100 Reasons for Gratitude

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday in South Africa, but last year I copied  Christine from Bookishly Boisterous in posting 100 things I’m thankful for, and I loved that exercise so much that I decided to do it again. I am combining it with this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, which asks for ten things we are thankful for, bookish or not. Well… there are lots of bookish ones in here, promise! 

1. My whole family that supports me in everything I do
2. The Boy, who hosts me on weekends and cooks delicious food and makes the whole university thing a lot more bearable.
3. BOOKS
4. The ocean
5. Table Mountain
6. My voyage with Semester at Sea and everyone who enabled it, the big dream I had that almost was not realised.
7. Clean running water. I thought I was appreciative of this until I visited countries where I had to drink (and pay for) bottled water the whole time and realised even more how amazing clean tap water is. Somehow it just seems more refreshing too!
8. Electricity.
9. Vaccines. I went to Yellow Fever countries and survived just fine. People (NOT ME) got bitten by monkeys and did not get rabies either. They just got lots of shots.
10. Malaria prophylaxis. I have had Malaria patients but because I had access to prophylaxis I did not have to experience it myself despite numerous mozzie bites while traveling.
11. Post-exposure HIV prophylaxis. Touch wood I have not needed it yet, but knowing it is there and relatively effective soothes the anxiety. Just a little bit.
12. N95 masks. My school has finally organised these at cost price for us. Better late than never, right.
13. Being a student intern. I see a light.
14. Running. I hate it but I love it.

    

    Usually I’m thankful for The Oatmeal, too! (Click for full comic)

15. Chocolate (right now I am especially fond of Peppermint Crisps. I would be thankful for Reese’s Cups and Ben&Jerry’s, but since they are yet to be sold widely in South Africa, I’ll wait.)
16. All the awesome followers of my blog
17. All the awesome blogs I read
18. PostSecret
19. The Exclusive Books warehouse sale – R50/kg of books, and then reduced to R25/kg. (I bought Code Name Verity, America Pacifica, The Education of the British Protected Child, Sister-Sister… and so many more.)
20. International book giveaways.
21. Youth Journalism International (who empower young people around the world, and introduced me to so many people during my travels this year!)
22. YJI friends* who hosted me in Kyoto, Japan, and showed me how good sushi can be.
23. Tuna. It is cheap protein and semi-delicious. (Please don’t tell me about heavy metals – I know.)
24. Dell’s next day service for their on-site warranty. My laptop’s hinge became too stiff to close and within a day it was fixed.
25. Dogs and cats. We even have a dog on campus now that I can take for walks sometimes.
26. YJI friends* who hosted me Shanghai and who took me to the Museum for Traditional Chinese Medicine
27. Coming second in my school’s ethics essay writing competition. It was a nice ego-boost.
28. NaNoWriMo. I might not make the word count, but I’ve exceeded my previous highest word count and it feels good to write.
29. Sweet potato chips
30. Grey’s Anatomy (even though they did that thing… although this is their last chance!)
31. YJI friends* who hosted me in Hong Kong and took me to SoHo there
32. Twitter – it’s pretty much my primary source of news.
33. Authors that respond to tweets and comment on blog posts
34. Nutella
35. My new nerdycute glasses that improved my vision dramatically.
36. A YJI friend* who hosted me in Singapore, introducing me to Haianese chicken which was delicious.
37. Parkruns – I wish I had heard about these years ago!
38. Brainscape, that makes the whole flashcard thing a lot cheaper and quicker.
39. The Medscape App
40. NetGalley
41. A YJI friend* who hosted me in Myanmar and took me to the Shwedagon Pagoda
42. Jeans – the only pants that fit my short frame without alteration
43. Scrubs. Because, comfort.
44. Green Cross shoes. See above.
45. My stethoscope. Even though I probably need a new one and it takes about a grade 5 murmur for me to hear anything through it. It’s a lovely raspberry pink and I love it.
46. YJI friends who hosted me in Ghana and took me to the Elmina Castle, of which I had only read in history books.
47. The Body Shop products. And the fact that I can try their products for free at the mall. Yay smooth hands.
48. Being registered for next year’s national elections. Freedom FTW!
49. Meeting with Marjorie from SAS the other day, and being introduced to two awesome American girls who recently moved to Cape Town.
50. Meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu on SAS! And sharing rooibos tea with him.
51. Speaking of which: rooibos tea.
52. Student loans (I suppose you could say I am conflicted about this)
53. Scholarships (small, but every little helps)
54. Candy Crush (sorry, I know, I know)
55. Summertime. Which is now.
56. All the classes I did on SAS, but a special mention must go out to Illness Narratives because it was the first literature class I did in my whole tertiary education career, and I gained a lot confidence in my non-academic writing.
57. The ability to read a map. I did not get lost once during Semester at Sea. And I did not want to waste money on unnecessary transport costs.
58. An awesome visa company who managed my visa appointments for Semester at Sea this time last year, because I really needed to focus on passing exams, and such.
59. My old high school that welcomes me back with open arms every summer break.
60. Libraries and librarians
61. Free fitness blender videos
62. English Alive and the South African Council for English Education. I published with them a few times in high school, but I still read their anthologies every single year. I love their contribution to creativity in high schools.
63. Getting better at driving. Slowly.
64. Not being attacked by pirates when we sailed along West Africa.
65. Surviving that Pacific Storm.
66. Starlight Diner – this awesome diner in Cape Town where my friends and I go for midnight snacks. Particularly hand-dipped milkshakes.
67. Eggs Benedict
68. People who have a lot more patience with me than I have with them (i.e. most people)
69. Hand moisturiser. Dry hands drive me insane.
70. Pain killers.
71. My sister being one of the top in her class for Occupational Therapy. It is all hard work and I think she surprised herself.
72. My little brother’s music. He plays like a rock star.
73. My school’s anatomy museum.
74. Beautiful South Africa. I may have the travel bug, but there is no place I’d rather live.
75. One crazy day in India where young men from a local startup took us on a bike tour of Kochi and beyond.
76. Anti-histamines.
77. Legally cheap versions of medical textbooks for the developing world.
78. Bikini Beach Books, an awesome second-hand bookshop in Gordon’s Bay
79. Surviving those sketchy buses in Vietnam and Myanmar, and having a great time doing it.
80. Sunsets and sunrises
81. Soft toys
82. The professors I met on Semester at Sea
83. My roommates on SAS who ensured I did not study TOO hard.
84. The girl who let me crash in her hotel in Barcelona at the end of SAS.
85. Journals (the blank type you write in)
86. Free access to medical journals through my school
87. Good non-fiction that is interesting to read. This year alone I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Mountains Beyond Mountains and The Big Necessity. 
88. Learning that there are some awesome consultants out there who are not out to ruin the lives of medical students.
89. Whatsapp
90. Nature Valley bars came to South Africa (awesome on-call food!!!!)
91. Chocolate milk
92. Mieliepap
93. Paediatrics
94. Ophthalmology (now one of my potential future specialisations)
95. Learning to act under pressure in Anaesthesiology (and not killing anyone in the process)
96. The colour green
97. Freshly pressed orange juice in Morocco. The only thing that saved me from dehydration.
98. Commercials like this one (I’m not even joking. This commercial made me cry the first time.) 
99. Toilets and sanitation (you should read The Big Necessity)
100. My health

*I’m abstaining from posting the YJI friends’ names here, for reasons pertaining to privacy.