I’m home (for 66 hours). And nothing at all has changed (except its fish fly season – ughhhh), in fact there was still Christmas candy on my desk that I was sure someone would eat. After a long day of traveling, my stomach was bothering me a bit, and of course my father’s cure all for any type of ailment is some type of alcohol. Just as Slivovica (plum brandy) can fight SARS, fevers, colds, aches, chills, and pretty much any other type of problem, homemade wine cures stomachaches (who needs med school if you can distill your own alcohol). As happy as I am to be back, I felt sad that I missed out on some of the events this year – festivals, tournaments, showers, carrousel – I really missed that sense of community and belonging.
Since, I am now off the island and out of school for a bit I won’t be posting for the next little while (Eurotrip 2006 yeah baby!). I have to say that I’m really excited to do some good hard manual labor on the farm – the possibilities are endless, raking hay, weeding the potato field, watching the sheep (okay not so labor intensive, but you have to be vigilant for the snakes….). Anyways, I have to go finish packing (again), see you all when I get back!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Contentment
I’m done, I made it through 6 months here, and I can’t believe in 6 short weeks I’ll be back. If you can remember from my first post of the January semester, I came back not looking forward to much here on the island. Everyday I have dutifully crossed off another day from my calendar, and numbered my weekends, and I would sigh staring at those double digit numbers. Then something happened. It wasn’t an overnight change, but the island started to feel like home.
So Saturday morning I enjoyed myself – really enjoyed myself. My morning began with a 1.5 hour pedicure at a hotel beach resort. There was no sense in ruining a good pedicure by running out into the sand right away, so I slept by their pool for the remainder of the morning. I basked in my solitude and just felt such intense relaxation listening to the ocean. If this was a good romance novel I would profess my undying love for Grenada (okay, for the beach), and perhaps fill in a rich description of my sensual morning in the sun. But World Cup is on (the flawless Argentinians are playing), and I’m a sucker for footballers.
So Saturday morning I enjoyed myself – really enjoyed myself. My morning began with a 1.5 hour pedicure at a hotel beach resort. There was no sense in ruining a good pedicure by running out into the sand right away, so I slept by their pool for the remainder of the morning. I basked in my solitude and just felt such intense relaxation listening to the ocean. If this was a good romance novel I would profess my undying love for Grenada (okay, for the beach), and perhaps fill in a rich description of my sensual morning in the sun. But World Cup is on (the flawless Argentinians are playing), and I’m a sucker for footballers.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Med school hardships
Well, I finally pulled my first all-nighter here in med school. Yep, Friday night was a great party. Oddly enough, it began with my friends and me agreeing to call it an early evening so we could get up early the next day. So 12:30 came and went, 3 am passed us by, and by 4:30 I had offered to cook breakfast for the remaining of us (I really miss those sausage stands they have downtown after a night of good drinking). So, I made it to bed by 5:30am (my normal wake-up time was supposed to be an hour ago). Unfortunately, being the day person I am, by 10am I could sleep no longer, and was forced to climb out of bed to the sound of the AC repairmen banging on the door (yes, our AC was broken AGAIN).
It was a long and hard weekend. World cup soccer games were playing in the lecture hall, so I had to go watch them. And then the weather was so nice, which forced me to go the beach. For those of you concerned with my study habits, don’t worry I studied Saturday and Sunday night (I think).
On another note, the mosquitoes are back, and they still love me. I have a theory as to why I’m preferred to other people’s blood. My blood type is O-. This means that I have a lesser amount of surface proteins on my red blood cells. My theory is that digestion of my blood in a mosquito is akin to simple carbohydrate digestion in humans – sweet to taste, fast to absorb, and instantly pleasurable for the brain.
Anyways, here’s a pic of Megan and I from a Wednesday night soiree a friend had last week. There was no alcohol involved here for me (well, only a little), so I’m not making the deviant eyed face.
It was a long and hard weekend. World cup soccer games were playing in the lecture hall, so I had to go watch them. And then the weather was so nice, which forced me to go the beach. For those of you concerned with my study habits, don’t worry I studied Saturday and Sunday night (I think).
On another note, the mosquitoes are back, and they still love me. I have a theory as to why I’m preferred to other people’s blood. My blood type is O-. This means that I have a lesser amount of surface proteins on my red blood cells. My theory is that digestion of my blood in a mosquito is akin to simple carbohydrate digestion in humans – sweet to taste, fast to absorb, and instantly pleasurable for the brain.
