighthearted rhetoric, my hometown in Mozambique is drowning in floods. Aside from the immediate death and destruction from obvious reasons, there are a lot of aftermath problems that one could spend a serious while discussing. In the interest of moving things along, however, I'll leave that discussion for another day. My family is fine though, for which I am thankful.
This road leads to my neighborhood.
From flooded Pemba to something entirely different, we have started to learn the basics of suturing at school. Obviously we are all very much excited, especially as we get to do it on pigs. Yup, they bring us some chopped up pig legs and we get to tear them apart and stitch them back together again. I don't know if it is a tad macabre to find it enjoyable, but I have learned it is best not to think in these patterns. Especially not at autopsies. Trust me on this one, it will save whatever sanity you have left.
Martin busy at work
Pigture Perfect (not even sorry :P )
On to some news related to a little project I have been developing for some time. I am a coordinator of a Peer Education project for my university's branch of the student organization called IFMSA. It's all about educating other young people about HIV/AIDS, in an effort to deliver knowledge of a difficult topic in an understandable way. We had our first seminar just last week, for a group of high school students in the area, and it was well received and appreciated. All in all it was a pleasant start, and I'm feeling quite positive about it. Click for more info on Peer Education: HIV/AIDS.
Have a good week everyone!
P.S. Have Coldplay ever made a bad song? Honestly though, have they?? Their new one is fabulous.
Growing up in Mozambique in the international community one inescapably gets saturated with a good dose of South African culture. Not only Braai parties and outdoor adventures, but also a certain cheeky style of humour. Already having a penchant for any astute observation of an innocent mistake, especially in official matters, this is right up my alley. In South Africa they have a travel magazine called Getaway. Like your everyday travel magazine, it is a collection of stories of places by people who have made the trip there. However, what makes this magazine special is that they have a very popular section called "Funny Signs of the Week". Now, in Pemba, there lived this South African couple who not only had many Getaway magazines, but also the special edition compilations. Basically, an entire book filled with all the funny signs sent in by the readers of Getaway. Whenever we would visit them, I would sit on the floor and read all about these marvelous mishaps. It is something about the innocence of it all that makes it so ridiculously funny, with the owner of the sign often having no idea what it actually means. It is a clash of cultures at it's finest, and that is something the South Africans, and myself, find very amusing. I shall share some of my favourites:
=)
A rather unfortunate way to present this certain individuals name.
My absolute favourite. OF ALL TIME:
Right, so why this little anecdote from my past you ask? Well, I just happened to stumble upon something similar to other day when out shopping. It gave me a good laugh, so I thought I'd share it with the world. Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone!
If you ever wondered where to wipe.
P.S. if you are in need of a great song, and by some miracle have not yet heard this one, then I'd definitively give it a listen.
Another week people! School has started out relatively decently, with a mix of tough and easy days. With certain classes not being given on a weekly basis, and others starting a bit later in the semester, there is yet room for some peace of mind. Plenty reading though (what's new, eh), so no lack of things to do with time. That has become a common feature as my studies have progressed, much more independent reading and learning than actual teaching in school. Much more responsibility, that is for sure.
I have been slightly sick for the past couple of days, some standard bug with a couple days incubation time followed by an annoying symptomatic period with fever, sore throat and a productive cough. As per usual, whenever I get sick, I am very keen on finding ways to get better. I find my hit-herto limited medical knowledge instills a certain curiosity, if not yet an actual concrete insight.
In my experience, there are two kinds of medical students. Those who despise pills and medication and wouldn't think of consuming such vile voodoo, and those who do nothing but just that. I am leaning more to the side of the latter. I find it fascinating what all these substances can do to our bodies, and who better to test them on than myself. So this time the elixir of choice was Gardarin, a Polish cough syrup. After reading and Google translating the ingredients, I was disappointed to find out that it was nothing but organic honey and chamomile extract, with a dash of citric acid to spice things up. No fancy chemicals or pseudo-toxic ailments. None. Dismayed, yes, but it tasted heavenly and did soothe the pain briefly, so I guess it did alright. Not near as badass as I had hoped though, next time I'm sick Ill have to try some other shady drugs.
I'll leave you all with this eccentric classic, if ever a fever dream had a melody am I right?
As term break draws to a close, and the music from the Valentine festivities starts to fade, it's about time to gear up once more for the inevitable, school. Second term of the third year of medicine brings the oh so fun subject of pharmacology, the study of medical drugs. There is a saying in Poland, that when you pass anatomy, you know you will be a doctor. When you pass pharmacology, you'll know when. Granted, there will be loads of tough courses in the future, but it does give it that a bit of extra mysticism. Other than delving into the nitty gritty of NSAID's, there will be some other interesting new courses. Introduction to Surgery does sound rather tantalizing, even though I don't see myself as a future surgeon, I'm looking forward to familiarizing myself with the basics.
Not to get ahead of ourselves however, there is still the weekend to be had. Time to get loads of rest/fun in before sleeping suddenly becomes a memory of the past. As an example, Wednesday and Thursday there is class from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening, with about 2 hrs break each day. Alrighty then. Coffee it is.
Don't we all have a love/hate relationship with this elixir?
