So its 11:30 pm on christmas eve and I'm waiting patiently to go to bed. I have been busy all day helping my mom make christmas cookies (i got to frost the sugar cookies). Now I must find a way to cover and protect them all from the dreaded dog and cat hair flying throughout the air. Its a really tough job but I know I can do it!!!
I have decided to take a few needed days off from anything medically related, although I did tell my mom today that one particular batch of cookies looked eerily similiar to a teratoma without the hair (one sugar cookie snowman had engulphed another in the baking process). I do have alot to review and I plan on starting Thursday with some Biochem since I struggled the most with those questions on the BSCE.
What is the BSCE you say?? Its a comprehensive test at the end of year 1 that tests your knowledge of embryo, anatomy, biochem, histology, parasitology, genetics, neurology, physiology and immunology. Of course I did well on the questions pertaining to this semester's classes, but embryo and biochem did give me some trouble. So, that is where my time will be spent in the next 3 weeks before I return to the "rock".
Merry Christmas everyone!!! Have a happy holiday!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
I'm sick of San Juan
So its 1:50 am and i'm in San Juan awaiting my flight to JFK which leaves at 3:30 am. I have been here in San Juan since 2 pm. The following is a synopsis of my day:
4:30 am I awoke and Alison and I headed to the airport. There were so many students there at 5 am. I managed to get through the line fairly quickly. My flight was supposed to take off at 7:10 am, but was delayed about 30 minutes.
My connecting flight was in St. Vincent and we landed shortly after 8 am. I never want to set foot in this airport again. I thought grenada was bad, this place takes the top prize for the rudest, unfriendly, rip offs I have ever seen. Customs was that only decent part (they were very helpful and super friendly) but after that it was all down hill. We had to get our bags and haul them to the check in counter (note: there is NO bag transfer with Liat airlines: they claim it helps keep costs down). We (myself and about 20 other students) are asked to fill out all this dumb paperwork. One looked like a xeroxed copy of a 5th grade art project. The bottom portion had three lines that said: connecting airline, flight number, location. So we all put down Liat, 384, San Juan. Of course, we get yelled at by the ticket counter peeps because stupid us, we should have known they meant our flight from San Juan (and not from st. vincent). They then proceed to hand check all of our baggage; all checked and all carry on. It took forever. Finally we are able to proceed to the gate but we first have to pass by the "do not pass go until you pay the leave the island fee". We were specifically told by customs and the airline workers that because we were connecting we did not have to pay the 40 EC. But convincing the sinister looking woman behind the counter of that was practically impossible. We eventually managed not to pay which was a good thing because I had no money on me and they don't take credit cards. So, once again, Liat was late by about an hour but we finally took off and landed in San Juan around 1:00 pm.
Flying Liat into San Juan is funny because the planes are so small that they park in a loading area near the concourse. We then have to walk around all of the baggage trucks, fuel vehicles, and other airport hazzards to a set of stairs. Two flights later, plus a long walk down a dark hallway, and we are in the airport and at customs. But then the real drama began, why you ask? Because the airline was supposed to give us declaration sheets to enter the country, but Liat was all out. So they told us to go to customs and they would give us some. But customs was not playing that game. They said we needed to get the paperwork from the airline. So we sat for almost 30 minutes while they tried to sort it all out. Finally someone comes with some sheets, but there were only 12 and over 30 of us. The scramble for the sheets was hysterical. Men and women, young and old were grappling and jostling for them. I just stood back because I could not believe the absolute chaos. When it was all said and done, there was still almost 15 of us that did not have any sheets. So the guy went back to get more, and when he returns 10 minutes later, he only has spanish versions. Now, I did take 5 years of spanish and I did well with the what is your name, where do you live questions. But I started to stumble with question 9-13 when instead of one word or sentence, it was an entire paragraph. So we had to find someone to translate. And the women who helped us from customs was very, very nice. She went over it line by line.
