Life sitch during COVID season
It has been, what, sixteen days? I honestly lost track. We are halfway through with the declared month-long quarantine. And so far, these are the things I have been entertaining myself with:
Long afternoon walks. I’m currently staying at my boyfriend’s place here in Batangas. We were together when we were pulled out of the hospital and so we decided to pack my clothes and other essentials and stay here for the meantime instead of me being alone in my dorm for who knows how long. I would’ve stayed there but of course he wouldn’t let me starve and die of boredom and loneliness. In this way, he could closely monitor me since I have been exposed in the hospital waaaay before the COVID breakout. I could’ve went home to my mom and sisters but we thought it would be dangerous for them to be exposed to people like us who had contact with patients. I always make sure they are safe by checking up on them once in a while. Anyway, since this quarantine started, I had been so anxious with all the happenings. Of the few things that make me calm, walking or taking a jog is one of them. It clears my mind and helps me relax by giving me a breather (even though doing so actually tires me, lol). I’m one of the few lucky ones to be staying in a place where walking around is allowable because here, there are not much people, the place is big enough to get lost, and there are a lot of trees and other greeneries. I always go out with my mask on and take a bath afterwards. Just to be sure.
Indoor workout. Because sometimes I’m too lazy or it’s already too dark outside for me to go out. Since I started going out for a jog again, I hate the feeling of not doing any kind of sweaty activity in a day, may it be just a 10-minute work out. I honestly feel fat and unfit it’s making me hate myself and we don’t want that kind of negativity so I make sure I discipline myself by either going out for a walk or doing a short workout at home. Of course when I’m reaaally feeling under the weather, I let myself rest. But every time I can, I do try to squeeze in a few minutes of cardio or ab workout. Lately I’ve been trying video workouts on Youtube. I’m pretty sure y’all heard of Chloe Ting cause I just did yesterday and gave in to one of her workouts today.
Intermittent fasting. Another weight-losing related activity because I really wanna go back to my old body! Every time we stop a previous routine, it becomes harder whenever we try to go back to it again. This is my case with working out and doing IF again. It gets frustrating when I couldn’t control my hunger or when I over eat but baby steps. We’ll all get there again!
Trying home-made snacks and drinks I see on the internet. I recently made a Tiktok account (but no, I don’t make videos lol I made it for viewing purposes only) and whenever I’m in bed in the morning or at night, I always see interesting easy-to-make dishes and snacks! And of course I definitely need to drag my boyfriend with me. We ended up doing the Dalgona coffee challenge and boooy we got obsessed! My boyfriend, who is not much of a fan of ice/sweetened coffee, makes me one almost every day since we started trying it. Definitely a win-win situation for me, haha!
Tiktok and Sims mobile. Since I’ve already mentioned Tiktok, let me add another activity I started doing on my iPhone: playing Sims. I couldn’t engage myself with the “real Sims” that’s why I decided to try the Sims mobile instead. I have been on my phone day and night since I started. I forgot how addicting Sims is! So far I have four sims, two of which are playable: a married couple and two kids. I kinda need new game suggestions though because I’m starting to get bored with it already.
Online classes because amidst the corona situation, we need to cary on with our clerkship so we can graduate on time, start internship by June or July (fingers crossed), and be the doctors we are supposed to be. To be honest, even though we are thankful that we were pulled out from hospital duty (fact check: clinical clerks like me are not obliged to participate in such events because we haven’t taken our Hippocratic Oath yet. For short, we are technically not yet doctors who can see and treat patients on our own, no. That would be years from today), it gets frustrating at times because I feel like there’s nothing I can do to help. I couldn’t go to the hospital to help because, well, I am just a clerk, for now. I do not have the knowledge and skills in order to act and react properly and safely in situations like this one. That is why I am really grateful for our consultants and residents for assuring us of our safety and our education. When the corona virus outbreak happened, I was six weeks into my surgery rotation (the best rotation for me, by the way). I’m supposed to be starting with my anesthesiology rotation which is under the surgery rotation as well but due to the given circumstances, that did not happen anymore. To further maximize the little time we have left with surgery, we had online meetings for clinical management cases and other conferences. Again, I’m one of the few lucky ones who has a good internet connection. But how about the others? How about those who have crappy ones or who need to go out just to have internet connection? I can only imagine how frustrating that is. Nonetheless, we got to do what we got to do. And that is to continue learning because in medicine, as told by many, the learning never stops. Again, I am really thankful for all those who get out of their way just to provide us with learning materials and the time to connect with us via online video teleconferences. Speaking of which, tomorrow is the mark of my first day in pedia rotation. At 10 AM, we will be having our orientation via MS Teams. I hope I wake up early enough to brush my teeth and wash my face!
K-dramas and movies. Since I have the time and resources to up my Netflix game, I did so by watching some series and a few movies. So far I already watched CLOY, one episode of Kingdom, one episode of Dare Me, The Platform, and Isn’t It Romantic. Currently I’m on the eighth episode of Hi Bye, Mama and I’m loving it so far! I can’t say it’s a light drama because I’ve cried a bucket on the first episode already. But maybe that’s just because I’m a cry baby. Speaking of baby, I’m just obsessed with Seo Woo! She is just the cutest! I have yet to watch more series and movies. Tonight, my boyfriend and I are gonna watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Using this chance to say I hope every one is safe! And please, do stay safe. For the sake of yourself, your family, and this country.