My first on-call

During this course in college, we are given the option of being “on-call” (which is a fancy way to say that you’ll have to hang out in the hospital all night long all the way into the end of your next day. Some students leave the hospital at night and come back in the morning, which is technically allowed since this is an elective to begin with!).

I decided that it would be a good idea to try it out, so I signed up for Monday, and so did one of my friends. I was so excited that two more of my friends signed up for the same day. I soooo don’t regret it! Here are the highlights of my day:
- I have what is called an “anti-toxic” effect. That is, the second I step into a clinic/ER/ward, patients stop coming! That’s good, right?
- We had food delivered from Casper’s. YUM!
- The interns are so nice! One of them gave us an “orientation” on what actually happens, with all the ways to cheat your way into a smooth oncall :D
- Saudi men have control issues. Some of them need to be burned alive. This might sound harsh, but I saw enough today to back me up for a lifetime. I might blog about it later..
- It turned out to be a smart idea to take an oncall when I didn’t “have to”. At least next time I won’t spend more than half an hour finding an decent scrub suit and reaching the operating room in time to find them closing up the lady!
- As much as I try to stick up for nurses (especially for the new generation of Saudi nurses), some of them have an inferiority complex or something. I mean, when someone asks you a question, you answer it. You don’t give an order! And btw, before you get all obsessive about “infection control” (of all people on earth, couldn’t you find someone to lecture about this other than me?), how about you lower the temperature of the room (It was at least 26 degrees in there!) and stop the infections right there??!
- It’s the first time I’m at the hospital at such a late hour. It’s a strange feeling when ypu’re at a familiar place that has none of the familiar activities in it. It’s EMPTY. I had half a mind to walk around in fluffy shoes or something (maybe next time? )
- scrubs are officially jammies!! i even called being on-call a pajama party! which reminds me..
- who on earth designed those weird scrubs?? they're made for really short people, or people with really big asses!! i either get the small, which fits decently around my hips (not anywhere close to tight) and have the legs barely reach my mid calfs, or get the large, which barely reaches my ankles and have the crotch of the pants start somewhere around my knees!!
- I officially get high if I skip my nap and have coffee instead. Cute/ funny people make this even worse.
- We stayed up till after 2.30 am talking and laughing till the point of having tears roll down my face. That felt good.
- It’s funny how when you’re happy and excited, sharing a little tiny room with 2 tiny beds with 3 other people and having to wake up at 6-something a.m. sounds like a great idea.
- After hours, all the barriers come down. Everyone becomes so friendly. Or is it me?

Also, here is a list of things that a person MUST have when they’re on-call.. I learned about most of them the hard way (It might sound “obvious” that you have to get all these, but trust me, sometimes u just plain forget!)
- towel
- clean underwear
- shower gel and deodorant (Especially if in the summer, you’re in the operating room or delivering someone)
- body lotion
- facial wash
- makeup
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- Casper’s menu (other menus also help!)
- A book to read / study from
- A laptop?
- A complete change of clothes?
- A group game (uno, playing cards, 6awla,…) ß unofficial!!

That’s all I can remember for now..

P.S. Thanks Jewelz! :D

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Monday: i was on-call.. i had only one meal instead of lunch AND dinner.. no gym -obviously- but i think the running around in corridors and laughing is good
Tuesday: i was dead tired.. so no gym, and only one meal instead of lunch and dinner
wedensday: i went to the gym in the morning.. had lunch at 12.30 pm, then at 4 i had a couple of slices of pizza and some juice (ok, this counts as a meal!).. i had dinner at 4 AM and a hell of a lot of chocolate.. shit!
thursday: beach then lunch at 7 pm, then a mini dinner at 10 pm WITH CAKE
friday: beach, light lunch (but with french fries), so dinner was bran cornflake and low fat milk..

i tried on the dress.. well.. i look good, but i'm not really allowed to breathe.. MUST WORK OUT HARD

Unconventional Beauty

There are a couple of male singers whose voices i find extremly beautiful and touching.. however, they're not exactly the same people who pop into ur head when people say "beautiful voice" (or maybe they are; i just haven't met them yet!)

Guess who they are?
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Any ideas yet??
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They are (in no particular order)
1. George Michael (the fact that he's HOT makes it even better; it really soothes me)
2. Babyface (Where is he now?)
3. Massari (beautiful voice; really lame songs!)

How about u?

