Feel The Air...

....Shot into your eyes.

.....I "thought" I'd "volunteer" to be patient for third year optom students (I actually had no choice... it's compulsary!). The University's clinic is rather posh....nothing like what you'd find in the clinical labs - the playground for us inexperienced first years. It gave me quite a discomforting feeling; I had to act sort of "formal-ish".

I walked into the waiting area and it was all filled with old people...old, retired people who probably have nothing better to do but to become a student's guinea pig for a couple of hours...oh and they get a free eye test out of it!. So I waited. An old women sat opposite me kept staring at me. So I smiled at her... she just stared back...so I looked away, but I knew she was still staring. A few minutes went by and a women with a toddler walked in. The little boy stood in the doorway and refused to move. He'd probably had some traumatic experience with student's in the past. After a few words of encouragement from the receptionist he walked in and sat beside me (only because the toy box was on the other side!). Within moments he was on the floor with huge building blocks, learning his colours. He entertained me for the remaining time.

It was finally my turn. It was quite amusing. Four students, smartly dressed in suits with lab coats, walked in (when have you EVER seen an optometrist in a lab coat?!...they're only for doctors!). They all stood in a line, clinging on to their clipboards, each waiting for the other to call out for their patient first. Their supervisor suddenly came in, and they all four of them quickly called out their patient's name...hehe!

This guy was gonna test my eyes. I can't even remember his name, but the badge on his lab coat didn't belong to him. I later found out that he left his lab coat at home, so had to borrow someone else's (why didn't he just take the badge off?!).But I did feel sorry for him....his supervisor was the guy who helps out in my visual optics practicals; Dr I'm-smart-your're-daft.

He started off by confirming all my details and asking about family history etc.... and well, my optician has ever asked me soooo many questions. It did get to the stage where I didn't feel like answering... but I had no choice! Oh and the comment he got from his supervisor was, "Be more specific, ask more questions if you have to." (what!?!).....AND he (the supervisor) was suprised that I spend about 3-4 hours a day on the computer; it probably explains why I can't answer his questions in practicals!

I think he tested my eyes using every possible technique, but it wasn't bad cos I did learn lots. In the end he said he was gonna check the pressure in my eyes... I wasn't sure how this was going to be done, but it didn't sound very nice!

He held this thing near my eye - it looked like an extra large sized stapler. I looked at the red light inside and waited... and waited... and then all of a sudden air shot into my eye. It made me jump (which was embarrasing!)..and..and it hurt! :'( . He did this four times in each eye..... That test should be illegal!..It's not safe! What if it punctured my cornea?!

I was there for two hours. Overall it wasn't bad...well other than the pressure thing... But it was very time consuming and I missed my extra lab practice! (yes I'm a swot!)

Feeding An Army

I feel sorry for chickens and lambs whenever my mum invites anyone for dinner. Almost everything cooked contains meat or chicken.... and yesterday was no different.....

.... Mum had invited some people for dinner last night, and on Friday night we got a call from some distant relatives, telling us that they're gonna come over on Saturday afternoon. I nearly had a heart attack when I found out. That's 9 people in the afternoon and 11 in the evening.

So i had to wake up early yesterday (grrrr... saturday's the only day I get to sleep in). I did all the usual; quick shower, got dressed, cleaned my room. When I went downstairs, mum was already messing around with the extra-large sized pots and pans. My job was to make the lasagna.

After about 2 hours of messing around with 3lb of mince meat, a tonne of tomatoes, flour, milk and a load of other things, everything was ready. Now only the layers were left.

I buttered the dish, and started with a thin layer of mince...then pasta....then white sauce... then lots and lots of cheese.. and so on. I finally finished with cheese and sprinkled some oragano on top (so that it smells nice!..heh).

I shoved it in the oven and then helped mum with boring things... like making the salad and the hundreds of varieties of chutnies.

So the first lot came... ate... sat for a bit and went... then we cleaned up...and cooked some more. Then the second lot came and did the same. When they left I was exhausted..... and because mum thinks a dishwasher is a waste of space, all the dishes had to be hand washed. :(

We finished around 11ish....

That's when I realised it was the eclipse. So I impatiently stared the moon for about half an hour... then got bored and went to bed. This morning I found out that if had stayed there for about 15 more minutes I would have seen the whole eclipse...with the moon going red! Double GRRRRR!



That's a pic of the moon I took at about 11.30ish. Half the moon's covered. It isn't a very good pic. (magnified 8 times and there was a lampost in the way!)

The Top Secret Islamic Society

Before I started uni I was really excited about joining the Islamic Society. I saw it as a way to make a contribution to Islam in way other than "personal worship"; maybe even a door leading towards the world of Dawah and showing other people what Islam is really about.

