Thursday, January 29, 2009

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……

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I've Been Orientated.




Classes started yesterday, marking the official end of orientation week. Below are the highlights in digest format…..

Lessons Learned During Orientation Lectures:

“B” Does not equal MD.

Stressed out people do stupid things.

A few examples of aforementioned “Stupid things” can include: getting drunk the night before an exam, not sleeping, maintaining a poor diet, or exhibiting any signs of your typical med/pre-med diseases. These pathologies can include any of the following:

Negative Attituditis, Taintmyfaultitis, Social Prioritization Syndrome, Dietitis, Machoitistarzanitis…..,

Getting Around On The Island
Assuming you don’t have a car, which most likely you don’t if you are a first term or (as in my case) a pre-first term student, you have a few options:

SGU Buses: These are provided by the school for free and can take you quite efficiently to any of the main drags within a few miles of school. You need to show your student ID to get back onto campus on one of the buses (“security” gives it a visual check from outside the bus as you hold up your ID card before the bus is allowed through the gate), but they don’t seem to check it when you get on the bus at any point. When you want the bus to stop, you simply reach up (or ask the person next to you to do it) to a button above the window that makes a beeping sound. Of course, you have to do this at least a few hundred yards from the stop – ideally. Which means, you have to know your stop is coming. Hard to do when you don’t know where you are going yet and what it looks like: ).

If you want to go beyond what the school offers, like into St. Georges, you have to take a local bus – also called a Reggae Bus. This costs about $1 US each way. You can easily get off an SGU bus at one of two places and transfer to a Reggae bus. I did this with 4 others that are rapidly becoming good friends on Friday in order to go to the fish market in St. Georges.

The Fish Market/St. Georges

It was perfect. Fresh fish caught that day for incredibly cheap prices. I spent US $3/lb for Moonfish/Opah and the same for some Mahi Mahi which they also clean & gut for you. The groceries in town are also exponentially cheaper than at the IGA Grocery Store in Grand Anse where most of us are forced to shop for the sake of convenience. I am sure they’d be out of business if there were no students here. In their favor however, they do have a wide variety of options even if they do charge a few appendages for them. Capers or Ben & Jerry's anyone?

Food.

Hmmm, yeah. As, I mentioned food is incredibly expensive here unless you are able to go to places like the fish market and have time to cook it regularly. There are several options for Indian food – none of which have exactly rocked my world. For example, Kwality Indian Restaurant which is very close to campus was well…not so “quality”. Suffice it to say that it resulted in a minor GI problem. At least I only spent about US $8 for diarrhea. Could’ve been worse, eh?


Activities
The school takes us on various mini adventures during orientation week. I was able to make the Grand Etang Rainforest trip which was nice, except we didn’t actually get to do any hiking in it. Instead, we got to watch an all too domesticated monkey jump on people’s heads for photo ops by being lured in by a banana. Worked every time until the monkey got full.

Interestingly enough, it was raining in the rain forest. Actually, it was pouring.

On Friday night I experienced the full force of Caribbean rum. Note to self – do not consume. At the same time, that was quite educational and I seem to have gotten in touch with my inner lovesick child. Not fun.

Did I mention the beach is INCREDIBLE. No? Well, it's INCREDIBLE.

The Single Most Awesome Act I have Witnessed To Date
I’ve met some really great people already. My roommate is not only smart, but fun to hang out with and full of compassion. However, she did have an unfortunate experience while on the way back from Grand Etang on the bus. Her misfortune culminated in my witnessing an act that I was extremely impressed by.

Let me explain.

The road to Grand Etang is not for the faint of heart or the motion sick. It’s a curvaceous, narrow road, takes an hour to get there, is fraught with potholes, and is loud (very loud music & plenty of talking going on). This did not bode well for Bhumika, who apparently gets motion sick but was too polite to complain about it as she sat in the back with us – away from the window. She vomited. On herself and one of our other friends who happened to be on her right. I was sitting to that person’s right, by the window. The person sitting to her left didn’t even flinch. He realized that she would probably want to wipe it off and that she didn’t have anything that would be suitable. He pulled out his pristine Eddie Bauer jacket and handed it to her. No hesitation. She wiped it up – looking sheepish and profusely apologizing.

I think I’m in the right place and with the right people.

You know there are a lot of Indians around when….

You are one of three girls named Simrun in your dorm alone.

Favorite quote by my roomie so far (for the record, this was NOT addressed to moi : ) ):

“When God was giving away common sense where were you?”

