Pride

IV.I.III PRIDE read on the doe With these new insights, I decided to give dating another try. The ‘not looking for anything serious but open to anything’ kinda dating. Up until that point, my love life had been very simple: the boring single phase with the occasional hook-up, the six-month relationship with Pedro, and the only-looking-for-fun, single phase. Whilst not […]

Vulnerable

IV.I.II VULNERABLE To be happy, to be really happy, means being able to be hopeful. And hope? Not a big friend of mine. I think Gus was right here. The world’s not really a wish-granting factory, after all. Earlier in my life, I ditched hope and dreams for goals and actions. And I was a much better person for it. In every […]

Balance

IV.I.I BALANCE Just like that, a new phase of my life had started. I stopped smoking and started working out. My confidence skyrocketed, and I also started feeling very chipper and chirpy, bright and shiny. I guess what I’m trying to say is that with great physical health comes… great mental health. Thank you. Thank you very much. I know, […]

Sky High

III.III.IV SKY HIGH I stopped smoking the day after I had my emotional break-down-slash-break-through. We were going for a weekend trip to Croatia so that would be the perfect distraction. And lo and behold, an entire weekend flew by and I barely noticed I hadn’t smoked. Of course, I did notice the withdrawal symptoms. My tongue started sprouting ulcers like […]

Rock Bottom

III.III.III ROCK BOTTOM I know I won’t particularly enjoy writing this. Mostly because I have to mention a lot of my failures in excruciating detail. Also because it’s probably gonna sound like I’m giving a lecture or something. I want to reiterate that I’m no psychiatrist nor a motivational speaker – I’m writing solely from personal experience. That, and the […]

Hedonia

III.III.II HEDONIA On the same exchange program were about twenty other students from all over the world. I wasn’t too keen on making new friends at the beginning. My time in Hungary was supposed to be my me time. Little did I assume that by that very first night, they’d already be family. I still remember us sitting down on […]

An Ancient City

III.III.I AN ANCIENT CITY Just like that, Nepal was yet another memory. Back in Malta, I didn’t really have much time to stagnate. I was ready to leave the minute I set foot on the fish-shaped prison. And leave I did – this time to Hungary, specifically to the city of Pécs for a medical exchange program. Oh Pécs, my Pécs… You have […]

The Chase

III.II.VII THE CHASE Kathmandu, check. Pokhara, check. And up next was our third and final stop – Chitwan. I might have had no expectations for Nepal, but this I definitely looked forward to. From the little research I had done before going to Nepal, this place felt synonymous with adventure. Finally! Arriving at the hotel, we were quite… surprised? Surprised’s […]

Guilty Pleasure

III.II.VI GUILTY PLEASURE Our time in Pokhara wasn’t all spent on fun and games. Once there, we started a clinical placement in emergency medicine at Gandaki Hospital. I was particularly excited for this rotation as I had no experience in emergency prior to that, not to mention that emergencies are the coolest thing to study when you’re a student (at […]

City of Lakes

III.II.V CITY OF LAKES The second leg of our journey involved a super bumpy eight-hour bus ride that took us straight to Pokhara – the City of Lakes. Aptly known as the tourism capital of Nepal, Pokhara is a destination for many avid adventurers seeking to brave the Annapurna Circuit. Though we wouldn’t get to do that, the scenic drive there […]