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Update about my "plan":
today i went to the gym, my wholoe body was aching from yesterday, but is still did what i had to do ;) I had no snacks today, but my pitfall was that i had dinner late and had some dessert afterwards.. so i guess on my "Free" day no more dessert.. we'll see.. i feel better already (i know it's almost impossible that i've already "lost weight".. but i feel good.. tananana ..

Fed Up

Ok.. this is it.. i'm fed up!!

I am gaining weight like there's no tomorrow..

I think I look fat..

notice the use of the word "I"

most people tell me that i'm just imagining things or whatever but i'm pretty sure they're just saying this to make me feel better..

thanks u guys but i'm not the kind of person who gets upset when told that they're fat (except when my own mother does it 15 times every day, but that's a different issue)

However, i hate people who complain to no point

I have a point

I WILL lose weight (inshallah)

I have a plan

my deadline is december 26

and my "check up" day is december 22 (Friday). If at that date i'm not losing weight then i'm crash dieting or whatever it is that people do (you can see that i'm not really used to crash dieting or whatever)..

so starting today (and for at least the next 10 days) this will be my diet and exercise diary
feel free to join me, encourage me, give me advice or just pray for me :)

the rough plan is the following:
- exercise 5 times every week, doing at least 30 minutes of cardio and at least 100 situps
- eat healthy food and stay away from junk; i'm only allowed to "break" the diet on 2 meals from now till then. first time is whenever, 2nd time is on dec 26.
- drink coffee before going ot the gym
- no food after 9.30. If i get really hungry, low fat milk or yoghurt is okay.
- PMS is NOT an excuse to eat like a cow (at least for now)

so here you go:
today: i had an omlette, an apple and coffee with lowfat milk for breakfast. i had hot chocolate and Fitness cereal with wole fat milk for a snack (i hadn't decided that i want to start the "plan" so they don't count!!). For lunch i had a little bit of macaroni with cheese, and salad with white cheese. for dinner AT 9.30 i had some grilled chicken (want the recipe?) with salad and a spoonful of macaroni and cheese.

i also went to the gym and started to work out quite hard. after my cardio i felt lightheaded and found my blood pressure to be quite low (it's always low, but this was even lower). AAh.. yalla inshallah tomorrow i'll compensate for the time i spent trying to get better.

Bubye for now!

Wearing Artificial Nails and Nail Polish in the Healthcare Setting

This has been somewhat of a controversial point, either among colleagues or between the administration and the employees. However, in our hospital, it's frowned upon to do anything that makes u pretty (including your nails), but they usually blame it on their concerns on hygiene.

Well, i read a very interesting article yesterday which clearly sheds the light on such a matter.. here is what i learned (all of the following info are supporte by actual data). Even if you don't work in a hospital, you'll know what 's clean and what's not!!

- fungal growth occurs more frequently under artificial nails, and the number of microorganisms (bacteria and such) is still higher than natural nails both before and after washing.
- Freshly applied nail polish does not increase the number of bacteria recovered from under the nails. however, there is concern that individuals with fresh manicures may be hesitant to perform rigorous hand hygiene in an effort to protect their nails.
- chipped nail polish may support the growth of larger numbers of organisms on fingernails, even after careful hand washing.
- effect of length of natural or artificial nails on infection risk is also unknown, because the majority of bacterial growth occurs along the proximal 1 mm of the nail adjacent to subungual skin (skin under the nail) --> all nails longer than 1 mm carry almost the same risk!!

so the recommendations are:

- wearing of artificial nails should be avoided and is "strongly recommended for implementation and strongly supported by well-designed experimental, clinical or epidemiological studies". It's required for those individuals providing care to patients at high risk of acquiring infections, such as in intensive care units, transplant units, or operating rooms.
- natural nails be less than a quarter inch long when caring for patients at high risk of acquiring an infection. (some associations require it, others just recommend it)
- If nail polish is worn, it should not be worn for more than 4 days. At the end of 4 days, nail polish should be removed and freshly reapplied.

What i totally loved is the following recommendation:
"Individuals who choose to wear nail polish should be guided by their surgical conscience, which requires a combination of clinical experience, judgment, critical thinking, and the ability to question a practice when one believes it is not the right thing to do."

I mean, how great is it to ask a person to think and do the right thing?.. quite refreshing in a world of "do this, do that"..

Part 2: the Wedding

Let me make one thing clear, I do not mind ANYTHING that people do, coz it’s their business and everyone should do what makes them happy. However, I am amused at people doing things for NO REASON. And in every single wedding!!
Why do things have to be soooo complicated?