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Room With A View....


'nough said.

The Journey

It’s 4:15 AM and there’s already a queue in the household for tea. Mom’s cup made it to the warmer first (only room for one) so mine and Dad’s sat patiently by its side. When I got mine, I realized that it’s the last cup I will have made by my father for too many months. It’s a ritual in our household… making tea that is. Every aspect is carefully planned and designed to enhance the taste.

It’s 5:53 AM - Mom & I have just arrived at LAX. I find a porter to carry my ridiculous load: 2 boxes, each weighing 50 lbs, 2 suitcases weighing 50 lbs, one carryon suitcase weighing about 25 lbs, and one backpack…weight unknown. Yes, I paid for the extra baggage, but it turned out to be about the same as shipping it so I figured why not take it with me instead of waiting for it indefinitely.

6:20 AM – The search for coffee begins. I’m a tea & coffee junky. Although, it’s not really the caffeine that I’m after. It’s the psychological comfort that a hot beverage can offer. It seems my only option is one of two Starbucks. I go for the one that is not alongside the Burger King. The couple in front of me in line is too much for me to handle at this hour. They are all over each other. It’s not just that though. There is something about this girl that my overly judgemental self is irritated by. She’s wearing a faux fir jacket, black hot pants, carrying a Juicy Couture handbag that announces itself in an incredibly loud manner, and can’t seem to stop feeling up her boyfriend at this ungodly hour before I’ve had my coffee.

There. Done venting. And yes, I know that I’ve just outed myself as a complete snob.

6:50 AM. Consuming afore mentioned coffee along with a bit of oatmeal outside the gate. Two young guys that look like recent college grads approach in search of seats. They opt for the two next to me. One of them is holding a planner that reads, “St. George’s University” on it. What are the odds, I wondered. Apparently pretty high, because it turns out there are at least 7 others on this flight.

We introduce ourselves. The girl sitting behind and a few seats over is also starting first term. As we chat, one of the boys opens his carry on. He looks up at me and smiles, “I was told to pack enough supplies to last me a week.”

“I know, me too.”

The first things I see are: Kit Kats, Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, Keebler’s Fudge Striped cookies (good taste : ) ), Rohen’s Anatomy Atlas, First Aide for the USMLE Step 1, socks, T-shirts……

It made me smile. Way to go for prioritizing the snacks.

7:35 AM: Boarding. In line, we meet several other students. The flight is completely booked.

10:56 AM: I am typing this.

12:30 PM: We land in Miami, only it’s 3:30 PM here. The plane sits on the tarmack for an extra bit waiting for a gate to open up. It takes 25 minutes for everyone in front of me to disembark. The hunt for food begins.

4:00 PM: At the gate – students, students, & more students. The announcer comes on to ask for volunteers to take a flight tomorrow offering $500, hotel stay, and meal vouchers. You’d think someone would have jumped for it. If they did, it wasn’t a student. Everyone is too concerned with getting there and getting adjusted.

In the sea of faces it was funny to recognize a few here and there from Facebook or the flight from LA and begin introducing ourselves in the non-virtual world.

5:30 PM: I’m on the plane. Next to me is another first termer and a 6th term Vet School student. They’re both really nice. The Vet student has good advice to offer.

5:45 PM: I am looking out the window watching the bags get loaded. After a while, the person loading things directly onto the mechanical belt bringing the bags into the cargo belly motions to another baggage attendant with a cartload of more bags to stop. He gives him a sort of “kill it” signal with his hands motioning them across one another. The baggage attendant gestures towards the additional baggage in a questioning manner wondering what to do with them then. The man near the belt simply shrugs.

Oh Shit.


Funny, one of those bags looks an awful lot like mine.

Or maybe not so funny.

I’ll find out in a short while.

7:31 PM – Grenada time: I’m typing this.


9:35 PM- Wheels down. The captain comes on, “I’d like to extend a special welcome to all of our first term students.”

A rambunctious crowd responds with approval.

Friday, January 9, 2009

The Funeral

The sun was setting on a pithy winter day turned evening and as the hues of the sky deepened to orange, they matched the flames that licked his father’s coffin. Standing outside the crematorium glancing up at the chimney, you could see the heat and a few stray embers heading towards the almighty. “There he goes….” He said.

While no one was looking....

Maybe it was the music that was playing, maybe it was the conversation I had just had with my brother combined with the mild sadness I had begun to feel about leaving for Grenada in a few days, but a tear began to carve a path down each cheek as I stood alone in the kitchen.