So, through customs I went....got my baggage, and now its about 2:30, so I head to Jet Blue to see when I can check-in and they say midnight. Which totally sucks, because now i have to stay in the outer concourse area with limited restaurant choices and no comfy chairs. I basically sprawled out on the floor, watched movies and Will and Grace....i had subway for dinner (with a chocoalte chip cookie) and I also had a coffee which was horrendous, made worse by the fact that I could see the starbucks inside the checkpoint (i desperately wanted starbucks!!!)
Now I'm sitting and patiently waiting for my flight at 3:30 am. Of course nothing is open inside the concourse anymore (not even starbucks). But the vending machines still work!!!! So in about 4 hours, I will be at JFK to await my next flight to rochester NY, and all of the wonderful snow we have gotten. Did I mention that i'm already freezing here in San Juan (i'm wearing shorts, sleep pajamas, track pants, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweat shirt). I'm also strongly considering getting a McDonald's breakfast sandwich. I know it will rip through my stomach, but i haven't had it in so long and i want one....and that is all that matters!!!
4:30 am I awoke and Alison and I headed to the airport. There were so many students there at 5 am. I managed to get through the line fairly quickly. My flight was supposed to take off at 7:10 am, but was delayed about 30 minutes.
My connecting flight was in St. Vincent and we landed shortly after 8 am. I never want to set foot in this airport again. I thought grenada was bad, this place takes the top prize for the rudest, unfriendly, rip offs I have ever seen. Customs was that only decent part (they were very helpful and super friendly) but after that it was all down hill. We had to get our bags and haul them to the check in counter (note: there is NO bag transfer with Liat airlines: they claim it helps keep costs down). We (myself and about 20 other students) are asked to fill out all this dumb paperwork. One looked like a xeroxed copy of a 5th grade art project. The bottom portion had three lines that said: connecting airline, flight number, location. So we all put down Liat, 384, San Juan. Of course, we get yelled at by the ticket counter peeps because stupid us, we should have known they meant our flight from San Juan (and not from st. vincent). They then proceed to hand check all of our baggage; all checked and all carry on. It took forever. Finally we are able to proceed to the gate but we first have to pass by the "do not pass go until you pay the leave the island fee". We were specifically told by customs and the airline workers that because we were connecting we did not have to pay the 40 EC. But convincing the sinister looking woman behind the counter of that was practically impossible. We eventually managed not to pay which was a good thing because I had no money on me and they don't take credit cards. So, once again, Liat was late by about an hour but we finally took off and landed in San Juan around 1:00 pm.
Flying Liat into San Juan is funny because the planes are so small that they park in a loading area near the concourse. We then have to walk around all of the baggage trucks, fuel vehicles, and other airport hazzards to a set of stairs. Two flights later, plus a long walk down a dark hallway, and we are in the airport and at customs. But then the real drama began, why you ask? Because the airline was supposed to give us declaration sheets to enter the country, but Liat was all out. So they told us to go to customs and they would give us some. But customs was not playing that game. They said we needed to get the paperwork from the airline. So we sat for almost 30 minutes while they tried to sort it all out. Finally someone comes with some sheets, but there were only 12 and over 30 of us. The scramble for the sheets was hysterical. Men and women, young and old were grappling and jostling for them. I just stood back because I could not believe the absolute chaos. When it was all said and done, there was still almost 15 of us that did not have any sheets. So the guy went back to get more, and when he returns 10 minutes later, he only has spanish versions. Now, I did take 5 years of spanish and I did well with the what is your name, where do you live questions. But I started to stumble with question 9-13 when instead of one word or sentence, it was an entire paragraph. So we had to find someone to translate. And the women who helped us from customs was very, very nice. She went over it line by line.
