The first weekend has passed since orientation was finalized by the white coat ceremony held in the Herbert Wertheim Performing Arts Center. My parents, Michael and Dr. Herney Bolivar were all kind enough to witness what was perhaps one of the happiest days of my life. As I went on stage to get my white coat on, and even before while I was waiting in the stands, I felt my face having a grin from sides of my faces.... ecstatic and brilliantly excited.
Afterwards, Herney treated us all to dinner at this Cuban restaurant called Versailles; apparently if you live in Miami, this is the one place you have to go eat or else you have never really SEEN Miami. This is also a restaurant that most all potential Republican nominees for president go to connect with the Cuban population by talking trash about good ol' Fidel. The food was delicious, perhaps the most awesome dish was one ordered by Mami, which was this whole fried Cod - awesome. Herneyh suggested we ordered a shake of the fruit called Mamey - twas awesome. After the restaurant, we went our separate ways and our family went back to the apartment to rest.
The next day was filled with buying stuff at Home Depot, IKEA (to replace the legs of my table the broke and return some things that I didn't need) and a trip to the mall. Tropical Storm Emily (or the remnants of her) gave us a downpour that lasted for hours and prevented us from leaving the mall earlier than we had wanted to. Eventually, we came home and fixed the table as well as building another nightstand that papi was kind enough to buy for me.... I really feel lucky.... so lucky to have this family....
This morning, we fixed somethings around the house; papi was annoyed by all the things that were broken or under-maintained around the apartment - rightly so. Due to this, we took a trip to the home depot where he bought me a new shower head that worked properly. Around 1:30 pm we all went to Denny's for lunch, I like it when we do things like this. Another storm went over us... eventually they all left around 3 pm which was filled with bittersweet good-byes.... especially for papi, I know he misses me very much.... I hate to see him sad. This is why I must do my best while I am here, I have to make everything count. Next time, I'll write earlier so I can write with more emotion and detail rather than rushing to post everything so I can get some sleep.
- V
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The 4th Day
It has been a couple of days since I left home, almost permanently, for the first time. There is much to say and describe, it's hard to find the words or where to start. There are so many emotions and thoughts, stories and wisdom to impart.
Eventually, we bought everything that I could've needed for a while... a mattress, some appliances, furniture, etc... even bringing some of my own belongiwangs from home, but not all of them; mami and papi don't like it to feel that I won't be coming back and for that reason a lot of my things stayed back home in Orlando. When the day came, we already had the U-Haul trailer the day before so that we could pack. The trailer was packed, I've said my sweet and bitter good-byes to the family who has shown me nothing but pure love... and I left with my brother to Miami, with a trailer hitched on to the back of my Silver Mazda B3000 Pick up truck.
The trip was enjoyable but long. Because we had the trailer hooked up to the truck, the speed limit for the entire trip was 55 - 60 mph and on a trip to Miami, consider a 4 hour trip turning into a 6 hour trip. Not cool. It was cool to travel all the way down here with only Michael and I, my dad tends to make any trip needlessly complicated (something that comes with age I suppose). After a long trip with some pit stops on the way, we finally made it to the apartment.
You'd think coming to your first apartment where you are going to spend the next year by yourself would be an enjoyable experience, that is, if you didn't have an apartment attendant woman named Fergie. I don't really want to dedicate any space on this blog to her, only that she's a terribly rude person and I'm glad I made her see that. End of story. Michael and I spent the next two days building furniture and going to the Dolphin Mall and Miami International Mall; it was nice to see how convenient this area of Miami really is! Literally, everything that I had to drive to Waterford Lake or Altamonte or even International Drive is now within 3 miles of FIU: Awesome. Michael loved it, he loved seeing how Latino culture is to prominent here but also at the same time being pretty successful. The people were courteous and mostly talked in Spanish: it was as if we had left to another country, but we hadn't and it was good.
Michael was only supposed to be here for one day and leave on Sunday for Orlando. He ended up staying until Monday (which I'm really glad he decided to do so) for my first day of Orientation at the Florida International University: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. I can't wait to see him and the rest of my family tomorrow... especially since our class's white coat ceremony is tomorrow! Them and Herney (or should I say, Dr. Bolivar?) are coming to see me walk and support me.... I really am lucky...
Orientation was exciting at first: professors, deans, assistant deans, doctors, employees, etc all telling you how the next four years are going to be! The thing is though, they did this everyday, 12 hours a day, leaving all of us drained enough to go to bed and to wake up and do the same thing over again. By today, we're all over it... good thing too, after tomorrow, no more orientation! During these four days I have met some pretty awesome people; in fact, an overwhelming majority of our class is nice, courteous, kind, professional and friendly! I can see myself fitting in quite well (if I haven't already), I'm really looking forward to see how this year plays out.
I could write some more but it is getting quite late. I'd like to leave off this first entry saying a couple of things. The name of this blog was chosen because of two reasons: One, a nocturne is a term reserved to describe a piece of music influenced by the night. I know this isn't exactly music, but like music, I feel this blog will return an emotional impact when I read over it years from now. Two, it is nocturne of healing not only because I am entering the medical profession, but I believe that by reflecting on what I am doing and what I did everyday, I can help myself become a better person. I will write in here as often as time allows, which brings me to my next point.
