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.

The Sacrifice of Mary Rose

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.

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!

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.

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…..

Mein Kampf

- catchy title, huh....

Last week in our behavioural class, we had a lecture on the stresses of medical students and doctors, and different problems that we are more susceptible to, and things we should look out for. This quote was given to us in the lecture:

“Physicians who sacrifice their personal lives during training believe that they will reap the rewards of a balanced life after graduation. Unfortunately, without skills to clarify and prioritize values or to develop a personal philosophy that integrates professional, personal, and spiritual domains, such balance does not easily occur.”
– Tim Quill

This really struck a note with me. It’s exactly what I believe. The attitude of ‘ok, I just have to get through this, then I can start living my life’ is something that I think that everyone will do at times, not just physicians (but apparently we are especially prone to it). Last semester when I was struggling with situational stresses, I had a hard time with certain habits while I was studying. My mom told me not to be so hard on myself because I’m in med school. True maybe, but life is going to be stressful, and if I can learn how to deal with certain behaviours in the more stressful of situations now, then theoretically I should be more prepared for other stressful life events (plus, being raised in a boot camp didn’t sympathize with any ‘hardships’…..jk). It’s a process, and I have times when I am better at staying balanced than others, but I am always improving, and most of all, I am learning what works for me.

Murphy's Law

Where does Murphy live you ask? In Grenada, yep right on campus. Nobody likes Murphy – lurking around the school, waiting for the most opportune moments to strike. Here’s an example of the havoc Murphy has wreaked lately:
When Raz came to visit, he brought me wrist wraps – as requested for bag workouts. Of course, after he left and I began to use the bag, the third day I went to the gym, the bag was on the floor in a corner. The hook from which it was hanging was broken off. Classic Murphy. Another Murphy incident – how it just so happens that on three consecutive occasions after finishing a long stretch of exams I arrive home to have the internet malfunctioning – when I actually want to talk to people! If you see Murphy lurking around, please give this character a swift kick in the pants, because the inevitability just can’t get any worse.

2 hours later……after writing yet another exam

I bite my tongue. The apartment smells funny, like something is burning, or like gas, and our AC isn’t running…….seriously….SERIOUSLY!

I'm baaaaaaack

Sorry, I apologize to anyone who’s been living out all of their med school fantasies vicariously through me, I know it has been a while since my last post. I do have good excuses though. Right before I finished my last exam, Raz came to visit for 10 days, so for the first week of third term I didn’t even crack open a book. Then when he left I spent the weekend moping without studying, so needless to say I’ve been trying to catch up on a lot of work, and we already have an exam on the stuff on Monday!
It is official though, I am now a second year medical student – it is unfathomable how much I have learned in the last 8 months. As much as I have learned, my knowledge is basically useless right now – how sad. To generalize the sum of my new knowledge I've attained over the past year it comes down to this:

I’ve learned how a normal, healthy human body grows, develops, and functions all the way from a cellular level. I’ve also learned about the rarest forms of diseases and genetic disorders, most of which I will probably never see in my life depending on which specialty I choose. After all this being said, I love it! For the first time in my life I feel that I am actually accomplishing something.

Anyways, this third (6 week) semester is turning out to be a drag. Behavioural science is interesting to listen to, but annoying to study for. Epidemiology, well lets just say I would much rather take a hammer to my thumb everyday than sit through the lectures. Tomorrow we start biostatistics (I already took this course in undergrad!), and in a couple of weeks, health policy, then jurisprudence (sure, its interesting, but comon’, do we really have to be tested on this stuff? It’s not going to help me retain the information given its context!).
Here are some new pics that Raz took while he was here, enjoy!
At the Beach

A sea urchin

Checking out the sunset

More incoherent study ramblings....and a bread tale.

So much for the square pants experiment, all I got were dried chewing gum hip flexors.
To the point where it takes me a couple tries to fully stand up- I felt like an 80 year old – ahh the joys of intense studying. I had a roll (as in bread roll) the other day when I ordered jerk chicken from the cafeteria. Normally I wouldn’t take one, but as I was desperately craving simple sugar, I decided to eat it. Let’s just say I can’t even remember the last time I had purely white bread – holy scheisse this stuff is good! I don’t remember it tasting this good. I felt like I was eating a donut or something. I don’t know if it tasted so amazing because of my current state of affairs, or if it always tastes that good. I was raised on whole wheat bread, and ate whole wheat bread sandwiches just about everyday for probably 15 years straight. In fact my first memory of lying to my parents was when I was six, and my mother asked me if I threw away the crusts of my whole wheat sandwich (whole wheat bread crust with peanut butter was gross then – its still gross now, unless toasted). I lied and said no – then I got the wooden spoon because they could tell I was lying. Well that sure taught me (I’m a much better liar now - JK).

How I keep my stress levels in check

1. I get a decent night’s sleep (at least 6-6.5 hrs/night is my absolute requirement, anything extra is decadent).
2. I get at least 30-60 min of cardiovascular activity a day (I’ve been doing a really fun circuit lately to shake things up a bit).
3. I avoid talking to other people (there are a lot of high anxiety stress balls around here who just ooze stress when you talk to them, so I make it a habit to jet out of class as soon as lecture is over).
4. I try not to buy food that makes me want to eat it. When I get semi-stressed I feel like snacking on carbohydrates that are mostly digested before they even reach my intestine. When I get really high anxiety, I don’t want to eat - unfortunately/fortunately I almost never get high anxiety (maybe if I avoided items 1 and 2, I could induce it).
5. I pray to not be stressed.
6. I munch on raw garlic (this is not just something our Balkan parents do). This helps with item number three – if the stress ball people attempt contact I lean in and give a breathy ‘whhhhaaaat’.
7. I complain to Raz about every little thing that irritates me (poor him – he’ll actually sympathize with me). I’m more of the ‘tough love’ type and would probably tell me to ‘suck it up’ and ‘deal with it’, and then drop and give me 50 push-ups.
8. I sniff my highli ---oops, I didn't mean to write that one.

Because its more interesting to say than "I'm Studying"

Hmmm, what have I been doing lately? I’m trying out a new experiment here – the goal is to remold my ass to look more like a chair. This involves sitting in a chair for long periods of time. To pass time while I sit in the chair I’ve taken to reading about physiology and neuroscience. I hypothesize this process should be almost finished by next Monday, but to be 100% sure, I’ll wait till next Wednesday afternoon. So, because I will be intensely busy with my experiment, I will be a little out of it for the next while.

All over the place

Woo hoo, two more exams to go! 15 days, and I’ll be finished second term – now don’t get too excited because I still have 6 more weeks here for a short 3rd term. Other exciting news – I’m going to Europe! I leave June 29th (I get home from Grenada June 26th) to Serbia for 10 days, and then Raz is joining me in Frankfurt and then we go to Paris and Spain (either Barcelona or Madrid – we have to decide soon). So exciting!
So, because of my minimal time between coming home and leaving again I needed to find somewhere to obtain a few wardrobe pieces for my trip. The downfall of being a perpetual student is that I own two outfit types – jeans and a t-shirt or scrubs, so needless to say, I needed some nice duds. Enter ebay, yep, that’s right, ebay. Whoa, what a rush bidding is – you may be thinking “uh oh she’s going get addicted to bidding" or something like that – but that’s where your misunderstanding ends. Ask any woman who finds a great deal on something good at a store. It’s a rush from knowing that I got a great deal, but with strategery (what? Bush thought it was a word too). It was a nice break this weekend to think about the best plan of attack for winning the items. Do I wait and watch contentedly or do I snipe at the last second? Let’s just say, I’m just about ready for Europe, and I haven’t even spent 100 USD (and many of my items are well-made quality brands – I feel so cool).
Totally another topic, but I’ve been putting avocado on my face, because I couldn’t eat it fast enough, and wow, it totally makes your skin glow. Okay, sorry for my schizoid blog today, but I have to go to class.

A Wormy Weekend

(to be read in a rather dramatic tone, sort of like a soliloquy)

I have spent the last 48 hours staring at protozoans, trematodes, cestodes, and nematodes. The message “Don’t feed cysts to dogs” feverishly echoes in my mind. As I prepare dinner my eyes scale over the chicken, and I wonder if my body is laden with the bradyozoites of toxoplasma gondii. The eggplant reminds me of cysts filled with E. muliocularis protoscolises, will I be its next intermediate host? A person enters the room, turns and opens the refrigerator. I hope there are no proglottids under their fingernails. Nothing is safe. “Out damned spot” – I wash my hands as though I am Lady Macbeth. I notice a mosquito bite on my arm, I pray the Wucheria bancrofti has not invaded my lymphatics. Elephantiasis. Elephantiasis.

