Stressssssssssssssssssssss

Med students have been described existing in a cyclic 2 (possibly three) phase state:

1) Preparing to study for an exam

2) Studying for an exam

3) (Drunk and passed out after the exam)

With that in mind, the following senseless ramblings are just a taste of the bizarre and ridiculous thoughts running through my head (I’m obviously in phase 2)…….phase 3 can’t get here soon enough.

As I look down at my bowl of dried out chicken (forgot it in the oven), romaine lettuce and a mélange of other vegetables I blanch in disgust and force another bite down my throat. I want to throw it away, but I’m absolutely certain that my cortisol levels are through the roof, and if it even tries to catabolize an ounce of my muscle I swear to God I’ll seriously induce adrenal insufficiency on myself (just joking I need my cortisol for the short term memory enhancement right now). I think a great product that would really take off among med students are Soylent Green type crackers. Or food pellets……better yet some sort of automated pellet dispenser that dispenses food capsules with all the needed macronutrients, vitamins and minerals in one swallowable pill……..because its nearly impossible to find time to eat decently, and trying to incorporate 10-15 servings of vegetables and fruit on a daily basis….. compounding this with a 5 inch stack of notes to read through…..only one more week that’s all…..one more week…..

Earlier in the day…..

Ever been scared witless, followed by that feeling of extreme exhaustion after? Yeah, that’s how my day started off. I’ve decided I’m a specist (pronounced Shpee-sist), this is akin to a racist, only instead I’m prejudiced against certain forms of species……like canines…. because they were quite possibly going to tear my legs off and then go in for my jugular this morning. I saw how they were looking at me (the same way I look at a cow……mmmmmm meat……). Something I definitely did not need at high stress times like these. This is how my morning started out on my supposedly stress relieving run …..

Our Lady of Loopyness

“If she told me she saw Jesus I would have believed her. I just can’t believe a burgler would come into the apartment”

- our Landlady, after the downstairs apartment break-in

We don’t know where our landlady is really from, and how on earth she ended up living here for the last 20 or so years, but I think that if you were not brought up with the local island flavouring it turns you into a bit of an eccentric. From time to time I could swear the apartment is under video surveillance, because this woman seems to hear and know everything. I find myself looking up at the ceiling and wondering if that little screw hole actually contains a screw or some expensive monitoring system, taping me to make sure I don’t put anything on the walls (which are repainted every semester I might add). She pops up at the most inconvenient of times– this stiff, awkward, emaciated looking woman. She chides us on endless minutiae and talks circles around her points, while we try to find ways to placate her neuroticisms. Each of us has our own theory about this lady. My roommate has jested that she is the source of attempted burglary. Dressed as a catwoman, she scales our balcony at night, trying to break into the apartment (or watch for Jesus sightings). My theory is that she is harboring some sort of parasitic worm that has emaciated her body and is working its way through her brain. What ever her story may be, there are a few missing screws from the wheel, and I’m wondering when its going to teeter off.

Rubbish

Sorry folks, I’m out of pictures this week. There were no exciting outings or trips to other islands. I’m afraid it’s going to be pictureless for the next little while as it’s that time of the semester again…..exam time. I thought 4^th term was a hectic overload, but apparently that was just a warm up, only a taste of what was to come. I feel as though I’m standing in the middle of a hay field, with a broken pitchfork and instructions to rake and bail the entire field, by hand (and I think I’m allergic to the hay).

They’ve officially put bars on all of the windows in our apartment. I hate it. All I need now are the orange pajamas to complete the look. Before they put the bars up I had my plan of attack in place for potential burglars with my skipping rope and duct tape nearby to use after I took them out with my Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon moves…….. (hey, we all have our kung fu fantasies…….....) so it was only a little disappointing when I came home after class to find they had installed the last set of bars in my bathroom.

I was ambushed the other night by a fleet of mosquitoes, and was reminded of the joys of first semester when I thought I had chicken pox again, but it turned out I just had a lot of bites. I think I had to replenish my iron sources the next day because they sucked that much blood out of me. Anyways, I have to go pull up my sleeves and rake that proverbial hay field….

Cricket

Because the Caribbean is hosting World Cup Cricket, a couple of them were in Vinnies. On Friday, we took a class trip to watch Australia play England in an exhibition match. So I finally learned some of the rules, and started to understand why watching cricket was so much fun (of course it had nothing to do with the alcohol).

After watching the Aussies obliterate the English team, we decided it wasn't quite yet time to get back to our studies, and slowly made our way out to a local bar. Aziza, Ashley and I were the first to arrive at the bar, and to our surprise, the English cricket team was out, drinking off their disappointing loss. We ran into the bathroom to try and furiously rub off our Australian flag tattoos we had on for the game before they were spotted, although its remnants were quickly recognized. What a fun day we had, definitely a sport I’d watch again.

Blah

It’s reached that point in the semester where I’m starting to feel a little of the amotivational syndrome (either that, or the weed I constantly smell burning next door is having some sort of effect on me). My schedule has turned into such a grind, that by the time I get home in the evenings I really don’t feel like doing much of anything. And because we’re so close to finishing our time down here, I’m really getting that itch to be done with it already.

After a week of listening to the host of Unsolved Mysteries lecture us on Infectious Disease, I can’t shake an impending sense of doom. It’s as though the end of the world is nearing, and if I don’t die of the Avian flu, I’ll most certainly get some sort of needle stick injury in the hospital……or contract a necrotizing skin infection from Group A Streptococcal infection by an accidental poke with a thumb tack……hey, he said it, not me. Anyways, normally I’d be at the gym by this time but I decided to go for an afternoon workout seeing as I’m usually ineffective for a good two hours after I return home from class/lab/hospital. I need a fascist drill sergeant to get me back into gear (although at this point I’d probably prefer to be whipped than to read my notes).

Bequia

Saturday afternoon a group of us took a ferry over to the island of Bequia (pronounced Beckway). The island is absolutely adorable, and the beach was amazing - comparable to Grand Anse beach in Grenada.
This is the ferry we came over on. The ride back to St. Vincent's was a lot of fun, as it was storming. I'm glad I don't get seasick.
This is the Bequia harbour we sailed into. Once there, we rode in the back of a taxi/pick-up to get to one of the beaches.
This pic is on the boat ride back, right before the rain started and we're all still dry. All in all this is definitely an island I'll have to visit again before I leave. Apparently there's a place to go see turtles, and you can also take your car over on the ferry to get around.