Anyways, here’s a pic of Megan and I from a Wednesday night soiree a friend had last week. There was no alcohol involved here for me (well, only a little), so I’m not making the deviant eyed face.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Odd combinations
While working out this morning I took a look around and it just hit me how funny I might look. Every morning it’s always me and 5-6 big black men in the gym all lifting. I don’t have the luxury of a “women’s area”, or a variety of machines to do exercises on. I do know that a lot of females feel intimidated or self conscious lifting in front of, or with the guys. Myself, I don’t particularly care. I find it much more motivating to be lifting in the presence of people who are busting their @$$ to squeeze out those last couple of reps, then to be surrounded by a bunch of pansies doing stiff-armed side lateral raises with 5 lbs dumbbells (if this comment somehow pertains to you then stop wasting your time). Likewise, I like to think that I provide a source of motivation for the men in the gym (not in the way that you are thinking!). I pretend that when they see me putting up respectable weights, they’re thinking “damn, I better starting working harder or a girl is going to be lifting heavier than I do”.
Anways, now that we only have two weeks to go, I have started the process of utilizing everything that’s left in the refrigerator and cupboard. This usually leads to odd combinations of food (last semester I even tried combining oatmeal and tuna fish together – horrible). This weekend’s combination was actually quite palatable so I’m posting up the recipe:
¼ c. canned corn
¼ c. canned black beans
2 c lettuce
3 oz. chicken breast chopped into small pieces
2 Tbsp chick pea paste (or hommous)
1-2 Tbsp barbeque sauce (I had honey hickory barbeque sauce in the fridge)
1oz. shredded skim milk mozzarella
Calories = 408 Protein = 42 g Carbs = 42 g Fat = 9 g Fibre = 8 g
Mix together beans, chickpea paste and barbeque sauce first, then add chicken, cheese and lettuce, and voila a tasty summer salad! It was the chickpea paste and barbeque sauce that seemed like an odd combination – but who knew - they actually taste excellent together!
Anways, now that we only have two weeks to go, I have started the process of utilizing everything that’s left in the refrigerator and cupboard. This usually leads to odd combinations of food (last semester I even tried combining oatmeal and tuna fish together – horrible). This weekend’s combination was actually quite palatable so I’m posting up the recipe:
¼ c. canned corn
¼ c. canned black beans
2 c lettuce
3 oz. chicken breast chopped into small pieces
2 Tbsp chick pea paste (or hommous)
1-2 Tbsp barbeque sauce (I had honey hickory barbeque sauce in the fridge)
1oz. shredded skim milk mozzarella
Calories = 408 Protein = 42 g Carbs = 42 g Fat = 9 g Fibre = 8 g
Mix together beans, chickpea paste and barbeque sauce first, then add chicken, cheese and lettuce, and voila a tasty summer salad! It was the chickpea paste and barbeque sauce that seemed like an odd combination – but who knew - they actually taste excellent together!
Friday, June 09, 2006
How I met the prime minister of Grenada
Today the Prime Minister of Grenada kissed my hand – at the mental hospital that is. As part of our behavioural science class, field trips were planned to visit the mental hospital. I had no preconceived ideas of what I thought it would be, but it was definitely nothing that I would have expected. When we arrived, the guards let us in to the grounds. There were many people wandering around outside – some staring at us, others grinning and waving hi. We were brought indoors, and a nurse (wearing a completely white uniform) explained how things were run around there. There were approximately 3 males to every female, there are roughly 3000 patients that come and go from the hospital in Grenada (the only mental facility, so they are grossly understaffed).
We were first shown a ‘solitary room’ where a young patient was being kept because he was very confused about everything and needed some time to sort things out. Next, we were brought to the women’s room, where there were a number of females with bipolar disorder. A few that we met were constantly in the manic phase (the nurse informed us), and it was very amusing to interact with some of these women. It was very sad to see the conditions under which they had to live though – I suppose it would help being manic in those facilities. The doctor took us to an area set up with chairs in a circle, and then brought one of the patients in to interview. The patient entered the room, and took a seat in the circle in a rather regal way (his head was held high, he peered down his nose while he spoke, and his lips were slightly pursed - he was sitting very straight with his legs neatly crossed and his hands nicely folded in his lap). When he began to speak he would often unfold his hands and his fingers move around while he was talking (they call it 'pill rolling'). I could barely understand anything he was saying as he spoke very quickly, even when the doctor asked him to slow down a number of times. From what we were able to gather – this man truly thought he was the Prime Minister of Grenada, and that God had told him to smoke crack and drink alcohol. He recommended that we should all smoke. He then proceeded to tell us how he extricated Satan from his body, twice. He was also married a number of times, and had children with the Queen of England. He also described his wife/marriage as an abscess which he removed. When asked why he was in a mental institution, he said that it was his home, and was being temporarily used to accommodate some of the mental patients of Grenada. After we thanked him for speaking with us he started to leave, and then he walked over, and kissed my hand (there were 10 other people there with me) – it was very bizarre. He wasn’t classified as schizophrenic, but the doctor him described as having a schizophreniform disorder with some mania. He was also on a number of antipsychotic medications, but none of them seemed to be helping him.
