Blues and Ballards

Some people might think that going to medical school in Pakistan subjects us to all kinds of terrorist threats, kidnappings, riots, and other everyday events that take place out here. The truth is, Islamabad is a very quiet place, and very foreign friendly, or at least it was till just about last week when there was a bombing at a nearby restaurant that served alcohol. Regardless, Islamabad could easily double as a ghost town on most nights.

That might be why it’s so easy to fall into a normal routine out here– you can get everything done regularly as long as there aren’t any major holiday celebrations going, and that’s exactly what I prefer. I’ll usually follow a schedule pretty closely of studying, working out, and messing around online, but this week is a different story. Allergy season is just one thing among others which is making life difficult out here. Even though there are a good share of non-drowsy antihistamines out there, I still prefer good old benadryl despite being knocked out after only 100mg. I can’t remember another point in time where I’ve slept so much and still felt tired. I think I must’ve had at least 10 hours of sleep last night and was drowsy all day anyway. Not exactly what I had planned, with the huge ENT test I have coming this Friday. I also haven’t been able to work out since I’ve overslept everyday in the past week.

It gets worse though– Pakistan’s currently going through an energy crisis among all of its political turmoil, and can’t provide enough electricity to support the country’s needs. As a result, the power’s shut off at scheduled times for about 4 to 7 hours a day, usually one hour at a time. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was winter, but for those of you who don’t know, summers in Pakistan are known to get as hot as 140 degrees. I haven’t even started using my AC yet since it’s only about 80 out, but as soon as that 90+ weather rolls around and everyone flips them on, the power outages are probably going to become even more frequent. Unless we find a generator to steal from a local market, I really have no idea what we’re gonna do in our apartment in the sweltering heat. I don’t even have enough clothes to keep changing. The past summers have only been bearable because of the AC’s we’d have running almost twelve to sixteen hours out of the day.

It’s all of these little things which are making this week seem more trying that it normally would be. I had a similar experience back in high school, with four AP tests in one week which I still remember. I remember thinking back then that I would remember that week for a long time to come, and now with all these small annoyances I guess I feel a bit of deja vu.