Friday, February 19, 2010

Drought?

I'm sure I've mentioned this numerous times before. But for those who don't know:

I hate living in Barbados.


Why? Because it's hot, among other things. The heat makes me lethargic and irritable. I hate always feeling like I want to sleep because my body is heating up and my brain becomes tired and unable to concentrate on the task at hand. Today was one perfect example.

How is it that all of a sudden it started feeling like 50 degrees Celsius outside and my house just spontaneously turned into an oven? At this time of the year the sun is usually "cooler" so the temperatures actually feel like the 30 degrees or so that the thermometer claims. As a result, I've never turned on the AC unit in my house during the months of December to March or even April. Not today. Today, the air condition was turned on and set to the lowest temperature. Because I couldn't take it anymore.

The hottest temperatures are really felt from September to November but today felt like a typical July day. Insane.

Ah yes. Did I mention that it hasn't rained in over two weeks? At least not where I'm living. We've had to water down the gardens everyday. It's so sad to see. The soil was so thirsty and cracked in just a single day. And today the water pressure is so low. Of course, to say Barbados is experiencing a period of drought can't quite be accurate, can it? After all, it is a small island surrounded by miles of miles of ocean. We may not have rain, but we sure have lots of water around. Well, I believe it would be more accurate to say we're having ourselves a little dry spell.

The sun doesn't look so cute in real life. In fact, it is my belief that it is much like a mean old man looking to share his heated anger with the world.

I can't wait for the opportunity to move away to a more favourable climate for my body. Because this isn't gonna work for me for the rest of my life. Certainly not.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Falling into past failures

I saw this beautiful sunset just a few days ago

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't fall back into my old habits of not studying. I did pretty well for the first couple of weeks into the semester. Then last week, we had a guest spontaneously decide to visit.

I had already begun slipping by the time I heard about the sudden arrival so her presence certainly did not help me any. As a result of this visit, I haven't had the time or energy to study for the past week. Sure, I saw a lovely sunset and had some fun, but I've fallen so far behind that I feel as if I'm in the danger zone. In just one week.

Of course, it doesn't sound like I should be so far behind, does it? After all, it's only been 6 days really. But when we have 9 credit courses and I realised that I made about 30 pages of notes in just a few days of classes for just one part of one course and have about 5 chapters to read for another part of the same course for which I have an exam next week...it's very easy to physically see the danger of failing ahead of me. And I can't afford to fail anything.

I sure hope I can pull myself back together and catch up with the work. I know what needs to be done.

In happier news, I've got a cute new addition to my stuffed animal family. =] I have yet to name him.

Isn't he adorable?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

New Year! New Beginnings!

新年快乐
Xīn nián kuài lè!
Happy Chinese New Year!

As we usher out the year of the Ox, we warmly welcome the year of the Tiger.


I was sure to give my Grandmother a call in Hong Kong to wish her a happy and prosperous new year. It was more or less:

新年快樂! (Gung hei fat choi!) 身体健康!(Sun tai gin hong!)

And from my heart to yours, I wish you all a most prosperous new year!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

We are the doctors-to-be!

The past week has been filled with fun activities for our still-small faculty, the Faculty of Medical Sciences, at U.W.I. I may not have attended every event but I was sure to dress accordingly and take lots of photos like the little amateur paparazzi I am. Hehe.

My participation was included in:
  • Mon. Feb. 1 - Purple Day! Except, I lack the colour purple in my wardrobe and so the second option was black. =]
  • Tues. Feb 2 - Class Photo Day! Everyone was to get all dressed up and look professional to take some class photos.
  • Wed. Feb 3 - Scrubs Day! This was a super fun day...seeing students dressed up in their scrubs or anything that was scrubs-like.
  • Thurs. Feb 4 - Games Night! A really fun night filled with games and all sorts of childish pleasures.
  • Sat. Feb 6 - Beach Day! As far as I'm concerned, the beach is no fun without good company. A great way for the week to end. =]
I noticed quite a few cruise ships pulling into the harbour this past week as well.

Two ships arriving bright and early Wednesday morning

At the beach yesterday, I saw a lovely sunset, as usual. This time though, a cruise ship was just sailing towards it in all it's grace. Gorgeous.

All in all, I had a great week! Medical Sciences week pretty much accounts for all the fun I could ever expect in a single semester. The other 15 weeks are a total bore. But now that the fun is over, it's time to kick back with the books and focus on the goals set for the future!

Monday, February 1, 2010

An Addict?

Anime is my addiction.

When an anime series catches my interest, that's the end of everything else. I want nothing but to complete the series I began. That's all. It's hard to stop watching once I'm enraptured in the plot. There's just no turning back. Absolutely not.

It is for this reason that I cannot watch ongoing series. Some cliffhangers have me mentally jumping of cliffs and I just can't take that...mentally. I refuse to start watching any series that has not been officially completed. I waited quite awhile before I watched Death Note and again before I watched Soul Eater. Now I'm waiting somewhat patiently for this new Full Metal Alchemist that I hear is ever awesome. I would almost be itching to watch it or even take a peek at it but the word ongoing is quite the turn off.

I spent the first weekend of the new semester finishing off Soul Eater, the anime I began watching the week before classes began and somehow never found the time to finish. I had, at the time, watched only 15 episodes of the 51. Saturday afternoon, I thought I'd try to slowly come to an end with it by watching an episode or two a day. So I took a "study break" to watch an episode and, of course, I was only left yearning for more. And so I watched more. And more. And more...
Before I knew it, I had seen 16 episodes by Saturday night and made up my mind to complete the series before the new week began. Mission accomplished. I watched the final 20 episodes on Sunday and finished just in time to watch the Grammys. Amazing.

I certainly don't watch as much as I used to...now that medical school has blown itself up on me. I'm gradually seeing less and less of it...sadly. But I like to try to watch a series or two during the vacations! I've always wanted to watch One Piece...I saw the first two episodes of it when it first came out but now there are so many...not to mention, it's an ongoing series. So...no thanks. Though, by the time it's done, I may not want to even try sparing the time for hundreds of episodes. But I guess we'll see when the time comes.

Or maybe I'll stick with manga. I still much prefer the series I read to be completed but I certainly have a great deal more self control with it.

If you haven't seen Soul Eater: watch it.