Cubicle Humor & Weapons of Choice...

, originally uploaded by Rabujee.

9 months pregnant and waiting on her due date, today I watched one of my co workers prepare for her maternity leave.

She was handing off her projects to fellow engineers so they could take care of them while she goes away to change diapers and cuddle with the cute ones (something I know our reader,Cheryl, has been DYING to do all her life ;) ).

Now before I get to the good part, I have to bore you with some details like... the project they were discussing is a hospital being built in Jordan, which happens to have a 92% Muslim population. So naturally, this hospital contains some quarters to allow people a private area for offering their 5 daily prayers and wudu (ablution) rooms to clean up before prayer. (Some of you may recall from CC's earlier post on the dilemma of washing feet in public.)

So while they're discussing all the itty bitty details of these prayer areas, I, sitting a few cubicles away, overhear bits and pieces of their conversation and some of it went like this:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
(PL for pregnant lady, CM for confused man)

PL: "....the prayer areas... ventilation ...bla bla.... assume they're in use 24 hours"

CM: *taking notes* "uh huh...praying... 24/7..gotchya"

PL: "....now along with these prayer rooms, here are some ...uh ...bathrooms, if you will " *chuckles*

CM: *confused laughter*

PL: "...there are some sinks for washing feet in....and...

*CM interrupts*

CM: "You said what?"

PL: "...oh you know, sinks to wash their FEET in"

CM: "Oh. Hm"

PL: "What's wrong? You look confused"

CM: "WELL...I was just wondering.... how do they wash their FEET in the sink?"

Both: *Awkward Pause*

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After the riot in my head died down, I thought of inviting them to spend one hour in our university's bathroom and find out exactly how acrobatic Muslims are.

Anddd now for the "Weapons of Choice" part, a few weeks ago CA posted her take on Wifely Duties 101... so today when I was reading up on some Islamic lit., I couldn't help but think of you all.

Ladies, begrudge your duties no more! Here's the best weapon we have in making our (future for some of us) husbands get their lazy butt's off the couch and help us out. Read and be amazed...

The Importance of helping one's wife at home:

One day the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad peace be upon him) paid a visit to the house of Imam Ali and Fatemah (his daughter and son-in-law.). He saw that Imam Ali (a.s.) was sieving the pulses and Fatemah (s.a.) was busy cooking. On observing this the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked, "O Ali, I do not speak except what is revealed to me. Anyone who helps his wife in her domestic affairs obtains a reward of one year of worship equal to the amount of hair on his body. This year of worship will be as if he has fasted during its days and prayed during its nights. Allah will reward him equal to the reward of all the patient ones, Hazrat Dawood (a.s.) and Hazrat Isa (Jesus a.s.)."

Yay!

You deserve to know as well

I'm not writing this post to condemn Germany. Nor am I writing this post in the belief that Muslims are the only ones victimized. Because, I know unfortunately violence of this nature happens everywhere and by people of different types.

The reason I am writing this post is because of the lack of attention it got from the world, specifically the European media. While if the reverse had taken place, the media would have been crawling all over it. And that is one of the things that frustrated me the most.

This is a bit old now, so bear with me.

On July 1st, Marwa el- Sherbini, was in court in Germany with her three year old son and her husband. She was a 32 year old Egyptian native, working on her PhD, and expecting her next child in January.

A couple months ago, she had a won a case against Alex W. She had sued him for insulting her with terms like, "terrorist" and "Islamist whore", at a park.

However during the appeals on July 1st, while she was on the dock, Alex W. leapt across the courtroom and stabbed her with a knife 18 times. Ms. Sherbani's husband rushed in to save her, was stabbed by the assailant and was also accidentally shot by German police.

While Ms. Sherbini had died, her husband had been rushed to intensive care.

So that was the story. I mean besides the fact that someone managed to get into the courtroom with a knife and pulled that stunt off (try pretend stabbing the air 18 times and see how long it takes) in front of a three year old son, there was almost no mention of the case in Germany. On the other hand, Egypt was up in arms about it.
When I came across the news article from facebook, I searched BBC news for it. I mean it has an article talking about a mafia boss being shot, it must have some mention of a woman being stabbed 18 times in a court room.

And it did. Under the middle east section. And the article was about a woman being hailed as a martyr by Egyptians, and their outrage over what had happened and "Germany's silence".

Where was the focus on Germany? And Germany's reaction? It happened in Europe, to a person living in Germany. Why was it in the middle east section? Why did it focus on her martyr status, instead of what had happened?!