For the sake of simplicity and the greater ability for myself to keep a consistent blog, I have decided to discontinue writing in my normal physical journal I have bought for myself sometime ago. Instead, I will use the journal for any spur of the moment thoughts I happen to enjoy writing down. I feel this would work out much better than attempting to write down every single thought I'd like to record (whereas on an online blog, this shouldn't be too much of a problem).
With that being said, I'll upload pictures soon about the journey so far.
"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
- Victor: E Nomine Vita Luna Terra Solis
Well, let's get started
For the weeks leading up to my departure on July 30th, things have been hectic and really have been non-stop. From June 29th to July 11th, Michael and I went to New Jersey and New York where we stayed at Sean's house and pretty much had a tourist's vacation up there. From there on the relationship between Michael and I has improved drastically and for that I am very... very thankful. During the stay in Jersey and onward, I was working on my USAF HPSP application so that hopefully I won't have to pay for medical school for the full four years (I am currently applying for their 3 year scholarship). With that done, my family was helping me get ready for the big moving day and so everyday we would buy more and more things that we organized on a list and get them ready to go for moving day. The days leading up to moving day were stressful, mostly because mami kept badgering me on about what I needed to do next and didn't allow me to make my own decisions pretty much. I am thankful to have her though... I don't think I would have gotten this far without her guidance.... I'm forever in her debt, really.
Eventually, we bought everything that I could've needed for a while... a mattress, some appliances, furniture, etc... even bringing some of my own belongiwangs from home, but not all of them; mami and papi don't like it to feel that I won't be coming back and for that reason a lot of my things stayed back home in Orlando. When the day came, we already had the U-Haul trailer the day before so that we could pack. The trailer was packed, I've said my sweet and bitter good-byes to the family who has shown me nothing but pure love... and I left with my brother to Miami, with a trailer hitched on to the back of my Silver Mazda B3000 Pick up truck.
The trip was enjoyable but long. Because we had the trailer hooked up to the truck, the speed limit for the entire trip was 55 - 60 mph and on a trip to Miami, consider a 4 hour trip turning into a 6 hour trip. Not cool. It was cool to travel all the way down here with only Michael and I, my dad tends to make any trip needlessly complicated (something that comes with age I suppose). After a long trip with some pit stops on the way, we finally made it to the apartment.
You'd think coming to your first apartment where you are going to spend the next year by yourself would be an enjoyable experience, that is, if you didn't have an apartment attendant woman named Fergie. I don't really want to dedicate any space on this blog to her, only that she's a terribly rude person and I'm glad I made her see that. End of story. Michael and I spent the next two days building furniture and going to the Dolphin Mall and Miami International Mall; it was nice to see how convenient this area of Miami really is! Literally, everything that I had to drive to Waterford Lake or Altamonte or even International Drive is now within 3 miles of FIU: Awesome. Michael loved it, he loved seeing how Latino culture is to prominent here but also at the same time being pretty successful. The people were courteous and mostly talked in Spanish: it was as if we had left to another country, but we hadn't and it was good.
Michael was only supposed to be here for one day and leave on Sunday for Orlando. He ended up staying until Monday (which I'm really glad he decided to do so) for my first day of Orientation at the Florida International University: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. I can't wait to see him and the rest of my family tomorrow... especially since our class's white coat ceremony is tomorrow! Them and Herney (or should I say, Dr. Bolivar?) are coming to see me walk and support me.... I really am lucky...
Orientation was exciting at first: professors, deans, assistant deans, doctors, employees, etc all telling you how the next four years are going to be! The thing is though, they did this everyday, 12 hours a day, leaving all of us drained enough to go to bed and to wake up and do the same thing over again. By today, we're all over it... good thing too, after tomorrow, no more orientation! During these four days I have met some pretty awesome people; in fact, an overwhelming majority of our class is nice, courteous, kind, professional and friendly! I can see myself fitting in quite well (if I haven't already), I'm really looking forward to see how this year plays out.
I could write some more but it is getting quite late. I'd like to leave off this first entry saying a couple of things. The name of this blog was chosen because of two reasons: One, a nocturne is a term reserved to describe a piece of music influenced by the night. I know this isn't exactly music, but like music, I feel this blog will return an emotional impact when I read over it years from now. Two, it is nocturne of healing not only because I am entering the medical profession, but I believe that by reflecting on what I am doing and what I did everyday, I can help myself become a better person. I will write in here as often as time allows, which brings me to my next point.
For the sake of simplicity and the greater ability for myself to keep a consistent blog, I have decided to discontinue writing in my normal physical journal I have bought for myself sometime ago. Instead, I will use the journal for any spur of the moment thoughts I happen to enjoy writing down. I feel this would work out much better than attempting to write down every single thought I'd like to record (whereas on an online blog, this shouldn't be too much of a problem).
With that being said, I'll upload pictures soon about the journey so far.
"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
- Victor: E Nomine Vita Luna Terra Solis
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