This is my friendly neighborhood reminder, reminding you to wash your hands, wash and cook your food properly, because damn, there are some nasty bugs out there.
PS. Now that the summer is coming don’t go to the bathroom outside, use the latrines.

Another day, another island

This weekend we spent a day on St. Vincent’s apartment hunting for our 5th semester in January 2007. Because we were one of the earlier students to do so, we got our pick of the bunch. St. Vincent’s is a very beautiful island, with much more lush foliage and greenery than Grenada – unfortunately you can’t beat Grenada’s beaches. We ended up finding a very nice two bedroom apartment (each with our own big bathroom) a 5 minute walk from the campus. I’m very excited about the balcony too – its huge, and the view is great (we can see the ocean). It will also be good for some early morning yoga…..
It was our friend’s birthday this past weekend, so I made another cake – I was particularly proud of this one (you would be too considering the tools I have to work with!). So without further ado, here is a pictorial review of my weekend.

This pic of Julie and I is of St. Vincent's in the background (we are on a small beach island across from Vinnies.

I thought this fish was particularly ugly.... and really big too....but mostly ugly.

Here is the beautiful birthday cake - so what if it's for a guy - who doesn't like flowers anyways? (Those are lemon peel flowers in case you were wondering). Ziploc makes some pretty crappy piping bags (I broke three of them) - maybe that's why it says "sandwich bags" on the box....anyways, I was going to post some really nasty pictures from my parasitoloty class, but I didn't particularly feel like looking at worms and anuses again....

Who can resist yet another beautiful caribbean sunset.......ahhhhhhhh

The downside of having no pigment

Saturday morning we went to the market in downtown St. George’s. Sometimes I wish I didn’t stick out like such a sore thumb. But I have to say that the local white people that I have seen look very weathered by the sun….. Even though I’m totally not dressed like a tourist, and I don’t act like a tourist, I get treated as though I’m a tourist…..it sucks, but I guess I’ve gotten better with my bartering skills.

Some lines I’ve heard while I’ve been out and about:
- Can I help you with your shopping?
- I like white women, I like white women (this was being sung behind me while in the produce section). I was really tempted to sing back “I like white men, I like white men” but its better to ignore this sort of thing.
- Let me make you my queen (no its okay, I’m not really one for titles).
- What’s your number baby, can I call you? (Sorry I don’t have a phone-this is a somewhat valid response down here).
- And of course there’s the full elevator eyes (that’s always appealing).

Going into town would be the perfect getaway, if I could just get away from the uncalled for solicitation. It almost makes me want to shave my head, and grow abscesses on my skin. Most of the time I just ignore it. Except once, I was pursued to the point where I switched my right handed ring to the left and said I was married, because I was actually being followed around the grocery store while I was shopping. The audacity….

Things I am now thankful for....

I am thankful….
- that my father would poke me in the back all the time as a child and command me to ‘straighten-up’.
- for being chastised if I would ever drag my feet while I walked.
- for being lectured on nutrition if I missed a morning breakfast.
- for being bullied into cleaning my room all the time.
- for having a ‘no TV on weeknights’ policy.
- that I never had brand name labels and felt a little uncool all the time (still don’t, and still sometimes do).
- for being made to go to church school, choir, and dance for 8 years.
- for being asked every single morning if I washed my face.
- for being given responsibilities….like chores.

Let’s just say, I have 5 weeks left of term two….can’t wait till its over.

I’m not thankful for…..
Wretchedly embarrassing family bike-rides….with helmets (although it’s a pretty fun picture to paint while storytelling).

Immunology, fruit, and a little creativity.

Written on Saturday……
The figs of the south – the Guava. This has become my new food addiction. They’re sooooo good. And then there are all the guava by-products: guava jam, guava jelly, guava cheese….yummy. Its sad, because everything is so seasonal, that we’ll have it for like a month, and then it will be gone. I could track the number of months I’ve spent here by the different fruit I’ve enjoyed each month: August – Mango, September and October – Golden Apple, November - ???, December – grapefruit, January – Jamaican apples (didn’t like them very much), February – Starfruit, March – Papaya and Guava…..and of course there are always bananas year round! We have our final exam in Immunology on Monday. Although this course is kind of interesting, the manner in which the material was presented and the information was taught was excruciating. Wacky Jackie lived up to her name in a very bad way. I tried to keep an open mind, but sometimes by the end of a lecture I could seriously feel my blood pressure rising from suppressed rage. This woman was infuriating in the manner in which she presented the material. I can’t stand whiny people who try to justify everything they do (ie. spending 5 min of lecture time explaining why the right powerpoint, or components of it missing – I don’t care why its not there, just continue with the damn lecture). Have some gumption people!

Two days later
I just finished the immuno final! I’m so happy this course is over, maybe my feet will stop dragging with my other courses now. Up next, is Parasitology, and I took a peak at the lectures this past weekend – there are some great pictures! (I like being grossed out – it’s more of that horrifying fascination, when you can’t look away).
I’ve realized that since coming to Grenada, I lost a lot of my creative outlets. I don’t have any commuting to do – so that leaves out the 40 min. of singing I would get daily, and there are no piano’s around for me to play. So a lot of my ‘creative energy’ has been channeled into cooking. Today after my immunu final, I had a cooking marathon. I had bought some chickpea flour and was excited to try it out with spinach. I ended up baking some spicy chickpea-spinach patties that taste a little like falafel (minus the oily frying). Next, I ended up making some sort of noodleless (but not meatless) lasagna with eggplant, tomatoes, and ricotta. Then, I baked up my chicken for the next few days, along with some roasted pumpkin (yum). Needless to say, I am completely exhausted.

Two hours later
Ohmigod – its MANGOTIME here on the island (mangos are my favourite). I just came back to the dorm with 8 mangos. I think I’ll be a fruitarian for the next couple of days…….excuse me while I go power-up the blender….

Also, here’s is a random picture, of a beach day we had a while ago –

Titled Charlie’s Angel’s…..these are my roommates for next semester!

Coming out...and going to dinner.

Why the stigma with nerd? It was like the death sentence in high school to be called one. My mother always told me while growing up to marry a nerd, because they were the most successful in life. So I thought, why not just be the nerd, and make my own success (although I just may end up with a nerd – someone to watch Star Trek with........NOT).
Alright, I know how nerdy, and cheesy my blog can sound at times. I do admit, over the last few years I have gotten progressively nerdier (it was always there, certain things just brought it out more, it was suppressed it in high school). The only thing that’s really changed in my life, was that I started dating this guy in physics (what’s geeky about physics?)….and then during my master’s I was perpetually surrounded by hard-core science people (and we all know the social skills most of them have…..I kid I kid). So, I can’t help it, I’m a product of my environment. Also, while I was growing up my mom made me read the dictionary every night……..ok, really I’M JOKING (although yatz and nan might argue…..).

So I had a conversation with Raz, to really find out if I really turned into a nerd (maybe not the best person to ask….). This was his response:

No, don’t worry, you’re not a nerd, nerds smell like new computer parts.

Thank God, my new dual-core processor and the latest ATI All in Wonder videocard I ordered doesn’t come in for another two weeks – I’m saved till then.

Anyways enough silliness. A group of us went out for dinner last night for a friends’ birthday. One of the friends had picked a new restaurant that opened in a newly renovated hotel. Let’s just say that this place would’ve been more appropriate if I was already a doctor, had paid off my student loans, and was working as a plastic surgeon in Hollywood (ok maybe not that expensive), but still, very very steep. The meal was probably the most extravagant I’ll ever have in my life. I would describe the meal to you, unfortunately I can’t remember what the names of most of the plates were (it was a set menu). I’ve never had a dining experience where sorbet is served to ‘clear the palate’ before the main course was served, so although very interesting I felt a little out of place (although this restaurant was a little out of place being in Grenada......).