A week after being accused of being silent, Germany defended itself saying it was not silent and that the German chancellor would apologize to the Egyptian president.

Alex W. is being tried for attempted murder.

I think Marwa deserves to have her story be known to you. The fact that this occurred in a court room boggles a friend of mine, my brother is boggled by how long it takes to stab someone 18 times, I'm boggled by what I feel was a silence over a case that happened in a developed country in front of a three year old kid.

The book that made me cry...

I feel like I lost a really good friend.

Every time I finish reading a book that I've become attached to, those are the initials words/thoughts that come to mind.

It wasn't any different this time.

Well maybe it was. I haven't read a good book for a long while. I read three this entire summer compared to times when I was able to finish three in a week. Nothing has been appealing and I just havent been into books.

But Sophie Kinsella never fails to disappoint.

I just finished reading, Twenties Girl






by the renowned author of the Shopaholic series.






I love her books so much. They always always make me laugh.

Sadie just died at the age of 105 and is now haunting her great niece Lara to help her find a necklace that holds sentimental value of some sort. Sadie comes back not as the 105 year old version of herself but a 23 year old version. And her and Lara bicker like long time best friends. While searching for this necklace of Sadies', they both learn about each others lives and help each other see the bigger picture and that the grass is truly greener on the other side.

It's a hilariously written book, and really, I dont do it justice with my synopsis.

Sorry.

So why did I cry?

I'm not some sap who cries over books and movies. Other things, yes, but not those things. And this wasnt even supposed to be a sad book. It's rated comedic.

However it just seemed to hit a nerve and I thought of all my relationships. Past and present. With friends and family. Grandparents.Mom. Dad. Sisters. Brother. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Best friend. Close friends. Good friends. Acquaintances.

Feeling guilty. Sad. Mad. Annoyed. Happy. Lucky. Confused. Jealous.

All of it.

So many thoughts and emotions all at once, I couldnt help but get misty eyed.

The bottom line is that this book teaches you that family can be friends. And that friends can turn into family {whether or NOT you sing and/or dance with them!}

As cliched and sappy as it may sound, I loved this book and think you all should go read it so I have somebody to talk to about it.


P.S. I'm sooooo excited to read her other book Remember Me?

P.S.S. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go read her books. PLEASEEEEEEEEEE

My family is WE-ird

First off, Falling Up, that food is grossing me out. (everyone see post below)
Just straight up grossing me.

I mean bacon with peanut butter cups?!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ew. (No offense Imnotbenny.)

I think even Paula Deen might be scared off by some of the food on there. And she uses fat like candy on Halloween. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure she invented some of the other ones on there.

Moving on, I never kept up with my, "My family is weird" segment

So I'm going to change it to a "My family is mean" segment for today.

Yesterday, while we were getting ready for a wedding, I was standing by the mirror poking and prodding my face.
"Mom.. My face looks like crap."

My mom didn't hear me (i think) but then my 16 year old brother who was standing besides me goes like

"...Your face looks like it always does"

And then he walks away.

Oh. Um. Thanks Buddy.

... I have no idea how to take his response. An insult or his pathetic attempt at a cheer-me-up. Then again it's my brother. I don't remember the last time he even tried to cheer me up.

I guess it's better than C.A.'s reply this one time, "...Your face always looks like crap"

REALLY PEOPLE? Can you LEARN to be NICER?

OH and my youngest brother just broke into a rap. The lyrics?

"This is why you're fat. This is why you're fat . This is. This is. This is why you're fat. Fat. Fat. Fat. Fat. Fat. Hmm mmm mmm You're Fat. "

So my family is still weird...and mean.

THIS IS WHY YOU'RE FAT

HI, PEOPLE.

I CAN'T STOP EATING OR TYPING IN CAPS. EVERYTHING IS DELICIOUS IN THE WORLD OF FALLING UP.

THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE WEBSITE. I WISH I COULD EAT ALL OF IT. JUST REPLACE THE PIG WITH OTHER MEAT. MEOW.

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

Don't you remember me?

Weddings here start really really really late. We have dinner at 10:30 PM and I'm starving and can't wait to shove the entire table of food into my mouth. I usually get hungry around 6:45 so imagine.

Anyways today a miracle occurred. I got ready late of course and took my time ironing out all the wrinkles and everything. I put on the dress. IT DIDN'T FIT. It was a dress from one billion years ago. I had my tailor alter it. He made it too tight. So I ironed, changed, put my scarf and makeup on in less than 20 minutes. I am amazing. Well, My sister ironed my pants. But Either way. I'm proud of myself. Usually in the middle I get frustrated with something throw everything off and start screamed. Yes, I am 23... Why do you ask??

