Monday, April 19, 2004

boston marathon!

today was the boston marathon. today was also 100 degrees. it was not a good sight. for my first boston marathon, i volunteered in the medical tent because, as a medical student, i can do so much in terms of medical treatment (yeah, sense the sarcasm). really, i was just talking to people and getting water and stuff.

i met some very cool people. i met the dean of the medical school at university of utah. he was so nice and sincere, though in so much pain. i'm sure he was just thinking, 'damn boston medical student. can't she just leave me alone to wallow in my own pain and suffering without losing my dignity?' well, no such luck.

another cool guy was a sport psychiatrist. i never knew they existed. oh, and i never knew that they would be useful until i saw him speaking to this woman with the world's most intense leg cramps. she flailed around like nothing else and he held her head, talked to her, and it was amazing. i have a newfound respect for sport psychiatrists. or at least this one.

but the medical tent was so intense. it was full of sick, wailing people and people getting everything for them to relieve their pain. it was really cool watching field medicine because all we had was water, gatorade, chips, IVs, and primitive lab set up (which was amazing).

look at my pictures!

Saturday, April 17, 2004

i hurt

so, yesterday was not a good day for me. various reasons. i will go down the list one by one and you can decide for yourself which is the worsest (yeah, i know it's not a word, but it's allowable given my current mental state).
1. i found out that my wallet was either lost then abused or stolen. i'm so pissed. last time i knew i had it was lunch on thursday and when i tried to buy lunch on friday, no money. luckily, a friend was with me and loaned me some cash for the day. at first, i thought that i had misplaced it in my room or something, but no such luck. when i called my banks today, one of them said that someone tried to get money from an atm using my card on thursday night, so it was officially abused. luckily, no charges on my credit card and no withdrawals from the bank. however, i had to cancel all my credit cards and check cards. to make it worse, my drivers license was in it and the rmv (registry of motor vehicles here on the right coast) doesn't open until tuesday. oh, to top it off, i just mailed my passport to my parents for my visa to visit vietnam this summer so i'm officially without any form of id other than one saying i'm a lowly medical student. also, to make it even worse (worser?), my social security card was in my wallet so i also had to put a fraud alert on my credit. this has totally spiraled out of control. i'm out of control.

2. i went to practice basketball yesterday afternoon because my team wanted to practice. oh, it was horrible. no one showed up. so, upset and not wanting to work out, i tried "athlete's yoga" at the gym. granted, i'm out of shape. granted, i have only taken one yoga class. granted, i have bad knees and should probably not do yoga. however, all of that did not deter me. i nearly fell asleep near the end of yoga class and this morning woke up with every joint in my body aching. i dont' know whether it's a good ache or a bad ache, but it's an ache nevertheless. i can't even lift a cup without it hurting. i'm such a sad, sad person. (good news, though, is that my basketball team won the championships today. though i can't say that i helped much, i can say that i'm a winner!)

3. i still have not found a roommate. i found a great place, across the street from school (you have no idea how lucky i was!) and no roommate. argh.

oh, but good news is that i got a $1400 scholarship for my upcoming work and travel to Vietnam. considering that i'm spending nearly $1100 on the airplane ticket, this money is very very welcome. for those of you who don't know, i'm enrolled in a masters in public health program at tufts (in addition to my medical program) and will be going to vietnam this summer to work in hiv behavior and attitudes research with ucsf. i'll be there for almost 10 weeks, so i'm beyond excited as it will be a very interesting experience. in addition, i will be travelling to thailand to (hopefully?) attend the international aids conference in bangkok. this summer will be amazing. if anyone knows of anyone who would like to donate to the "yenniet helping the world fund," please forward them my way. anything would help.

ok, that's it. long entry. but it's been awhile.

Sunday, April 4, 2004

wartime

i had a very interesting conversation about wartime with the guy that i'm dating over dinner last night. you know when you're really comfortable with someone when you can talk about war and violence over indian food, let me tell ya. our conversation was very timely, for there are several things going on in regards to wartime and conflict.

as most people probably know, four US contractors were killed in Falluja, Iraq. When I first heard this, over dinner no less, I was more than shocked. I wasn't shocked or angry at the Iraqi people or even those who carried out this brutal attack, but shocked at what drives humans to do such things to each other. when things like this happen, i wonder a lot about human nature and what we are truly capable of. though i would like to think that everyone is good, and i still do believe that, there is some part of me that is continually amazed at what horror we are capable of. what also comes to my mind is what people must be driven to in order to carry out that horror. i have been against the war in iraq since the beginning and still stand by that position. i think that deep down inside, i'm a pacifist (though i'd hate to admit it or give it that label just because to most people, it just seems so outlandish). so, has my opinion changed because of recent actions? not really. i think that the united states, a country that i love, had made many, and is continually making, wrong decisions in regards to international relations (look at the kyoto treaty or any other international proclamation or treaty). the united states, or more rather those in charge of running the united states, is too high on its ego to realize that the world hates us. rather, i think that's slightly incorrect. i think that we know the world hates us, but we don't care. and that's a sad, sad thing.

though lots of people may know about the incident in iraq, not a lot may be aware of the ten years that has passed since the rwandan genocide. for those interested, bbc has this amazing section looking back on what happened in rwanda and what the current situation in that country is like today. i first became interested in rwanda while taking an ethics and leadership class at berkeley. then, it was brought up in my international ethics and justice course and i read the book, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda. the rwandan genocide, largely ignored by most of the world until it was too late, is an amazing lesson in the possibilities of human nature. much like falluja, rwanda makes me wonder what drives people, not just one person, to such passion that they would do unimaginable things to other human beings.

i don't know what the purpose of this post is or was. i don't mean to shock people or make them think that they're terribile people because they are not aware of what is happening. rather, i mean to just inform. granted, it may be a biased or uneducated information that i am doling out, but information nonetheless. take it with a grain of salt or a teaspoon of sugar.