A Graduation Party At Durat Al Arouz

A view of the beach from the balcony of our villa in Durat Al Arouz.

Last Thursday, March 31, 2011, was the graduation of TCI's 5th batch students. Being a former student myself, I was invited by the school staff at the graduation and the succeeding party at a resort, some 25kms. north of Jeddah. I felt bad not being able to attend the 5th batch's graduation which I heard was so successful, but of course I will not pass on a chance to have a real good time at their party. It's Thursday and it's time for a good time in Saudi Arabia!

If you've read my previous post about my batch's graduation and the party, I've made a mistake about the name of the resort where we had our party. I said there that the name of the place was 'Durat Al Arouz', where in fact it's 'La Fontaine' and it was just last Thursday that I've learned about the mistake. I've already corrected it. But anyway, this time the 5th batch's graduation party was actually held at (where else?) 'Durat Al Arouz'. The resort is just at the other side of 'La Fontaine'. It's much bigger, like a small community, it has a lot of villas inside, the place even has its own grocery store and I think it's much prettier than 'La Fontaine', although when it comes to the villas, I would probably choose those in 'La Fontaine' because of their sizes and their accessibility to the beach because of the stairs at the back. In Durat, only those on the ground floor are accessible, otherwise you have to go down the villa and have a long walk towards the back where the beach is located. 

Anyway, only 8 of us from batch 4 went to Durat Al Arouz, Marvin, Nelson, Emil, Khris, Jhun, Epie, Jane and I. For me, the party was not just a celebration of 5th batch finishing the short, yet memorable caregiving study, but it also served as a kind of  mini reunion for my batch. The last time I saw some of them was when my other classmate invited some of us to have a dinner at his home, a private graduation celebration of some sort, a week after our 'grand finale' (LOL!) in TCI. It was also great to see our instructors and some of the TCI staff there, especially Ma'am Silna and Ma'am Honey.

The place was in a celebratory mood when we arrived. There was a live band, some of the people who  were already there, were singing with the band, while others were dancing. I was amazed at how warm the reception to us was. Jason, one of the graduates, ushered me to the chair and gave me plastic plate right away so that we could eat while listening to the the live music. In fact, most of them were amazingly warm and friendly. 

We went walking outside to better know the place. I went wading by the shore and I saw a lot of those tiny sea creatures having their own night-out. I saw little fishes in schools, a small crab and a cuttlefish, it was amazing! Afterwards we went back to the villa and we 'tripped the light fantastic' for a moment. It was like being inside a discotheque, there were laser lights and the music was awesome.

When the morning came, some of us went swimming. The water was OK, but some were looking for waves because they felt like the water was too still, I mean not a ripple and that makes it feel so artificial to them. In a way it is artificial because I think the whole place was a reclamation site, even the sand is not natural, it's desert sand. There were no waves because the design of the beach is in a very small cove and waves from the sea can't get in. The only time the water moved, was when there were jet skis and motor boats around and of course when there were people swimming. 

I didn't stay that long in the water. It was already around 8 AM and I should get back home, I was thinking that I've been away for too long and that my cats were probably starving already. It was really fun being there. I was awake the whole time, never had a sleep, but it was all worth it, I got to know some of the people there and experienced a cool party in a wonderful resort. Thanks to the warm hospitality of the 5th batch students and the staff of TCI. Also I want to say  'thank you' to Venice for his generosity of sharing the 'you know what'.  Hereon, I'm looking forward to the graduation of 6th batch. 

Previous Post: Our Graduation Day!
Total Care International

Our Graduation Day

Last Thursday, January 13, 2011, was our graduation day for the Caregivers' program of TCI - Total Care International. It was an exciting and happy moment for us students because all our hard works for 6 months have finally paid off. The event was held at the IPSJ - International Philippine School Of Jeddah.

A day before the graduation, we decorated the venue, arranged the chairs and did the corsage, we also practised everything from the march, when to stand up, when and where to exit, etc. We had lots of funny moments there too, that's why most of us went home around 12 midnight already.

The Graduation Day

Our graduation was probably one of the most memorable moments I ever had in my entire life. One of the main reasons is that, I finished it. As I remember it correctly, the last time I'd finished something was when I  graduated  from high school, and then I usually just start things up and never finished anything after that, like college for example.

