DAY 179

Feb 27

1) Today has been a very interesting day for me. Three things happened to make it that way, the first being I got a haircut! After months upon months of letting my hair grow like Samson, I couldn't stand it anymore and went for a free haircut at the Dublin School of Barbering. Felt a lot better too, since my hair was so long it sometimes blocked my vision.

2) In the afternoon, I went over to the National Surgical Training Centre (just opposite RCSI) with my friends, Nee Kee, Esther and Zi Yan. We took part in the Laporoscopic Skills Competition, where the top two would represent RCSI for the Intercollegiate Finals! There were two tasks involved, the first was using the graspers (yes, that's what those long grasping thingamajigs are called) to insert a shoelace through five holes, while looking through the monitor. Apparently the all time record is a scarcely believable 40-odd seconds! The next event was stacking sugar cubes, again with the graspers. We had two minutes for this, and some participants were really unlucky when their tower of cubes toppled with seconds to spare! Although we tried our best, none of us made it to the finals. It was absolute fun though, and really gave us a feel of what it's like to do surgery.

3) In the evening, Khee Heng and I walked to RCSI, where there was a "Feed the Homeless" programme, organised by a collaboration between the RCSI Islamic Society and the RCSI Book Club. We were broken into groups of six or seven, with each group assigned a certain area to cover. We then took the goodie bags, which contained the essentials like food and water, some gloves, socks, hats etc. As we were assigned Grafton Street, it was quite easy for us to find the homeless people. Grafton St is the main street in Dublin, and it makes sense that underprivileged people would camp there, waiting for passersby to donate. And off we went - and we met many homeless people along the way. All of them were very friendly with us, and many were genuinely touched that we were giving them warm clothes and good food. Other groups weren't so lucky though. Apparently someone got told to f^&* off by a homeless person. Oh well, there will always be exceptions I guess. Luckily it didn't happen to me.

4) After the event, we returned to RCSI, where we were provided with a simple dinner. We also got a certificate each for our hard work, which was an added bonus. To be honest, I felt pity for the homeless people still stuck outside in the streets while I'm here in the warm library typing this out. It was absolutely freezing tonight, and the winds are really strong. Being out in the cold with them has made me realise how lucky we all are, with food and a place to call home. Most of my friends felt the same way too. Anyway, I will be leaving the library soon, as the staff have just announced that the library is closing soon. That's all for today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a great day, cheers!

Surgical scissors

Breakfast :)

On my way to Dublin 1 for haircut

Before and after haircut XD

Pizza

Born again after haircut :D

National Surgical Training Centre, RCSI

Machine used for teaching laporoscopic skills, mimicking the human body

The first stage: passing a shoestring through the five keyholes, using only the two graspers and looking at this monitor (it's not as easy as it seems haha)

RCSI Dublin

INMED sent my friends and I an email recruiting volunteers for the event. After we agreed to sign up and confirmed, there was no reply from them, or any follow up. That is the last insult I will tolerate, first asking for help and then not even having the decency to reply!

My group mates for the "Feeding the Homeless" event :D

Achievement unlocked! ^^