Kanji Thursdays, betch

So! I have a med school update!

Wednesday, at about 8:39am my phone rings, it was from the admissions office at choice #1. They invited me for an interview! The admissions' lady asked if I was sleeping, I lied and said no, but she knew better. It seems that as much as I try to disguise my "I just woke up voice" there is an intrinsic quality to it that I can't notice nor hide. The surprise was that the interview was the next day. My awesome sister quickly invited me for lunch in order to do a mock interview, since she used to interview people who were applying for jobs in her company a long time ago. It went great, she gave me tons of tips, and it was VERY useful in my interview.....

I arrived, in a cloudy afternoon an hour before my 1pm interview. Stayed in the car listening to my ........."Beauty and the Beast" soundtrack :) *blushes* Hehehe, it makes me happy. At about 12;30pm I headed for the Admissions office and they handed me a little paper with the person who was interviewing me, her stance in the school and office number. I had to walk a bit, but thankfully it was cloudy. Spotted the office, after waiting 10 minutes for the oh so slow elevator. As I walked and passed many med school students, they all looked at me and smiled, I bet they knew exactly what I was doing there. Also, I bumped into one of my friends who is a third year med student, it was a pleasant surprise, she told me the lady who was interviewing me was very cool so that eased my worries. Off to the office!

I had to wait 15 minutes to be interviewed, that made me nervous but I kept a somewhat strong face and said "Hi" to everyone who passed me by. The interviewer was very nice, polite and talked a lot about the school's philosophy. She asked me a lot of causal questions and I think I answered most in a good way while still being myself. I did get a bit scared when she asked me, why not study Communications since I was so interested in languages, but I gave her a somewhat poetic answer, stating that a profession in that field wouldn't satisfy me completely, just one side, because it would be ignoring my love for science and health related issues. She finished with a mighty handshake, said that I might get news from then in 3 weeks and wished to see me again.

I still beat myself up about forgetting the Microbiology conference I attended last semester, and I'm hoping that she did see my true interest and passion for becoming an MD, I want to get in :(. I'm hoping for the best, and all of you should too, please?

Right now that med school is like my new boyfriend, and I have BIG crush on him. I think about it everyday, and wonder if they’ll like me enough to let me hangout with them for the next four years.

Med School, Med School, Med School

That's what keeps ringing in my head during most of my days. With the notion that I got accepted into choice #2 (Ponce School of Medicine) I feel calmer, knowing that no matter what occurs with choice #1 (UPR- Medical Sciences Campus) I'm going to be studying medicine this year. BUT, being I, I still worry, because choice #1 hasn't called. I called them on Friday, and the Admissions lady told me that next week they would be getting in contact with a group of people to invite them for an interview. She also said that interviews will be held until the end of March, so I’m assuming that I'll know if I get in on April or even May. That for me is a long wait, but I guess I have no other choice.

Today I received the official acceptance letter from Ponce, I have to give them $1,000 and a letter accepting my position, they gave me 20 days to do that. My mother suggested to wait a bit to see what happens with choice #1 but in 20 days the most that can happen is an invitation for an interview. So, I'm paying Ponce.... somehow.

This whole situation just makes me worried, at least I turned down another med school before giving them $100, so I saved there. I just want to be done with this transitional phase of my life. Sigh, at least I’m not worrying about trivial issues, plus I can see some fun in this waiting game.

