Saturday, February 23, 2008

I’m starting to think that my blog might not be very interesting this year. I’ve just finished my first full week of school and don’t have much to report- at least not much that isn’t school related.

Tuesday was my first day at the hospital this year. All of my clinical days are on Tuesdays now- which I think I like a bit better than Mondays. As always- I really like my hospital days once I am there- but getting there is such a pain. 2 hours each way on the transit…plus now the fare has gone up to $14 return. I also seem to manage to get tons of blisters no matter what shoes I wear! Last week my heels were bleeding when I got home. Luckily, I don’t have to go there everyday. A few of my Canadian friends have bought cars this year, but unfortunately they don’t live close to me :(.

Luckily, the hospital was pretty interesting this week. I spent a lot of time talking with a man who was a tetraplegic (aka. quadriplegic). He had been ‘play fighting’ with his brother, fell backwards, hit his chin on the edge of a table and snapped his neck at C5. Seven years later, he has a whole slew of health problems (related to the injury mostly), his wife left him and his kids don’t talk to him anymore. He was in the hospital getting a giant pressure sore on his gluteus maximus treated (which takes about 3 months to heal). Needless to say, it was a very sad story- and I ended up talking to him for almost an hour.

Anyway, for the next 10 weeks, we will be studying neuroscience, vision and behavior. I think that it’s going to be very interesting, but also pretty challenging. We just finished our spinal cord injury problem (which was VERY interesting) and now we are moving on to epilepsy, hydrocephalus and spina bifida (all in this next week).

I have also recently joined a study group (which I NEVER thought I’d do). But, it actually seems like it might be a good idea. The people I joined are very studious and organized so it forces me to stay on top of things. I have also decided to apply for the honours program here- and do an honours project as part of my degree. I have found a supervisor, but right now I am working on my proposal so that I can get the project approved. I’ll write more about it when that happens!

My apartment is looking a little better these days. I’ve been trying to keep it as clean as I possibly can to avoid bugs- and it’s been working pretty well so far. I’m also pretty much set up without having to buy anything- except for a pot and a pan. Unfortunately, my fridge has been broken for over a week now and even though I bother reception about it everyday, they haven’t done anything about it yet. Back to a single bed... :( I have a few friends who are coming by (from Canada) to visit in the next few weeks. Jeremy, Tyler and Mike Landell (who all worked at the beach with me) are traveling in the South Pacific right now and are planning to be in Sydney sometime in the next month. I’m sure it will be nice to see them.I am also VERY happy and excited that Dad and Norma have booked tickets to come to Australia for a visit in May. :) After Bali, I have 15 weeks straight with no break- so I’m glad that I’ll have something to look forward to during that time.

This weekend has been really nice so far. Sunny and high 20’s all weekend- so I’ve been spending a lot of my time reading outside.

Happy Birthday to Mom also! (She’s in Oman right now, so hopefully she has a good birthday there!) Talk to you soon!