Anyway, our graduation had a lot of highlights, one of them would be, (and I would say the most memorable of all), the speech given by our classmate and a fellow blogger Nelson Bedayo, the top student in our class. It was both touching and inspiring, most of the people in the hall especially the graduates and the VIP's were all teary-eyed, I for one was just trying not to breakdown. He's probably not the most amazing speaker around, but it was his sincerity that penetrated our hearts. But it was no heavy speech at all as humor got its way into his speech to the applause of the audience.

Another highlight of our graduation was the video presentation of our class history, even though  the class of batch 4 only spanned for just 6 short months, it brought a lot of memories to us. The presentation showed most of our class activities, from our collage presentation to our nerve-wracking case presentation, it also showed some of our non-class activities like the time when we went to the corniche, our Christmas party and up to the most recent one when we ate at La Paz Restaurant. It brought smiles on our faces everytime we see ourselves in the monitor and then reminisced those times, (while Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" and Michael Bolton's "Go The Distance" played in the background).

And of course, the awarding of certificates and special awards. Each one of us was called to the stage from the one sitting infront all the way to the back, after that they called those among us who've got 100 % in the BCLS - Basic Cardiac Life Support test, and I'm glad to say that I'm included  in that list. Then they called the five outstanding students of our class, starting from top 5 to top 1, (Myline Llemit, Alfie Jamion, Ernesto Jayme Jr., Jasmin Abella and Nelson Bedayo), each of them received a certificate and the top 3 received medals. The best in the clinical area, Marvin Morales and Myline Llemit were also given certificates and  medals.

After the ceremony was the fun part. It's pictorial time. People would then crowd every corner for different poses, some onstage and others offstage. I think it took us an hour at least before it was all over. After that, most of us left in their own cars to celebrate our graduation in a resort called La Fontaine which is 25 km. north of Jeddah. And then it's party time!

La Fontaine

There were 5 of us in my tiny, white, sub-compact car who went to Durat - Nelson, Gerry, Emil, Jievson and I. On our way to La Fontaine, we decided to pull over  at a restaurant called Al Tazaj and had our fill there (knowing there was no food to feast on when we arrive). And then we snapped a few photos for souvenir. We really didn't know the way to the resort, but we always had our classmates who were already there to direct us the way. When we arrived, the place was huge and there were quite a few people already, some of them were singing the karaoke, some were chatting, and some were already wading in the beach. People there were already hungry when we arrived, because there were no food yet,  it would come a little bit later that night. Thank God for Al Tazaj, we didn't have to share the starving episode by the early birds.

We (the graduates), had a room assigned to us and so the guests and the faculty of TCI in another.  The privacy  afforded to us didn't come to waste as we bonded for the last time together with our beloved instructor Ms. Silna, Ms. Honey and Ms. Lyn. Although some of our batchmates were not able to attend, (some even came late at night due to work demands), we nonetheless had great fun, especially when Benjie got to pull his comical antics  down his sleeves, and we naturally exploded in laughter. What a funny guy he is! 

As expected,  our classmates  Jasmin, Marvin, Ernesto, and Epie came with the food later that night, (Jeddah downpour did play a memorable role in the starving episode). The kitchen was then crowded with volunteer chefs as most people took their hunger to singing karaoke, venting that digestive revolution to the unfortunate and over-abused pair of microphones. And when it was time to eat, you just have to understand the trails it left behind. And later, it didn't take long for everything to heat up, some of the graduates took it to the limit and did something that I can only describe as "sexy and funny", I will not say what it was they did, for safety reasons, everybody had a great laugh. It was a blast!  As that Shalamar's song goes, "gonna make this a night to remember...", and yes, we really made that night,  a night to remember indeed.

We never slept, I mean , we can't sleep. At around 3 or 4 AM, we went down by the beach and played  a game called 'Pinoy Henyo' with our instructor Ma'am Silna. Eventhough it was cold, it really didn't stop us from having fun. I will never forget that moment. It didn't take long and it started  to rain cats and dogs, the street infront of the villa was flooded. The rain continued untill morning, but at around 8 AM, the sky cleared up, some of us went to the beach to swim, the water was very cold. After less than an hour of swimming, we rinsed and then started to pack our things up to go back to Jeddah.

