An Extremely Detailed Day in the Life of Intern Michelle
7:54 am: First alarm rings. Snooze it and pass out.
8:02 am: Second alarm rings.Tell myself I need to get out of bed but the air is too cold.
8:10 am: Actually get out of bed in a slight panic.
8:11 am: Bathroom.
8:13 am: Go into the kitchen and start the coffee maker and my oatmeal.
8:15 am: Get dressed (minus my scrub top) and jump around to warm up.
8:20 am: Eat oatmeal and drink my coffee.
8:30 am: Wash my dishes.
8:35 am: Brush teeth and put in contacts.
8:40 am: Put on scrub top and shoes.
8:43 am: Try to wrestle my humidity hair in to a decent looking ponytail, braid, or bun.
8:45 am: Give up on the "decent" part and settle for having my hair controlled and out of my face.
8:50 am: Make-Up
8:56 am: Fill up water bottle.
8:58 am: Put purse, book, and water bottle into my backpack.
9:00 am: Put on jacket and backpack. Turn off the lights.
9:03 am: Depart from home and walk to the metro station
9:07 am: Pass by the nice man at the flower stand and say hello.
9:13 am: Cross the street before 1 Norte so I do not get fumigated by the construction work.
9:15 am: Wait forever for the walking light at Libertad/1 Norte to turn green
9:18 am: Get swarmed by pigeons by the park and pray I do not get pooped on.
9:24 am: Arrive at metro station. Pictured below.
Somewhere between 9:26 and 9:29am: Board metro and find a window seat, trying to avoid any human interaction. Zone out and start reading my book.
9:54 am: Hear the lady say "Estación Las Concepción" and begin to pack up my things.
9:56 am: Arrive at metro station in Villa Alemana.
9:58 am: Walk to Comin.
10:01 am: Arrive at Comin.
10:02 am: Greet Mati, Rodrigo, Francisco, and our loyal 10am patient Don Luis.
10:05 am: Be asked by everyone how I am. Reply with well. Every single time.
10:07 am: Someone new will ask me how I am. I am still doing well.
10:10 am: We still only have Don Luis so I begin organizing things and watching the crazy people on the TV Talk show "Mucho Gusto"
10:30 am: More patients come in and I begin to do various tasks such as ultrasounds, shortwave therapy, exercises, stretching, cleaning, or changing bed papers.
10:45-1:30 pm: Do the same tasks as listed above. Chat with patients. Run across the hall to grab ice packs. Say hello to the kind guy who works in radiology. Ask Francisco what he did the previous day. Predict that he will say "Worked at my other internship in the afternoon. And then did nothing." Secretly laugh to myself when that is exactly how he answers my question. Use the bathroom because I have been drinking a lot of water. Laugh at the weird people on the TV show. Resist the temptation to play with the hot wax and see what it feels like. Chat with patients about various Chilean things like food and slang words. Hope I don't accidentally electrocute someone with the Electric-Stimulation therapy. Explain for the thousandth time that it is not "cold" outside and that I am very accustomed to the cold in North Dakota. Undoubtedly ask Mati a stupid question that I already knew the answer to but did not realize at the time. Answer many questions from patients about life in the US. Get weird stares from new patients and people in the hallway because I am clearly not Chilean. Feel proud when I tell a patient to do something and they fully understand me and my Spanish. Laugh at something awkward Francisco does and how he tries to casually play it off.
1:35 pm-2:00 pm: Usually only one patient remains, so we begin to clean up and get things in order for the next day. Chat with the other interns about life. Test each others' balance skills, proprioception, and strength. My favorite thing to do is to balance on the mini bosus. They're so cute! Rodrigo tells me my balancing skills are "solida!"
2:00 pm: Leave Comin and walk toward the metro station.
2:01 pm: Be amazed at how hot it is outside compared to when I first arrived.
2:03 pm: Awkwardly chat with Francisco for two blocks before he turns to head home.
2:06 pm: Arrive at metro station just as a train is pulling away.
2:08 pm: Get to the metro deck and wait for another train to come.
2:12-2:16 pm: Finally board a train.
2:17 pm: Try to squish into a spot on the packed train where I can easily escape when it is time for my stop.
2:18-2:40 pm: Spend my metro ride analyzing the people around me, listening to the musicians, and looking at cute babies.
2:44 pm: Disembark from the train and race up the stairs to get into the card scanner line before everyone else.
2:45 pm: Scan my card and get out, thankful that Chileans are slow walkers.