Why is it that the poor bride “has” to be ready since 9’ish only to be “wed” at 2 am?..

Why do brides put on so much make up and shimmer and body makeup and fake hair and fake lashes and fake nails, when they actually look just as good (if not better) without all this?

Why do they have a thousand million roses and flowers and plants everywhere? (all this and I’m not even allergic.. imagine if I were!)

Why do the bride and the groom stand on a balcony and wave down to the tiny people down?

Why do they throw out the flowers to those same “little” people?

Why do they give each others rings in front of everyone?

Why do they dance together on that balcony (while the little people are waiting)?

Why do they go down the stairs from the balcony soooooo slowly? (little people still waiting)

(it’s obvious that the balcony specifically annoys me)

Why do they have a million songs right after each other?.. why don’t they just decide on one or two and actually enjoy them?

Why do they drink juice from the same glass and actually pose for pictures during it? What does sharing juice mean?

Why do they cut the cake together?

Why do they feed each other cake? Are they trying to make sure that they just married someone who shares food?

Why does the groom’s family make the bride take off her jewelry and make the groom dress her in his “gift” in front of all these people? (is it me or is taking very expensive jewelry in public not fun/safe?)

Why does the groom hang out for a million years in the wedding knowing that all the women there (other than his immediate relatives and wife) are quite uncomfortable?

Why are the women uncomfortable that the groom is hanging out at his own wedding and just want him to leave so that they can act naturally again?

Why does the singer choose such sad songs for people to dance on at such a happy event, and people actually do “enjoy” dancing to it? (specific song in mind: “sub7anoh”)

Why do brides put such an emphasis on the wedding photographs if 90% of the pics are of her and her groom? Is she afraid to forget what he looks like? What she looks like? What the dress (that she most probably will keep forever) looks like?

Why is the music so loud? Didn’t anyone ever tell the “singers” that loud music is actually more annoying than it is an incentive to dance?

Why is there this little “runway” which they want guests to dance on? What if someone gets caught in the moment and falls off it?

Why do the singers attempt to “remix” the songs by adding a wanna-be rap/”we will rock you” beat at the beginning?

Why do they serve dinner at 3 am? Is it normal to have dinner at 3 am? Breakfast maybe?

And the final question:
If weddings last for soooooo long (they roughly finish at 5 or 6 am), when do the bride and groom get to sit together and actually celebrate that they got married??

Hair Problems, Part 1: the ritual of getting ready

I’m sitting here at 5 am trying to undo all the tangles in my hair, and trying to make it less spray-stiffened.. and trying to make sense of today..
And of all Saudi weddings..

I don’t get it..

Yes, I am culturally challenged..

Or is it the “culture” that is “logic-challenged”?

Let’s start with the ritual of getting ready:
most women need anywhere from 1 to 4 hours and spend a lot of money in the process, and quite a percentage on temporary “washable” stuff, i.e. hair and makeup among other things. The entire process is usually a wonderful stress initiator and is quite a precipitant for headaches and migraines..
I for one avoid most of this by doing my hair and makeup at home, and it’s been working out quite well for the past few years..

However, since today is my friend’s wedding.. I decided to try something “new”.. I will have my hair “professionally done” at a hair salon.. with and updo and all!!

I discovered a hell of a lot in the process..

Apparently, women know what they want to have done to them ahead of time, and get with them little bags filled with “things” that they’ll use when having their hair done, such as little puffy bags full of hair used as a filling (!), hair extensions that are dyed and treated the same way as the lady’s hairs, and an assortment of ribbons, hair clips, and maybe even a box of glitter.

Poor me had to think for ages about the style I wanted to have done, and since it was puffy and stuff the hairdresser asked me if I got a “filling” with me (am i supposed to walk around with one of those?), and was actually surprised when I said no.. hmm..

Anyhow, I ended up with really nice hair (ofcourse you have to be on guard to avoid any sudden surprises, such as a bright red colored braid in the middle of your elegant bombe hair)

AAAAAAh.. at last I’m done.. yay!

Part 2: the actual wedding (soon) :)

I must confess..

Yes..

I am an adult..

Yes..

I'm a semi-doctor...

But i still love it..

You might find it wierd..

Maybe a alittle too neat/OCD/freaky..

But i LOVE to "ajallid" all my books.. (ajallid= cover with sticky plastic cover)

Thye just look and feel so pretty..

and they don't wear out..

and they're protected form coffee spills..

Now you know..