Discovery Channel

It was a very bizarre feeling. I felt as though I was an animal being observed in my natural habitat – sort of like those specials they have on the discovery channel. When I left the dorm this morning to go to the library, there was a large group of cyclists that had stopped at the university, and one of the guides was giving a speech (in a language that sounded either German or Dutch). Anyways, as I had to walk in front of them to get across the campus I felt as though I was some sort of animal being observed in my natural habitat. Since I couldn’t understand the guide, it kind’ve just flashed through my mind that he was saying:
“Look up ahead – native to these surroundings is the Student. This particular Student is a female, although both genders carry a large sack on their backs in order to transport their [young] books. Observe the abnormal curvature of the spine of many of these creatures from persistent use of the sacks…..”
It was a very weird feeling. Normally I cut across the lawn to get to the main street on campus, but today I took the long way around. Just like an animal knowing that its being watched, it tries to avoid the ‘people’.
My mom left early yesterday morning, and I felt another bout of homesickness wash over me. But, I have so much work to catch up on, that it shouldn’t last very long (although, our internet is not working AGAIN, so who knows). I did get to enjoy some nice beach days while she was here (and some fine dining), but I am jealous that I still have another three months before I get to go home.
Here is a pretty picture that Raz sent to me from his conference in Baltimore. He visited an aquarium and took some nice fish pictures……see if you can Find Nemo (seriously)!

Made it through Midterms

My mommy is here! And I’m done my midterms. The last two were very challenging, I think my brain uses so much glucose when I'm taking tests, that I'm just ravenous afterwards. That was three weeks of intense studying, on top of trying to keep up with classes and labs. I have a lot of catch-up to do from the last week. I was starting to get a little burned out by the end of the week, so I’m a couple of lectures behind in neuro, and quite a few in immuno. C’est la vie, I guess I won’t be switching out of the 4:30 am schedule I’ve adapted during these test times until I’m fully caught up. To quote the only country song I like:
You might think I’m crazy
A little to hardcore
But in my neck of the woods
I’m just the girl next door
I’ll refrain from quoting the next line. Sleeping is all relative, so I start to get annoyed when some people balk at my preference for early rising, instead of late night studying. Since my mother is here, I will definitely be enjoying some sun this week, especially after a 3 week stretch of no vit.D. It’s pretty sad how my mother arrived more tanned than I am now, and I’ve been down here again for the last three months (it’s her vitamins, I swear). During this last week my motivation for doing anything other than studying (even that was diminished) was low, but my penchant for cooking is returning, as there are a number of my specialties I told my mom I wanted to prepare for her. Although, I must brag a little about the delicious pumpkin ginger soup I made a couple of weeks ago……sometimes I wonder why I’m working my @$$ off.....damn the women’s liberation movement…..I could’ve had my MRS. degree by now. JUST KIDDING….

Pieces of my week

Here’s a conversation I had in with a fellow classmate last week:

Newbie: Oh so you’re from Canada, I know a couple of guys from central Canada, Ed and Joe ________.
Me in my head: Yes because all Canadians know each other.
Me out loud: Oh really where aboot in central Canada are they from? (I try and bring out my Canadian accent a bit).
Newbie: What are those things you have instead of states?
Me out loud: Provinces
Newbie: Can you name some, maybe I’ll remember.
Me out load: Sure, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba…..etc etc etc.
Newbie: somewhere in Alberta I think.
Me in my head: Central Canada, eh?
Me out loud: Um, that’s a little more west than central…

Geez, its one thing to play the name game with a certain school…but common, an entire country?

So, last Monday after our immuno midterm we went out for some birthday celebrations. Here’s a pic of my roommates and I at La Luna. Okay, so here’s the thing, we haven’t had internet in our dorm room for the past two weeks. Promptly after it went out for, we called the DSL company (whose technical support HQs are in Antigua). Then once we were directed back to Grenada, we were given a “ticket number” corresponding to when we would be served (ie. someone coming out and taking a look at our connection). But, the way things work here in Grenada, you’re better off flagging down one of the cable guys if you can find them around campus. This is what we did, we found him by the end of week one with no internet. After telling us that there was a fault in the phone line, which had to be fixed be the phone company (not the internet company), he assured us it would be fixed by last Friday at the very latest. It has now been two weeks without internet. I called Paul (the internet guy) again on Friday, to which he gave me some spiel about how the phone company can only do the campus work on Saturday, so guaranteed, Saturday we would have internet. I still don’t have internet. It is so very frustrating. This is just the way things work in Grenada – kind’ve like how the grocery store may have pickled artichoke hearts, but no milk (oh my God it makes me want to pull my hair out at times!). So regretfully I can actually say: thankfully, I have exams right now, so I don’t feel as isolated as I am.

Tutoring with some meaty thoughts....

First I must exhale, I just finished midterm 1. Pat on my back for answering 105 MCQ's in 32 min flat (it was one of those you either know it or you don't type tests, no thinking required).

Okay, so I do a little private tutoring on the side for biochemistry. Sure, there are a few concepts that are a little more difficult to grasp. But, most of the real understanding is done with a little bit of elbow grease and organization. We are given pages and pages of handouts, all in paragraph style filled with facts that can be condensed into charts, graphs, and pathways. It just takes discipline and time to sort through everything and pick out the important points. The key point in what I’ve just said is discipline. From my tutoring experiences through the years, it is not conceptual understanding that most people have problems with. It is discipline and direction that most people lack, and I find that when tutoring, I am usually going back to basic skills of how to organize facts and information. (I can hear my mother’s voice going off on a tangent about students these days…..). The questions I receive are all answered in the lecture notes – if you’ve bothered to read them. I get irritated when I get questions concerning – is there anywhere all this is organized for me. (My inner monologue is saying – “no dumb@$$ the organization is part of the learning and understanding process – just do it”). But….if people want to pay me to say – drill multiplication tables into a 14 yr old, because when they were 8-13, too lazy to do the grunt work, or if people want to pay me to be personal laser pointers for their lecture notes, that’s fine too.

Yes I eat meat and yes, if forced to, I would kill and skin the animal myself before eating it. I did not have pets growing up (pets are for outside, and brothers are just as good play things that also teach responsibility). And if the bird flu does reach Grenada, I have no qualms about eating other animals such as lamb, and beef (baby pig is especially nice). Perhaps cave-personish of me, but it is the truth, I was raised on meat, and have been witness to meat in various stages before consumption. We dissected human beings for God sakes, I merely eating bird flesh to sustain my daily protein requirements. Okay, excuse me while I go pound my chest…..

Caffeine Diaries

Okay, I’m really sorry I didn’t have my weekly post of last night, but seriously, my week was uneventful, as uneventful can be – even here on a tropical island. Let’s see……tropical fruit of the week is the pawpaw, although I haven’t actually tried it, because its not ripe yet (not sure how long that will take). Starting next Monday, I have midterms for the following three weeks. Yep, that’s right 3 weeks. It’s also both of my roommates birthdays next week. Birthday’s are always nice (if its yours) but as the roommate, I am the designated cake getter (maker in my case), card signing oversee-er, nice things do-er. Anyways, here is the day by day diary of my caffeine experiment (you can see why I didn’t want to pursue research as a career).

Experiment
To cut coffee and caffeine out the diet for one week and observe behavioural effects.

Hypothesis
The affects of caffeine may be adding to already heightened levels of stress.

Results - Caffeine Diaries of the Subject
Day 1
Wake up time: 4:30am. Oh God, I just want to taste the coffee, it can be decaffeinated, I just love the warm aroma. I made it through the first three hours of the morning. Who am I kidding, I can’t quit caffeine cold turkey, so I had a cup of green tea during class.
Day 2
Wake up time: 5:00am. Coffee would be nice right now. Instead I’ll have half a frozen banana. Had green tea again during class again (its for the antioxidants, I swear).
Day 3
Wake up time: 6:30 am. Dammit, I slept in. No gym today before class. I skipped the green tea.
Day 4
Wake up time: 5:30 am. Damn Grey’s Anatomy I watched 2 episodes (season 2 the the ones with the bomb!) before I went to bed which was not until after midnight. No coffee, no green tea.
Afternoon response: *%$@ it, I’m having a coffee.
Okay, seriously, giving up coffee is not a lifestyle change I am willing to make. I don’t have withdrawl from the caffeine, I enjoy the taste. A rich flavoured bean joins the ranks of food favourites such as cheese and chocolate (hmmmm maybe I just like c-food words – I can think of a few others). You would too if you were brewing Second Cup Chocolate Truffle flavoured beans.
Day 5, 6, and 7 – Subject has abandoned experiment.