So, through customs I went....got my baggage, and now its about 2:30, so I head to Jet Blue to see when I can check-in and they say midnight. Which totally sucks, because now i have to stay in the outer concourse area with limited restaurant choices and no comfy chairs. I basically sprawled out on the floor, watched movies and Will and Grace....i had subway for dinner (with a chocoalte chip cookie) and I also had a coffee which was horrendous, made worse by the fact that I could see the starbucks inside the checkpoint (i desperately wanted starbucks!!!)
Now I'm sitting and patiently waiting for my flight at 3:30 am. Of course nothing is open inside the concourse anymore (not even starbucks). But the vending machines still work!!!! So in about 4 hours, I will be at JFK to await my next flight to rochester NY, and all of the wonderful snow we have gotten. Did I mention that i'm already freezing here in San Juan (i'm wearing shorts, sleep pajamas, track pants, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweat shirt). I'm also strongly considering getting a McDonald's breakfast sandwich. I know it will rip through my stomach, but i haven't had it in so long and i want one....and that is all that matters!!!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Almost outta here....
So it's sunday afternoon, and i'm very, very close to leaving. I should be in San Juan at this time tomorrow (YAY!!!).
This semester went well for me. I was a little scared of physio towards the end. The pulmonary section was a joke. Our prof was from UC San Diego who also worked at NASA. I'm sure in his head he knew the stuff but his ability to teach it to medical students with no Ph.D training was horrendous. Unfortunately, he never really explained anything. He would back up what he was explaining by saying "See, the graph shows this." I quickly realized that pulmonists love graphs, and probably spend hours dreaming up new ways to make graphs. I have never seen one in my life with 3 labeled sides and no title but there it was in class waiting for our interpretation. The book that the prof kept refering to was written by a well known physiologist who also didn't explain anything (and also had alot of graphs). So i spent a large part the time using two crappy references to try to understand a very, very difficult topic.
The physio test went well until question 50....that is when for the next 24 questions I struggled with trying to use my limited pulmonary knowledge to answer 10th order questions that just didn't make sense. I felt overall that i had the main concepts down in terms of what happens, I just had a hard time applying multiple ones to the questions. But, I made sure that i knew renal and endocrine really well and that definitely helped me on this test. In the end, I got a B and that was exactly what I wanted.
Neuro went extremely well. No real complaints from the test. As always the questions were fair. But i did feel the test was a little too general in asking about our knowledge which is funny since alot of people thought this was a hard test. I was surprised that we spent time on subjects like Alzheimers and there were no questions on the test. I got an A so i'm really happy about that.
I also took the BSCE (basic skills comp exam) and it went okay. I realized I need to do some major review in embryo and a little more in biochem, but the anatomy portion was good. I will get my grade back on that exam late next week.
Overall, I did well this term. All A's and B's. Next term will be a huge challenge with 13 credit path and micro on top of that. But I'm ready and looking forward to it.
This semester went well for me. I was a little scared of physio towards the end. The pulmonary section was a joke. Our prof was from UC San Diego who also worked at NASA. I'm sure in his head he knew the stuff but his ability to teach it to medical students with no Ph.D training was horrendous. Unfortunately, he never really explained anything. He would back up what he was explaining by saying "See, the graph shows this." I quickly realized that pulmonists love graphs, and probably spend hours dreaming up new ways to make graphs. I have never seen one in my life with 3 labeled sides and no title but there it was in class waiting for our interpretation. The book that the prof kept refering to was written by a well known physiologist who also didn't explain anything (and also had alot of graphs). So i spent a large part the time using two crappy references to try to understand a very, very difficult topic.
The physio test went well until question 50....that is when for the next 24 questions I struggled with trying to use my limited pulmonary knowledge to answer 10th order questions that just didn't make sense. I felt overall that i had the main concepts down in terms of what happens, I just had a hard time applying multiple ones to the questions. But, I made sure that i knew renal and endocrine really well and that definitely helped me on this test. In the end, I got a B and that was exactly what I wanted.
