The first few: an orientation review

I’ve found myself, yet again, alone in a hostel room adding to this blog. But this time I have significantly more to report and significantly less to say about it (the latter might change by the time I am through writing this post)! Today is Friday, February 3rd, and it is our last full day of orientation. If you recall, my program classmates arrived on Wednesday, Feb 1st, so we’ve now had about 3 days together. I am still sick but I could not be more thankful for the supportive attitude I’ve experienced from all of my peers and professors. Being in this position I’ve turned over a lot of ways that individuals can react to illness. It is something that induces fear; nobody wants to be sick, so a natural, initial response should be to back away. But that has been far from the case here. Maybe it’s the type of people that choose to engage themselves with global health issues, but everyone associated with this program has treated this sick chick with so much tenderness. I can already tell that we are going to make a powerful team, a community.

So far I’ve done almost everything with the orientation program. Yesterday was the first time I backed out of an activity, choosing to visit the local hospital instead of touring old town. My Academic Director took me all the way to the hospital, helped me translate my symptoms, and sat through administrative paperwork and insurance confusion. Absolutely generous with his time. With that, another classmate that arrived late joined us for the lengthy process, and she chose to sit by my side for 4 of the hours that I was in the waiting room (after she’d just experienced 48 hours of overseas transportation hell, with zero rest! Amazing). The whole process took from about 3-9pm. Being on the bottom of the totem pole with symptoms that appear mild and common, I was last to be seen, as I watched patients arrive and leave. This was a very eye-opening experience for me. Not necessarily because of the 6-hour wait, as I recognize my condition and the resilience of youth place me at a lower priority, but I was surprised by how it felt to be an international student visiting a hospital. I took a class at the University of Oregon in Spring 2016 as preparation to be a Peer Wellness Advocate on my campus, and one topic I pursued with my group was international students’ well-being on campus, especially in correlation to their Health Center experience. Having watched a number of interactions with international students and healthcare providers at my university I felt some understanding as to how it may feel to struggle with a language barrier in very specialized setting. But as the roles reversed yesterday, suddenly I could truly feel the buried stress, frustration, and sadness that overwhelms one when trying to communicate something personal and serious without the vernacular necessary to clarify your message.

That was orientation day 2. It came to a close with a new friend offering me peppermint and lavender essential oils to put on sinus acupressure points (this had a more immediate effect than any of the medications I was prescribed. That’s my kind of healing, and my kind of person!). Nostrils slightly relieved, I slept sound. But at 7:43 am I came crashing out of a solid nights sleep and into the morning of day 3 with a *excuse this* watery vomit. The dry throat had reached it’s peak, and I think my relatively empty stomach contributed to the problem. So from then to now I rallied myself together and went to class for “sylly” (syllabus) day. There I struggled with a little nausea, learned what everyday for the next 3 and a half months will look like, and met my homestay coordinator, who may have the greatest memory and sweetest disposition of anyone I have ever met in my life (she already knew every single student’s name and face, their family placement, and details about their families off the top of her dome). In the end I self-assessed my french abilities and skipped out on the french placement test so that I could find myself here, with a fresh bottle of nasal drops, a full belly, doing some much needed resting.

And now, a bullet-point update just for funs:

• My french is gradually improving!
• On the first day in Nyon, 4 of us wandered and found THIS:

Are we in Greece or Switzerland?!

^Are we in Greece or Switzerland?!

• Nyon is starting to feel familiar and homelike
• Swiss mountain views, can’t get enough
• What I filled my belly with this afternoon:

• I’m curious to see if the way I choose to play with words in english changes as I better my french language vocabulary and sayings
• Checking my e-mail today I received my regular messages from the University of Oregon, one of which contained information following up after the annual Night Safety Walk that occurs to record what areas of campus need better lighting for pedestrian safety in the evenings. It made me proud to see my school progressing and taking care of my peers and family (my twin brother is attending UO right now), and it was humbling to step out of my reality and refocus on the mobility of the world. Life is changing fast in a lot of places for a lot of people. This is a map of what they have done and what is in the works. It makes me happy.

….

Tomorrow I meet my homestay family. I anticipate some morning butterflies, but from the e-mails we’ve exchanged I could not be more thrilled for the match and for that reason I feel comfortable.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bonne journée,

Mitra