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sunday, January 19, 2014
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guyanatimesgy.com
Foundation
Return of a native daughter Anu Dev
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ow don’t get me wrong after you read the quote above. It’s not as if I spent the last 27 years on Robbins Island. Or even that I was locked away for the four months I was away in Trinidad – with armed guards patrolling the perimeter of the UWI Medical School! But I’ll tell you what: like prisons, medical schools (and all schools for that matter) are also institutions that seek to impart a new way of looking at the world on its inmates. And they have more than a few things in common. There are no guards clanking on bars to wake you up (I’ve seen this in prison movies, in case you’re wondering!) in medical school but those early classes that are mandatory pretty much have the same effect on you. And if you detect a note of chagrin in that sentence, it’s quite heartfelt – coming from a person who enjoys a late morning snooze. So you end up, after four months waking up early. I’ve also heard
about the prison “slop” – and seen it in the aforementioned movies – and I’ll tell you something. The people who run cafeterias in medical schools probably graduated from the same culinary institutions as their compatriots in the correction facilities. So, I’ve ended up pretty
never done before the effort your mother made to whip up all those concoctions (effortlessly, you’d thought!!!) to deal with your finicky eating habits. So yes, I can emphasise with Mr Mandela when he conceded that you are inevitably altered by institutional rules and regula-
– Nelson Mandela
much doing my own cooking. Not that I have anything against cooking – in fact, I happen to actually like the experience. I can let my creativity pour forth in the kitchen. But when you return home to your dorm room and have to whip up your vittles, it does take the sheen off even the old favourites. So I’ve resorted to cooking pounds of puttanesca and gallons of dhall and sequestered them in my fridge. And you appreciate like you’ve
tions. So how was it to return to a place that was unchanged? Well I’ll tell you... it wasn’t that unchanged. The four lane exit from the airport’s coming on nicely and there was a new hotel near the stadium. I thought they should’ve put up a facade around the roof, though – the present one makes the place look too ordinary from the outside. See...I told you I’ve changed. Moving around Trinidad (which could fit into half of my na-
tive West Coast Demerara) that’s so oriented towards tourism makes one much more aware of the amenities demanded. But I’ll tell you what hasn’t changed – the garbage situation. I’ve written before about my school bus manoeuvring through the flotsam and jetsam from floods that’ve receded; and almost retching on my way to Queen's. But this time, in my newfound freedom where I could go shopping, the old revulsion was intensified from seeing gorgeous new malls rising from the same garbage. But this time, I was much more outraged – at the Mayor and City Council, at the people dropping their garbage so nonchalantly and at all the political gamesmanship. But one thing that was unchanged was the love from my family, friends and old nexuses. I dropped in to the birthday of an old school friend and was able to re-connect to most of the old gang. Like me, they’ve moved on...but the old bonds are still there. So unlike what Tom Wolfe said, you CAN go back home.
(Part two) Your spine is one part of the skeleton that’s easy to check out: Reach around to the centre of your back and you’ll feel its bumps under your fingers. The spine lets you twist and bend, and it holds your body upright. It also protects the spinal cord, a large bundle of nerves t h a t s e n d s information f r o m y o u r brain to the rest of your body. T h e spine is special because it isn’t made of one or even two bones: It’s made of 26 bones in all! These bones are called vertebrae and each one is shaped like a ring.
at the bottom of the spine is the coccyx, which is one bone, made of four fused vertebrae. The bottom sections of the spine are important when it comes to bearing weight and giving you a good centre of gravity. So when you pick up a heavy backpack, the lumbar vertebrae, sacrum, and coccyx give you the power. When you dance, skip, and even walk, these parts help keep you balanced. In between each vertebra (the name for just one of the vertebrae) are small disks made of cartilage. These disks keep the vertebrae from rubbing against one another, and they also act as your spine’s natural shock absorbers. When you jump in the air, or twist while slamming a dunk, the disks give your vertebrae the cushioning they need.
There are different types of vertebrae in the spine and each does a different kind of job: * The first seven vertebrae at the top are called the cervical vertebrae. These bones are in the back of your neck, just below your brain, and they support your head and neck. Your head is pretty heavy, so it’s lucky to have help from the cervical vertebrae! * Below the cervical vertebrae are the thoracic vertebrae, and there are 12 in all. These guys anchor your ribs in place. Below the thoracic vertebrae are five lumbar vertebrae. Beneath the lumbar vertebrae is the sacrum, which is made up of five vertebrae that are fused together to form one single bone. * Finally, all the way
Your heart, lungs, and liver are all very important, and luckily you’ve got ribs to keep them safe. Ribs act like a cage of bones around your chest. It’s easy to feel the bottom of this cage by running your fingers along the sides and front of your body, a few inches below your heart. If you breathe in deeply, you can easily feel your ribs right in the front of your body, too. Some thin children can even see a few of their ribs right through their skin. Your ribs come in pairs, and the left and right sides of each pair are exactly the same. Most people have 12 pairs of ribs, but some people are born with one or more extra ribs, and some people might have one pair less. (Kids Health)
Your ribs
TO BE CONTINUED