Discussion and Conclusions
As observed, the experiment failed miserably due time constraint of 24 hours in one day. The 24 hour limitation did not leave enough time available for total completion of all events (sleeping, lessons, studying with mentation, feeding, exercising). The subject began to disassociate which lead her to caffeine consumption to compensate…. .seriously.
Call person sharing 50% of my genetic information and obtain details of their coffee experimentation. Follow findings.

My inner monologue

This week just flew by, and I’m sort of glad it’s over. I mean, this coming week is actually really jam-packed busy, but I’m ready for a new start on Monday. I think I was a little stressed last week (even though I took a day off on Tuesday), and the best gauge of how stressed I am feeling is not a measure of my emotional well being, but of how much I feel like snacking and sleeping. Not good I know, but true. I am also going to start an experiment on myself and try not to have caffeine at all to see how it affects the snacking/sleeping cravings. I don’t have a lot of caffeine throughout the day, normally just a cup of coffee in the morning, and a tea in the afternoon. Occasionally, I’ll have a diet Coke (I never drink pop at home), which I did on Saturday, and I think that it made me feel very snacky and irritable. Unfortunately, this means that I’ll have to cut out my afternoon green tea, if I’m to examine all caffeine effects. I guess I’ll have to get some more antioxidants elsewhere.

Since I’ve started this blog, I find that I’ve developed an inner monologue that sort of sounds the same way I write. It’s similar to how the lead character on ‘Scrubs’ talks to himself. Sure, maybe a little odd, but most of the time its me thinking about how small, mundane day to day things can be expressed with a little pizzazz. A lot of my inner monologues are sarcastic comments that I can never say out-loud to most people, but make for good blogging. For example, in many instances I find that I field questions in the nature of why some things happen the way that they do. Most of the time these are very valid questions, but in some instances, the details have all been deduced down to the smallest possible building blocks, and all that is possibly left for explanation are the physical properties that make up atoms! In my head, I am thinking – “I’m not sure, but maybe on my next ‘Dear God, it’s me Margaret’ session I’ll remember to ask that question…….geez”. Of course, out loud, it probably wouldn’t sound as amusing as it did in my head…… Anways at least another week has passed when I’ve been able to express the finer details of my life in a few more words than sleep, eat, study, workout, repeat.

Heaven on earth

It was surreal, possibly one of the most stunning places I've been. Words cannot describe how gorgeous this place was. Today was Independence day on the island, so we had a day off from our classes. A group of us decided to go to the La Luna resort for lunch and their beach. This resort was just breath-taking. Apparentely it has been featured in a number of travel magazines, and Sports Illustrated or Victoria's Secret has shot swimsuit spreads at this place. What a decadent day we had. Blue skies, warm water, white sand, and the hot sun melding into a light breeze - the day was perfect. I was not able to take pictures of the resort to justify the magnitude of its divinity, but here is a nice beach shot to make you want to throw your shovels down and jump on the fastest plane to come visit. Anyways if you want to see some pics of the resort, here is the website: www.laluna.com

More Pictures!

This is a pic of Julie (my roomate) and me up on the terrace in the Caribbean House on Campus. The water looks so blue from up here!

This is a picture of part of the library. All the buildings on campus pretty much have this similar type of architecture. I think the library is one of the nicest - from the outside that is, the inside has no study space!)

This is Baxter, he was found whimpering behind a laundry machine in our dorm. He was taken in by some friends. He is a-dor-a-ble! Yes, I know I'm exceedingly white in this picture (let's just say it was taken when I first got back to the island...).

A funny thing happened while taking a nap....

Well, Julie and I just had our first Biochem DES (department of educational services) session last night. It was a closed group session for people in AEP (Academic Enhancement Program). Overall it went well, we split up the material and did some practices questions with them. Me, being the ultimate critic of myself thought I could’ve done a better job with some of the material, but alternatively I’ve got a lot of my own work as well. I’ve got my Genetics final on Monday, so it’s going to be an intense weekend, but I’m up for it.

An odd thing happened to me yesterday; I decided to take a 1/2hr nap, and because there was still a lot of light in my room, for the first time in my life, I put on a sleeping mask. This was possibly the most restless sleep I’ve ever had. I kept having these dreams in which I would be trying to find my friends, or being dropped in a maze, and I was blind! I was drifting in and out of REM voluntarily to get myself out of these dreams. After 40 min. had passed, I still did not feel rested and I had enough. The after-math of my blind dreams left me with a little unsettling anxiety. And I got to thinking about fears and anxieties and came up with my own personal list……I like making lists……everyday I follow a list….
Now, I’m not talking about anxiety to the point where one would get chest tightness, or breathing problems. I’m just referring to a little heightening of the senses to the surroundings (in a negative way of course).

Times when I think a little anxiety/fear is reasonable:

Before I’m about to take a test (but not too much)

Finding gross black hairs on the floor after the cleaning lady has cleaned.

Not getting enough sleep (there’s a fine balance between tired and non-functional)

During the last repetition in a set of squats (I worry that I’ll have to crawl out from under the weights – its not that bad, I’ve done it before, but its kind of embarrassing).

Times when I’d like to think anxiety/fear is NOT reasonable, but I still get them:

Being called upon and not having the right answer (this is why I hated kindergarten).

Feet (I fear them touching me – my mother can attest to this)

Being late for ultimately trivial things (honestly, what’s the worst that could happen).

When it’s late into the night in my house [in Canada], and sometimes I’m still afraid of ghosts (I have some good theories on why this might be).

Chez Dana

I made pizza today in the toaster oven. I woke up at 5:30am to make the dough, then while working out I let it rise. When I got back from class at 11:00am, I assembled the pizza’s, and by noon, my friends and I were having freshly baked pizza, on homemade crust. Damn I’m good. The pizza was phenomenal. I made one all veggie, the next half veggie-half turkey with both mozzarella and gorgonzola, and the third using barbeque sauce. Here is a picture of me with the first two pizza’s.

Medical Ethics

Throughout my time here at St. George’s we have a medical ethics/clinical skills class that run over the course of 6 semesters. So far we’ve learned about ethical reasoning in the context of patient care, disclosure, informed consent, and medical research. We’ve had small discussion groups over topics ranging from patient assisted suicide, abortion, religious practices and beliefs, and intersex babies. The discussions were always very stimulating, and it’s interesting to hear other people’s opinions and assertions on the various topics. There is one thing (okay, well two, but one is a minor complaint) that particularly bothers me about some of the strong religious opinions some of the students have had in my small group. I can honestly say that I do respect everyone’s opinion, but I have a difficult time accepting some of the reasoning (or lack thereof) behind the more extreme religious beliefs. For example, last week, we were discussing our thoughts on patient assisted suicide. There were a couple of students who out right said absolutely not, they do not believe in it, or would they ever even consider a patients request for it, no matter what the situation was. This part was fine, that is their opinion, and I respect that. I don’t think that as a physician I would be able to participate in patient assisted suicide either, BUT, depending on the situation (and law for that matter) I can’t definitively say that I be opposed to it. I would have no problem recommending my patient to somewhere that did endorse patient assisted suicide, and had a criterion in place for the decision. My problem with these very religious opinions is that these people would not even endorse disclosing to their patients other physicians/centers that would support it. In my opinion, I feel that this physician would be forcing their own beliefs and values onto their patients. Alternatively, maybe it’s these same type of people that keep a balance to our society….

On a lighter note, I finally made it out to the beach today and the waves were gigantic! Okay, maybe they were not big enough for surfing, but definitely big enough to dissuade me from going for a swim. I waded in couple of metres, and attempted to keep my balance but I was repeatedly knocked over and sucked under, only to resurface as a walking sand creature. I think I'll be trying to wash out this sand for a few days....

A Side of Cheese

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS CHEESE AND OTHER CHEESE ADDITIVES. IF YOU HAVE AN AVERSION TO CHEESE, STOP NOW AND CLOSE THIS BLOG. If glanced at, side effects should not last longer than 1 week, if your condition persists consult your second term med student.

Ode to the toaster oven

The frying pan had lost it shine,
The foreman grill was bland
there’s only so much one can do
with a plain black pan.

And then it came into my life
This miniature little toy
My culinary skills were honed
My tastes were wrought with joy

Chicken tenders, fish fillets,
Stuffed peppers with some thyme
I haven’t tried the chocolate cake
I’ve heard it is sublime.

For those of you all missing out
It heats up like match
If this toaster was a boy
He’d be a fire-ey catch.