Anyways, something embarrassing happened at the wedding. An aunty* came up to me and said hello. I very enthusiastically met her because I had no idea who she was. Then she was like, "Do you remember me? You don't? Seriously?" OMG WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT? They're asking for it. lol. I met her 4 months ago. I knew she looked like someone I knew and didn't know her name. I can't remember I met so many people in the past few months. It would be bad if they came over regularly but for once for 15 minutes? I can't remember all that.

What's the worst that could happen? I LET DOWN MY FAMILY NAME. If she's mean she could go to everyone and be like, "Oh Em Gee that girl FallingUP'sMom's Daughter is sooo retarded she doesn't even know who I am. Seriously does she think she's the only important one in the world? Someone needs to tell her to get over herself" Yes, this CAN and DOES happen but hopefully it won't. I met her daughter and she probably does the same thing but you never know. She was kind of cool about it? Meh. I can't memorize everyone's faces especially right before my exams when I'm all tense.

I just called me mom and told her she's not allowed to do things like that.

And I'm telling you guys, too. You're just letting yourself down if you do.

*Aunty: Any woman in the Indian subcontinent who is old enough to be your mom. Instead of "Mrs. LastName" we say "FirstName Aunty/Uncle" This is why all brown people are so close knit??

musings and such

Today I sat at Starbucks for a few hours. I had time to kill. And while I sat there, drinking my cinnamon dolce-white chocolate mocha combination, I pondered the stresses of my life. First and foremost would be school. I'm transferring, and that my friends, is a pain in the ass. Then comes my super overprotective relationship with my mother- she's the overprotective one if you were wondering. Finally comes my semi-failed relationship with a friend, which shouldn't bother me- yet does. So I sit there, and being the dork that I am, I have a notebook with me. I take it out, pencil in hand- ready to bitch- and then, nothing. Literally, pencil poised, I begin to question the productivity of bitching about what sucks in my life. So I put pencil down, insert headphones, press play on the Klaxons, breathe- and start to list what I love about above mentioned stresses (of course after I picked up my pencil). I just started on this rampage of lists of positive aspects about everything. My mother, my school, my family members, my friends- hell, even me! And, I don't know what happened but something shifted inside of me where the stresses just dissipated. It was like lifting some sort of back-breaking contraption off of me. I actually sat back and started laughing, not unlike those crazy people that make you clutch your purses to your chests for dear life.
So the next time things start to fall apart- take your mind off of the details of the situation and start appreciating the beauty in the whole. Because what do problems create? They create solutions, and opportunities to grow. Try it, what's there to lose?

With that insightful thought, if I do say so myself :), I leave you with my love and my sincere wish that life unfolds for you, magically

Mrs. Cullen: The NotSoHappy Camper

Dear Friends,

I went camping this past weekend. It was fun. I was head counselor of this camp that I help plan every year. I was bummed because it was supposed to rain all weekend. It did. I really wanted to get a tan. I did not. On the first day, during the first activity (which was capture the flag on a hill as it was raining and the grass was very wet) a girl slipped and fell. Then she started screaming in pain. I thought she was joking but as I ran over I noticed she was crying and not laughing. She was holding on to her knee. I really didn't know what to do and wished my dad was there. He was a chaperon for the weekend but had just gone home for a dinner party, and was to come back later on at night. Hes a Physical Therapist so he would have known exactly what to do. We told the camp people and one of them came over. He told her that she needs to lay down and keep her leg elevated and ice it. So I helped pick her up. Her one arm was around me and the other was around another counselor. We took her all the way up the hill and then up some stairs into the dining hall. There she laid on a couch. Someone got her ice.

Then when everyone went to the campfire she stayed behind with a few friends. Then she decided she could not handle the pain and it was time to go home. Her parents came late at night to pick her up. The next day they took her to the hospital and it turns out she fractured her knee. How painful.

Nothing else exciting happened the rest of the weekend. Oh wait. A few boys fell into the lake while canoeing. But that always happens to the boys. I really wanted it to happen to the girls but it didn't. Boo. It would have been fun to see. I also encouraged all the boys and girls to play pranks but no one really did. Except the last day before departing some girls (who I cannot name..not that you would know them anyway) hid a bunch of guys luggage. Then they put a bunch of riddles directing them where to find it. Those boys were really mad and it just made the prank so not fun. People are so boring these days. I need some excitement in my life.

