Let's Talk about Me (or mostly about my family)

Just a "change-of-pace" post that isn't completely about AUC. I feel like I had a few more posts like this when I first started writing my blog, but they still were about how I ended up in the Caribbean and why. I'll add the links at the bottom of this entry if it interests you.

Today I will just throw in fun facts about myself. Most common question I've gotten since I've arrived to the island has been, "what's you ethnicity?" or the mistaken question, "what's your nationality" wherein I reply "American". Yes, I am an American national, born and raised in the great state of Rhode Island.  When people ask me that though, I know what they're really after..... my ethnicity. To answer the original question, I've got two actually!  I am half Colombian and half Lebanese. Crazy mix, right? But somehow more common than one would expect since there is a sizable Lebanese population in Colombia. Hell, even Shakira is half Lebanese and half Colombian.  

Next question is usually "wow, how in the world did your parents meet?" This is a cute story. They met in Boston, Massachusetts at a Kaplan center when they were studying for the USMLE Step 1. They're both doctors. My mom attended medical school in Colombia and my dad went to medical school in Moscow because of the Lebanese civil war at the time. Think going to a Caribbean med school is hard? Try going to med school in the tundra that was the Soviet Union when you don't even speak Russian. As a result, my dad is now fluent in Russian as well as 4 other languages (I know you guys are LOVING these fun facts).  But once each of my parents were done with med school, they came to the United States in hopes of practicing medicine there. So just like everyone else, they had to pass all the Steps of the USMLE and they did. 

Next was residency... my parents are actually very intelligent. I wonder why I didn't get more of those genes? My dad is in Internal Medicine and ended up doing his residency at Rhode Island Hospital (the primary teaching hospital for Brown University Medical school) and my mom got her Pediatric Neurology residency at Mass General (the teaching hospital for Harvard Med). And that is the fascinating story of how my parents met and how we came to be Rhode Island residents.

Next question I get most often: "Do you have any siblings?" Why yes I do! I've got one younger brother named Mark. He has no interest in medicine though, definitely the black sheep of the family. He is a finance major at Quinnipiac University. I know, I know, I realize 97% of people have never heard of that school, but I added the link just to prove that it exists. 

Random fact that most people don't know about me: I've been to 35 countries. At least that's how many countries I could count just now. My family and I are just a bunch of globe-trotters. Since I was 10 years old, we started traveling to other countries twice a year. We would go two weeks in the spring and 3-4 weeks in the summer to all sorts of places. I've been to most of Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, but no Australia sadly :( sorry to my few Aussie readers, but I'm sure we'll make it over there soon.  

Favorite trip: 3 way tie. African Safari in Botswana, Machu Picchu and all the wonderfulness of Peru, and lastly the beauty that is southern Italy (i.e. Positano and the rest of the Amalfi Coast)  

Least Favorite Trip: France. Love the buildings, monuments, art, food, WINE but it's amazing how rude so many of the PEOPLE are. I'm sorry but French people are simply rude. Especially Parisians. And it's not like I'm forming this opinion from a one time trip. I've been to France on 4 different occasions with friends and family and it's always the same story. I even have French cousins I go out with over there and French people are rude to THEM and they are French! I don't know what it is. Sorry Pizza Dan, but Parisians are not the nicest population in the world.

Countries I *really* want to go to, but have not yet visited: Morocco, Egypt, India, Argentina

I just uploaded a couple of family photos from the trips. I feel like my parents and I look about the same in these pictures, but you can tell how much time passes with the dramatic growth of my brother.

Russia

Botswana

China

Portugal. The last trip I took with my family  before getting to St. Maarten.

This is my friend Alba, by the way. 

The "Big Trip" this year? St. Maarten. My family is coming down to see me next Saturday because they simply couldn't bare the thought of going on without me. I think that's what they call love. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post as much as I did. If you have any random questions you want to ask about me, go right ahead and put in the comments section and I'll be happy to answer. Also any questions pertaining to AUC or medical school in the Caribbean in general, leave a comment and I'll answer it. I'm averaging around 150 pageviews a day right now, so I'm sure some of you guys have questions! Anytime on any of my posts. Leave a comment and I will get back to you. Until next time!

~Andrea

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• How did I get to this point? (medschoolcaribstyle.com)
• Stigma (medschoolcaribstyle.com)
• 25 More Days-Questions/Doubts (medschoolcaribstyle.com)
• Where I'm going with all this (medschoolcaribstyle.com)