And so I must return again -
to study, its so mundane
and if I continue with this rhyme
I’m sure to go insane.

Okay, but seriously, this toaster oven is awesome! I’ve been cooking with it almost everyday the last week, and I get excited thinking about new things I can make in it. I guess this is what happens when you don’t have much outside class and studying…..okay, lets see what else has happened this week in Grenada:

New in exotic fruits this time of the year is the carambola aka starfruit (known for its star-like shape when sliced). It’s definitely a favorite – so much so, that I have chopped and frozen a bag of them. One never knows when something is going to go out of season around here.

Recent advances in the class schedule this week brought on the introduction of immunology, featuring the so-called professor “Wacky Jackie” – I have yet to form an opinion of her. I usually appreciate (rather than complain about) the eccentricities of a charismatic professor.

Women in Medicine organization has started up again this semester, and I’m expecting more events and involvement than last semester (we have a new executive council with a little more time on their hands).

Weather has been partly cloudy with scattered showers, and highs reaching 28 C. I’ll go test out the water temperature this weekend when I get a chance (just in case this was what you were skimming the post for).

Man of the House?

Yes it’s true. When living with roommates I find that you create a microenvironment reminiscent of the family. There’s always the ‘mother-hen’, the ‘father-figure’, and the ‘annoying brother/sister’ (no one has adopted that role yet). Anyways, the other night while studying I was interrupted with a knock on the door to open a jar of pickles. I thought to myself – why wouldn’t you just run the jar under a hot tap, instead of interrupting me (not that I mind being able to display feats of strength). But then I got to thinking about when I lived at home, if my father or brother were around I would just ask them for the same thing.

The other day I tried to remove the thermostat, and put it in a better location at the suggestion of my father (the settings don’t function and the thermostat is sitting right on the AC unit). So I pulled out my multitool (20 tools in 1 – beat that), and began to try to pry it off without any luck, and a lot of trepidation about ripping the wires completely out of the thermostat (you never want to be stuck down here without AC). So I screwed the thing back on, and began putting away my multitool when I heard a roommate incredulously ask – ‘what is that?’ (Reminds me of childhood days, when I would have a little ethnic food in the lunchbox). Okay, so maybe I’m not that useful in my ‘family role’. Another incident occurred in trying to tape up the AC vents which are situated so high along the wall, that even while standing on a chair, I still wasn’t high enough (and I’m the tallest roommate). So with no ladders that we could borrow, moveable tables to fit through our door, or anyone around that had excess growth hormone in their childhood, there was only one thing left to do: squat one of the other roommates while they’re standing on my shoulders so they could reach it (make sure you do your squats, you never know when they may come in handy).
It’s funny though, because if my father, brother, or Raz were here, I would simply leave those problems for them to solve. I guess when you know there is someone there to depend on for certain things; you subconsciously take advantage of it.

Alright, enough of my fluffy reflections. This week was definitely better than the last. I’ve gotten into ‘study mode’, have begun developing somewhat of a routine (I’m addicted to routines wherever I can make them). I am going to be a tutor for the Department of Educational Services, facilitating biochemistry for 1st semester students (I get paid a whopping 5 USD an hour), and I’m getting certified this weekend to be a CPR instructor so I can make a little cash on re-certs in hospitals when I go to the states (this is really annoying because my Canadian certification as an instructor, apparently doesn’t count for anything!). Anyway, I'm off to a physio study group yippee!

Back on the Rock

Well, I’m back. I apologize to those (mostly Nick) who have anxiously been awaiting my next post. In my defense though, we currently do not have internet access in our dorm. This week has possibly been one of the longest weeks ever. Thank God its over! When I arrived back in August for my first semester, there were so many new things to take in, people to meet, beaches to go to……well, this semester I arrived with the ‘been there, done that’ attitude, and the nagging thought of “Oh God, I’m going to be here for 6 months” (perhaps this is what has prolonged my first week). Anyways, to those that are interested here is a run down on the courses I will be taking for the next 4 months:

Neuroscience – supposedly very challenging, has been rumored to fail even the honour students.
Physiology – I was so excited to start this course, until we started the first few lectures and the prof started bringing back some nice physics and chemistry equations from undergrad (I thought I would be done with this stuff!).
Genetics – this course runs for only 4 weeks. Its interesting, but way too general, so in trying to work out the basis of certain concepts, often more information is needed than we have been provided with.
Immunology – this begins a few weeks in, right before genetics ends.
Parasitology – this course is also only 4 weeks long, but is the last 4 weeks of second semester.
Clinical Skills/Professional Development – Not bad, but the department is poorly organized, which leaves the class constantly questioning “what are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to be? What does that test cover?”

So, on Friday night we went out to celebrate a friends birthday at the Beach House restaurant (excellent food, although a little pricey). This was followed by a party at ‘the White House’, which is just a white coloured house located right outside the campus gates, and is rented out by a number of our friends. I almost did not go out on Friday, but I know from experience, that staying in by myself would make me even more miserable. In retrospect, perhaps it would’ve been a better idea for me to stay in, as I had my first encounter with the effects of excess tequila……and let me say that Saturday, I felt as though I had some sort of stomach virus, complete with chills, sweats, porcelain worship, and bed confinement. So needless to say, I am completely ready to study hard, everything is out of my system – literally.

Torus Palatinus

Two down, two to go. I just finished my biochem final. It covered about 50 lecture hours of material on everything from molecular techniques to keratin synthesis. So when I get home, don’t ask me about some obscure pain you’ve been having wondering what it is. But, if you are interested in talking about what your pee may smell or look like if you have a certain enzyme deficiency, I’ll be more than happy to explain to you which enzyme it is, and what pathway its involved in.
On another interesting note, I’ve learned that I have a minor anatomical anomaly. The professor was showing the class a few pictures of the palate in our last day of anatomy lecture. I thought he was just showing us a normal ‘roof of the mouth’, turns out he was showing us some common abnormalities patients often don’t realize they have until later on in life, and then think its cancer. It’s called a torus palatinus – basically I have a benign slow growing bone running down the centre of the roof of my mouth (geez mom, what were you doing while you were pregnant with me……JUST KIDDING). I’ve taken the liberty of including a picture of what I’m talking about (its not mine or anything……). Oddly enough, when I told Raz about it, he got confused too, and asked what was weird about that. Turns out, he has one too (well I’ll be the judge of that – a lot of my classmates thought they might have one till I showed them mine)! Draw your own inferences about us from it…..

Enjoy shovelling the snow, and scraping your cars. I'll be there to join you in a week or so.

There's no place like home

14 more days, and I’ll be home. It’s so close I can almost taste it! We have one more day of formal lecture left, and then a few review classes. I just want to get the exams over with! I cannot wait to be able to sleep in a room by myself, go to the mall, get my hair cut by a professional, go to the movies…..the list could go on and on. The one thing I am not particularly looking forward to is freezing my *$$ off. Sure, I like a crisp cold day as much as the next person, but once that wind gets going, the only place I want to be is inside next to the fireplace (or in my case, on the beach).
While you guys are suffering from the burning cold winds, that accompany the lovely morning frosts, and snow-slushy rains – just know that I am suffering too. It’s hard to study so much when I look outside and see the sun shining brightly, and the palm trees swaying in the wind. It really gets to be a pain every morning to wake up and put on sunscreen to protect me from the harsh climate. While you all have to bundle up to stay warm, I too must do the same, as the AC is always running in our buildings. Although I am grateful I don’t have to scrape frost off the windshield of a car in the morning, its very taxing to make sure that I wash all the sand off of my shoes so I don’t schlep (is that how its spelled?) it around the dorm.
So ask yourself now, where would you really rather be? For myself, I cannot wait to be back at home. I miss everyone so much - and as it has always been said, it’s not where you are, it’s whom you are with. Give me the snow frosted burning winds of Canada with my family and friends any day over the grating sun-filled warmth of Grenada.
On another note, I made a delicious cabbage soup to remind me of my childhood days when Tata was home to cook (didn’t taste that delicious as a kid, but as the tastes mature, the memories don’t seem so bad). Anyways, I went out to dinner on Friday night, sort of as the last little break I’d receive from studying over the next couple of weeks. I gave in and had a burger made from……BEEF! Omigod it was so good (although I think they just mashed together meat without any seasoning)! The meat was so lean it just fell apart when I bit into it - that, or it wasn’t cooked enough (doesn't matter, prions aren't inactivated by heat anyways). I really haven’t eaten red meat my entire time here – and coming from a European family, this is almost sinful. That reminds me, (as a mental note to myself) I am planning on bringing dried meat back when I return here in January. There’s no place like home…….