Yours for the Sake of War and Discord,
Mrs. Cullen

Daddy's Little Girl

So here I am, awake at this God awful hour of 6 a.m. during my summer vacation. My dad has an appointment for a colonoscopy at the hospital. And he cant operate a vehicle. So being the awesome daughter that I am and because I love him so much, I volunteered to drive him to his appointment and back.

How does he reciprocate his love and appreciation for his beloved child?

He called me a Neanderthal!


...............

Okay, maybe he didnt call me a neanderthal.

But he mumbled it as I walked by.

Eye dee kay.

I'm bleary eyed, hungry, and stomach- achey.

Maybe I'm the one that shouldn't operate a vehicle.

More Random Pics

I wish I had more time to write.
Here are more random pics from my phone.

In an auto-rickshaw. Auto for short. It's a 3-wheeled taxi. No doors. Quite fun.
On the back of the driver's seat was this. It's Lover Man. haha. The auto had more pics of Bollywood actors {Bollywood = Indian Hollywood. Oh you didn't know? There's also a Tollywood for Telugu and I think Lollywood in Pakistan??}



We went to get ice cream. My friend ordered a chocolate volcano. She got an upside down cone with the bottom cut off. And there's more vanilla than chocolate!!



I have a very systematic way of eating fruit snacks.

Wifey duties 101

My mom went all psycho on me today saying how I was never going to get anywhere in life if I didnt learn the basic necessities to survive as a wife.

::Rolls eyes::

I made sure I took a thorough list of notes to share with you all.

Rule Number 1- The house must remain immaculate in such a manner that someone can lick the floor and eat off of it too.

Rule Number 2- Ladies NEVER eat before the men. Ladies never eat AFTER the men either. They eat once the men have been served dinner, dessert, and tea.

Rule Number 3- The way your tea tastes says EVERYTHING about you. If you serve tea that tastes like crap, looks like water, and smells like death, you have just committed social suicide. You will be exiled and shunned..FOREVER. People will spit in your face. And you will have disgraced your family legacy for all eternity.

Rule Number 4-A lady never eats until every single one of her guests have been catered to. Basically she doesn't eat until everyone leaves.

Rule Number 5- Never ever ever ever ever take a spatula and bang it against a pot after you are done stirring your concoctions. No matter how mad you are.

Rule Number 6- When attending to company, do not ask them if they would like a drink. Just give it to them. If you ask them, they will say "No". And then you will feel retarded. Then you will ask again. They will say no. You'll feel stupid all over again. It's a repeated cycle.

Do not ask and pray that they like tap water.

Rule Number 7- The main dish, fish, is a delicatessen. It better look, smell, and taste the opposite of fish. And you better serve your company the best piece of all: the head.

Rule Number 8- Rice on demand. Enough said.

Rule Number 9- You MUST be able to cook with your eyes closed and arms tied all while managing a crying baby, out of town guests, and talking on the phone, and still look like a goddess.

Rule Number 10 - If you can manage a career and being a wife and mother at the same time, Kudos to you! If not, well then, you need to do some prioritizing. And fast.

When all of this is mastered, and you have acquired all the qualities to be the best God damn wife this side of town, you are ready for your debut and your débutante ball...

I.e. The nuptials!


Good luck and God speed.


*Disclaimer: This post was written in jest. These are not the opinions of all moms. Just some. And most of this is CULTURAL GARBAGE.(Bangladeshi culture, to be specific). Nothing that anyone really takes seriously.

Huge/Expensive weddings

We like to invite 4,000 people to our weddings. I am NOT exaggerating. I was at a wedding Thursday. It was PACKED. Then I heard 4,000 people were invited. But I think 1,000 is pretty big.

Indians invite everyone to everything.

Me? I prefer a small but elegant wedding. Details are important. I'd rather have a small beautiful wedding rather than a big one where I'll have to cut expenses. Not that this wedding wasn't nice. It was very very nice. But not everyone can throw together a big shabang of a wedding. Plus, with the divorce rate being so high these days, would you want to blow all your money on one day?

I hope fiance and I won't have to think about divorce, but I'd rather save that money to start our life together rather than start off with nothing.

What about you guys?

Random pic

I felt like uploading. Don't have time to write. Do you guys like how I matched my OT {Operation Theater} scrubs with a blue scarf? They don't let me in on the surgeries with my normal scarf since it's exposed to the outside world. So I have a special one only for the operations. I did crop this. Maybe I'll get a take a full length another day.

