It's said all the time but...

Yesterday, while I was studying for my upcoming Chinese midterm, I stumbled upon this documentary, The Blood of Yingzhou District. I have never watched a documentary more devastating and heart wrenching. This says a lot given that I've seen a number of dramatic films, ranging from Schindler's List to The Pianist, and not shed a tear. But this documentary truly tore at my soul.

The Blood of Yingzhou District follows a few children who have been orphaned by AIDS. In an attempt to make money and support their family, their parents sold their blood. What I've gathered from the documentary is that everyone's blood would be mixed together, all the plasmas would be removed and then the blood would be returned to the body so that they would be able to give blood again sooner. In that way, if one person had AIDS 50 other people would contract it.

What got me the most when watching this documentary was the story of Gao Jun, a 2 year old boy who is HIV positive. With the death of his parents, the only person willing to care for him is his grandmother who is mentally unstable. It really hit me hard when I saw his distended belly and his body covered in scabs. It is so painful to see a child be outcast from society.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this documentary really made me appreciate all that I have in life. My life is probably better than 99% of the world. I feel like humans always ask for too much and I really want to try to be grateful for what I have. I hope that more people watch this documentary and I hope that one day I can truly help children in these conditions

Work and Work

Due to popular demand, I'm going to write another entry. lol

I started my new work schedule this week. Excluding 6 am shifts at Starbucks, this has been the worst work schedule ever. Anyone who has ever met me knows that I am not a morning person. I do not enjoy waking up to catch the sunrise, no, I enjoy waking up at high noon when most peoples' days are half done. I enjoy lounging around and eventually getting my lazy ass to class. Therefore, my previous 1:30 class schedule was ideal. Mondays and Wednesdays were my rewards for terrible 10:30 classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, I now wake up at 7:45 am those days. By the time 8:30 pm rolls around I just want to crawl into bed and sleep. In essence, I have become a cranky old grandma.
I'm currently brainstorming ways I can maximize my sleep. The idea of going to work tomorrow in my sleep clothes, with bed head and a mug of coffee seems rather appealing right now.
Midterms are approaching, as in I have a midterm tomorrow. Studying for tests were always soo much easier in high school. Mainly because I had absolutely nothing to do every night except my homework. I was so studious and responsible. Clearly, that is no longer true. For example, instead of studying for my psychology midterm yesterday I instead spent over 3 hours doing absolutely nothing. When normal people say this it's usually an exaggeration. I, however, am in no way exaggerating. I sat in front of my lap top, ate watermelon, facebook stalked, smoked cigarettes, and moped. When I was done moping I happily realized that I was way too tired to study efficiently and decided to go to bed.
Awesome