Well, in fresher's week there were stalls set up by loads of different societies.... but.... Islamic Society was nowhere to be seen. So I checked out their website...It was last updated in 2002. Most of the talks they organise normally take place after eight in the evening, so I cant attend them ( I refuse to use the bus at that time, for obvious reasons), and when I do attend a talk I can never seem to find "the people at the top".

I was in the prayer room, and a sister was giving out leaflets. So I thought she'd know about how to join... and she did... sort of. She told me to leave my email address with her and she'll get in touch. That was 3 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything.So I've given up. I don't understand why they're so secretive, and why they're not active in getting new members.... It's a shame really.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A lecture finished early today. So I had 20mins before the next, and I thought I'd go and pray. Only problem was that the prayer room is on the other side of uni, so it takes about 15mins to get there....if you walk fast. Me and a friend decided to go anyway. We thought we'd walk extra fast.

So we went and prayed and got back. We were litetally like 2mins late....only 2mins.... and the lecture had started, but we walked in. Now normall y when someone walks in late no-one says anything, they just go find a spare seat and sit down..... well not today....

... We walked in and were about to turn to walk up the stairs when the lecturer came and stood in our way. One hundred and something pairs of eyes turned towards us and blinked simultaneously.

Grumpy lecturer with annoying Indian accent:
So is there a good reason as to why you are so late?

My brave friend:
We had to go to So and so building and it's a bit of a long walk

Me (hiding behing my friend) and my thoughts:
Don't look at me, it's not my fault you idiotic man... and will everyone stop staring!

Grumpy lecturer with annoying Indian accent:
And WHY did you HAVE to go there?

Me and my thoughts:
None of your bloody business.... now are you gonna move out of my way or not?

My brave friend:
Well it was prayer time so we had to go...

Grumpy lecturer:
Oh....

Hah that shut him up! And moved him out of our way. There were few giggles from the back, but I'm not sure whether we were being laughed at or the lecturer (my guess is the lecturer!).

The Road To Mecca

Finally finished reading this book. It's totally cool.....I'd recommend it to anyone.

Sigh....

I heard this that other day.... and well.... I miss my mum and I want her to come back! *Sniff, sniff* ( o.k maybe I'm a bit old for this) ..... Just four more days and she'll be back.

It was her birthday yesterday, so I rang her to say happy birthday. My uncle (mum's bro) threw her a surprise party, and she was telling me about all the fun they had and how she's gonna miss them all sooo much when she leaves...... Sounded like she doesn't want to come back! *feels even more depressed*

It's elevenish now and I'm trying to revise. I'm soooo tired, but I'm not gonna sleep! Only yesterday I realised how behind I am. (4 exams next week and I haven't done anything for one of them..... oh that's the one where I need to get through 24 powerpoints which are all at least 70 slides long).

I'm currently revising bones and different types of bone fractures and how they heal. Don't you think it's daft though. I mean as an optometrist, if someone comes to me with a fractured skull I'm not gonna do anything about it.... so why do we have to learn about it?

Temporary Mum

Seems likes aaages since I last blogged... actually it has been ages.... over a month...

But I've really busy. Mum's not at home. She's gone abroad, to meet her mum, for a whole month. So with me being the eldest, I have to be "temporary mum", and believe me it totally sucks!

I have to do all the really minging things like waking up early in the morning and making the breakfast (dad helps with that.... on most days he even cleans the kitchen before going to work), cleaning the house from top to bottom every single day (But I tend to miss things out like not mopping the floors in the bedrooms... nobody'll know!)... oh and cleaning the bathroom (nobody even offers to do that!).

With even more exams on the way (when will they end!?), I really need to revise.... but when!?! Well maybe it is slightly my fault for being sooo unorganised and not using my time effectively. Like today I had a few hours in which I could have revised.... but this is how I spent them:

11.00- 12.00..... got home and had a bath

12.00- 12.30..... lecturing my lil sis (she woke up in a bad mood, went to mosque and then refused to read.... how embarrasing!!)

12.30- 1.15.... fed my siblings

1.15- 3.00.... as a punishment, I made my sister sit in my room and learn the sixth kalimah ... however ended up helping her learn it

3.00 - present time .... made myself tea and a tuna & sweetcorn sandwhich, and I am currently stuffing my face with it....mmmmmmm

I've got an hour free now... and I'll try to use it constructively!

The Sheesha Craze

It's that thing ----->
It's pretty ugly. But it's big and seems like "the only thing to do"

My grandad's got a sheesha on display in his house. It used to belong to my great grandfather. The first time I saw one actually being used was at a friend's birthday party, a few years ago. I stared in amazement when I saw her and her sister-in-law go high on the thing. Before that I thought it was only a thing old Arab men did. I never tried it though. At that time I was too scared my mum might find out. But even now I wouldn't do it. Not because I'm scared of being caught, but because it seems like a daft thing to do.

They all say that isn't as bad as smoking, but it's still tobacco and probably addictive..... and therefore I class it as a drug....and I wouldn't touch it....