We decided to leave at around 10 AM. Without sleep, I felt like a zombie that morning. Our trip to Jeddah was long, I was afraid  that I might get into a sleeping mode while driving and that's a big no no. Because I was so sleepy and wanna jump in my bed as soon as possible, I forgot to say goodbye to some of the people there, (stupid me, but I know I've been forgiven), good thing is - Ma'am Silna had rushed to see us off and so we said our goodbyes.

To all my classmates,  instructors and TCI admins, I wanna say thank you, although not quite long, you guys have been part of one of the most happiest moments of my life. Never in my long stay in Saudi Arabia have I experienced real fun compared to this. I will never forget you all. And this is what I was saying before, I hate goodbyes and farewells. C'est la vie!

Other Photos Of Batch 4's Graduation Day!

A Glimpse Of My OJT

I really enjoyed our OJT in the hospital. We've seen first hand how things really work inside the hospital by assisting and observing the proper nursing procedures. Each one of us was assigned to different patients in the hospital with different medical conditions ranging from simple fever, to severe heart conditions and a coma patient due to cerebral hemorrhage.

We also get to use what we've learned in school, especially the clinical skills, like getting the vital signs (e.g. blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate and temperature) of the patient, bed bath, bed making, using  body mechanics, transferring of the patient, ROM (Range Of Motion) and a lot more. We were also taught the admission and discharge procedures.

I was first assigned to a patient suspected of having a dengue fever, but after some test, it turned out negative and was discharged after a few days. My second patient have a condition called a bilateral central peribronchial pneumonia, he is still in the hospital as I'm writing this post.

Aside from our own assigned patients, we're also allowed to assist and observe our fellow students with their patient, especially when their patient needs a bed bath, NGT feeding (to a coma patient), toileting i.e.. We have a check list of things that we have to accomplish by the end of our OJT, and should be signed by our clinical instructors and the nurse on duty.

To Ms. Silna Faniega (who's always been with us for the first 2 days of our OJT),  we just learned so much from you Ma'am, you just don't know how excellent of a teacher you are. Thank you, you are so amazing!

At A Wedding In Abhur!

Last Thursday, September 9, 2010 was the wedding of my classmate Rischel and her groom Jason. The wedding was held at a rented villa in Abhur, north of Jeddah. At first I was a little hesitant to attend the event because I thought the venue was too far and I didn't know how to get there, but then again I thought why not. I called my other classmate who wanted to come with us to the wedding reception. (at this time the wedding itself was already over).

Even though I didn't know the way, we just followed the street signs going to North Abhur, and called some of my classmates who were already there to guide us on our way to the venue. When we arrived, the place was full of people and I was amazed at how big the place was. There's a huge lawn and it has a swimming pool at the side of the 2 floor villa. When we went inside, I heard a loud music,  I saw a huge living room that was converted into a dance floor and there were lots of people dancing.

We went straight to a room which was reserved especially for TCI students, it has 3 single beds and 2 medium-sized cabinets. The other room opposite to our's was reserved for the staff of Cinnabon, where the karaoke was located, which we would later invade. After a while, we thought that it was time for us to eat, so we went to the buffet. Boy, the food was delicious, especially the one with the tofu in it. I love tofu! There were a lot more food on the buffet but I'm on a diet, so as much as I really wanted to eat, I just have to put a portion on my plate. Damn!

After a few hours, some of my classmates went to the dance floor and they 'tripped the light fantastic'. I did not know that they have such talent in the art of dancing. I was just there to take videos of  my classmates and the other guests while they were doing their thing, (which you will see in the video below). You see, I also wanted to dance, but my two left feet won't allow me to. LOL!

As  hours passed and the night slowly turned to dawn, we invaded the other room where the karaoke was, and we sang our heart out. I kept on telling my classmates that it would have been perfect if only we had booze, but of course we didn't have. Too bad, I was on a party mode. Nevertheless it didn't stop us from enjoying. I sang 'Bluer Than Blue' (as usual), but it was when we sang 'Living La Vida Loca' that it made us go crazy. We didn't need booze after all!

