Amazing.

You know what's cool?

This is from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet:

Shall the day of parting be the day gathering?

And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn?

And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?

Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them?

And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?

Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me?

A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?

If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?

If this indeed be the hour in which I lift my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein.

Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern, and the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also.

You know what's even cooler?
All of that was summed up in one line in Anand Sahib:

Eh sareera mereya, iss jag meh aaye kai, kya tudh karam kamaaya?

Amazing. Just amazing.

33!

August 2: Practice test : Unfinished
August 4: Practice test : Unfinished (8P)
August 6: Practice test : Cancelled
August 7: Practice test : Cancelled
August 8: Practice test : Unfinished (10P, 9V)
August 9: Practice test : 34: 12P, 11V, 11B wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee
August 10: Practice test : 32: 11P, 11V, 10B
August 11: Practice test : Cancelled
August 12: Practice test : Unscored, used for practice problems
August 13: Practice test : 36: 13P, 10V, 13B
August 14: Practice test : Cancelled, writing sample review
August 15: Practice test : Cancelled, writing sample review
August 16: Practice test : 30: 11P, 9V, 10B... totally lame.

August 19: MCAT: 33: 10P, 11V, 12B YAYYYY

Sigh...

There are two favorite parts in my day:
1. Lunch with my friends after biochem class in the cafeteria, because it's full of laughter.
2. Taking my socks off when I get home, because it's the most relieving thing ever. EVER.

I'm not really homesick anymore. I mean, I would love to go home, but I don't sit around getting depressed about it anymore, which is nice. I think the large part of my adjustment in Boston is over: I finally rearranged my furniture to my satisfaction, I have solid eating buddies, my roommate and I have become closer, and I'm learning to keep myself busy with only school on my plate. If you recall from my undergraduate blog, for awhile (when I was carrying two internships, the bhangra team and a few classes) I had quite a schedule to work with. Here's an example of what I'm doing with my time now - the following is my schedule for a typical Wednesday:

8:00 am - 11:00 am: Study
11 am - 11:30 am: Lunch
11:30 - 2:00 pm: Biochemistry (class)
2:30 ~ 4:00 pm: Biostatistics (class)
4:00 - 5:00 pm: Relax, have a snack (yes, that's written down)
5:00 - 8:00 pm: Study
8:00 - 10:00 pm: Dinner
10:00 - 12:00 am: Study

On other days, after class I fit in an hour and a half of gym time, and two days per week I plan to read from the New England Journal of Medicine, just to keep informed. My goal for maintaining a schedule like this is to have eight hours of studying per day, for a total of 40 hours per week (I will make up for hours I slack off with over the weekend), and four days per week I go to the gym. The schedule pretty much keeps me from 8 am to 12 am each day, and between 12 am and 8 am I need to sleep, shower and have breakfast. Maybe some ice cream too.

I drink coffee now. OK, so I've had two cups in the past week and a half, but it's a budding habit. I was really nervous to get started with this, and kind of got into it from peer pressure. The initial experience made me feel like I was being pressured into drinking. "Everyone does it! The first couple are pretty bad, but afterwards you're like 'Man this is the best!' Add some stuff to it and it'll taste good, promise!" My biggest objection to starting the habit was risking my teeth getting yellow, but only one cup a day shouldn't do much harm, and the occasional Crest Whitestrip Whitening program should keep my teeth white. There is a Dunkin' Donuts not too far from where I live, and a Punjabi couple works there. The first time I went, the woman didn't charge me for my hot chocolate (this was pre-coffee drinking). I went this morning, and her husband gave me an extra cup of coffee, on the house. I really had nothing to do with an extra cup of coffee, so I gave it to the security guard on campus. It's nice having a hook up though; I think that will foster my coffee-drinking habit.

I had my first midterm last week, and it TOTALLY kicked my ass. No joke, I haven't performed this poorly on an exam since I took organic chemistry, and I didn't even care about that class. I started studying this crap like a month in advance, and it amounted to nothing. I met with my professor this morning so I could find out what I was doing wrong. She assured me that for this section, what I've been doing is exactly on target, but I still don't feel convinced. I guess we'll see what happens.

Anyway, the people in my class are complete freaks and in order to get a seat, I need to arrive 30 minutes early. Which means I have to go now. Sigh...