Clash Of Cultures

11. Thanksgiving

Noor

Fall was such a beautiful time in Chicago. The leaves were every imaginable shade of yellow, orange and red. The breeze was cool, but not cold. Walking to work was actually enjoyable. I had spent a good chunk of my hard earned money buying warm clothes this month, but as the wind whipped around me forcing me to zip up my jacket, I was so glad my mom had talked me in to buying it.

I grew up in Karachi, the southern most city in Pakistan. We basically had two seasons the year around. One was called 'very hot', and the other was called 'slightly less hot'. So I was really looking forward to experiencing all four seasons here.

As I walked to work this morning, I reflected on how my life had changed in the last few months. I didn't feel like the same person that had landed in this city just 5 months ago. I couldn't quite grasp what had changed in me, but I could tell that I was a lot more comfortable in my own skin.

I wasn't one to brag, but I was killing it as an intern too! One of my recent evaluations had read:

'Wow! Noor was an absolute force in the Peds ER. Despite the rapid pace of work, she remained calm and collected at all times. She was quick to pick up on uncommon diagnoses and knew when to ask for help. Her interpersonal skills are an added bonus. She was well liked by her peers, supervisors and the ER staff'

I had posted a screenshot of that evaluation to my family's group chat. Mom called immediately congratulating me. Dad messaged saying how proud he was of me. And ofcourse, my younger brother wrote,
'Show off 🙄'

I love my family.

This reminded of the upcoming holiday season. Of the 3 holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, each resident covered one only on a rotating basis. This year I was scheduled to cover Christmas, which meant that I was going to be off on Thanksgiving and New Years.

Kimberly had graciously invited me to her family's home in Chicago suburbs for Thanksgiving dinner and New Years eve. My initial excitement was dampened by the realization that Sal would likely be there too. Kimberly had mentioned that he spent most holidays with her family since he almost never visited his own.

I didn't have a tangible reason to avoid him. Except that every time he and I were near each other, he seemed to suck the air out of the room, leaving me gasping for breath. Yet I felt an undeniable magnetic draw to him, almost as if I was being engulfed by a black hole. It was a troubling, unpleasant feeling, that I would do anything to steer clear off.

Kimberly and I were meeting up for lunch today. But before that I had to come up with a good excuse to decline her invite. Since our time in the ER together, after our accident almost 3 months ago, she would frequently tease me about Sal, so I would have to have a solid explanation. Otherwise, I knew I would not hear the end of it.

I had still not come up with good enough excuse when I reached the Neonatal ICU, where I was rotating this month. We had 80 beds, or rather incubators, in our NICU. At any given time there were 4 teams covering the unit, each with two providers. Yet we often felt short staffed because keeping tiny humans, some smaller than the length of my forearm and weighing less than half a kilo, was not an easy task.

As usual, the morning hours went by quickly and I still hadn't come up with a good enough excuse to skip Kimberly's dinner. But then, while I waited for the elevator to the cafeteria, my phone buzzed. My med school's local alumni group had sent out an email inviting us to a Thanksgiving dinner.

Saved by the email! Whew!

This was exactly the excuse I was looking for. There is no way that Kimberly would object to me connecting with other alumni. Though at that didn't mean she would be happy when I presented her with my Thanksgiving plans.