il Purgatorio

I'm fond of likening my sense of relief following a semester or school year to Dante's climb from Hell at the end of the Inferno. I suppose that metaphor is a bit more fitting now, because things weren't fine and dandy after Dante ascended the nine circles - there was still Purgatory, which is kind of where I am now. I really thought that there'd be a huge sense of relief following the Step, but there wasn't; it was almost as if I didn't (and still don't) know what to do with myself. For two years, my classes, my studying, my purchase of books and review books - my life, essentially, was aimed solely at this one test, this one chunk of 8 hours, a mere 336 questions. Now I'm sort of at a loss; I am relieved in a sense - though it was nothing short of a heinous beast, the questions themselves weren't that bad, and looking back I wouldn't have done anything differently; I felt that choices of USMLE World and Kaplan were the correct ones to make. However, this has been looming like a malevolent spectre at the periphery of my consciousness for so long, that its absence leaves me feeling a little aimless. I call it Purgatory because now, I must await my scores, and then complete paperwork, and then await my scheduling from Ross.

I am, however, already enjoying my time off. After the test, Nicole and I bummed around for a while, slowly packing and boxing and all the other unpleasantries tied to moving. I was fortunate enough to visit my grandparents before leaving Miami - once because it was scheduled and once, because Nicole didn't like the idea of the leaving the new vacuum cleaner I'd bought for the landlord, and felt that it should stay in the family. I got to begin Carlos Ruiz Zaffon's The Angle's Game, which is delicious so far, and we went to see An Education, which I hear is getting some Oscar nods. I got home two days ago, and Stefan got home yesterday - with Caleb, we've already burned through some serious Halo death matches. Today was spent doing more cooking (stirring and chopping, mostly - and being told what to do), and I might go sit in a deer blind tomorrow and stare at the landscape, waiting predatorially. This is something I've been looking forward to; I've come to realize that the waiting part of hunting, once you truly learn to enjoy it, can best be described as meditative.

I'm already starting to look at what will be required of me during my clerkships. Texas has strict accreditation requirements, and while I'm not set on coming back here to practice, I'd like to keep as many doors open as possible; and all of the properly accredited clerkships are available in NYC, so that's where I'm mentally preparing myself to go.