But you are.

 

One last stretch before the much awaited sembreak.

Gah...

As I am studying for my exam this Wednesday, I end up procrastinating.

Hence,


Abortion does not cause depression or low self-esteem in adolescents

and

Moving closer to outdoor recreation not a recipe for being more physically active

Of course these are US data and I would like to see how it is here in the Philippines. No doubt the culture of religious oppression and guilt would play a role. For the second link, I think this helps argue for a more walker friendly city.

Pictures from a museum visit in Indonesia. Only now have I found the time to upload photos. =|

My desktop PC is crashing. My younger brother tells me we need to reformat. Looks like I'm gonna spend my weekend backing up my files.

I'm more stress about the fact that I don't have an installer for Stata 11. I'm such a nerd.

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I'm very close to giving up on Pulmo. My brain wants to vomit.

I have a new steth. See the navy blue (looks black from the picture) with my old gray one. Actually, the gray one is not mine, it's my grandfather's.

Will be going to Bambang later. I hope some shops are open so I can buy a new steth. I do not want to resort to borrowing the consultant's stethoscope again during the practical exam because my steth can not pick up the faint sounds.

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Only one month left. I'm so excited to work on some other stuff including our therapeutics research.

It hurts when you're doing a nice thing for someone and that person tells you to go to hell.

Now, I get an idea of how our OB coordinator feels.

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It's hard to be a leader of a group of people who feels like they're entitled to have special treatment just because they want to do something else. Reality check. Everyone wants to do something else. Everyone needs to be somewhere else. If you really want, I could just remove you from the list of those who worked in the research project. If you really need to go somewhere else, explain first before leaving and approach me asap to learn what you missed and what you need to do to make up for it.

And it's really hard to lead if people don't respect you. I guess they should just form their own group if they don't want to attend meetings. I've been relatively lenient because we are med students and presumably, mature individuals, but they're really forcing me to be a b*tch.

It has been a whirlwind week of ACTION. It started with a late lunch with the Japanese participants followed by a crazy Monday concerning a hotel, a hostage situation and disgruntled classmate, a few days of being a host (a GRO if you will), studying for a Repro exam and topped off with a night at Villa Escudero and leaving my beloved camera at the bus.

I'm glad with the past week (removing the hostage fiasco that is) and though it left me failing to meet several deadlines, I did make some new friends who I hope I'll be able to keep in touch with.

And I'm seeing how a few days of being together can already foster tolerance of other people and their cultures.

It's only been a month and I think I have accomplished more that what I had done last year. What a crazy month August has been. Though we won't have foreigners this September, there will still be lots of events to organize. Another good things is that I can almost smell sem break. Which means, rest, rest and preparing for EAMSC!

I can't believe I'm still awake to study for an exam. So this is how LUIV turns out if you try to have extra-curricular activities. Curse you med school!

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You've heard about the bus, right?

So abortion has come up again in the consciousness of Philippine media. In one story, a counselor for women who attempted abortion explained that abortion should not happen because the woman will feel extreme guilt regarding the act. Immediately, a question popped in my head, why should she feel guilty about it? Guilt occurs when you commit an act the society deems as unethical. (And the flood gates open for the ethics of abortion.)
But it is sad that our society is a blaming society. One in which women who commit abortion are shunned when them getting pregnant and subsequently getting an abortion is not her entire fault. I am curious as to what methods do these counseling centers use to convince women to keep their pregnancy. I glean from the story that it uses a more religious approach of labels, blaming and fear rather than a more neutral non-blaming laying it all on the table.

Actually, it is weird to use the word counseling when you only offer one viable option. You're not counseling, you're brainwashing.

Am I seriously arguing for abortion? I don't know. Just rambling. I just can't get over the fact that legalizing abortion would make the number go down. And even better, would ensure that women would not die due to back alley procedures ranging from overdoses of Cytotec or pushing a wire up her vagina.

Meeting people from other countries is fun. Too bad it costs an arm and a limb and a whole lot of work to attend those conferences.

I still have a backlog of photos to edit and upload though.

And I have to learn a bit of Chinese for the next conference.

I skipped class again today. I do make sure that I can just read up on that class besides I'd probably not learn the things I learned in the seminar if I just stick to the med curriculum.

I did learn a lot of new things.

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How do you make people into advocates?

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Hot issues right now: Sex Ed, Divorce, Abortion

No, now is not the time to introduce a divorce or abortion law. Focus on the RH bill first. Although the number of induced abortions and deaths due to it is horrendous and warrants immediate action, changing the protocols and retraining the health care professionals would have to suffice for now. The Church is still too noisy.

The Indonesians are leaving tomorrow and as I attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy, the training which we've been organizing since last year rears its ugly head. Far from the 50 participants, we'll only have 24. No point in putting the blame on someone but these issues will definitely appear in our project report.

At least the next module looks more benign than the Cardio module. Unfortunately, I'll have three exams on the week of the training and I'm really worried that I won't be able to recruit volunteers from UP to help out in ACTION.

Again, why do I keep doing this to myself?

Assisting in AMSEP Philippines by being a guide of Indonesians.

Leading our research group and coordinating the logistics of everything.

Mabuti na lang mabilis ako magbasa. Hindi ko alam kung saan ako pupulutin kung hindi.

Been back in the Philippines since last night and jumped head on into the swamp of school work waiting for me. The conference was too packed for me to be able to blog properly.

I need to find some time to blog about my Jakarta experience.

In brief though, the hospital in Jakarta will not make many UPM people happy. It's very nice but the whole philosophy behind it is not acceptable. And my friends from other countries agree. cheers for socialist medicine!

I will have Jakarta part 2 this week since some Indonesians will be coming. I won't be a major host but will try to help out as much as I can.

Now in Indonesia. I might not be presenting the paper I've worked hard for. Might. I also do not have a room for the night. It looks like I'll be staying in the hotel lobby for 8 hours. The email was clear that the committee will book for me but the lobby staff do not have a reservation under my name. A major problem is I haven't seen a single person from the Secretariat team and my group moderator is not replying to my message. This is not a good way to start the conference. =|

UPDATE: I did have a room but there were four of us and one slept on the floor. =| Two Indonesians also toured as around a part of Jakarta. I ate street food and survived. We also had this yummy kang kong dish. mmm... I don't think it's hard to be vegetarian in this country. Traffic here seems a bit worse since there's a feeling of being in Espana. The roads are cleaner though... much cleaner.

I also saw my paper in the Academic booklet. It was a nice feeling. I'm jealous of the countries who were able to make quantitative research projects. Next time, we'll do a better job.

Finding myself toxic again with all the juggling of responsibilities.

At least I have Indonesia to look forward to next week.

Unfortunately, I will be reading transes during my spare time there as I have a big test to come home to after that.

And then there's that blasted training we're organizing. I already feel the burden of being a secretary. Never again will I accept a secretary role.

Happy with the results of the 1st General Pathology exam.

Happy that my excuse request has been approved.