Neuro went extremely well. No real complaints from the test. As always the questions were fair. But i did feel the test was a little too general in asking about our knowledge which is funny since alot of people thought this was a hard test. I was surprised that we spent time on subjects like Alzheimers and there were no questions on the test. I got an A so i'm really happy about that.
I also took the BSCE (basic skills comp exam) and it went okay. I realized I need to do some major review in embryo and a little more in biochem, but the anatomy portion was good. I will get my grade back on that exam late next week.
Overall, I did well this term. All A's and B's. Next term will be a huge challenge with 13 credit path and micro on top of that. But I'm ready and looking forward to it.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Results are in.......
I passed Immuno with an A!
Which leads me to a more serious discussion that haunts medical students across the globe: what to do/say when you do really well a test, and your friends either don't, or do not get the grade they were hoping for? Its nice to be excited and pumped up, but hard to share that excitement with friends who are not feeling the same. It happens every semester, every class, and trust me, it happens to me too (case in point, physiology this term where I thought I rocked the test to find out I got a 79). One friend in particular studied her ass off and I'm serious when I say she knew more details then I did; we spent all Sunday studying and I saw her knowledge first hand. She also had an A going into the final, but missed keeping it by 2 questions.
So here is the ultimate bitch about SGU: they give letter grades. Most US medical schools are pass/fail, but SGU needs to show residency programs a grade for not only competitive purposes, but to prove the value of their graduates. And because of this, we get bit by the "one miss monster"; missing a grade by one point. Happened to me in both genetics and parasitology. Answering one more question right would have given me an A, instead......89 for both classes which is a B. And not a B+ mind you....their are no pluses here....so the person who barely studyied and may not know as much as me who got an 80 will receive the same grade (sucks i know).
This is partly why I have adapted the following policy: A's and B's are fine in medical school. I really could care less about my grade as long as it stays at least a B. I find this is much more useful because it throws alot of pressure out the window. I'm not spending time doing crazy math to deduce my chances of keeping or obtaining an A....i'm just learning.
And that brings me to a close as I have to study for physio.....a class that I need at least a B in!!!
Which leads me to a more serious discussion that haunts medical students across the globe: what to do/say when you do really well a test, and your friends either don't, or do not get the grade they were hoping for? Its nice to be excited and pumped up, but hard to share that excitement with friends who are not feeling the same. It happens every semester, every class, and trust me, it happens to me too (case in point, physiology this term where I thought I rocked the test to find out I got a 79). One friend in particular studied her ass off and I'm serious when I say she knew more details then I did; we spent all Sunday studying and I saw her knowledge first hand. She also had an A going into the final, but missed keeping it by 2 questions.
So here is the ultimate bitch about SGU: they give letter grades. Most US medical schools are pass/fail, but SGU needs to show residency programs a grade for not only competitive purposes, but to prove the value of their graduates. And because of this, we get bit by the "one miss monster"; missing a grade by one point. Happened to me in both genetics and parasitology. Answering one more question right would have given me an A, instead......89 for both classes which is a B. And not a B+ mind you....their are no pluses here....so the person who barely studyied and may not know as much as me who got an 80 will receive the same grade (sucks i know).
This is partly why I have adapted the following policy: A's and B's are fine in medical school. I really could care less about my grade as long as it stays at least a B. I find this is much more useful because it throws alot of pressure out the window. I'm not spending time doing crazy math to deduce my chances of keeping or obtaining an A....i'm just learning.
And that brings me to a close as I have to study for physio.....a class that I need at least a B in!!!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Immuno is done!!