El Niagara en Bicicleta

As I get ready to go to school for my 10am class I decide to check the time on my cell phone, oh it's 8:45am, but wait, a missed call at 8:39am..... A number I didn't recognize. Usually, I don't return these calls, but since I'm expecting a very important call from my top choice medical school, I called back. To my surprise, a machine answers, "Thank You for calling the Medical Sciences Campus, at the University of Puerto Rico", Yay! I jumped, thinking it was finally my time for an interview, wrong! The Admissions secretary informed me that one of the letters of recommendation I had sent ( in November ) was invalidated, due to my intelligent Physics professor who didn't read the instructions and decided to name a "No basis for judgment" on 5 of the categories I was being evaluated on. She said that I was given a chance, to get another professor to fill out the evaluation form and return it as soon as possible at the Admissions office. It annoyed me, as I thought about how difficult professors are when it's time to ask them for favors. But, I didn't let it get me down and thankfully I found my Industrial Microbiology professor who gladly helped me. I rushed towards the train station, on my lunchtime, got off at Centro Médico and walked all the way to Admissions. Every time I walk there, I get a great feeling of nervousness and anticipation, I could be walking down those aisles with my med school books. I hand the letter to an admissions employee, only time will tell.

New language?

In the Ratatouille DVD, an initial menu appears....

Choose a language:

English
Español
Español Mexicano

Both Spanish language tracks are the same. Somebody made a BIG mistake.


In other language news, my first French class (Diction and Phonetics) comes with an awesome, young professor and cassettes to buy! It's very sad that, now, I can't practice in my car unless I find a way to update the audio version of the book. I'm still very exctied!

All done!

After about 3 days, I finished cleaning my room. It makes me feel great to know that everything in my closet is organized and accesible. I took pictures of two little treasures I found, which would be greatly appreciated by Emi and Sam.....

Bonita Reyes

Mi viejito lindo !

This is by far, the best drawning I've ever done. I'm still very proud of it.

All of these wonderful drawings were from a class we took on grade 11, in high school, about 5 years ago. It was a very relaxing and fun class, the professor taught us various techniques during the beginning of each class, and then he just left us to draw and chat, supervising the progress and helping only at certain moments. The best part was that we took this class during last period so we all left for home with a smile. I remember the endless jokes and funny moments that we all had. And, I got a little better at drawing.

Ufff

The last two days have been hectic, sad and good. Yesterday, after trying to mend the last pieces of my now wounded heart I found even more poetry that I had written in 2005-2006. All was pretty immature, in a literary sense, none of them are structured but still I'm so glad I kept them. They talk about the relationships I had in those two years, death and getting old. While I continued to cut receipts with my hands, my good friend Karen called, she immediately noticed the sad mood in my voice and said:” You need some caffeine or ice cream.” I didn’t know if I needed any of those two, but it was surely nice to get out of the house and spend some time with a fun friend, talking about different things over coffee. I even bought the notebooks that I needed for this new semester that begins next week. My school supply shopping was cut short when my mother called saying that she needed to go to the hospital. This alarmed me. My mother would usually not voluntarily want to go to a hospital, unless she was feeling very ill. I rushed home, picked her up and headed towards the hospital. Thankfully her situation wasn’t as bad as I thought, making me arrive home at 1:30am with hunger and sleep running through my mind. I ate some Chipotle leftovers as she made some ginger tea. We chatted while savoring the tea and I sent her to bed. While in my room, I decided to relax by watching, “The Last King of Scotland” a great movie, not really that relaxing, but I did fall asleep right after it ended.

Today I woke up really late, not even my alarm could’ve woken me up earlier. After breakfast I decided to keep the cleaning and organizing of my room, this time, dealing with the bottom part of my closet. I spent hours and even felt a little dizzy due to the poor ventilation of my closed room. I disconnected from the outside world and concentrated on cleaning, laughing at old things I’ve kept, and throwing away all that wasn’t needed. It is so wonderful how a small object or piece of paper can bring back so many memories that you think you have forgotten. After 7pm, it was time to take a break, getting a hold of my friend Hector and heading towards a new Ben and Jerry’s located right underneath a train station in Guaynabo. The ice cream was great and it was made even better due to the gorgeous redhead that served it. Flirty, nice and attentive he alleviated my concerns, there are attractive men in Puerto Rico, they’re just hard to find. I celebrated that fact, because it has been a while since I’ve met someone who genuinely attracted me so.

