Day 059: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Day 059:

I was walking around the plaza of the hospital of my medical school. I was looking for my lost clipboard. As I was looking around, scouting where my valuable orange plastic possession could be, a small lump of hair grabbed my attention. A pair of kittens. Under a rock. Almost. They were barely moving. They were extremely thin. I came up close, one of them raised its head... slowly, as if it took a lot of effort. Then it lay down again, back to "sleep".

Part of me wanted to take care of the kitten. Part of me knew I hadn't had the discipline to follow through with any feline adoption. Part of me honestly wanted nothing to do with cats. Part of me just thought of the danger of infection.

I walked away. I left them there. Under their rock. Where I found them. I wouldn't have found them had I not been looking for my clipboard.


These are just kittens.

I wonder how many more abandonments and sad stories we'd find under rocks, flyovers and bridges.

Day 058: Flight

Day 058:

I am growing to believe. I mean believe in a genuine sense. I don't mean intellectual belief, but a real belief that can lead towards action. I believe that if we run fast enough, if we push hard enough, if we commit enough of ourselves, we can fly to heights beyond our imagination.

Day 057: Almost Forgotten Heritage

Day 057:

In a university (or actually any place) that has stood the test of time, we have historical and momentous halls. You can almost imagine a tour guide saying, "To your right is where Dr. M encountered is first cadaver. it is here where he first dissected a human heart, which captivated him wholly until he became the best heart surgeon in the country." or "Here, the doctors of the hospital discovered the ___ technique!" That is, of course, there are people who remember.

A few days ago, an alumnus friend of ours came for a visit. We celebrated his arrival and he went on and on with many stories, from his studenthood, to residency to his stay in the states. The photo above is one such instance, where he led us to the front of our anatomy laboratory, where students gather before laboratory class, and where they stay to clear their lungs of formalin. Tambayan. That's all it usually is. But for him, and us who are fortunate to hear his stories, this ground is hallowed. It is unique. It is where one of his most life-changing decisions was made and realized.

If we do not remember, everything is lost to us.

Day 056: Anchored

Day 056:

Whether in tranquil waters or turbulent times, we need to know where to ground ourselves to keep us from becoming lost.

Day 055: Another Medical Student

Day 055:

Among the many basic urges of the human body (eating, thirst, warmth, sleeping, sex), the urge to sleep is the strongest. An individual with enough willpower may force himself or herself not to eat or drink (as in the case of hunger strikes and the like). Sexual urges are the most often controlled. However, no matter how strong you are... you WILL eventually fall asleep.

Ironically... this seems to be the most time-consuming and useless activity of the human body. We can force ourselves to eat faster, drink faster... and do other things faster. But sleep demands time like no other. Four hours, Eight hours. It will demand what it needs. And unlike the other activities... this is a eight hour time block of unproductivity. You can't study, can't read, can't write, can't draw... can't do anything. Useless.

But it still feels damn good. 

ZZZ

Day 054: Medicine

Day 054:

The practice of medicine in the philippines, we are told, is not like the movies. In House or Grey's Anatomy, the physician is empowered by technological wonders, amazing laboratories that "think" for you, wonderdrugs, and magical interventions. We see them, making odd diagnoses, ordering IVIG like anything, ordering 10 labs in a breath, "do an MRI of the entire body".

Yesterday we did a little bit of medicine. Equipped with a small karaoke machine, and an about-to-fall-apart microphone, we stepped into the ward, and we gave advice on postpartum care. this is the practice of medicine, we are told... apart from the interventions and drugs... our goal is also to educate and prevent.

Day 053: The Metanarrative II

Day 053:

[re-edit] Some days are just worth that capture.

What is that impulse that drives us to document significant (maybe more than a few non-significant) portions of our lives? Maybe it is born out of our experience of forgetting. "I think I'd like to remember this... 20 years from now." If we don't have pictures, we'd tend to forget a whole lot more. Maybe it is born out of our new urge to tell other people of our experiences... We'd take pictures, to send to this person, or to post on our social networking site. Pictures add more flavor, more detail, than simply "We tasted good wine at Kups's place!!!" Maybe it's also our idea of maximizing the gadgetry we have.