Thursday, March 29, 2012

This week has been interesting in several new ways:

1) My economics professor informed he expected a 100 from me on our quiz

2) I "played" squash with Ash (harder than it looks...)

3) Watched some of the football matches at the school tournament (bigger deal for a school tournament than I expected)

4) Watched a mini-war between Palestine and Azerbaijan

Oh yeah, and am slowly becoming addicted to doners.....kinda quickly

Monday, March 26, 2012

So I did not do anything exciting this weekend but did get the opportunity to figure a couple more things out.

1) Apparently my computer was not being stupid when it kept changing the time on the clock (starting Saturday).  I was convinced it was doing this because of daylights savings in the states but was under the impression such a thing did not exist outside of the USA.  Well, came to find out this morning it does exist and thankfully my roommate found out that it does, otherwise I would have been an hour late to everything for awhile.

2) Food Wise: I am getting slightly annoyed with the million different shops and the fact that each one has one item that is cheaper than anywhere else and one thing it has extra flavors or brands of.  On the positive note though, I found a new flavor of noodles (shrimp) and fresher bread that even tastes better as well as a "dessert" bread.  There are at least 3 types that I have seen so far and each is filled with something different (same idea as a donut with jelly), one with chocolate, one called cream brulee, and I am not sure about the third.  They are delicious and cheap which is a bad combination.

3) School Wise: Sadly I have confirmed that spring break does not exist when you are going to school on an island.  Instead, they put school first and to ensure everyone is prepared for their mid-terms, does well, and is not overwhelmed with having all of their tests on one day, EMU sets aside two weeks for mid-terms.  During this period we do not have lecture, you only have to worry about your mid-terms.  Seeing as I only have 3 mid-terms, I will essentially have two weeks of "studying", aka going to the beach everyday.

4) Shadowing: Shadowing is still going good and every time I see a completely new variety of cases.  For example, today included a severe case of never ending hiccups (there actually is a medicinal cure) and a student taking a course discussing a variety of diseases that he was then convinced he had (hypochondriac).

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

So the month of my meal plan ran out Sunday and since I was not actually saving money using it I started trying other food. I (with a lot of help from my roommate Ash) have now actually gotten food a lot closer to Turkish food (although I am told it will still change if tried in Turkey) including but not limited to:

Adana Doner: Kind of like a wrap/burrito idea.  I know of 4 kinds so far and tried 3, those being the chicken, mixed, and BBQ (different idea of BBQ here that is difficult to explain) and the one kind I have not tried being meat.  It has a mixture of peppers, tomatoes, and a bunch of other unidentifiable tastes in it and the picture of it on the side is it after being half eaten. Very good and cheap.



Mushroom Sauce Chicken: This item is very creatively named as it is a chicken breast filled with mushrooms (and sauce) and cheese after being fried.  Served with fries, rice, and salad (they do not use leaves of lettuce but like strings....it is odd), it is difficult to actually finish the entire thing.


Spicy Cheeseburger: Courtesy of Burger City (American fast food is not present due to Northern Cyprus not being recognized and the claim of the land being stolen from the Greeks), I expected a little burger without much flavor and a non-spicy spicy sauce.  The burger (although a little pricey) was worth every lira, the meat was delicious and the sauce left my mouth burning.  I also saw chicken sandwiches, steak, fajitas and other options on the menu so will definitely be revisiting Burger City.


Noodles:  I was talking to my friend Hassan one day as he was making his lunch and accidentally discovered Roka Instant Noodles, aka Ramen Noodles.  It is in every way the exact same idea: ridiculously cheap, impossible for even a guy with no cooking skills to screw up, and tastes great.  This has now become my lunch saving me a 15 minute walk (each way) to Table d'Hote (cafeteria) and 5 lunches is now cheaper than 1 lunch there.


Friday, March 16, 2012

Wednesday I had my second day of shadowing. I got to see some more interesting cases such as one person who has lupus and another individual who had an irregular sound in his heart beat. So far it is all going great and should prove to be an interesting semester following this doctor (and maybe a day or two in the other departments). Thursday I had dinner at Firdavs again and his roommates made a delicious dish called maklube. The center was rice with meat and potatoes and then the outside switched back and forth from salad (very different from American salad) and yogurt. And, like any Turkish meal, bread and orange fanta on the side. It was a very enjoyable night as his roommate had also invited his 3 friends from preparatory school (pre-university for people who cannot speak English since courses are taught in English) and they tested their ability to ask questions and understand the answers.
Today started out boring but I am now writing this blog from a new room with a new roommate...without mentioning to my old roommate I was moving...oops.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Today was my first shadowing day. I got there at 1 (an hour "late" since my class goes until 12:30) but the doctor is extremely nice. Found out he spent time in London, completed his medical school in Turkey, and is a Cypriot (not Turkish). Saw a wide range of cases as anybody who cannot speak Turkish just asks for Internal Medicine (even though there are other specialists "better" for their problems). Was also cool because he actually let me practice the basic stuff and then compared what he got to mine. One patient who came in even offered his friend who was with him for extra practice =)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

I finally made myself stop in the health center today seeing as I walk past it every single day when I go to eat/class/anywhere since my dorm is in the corner of campus. After ~15 minutes of attempting to explain what shadow means (apparently this term does not exist whatsoever in Turkish) they told me to wait until 12 (hour) to see the doctor of internal medicine (closest I could get to cardio). After waiting for him and once again struggling to convey what I wanted, he happily said he would love an assistant if the director would let him and even suggested rounds of all of the departments at the health center (more of a mini hospital than nurse). Only problem was director was out for another hour so had to wait again....and attempt to explain...again. Finally at the end I got an "ok" and then had to have them explain what "ok" meant....but I can come and go whenever I please and shadow whomever I want.