The First Two Weeks...more or less

Sooooo, I’m almost done with the second week of classes – it’s FLYING by. I guess that’s what happens when every waking moment is spent in class, reading, eating, showering, sleeping, or exercising, with a rinse repeat on that for each 24-hour cycle.

Am I overdoing it?

Dunno.

Will keep you posted on that after exams round one in March. In spite of a few hiccups here and there I’d say the education here is pretty good. One of the difficult aspects that I didn’t anticipate at all is adjusting to different accents and voices throughout the day. My Mon, Wed, Fri morning physiology professor is American, but the tone of his voice is incredibly low and even the microphone doesn’t compensate enough in volume. So, I find myself straining to hear in spite of sitting in the front row (yup, I’m one of THOSE people). My current biochem professor has a Kenyan accent which, while I love the way it sounds, I am finding hard to follow. Then there’s the anatomy professor with a Trinidadian accent, and a few with Indian accents (no problemo there), and finally a few other Americans that I can follow with no trouble. Frustrating? Kinda. But, it definitely keeps it interesting and serves as a constant reminder that I’m not in Kansas anymore. At least Toto likes it here : ).

My sense of time feels a bit warped and concurrently my sense of friendships – in a good way, I think. We spend so much time with each other and it’s an intense situation on many levels. I feel like I’ve been here with these people for at least a year already. How is it possible that it’s only been a few weeks? It’s hard to believe. On the other hand, this could go very wrong very quickly. I worry that maybe things are too intense with respect to friends and personal stuff and that at some point I might just lose it since I am someone who is used to having LOTS of personal space and privacy. I guess we’ll see but I do hope that I’m wrong and it stays as good as it is if not better.

I’ve been pretty good about getting up early before class and fitting in time for the gym and on some days even some reading before class. The last two mornings have been amazing. Went behind Bourne Lecture Hall before class to read on one of the tables facing the ocean and saw an enormous rainbow both days. The second time the rainbow seemed to end right on top of an absolutely gorgeous yacht. I couldn’t help thinking what a nice jackpot that would make.

I’ll leave you all with that thought……