And when morning came, it was around 8 AM, and when most of the guests are gone, we decided to take a dip in the pool. It was fun, although it was morning, the water was not cold at all. I can't even remember how many somersaults I did, (joke). It didn't take long for my fingers to crinkle, I had enough of the water, my colleagues soon followed. After we had fun at the pool, we had breakfast. The people in charge of the reception really thought everything out. They brought out one after the other, different menus like papaitan, putong puti, boiled eggs, and sopas. It was great!

Just like Janet Jackson's song goes, funny how time flies when your're having fun..., Yup, It's time to leave! Unfortunately, my car can only occupy 5 including me, so 2 of my classmates had to ride a private bus  with the rest of the guests. It was a great experience, It was my first time to attend such an occasion and my first time also to go to Abhur. Thanks Jason and Rischel for a wonderful time, and congratulations!

¡SOY NEGRENSE!: Jason & Rischel's Eid Wedding In Obhur!

Classmates At The Corniche

Yesterday, I and 6 of my classmates in TCI went to the Corniche just after our class around 5:00 PM. The sun was still up and it was terribly hot. 3 of them rode in my car and 2 others rode with Chris in his pick-up truck. We first went to a park where we took a lot of pictures with some of the locals there together with their ponies and their 4 wheeled motorcycles.

It was so hot and humid that afternoon and we can't even drink water out in the open, because it's Ramadan, we have to show respect to some of the Muslims there; they were fasting, and they can't either eat or drink until a specific time, so we have to discreetly drink water inside the car.

After the photo session at the mini park, we went to meet the Red Sea. We went to the different sections of the corniche and took photos of ourselves. One of our destinations was at the observation deck. While walking there, I thought that I was being one with the sun, It was almost 6:00 PM and it was hot and humid still, but like those sun worshipers, heat was not a deterrent to get those perfect photos, nope!. But seeing that sparkling, clear water of the Red Sea made me want to dive in it, but of course I can't, I think it's prohibited to swim or wade in the water on that part of the corniche, I don't know, we're in Saudi Arabia, isn't everything supposed to be prohibited here?

Anyways, we had fun and we obviously had our bonding moments there and not to mention those great photos and videos that will remind us of those memorable moments. What else could we ask for?

By The Way, I'm Back In School

Mr.Jeremy Thomas Lim BSN, RN, Founder/ Executive Director/ Instructor

I forgot to write a post about myself being in school again. So, yes I'm back in school, it's an intensive Caregiving program which is a 6-month program that caters for OFW's who are high school graduates and for those who didn't finish college like myself, although there are students that are professionals like engineer, pharmacists, etc. The program is on its 4th batch now of which I am lucky to be part of. The training center is only open every Fridays because most of the students and instructors are working during weekdays.The class starts from 8AM to 5 PM but can extend up to 7PM (although we haven't experienced that yet, thank God), so it's kind of hard for some students especially for those who still have work the night before. This week will be the start of  Ramadan, so for some students that will be an added problem because of the time constraint, most businesses during this time are all busy.

I enjoy going to school every Friday, because it breaks the routine that I used to have, and it's fun. It excites me so much that I can't even sleep the night before, just like what happened 2 weeks ago, I was awake 24 hours, I felt like a zombie sitting inside that classroom, and I don't want that to ever happen again, so I sleep very early every Thursday night, around 9 PM. Another thing that I really enjoy is that I get to exercise my brain again with those hard to remember, tongue twister medical words like gluteus maximus, vestibulocochlear, sternocleidomastoid etc.  And by the way, it sure is nice to try my hand in writing long lectures and assignments again just like when I was in high school.

Total Care International is now open for the 5th batch of students, so if you are from Jeddah and interested in the program, you can go to Total Care International website that you will see below, and there you will see phone numbers to contact and you can also fill up a form for you to reserve a slot.

The training center was located inside IPSJ (International Philippine School of Jeddah) on Gornatha street but just last Friday we transfered to a different location near Hail street. The name of the training center is Total Care International, and was founded by a  Filipino couple in 2008.

Website: Total Care International

Related: 'Im Back In School Again' at ¡SOY NEGRENSE! (My Classmate's Blog)