Inconceivable!

After yet another long day, VSA continues to be great. This morning we had yet another retrospective breakfast, but proceeded the morning as usual. I found out that today actually wasn't the second half of the class's turn for the organ recital. Instead, we continued with the drug presentations. I was like the 5th one, so I felt as though I had it down. As I presented on Yaz, I realized how I hadn't practiced public speaking in a while and how I have to hone my skills as I will soon begin my senior year, full of occasions where I'll need the skill. Moreover, I do think it went well, though. We all had our turn, ending with Savannah, and had our much needed break, then lunch later.

Lunch was good today. I had the brisket as today's special, which was something I tried today for the first time. We had many good laughs and some infamous Gwennie glares that resulted from our cheesy jokes. Also, there were some thumb wars and arm wrestling for today among our group. With everyone one and my proctor, Tony, it was a pretty chill lunch, like we have made them these past days.

Back in class, we began a new topic- body image. We were given an article the day we began our drug research, but only referenced to it as a discussion. We learned about how Nigerian Arab tribes actually see women being fat as something very desirable- desirable to the point that young girls are force fed as much possible to encourage puberty as early as possible, in order to be appealing to the guys for marriage. Furthermore, we looked at body image in a historical context, looking at how beauty was defined for women throughout history, for example by women wearing their hair in exuberant ways. In another example, we saw how foot-binding was a form of being desirable for women. Again, we understood it as cultural relativism, understanding why cultures perceive things the way they do, while also considering ethics and all. We examined quite a lot and even did a brief activity where we all went around as a group and shared one of the things we do not like about our appearance, followed by something we do like about ourselves. It didn't get too emotional or anything, but we definitely showed another side to ourselves in class. I said how I dislike my eczema, especially when my skin gets really bad, dries, peels, itches, and makes my skin act up in nasty ways- on the flip side, I like my eyes.

To end class, we performed our Monte song for Monte. We all gathered at the front of the class while Monte sat in the back to record us; one of the highlights of the day. It was nice being able to show her that this class has opened our mind to different perspectives in medicine, health, and society. Afterwards, it was time for her to go and we ended up inadvertently looking at a video for gymnastics safety. Given that it was quite old, from the 80s, 90s, or so, it was just so funny how cheesy and predictable it was. To end class, we had free time. During that time, I was able to pick up my tie-dye shirt from yesterday and really liked the outcome.

With free time out of the way, we had a proctor night with our respective proctor groups. My group ordered Thai food from Satay Thai (the restaurant from last time). I got the Tofu with fried rice and an egg-roll, which was delicious. My group went down to the basement and saw the movie, Princess Pride. I didn't remember by the name, but I had seen it once my sophomore year in my English class. How did I not remember that movie? Inconceivable (haha)! All in all, it was a great time and I'm glad for it. As every experience is coming to a sad end, I am enjoying every single moment, thinking about how this experience in all has been great. It's sad to think that this seems like the end here, but we have one more day to go. Another 30 hours or so- and then it's back to our daily lives back at home. I'll save us my energy for tomorrow- there's a lot to look forward to in these next hours.