This morning, I went round to a friend's flat. There was one standing in the corner in her living room. She's never tried it either, but her flat mates smoke it. She was telling me that her flat mates invited some people over the other night, and the put weed into it and smoked that. How stupid.

*Sniff, Sniff*....*Cough, Cough*

Stooopid cold! .... It's that time of year again when one pack of Kleelex pocket-sized tissues isn't enough to last you the whole day, your nose is bright red, you look like you've been crying all-day and you have huge bags under your eyes. ... Not to mention sounding like an old sleeping man because you have to breath through your mouth!

The best of it all is the fact that I have exams in like TWO weeks!

Two weeks!?.... I just started uni..... and, and it's just too soon!

So I've started the only-go-to-bed-when-it's-absolutely-essential thing. That means at about 3 o'clock at night when you're so tired that you start seeing things.

And lectures.... Why do they bother having them? People are literally sleeping through them ( really!). But I don't blame them, the lecturers are sad old people who speak like they're reading out of a book , in monotone. I end up losing concentration and thinking about daft things like "I don't have a matching bag with that new outfit I just bought" or "why are the lights on the ceiling a funny shape?". Why can't I just miss lectures and do the work on my own? (because the guilt of missing a lecture would kill me.... eventhough they're not "mandatory").

I'm trying to get back into the habit of studying properly. By properly I mean actually reading a book and making notes, not just staring at the pages and yawning. But I take sooo much time doing everything. A year ago I could have read (and understood) a whole chapter in about 30 mins.... and now it's just taken me the whole morning! Man, that 4-month-long holiday has done nothing but made me lazy!

~*~*~*~*~*~

I thought i'd clean my room today; something I haven't done for months. My room's state was getting so bad that furtinure was starting to form out of the stacks of paper I was meant to recycle a gazillion years ago. Like under my desk, a foot stool had formed from A- level practice exam papers. And my shiny, expensive (very expensive), brand new books were lying on the floor, because the shelves were filled with useless things like baby books (well I had to fill the shelves with something otherwise my room would have looked like an empty warehouse).

I started getting rid of all the pointless things that were taking up space in my room. I put the baby books in a box and placed them in the "store room thing" downstairs. They can live in there until I find them a new home. Anyway, while I was there I found a box full of old photographs. Theres pics of us when were all ickle kids and some from holidays we've been to and lots of random ones. I found a little album of pics from my middle school. I was flicking through it when I came across one particular photo. There was a girl on it that looked like a younger version of a girl at uni. After a bit of wondering down memory lane, I realised that they both have the same name...so must be the same person. But I never thought that this could be her! I remember the girl at uni telling me that she used to live in the same city as me, and even went to the same middle school for a year. But I thought I had never seen her before. Well from what I can remember, she used to be a dopey tom-boy... but now she's a proper girl and..er..well not dopey :D. I have to tell her on Monday! (tell her that I knew her, not that she's not dopey anymore! hehe!).

But I find that so weird. Meeting someone from the past. Someone you had completely forgotten and thought that you'd never ever see again. It makes the world seem so small....

Can't drive!!!

I sit in the car and I get the feeling it doesn't like me. I always adjust the left mirror first, and then turn to sort out the right. I turn back to double check the left mirror and its moved out of place..... all by its self!

After numerous attempts, I give up with the mirrors..... They'll just have to do! So I put my foot on the clutch and press it down. Now according to my instructor it's supposed to make a sort of "clunk" sound.... And it does when she presses it down. But does it do it when I try? Nope! ( and according to my instructor i'm damaging the thing if I don't make it go "clunk" .... and it costs £300 to replace the dam thing!..whatever!)

Anyway... I find the biting point, put down the handbreak and set off.... and then approach a roundabout! Well, other than nearly being hit by another car, it didn't go too badly.... and I got round it.

It's near the end of my lesson, and I'm about to join a major road. The guy in the car infront of me is also going to do the same. He isn't a learner, and probably isn't a new driver (no "L" plates on his car!)... So I patiently wait for him to turn... and I wait a bit longer....I look at the clock and 5 minutes have passed.... and then another 5 and we're still on the same spot.... a car beeps from behind.... and then a few more minutes pass and he finally turns! I move forward and turn into the road in about 10 seconds.... now that made me feel better!

Diverted photon...

I thought blogging would become a sort of addiction. Like when I discovered online forums a few years ago .... you couldn't get me off the computer!

But it hasn't..... You see, I've just started uni. And it's not going toooo badly. But I always find that I can't be bothered doing anything when I get home.... not even the pile of "homework" we get. My friend tells me it's because I commute .... Commute? I live in the same city!

I'm not used to the whole environment though. Yes you can describe as a typical little school girl, who needs to be told to do everything. All this "self study" jargon is gonna take time getting used to. :(

Right!... back to the fascinating story of the "Atresia of the Nasolacrimal Duct".

errrrmm...Hi!....err.....errmm.....so....errr.....