Yes, I have come back from my very much needed one week break. There are too many stories to tell, so I’ll let the pics (Facebook, Friendster) summarise everything for me. But there were two close-to-death incidents which I’ll briefly talk about.
On the way to Sinai, there was a sandstorm. Now it wasn’t just any average sandstorm – visibility was reduced to probably a maximum of two metres, with no street lamps of any sort (kedekut betul kerajaan Mesir!) and we couldn’t see cars from the opposite direction until they were almost right next to us (seb baik next to us and not in front of us!). There were times when I wanted to ask Kadir to just stop the Avanza by the side of the road and wait for the storm to dissipate. But then that would be too dangerous as the cars behind us wouldn’t be able to see us until they were really close, so they would probably drive straight into us. Sarah kept thinking about how her mum would be tossing and turning in her sleep, and true enough, her mum texted to check if she was safe. I kept thinking that if I die, I’ll die with Kadir, and Fatimah would die with her mum, but I felt sorry for everyone else in the car who didn’t have family with them in their last moments. Everyone stayed awake during the storm, though some pretended to sleep so that they wouldn’t have to see how scary it was, and everyone was saying their prayers as if it would be their last.
Suez: The sandstorm as it was just beginning.
Suez: The sandstorm as it was just beginning.The second was obviously climbing up Mount Sinai a.k.a. Jabal Musa. That was the worst episode of breathlessness and chest constriction I have ever felt. There were many times when I could hear myself wheezing, and there were many times that I felt I should just give up. In the end, I’m not sure if all the pain was worth it, but oh well, I reached the summit anyway and managed to get back down despite aching heels and trembling knees.
Told ya I almost died climbing the 2,285m mountain!
Told ya I almost died climbing the 2,285m mountain!Apart from those two not-so-nice things, we all had a wonderful time in Egypt, especially when you’re there with fun people and have a really cool driver, tourist guide, mountain guide, translator, photographer, penjaga beg, ... And meeting some very nice people and of course the superb array of food available!
And now what’s left is waiting for the OSCE results to come out (another close encounter with death perhaps?), applying for electives, writing up my 5000 word SSC (ICU consultants/anaesthetists are so cool!), doing 11 weeks of research and a 10k word write-up, crappy reflective pieces for portfolio, reading journals and various papers, finishing a book, revising for Progress Test in 3 weeks, starting revision for the real thing (the final of all finals!) in January and if time permits, posting some previous ramblings here. Too much reading and writing to do - I’m sure that’s enough to keep me occupied before summer holidays (which is a loooong 13 weeks to go!).
And now what’s left is waiting for the OSCE results to come out (another close encounter with death perhaps?), applying for electives, writing up my 5000 word SSC (ICU consultants/anaesthetists are so cool!), doing 11 weeks of research and a 10k word write-up, crappy reflective pieces for portfolio, reading journals and various papers, finishing a book, revising for Progress Test in 3 weeks, starting revision for the real thing (the final of all finals!) in January and if time permits, posting some previous ramblings here. Too much reading and writing to do - I’m sure that’s enough to keep me occupied before summer holidays (which is a loooong 13 weeks to go!).
Oh, and good luck to Munzir and friends for your finals! As much as I hate you kids for graduating before me, I’m kind enough to pray for your success. Allahumma yassir!
