1) My friend Lacie wasn't joking when she told me, "There's a border patrol station as you drive from Harlingen back to San Antonio. If you're white, they just wave you through, but if you're Mexican-looking they stop to check your trunk." It really happened just like that.
2) While in Harlingen I worked on lots of kids--I learned that kids will do almost anything for a sticker, including stare down the barrel of a 2 inch needle without flinching. It's kind of scary what they'll tolerate for such a small prize. Then again, it's a little scary how much adults will tolerate for a little bit of money.
3) I'm really ready to be a dentist. A real one. Not a pretend one at the school who has to get checked off on each step of the procedure. Yes, it's a little scary to be the one completely in charge of treatment, but I'm feeling more ready after getting my feet wet in South Texas. All students are required to track the number of patients they see while on rotation--I saw 97 in my two weeks. Compare this to the 12 or so that I will see in the next two weeks at school. The pace was so nice down there!
4) I am NOT cut out to be a hermit. After two weeks of living alone in apartment, I was literally begging people to go to dinner with me. Anyone. Including the greasy old man at the Redbox at the gas station who rolled down his window to blow kisses at me. (That really did happen--the blowing kisses...not that I invited him to dinner with me.) Seriously, though...I almost went insane.
**Note: This is not an actual picture of me. What gives that away? Someone else would have to be in the apartment to take the picture...but I was alone. Totally. Alone.
5) I'm kind of interested in working at a community clinic. I was completely surprised at this feeling--I had always pictured myself graduating and going into a private practice somewhere, but there are some really nice advantages to working in a community clinic, and although it is a different style of dentistry, it's one that is in supreme shortage. Something about that made me really feel like I was doing something worthwhile and noble, and I liked that feeling.
So now I'm back, and Dorothy was right...there's no place like home.
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