Guess who is back! I guess I’ve had such an eventful last few weeks that I decided to write one more post and sum up what’s been going on in my life lately. As I’m sure you can guess, we are currently in the middle of exam time! At this point we only have two more left, which means that I leave for Spain a week from today! If I haven’t mentioned, Nicole Magpayo and I are spending our Winter/Hanukah/Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/Hanukkah break in Spain, traveling to both Barcelona and Madrid. I have never been there before, but everything that I’ve heard makes this country sound really unique and fun so I can’t wait!
Lately, our entire class has been quite stressed out with exams. The Caroline House has a downstairs study area, which seems to be the place of interest for everyone to study (including the Israeli’s who spend most of their time there eating lunch, talking on the phone to someone who is apparently hard of hearing because they are always speaking as loud as possible, or updating their Facebook so that all of their friends know that they got up to take a bathroom break 5 minutes ago). It has been pretty nice otherwise though, because it’s a social, yet studious, environment for us to go to and help each other out.
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| A cool fountain near my apartment. |
I have been spending most of my time studying at home in my apartment though. It’s a nice and quiet environment that I’ve made into my personal little library. I have a kumkum (electric water kettle) with lots of coffee and food right next to me in my kitchen so that I can spend the entire day studying without any distractions (sounds crappy, but it is finals time). Other than that, my days have been pretty simple… Wake up with some coffee and reading, make some food, study more, go for a run, and then study till I get too tired to keep my eyes open. My nightly runs have been pretty nice though. It’s been a way to take a break and clear my mind, while getting outside into the fresh air. Also, I’ve been preparing for my Spain trip (and life in general) by listening to Pimsleur to learn Spanish. It’s been pretty great, and I already think that I’m fluent in Spanish (not really, but I know how to say “Excuse me Miss, do you understand English?)! Pretty good, right?!
I must say also, that there has been a feeling in the air that I was not expecting in Medical School, but I really like. When I used to think about Medical School the image that came into my mind was living in a library, and everyone keeping their notes and study material to themselves so that they succeed above everyone else. I’ve also always heard the “horror story” about the one guy that rips pages out of library books, and gives people wrong information, to reduce the competition. The complete opposite atmosphere is felt here at MSIH! We have an online group where everyone shares helpful links, YouTube videos that they find that explain something really well, or any other study material so that everyone is able to do their best on exams! That really says a lot about the people here, and how everyone not only cares about numero uno, but the rest of their peers. On that note, good luck everyone! Let’s be THAT class, and ALL pass these next two exams!
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| Adam and David in their new paratrooper uniforms |
This Tuesday night (after our Cellular and Molecular Biology exam) we decided to take the night off to celebrate Nicole’s birthday. We all needed to blow off some steam after the marathon we had the couple of weeks prior, so why not celebrate! After having dinner and some drinks we all went out to the Einstein to dance and just let loose! It was a fairly early night (it’s still finals time) but to take the night off and enjoy some time with the rest of our classmates was exactly what I (and I’m sure everyone else) needed.
Other than that, things have been pretty simple. On a side note outside of the MSIH bubble, my two best friends from home have started their basic training for the Israeli Paratroopers. I was worried that once they started the army I wouldn’t be able to see them anymore, but luckily their base is really close to Be’er Sheva, so even though they don’t spend all of their weekends off with me here, they still have been coming down to spend Saturday night at my apartment so that they can get up and go right to their base.
Ok, back to studying. This time I can say that this is my last post, so I hope you enjoyed reading a little into my life here in Be’er Sheva. I can say, I enjoyed writing, so I hope you enjoyed reading! - Ross Green