Medical Trials

Wow, this has been a while. I used to be this blog whore once who had access to internet and whatnot. And look at me now. A young man, sitting on his bed which is part of a 16-bed-room, eating a cracker with tuna that I made on the shared hotplate, while trying to hold in my fart so that the others wont look at me weird, wearing nothing but a jacket because Cuban food has made me even more insecure about my weight, looking at the students from the Solomon Islands with whom we have to share the room but-of-whom-were-actually-scared-because-they-make-war-canoes-and-murder-people.

My life has changed in a way that I never would have imagined. If it is for better or for worse is still under discussion. Have I regretted my decision in coming here?....of course….. everyday.
But finally I have concluded that it is better for me to stay here, in the municipality of Sandino, in the province of Pinar del Río. Try finding that on the map/google/wiki. Its that bad….
Being a doctor is my only wish…..but i'm not so sure if its to help my fellow man, or to help my fellow wallet.

Cuba has its own benefits. Aside from internet blockage and NO MSN (yes, it felt like a dagger through my heart just to repeat it)….it has a free health care system.

Man it has tried my patience, visiting all these doctors in Suriname who kept on telling me different things about the ‘swollen lymph nodes’. They turned out to be cancer. Nothing malignant though, its just lipomatosis. In the mean time I have already visited the medics many times. They sent me to a doctor first, then they sent me to a dermatologist who then referred me to a surgeon who said that I actually needed an endocrinologist. That’s who I visited today. And even if they tell you that the Cuban medical system is costless, it sure as hell makes up for it in trying your goddamn patience (which we all know I don’t have). I had to wait for 4 fleeting hours. I guess the wait was made easy with my oh so special iPod touch, i'm the only one in Cuba that has one.

They inject all of us school-faring folk with every vaccine they can find. I have been injected like 8 times in the 4 months that I have been here. I don’t even know half the diseases i'm immune to. They also made me take an extra blood test, which was horrible, they cut me open in different places and timed the amount of time it took until I stopped bleeding.

With them…..I mean the system….the Cubans…..

I should watch out what I say because ‘they’ monitor everything. But Im not afraid of them. I speak Spanish now. Isn’t it funny? :P

Anyway, I have no idea where to begin or what to tell you about the things I have witnessed/went through in the past couple of months. But I can tell you that you will find out soon enough. I'm having a friend post my stuff back on the net for all of you to read, and hopefully you will.

This is Farid, in Cuba…..signing in (finally…..)

Oh….PS…..I have pictures :P:P

That’s me in the river (a recreational one with a small waterfall) with some of my best friends and a bottle of rum. Imagine, I know its been difficult here, but yeah, I’ve been making the best of it, cant have it any other way ;) (and cheap Cuban rum definitely helps muchisimo)

If you want some specific pictures or whatnot, just leave comments, ill make sure to get them, but if you want to get the comments straight to me, my hotmail and yahoo are not accessible aqui, so mail me straight to my new email address:

FARIDK@ELAM10.PRI.SLD.CU