Camera phones. And my scarf isn't centered. Meh.

a world without men

My title is actually a distinct possibility- not in the "men will disappear sense" more in the "we don't need men to reproduce sense". Scientists have been toying with the idea of making sperm for years and have finally done so using stem cells AND have successfully fertilized a mouse egg. This raises sooo many different questions all at once in my mind like.. a) is there anything awesomer than stem cells??? and b) morally speaking...where does God fit into this?? and perhaps most importantly, c) is this the death of condoms?!!! right so thats my two cents :) i'm going to go mull over the possibilities now...

Err...

Sometimes life can feel really depressing. Don’t get me wrong, I had an awesome day today. I went to Arabic class for 5 hours with a teacher who I love dearly. Then she and I went to the stationary store. I love school supplies. (I know I might be a nerd but the week before school starts is the best time of the year for me.) Then I went to Tafseer (explanation of the Quran) class. Then I bought a friend a present and met up for ice cream. It was creamy fruity gelatos.. YUMM.

Then I came home after having been out for 10 hours (from 8 am – 6 pm) only to find all my roommates were all out. How lonely. So I ordered myself Egyptian pizza (fateer … BEST food EVER) and ate alone, quietly while checking my email. Then I got really bored so I watched some teenage wizard show from the Disney Channel. Yes I have TV on this side of the world … although it consists of seven channels that keep repeating and making ‘shshshsh’ noises.

But yea, I just feel sad. Probably from overworking myself. I think I need a break. From studying. From responsibilities (I’m leading a US/Canada study abroad group here). From the hot weather. I haven’t gone swimming in a week. (Yes I’m taking swimming lessons and I can finally swim without a float!!!)

So what shall I do? I’m thinking of taking a weekend off to myself and going to beach to relax. Or maybe I just need to sleep. My apartment is the ‘party’ apartment so people are always over till 3 in the morning. The doorman hates me. He thinks I’m a shady American girl. Sigh. Sometimes I go to Qur’an class holding my Quran in my hand up high so he can see it as I walk out the door. Whatever. I shouldn’t care what he thinks.

I rode a stallion in the desert two weeks ago. I forgot to write about it. My beautiful horse loved running so much that when I tried stopping him after 20 minutes he threw me off in anger. Stupid horse. I was cringing in pain for two whole days. But guess what? I still had to entertain people. So what do I do? Have a crazy dance party till 2 in the morning. Now my doorman must really hate me.

Ok I’m done venting for now. I promise my next post will be something amazing and inspiring. I’m just waiting for an epiphany to hit me. Or maybe it passed right by me and I didn’t take notice…

All of the Above

You know those people that love and adore animals?

Well, I'm not one of them.

I don't despise them or anything like that. And I'm not some animal hater.

I'm just scared of them and I really don't have the best time with them. (Yes, I know. I seem to be scared of everything. Sometimes I feel like I'm the crazy aunt from A Series of Unfortunate Events that wouldn't leave her house because she was terrified of the world. Or something of that nature.)

One of the first things we did when we got to New York was go to the Bronx zoo. I was not amused. I wanted to leave before we even parked the car. Everyone else was fascinated with a camel that just stood there and pooped.

Was I missing something?

And when walking to middle school everyday, stray dogs got a real kick out of chasing my sister,Chuckle, and me. One day while being pursued by one, my sister made a prayer to God, begging for the dog to get hit by a car (My sister is not cruel, she was just terrified and the pit bull would not relent).

Her prayer was answered. Subhan'Allah.

Today when the elevator door opened, and two of my friends tried to get on, a blind man with his guide dog, the size of a bear, walked out. Mrs. Cullen, who is also afraid of dogs , pushed me in front of it, thinking that if it attacked, I should be the one that gets attacked first.

Idiot.

My uncle used to have this white cat. Name was Tiny. Supposedly if you put your legs up when she was around, she wouldn't bother you. I tried that all the time. It was a fail. She still came by me and brushed up against me.

Mrs. Cullen's sister, who lives in NYC, has a cat. Her names Anya. CC became BFF with her during our trip. She's a cute cat. If you like cats. She jumped on the bed while I was trying to sleep though. I tried to suck it up the first time she did it and not let it bother me.

But I just couldnt.

When she jumped on the bed the second time, I freaked out, jumped out of the bed, went into the living room and told Mrs. Cullen that I would sleep in the bathroom if I had to. Mrs. Cullen called me a drama queen and locked Anya out of the room. Score 1 for me. (Even though, I'm sure CC and Mrs. Cullen would have preferred the cat over me)


We pet sat for my uncle once. Either that or they let us have the bird. The bird chirped all night. My mom felt sorry for it, and let it loose. I thought we were doing it a favor, until everyone said that it was probably one of those birds that wasn't used to the "wild". Whoops.

