The revision starts now

There are 7 weeks left till my mid-year exam. What does this mean? I have 6 weeks to revise for the past 12 weeks and keep up with the next 7. Definitely doable. In fact, at the moment, Dave, Rob and I are going through the faculty learning objectives (random selection between the four different domains - basic/clinical sciences, ethics/law, interpersonal communication, and public/preventive helth). It's a pretty snazzy and flashy system that requires the use of Microsoft Excel (courtesy of Dave), which is uber sexy. :)

Apart from uni, things are going okay. I have been feeling a bit homesick lately, in the sense, that I really miss speaking Gujarati. I have started to talk to the cat (oh yeah...that should be its own paragraph) in Gujju-che (that's what my friend Anita likes to call it). Maybe I am just a bit crazy (I can see how the old grannies with lots of cats are deemed crazy) but I think that it understands my muttering.

Okay, so, my flatmates decided to buy a cat while I was in New York. I hate cats. I despise them. I really do. Yes. Affirmative. Uh hunh. Regardless, they bought this albino Siamese kitten and named it Filipe. They didn't know that I was allergic to cats. In fact, I thought it was really stupid of them to buy something like a cat without consulting me on the issue. Whatever it has been done. The good thing is that my allergies haven't been very bad (actually quite mild) and I spend more time outside my place, which means that I have been studying more. :)

This upcoming weekend in ANZAC long weekend. Australia and New Zealand commemorate the ANZAC Day public holiday on the 25th of April every year to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and of all those who served their country in time of war. More specifically, it marks the anniversary of the first major military action taken by the ANZAC in the World War I. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula (Turkey) to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Whew...that was a mouthful! But yes, this weekend is ANZAC long weekend. It is going to be filled with insane amounts of studying (I say this now. Hopefully this will be the case by the time Monday evening rolls around). I have two birthday dinners/parties to go to. Saturday is Nabila's party; her birthday is on ANZAC Day but no point in celebrating it on that day. Nabila is originally from Vancouver and she did her undergrad at McGill. She asked me to plan it, so I did. :) I chose a restaurant that overlooks the Brisbane River called the Jade Buddha. Afterwards, we are going to make our way down to the Port Office Hotel, which is a bi-level bar in the City that is just KICK ASS!

Sunday, like every other, will be me trying to get all my grocery shopping done for the week, washing, organising my notes, and touch footy. However, there will be some upscale debauchery after touch. :) It's my good friend Suzanne's (a Brisvegan) birthday and we are (tentatively) heading out to a Turkish restaurant and then to a funky place called the Lychee Lounge, which apparently have the best infused vodka in all of Brisbane. :) I have yet to go to the West End in Brisbane. It is a suburb on the south side of the Brisbane River. Look left - it's the fashionistas sipping lychee martinis; look right - an earthboy hippie is jamming on bongos with a jazz sax player; and straight ahead is a Middle Eastern tobacco cafe, where all sorts discuss whether apple flavour is better than vanilla. And this is at 2am. Apparently, there is never a dull moment in the eclectic melting pot that is West End. I am uber excited. :)