It has been such a hectic and crazy few days of studying for Immuno that I forgot to post about thanksgiving....so lets start there:
Thanksgiving went really, really well (considering I had a whole "I don't want to partcipate moment"). Yes, I had a temper tantrum about Thanksgiving for the following reasons:
1. We had class
2. I had studying to do
3. Could not watch football
4. Wanted to really watch football
Anyway, Layne convinced me that we needed to do it. Actually, she said " I want to do it!!! And YOU ARE DOING IT!!!" So, I relented and called my mom up for her recipe for yams, apples, and marshmallows. The dinner started at 8pm. Everyone brought a dish and the food was phenomenal. I ate so much!! It was also nice to share a nice dinner with so many wonderful people. So, thanks to Layne I had a great night with Alison, Kaushik, Danielle, Isaac, Toby, Candice, Liz, Aubrey, Steph, Matt, Kate, Chelsea, and of course Miss wonderful herself, LAYNE!!! Of course, leftovers the next day after class was great too!!
Okay, so flash forward to the weekend and I spent all saturday and sunday cramming....er...studying for immuno. The concepts and the class would be fantastic if it was taught better. I am positive the prof knows her stuff, she just can't teach well at all. Self study has been my new motto and so far it was worked wonderfully for me. By last night (sunday), I really felt there is no way I could fail this class. Keeping my A from midterm I was not so sure of, but failing would not happen.
The test today was okay. Lots of clinical questions, which I love. However, some of the questions were so long winded I had to keep re-reading to find out what the question was asking. After 70 questions, and almost 2 hours I wanted to shoot myself. I'm hoping that with the bonus questions (5 of them, and I nailed them all), that I at least got a 90. We will see sometime later when the grades are posted. I'm just happy that Immuno is over, and I can concentrate on important medical concepts like neuro and physio!!! :)
Thanksgiving went really, really well (considering I had a whole "I don't want to partcipate moment"). Yes, I had a temper tantrum about Thanksgiving for the following reasons:
1. We had class
2. I had studying to do
3. Could not watch football
4. Wanted to really watch football
Anyway, Layne convinced me that we needed to do it. Actually, she said " I want to do it!!! And YOU ARE DOING IT!!!" So, I relented and called my mom up for her recipe for yams, apples, and marshmallows. The dinner started at 8pm. Everyone brought a dish and the food was phenomenal. I ate so much!! It was also nice to share a nice dinner with so many wonderful people. So, thanks to Layne I had a great night with Alison, Kaushik, Danielle, Isaac, Toby, Candice, Liz, Aubrey, Steph, Matt, Kate, Chelsea, and of course Miss wonderful herself, LAYNE!!! Of course, leftovers the next day after class was great too!!
Okay, so flash forward to the weekend and I spent all saturday and sunday cramming....er...studying for immuno. The concepts and the class would be fantastic if it was taught better. I am positive the prof knows her stuff, she just can't teach well at all. Self study has been my new motto and so far it was worked wonderfully for me. By last night (sunday), I really felt there is no way I could fail this class. Keeping my A from midterm I was not so sure of, but failing would not happen.
The test today was okay. Lots of clinical questions, which I love. However, some of the questions were so long winded I had to keep re-reading to find out what the question was asking. After 70 questions, and almost 2 hours I wanted to shoot myself. I'm hoping that with the bonus questions (5 of them, and I nailed them all), that I at least got a 90. We will see sometime later when the grades are posted. I'm just happy that Immuno is over, and I can concentrate on important medical concepts like neuro and physio!!! :)
Saturday, November 17, 2007
FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!!
So, as I was taking a break from studying the wonderful world of the female reproductive system, which by the way, makes me hate my menstrual cycle even more; I stumbled upon a foxnews.com editorial on FSM. And I was like, what is FSM??? So I clicked on this website:
http://www.venganza.org/
And laughed my fluffy ass off!!! I was mesmerized, and then I wondered to myself: how do I join. I mean, being an atheist and all its so damn easy for me to switch my church affiliations anytime I want.
Actually, what really made me laugh was the reason this was on foxnews.com in the first place. I guess some church leaders and people studying theology, who will be gathering for a conference in San Diego soon, are taking this too seriously. They are having talks and discussions on the flying spaghetti monster. What?? Maybe they didn't get the message that this whole thing was a joke of sorts; well, not really a joke, but a cleverly made argument against teaching some dumb creationist theory in the Kansas school system. I shouldn't say the theory itself is dumb...no, what's dumb is having it in the public school system. That is dumb. If you want to teach it, build your own church/school and or teach it in Sunday school.
