Happenings

I find it really important that I reflect on happenings and try and learn from them. I can’t stand just letting things happen to me, let life pass me by, go through the motions and not make a learning moment out of everything. Hopefully you readers get what I’m trying to say.

I’ve spent the good part of my first 6 months here learning Spanish. Now after a 3 week break I’ll be beginning my pre medical studies. Having just received my 21 textbooks for the 10 subjects  to e studied, I was flipping through the chem textbook and I was like whoa! While the subject  matter wasn’t foreign, looked like form 5 level stuff, reading one page took a good 10 minutes. The language barrier is very apparent! Clearly I’ve got a long way to go. Am thanking my lucky stars that at least the content is familiar to me. However, I’m optimistic that I’ll get the Spanish down well pat before I begin my first year of medical studies come September.

 

I know that my parents worry that I’ll fall in love with a stranger, get pregnant, not study, spend too much money, be a mediocre student, that I won’t be safe, that I can’t take care of myself, that I don’t go to church and lots more that only parents would worry about.  I get where they’re coming from. Hell, it’s Cuba! I’ve got to admit though, that it stings a little that they think me incapable of comporting myself well. You guys didn’t raise a fool!



Arriving here last August,I was much more naïve, having just turned 18 and thinking I was an adult.  Since then I’ve learnt so much.  You learn a lot about human nature when you share  a small room with 7 other people! I’ve become more confident in speaking to people, been introduced to new ways of thinking, new music, new cultures.  Have met 3 awesome friends from Antigua and Barbuda and from Guyana. These 3 girls have become somewhat of my sisters here in Cuba. 

I aim to excel in my pre med  studies.  With one of the Malaysian students among the top in our school, I know that our subjects being in Spanish can’t be looked upon as an insurmountable obstacle, but instead should be looked upon as a challenge. I reckon facebook time will be reduced even further. Some say pre med is the time to relax and go out to have fun.  Really?? I’m thinking that this is the time to really familiarize yourself with learning in Spanish since at least you’re dealing with familiar content.  I see students who still struggle with the language after 1 or 2 years of coming here. I’m  not planning on being one of them. 

 Went to the annual book fair last week.  Lots of good books but almost all in Spanish.  Picked up an English novel for 15 pesos, which is about RM2. Aside from the long queues to enter the different areas where books were being sold, and the hot afternoon sun burning down on me,  I had a pretty good time with my friend Kereene.  A few days later when in Havana, a complete stranger comes up to us and says  he says he saw us at the book fair, Either he’s lying or we really stand out as tourists:/

My first impression

A second year med student in a tiny skirt and short white shirt complete with strappy heels walks past me hurrying on her way class. A professor greets his student with a hug after meeting each other again after the two month break.  At night the uni is abuzz with activity. A student playing a guitar on a bench near the dorms beckons his friends to join him in song. There seems to have been a party every Friday night since I’ve come here, all organized by the students from different contingents and held in the nearby town of Baracoa. Hotly anticipated, a cover charge of a couple of CUC is charged and posters are pasted around the campus to attract maximum crowd.    

                Coming from Malaysia, I came to ELAM envisioning something quite different. I thought I would be surrounded by fellow nerds. I thought it’d be a dog eat dog world here, surrounded by kiasu people. Fortunately that isn’t the case. I find the people mostly friendly and ready to help if you ask. The profesors/profesoras that I’ve met seem really friendly and eager to help and are passionate about what they do. I guess this stems from the fact that since your salary is controlled by the government  and is going to be pretty miniscule whether you are a doctor or a teacher or a physicist, so you might as well get a job you love doing. Thus we see people who are for the most part doing what they like to instead of what brings in the highest salary.  

                What makes a good doctor? Is it solely a matter of scoring a string of straight A+ s? Shouldn’t you also have the ability to communicate effectively and empathise with your patient? Be compassionate and understanding?  I was quarantined while in Cuba because of a cough I was recovering from. Every morning during quarantine the doctor would come in saying Good Morning as he came to take our temps and give us our pills. Just that greeting made a world of difference. After being quarantined we had a one to one consultation with the doctor before being released. At which time I asked the doctor about my fingernail which had gotten slammed between two doors. The doctor took my finger in his hand and winced as I told him what happened. He then advised me on what to do. But I digress. The way that he responded, the way he came down to my level, the way he felt my pain, made him seem so much more accessible and human, which isn’t like anything I’ve experienced back home.  I think that’s what makes a good doctor (aside from having the knowledge to diagnose accurately) The tiny things like that DO matter!                          

I haven’t started med classes yet since I’m learning Spanish now so I’m in no position to comment on the med professors but I’ve heard from my seniors that they are really good. There are the fun ones as well as the dragons,   but that’s to be expected.  

Cuba isn’t exactly a rich country monetary wise. As a result of their resolve to maintain this scholarship program which surely puts a strain on the country’s budget, a few things surely have to give. The living quarters at the school aren’t to die for. Bunk beds with sponge mattresses (think the dish washing sponge) and a narrow double locker(top and bottom doors) for every student. The bedrooms don’t have fans and your classroom if you’re lucky has a stand fan.  Depending on which shower stall you get it may or may not provide you with sufficient privacy as the shower curtains vary in width.  (at least in my dorm) Food is provided and tolerable. Lots of carbohydrates and protein but sorely lacking enough vegetables and fruits. The mini mart in the school sells tinned food and biscuits, shampoo, nail polish, makeup and other  small luxuries(transactions only in CUC(the Cuban dollar)). A sundry-esque shop sells pillows and cutlery and more practical things(they deal in pesos)  1 CUC is about RM3.50. A large tin of Pringles is 3.50 CUC. Pretty pricey.There’s a restaurant on campus which sells sandwiches, cookies and refreshments. (El Rapido) I guess the school has been thoughtful providing all these amenities for us to make life here mas bearable. I’ll live =D

P/s: This account was written roughly about a month after I reached Cuba. I've since discovered many more wonderful and not so wonderful things about this awesome country which I'll share in my following posts. Chao :-)    The object I'm holding in the last picture is a water heater to heat water in a pail for bathing during winter. 6 CUC. I was desperate. Will probably get electrocuted soon.