Mosquito Musings

WARNING: the following post may contain descriptions of graphic violence. Read at your own discretion.

- On average I kill 4 mosquitoes in the dorm/day
- This is my 15th weekend, which means I have killed ~420 mosquitoes.
- On average I incur 4 mosquito bites/week, this means 14% of the mosquitoes I’ve killed bit me first.
- The most frequent place I’m bitten is on the backs of my calves (the worst was 3 on my face at once).
- I consume approximately 4 bananas/week (I see a connection, don’t you, there’s supposed to be something in bananas mosquitoes are attracted to).

But……perhaps this is my secret weapon to lure them in before I kill them.

Mosquito killing techniques I use:
- the two-handed clap (squashes them without mercy).
- the air snatch (this one took a while to perfect, as I grab them out of the air with one hand).
- the mirror smear (I like to use this one on the particularly fat ones so I can see exactly how much blood they’ve taken).
- the stunner (I slightly cup my hands during the two-handed clap, and stun them without killing them, then after I’ve picked them up by a leg, I rip out the stinger and really hope that they have pain receptors).

Just as the time of Buffy the vampire slayer has ended, there’s a new girl in town: Dana the mosquito masher (kind’ve has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?)

Germans and the Moonlight

I certainly had my fair share of ups and downs this week. We had a quiz in biochem (no problems there), and our final exam for Clinical skills (I can’t even think of sarcastic comment to go with this test – that’s how ridiculous it was). We also seemed to accrue three times the amount of information this week in our courses (which means I am behind, and am playing catch up as fast as I can). We do have a new biochem prof – a German lady (very German looking, think retired 1970’s Olympic swimmer…..) Just to give you a mental picture – our lecture hall is like a movie theatre, as are the projector screens from which they instruct. So, Frau _____ enters in black pants, a red shirt, and red shoes to complement. Then, out comes a long, thin, metal pointer – from which she proceeds to try and point at things on the projection screen (obviously not working). Then, with the pointer, she began to do demonstrations of how certain enzymes function, using it as a prop. Anyways, I had a hard time keeping a straight face during lecture – so many funny images pop into my head……(choose which one you’d like).

Well, since I haven’t done anything that interesting, I’ll talk about one of the geeky little things I like to do. I brought a nice white A-line skirt with me to the island, and every now and then I get a little cleaned up and wear it. And then I put on my big white sunglasses as I walk up to class. As I am complimented on my nice look, I smile politely and reply “why thank you dahhhhhhhhlling”. I call this my 1950’s hollywood glamour style. Well, this time while I was buying my produce, the vendor told me I looked as though I came from - “not a well-to-do family, but a well-bred family” (whatever that means). So I just smiled politely, and paid for my cucumbers, lettuce, and ginger. (Okay, that was my story – I call it a “Raz story”, as often times he will tell me a story which has no ending, and that is the story).

So last night, after an evening of late studying, Julie and I decided to go for a little dip at the black sand beach (don’t worry Mom, there were some people around, and security guards patrol the campus, I was safe). The moonlight was so bright here that the water appeared more lucid than during the day. Anyways, definitely something I’ll have to do more often (plus how many people can say that they wear their bathing suit under their clothes to study!).

These were the high points of my week, maybe if I get some mail this week my blog will be even more interesting.

My Rants

Well, I have found my plan B in case this med school thing doesn’t work out. I gave Megan a haircut this week, and I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with myself. She has thick wavy hair, so there was a lot to cut. But I was able to layer the back, and frame the face – and it looked as good as a professional cut! I always used to say when I was a kid that I was going to work as a doctor during the day and run a hair salon from my house at night……hey it could work….She paid me in a chicken vegetable stew, which was well worth it. I finally made it to the beach this week! Although, while studying in the sun I was intermittently rained on (even with the sun was shining brightly in the sky). It felt good though, definitely put a bounce in my step. We have two tests this upcoming week; biochem (on everything since the midterm), and our Clinical skills class (mostly stuff on medical ethics).
Today we had to attend a presentation on financial planning and budgeting at 9:30 am this morning. I was so irritated by the woman giving the presentation. She was nattering on about how ‘St. George’s is here to make sure that your dreams come true’, and ‘we are going to do everything we can to make sure that happens’. Bull$#@! This school makes a killing off the students. They work hand in hand with an investor company that happily finances many students’ education here (that was probably why this meeting was mandatory). Yes, they do provide us with a great education (our profs and facilities are excellent), but damn, I am going to be paying for this education a long time after I’m done school. Rumor has it that SGU was offered a placement (or something) with the American medical school association providing that they reduced their class size. Guess whose best interest was at heart for that decision – it certainly wasn’t the students and their ‘dreams’.
I am happy to say though, that I am well below the allocated budget they set out for the weekly spending habits of an average student. Basically any money I spend here is on groceries, and there is too much studying for entertainment, so….. Thank you to my parents for a) making sure I can cook, b) teaching thrifty spend habits, and c) teaching me that mouldy food is still edible, you just have to scrape off the mould (okay, that was mostly from my father). Also, I think that my open-mindedness to local foods (not opting for American brand labels as some students do), and a great undergrad education (I saved ~$800 USD on books for next semester because I already own some reference texts) has definitely helped me cut some corners.
Anyways, I have to get back to my books (my class notes and own textbooks I brought with me that is – as I don’t use 8/10 textbooks they MADE us buy for first semester). Alright, you can probably tell I’m only a little peeved (these people are crooks!). Okay I feel better.

One more quicky - I am reading Breakfast of Champions - by Kurt Vonegon - what a weirdo! This guy was definitetly on drugs when he was writing it (highly not recommended).

Okay, I'm done my ranting, till next time.....

There's no daylight savings time here...

Just limited hours of daylight - 6:00 - 18:00, EVERYDAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (redefined) = confusion of what time of the year it is. For some reason I thought it was late spring time, because I was looking to see if Juventus had any exhibition games in July, and I couldn’t find them. I then realized it was only October. This is what can happen to you when your living in a climate that makes you think it’s July all the time.
The cloudy weather hasn’t cleared, so I was forced to make-due with the haziness. I decided to go to blacksand beach, despite the sub-par weather. I have made up my mind, if it is sunny either Monday or Wednesday morning I am going to make it to Grand Anse beach, I have been blasphemous to the sun gods! (Just kidding Tata – I believe in one God the Father Almighty……).
The final countdown is beginning (I wish I could I knew how to put audio clips in here) – 4 weeks till finals, 6 weeks until ‘homecoming’. We have so much more to memorize in the two most difficult courses – anatomy and biochem. There are some non-academic things I would like to do though, before I leave the island this term (I’m sure many of them can be squeezed into the last weekend right after I’ve finished my exams, and before I leave for home). For example, I really want to go snorkeling. Apparently you can rent a catamaran (with a tourguide/driver) that will take you out for a few hours. Some students got scuba certified over their first few weeks on the island, but with the amount of work we have, I’m not sure how much scuba diving they actually get to do.
I have finally got a nice little study group going. Every Sunday night, Megan (my roommate), Julie (my roommate for next semester), and I do a review of what we’ve learned in our classes for the week. It has actually been working out very nicely, as we each assign ourselves what lecture we are going to teach to the other two. We are definitely going to be ready for our exams. Anyways, I have to go prepare for what I’m presenting tonight – fatty acid biosynthesis (I love metabolism!!!).

