The Happiest Frown

Latin American School of Medicine: ELAM (Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina)

asteele21 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:04:11 +0000

Goodness gracious great balls of guayaba it’s official… I’m a medical student! (guayaba= guava-my favorite fruit in Cuba). I must confess that I never thought I would be able to say that. This realization hit me while I was studying (in depth and in Spanish) for my 3-hour evaluation class, which takes place every Thursday. It is a written and oral evaluation that is very daunting, there is unending information, it’s all in Spanish and I’ve been granted the strictest professor. Thankfully my classmates are so encouraging and we all study together to make sure we all have a great understanding of the material. This collaboration is essential; there is no way I could succeed in medical school without the help and teamwork of my friends. Thanks to them, I received a 5 on both my first written and oral exam. The grading scale is from 2-5, a 2= failing, 3=C, 4=B and 5=A. We all strive for fives but the evaluations can be very difficult and nerve-wracking. If I continue to have numerous study sessions with my friends I should learn really well, not only from our books but even better from one another and also have a fun engaging time.

Danny Glover and James Erly

Humanitarian social activists James Erly and famous actor Danny Glover came to learn about ELAM and also the BES (student health brigade) projects we participated in this summer. www.saludswexchange.org They showed support and appreciation for all that we did over the summer and what we are doing in Cuba, it was really uplifting. Danny Glover told me to research Grace Boggs an incredible woman from Detroit, Michigan. He also encouraged us all to have a lot of endurance in the struggle for making the world better and to be eternal grateful for the impacts our parents have had on our lives. Love you to infinity mom and dad!!!

Conjunctivitis contaminates campus

About more than 500 students contracted pink eye! Students have been locked up in quarantine buildings to prevent the pervasive contagious sickness that has been linked to the extreme humidity and water shortage. I visited many quarantined red-eyed friends and I really felt like I was in a zombie movie. Luckily, I have been able to elude the endemic thus far.

“Paz Sin Fronteres”

September 20th in the Revolutionary Plaza of Havana was the concert for “peace without borders,” the wildest concert of my life. An enormous happy crowd of people pushing, shouting, sweating and dancing for hours in the blazing hot humid sunshine. At moments the conditions were utterly miserable but we all still had a phenomenal time. Especially my friend Nimeka who fainted in the crowd due to the extreme heat, along with many others; due to this she was able to crowd surf while unconscious directly to backstage access. She saw Juanes up close and all the great performers, taking individual photos with them and everything.

World Family

People all over the world have arrived on campus to study medicine at ELAM. It’s very exciting, there are people from Malaysia, South Africa, Guiana, Cypress, Haiti, Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Vincent, Jamaica, Kenya and many more. It is such a pleasure to have this opportunity.

Celebration with the CDR (Comite en la Defensa de la Revolucion)

My friend Ivanzinho and I were invited to perform at a community celebration in the town Baracoa near our school. He played the guitar and we both sang a song in Portuguese that he taught me it was really fun. It was even more joyful to witness such constructive community building and to play with children of the community. The children and I were dancing, singing and having a terrific time. When I had to get back on the bus to leave they all surrounded me with a big strong community hug and begged me not to leave, naturally my heart completely melted. Magical moments. I really hope to be a part of a community like this in the future, it is a serious dream of mine, and I was crying happy tears during the event. It was really touching to see the community together to recognize one another for their contributions.

Frankenfingernail fell off

My super colorful bruised pinky fingernail finally fell off. I really miss it and it looks really wild right now.

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Phenomenal Friends

asteele21 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:10:54 +0000

Reminiscing about the unlikely lights in the night, it was freshmen year
my closest friends and I experienced
an awesome aurora in Allendale
we drove out to the corn field nearby to get a better look
car lights off, still pitch black sky juxtaposed to the moving colorful lights
spellbound but then… terrified
because Matt and Tom could not resist the opportunity to scare Lauren and me
later, in the parking lot Yoryen spots a rainbow light display
so great to reflect on magical moments with friends even more magnificent is that
Matt, Lauren and Tom remain my closest friends and we still share spectacular moments

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Lets Talk

asteele21 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:02:11 +0000

My friend Sewit and I stumbled upon an educational and entertaining cartoon:

We should talk more about sex and pregnancy so people are informed of their bodies and actions.

Chew on this food for thought!

asteele21 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:17:32 +0000

Hello vocabulary lovers!

To learn and have fun with meaning, check this out:

http://www.freerice.com

Much needs to be done to stop the injustices in our world such as starvation. Compassionate action and awareness no matter how small, I believe, is aimed in the right direction and significant.

“Because without action consciousness is meaningless.”

- This important and motivating idea is from my friend Miles, who I met in Mexico.

Please tell people about this site. Also continue the conversation of our world’s injustices with someone or contact me about any thoughts you may have and would like to share. We need to put our minds and hearts together to make positive collective action to better our world.

“If I can’t dance – I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

asteele21 — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:00:10 +0000

Quote by Emma Goldman.

In no way do I mean to imply that Emma Goldman is associated with Dance Dance Revolution. I also do not wish to downplay the type of revolution she spoke of. I have great respect for Emma Goldman and merely want to share a quote I am fond of.

My mom, dad and aunt have a blast with the gift bought for my 11 yr old cousin Candice. I am proud of my dad’s fearless, original dance moves. I love my mom for her rhythm, energy and laughter. Thanks to Matt for secretly capturing these moments.

“No bones.”
-Words of wisdom from my friend Nani (Noelani) when we were dancing in Chiapas, Mexico

I love dancing it lets me feel happy and free. Now whenever I dance, I just imagine my bones have temporarily left my body and I can dance fluidly. It works well and is very fun so give it a try sometime!