My sister had guppies. We didnt know what to feed it. So we fed it rice. Poor guppies didnt survive a day at our house.

And when I was in high school, there was this stray cat that would return to our backyard because my mom fed it consistently. I was convinced that it was a reincarnated version of this one guy that had a crush on me. It used to just stare at me and follow my every move. Creepy.

I'm not a freak. I promise.

Basically the only animal I've ever been fond of and kind of adore is CC's cat. She's a cutie. Masha'Allah.

And the only reason that is, is because her cat doesn't like people and stays as far away from them as possible.





P.S. Something irrelevant I'd like to share: I'm currently obsessed with this song, All of the above. My sister, Mynah, is annoyed because apparently, I "play out" songs that she likes. Whatevs.

a brilliant stroke of inspiration

I love youtube. Greatest source of asinine entertainment. Like ever. But sometimes, less frequently than I would care to admit, I stumble across something truly inspirational. That very rare moment just occurred and I feel like sharing.
Ok so there's this nonprofit called TED whose main purpose for being is to share ideas worth spreading. So they hold talks with biologists, physicists, philosophers, entertainers, educators...etc. And they give these 20 min talks about really awesome things.
Ok back to my moment of inspiration. So last year they had on a neuroanatomist, Jill Bolte Taylor. Prior to this I didn't even know neuroanatomists existed, well they do. Shocker. Anways back to Jill, she's this premier neuroanatomist and 12 yr ago she had a stroke. And it's a rare, I guess treat, for someone whose studied the brain for their entire life to be able to experience a stroke from the inside. (Her words, sort of, not mine). So she goes into describing how the hemmorage in her brain cut off her left hemisphere- so she was completely right brained, except for few moments of clarity that would come. And she described this incredible nirvan-ic experience where she felt divine love..literally I mean she felt this connection with all there is. And just...I don't know I guess i'll leave it for you to judge. But this truly inspired me and for some reason brought me to tears.. enjoy :)



and if you would like to find out more about TED's awesomeness and check out their awesome talks: http://www.ted.com/

Third world Ceiling: The Sequel

My sister thinks I need to stop blogging about med school. I have no life. I just go to rotations and come home and take a nap, drink juice {sounds like Kindergarten!!} and start studying.

Oh I didn't tell you, did I? My sister's in my class, too. She joined when I did. But I did a year at WSU with the other girls on this blog. Then after she graduated we both went to med school in India. It wasn't planned. Spur of the moment, really.

Anyways, remember the ceiling in the bathroom? Well it must be contagious because my room is starting to peel, too!!

The ceiling

All over my chair.

All over my desk. White flecks. Tsk tsk. How's a girl to study with it snowing on her?

Pieces on the floor.

My turn?

We're back from NYC.

Since I got back from the trip all I've been doing is eating, sleeping, and peeing.

I cant seem to do anything else. I haven't even properly said hello to my dad yet. I feel so exhausted.

This trip was my first trip anywhere (on my own, that is). It was...different.

Fun...but different.

I live such a sheltered life, and a lot of things I did were "firsts". I de-virginized myself (Ummm that sounds weird, but I couldn't think of anything else)

• First time at a beach (We went to Coney Island...kinda)
• First time on a plane (CC told me that when the plane takes off its a gradual increase. It SOOO was NOT!) I wish I could post the video of my freak out, but gotta keep it anonymous..sorryyy
  
• First time being "randomly searched" at an airport. (I felt like an idiot until I saw them randomly searching an old lady, and man was that old lady pissed that they made her stand up from her wheelchair.She kept saying "This is preposterous". hahahhaha)
• First time on a ferry
• First time going to a club (comedy club)
• First time staying out until 3 in the morning

I hated NYC in the beginning. I did get homesick and got irritated with small and minor things. I kept saying I would never want to live there.Its really loud, people are extremely rude, and there are weirdos everywhere.

However the guys there are absofreakinglutely GORGEOUS.I've never been boy crazy like I was there..My friends and I tried to be as discrete as possible when pointing out a hot guy to each other, so we dubbed hot guys as "Nates" in reference to Nate from Gossip Girl...

Our convos would go something like this:

"Natenatenatenatenatenate"

"Nate on the left. Blue shirt"

"OMGGGG. Asian Nate/Brown-Desi Nate. Preppy Nate."

