Gesundheit

Studying for medical school gives you tunnel vision. Not like, actual tunnel vision, but figuratively speaking. Because only when one pulls oneself away from the books does one finally see the big picture and realize that time flies. I feel like I just sneezed, and already my first medical school exam is behind me (the written part, at least. My anatomy practicum begins in exactly one hour).

You can never study everything in medical school, and when you learn that, you also learn that you don't have to be studying all the time. And that's why I am blogging right now. All the exciting new things about this place have now become routine. Lectures, dissection, memorization. The formaldehyde smell has thoroughly seeped into my scrubs and now I'm afraid to put them in the wash with the rest of my clothes. The other day, we dissected out the human heart. I was afraid of dropping it on the floor the first time I held it. Amazing how being around a cadaver 24/7 makes you aware of your own mortality. I wonder who'll get to dissect out my heart. Eheh.

Tonight, after we put the apartment back together (it is currently lying in shambles since Swetha and I have not been cleaning or doing dishes for the past few days), I'll be taking a bus back home for the weekend, where I will be reunited with my iPod, my Krishna, and a television screen. I will be free and IT WILL BE GREAT

No matter what you do, gotta have some fun:

And so it begins.

I think it's become clear that during carefree times, I don't blog. Which explains why I am writing my first blog post in a very long time. Medical school started two weeks ago, so I have been adapting to big changes ever since. After a very nice summer in Bedford amidst World Cup watching, Pfizer, and dance camp, the move to Philadelphia has been both exciting and stressful. It has been an extremely eventful two weeks, to say the least.

To start, I currently live in an apartment with my apartmentmate, Swetha. It is a welcome change from dorms, especially since we each have our own rooms and all this extra space which we have no idea how to use. In fact until yesterday, our living room was completely bare, save for an industrial sized megafan (I will explain later). We have also been "cooking" on our own. Well, we make fresh chapathis and rice (even yogurt!) everyday for dinner, to go with some vacuum packed curry premade by my mother. When we can't crash meetings for free food, we make our own lunches too. Grocery shopping is also exciting adventure (we lost our way the first time).

So the greatest lowlight of the past two weeks occurred, of course, on the morning of the first day of class, when a pipe feeding into our toilet tank decided to come loose and hose down our entire bathroom with a torrential rush of water. The noise woke up Swetha at five in the morning (lucky it did, because I probably would have drowned by the time I noticed) and we took turns directing the spray into the bathtub until maintenance fixed it. The carpet was all wet, so we tried to dry it with the industrial sized megafan. It continued to smell for a few days, and it even stank up the hallway. But I think it's clearing up now.

Philly is a lovely city. Last weekend, when we were still innocent children (i.e. before classes started) we spent a day walking the streets, viewing art galleries, and partaking in food and drink. This city is much easier to navigate on foot than Boston and we have easy access to downtown, Chinatown, malls, and the bus station. To bad we don't have lives anymore, otherwise we might actually be able to enjoy these things.

Nope. Four days ago, classes started, and my brain hurts. I know this sounds terrible, but the thing about med school that is the most unsettling to me is the fact that everyone is highly motivated. It just puts me on edge. Remember at Penn State, when I didn't go to classes? Well, can't do that here, and not only do I force myself to attend class, I also have to get there 30 MINUTES early so that I can get a decent seat. You think I'm joking, don't you? Oh, I wish. Yesterday was my first day with the cadaver. Lucky for me (not) my cadaver was obese in life, which, as I found out, spells out disaster during dissection. Not only is there fat everywhere, even between the muscles, when you try to take off the fat globs with your hand, it melts upon contact and pools on the table, just waiting to drip onto your feet. On the bright side, I own my first pair of scrubs!

Whooooo. So that has been all for now. Thanks fo reading

Sowmya