Anyway, so these three theology majors are presenting papers and arguments on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. From what I read, the one paper tries to decipher if the FSM is really a religion because in some theologist's eyes, to be called a "religion" means only to have a group of people or community of people believing in a higher being of sorts. Too funny!
And why would I be joining this "religion"?? For the mechandise of course!!! Everything is so awesome. Who else's religion can sport cool t-shirts with the saying "I was touched by his noodly appendage". The fact that they offer covers for you Ipod is so with the times. I mean, if the Catholics offered Ipod covers picturing Jesus at the last supper maybe I would convert. :)
Alright, enough fun. Back to estrogen and progesterone. Have a good night!!
http://www.venganza.org/
And laughed my fluffy ass off!!! I was mesmerized, and then I wondered to myself: how do I join. I mean, being an atheist and all its so damn easy for me to switch my church affiliations anytime I want.
Actually, what really made me laugh was the reason this was on foxnews.com in the first place. I guess some church leaders and people studying theology, who will be gathering for a conference in San Diego soon, are taking this too seriously. They are having talks and discussions on the flying spaghetti monster. What?? Maybe they didn't get the message that this whole thing was a joke of sorts; well, not really a joke, but a cleverly made argument against teaching some dumb creationist theory in the Kansas school system. I shouldn't say the theory itself is dumb...no, what's dumb is having it in the public school system. That is dumb. If you want to teach it, build your own church/school and or teach it in Sunday school.
Anyway, so these three theology majors are presenting papers and arguments on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. From what I read, the one paper tries to decipher if the FSM is really a religion because in some theologist's eyes, to be called a "religion" means only to have a group of people or community of people believing in a higher being of sorts. Too funny!
And why would I be joining this "religion"?? For the mechandise of course!!! Everything is so awesome. Who else's religion can sport cool t-shirts with the saying "I was touched by his noodly appendage". The fact that they offer covers for you Ipod is so with the times. I mean, if the Catholics offered Ipod covers picturing Jesus at the last supper maybe I would convert. :)
Alright, enough fun. Back to estrogen and progesterone. Have a good night!!
Friday, November 09, 2007
It's Friday!!!!!
Here it is, another Friday in Grenada where the rest of my day looks like this:
GHrH, Somatostatin, GH, IGFs, Ghrelin, TRH, TSH, T3, T4, Dopamine, Prolactin, Oxytocin, Vasopressin (also know as ADH), CRH, ACTH, Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Cortisol, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Insulin, Glucagon, PTH, Calcitrol, and Calcitonin!!!
For those of you who are not in medical school, all of the above equates to the wonderful Endocrine system!!! Each of the above has stimulator, a mechanism of action, a target organ, an effect, and lots of disorders when they go wrong!! I love medical school!!!
So besides physio, I also have been hard at work at Neuro. This weeks lectures included the Hypothalamus, Sexual differences of the brain, emotions, consciousness. And lets not forget Immuno where we are learning about hypersensitivity and the joys of asthma, anaphylactic reaction, and urticaria (fancy medical term for hives).
So my week has been pretty darn busy. Which is why I think I have been so exhausted lately. Case in point, wednesday....I woke up around 7am, did some work all morning, went to physio small group, came home around 2:30pm, slept until 6:30pm, ate dinner, studied until 9:30pm, and passed out at 10:30pm where I preceded to sleep until 8am the next morning (and still felt tired when i woke up!!). I'm definitely feeling more of a physical exhaustion and not mental. I did hurt my back about 2 weeks ago and I'm starting to think that this is wearing on me. Hopefully, my tiredness will diminsh as I get closer to exams.