Sigh. I miss the Nates the most.

Anyways, commuting to places is so easy, and its just so lively. Theres always something to do and people to see.

And the city grows on you.

The subway system was confusing as all hell. But alas, I sorta understood it on our last day there. Yayy me :)

I might regret posting this statement, later: But I kinda wouldn't mind living/moving there.

P.S. 90% of NYPD are Nates! We kept asking them for directions ;)

I inhaled a chunk of nasty nasty

Something bad happened to me in the ward.

If you're poor, live in a third world country, are ill and are a child, chances are your personal hygiene is non existent. So I'm examining a Typhoid patient palpating for liver ans spleen enlargement. I get too close I guess and inhale a whiff of I don't know what. It's not crap and it's not urine... Filth. Yuck. Obviously I can't make a scene because it'll make the patient feel bad but I think I did but no one knew why I was choking and coughing. So I think I'm safe. And we gave him cookies after. :) No hard feelings, right?

But I am dead serious when I say that I could taste the filth in my throat until I finally got some water in there. Yucky. yucky. I need to clean out my throat.

And there was this baby who is 7 months old but severely malnourished. I am not exaggerating when I say that she looked like she was 3 months or less. That, too, a malnourished 3 month old. It's depressing. She had protein energy malnutrition as well as vitamin D deficiency. To top it off she has heart problems {ventricular septal defect and cyanotic heart disease}. My oh my. This is why I can't be a pediatrician. Reason number 1 I am not kid friendly. Number 2 is because it makes me sad to see kids suffering so much.

I'm not sure if me talking about med school and patients is annoying but I'll continue.

I'm really starting to like med school. Well I always did but now I'm like yay!! Patients!! lol. I am so weird, but it's fun. :)

What have I been doing?

C.A., Mrs. Cullen and I have been in New York this past week.
Actually it was for a little over a week.

We were there for a friend's wedding reception. And it's been forever since we posted.
Mostly cuz we just didn't have ANY time.

Come home 3 am. Go to bed at 5 am. Wake up starting at 8 or 9 or 10 am. Run out of the house to the train station. Hopefully make it in time for the train at State Island. The train would then take us to the ferry. Wait for the ferry. Take the ferry over to rest of New York City. Then walk over to the subway station, from where we would decide where to go and what subway to take.

It was the longest process in the world. And we would have to do it twice a day. On the way there, and on the way back.

I would be snoring half the time on the subway. Not that anyone else on the subway would care. They would be sleeping as though there's no tomorrow. I kinda felt bad for a lot of those people. They always seemed so tired.

I used the computer like twice during the entire trip. Five minutes each time.

And man it smelled like pee at so many places.

But Times Square was beautiful.

P.S. The first day I was there, I noticed that the guys on average were taller and much better looking than the ones here. It didn't take long for all of us to pick up on that.

Too quiet

My sister and I are wondering why the other bloggers aren't posting anything.
My sister does not like.
She says she's going to come out with a super blog. I don't know why.

I miss real communication. Person to person. Real life. It's more fun that way. Apparently now they have like online bars and stuff? IDK but the newspaper was talking about how lazy people are and don't go out anymore. Like they'd rather go to an online bar with their friends and have a drink with them in front of the computer. Odd. And other sites, too, but all I could think of was the bar example.

Or Wii. I mean it's fun and everything but wouldn't you rather play sports and get some fresh air at the same time and feel the sun on your face? I would.

Anyways, time to go back to my books. I deleted my fb for a reason. And I don't want to ban myself from reading blogs. ;) Anyways, discuss, but I shan't join you.

Shan't is such a funny word. I don't even know how to spell it. Am I right?

Sugar Cookies!!

gimme some sugar. cookies, that is.
Originally uploaded by ::FallingUp::

Controlled Chaos came over one day that I made sugar cookies. She ate about ten of them. So I made her a stack before I left Michigan.

Yes, a stack. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to give it to her in a glad box or something. But I stacked about 20 sugar cookies and rolled them up in foil. They fit better in my purse that way. haha.

Anyways, I don't love these but she does. My whole family loves them. Maybe I don't love them because I made them? No need to alter the recipe. They're great the way they are. Sometimes I roll them out and use cookie cutters, but to be honest with you, the thicker they are the better. So drop cookies are just fine.

Click here for the recipe. Enjoy!!

