Mount Makiling

I was studying a radiology lecture today. It said that the risk of mammography is equivalent among other things to 1/3 minute of mountain climbing. I remembered the first mountain I climbed way back during my senior year in high school. Our biology teachers organized the climb up Peak 2 of Mount Makiling. I went with a handful of schoolmates. I don't think I asked permission from my parents. They probably would not have allowed me to go. I think my parents saw me as very unathletic. During grade school, I pretty much stayed inside and read. My mom was really surprised when I showed her a picture of me my first year of high school almost winning a distance run competition.

So up we went, 3756 feet! I think it took us half a day to climb. We camped overnight at the summit. It was really cold but I was so excited that I could see my breath for the first time. I've always described the mountain as a tropical rainforest. I remember that it was rainy and there was a good variety of flora. But I looked it up today. The proper description seems to be that it is a "dipterocarp forest" and the summit is a "dwarf mossy forest" (whatever that means :)).

Belly Dancing (Queen)

I have always wanted to learn how to belly dance. Love the music... love the costume. My gym where I hardly go to offers classes periodically. So today I went on a mission to try to discover my inner Shakira ;). Unfortunately, it looks like even though my hips don't want to lie, they just don't have the natural ability to shimmy :). But it was a fun workout nonetheless. I might still come back next time. I might even get a belly ring ;). Just kidding!

My Fake Coach Bag

One of my friends love signature bags. I have never really cared for signature stuff since I can't really afford them. She said she was selling Coach bags for a really cheap price. I hate disappointing friends so whenever they sell me stuff it's hard for me to refuse. I figured that it's just a few dollars for the merchandise, I can never repay them back for all their kindness. So I paid $70 for a fake Coach bag. It's a cute bag. Whenever people compliment the bag, I always tell them it's just a knockoff. So it was one of the things the burglars took from my house. I didn't notice right away that it's missing since I'm not really attached to the bag.

So tonight, I was coming home after visiting a classmate's church. I saw Ms. D, a lady of the night who "walks" my street. I've known her since I moved in the neighborhood 3 years ago. I told her that someone broke into my house. She asked me what was taken. I told her that my old camera is gone along with my fake Coach bag. Also, they took my food, 1 CD, 1DVD, 2 bottles of shampoo, 1 bar of soap and 6 rolls of toilet paper. I think this is the final list of all the missing items :). She said that somebody was just selling her a bag. She said that she will go talk to them and try to retrieve my bag. So she came back a few minutes later with the bag. She said she paid them $10. I only had a $20 bill so I gave her that. I'm hoping that that's equivalent to one less man she has to sleep with. She said that she was going to look after my house. She also updated me that the house across which used to house maybe 10 people has been empty since last July. I have been oblivious all this time! The people who rented rooms there just used to sit out on the porch so nobody has ever messed with my house before.

So there are a couple of things I can remember from the speaker at my classmate's church. One is the word "reframing". It's basically turning every situation to a positive situation or looking at things in a positive light. My optimism is off the charts so I do this automatically without too much effort. Now I have a word for it :). Maybe I can use it when I try to remind people that the situation is really not that bad. He also had a Walmart story. He said that his dad lines up in the checkout lanes next to somebody who he thinks needs some cheering up. I think that that is an easy and worthwhile thing for me to do. I like talking to people. I might just try that whenever I am shopping :).

Yesterday, I attended a rock concert with a couple of my friends from school. Both of them were saying that they are dreading our Psychiatry rotation. They said that it would be so boring for them. I told them that it's funny that I just met a doctor who singled out Psychiatry as the area he liked the least. I sheepishly told my friends that I think I will enjoy Psychiatry :). As a matter of fact, Myers-Briggs said that the fields of Psychiatry, Family Medicine and Pediatrics will suit me best. I asked one of them what her Myers-Briggs profile is. I didn't really know her our first semester when we got our results. It was interesting to me that she is also my exact opposite like another friend who could not come last night. They are both ISTJs and I'm an ENFP. I told her that I didn't understand why I got along with them :). But maybe opposites do have affinity for each other. Maybe in friendships the differences are as important as the commonalities. Until here, I'll sign off for now and attempt some studying. Cheers!

