Month: July 2019

Quick Update: On uprisings, the Hadestown recording and silly things.

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Hi! It’s been a while. ❤

(You wouldn’t think about it that way- you got a post from me last week. But I haven’t written anything new in 3 weeks ^.^) This is the kind of messy update you’re used to have from me, so nothing new here.

So. What’s new? Puerto Ricans overthrew a government after two weeks of protest caused by years of oppression… and a group chat. (Can you believe a Telegram chat unraveled this whole thing? Me neither.)

So… that’s cool. Proud is not enough of a word to describe how it felt to finally see Ricardo Rosselló finally resigning. Seeing people celebrating in the streets live is something I will never forget. (Of course, if you follow me on Twitter, you’d know all about it- or probably… just muted me. Oops.) My day to day was spent listening to AM radio, political podcasts and Twitter (specifically David Begnaud’s twitter. He’s our national treasure. I am now a David Begnaud stan account, jsyk). I’m not here to explain it all, there are countless accounts that have been writing thousands of pages about it.(Just search for #RickyRenuncia)

Of course, you must know it’s still not over. We still do not have a stable government (and probably will not have one for a while) The next person on the chain of succession is… far from ideal and is probably involved in the whole thing. So, you will not stop hearing from us during the next few months.

What am I doing right now? I’m sort of taking a break. I listened to the Hadestown recording while writing (part of) this. I listened to all of it and I’m empty! Seriously: Doubt Comes In literally made me gasp in the end. I don’t think I’ll ever lose that feeling. I feel like it’s the complete opposite to In a Crowd of Thousands. The latter shows something the whole show has built up to, an amazing thing, and the former does the same thing, but you do not want it to happen. But it does anyway. (Wow, my way with words is the best. *pure sarcasm* I have no idea why you follow me, tbh)

I’m also catching up with all the reading and shows I abandoned during this past week (or… year, to be honest).

K-dramas:

I finished Search: WWW! And you should all watch it. (Just ignore the romantic filler. *shrugs* I was only there for the powerful female figures and their relationships, tbh)

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I’m currently watching Hotel del Luna (because of IU and it was written by the Hong Sisters, so you should all run and watch it!) and Doctor John (because it’s a medical drama and it stars Ji Sung, my first Korean love).

Hotel del Luna is giving me Goblin + Master’s Sun vibes, just saying. If you like any of these you could like it.

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Doctor John is only starting, but it is already showing topics that are considered taboo and I trust his vision on his dramas. So yeah. I’m very pleased with it so far and my expectations are limitless.

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Books:

I finally read Soul of Stars by Ashley Poston. I am a sucker for books with plots like this (where love attempts to overthrow mind controlling, you know?) This story is the ending of a duology, which is an Anastasia retelling. I don’t have to tell you how much I love Anastasia. Just so you know, Ashley Poston has become an insta-buy author for me.

The Becoming of Noah Shaw & The Reckoning of Noah Shaw. I have mixed feelings with the first one, since not much happened. But the second one reminded me why I fell in love with Noah Shaw on the first place. It had flashbacks and snarkiness and the unreliable narrators we know and love. (also- no Mara, which was actually refreshing. Let’s see what will happen next) It took me a literal year for me to start this series because I was afraid I wouldn’t feel the same way about it. I was right, but I was still interested on the story and I actually want to know how it will end.

I reread Red, White and Royal Blue. Look: Alex and Henry’s story is the cutest thing ever. I needed something that could counteract the whole bitterness of my country’s political climate, so what’s better than reading a book about two political figures falling in love during an election period? *shrugs*

Stray thoughts: Taylor Swift’s new song is amazing. The Archer is what I expect and love from Taylor, so I think I’m going to love her next album. I’ve been avoiding streaming her old albums because of the Scooter Braun thing, and I honestly miss her so much. I wish my laptop had a CD port so I could listen to my physical copies. Ugh.

PS: I still have around three weeks of freedom before uni starts… I haven’t rested this much in literal years, and it feels amazing.

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Quick update: cruising, reading and binge-watching

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So, of course, after all those posts with specific purposes, I owe you an absolute mess of an update, since that’s what I’ve been doing with my blog for months and that’s what you have come to expect of me. So here I am.

First update: Somehow (really, don’t ask me how) I am halfway done with my degree.

