on reading

            After lunch I went over to 7-11 to have a cup of coffee.  The afternoon heat was making me sleepy.  I continued reading 1984 at the edge of my seat but seemingly disinterested with half-closed eyes.  Then for a moment there I thought I could do this.  This being I could work in a sleepy health center in some far-off barangay, see patients in the morning and read the whole afternoon.  In a sense it was not all that different from my previous work as a research assistant in a molecular microbiology lab a stone’s throw from the beach.
 

            Looking back, I remember working from 8 to 5, reading novels during the waiting time in between PCR’s, gel electrophoresis and culture preparations.  After work I would go straight to the cafeteria and have an early dinner while watching the local news.  By 6 pm I was back in my dorm room rekindling my love affair with books.  I usually dragged my chair out to the terrace and continued reading while smoking my Camels.

             Things have changed a lot since then.  I no longer work in research and have not done any molecular biology work in almost 5 years.  But like before I have rekindled my love for reading.  I have become a polybookist, not content in reading one book at a time but having a specific book to read to complement my different moods.  I have long quit smoking and replaced cigarettes with coffee.  And with my caffeine dependence I have become a chain reader.

             Going back to my present situation at the barangay health center: depending on the day of the week I help immunize 80 or so children, either see around 40 pregnant women for their prenatal check-up or around the same number of patients with various complaints.  In the afternoon I read.  This morning there were 91 children who came in for immunization.  After an early lunch I finished George Orwell’s 1984. 

           In the afternoon I was left wondering if I should finish Charles Bukowski’s Factotum which I started yesterday or plunge deep into Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore.

           I still believe what my sister said year’s ago is right.  If I had a year off to read I would learn more and be wiser than if I spent the year studying in school.  If I finish my whole TBR pile (130+ good books – including books on history, travel and philosophy) and barely passed the med boards it would still be worth it.