4:30 na.. Ang TV na...

Two months to go and I would be off to start a new chapter. I found out that I could only take a maximum of 7 days straight as a vacation, although I am allotted 3 weeks total per year. I could opt for a leave of absence though which would give me one month straight of vacation…

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I’ve been calculating my cost of living once I’m there… My head hurts when I think about the fact that I could run up to one hundred thousand pesos a month. Naku, ilang kape na sana iyon… Ilang franchise yun ng burger machine… kakaloka. Baka mag sako na lang ako na damit. Grabe namang mahal. To think I want to drag myself to new york city. I should have remembered my monopoly rents. Go to jail. Rent. Mortgage. Shocking.
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My schedule would basically be about every 4 to 5 days of 24 hour duty (yahoo!) and in between I go to work from 7 to 5 pm.

Hindi ka ba natatakot? Tanong ng kaibigan ko.

Hmmmm.. Yes I am but one thing you have to know about me is that I love the hospital… and emergencies… I’m a disease snob – I think. Coughs and colds and sore throats bore me. I don’t like it. I mean, how challenging is that? It’s just fluids, bed rest and maybe antibiotics if you are lucky. Give me heart attacks, give me blood vomits, strokes… That wakes me up. You see coughs and colds, it’s like uhmmm going to the movie or strolling in the park. Heart attacks, bloody vomits – that’s like rock climbing, wakeboarding…

I really enjoy my work / job as a doctor. It is tiring but at least as far as I am concerned, it’s one of the most stimulating things, one of the most exciting jobs. I hate desk jobs. I don’t like sitting and typing for hours and then just punching the time card. I like action. I like being roused up at 2 am because someone is vomiting blood. I like the fact that I have to get up on the stretcher and pump a patient’s chest while I sweat and my patient tries to live. I especially love talking to patients and their family. The smile they have, the tears they have, it’s like being in gray’s anatomy every time.

I’m scared to the bones, but I am very much looking forward to it. Naway hindi ako maubusan ng ingles. Gosh. Must practice my slang. Wat is da meaning op dis?

I’ve been out of the hospital for about a year or so and I miss it terribly. Of course when I do go back to the hospital, it will be different, I’ll be handling Caucasians. But hey, one day, I’ll go back to serving brown Filipinos.. Filipinos… Bebot Bebot…
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Now what to do during my breaks from the hospital? I’ve come up with the following:

- I’ll take up martial arts. Been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Capoiera or Wushu or Muay Thai or Kendo. Yes, there’s a violent side to me that needs to be channeled somewhere.
- Get into wakeboarding – Ray introduced me to this sport. I plan to be good at this. I heard the place has great lakes. Well well well…
- Swimming – as I have developed a particular dislike against drowning, this one must be mastered. I plan to get an apartment with a pool. I like the idea of swimming the stress off after a long day’s work.

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Well I have to go and dream some more.