I reached 50% of my PharmD: I never thought I would reach this milestone so fast. I only have one year left of my didactic studies, after which I’ll work my ash off. I think this is the first actual break I have had ever since I started pharmacy school and I have really stopped to think: holy shirt how is this possible? I am honestly so proud of myself for coming this far. Especially, if you read my past posts, I had no idea what I would do with my life until my second year of my undergrad.

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Gente, llegamos al 50% 💃🏻

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I went on a cruise with my friends.

That’s something I never thought I would ever do (I went on a cruise when I was way younger and my experience was not the best in terms of motion sickness), but here we were. It has been one of the most fun experiences I have ever gone through in my life. Going to piano bars? Listening to talented singers perform every night? Eating delicious food?

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I am so glad I was able to do this with my classmates, as this is something we will remember for the rest of our lives, hopefully.

A stray thought: I can’t believe I’ve hopped on a plane more times in a year than I have my whole life. (hopefully I’ll be able to do it even more once I actually graduate and earn money O.o)

Another stray thought: Non-drowsy Dramamine is BS

As for reading (I had written “I am a disappointing mess on a previous draft”)

I finished Vengeful and Love and Other Words, two of the books I had started months ago. But the one I actually want to mention is Kingdom of Exiles.

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Mo gave it a glowing recommendation and, as I tweeted this:

 

I HAD to read it. And it was so good! The whole plot was amazing, and I always needed to know what would happen next. I buddy read it with Lee, and theorizing, screaming and fangirling with her was so much fun! I hope I can get to do it again when Frozen Prince comes out!

I’m currently waiting for Soul of Stars to come out and suffer.

Now, for the update you were (not) waiting for: TV and K-dramas!

I watched the entirety of Fleabag in a day. (Not going to lie- I watched it because of a specific Andrew Scott Tumblr giftset my friend sent me) And it was so much more than I expected! Quality comedy that can also make me cry.

Good Omens: My current obsession: I shall spend my whole life trying to get everyone to watch the masterpiece of Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing an angel and a demon, respectively. Plus, it was written by Neil Gaiman: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, PEOPLE?!

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As for K-dramas:

-I’M IN LOVE WITH KIM JAE WOOK. Her Private Life wasn’t full of a mind-blowing plot or whatever, but it’s so cute and fangirly and my expectations for men kept skyrocketing.

–Angel’s Last Mission: Love– It’s so cute and my mom says it looks like City of Angels and if it is, I’ll cry. A LOT. But meanwhile I’ll have fun with their cute and amazing acting kbye. (And the plot is amazing, and I’m scared of how it will end. *cries*)

-And the one I love the most right now: Search: WWW. It’s such a feminist K-drama. Every single misogynistic trope is turned around, and I am living to see three powerful women take over the world. ❤

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As for miscellaneous obsessions:

–Lore Olympus owns my life right now. That’s all I’ll say. ❤

 

Anyhow, here is your mess of an update! Hope you enjoyed it!

-Nat ❤

Hospital IPPEs!

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Hi, dear followers!

I’ve wanted to write about my hospital IPPE for a while.

(IPPE stands for Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience, by the way)

I do not have many followers who study pharmacy or are interested on this field, but let’s be honest, it’s as much a part of me as books or k-drama, so bear with me just this once!

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I started my practice experience 2 days after I got arrived from a 9-day-long trip with my friends, which totally meant I needed some rest, which… I did not get. Anyhow, I was scared to death, as I felt like I forgot every single drug on the phase of the Earth. At least, on my first day, my preceptor assigned someone to give me a tour and teach me the ropes, and I got the chance to get my flu shot *cough*. During my second day, she gave me this whole pamphlet full of policy and rules. Believe me, reading everything is on your best interest, but it took me hours. Once I finished it, I was able to look for an actual function at the pharmacy.

During this IPPE, we were assigned a case presentation, where we examine a patient’s hospital stay and analyze what could be done, what was right and what was not okay. It felt incredible, because if you think about it, you always work on these cases during class, but seeing all of it unfold in real life was something else. In the end, the patient was transferred to another hospital, so I wasn’t able to oversee much else, but they remained on my thoughts. There are other patients whose names will be always on my mind as I’ll forever wonder if their health improved.

I believe I enjoyed this practice more because it was more clinical than a community setting. I was able to interact with so many other healthcare professionals and visit other facilities. I was also able to study different disease states that are not as covered in community practice.

Sadly, there is a huge con to this practice, especially if you appreciate patient interaction above all else: You’re at a computer, searching for papers, guidelines or mistakes on orders most of the time, and protocols are followed directly with the physicians/nurses. Hospital pharmacists, at least on my practice setting (and my classmates’), rarely interact with patients.

