It’s been 2 months since I’ve been back to the states. I’ve settled into my new apartment on the east side of Providence just up the road from the Starbucks I used to study and work at during my undergrad. I’m living in a beautiful 3-bedroom apartment with two fellow med students who I went to Brown undergrad with. I don’t have a car, so I walk everywhere—to the grocery store, post office, bank, downtown… I took on a summer job working back in the med school setting up biology, physiology and anatomy labs to cover my rent and utilities. All those hours spent and essays written for med school financial aid paid off. It costs $62,000/year to attend Brown Medical School. They offered me $30,000/year in scholarship money and the remaining $32,000 is covered by loans that Brown received for me. I am extremely grateful for their generous support but won’t see any of that until September. For the time being, I’m on my own, working in the labs and doing odd-end jobs to cover summer living expenses.
I’ve been lucky enough to inherit nearly all of the books I’ll be needing for first semester and have spent the last two months getting ahead and preparing for anatomy and histology. It was important to me to get back into the “academic mode” after a year of practical on-the-ground work in Haiti. Talking with friends and deans, I was told that my work in Haiti will surely pay off in the classroom, especially in the sections on infectious disease and pharmacology.
I made it back to the states just in time for my 5th year high school reunion, which I was excited to attend, and had a great time seeing old familiar faces. I was awarded the alumni community service award during reunion weekend. My school made a modest donation to Pwoje Espwa on my behalf and gave me one of those huge metal bowls with my name etc. engraved on it. It was a great welcome back to the country considering how the reverse culture shock I was experiencing, nearly isolated me from all of my friends and family. I didn’t want to see, talk to or even acknowledge anyone associated with my life before Haiti. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel much guilt about being back but I was overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia for Haiti that I couldn’t quite understand. My year away was by far one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I fought off depression, frustration, anger and feelings of hopelessness almost daily. I often prayed that the days pass faster and that I’d be back home with my family. Now that I’m back, I miss all the things I thought I hated. I miss waking up in the morning and not being bombarded by 20 kids yelling my name asking for things or Sonya in the kitchen boiling eggs for breakfast, or the strong Haitian coffee made the night before and the 12 cups/day I would drink. There are few things that I don’t miss. I don’t miss the spiders! I don’t miss the incessant sicknesses and the merciless mosquitos!
About a month ago, I was asked by the editor of the Brown Medical School Magazine if I would write a piece on my time in Haiti. After nearly a dozen drafts and weeks of editing, I finally came up with a piece that I’m content with. There was a 1,000 word limit on the piece but they seem to be ok with me using the 1,400 word final piece. The process of trying to sum up my year in Haiti in just 1,000 words was more stressful than it was anything.
I will try to keep weekly updates going on the blog about what I’m doing, especially in relation to Haiti and welcome any emails from you. You can contact me at either willinhaiti@gmail.com or wilfredo_perez@brown.edu