2:46 pm: Start the trek home.
2:50 pm: Wish I lived a lot closer to the metro station.
2:52 pm: Walk past the sopapilla guy and resist the urge to buy one. Some days, the temptation wins.
2:55 pm: Realize I am only at 4 Norte and start speedwalking because I need to pee again.
3:08 pm: Arrive home.
3:09 pm: Phone goes crazy with emails, snaps, and texts now that I have phone service.
3:10 pm: Bathroom break
3:12 pm: Go into the kitchen with intentions of making lunch but end up spending around 10 minutes just catching up on phone notifications.
3:30 pm: Start throwing together some lunch with intentions of being healthy. I usually eat something light and quick, like eggs, fruit, a sandwich, salad, leftovers, or a quesadilla.
3:45 pm: Eat lunch. Here is a typical lunch for me. Scrambled eggs with cheese, salad, and a smoothie!
4:00 pm: Clean up my mess and wash dishes.
4:10 pm: Change clothes and sit on my bed.
4:15 pm: Start getting everything prepped to go for a run.
4:20 pm: Get to the front door and realize I forgot to bring my keys.
4:22 pm: Strap keys to armband and try again.
4:25 pm: Run along the beach and try to avoid eye contact with the PDA-infested teenagers
4:35 pm: Laugh at the funny pineapple trees along the path
4:48 pm: Consider working out with some of the beach playground workout equipment, but get weirded out and decide to keep running past.
5:00 pm: End my run and go stretch on the beach.
5:02 pm: Realize that sitting in sand is a stupid idea when my legs are sweaty. Continue sitting in the sand anyway.
5:05 pm: Get sick of stretching and just sit and enjoy the scenery.
5:10 pm: Walk back home.
5:15 pm: Change out of my sweaty run clothes.
** At this point, I may do a variety of things including but not limited to reading my book in bed or on the beach, Facetiming, doing my homework, looking at photos, going to Starbucks, going grocery shopping, walking around Viña, chatting with roommates, Googling cool things to do in Chile, checking Social media, or cleaning my room.
6:30 pm: Head to the beach to watch the sunset.
6:55 pm: Begin to freeze because the sun is now down.
7:05 pm: Return home and spend a few minutes relaxing.
7:15 pm: Look at the clock, horrified that it is already 7:15pm and I have so many things to do.
7:16 pm: Still don't do any of those things.
7:30 pm: Decide to get up and start making dinner.
7:50 pm: Eat dinner. Here is a typical dinner for me! Spaghetti, apples, BREAD :), and juice!
8:15 pm: Clean up from dinner and wash dishes.
8:30 pm: Sit down in the living room with estufa and my computer with the intention of accomplishing many things.
8:35 pm: Browse all social media, look through photos, send a few important emails.
8:50 pm: Get up and get some water.
8:55 pm: Actually open up my blog to write a post.
9:00 pm: Realize I need to edit my photos first and spend a half hour editing photos.
9:30 pm: Look at the clock with horror because I wanted to go to bed early.
9:32 pm: Scramble to write a blog post or Facebook some photos.10:00 pm: Realize I forgot to do something else important and commence doing it.
10:15 pm: Eat a light snack before bed.
10:30 pm: Take a shower and enjoy the warmth.
10:45 pm: Take out contacts, brush teeth, and bid goodnight to my night owl roommates.
10:50 pm: Hop into my bed.
10:51 pm: Waste time texting my friends and on social media. Curse the time difference.
11:05 pm: Hate myself because it is already past 11.
11:09 pm: Put down my phone and turn off the lamp.
11:13 pm: Almost asleep, and then realize I forgot to set my alarm.
11:14 pm: Set my alarms for 7:54 am and 8:02 am.
11:15 pm: Close my eyes and drift off to sleep to the sound of the hot water heater, the cats on our roof fighting, or the neighbor lady talking.
6:36 am: Wake up and take relief in the fact I still have an hour to sleep.
AND REPEAT!
So there you have it. An extremely detailed, inside look at my glamorous (or not so glamorous) life in Chile. The weekends are much more exciting and usually filled with travel, but I try to keep a good routine and get enough sleep since I am working during the week. I usually will do something extra special one day a week like go somewhere new here or go to a movie or something. I just like to relax and hang out and enjoy time on the beach. So if you are ever wondering what I am up to, calculate the time difference and come to this post! You have an 82.4% chance of knowing what I am actually doing.
Have a happy rest of your HUMP DAAAY! :)
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