This journal is a very jumpy rendition of my late-night trail of thought and if you’re not interested in reading something like that you should skip this entry.
We went back to our sevice sights today. There were three new patients, all female, one two-month old, one six-month old, and one six-year old. We were asked questions and I got the opportunity to put into practice some of the genetics knowledge that I’m gaining from my textbook right now. I think my favorite thing about the service placements is the opportunity to relate what I’m reading with real-life experience. And while reading my textbook might be the most boring part of my life right now I wouldn’t have had the knowledge to relate the experience to if I hadn’t been reading.
I am basically out of food, which is a good thing because we leave for Trinidad tomorrow and any food I had would probably go bad. That also means that I had an absolutely atrocious, haphazard meal for a late lunch: a burrito of muenster cheese slices and bacon. It was disgusting. I miss my kitchen. I miss microwaveable meals. I am suffering from the first-world problems of the privileged and I don’t have the energy to care.
When I get back to the states I want to challenge myself to go zero-waste for one week, and then maybe for one month. I want to meal-plan and buy the groceries without using plastic bags, and only use products that are in containers that can be reused or recycled. Maybe I’ll even create a compost bin. I also think it would be really cool to go vegetarian for one-week or thirty days. I think I’ve come to this desire both from being in a place where there is no opportunity to recycle and it’s difficult to avoid plastic and it makes me want to take advantage of the opportunities I have back home to do better at being less wasteful. And also, I have been around a group of people this month that cares about the environment, there isn’t a single person here that lacks a reusable water bottle. If I decide to go through with either of these I promise to document the inevitable struggles, both for myself and whatever bored soul thinks my ramblings are interesting. Thanks, mom and dad, and Vanessa. Also, thanks mom and dad because I’ll be trying to do these challenges in the house I share with you and I know how much you love meat and convenience.
In other news, I started ‘Paper Towns’ by John Green yesterday and finished it this afternoon. It was far better reading than my textbook. I promise to post a review by tomorrow, but as a snippet: it was a book that I couldn’t put-down, but also was very easy to read. Four out of five stars.
We had a class tonight, we were supposed to have more of them but we live on ‘island-time’ here and a plan is more like an idea of a plan that is very easily ignored here. (Island-time refers to how everything takes a little longer and time is more relaxed, expect people to be late or early as they see fit and most times end in -ish.) The classes are for reflective discourse, in which we share our thoughts and feelings as a class and reflect and inspire one another.
Alright, goodnight.
(PS. I have 154 bug bites on my legs. I’m 99% certain that they’re from sand fleas.)