Update

Really upset that the media won't stop their cynicism even after MJ's death. I was surprised when I turned on the TV tonight, there was a "tribute" to MJ...which quickly turned into speculating, dissecting, showing such negativity about his whole life.....

what a great friggin tribute....thanks NBC... you'll do anything for ratings

truly PISSED.

Kids peeing and me touching it

EDIT: I'm enabling comments for the sole purpose that people might have questions and I don't like to leave people hanging. So I'm volunteering CC to reply to my comments, should I get any. I don't expect any though because of reasons stated earlier. Byeee :)

The blogs birthday was last week and we didn't acknowledge it. Happy Belated First Birthday Bloggieee. :)

I'm posted in pediatrics right now.

I don't like kids. They don't like me. And I don't know what to do with the ones that rarely do like me.

Imagine the pressure I'm under. haha.

Yesterday we were taking a case of a baby with Gastroenteritis. And basically the baby had diarrhea for 8 days before finally coming to the hospital. It's sad. People blow off illnesses because they can't afford to see a doctor and when they finally do, the disease is so advance that the treatment is more expensive. *sigh* but at least that's not the case in this baby's condition. I think it's ignorance. People think problems will go away. Or they're scared. Remember this always: the earlier the better. Way better.

I was going to palpate the femoral artery because we have to check the pulse everywhere and the baby peed. And I didn't know it. So when I had to lift up his shorts to palpate all I felt was wet. eeeeew. And THERE'S NO SINK IN THE WARD! Not that I could see, at least.

You might be wondering where the diaper was? Well the baby didn't have one. Again, they are too poor to afford them. Diapers are relatively new to India. They use cloth "nappies" or whatever British people say. Very thin nappies that don't make a difference.

You must be thinking about the cleanliness of the hospital by now. It's not clean. It's a teaching hospital which means it's very very cheap which means that maintenance is a minimum due to lack of funds. Well they do have funds but that's not what the money is being used for.

More baby stories to come.

PS - this baby didn't cry when it saw me. Indian babies are generally very very very super friendly and go to everyone. But a baby is a baby is a baby and I didn't warm up to it even though it smiled at me while I was examining it. Maybe a little.

Gone Too Soon

This post is long overdue. I've been walking around broken-hearted for the past week and still I can't get my mind to wrap around the fact that Michael Jackson is gone.
I understand everyone may not feel me in this post, but then again most people don't even know him for his music, (the newer generations) only for what the tabloids spread about him.


The man was a genius and I am so sad that I won't hear anything new from him ever again. His choreography was so slick and he had every move perfected but I think he was way bigger than all that. That's what attracted me the most. Throughout his life I didn't know too much about him; all i knew was I've heard his music since I was 4. It was catchy and upbeat but I never looked beyond that. In high school I began to pay more attention to his lyrics. I would read them often and I realized how deep they were, and I had to respect him for that. That's when I became a fan.

He'd broken every record in music, yet the best one is creating charities every turn he took. His song "We Are the World" alone raised millions of dollars for Africa. Yet, without even knowing all these facts, I was always convinced he had a great character, but I'm sad.

I'm sad because it took his death for me to realize how much I liked him and I don't know if it's possible to "miss" someone you've never met ... but I do. *sigh*

You know MTV never played black music in their baby days? This was in the 80's, people!!! They wouldn't air a single black artists' video because it didn't fit the "style." But he was persistent and his video Billie Jean was the first time a black artist premiered on their show. He's also the visionary behind modern day music videos i.e. before his style came along, a singer would generally be standing around vocalizing. He was the one to come up with the idea of telling a "story." He's also the one who MADE the careers of singers like Whitney Houston, Prince, Usher, and so many others. Did I mention his music was DEEP? He would bring up the division of colors, crime, and a united human race.

I think I did, but I'll leave you with some lyrics from a few chosen songs:

They Don't Really Care About Us
Beat me, hate me, You can never break me. Will me, thrill me, You can never kill me. Do me, sue me, Everybody do me. Kick me, strike me, Don't you black or white me. All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us.

Black or White
Protection For gangs, clubs And nations Causing grief in Human relations Its a turf war On a global scale Id rather hear both sides Of the tale See, its not about races Just places Faces Where your blood Comes from Is where your space is Ive seen the bright Get duller Im not going to spend My life being a color

Bad
We can change the world tomorrow
This could be a better place
If you dont like what Im sayin
Then wont you slap my face . . .

Gone too Soon

Born to amuse

To inspire to delight

Here one day

Gone one night

Like a sunset

Dying with the rising of the moon

Gone too soon

Gone too soon

I truly hope the saying is true that "legends never die."