Day 161: YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

8/2/10

I GOT ACCEPTED INTO MDA!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! To explain - I think I did this already, but who cares - MDA stands for Magein David Adom and is a basic EMT training program. After an intense 10 day study period and final exam, you are an official EMT assistant and can legally be in the back of an ambulance alone with a patient. I'm terrified of that concept, but at the same time, since I'm now looking seriously at going into a scientific field, I think the experience will be vital. There's a part of me that's also terrified (I think irrationally) that because I quit Marva, I'm prone to quitting things (this has actually been haunting me for awhile). I don't think I'll be quitting MDA anytime soon because unlike the army, medicine is something I already know I'm passionate about, and I already know that I'm not squeamish. That said, I've never had to deal with human death before, and there's always a possibility that a patient could die under my watch, which I have no idea how I would ever deal with. I think I can do it. I think my acknowledging that I'm terrified is also a better way to enter the process than with the over excitement I had about Marva (at first). All of this said, there's a chance I might not be able to do MDA anyway because of Poland scheduling, but I'm keeping my hopes high!!!!!!!

Today was another amazing day at Yad Lakashish! Today, I gave a tour to a group of Russian Taglit (Birth rite) travelers (in English, not Russian). Usually, tours consist of trying to think of different things to say about each workshop since after the first one, the rest are slightly self-explanatory, but today was different. Because the group spoke Russian, we took time in each workshop to really talk to the workers and get to know them. It was amazing to see how their faces lit up at hearing young people speak their native language. I realized today how amazing language is. I take English for granted most of the time, but thinking about it, it's really amazing to notice all the inside jokes, idioms, and intricacies one can only appreciate if one is a native speaker. I felt blessed to be included in a language, as absurd as that may sound. On an amusing note, I also got to witness the infamous Russian lechayim in the ceramics workshop as the whole group took vodka shots. =D

Class was class, but I don't think that's ever going to change, at least not here...

Going to Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Museum) tomorrow, so my next post should have a lot to say.

All my Love,
Rachel