Mexico Medical Student |

The semester from hell is finally over. This semester saw the worst academic performance as a class for everyone to date–nobody I know didn’t do worse overall–as well as the most morale-crushing, asinine bullshit from administration and faculty (from inexcusable neglect to outright hostility). One doesn’t have to think too hard if there was a connection between their poor treatment and our poor performance.

This semester, personally, also saw some of the most incredible changes I have gone through as a person. Not only having to deal with the above (as if it wasn’t enough), as a new father, I had all sorts of adjustments to make: personally, academically, maritally, and just about every other humanly possible way. I look back to last July and see blood, tears of joy and grief, remnants in the sand where past struggles left their mark, and a few incongruous flowers fertilized by the detritus of the time. Almost as if my psyche’s defense mechanism forced itself to detach from the goings on, looking back seems both so intensely personal and yet it’s as though the experiences weren’t quite my own. It’s hard to explain, but I can already feel at least the beginnings of healing. I’ll write more later once I’m further along, away from my Gitmo and can reflect with more depth.

Right now, I’ve switched to organize and pack mode. Claudia is flying in tomorrow night, partly because she wants to go through some more things here at the house, but also, she’d rather not have me drive by myself, even though I’ve done it before. I started to object, but after her being away for 2 weeks and us not having had alone time since–well, since the baby was born–48 hours of just the two of us sounds pretty damn good to me, even if a good chunk is on the road. Grandma will be babysitting, and she’s thrilled at the prospect. I can’t wait to hold my Niblet again, though.

Unless there’s something that is just too juicy to share that can’t wait for me to get settled stateside, I probably won’t be posting/updating much until next week, well after I’ve settled in. A post or two from here notwithstanding, I look forward to posting from the U.S. for the first time since June.