"Finding Family in Friends," by MSIH December blogger of the month Tamara Kliot

Studying medicine abroad is exciting! There are always new places to explore, people to meet, languages to learn, cultural norms to adapt to, and things to discover. The opportunities to procrastinate studying for biochemistry or immunology are abundant. However, with the ending of classes and beginning of exams, there has been a noticeable shift in how people are allocating their time. Priorities are shifting as that list of important information to review continues to grow.

While having fun and taking “mini-vacations” are important stress relievers, it is easy to lose sight of that when you are in the thick of studying. It is easy to isolate yourself in a study fortress and spend your time surrounded by books and watching videos on metabolic processes. It is easy to forget to be a human and spend time with friends and talk to family.

I was reminded of this when my Israeli neighbor wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. He was the last person I expected to hear those words from, but he forced me to stop and think. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it's an opportunity to spend time with family and reflect on the things we are grateful for. Living in Israel, it would have been easy to forget to celebrate or even acknowledge Thanksgiving. It is just another day in Israel and in many other countries for that matter. We had had a busy week, multiple quizzes to study for, and a paper to write; the last thing on people’s minds was Thanksgiving.

But as Thanksgiving continued, it was not just another day in Beer Sheva. Some of our classmates had the forethought to organize a dinner at Butchery to celebrate the end of first semester classes and well… Thanksgiving! It was a fabulous time with delicious food (tons of meat!) and amazing company. It was fun to see our non-American classmates get in the spirit of Thanksgiving as well! The night was filled with stories, laughs, and celebration (we did just finish one semester of classes!). I learned so many new things about the awesome people I am lucky enough to call classmates. It was a great way to recharge from a long week and reminded me that I do in fact have a family here in Beer Sheva, people I call friends and accomplices in this adventure we call medical school.