Friendships

I am fascinated by friendships. I try to trace the origin of relationships. When and how did people meet? Did they go to the same school? Were they in the same small group? Do they have a common friend? Do they study in the same place? Are they part of the same school organization? I try to analyze why the friendship works. Do they share the same humor? Are they intellectually matched? What interests do they have in common? Which of their qualities complement? What's the gender distribution of their friends? What does it mean if a woman has more friends of the opposite gender? Is she less of a girlie girl (whatever that means :))? What does it mean if a guy has a lot of female friends? Does it mean that he's a flirt? Or is it more like he just has a general caring personality? Can you stay friends with a single ex who you obviously find attractive but just can't imagine spending the rest of your life with? How does it happen that one thinks there is more to the friendship but the other is oblivious? Should you remain friends with somebody who you suspect is attracted to you but you know you could not possibly date? Or the opposite scenario, do you stay friends with somebody you are attracted to, who couldn't care less about you that way? Why do some friendships remain platonic and others progress to something more? How different are people's definition of what a friendship is?

A friend once told me that she didn't have too many women friends at Church while growing up. She was one of 4 sisters, all beautiful and smart. She realized later that part of it is that she was content hanging out with her sisters. She didn't really see the need of branching out to make new friendships. Some people may also have felt intimidated by "the sisters" who seem to have it all. I told her that I never really had any problem finding my group of friends. For the most part, I was the "average" girl, average looks, average smarts, average boy magnetism ;). Nobody really had any reason to envy me. I am pretty much happy with myself so I never really had any reason to envy anybody. Also, since I have lived apart from my family, I learned to get along with most people. Somebody asked me if I get lonesome. My gut answer was I'm used to being alone. A more appropriate answer probably is that I have been blessed with such rich friendships. I may not be with my nuclear family but I have an extensive Church family who genuinely cares for me. Throughout my journeys I have met and kept fascinating friends. They have all helped me to grow, experience new things, hear different perspectives. So to borrow from a sitcom theme song, to all of you, "thank you for being a friend!" :)

Crime Scene

So the inevitable happened today. Somebody broke into my house. I left for school around 9:40 a.m., got home around 6:30 p.m. I saw broken glasses on my front porch and then noticed that the glass on my front window has been smashed. My door was unlocked and I saw drops of blood on the floor. I immediately went outside to talk to some of my neighbors to ask if they have noticed anything but they said they were at work. Funny how before they always ask me if they can do some work for me since they don't have jobs. They asked me if anything was taken. I said I don't think so since there is really nothing to take. I went back into my house. I saw my stethoscope is still here. My doctor's bag with all my diagnostic tools are still here. My digital camera is still here. Obviously, my computer is still here. My passport is still here. My clothes seem to be all here. And to play into the Filipina stereotype, yes all my shoes are still here :).

I did notice that my leftover Taco Bell from last night was eaten. The person must also have been thirsty since my liter of Coke is now half-empty. I also noticed that my 4 bowls of instant noodles which I keep as emergency food are all gone :). Now I feel bad for the person. It seems that he's really hungry. Unfortunately for him, I don't keep food in the house. I don't really go grocery shopping. There's only Chinese leftover in my tiny refrigerator. And the only reason I still had the instant noodles is because I did not like how they tasted.

I have called the police so they should be here shortly. I probably also need to call somebody to have the glass replaced. Maybe it is also prudent to sleep at a friend's house just in case they come back tonight. Today was really not the best time for them to break in. I was planning on an intimate night with my Pharmacology notes. Oh well, what can you do, life often throws you a curved ball. I just always think a new experience is always a good experience :). So don't worry for me. I am just thankful that at least I was not here when it happened. Maybe it is also time for me to reassess my living situation. I hope your day was better than mine. And it looks like I'll keep on blogging. Here I was thinking the next few weeks will be boring but I guess I really do not know what lies ahead. I can think my brains out on what the future will bring but really life as God intended it to be just happens. I do enjoy my journeys and thanks for sharing it with me by reading my blog :).