Hide and Seek

To this I'll admit....

I decided to listen to the entire song today, as I drove to campus. And now, I love it. I remember how much I used to hate it and thought that it ruined the whole CD, I even gasped every time it begun. Emi knew I was going to change my mind. :)

Last night

I dreamt that he wanted to be in a reality T.V show and so he submitted videos from his past. He used to be a ballroom dancer and enjoyed playing the saxophone while spending time with his friends. Ten years ago, he used to have spiky blond hair with brown highlights. I still felt the same, in my dream. Too bad he doesn't.

As I walked through the Mall with my family towards the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, I heard a familiar noise, a man playing saxophone on the streets, with a small book filled with music sheets. I remembered my dream, hearing the man play the tunes he loved to play. At the museum, I saw another man who looked just like him, a bit astonished I looked at him twice to make sure. Weird.

In front on the National Archives building, I read..."The past is prologue." I agree.

I've been in Washington, D.C / Virginia for about 9 days and with two days to go, I feel sad knowing that I won't get to see my father for a while. We had a great time together, we even discussed politics tonight. We will be celebrating Three Kings Day tomorrow, a common Holiday celebrated within Hispanic families. It is, the actual birth of Christ and the journey that three men took, to honor his birth. My sister was planning to cook a very traditional puertorican dinner, but since we've been going out everyday, she really didn't have enough time to do it. I guess I'll have to suggest Chipotle for tomorrow, hehe! Oh, I just remembered that we're going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Speaking of dinner.....I experienced food poisoning tonight as we dinned in Ted's Bison Restaurant, I didn't eat bison, but my stomach didn't really care, it just didn't enjoy my meal choice and it let me know right after dinner. Thankfully, I feel better know, still a little beat up from that experience but good enough.

I have a lot of responsibilities waiting for me when I get home, hopefully I'll manage my time efficiently and get everything done before beginning my last semester of living the undergraduate life! I want to get into grad school !!!!

Today I invented a new way of keeping my hands warm without wearing evil gloves, hooray!

My air bed is calling....'till tomorrow.

The Washington Monument

I woke up, late, at 11:30am. After taking a shower I ask my sister if we are going out "I don't feel like going out.", she says "..but you guys can go right ahead." I ask my dad if he wanted to go and he didn't seem too excited about it. Great! , I thought, today was my chance to get out, explore the city on my own and hopefully meet new people too. I get ready , and before I go to the bus I see that my sister starts being mean saying that she doesn't know where she'll be when I get back. I thought she didn't wanted to go out. Then, I spend a few minutes getting my dad's borrowed cellphone number, just in case. That, made me miss the bus. As I saw the bus driving away, while I had a block left to arrive at the bus stop, I felt a bit discouraged. The next bus was coming in 40 minutes and being in 20 degree weather didn't sound so good, so I call my dad and tell him to open up for me, my sister, says that they're coming with me. Nooooooooooo! I really really wanted some time on my own. I came back to the apartment and told her that I wanted to go on my own and have my fun adventure, she didn't reply. The next bus was coming at 2:08 pm. I see my father and sister getting ready saying things like , "You tried to escape, huh?" , "Get ready quickly, before she escapes again!" It's 1:55 pm and I'm running out to the bus stop, they eventually catch up with me and we head out to the Washington Monument together.

My sister seemed a bit mad, I really didn't understand why. I don't need anyone joining me for walks around D.C, but it was fine if they wanted to tag along. We eventually arrived, got our tickets and went to the World War II Memorial (the pool was frozen!), right after discovering that we had to wait 30 minutes to go up the monument. She kept saying how she was not going up, but at the bitter cold, while waiting in line, she decided to go up. We eventually hugged and started making jokes, while a family from Argentina, standing in front of us, laughed. The winds up there were crazy ! And for some reason, there was this vapor coming out of the back of the Monument, a lot of people used it to keep warm and play around. When we got inside the security checkpoint our faces were red and my hands were NOT happy at all. On top of the monument we had the best view of D.C, making it worth the wait.