Stormy Weather

I smell like cadaver, its raining, and I haven’t seen the sun in the last five days. If this continues, I think I might just get seasonal affective disorder! I haven’t been able to go to the beach at all, and this was my weekend to go to the beach (we had Friday off, and today off). Also, every time my hands come remotely close to my head, I smell the bodies – totally gross. Okay, I’m done complaining for today.
On another note, while I was at the gym this morning I saw one of my professors (an older gentleman – maybe early 60s?) lifting freakishly heavy weights – the guy was a force. He had three 45 lbs plates stacked on an entire set of cable weights (like 200 lbs +), and he was doing some sort of lat exercise. It was motivating to see how focused the guy was though, because after one of the sets, I think he started to clap for himself (I was the only other person in there – and I was only mid-set, so it wasn’t for me).
So needless to say, because of all of the crappy weather we’ve been having down here, I guess that means I’ve had more time in doors to study. My housing is arranged for next semester; I will be living in a three bedroom apartment/dorm with a larger kitchen that has a table (I’m excited for the table – I hate eating at my desk all the time). Fortunately/unfortunately it is on campus. The reason I say this is because fortunately it is very convenient being on campus, especially since next semester I’ll have 8 am classes. Unfortunately, I really wanted to get away from campus just because sometimes I feel like I'm in a box, but none of my girl-friends felt the same way. Oh well, maybe for 4th semester I’ll be off campus. I have found a new spot that sometimes I go to before classes. It has a nice view of the sea, and overlooks the rooftops of some of the dorms. It’s great, because I haven’t seen any other students that have been sitting up there.

- - - -

One day has passed since I wrote those last paragraphs - and I can't get this cadaver smell off of my hands (the worst part is, we've been dissecting around and in the perineum area - not to gross anyone out too much!). Of course, on the day we have classes, its beautiful, hot, and sunny! Oh, well hopefully this weekend will be nice. I have to say that there are definetely some weird characters in my class, and I truly start to wonder to myself how these people are going to make good doctors. I know that they're smart, but man, the personality is downright scary for a future doctor....
Anyways, hopefully I'll actually do something remotely interesting besides studying between now and the next post, so I can write about something! I leave you with a picture of the view from my 'new spot on campus'.

Sandblast

Well, yesterday was the big Sandblast, and I had a great time! I forgot how beautiful Grand Anse beach was and how amazingly warm the water was there. Although it is supposed to be ‘wet season’ here right now, it has not rained very much at all. So of course, as we were leaving for the beach (even though it hadn’t rained for the past two weeks) a downpour began. Fortunately, with living in the tropics, you never have to worry about it being crappy all day because it won’t rain for any longer than 15 minutes. And so we began our day under a tent in the rain, waiting for the bus. The bus ride over to the beach was an adventure in itself though. We had packed the maximum number of students possible on the bus, and while it was going up the steepest hill on campus, it stalled! And then again halfway to the beach! We made it though without having to kick anyone off of the bus. We were greeted at the entry to Sandblast with drink cups that we would be using for the day that had ribbons on them so we could easily carry them around our necks.

The beach was packed with students from all terms, and there were games and contests going on throughout the day for added entertainment. A few of the professors were there as well, and water-balloons could be purchased to ‘take revenge’ on the professors that were sitting behind a barbed-wire screen. My favourite prof was one of the ones sitting behind the screen getting wet, it was funny seeing some of the students faces as they threw the balloons (seriously, you could see looks of contempt). Anyways, I was able to get a pic with the prof I so idolize. You’ll see in the picture how geeked I look (like one of those fans that have just gotten a picture with their favourite celebrity….).

Down here, my beverage of choice is called a vodka ting – the ting part is a grapefruit flavoured carbonated water. Because the drinks were made by med students, and I have a low concentration of alcohol dehydrogenase in my system it didn’t take much before the party turned from great to even better (all the water and alcohol reminded me of my days as a lifeguard….). So I definitely had some ‘fun in the sun’ yesterday. Well, not to forget about the after-party, I had a nice siesta to regenerate for the night ahead I almost decided that I didn’t want to go (I have a really bad habit enjoying waking up early to the point that I will sometimes skip out on anything that requires staying up really late). I knew I would kick myself later while studying furiously for exams for not going out previously. Plus, I brought a great t-shirt with me for the event (you can read what it says in the pics). I’m glad I decided to go out, because I had a great time hanging out with my fellow Canadians at the party. So enjoy the photos, and its okay if you feel a tinge of jealousy over the weather....

Click on the link to access the photos: http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dseslija3/my_photos

And life goes on...

My wildest dreams and fantasies just came true today in the local hardware store. As I was walking though the kitchenware aisle, my eyes met with the most beautiful, gorgeous……stainless steel espresso maker!!!! The best part is yet to come – it was only 24.95 EC (that’s like $10.00 USD). It was most surely my lucky day. I’m not a big espresso drinker, but I just wanted something that I could BREW coffee in. Basically, you put the grounds in the filter section, put water in the base of the canister, and it works off of a pressure system. The brewed coffee collects in the top, and – voila - freshly brewed Tim Hortens coffee (yes, I brought lots of ground coffee, I can’t wait to have the hazelnut blend I brought). My life is now complete down here (although, they didn’t have lettuce again at the supermarket….but I can’t complain – I have brewed coffee!). Okay you make think I’m crazy to be so excited over such a little thing, but seriously, down here you really learn to appreciate the little things that you probably don’t think twice about at home.
So I made it through midterms, I haven’t gotten all of my marks back – but so far so good. My biochem midterm was the last one on Monday, and after it was over my brain literally crashed. It just shut down. I’ve never had to think more intensely for a test than this one. So to reformat my brain I’ve been watching movies, and downloaded t.v. episodes that people have on their computers.

Here are a few things I would do while studying for my various courses:

In anatomy, I liked to think about where bullets would go if I shot them through different places in the body, or if you stabbed, or sliced the body somewhere, what would happen (I know it sounds morbid, but it really tests if you know your stuff).

In histology, I liked thinking about fruit, because it seemed like every different cell type we learned about could be compared to looking like grapes and bananas on a slide.

In biochemistry (my favourite) I loved learning about metabolic regulation and hormonal control. And every time I got hungry or ate, I thought about what was happening at a molecular level. Then while I was exercising I would reflect on which muscles I was using and what type of fibres they were, and how my lactic acid was being carried to my liver….okay okay, I know I’m a nerd, but seriously, this is the most applicable stuff to everyday life.

Lastly, in embryology, I got feelings of nostalgia, and I would reminisce how great fetal life was – just joking that was the worst course to study for.

Unfortunately, it is not wise to fall behind around here, so I have to saddle up and start studying again. We have a full week of classes and then, this weekend there is the biggest party of the semester – Sandblast. It starts on Saturday, around noon at the Grand Anse beach (the best beach on the island). There is a cover for all you can drink and snacks. It moves on at night to a local restaurant/bar called the Aquarium (supposedly a posh place for dinner), for more drinking and dancing. I’m not a big drinker at all but I am excited to spend a carefree Saturday afternoon at the beach. I haven’t done that since I’ve first arrived here. Okay, maybe I’ll have a few cold ones....

I leave you with a pic of what Megan and I like to do in our spare time (that ball was the best thing I packed).
P.S. I changed some settings, so anyone can post comments, you shouldn't have to sign in for anything.

Top 10 Reasons Why I've Felt Like a Prisoner...

1) There are guards with dogs, surrounding the ‘campus’.
2) I spend 99% of my time in a small room (cell).
3) I am always within 10 feet or less of my “cell-mate”.
4) We are transported in and out of the ‘compound’ in white vans.
5) I have (self) scheduled exercise time (outdoors).
6) Contact with other ‘prisoners’ is limited.
7) I’ve been eating these weird soy pellets as a protein substitute (lately).
8) At night there have been unusual displays of rowdiness by the other ‘prisoners’.
9) Toilet paper is rationed (seriously – 2 rolls per week).
10) I spend 99% of my time in a small room (did I already mention that?).

2 down, 2 to go

This is nuts! For those of you who aren't sure if you really want to be a physician don't do it, its way too much work. Its been midterm week, and so far I've written anatomy (thank God that one's over) and embryology (pure blatant memorization). Tomorrow I have histology (I'm getting bored studying it), and Monday I have biochemistry (rumored to be the most difficult). I've been making sure that I get enough sleep every night, and have well-rounded meals (lots of greens - I definetely don't want to be sick at this time). I've been continuing with running/lifting, to keep my stress levels in check (boy can I run fast the night before an exam). I think I've already figured out for some courses how I would like to modify the way I learn things for the finals. Anyways, sorry for the lack of posts, but I hope you all will understand - if not, too bad! I have to go study.

Another year older...

