It’s Monday. Not the 6th. The 13th. I’m not nearly as motivated as I used to be to write for this blog. I’m not going to pretend that I’m writing everyday. This week, we dietetic interns spent Monday and Tuesday essentially going over an approximately 200+ page document that specifies all of the guidelines we must follow and all of the assignments we are required to complete. We only got around half of it complete. Man. It’s a lot of assignments, projects, and general work.
Three Day Long Nutrition Convention
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we were required to go to a nutrition convention. We’d get up around 5am so we could leave at 6am and get there early. Our director has a thing about getting to places early. The first day was all about diabetes. That was okay. I took some notes then started to doodle to stay awake. I used to do this in university classes. It’s just so hard to focus when sleep deprivation nips at you. Anyway, I sketched a chair, the ballroom, and wrote a poem. Nothing like the cover I made on my notebook at the lactation convention last week, but still.
The next day was better, since we got to pick what topics we wanted to listen to. Did I mention we had to get there at 7am or so? The presentations didn’t start until 8am, and didn’t end until 4pm. We got periodic breaks after two or three presentations. Kind of whenever suited the organizers of the convention. This meant sometimes we’d go 3 or so hours without a break. Have you been to a 3 hour long lecture without a break? It’s awful. No matter how interesting the topic. And these weren’t interactive. Just sitting there. Some of the topics and presenters were interesting, but… I dare say the number was maybe 10% of what we had to sit through in those freezing rooms. Why is it that in Puerto Rico, people set the air conditioning indoors to 60 something degrees Fahrenheit?! That’s cruel. From tropical to tundra.
Anyway, my favorite topics were business wellness programs and considerations when using BMI. The BMI information was old news, but it was a nice refresher. We interns strolled to the beach (right in front of where the convention was at the hotel) in our business clothes. People stared at us like we were crazy. I, of course, wish we could have gotten in the ocean. After the convention I spent Saturday and Sunday lounging around the apartment. I thought I’d sleep in until 2pm on Saturday, but my body was traumatized and woke me up at 8am. Oh well. Sunday night I finally left the apartment though!
Transportation Frustration and Cleaning Thoughts
Robin dragged me to Walmart, since I told him not to let me weasel my way out of going. I often tell him I’ll go with him somewhere and then decide not to go with him as he’s about to walk out the door. I’m flaky. I don’t like being like that, but things seem like much better ideas before you have to put them into action. What also doesn’t help is that anything here without a car takes so much time and effort to get done. It took us about an hour to get to and another hour back from Walmart. Plus, I bought two big, cumbersome rolls of cloth. Buying things is more difficult and unsavory when you have to lug it across town with you.
Just the walk to the closest train station is ten to fifteen minutes. So, minimum a twenty minute walk going anywhere. I didn’t have a car until I was 18 or my first two years of university, but then, either my parents drove me around or I didn’t have to go much farther than campus. I did also have a bike in university. Aside aside*, my last task of the week was to clean the kitchen as per our apartment mates cleaning schedule. I don’t clean. I’ll clean as messes happen and then if a certain area gets too bad, but a regular cleaning schedule? Nah. So, this is new, but I used to manage a hospitality location on campus, so I know how to clean a kitchen.
Gia’s New Roommate and Partner Hints
Other exciting news, Gia said yes to a roommate. All she’s said about him is that the guy is in his 30’s, is super laid back, and is gay. Sounds cool to me. More news, a hint about our pair whom we will go to rotations with and thus complete assignments together all year long. The hint is that we will not be matched with anyone we live with. That takes Robin, Axyl, and Karen out of the game for me, but still leaves Gia, her roommate (whose pseudo name I’ve forgotten…awkward! Let’s rename her Uuie), Gean, Sue, Kayla, and Amanda. Six potential partners. We were told we’d find out next week.
Till then, have a good week, guys. Come back on Friday for a post about how I raced to do a mock interview last semester. It’s an old blog post and I was trying out prose. It’s interesting. Putting detail into the seemingly ordinary.
My Dragonfly Life 