To enjoy the weekend, here is decent progressive house song, perfect for a chill day. Take care.
Lists. There are few things that grab my attention more than those YouTube videos like 'Top 10 Movies of 2013' or 'Top 10 Hilarious Action Hero One-Liners'. Fair to say, WatchMojo has stolen a fair share of my allotment of time in this world. Nevertheless, lists are great, and so are pants, especially comfortable pants. Without further ado, here are my top 4 reasons to wear Capulana pants ( also related to Kente Pants, or any sort of African Print Cloth Pants)
1. Comfort If you are one of those unfortunate souls who have never tried Capulana pants before, don't waste another second. Rush to your closest African Cloth and Textiles store (no, it doesn't matter if that will require a flight or two) and buy yourself a good length of cloth. Then go to your tailor, and have some nice fitting pants made. The freedom is unfathomable. It barely feels like you are wearing anything at all, while at the same time providing the necessary concealing to remain socially acceptable. How much better can it get?
I'm not sure which screams freedom more, this or a bald eagle.
2. Low Maintenance
There is no pressing need to iron them. Any wrinkles that come from having been in a washing machine are soon lost in their overall fluffy-ness. Right, so if one wears the skinnier kind a need might arise, but one knows that going into it. Keeping with the fluffy kind (which for some inexplicable reason are called 'harem pants') since they are not skin tight, they suffer much less body friction than a regular pair of jeans. No more awkward friction marks in-between your oh-so-unfortunately-muscular-thighs. Also, they are incredibly original and out of the norm, practically a cheap one-way ticket to hipsterdom.
I mean, Originality called and wants its poster girl back.
And before you ask, no, this is not limited to only black people
3. Variety
The options for prints are endless, from not so subtle political messages to animals (a personal favorite) to kaleidoscope-like things. My words somewhat fail to describe it, i'll just link some pictures.
Imagine making pants out of this cloth. Ohh the opinions people would have.
Sorry, couldn't find a hot enough beach, so the radiator will have to do. Imagination people.
4. Movement You know when you are just chilling in you room and that one songs from your starred Spotify lists comes on off random? Well yeah, if you are wearing the highly limited limb garments of the West, you will be stuck just humming along. Get out of your jeans, put on some capulana pants, and the situation changes. Just take the necessary precautions so that nobody actually sees you. While these pants make you feel like you can dance, let's be real here, they are not magic, you will still look dumb. Of course I am going to link some perfect Capulana Pants songs, you need not ask twice.
To think of it, any old summer song will do, spoofed up or no. Anyhow, I think those right there are some pretty valid reasons for wearing capulana pants. And to loosely quote the immortal Reverend Brown, "if loving capulana pants is wrong, I don't wanna be right."
Time to end the little hiatus and deliver some more posts. It has been a revealing couple of months lately, with a lot of change, with the majority being positive. From skiing to rectal exams, I have got to experience a whole lot of new things, so I'll share the best bits down below.
3rd Year Baby! Alright, so I've come to that point in my medical studies where I can for a brief moment peek my head up above the books for a second and get to experience some "real" doctor work. Every Wednesday we have a 4 hour shift of Internal Medicine here at the regional hospital in the Endocrinology Ward. So it is a whole lot of old people with diabetes and hyperthyroidism and what not, but it makes a good change from only reading about it. It is here, however, that the language barrier becomes more evident, as there is no chance that a 60 year old Polish woman is going to know any English. It becomes necessary to use a translator when taking patient history and that does hinder a little the patient-doctor relationship. However, using the little Polish I do know combined with a friendly translator gets the job done. Guess it will be up to me to learn some more.
My attractive classmates getting ready for some Internal Medicine
Rectal Exams
All you men out there know, that there comes a time in all of our lives, when we have to live with the fact that another man has stuck his index finger up our anus, and into the rectum. Rest assured my fellows, you are in good hands. Using the hospital dummies (as in the dolls, not the patients in the psychiatric ward) we practiced proper technique and what to feel for in regards to prostate tumors. Now these dummies felt very life-like (I am guessing) so it was definitively a bit scarring, but as the Americans say:
Peter displaying proper technique
Skiing
As most of my readers know, I am Swedish. Born in Jönköping and raised in the metropolitan hub that is Hagafors, deep in the Småland Woods. Being Swedish, one really should know how to ski, but that is one thing that evaded me as I grew up. Granted, moving to Mozambique at the age of 11 didn't help things. In any case, this was a wrong I was most adamant to correct, and thus I jumped at the chance when my good friend Nicklas asked if I was up for some skiing around New Years. We packed the car and drove up to Sälen, a Ski resort in the Swedish mountains, locally known as fjällen. It took me a little while to learn, but after a couple falls and mishaps I got the hang of it, and managed to ride some of the steeper slopes. Exhilarating would be an understatement, knowing that at any given moment you could crash and crack all your bones has a certain magnificent feel about. Keeping this up, it is just a question of time until I become an action junkie. Also, the stunning scenery at the top of the mountain added that extra little bit of magic.
Furthest North I have been in Sweden, and this place is only half-way up the country.
So 2014 is up next, and from the little I can tell of it so far, it is set to be a pretty decent year. Time will tell!