To close this post, some things I learned during my hospital IPPE:

  1. Do not ignore the guidelines during class. You may have the PowerPoints there, but you MUST know where to look when you are asked a clinical question.
  2. Learn your medication brands. At least on my practice site, medications were organized having in mind BRANDS, not generics, and it was a hassle until I got the hang of it. (GBR helps. A LOT)
  3. I’m praying that they let you wear sneakers. You’ll need comfortable shoes. Your feet WILL hurt. (this also happened on community pharmacy but *shrugs*)
  4. Do not worry about being annoying. ASK as much as you can. You’re there to learn, and honestly? They know that. Besides, having someone knowledgeable about how the pharmacy works is beneficial to them.

I, sadly, did not get any pictures during my practice except for this one (although this is certainly a quality picture):

I hope you enjoyed this post!

-Nat ❤

“But I still have this faith in the truth of my dreams”

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Hi, everyone. It’s been a while. (an understatement, but certainly not the longest time I have been without writing on this blog)

I have been busy. And then I wasn’t. I haven’t been busy for two weeks already and I haven’t been able to put everything that happened during the past 6 months in writing. I’m thinking I could divide everything in a couple of posts, so you’ll have some things to look forward to, if you like my writing. (which… I’m not sure it’s even possible) This post is about two dreams I was able to fulfill on this period of time, if you want to read it.

Dream #1: The first time I visited Universal Studios in Orlando, years ago, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was being announced as I was leaving. Middle-school Natalie felt sad (although that’s not strong enough of a word, I think). Through the years, as it opened, as my friends and classmates all posted pictures with Hogwarts, on Diagon Alley, or drinking butterbeer, I felt jealous. (I mean, I was happy for them in a way, but I wanted to see what it felt.) When my friend told me she wanted to visit a mutual friend who studies in Orlando during spring break, I did not miss the chance: I said yes. Enthusiastically. We would figure out the logistics on the way. And we did.

Believe me, there were A LOT of roadblocks, beginning with the tickets we bought and apparently someone had reprinted 4 times. (But that’s another story, although if you followed me on Snapchat that day, the rants were REAL) However, it was an amazing experience to visit the place I dreamed of with my best friend. I still get teary-eyed thinking of how it felt to see Hogwarts for the first time.

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It was also amazing to meet my friend’s classmates who did everything to make us feel welcome. I will always feel thankful for everything. For taking us to eat Korean BBQ for the first time (it was amazing, thanks for asking). For watching Twilight with us (my friend’s first time).

Of course, my immune system could not stay put and I got sick during the trip. What I thought was a regular cold turned out to be… *drumrolls* influenza!

So, you guessed right: a spring break that was going to last a week lasted half a month that felt like forever, after which it was extremely difficult to catch up on my university’s responsibilities. Anyhow, I survived, the semester ended, and dream #2 was about to be fulfilled.

*Making a note here: if you can get a flu vaccine, please do. Although you can still get the flu, the chances of getting it and the severity of the infection could decrease.

For some background into dream #2: If you follow me online, you’ll know I have been obsessed with Anastasia: The Musical since *looks on Twitter* probably November 2017.

I have loved the animated movie since earlier:

(but let’s move on). I wanted to see it with my own eyes, so when it was announced that its Broadway run would end, I was devastated:

As you know, although it closed, there is a tour traveling through the US. And casually (I still cannot believe this), it would stop on Fort Lauderdale during my finals and through the beginning of May. Which meant that I had a (small) chance of seeing it before I went on a cruise trip with my class friends. However, I did not realize this until I had a conversation with my school friends. They encouraged me to buy tickets, and then told me they would go with me. Which meant ABSOLUTELY THE WORLD and I will always appreciate. So I can say I watched Anastasia, I listened to my favorite songs live and sang along from the very last row and enjoyed it all.

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I almost cried listening to In a Crowd of Thousands live. And In My Dreams. And Quartet at the Ballet (These three were always my favorites, and will remain like that for the rest of time) The Countess and the Common Man, though. This performance GAVE ME LIFE. (The touring cast is so talented, guys.)

There’s something to be said about the feeling of seeing a dream fulfilled. Of course, I have new and unfinished ones, (Seeing Hadestown and graduating Pharmacy school come to mind), and I cannot wait to do it all. And to take you all with me.

-Nat ❤