Then, we headed to the mall for a late lunch. My dad and me ready for some coffee. But after getting our Starbucks, my dad realizes that his coffee is not that cold, I go to the female barista, who apparently wasn't having a good day......

Me (Very nicely):"Hey, this is a bit cold, can you please warm it up?"
Barista: (Pissed)" What's that?"
Me: "A double shot espresso."
Barista: "I can't warm that up."
Me: "Ummmm, why?"
Barista:" Because the espresso comes out of the machine."
Me:"Then, why is this so cold?"
Barista:"I don't know! I didn't drink it!"
Me: (stares seriously at her)
Barista:" I can make it again for you."
Me:"Yes, do that."

She hands me the drink again and I ask if she wants the cold one back, "I don't drink that!" she says with her funny accent. Laughing, I take it and she replies :"Go 'head girrrl"

If you know me well, you are probably nodding as you know that every time I go to D.C something funny like this happens.

The National Archives Experience

When I get back to Puerto Rico, I'll put pictures in these entries.


"We've been going to Museums, 'cause that's what she loves." , I hear my father say as he talks to my godmother on his cellphone. He's right, I enjoy entertaining activities that offer knowledge too. The National Archives was no exception to that rule. I've been enjoying my stay at the District of Columbia, because it has lots of things that appeal to me. It's a lively city, surrounded by gorgeous buildings, a variety of places to visit and attractive men. I should consider doing my future MD residency here, right? It also has different types of nationalities living here, adding to it's appeal. The public transportation service is on-time , clean , and very useful. In conclusion, I really like D.C, now back to the Archives.....



I find incredible interest on how documents can be recollected and kept for years, waiting for someone to discover the stories they have to tell. Years of family documents, presidential documents, maps, videos, audio recordings, etc, etc, etc. All available to the public. I was reminded of my first year in College, when I wanted to be a Museum Conservator, and was even going to change my major, the years have gone by so fast ! I thought that would have been the perfect career since it involved having interests for art, languages and science. After my sophomore year, I came back to my strong desire of becoming an MD.

At the Public Vaults, I was, even, on the verge of making two new friends as we laughed while watching videos of George W. Bush when he was 3 years old, but I was interrupted by my father, thanks dad! Hehehe. Now I'll always wonder:"What if?" and I'll basically cry myself to sleep tonight (sarcasm!!!).

As I looked at the Constitution, The Bill of Rights and The Declaration of Independence, it made me think about all the history that led to the making of these documents. All the fights, struggles, hopes and fears from the men and women who shaped the history of this country. It also, made me realize that every country's history is mainly the same. It is composed of individuals fighting, and not fighting, for their beliefs and making their country the best it can be with their judgement in mind.


Oh, and by the way, my hands are terrible hurt from the cold. Temperatures in the low 30s have made my knuckles and wrists burn, and hurt. I'm putting lotion on them again, they're starting to itch.

The things I never said

Ever been in a moment when you have something to say but realize that it will be best to keep quiet? I think we all have, but being me... someone who just can't hold a grudge without resolving it, it's hard. This new year decided to surface things about 2007 that have been unresolved yet. I used to say that grey areas were fun, but they're not always this way. After skimming a bit through this blog I realized that I need to put a little push on the "Problems to solve list." It seems like the more advice I get and the more things I do, I still end up at starting position. I'll fix it, though.

This new year has also brought thoughts of traveling more, even if it has to be to The United States. Now that I have a few friends living there, I think it would do me good to save some money and make visits during my days off and enjoy the last semester of my undergraduate life. I already got a green light from Emilio, and that makes me a very happy girl.

There are things that I wish to write about, but being that this blog is public and read by a few, makes me very uncomfortable to write exactly what I'm feeling. I guess a notebook will have to do or I'll just spill my heart and guts on this web page, maybe later. :)