post V-day blogging II

Econ test tomorrow, doing nothing today. Ehh screw it. My teacher's not gonna give me a good score anyway.

So here I am, blogging~ Here's a little recap of the week:

Tuesday
I thought I had prepared really well for the Statistics exam. But... no. u_u

Also, Rap got me a nice edible flower for Valentine's. n_n It's still here, just slightly nibbled on because I wish to preserve it. Andy got all the girls in Bio class (even our teacher, Ma'am Canlas) a nice, long-stemmed rose. Aww.

I used to think that Valentine's Day was stupid, and that if you really loved somebody, you would show it to them every day of the year as opposed to every Feb 14. But on this day, all around the campus you could see all sorts of grand gestures of love - public serenades (there was even one that I actually participated in ahihihihi. You're welcome, Karl.), giant bouquets, boys dressed in suits and girls wearing pretty dresses. While seeing them doesn't actually make me feel all giddy inside, I think it's just admirable seeing how much effort people put into making their loved ones happy. Even if it means risking public humiliation via harana in the Zen Garden. Isn't that right, Karl? 

Every day we are given the chance to tell the people we love how much we love them, but we can't always go around buying flowers or giving public serenades. We need one day made specifically for love and romance, and that day is Valentine's.

Even my family celebrates it. Every Valentine's, my parents usually get me and my siblings some little presents. This year, my siblings got bags of candy, while I got money. Woohoo! In return, I sent out a Valentine's package to my family, containing a shopping bag for my mom, a book for my sister, some Phineas and Ferb candy for my brother, and a chocolate bar for my dad. Yay. It's like mini-Christmas!

I ended the day with a nice Valentine's picnic with my block. It's a little tradition of ours (see: this post about last year's Valentine's Day picnic) called the Single Awareness Day (S.A.D.) picnic. Probably not an original title, but whatever. Tin brought in some Mojos from her potential JSEC store, King's Wings. Jeth provided drinks for all of us. Vito ordered lots of pizza from Shakey's. Mmmm. And then Alessi had two batches of her famous red velvet cupcakes sent over by her little angels Diane, Nica, and Kath. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Last to arrive was Andy with a box of cupcakes from Mom & Tina's. Nothing like celebrating Valentine's with people who can provide you with food. <3

Wednesday

I helped out in this Health Sciences Society project called "How I Med Your Mother." It's a talk about making and keeping relationships through med school and beyond. It was pretty relevant to me because ever since I became hell-bent on becoming a doctor, I've always wondered how med students and doctors are able to keep a lovelife despite the killer schedules.

Some of my questions were answered here. The first speaker was a Dr. Peralta, my friend Miah's dad. If I'm not mistaken, he met his wife in a mutual pre-med class, and they continued dating up to med school. They got married during their internship. I think.

The second couple was a pair of professional speakers. The husband is a doctor from Ateneo, and the wife is a writer. I think. Anyway, their story is that they dated even though the guy was in med school and the girl already had a job. I found this fascinating because I don't know a lot of married couples where one partner is a doctor and the other isn't. As in the case of Dr. Peralta, and of every other doctor I know, a med student usually ends up marrying a fellow med student because of their similar schedules and workload. And, as the writer wife mentioned, it was really hard not being able to constantly be with her sweetheart, what with him always burried underneath piles and piles of work.

But apparently the aforementioned couple survived by some old-fashioned writing. To communicate, they would write their daily experiences in notebooks, and then swap notebooks at the end of the week. While it sounds like a creative solution, I think it was a pretty crap deal.

I can't imagine how much stress med school is going to put me through. Well, actually I can. It's all Jules ever talks about. How little we'll ever get to interact with people outside med school. How many books we'll have to read cover to cover in a single day. How much sleep we'll be able to get. It sounds killer.

And then when I think about keeping a relationship on top of all of that...

Goodness. I'd rather not think about that right now. It makes my head spin. I'll go check myself into a convent instead. (KIDDING. I would never do that EVER. Sorry, parents.)

Miah's dad did mention that during his med, he still found the time to jam with his band. And the nice students at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (ASMPH) did mention that despite the crazy schedules, they're still able to play sports, go on dates, etcetera, etcetera. So, okay, great. Recreation...

That makes med school slightly less scary.

Scary as it is, I have no doubts at all about entering med. It's not like it's anything new; tons of people have done it before. And if they can do it, why can't I? And I think about my Health Sci batchmates who will be going into med with me, and I feel a little stronger. No matter how tough and scary medicine seems right now, it's comforting to know that I will not be going through it alone. But keeping a relationship through med school? It's going to take a lot of effort, but it's not impossible.

Thursday
Rap gave me very delicious chocolate!
And I lost a bottle of money.

Friday
Consumed half the chocolate. ;_;
AC shaved his head!
Recovered the bottle of money! \:D/

Saturday
We taught kids about first aid for NSTP. We partnered up this time, and I was fortunate enough to have gotten paired with Gerald, because he had come prepared with a module (whereas I didn't hehehe). We taught the kids what to do if you get a wound or a mosquito bite.

One time in Health Sci class, my batchmate Alli once mentioned that when she asked her kids where dengue came from, they all answered dirty water, or piles of garbage. Yesterday when we asked our kids that, they answered the same thing! One kid even said that dengue happens when you don't bathe.

It's a little sad to hear them thinking like this, because we taught them all about dengue last semester. But old habits die hard, especially habits that are reinforced by others. These kids' misconceptions must have come from somewhere, and a logical guess would be their parents.

It's gonna be hard reversing the way communities view public health, but I guess that's just one of the nationwide problems Health Sci majors are taught to address.

After the session, one of my tutees, Vanessa, was kind enough to give me a Valentine's card!!! AWW!!! And Rap, ever popular among the kids, received two. Psh. Whatever, you know. It's not a contest. Yes it is :'c 
And anyway, if we were, hypothetically, in a contest to see whom the kids love the most, Gayle would win it hands down. She walked out of that session with an armful of Valentine's cards and flowers. So sweet. I'm happy for her. I am so jealous.


Sunday
I'm putting off studying for the Econ long test.
And I'm out of chocolate. u_u