In class we learn about many disorders, and characteristic symptoms of certain illnesses, but it is an unbelievable experience to actually meet people with these problems.
We were first shown a ‘solitary room’ where a young patient was being kept because he was very confused about everything and needed some time to sort things out. Next, we were brought to the women’s room, where there were a number of females with bipolar disorder. A few that we met were constantly in the manic phase (the nurse informed us), and it was very amusing to interact with some of these women. It was very sad to see the conditions under which they had to live though – I suppose it would help being manic in those facilities. The doctor took us to an area set up with chairs in a circle, and then brought one of the patients in to interview. The patient entered the room, and took a seat in the circle in a rather regal way (his head was held high, he peered down his nose while he spoke, and his lips were slightly pursed - he was sitting very straight with his legs neatly crossed and his hands nicely folded in his lap). When he began to speak he would often unfold his hands and his fingers move around while he was talking (they call it 'pill rolling'). I could barely understand anything he was saying as he spoke very quickly, even when the doctor asked him to slow down a number of times. From what we were able to gather – this man truly thought he was the Prime Minister of Grenada, and that God had told him to smoke crack and drink alcohol. He recommended that we should all smoke. He then proceeded to tell us how he extricated Satan from his body, twice. He was also married a number of times, and had children with the Queen of England. He also described his wife/marriage as an abscess which he removed. When asked why he was in a mental institution, he said that it was his home, and was being temporarily used to accommodate some of the mental patients of Grenada. After we thanked him for speaking with us he started to leave, and then he walked over, and kissed my hand (there were 10 other people there with me) – it was very bizarre. He wasn’t classified as schizophrenic, but the doctor him described as having a schizophreniform disorder with some mania. He was also on a number of antipsychotic medications, but none of them seemed to be helping him.
In class we learn about many disorders, and characteristic symptoms of certain illnesses, but it is an unbelievable experience to actually meet people with these problems.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Another health fair
Three more weekends to go, and I’ll be on a plane flying home!!!! Six months is a long stretch to be here. What makes it even longer is spending 90% of my time in a small room which leaves me 6x6 feet of space left over to study in. Well, our air conditioning is officially broken. It was working intermittently for a while, but it completely stopped 2 days ago. Fortunately, my parents prepared me for this sort of thing, by turning the air conditioning off in the summer evenings so we would get used to sweating at night (it wasn’t that bad – my window faces east, so maybe that’s why mornings were such scorchers).
I helped out with a health fair this past Saturday, organized by the SGU branch of AMSA (American Medical Student Association). It was held at a local school about a 1.5 hrs drive to the north end of the island. This time around was better than the first health fair I did last semester. Instead of having students at each station set up, we took the patients around to each of the stations to do a general physical check-up – history, vitals, eye/ear, glucose, breast exams (if needed), and even sickle cell tests for the children (I haven’t learned phlebotomy yet). There were a few local doctors there to see patients with specific complaints. So all in all, it was a really great experience – something that I don’t think I’ll encounter in the US. It was sad to see how many people had cataracts – none of the locals ever wear sunglasses.
Anyways, today is a national holiday – its Whit Monday (not sure of its history). So, I’ll be catching up on some studying that was put off last week (I seem to have adapted a one week off, one week on study schedule this third semester), after I go to the beach of course…..
I helped out with a health fair this past Saturday, organized by the SGU branch of AMSA (American Medical Student Association). It was held at a local school about a 1.5 hrs drive to the north end of the island. This time around was better than the first health fair I did last semester. Instead of having students at each station set up, we took the patients around to each of the stations to do a general physical check-up – history, vitals, eye/ear, glucose, breast exams (if needed), and even sickle cell tests for the children (I haven’t learned phlebotomy yet). There were a few local doctors there to see patients with specific complaints. So all in all, it was a really great experience – something that I don’t think I’ll encounter in the US. It was sad to see how many people had cataracts – none of the locals ever wear sunglasses.
Anyways, today is a national holiday – its Whit Monday (not sure of its history). So, I’ll be catching up on some studying that was put off last week (I seem to have adapted a one week off, one week on study schedule this third semester), after I go to the beach of course…..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