Well, another birthday has come and gone (I can't believe I'm 24) and I woke up the other day feeling a little melancholy, especially after I opened a slide show sent to me by Raz of old pictures of us together, and pictures of my family. Plus, since midterms are really close, everyone is really busy studying all the time (our tans our fading). Anyways, the other night while I was studying there was a knock on the door and in came my friends with a birthday cake and candles singing “Happy Birthday”. I was so touched, my roommate had bought a cinnamon coffee cake that morning, and everyone had signed a card (which read you’re 12 x 2!) it was so cute! Megan had also got me a magazine and some French vanilla coffee (it almost tasted like Tims french vanilla cappuccino). So my first b-day away from family and friends definitely was a good one (the first time anyone has surprised me on my b-day), thanks to the efforts of my great roommate.
And of course what is a birthday without documentation of candle blowing ability....

Health Fair

Yesterday I volunteered to help with a health fair put on by AMSA out in the community. Wow, this experience certainly put some perspective on things in life. The community we were in was on the north end of the island (it took about 50 min. to drive there). Along the way, I got to see a good amount of the green and mountainous countryside while we drove on narrow winding roads. There were houses in place with their foundations built into the sides of cliffs. Looking around you could only see lush green forest, or the sea (and a few chickens here and there). The area we were in looked poor, and remnants of the hurricane disaster from last year were still prevalent around certain areas of the island we saw. There were about 15 St. George’s med students that had volunteered, and a few local doctors. Once we arrived and set up ‘camp’ at a local grade school, it looked like the entire community had lined up to be checked. It was a great hands-on experience in that I learned how to test blood glucose, take patient histories, and do breast exams (no pun intended).
Well, midterms begin a week from tomorrow, and we’re still covering a ton of material for biochemistry. In terms of course material this definitely seems like the most intensive class. In comparing it to my undergrad courses, this class is covers three courses in one…only we take it in one semester. As promised, here are some pics from yesterday’s health fair. Enjoy.

Food for thought

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted for a week or so, its just that nothing eventful has happened. I finally got my bankcard, after about waiting a month! After doing so I really stocked up the pantry with plenty of food for the next couple of weeks. In case any of you are wondering what the food is like here, its pretty much the same as at home. Some people try to only buy name brand American labels, but you really limit yourself with what you can eat, never mind that they’re more expensive. I find that I’m eating a lot of salad here because you can put basically anything in it (providing you can get the lettuce). My favourite mix is lettuce with corn, chick peas, kidney beans, raisons, onion, avocado, and sometimes some feta cheese. I haven’t eaten any pork or beef since I’ve been here (I’m not sure exactly where the beef is from), so I can’t wait to get home and go to the Keg for a big juicy medium rare steak! An exotic fruit that I usually eat almost daily are golden apples. Their texture is a cross between a mango and a pear. I can’t begin to describe their flavour, but the core of the fruit is this round spiky pit. They actually look a little like small mangos, but you can eat the skin.

So like I said, nothing is really new. Midterms are two weeks from tomorrow, so its study time all the time – only with the intensity ramped up. I was selected as one of the ‘peer group leaders’ for my biochemistry class – I think we get paid a little bit too. I definitely know what that money will be going towards…..vegetable rotis. I could seriously eat them for every meal three times a day. There is an Indian food stand at the top of the hill outside of our class everyday that sells an assortment of samosas, rotis, these chick pea things, coconut balls…..everything is so flavourful. Okay since I’ve just rambled on about food for my entire blog, I think I will make some lunch. . . .

P.S. I promise to post some new pics next time.

It's Official

Well I am officially a med student, we just had our first test yesterday for all of our subjects. It was sufficiently challenging, but I was sufficiently prepared. I do feel that I have a better understanding of how to learn the material. While I was studying I didn’t really participate in any of the casual group studies my friends had put together (I had really bad group experiences all throughout high school and some in university which has always put me off from studying with a lot of people – I’m more of an individual learner) – so I was worried that perhaps I had missed out by not doing so. I don’t think I did. So, last night after our test a group of us went out to dinner at the True Blue Resort. The food was a little pricey for a student’s budget, so I had some veggie tacos which were quite tasty (although I really wanted to try the catch of the day). It felt so good to relax at dinner, but today I had a full day of lab and classes, and one definitely does not want to fall the slightest bit behind…
Okay, enough shop talk – I have a new favourite pastime here: running. If someone had told me six weeks ago that I would be running 3 – 4 times a week I would’ve laughed at them. Put me on a basketball court and I’ll do suicides ‘till I vomit, but don’t make me jog distances. It was mostly a mental block for me, but now I love running here! The area I jog in is surrounded by water on both sides, really nice houses, and devoid of traffic. The hills are great, but I’m still waiting for the incessant pain in my hams to go away (could be from the deadlifts too). So if any of you come to visit, bring your running shoes - just make sure we don’t run at 2:00 in the afternoon (I did once and though I was going to spontaneously burst into flames afterwards)!

Crunch time

Can you believe it, this is my fifth weekend here in Grenada. Time is flying! We have our first big ‘Unified Quiz” this Monday, so it’s definitely crunch time. The weekend is really the only time we have to actually memorize things, because it’s hard enough during the weekend just to keep up with the readings! What I find most different about med-school courses is that, what you learn for an entire semester in undergrad, is done in about two weeks time or less. No parties this weekend for me! But on Monday night, after our test there is a big “Monday Night Football” party at a bar down the road. Sheesh, one would think you could get away from all the American sports by moving down here – apparently not. I have to say though; the one source of televised entertainment that I would love to be able to watch is Desperate Housewives. There is a television in the student centre...when do the fall season shows begin? Well, sorry to cut things short, but I have to go memorize the developmental process of the fetus….its too bad we all can’t have this much fun on the weekends…..Cheers

I love the '80's!

Last night there was an 80’s theme party at a restaurant/bar called Aquarium. Everyone was dressed in their best ‘80’s garb. The music was fabulous, and there’s nothing quite like the ‘Electric Slide’ today. I did my best with the clothes that I brought with me. The ol’ sports bra showing under a mismatched coloured tank did the trick. I started to wonder why I had that scarf I am wearing in the picture with me in Grenada anyways. Some people’s outfits were so outrageous that it was funny to think they just improvised with clothes they had already brought with them! There were lots of head bands, mesh, high socks and sneakers, mini-skirts and tights, and of course – overly teased hair. This pic is of Megan and me doing our best sexy 80’s girls impression. I knew I brought purple eye shadow with me for a reason….

Stew anyone?

Mmmm I just made lamb stew. Although, I have to say there was a little too much hot sauce. That's okay, I love spicy food and my mom and brother aren’t around to eat it! I'm really enjoying cooking here - it's kind of like my down-time. I find after sitting in class for four hours, I like to come back to the dorm and cook to unwind. On Monday's and Wednesday's there is a produce stand that comes up to campus. If you get there early enough, there’s always a menagerie of vegetables (even though sometimes they don’t have lettuce…). This week I bought some ochre to try and cook with. What and interesting veggie – definitely an ingredient I’ll stick with, especially in stew. If anyone knows of another way to cook it, leave me a comment, I’m interested to try new things.
Well I have to say that I’m very happy with how things are going with my roommate. We’re both early risers and like to work out in the mornings (if only Raz would do the same….just joking hon…). Even more importantly though, we’re both very clean – thank God! She’s also very personable and friendly, no weird quirks (at least nothing yet), although I’m sure I may be a little quirky to her – being from “Canadia” and all. Anyways, I leave you all with a picture taken from a boat trip around part of the island – you can see how picturesque to it. I still cannot get over how warm the water is here, I guess when you’re only 12 degrees away from the equator its impossible for it not to be. Its okay, you can be jealous….

More School Stuff

I'm so glad its the weekend! During the week my schedule involves some sort of lab in the morning followed by class in the afternoons. Then some evenings there are review sessions for our classes. So I look forward to having large blocks of study time on the weekends. The weeks are going by rather quickly, which is both good and bad. The good is that first semester will fly by, and I'll be done with these boring fundamentals. The bad is that we are just starting to get into the nitty-gritty details of everything. I have to say that SGU has some really great professors - even though I may not enjoy the material they are covering, they are all very easy to listen to, and are very reinforcing in their teaching methods. Maybe its just the science department at Windsor that makes them look so good. I've noticed that people are very very friendly around here in Grenada. Whenever I go for jogs in the morning, all of the locals usually nod or say hello. Even walking around on campus, the security guards are very chatty, in addition to many of the other labourers. Who knows, it could be a white girl thing....
Sorry I have no pictures today, I had a bit of a computer crisis the other night and had to unistall a number of the components (that I still have yet to re-install). I'll take some pics this weekend (Raz said he wanted some of the anatomy lab - we'll see about that).