Oh yeah, I was really touched by a lunch talk I attended today. A guy who used to head the World Food program spoke. He really has such a passion in alleviating world hunger. He commended one doctor from our school who has labored for a successful HIV treatment/community development program in Western Kenya. He described him as being a doctor "for all the right reasons". Sometimes I forget what really called me into medicine. It was really nice to hear inspiring talks like this.

PDA

No, not that kind. I'd like to think that I am a warm and affectionate person but I'd really rather not hold hands in public :). I'm shopping for a personal digital assistant that we are required to have for our third year. I was just walking home with a classmate who I met during orientation. We instantly bonded since she also comes from a foreign country. She has this very lovely French accent. We just reminisced on that first day and we can't believe that we now just have a few days of classes left. Time really flew. So by the numbers... 11 days of classes and 1 exam before finals, 6 exams to pass in our 2-week finals and then 3-4 weeks of studying for the BOARDS!!! These next few weeks are going to be busy so I can't promise too many posts. Quick tip, I know that at least a couple of people have subscribed to my blog. I don't really know how they did it. I think one is through Bloglines. This way you don't have to check my blog daily, you can just be alerted whenever I have a new post. This way, you won't ever feel disappointed that I haven't posted something new :). I think the next few weeks will just be all about studying so I probably won't have anything interesting to share. Don't miss me too much!

Partnerships

I think I am more of a solo worker. My default tendency is to go at it alone. No expectations, no disappointments, everyone's happy. My dad used to say to me that "no man is an island". I never really understood what he meant then :). I just looked it up today and it said that human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. It's apparently a quote from John Donne. I first heard of him while watching Wit starring Emma Thompson on HBO. Incidentally, a portion of this film was shown to us in an ethics exercise last year. The professor said that she has shown a Star Trek episode for this exercise in years past. I would have enjoyed that as well :).

So it always amazes me when partnerships do work. Sometimes partners choose us, sometimes we choose our partners (though I can't recall ever choosing one). Sometimes the circumstances choose the partners for us. I think the key for me is that I need to know my own strengths and my partner's strengths. I need to be able to delegate things that I may not be good at and take charge of the things I do well. I need to know my partner's limitations so I can serve as the backup troubleshooter. I need to humbly acknowledge that other people can have more creative and novel ideas. I don't have that particular strength. But you can give me an idea that I agree with and I can run with it. The idea might not have originated from me but I can make that idea concrete. I like making sure that little details fall perfectly in place. So here's to partners that rock and successful projects accomplished :).

On Eloping (The Faith of our Spouses)

My dad eloped with my mom (with my maternal grandparents' permission, they quickly add!). My only married brother also eloped about 8 years ago. So I teased my brother last night, maybe he should also elope. His fiancee's baptism has been delayed because of some silly paperwork. He teased me if I would ever consider getting married outside the Church. I teased him back that my faith is "stronger". Of all my brothers and sisters, he is probably the only one who did not hold any office in the Church. The rest of us all sang in the children's choir. My sisters and I still hold duties in the Church. All my brothers do attend church actively. The extra X chromosome probably makes all the difference :).

My dad and my brother were expelled from the Church (II Corinthians 6:14). They were able to return after their wives got baptized. I guess my brother's fiancee is questioning why they can't just proceed with the wedding since they have already set the date. (I tell my brother that he is silly for setting the wedding date before the baptism!). After all, it looks like it is just so easy to return. I guess it is hard for him to explain to her what "holy fear" is in terms of transgressing God's commandments. Joining the Church for the purpose of marriage instead of fully understanding and believing the teachings is plain silly. My mom and my sister-in-law remains faithful. But for every happy ending like that there are countless spouses who have turned away. They have stopped making God as the center of their lives. We are taught that you should seek a spouse who would bring you closer to God. The corollary must be that for you to be a good spouse you should be able to bring the other person closer to God. The word synergy comes to mind, it is not simple arithmetic anymore. The two of you together becomes much better servants. To end, I wish my brother well. May his fiancee mature in faith. I wish them a blessed marriage, full of faith and understanding.