Which reminds me....only 5 more weeks left!!!! I am so excited. Second term is almost finished (seems so surreal) and soon I will be home enjoying the comforts of the USA!! Plus all the christmas cookies I want!!
Have a great weekend. Of course, I will be spending most of it studying, but maybe I'll try to sneak out to enjoy the nice weather (90 degrees today). :)
GHrH, Somatostatin, GH, IGFs, Ghrelin, TRH, TSH, T3, T4, Dopamine, Prolactin, Oxytocin, Vasopressin (also know as ADH), CRH, ACTH, Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Cortisol, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Insulin, Glucagon, PTH, Calcitrol, and Calcitonin!!!
For those of you who are not in medical school, all of the above equates to the wonderful Endocrine system!!! Each of the above has stimulator, a mechanism of action, a target organ, an effect, and lots of disorders when they go wrong!! I love medical school!!!
So besides physio, I also have been hard at work at Neuro. This weeks lectures included the Hypothalamus, Sexual differences of the brain, emotions, consciousness. And lets not forget Immuno where we are learning about hypersensitivity and the joys of asthma, anaphylactic reaction, and urticaria (fancy medical term for hives).
So my week has been pretty darn busy. Which is why I think I have been so exhausted lately. Case in point, wednesday....I woke up around 7am, did some work all morning, went to physio small group, came home around 2:30pm, slept until 6:30pm, ate dinner, studied until 9:30pm, and passed out at 10:30pm where I preceded to sleep until 8am the next morning (and still felt tired when i woke up!!). I'm definitely feeling more of a physical exhaustion and not mental. I did hurt my back about 2 weeks ago and I'm starting to think that this is wearing on me. Hopefully, my tiredness will diminsh as I get closer to exams.
Which reminds me....only 5 more weeks left!!!! I am so excited. Second term is almost finished (seems so surreal) and soon I will be home enjoying the comforts of the USA!! Plus all the christmas cookies I want!!
Have a great weekend. Of course, I will be spending most of it studying, but maybe I'll try to sneak out to enjoy the nice weather (90 degrees today). :)
Friday, October 19, 2007
Where the hell have I been.....
I know....march 29th since my last post.....what the f***??? But i really have a great excuse, are you ready??? From March 29th until May 11th I was busily studying to pass all of my first term courses. You will be happy to know that I did, the breakdown as follows: Histology - A, Biochem - A, Anatomy - B. So from May 12th until August 1st, I was busy working a full-time job at Spot coffee (the promoted me to shift manager, mostly because they had no one left) and trying desperately to get everything in that i wanted to do....like travel, see family and friends, and enjoy the longest summer break I will ever have for the rest of my life!!!! Okay, so from August 2nd until today on October 19th, I have been so incredibly busy with term 2 that my brain just couldn't seem to find the password for this account; today I remembered it!!!! So, i'm back to blog and hopefully it will be for a much longer time.....I have so much to tell, so lets get on with it....
First term: To start I should say that I was a little crazy with my study habits last term. I decided to concentrate on biochem, my nemesis, which worked out great. However, I could have totally gotten an A in anatomy if i put just a little more time in. I'm extremely happy with my grades, I just know I could have gotten that A.
Start of second term: HORRENDOUS!!! Why?? Because you spend 12 weeks at home in the comfort, freedom, and convenience of the united states only to come back to Grenada and realize that this sucks!!! Last term was not that bad and I'm thinking its because its new. New island, new people, new classes, and all of this combines to strip your senses of how crappy this island can be. Don't get me wrong, I love the weather, I love the classes and the school, but there is just something about the idea of being able to jump in your car and make a taco bell run at 1 am when you are up studying your butt off. Nothing like that here; everything closes at 9 or 10 pm (except on the weekends but then only the bars are open). So it took me quite a while to get out of my "i hate it here and i want to go back home right now" attitude, to studying for classes. Result: I got a B in both parasitology and genetics, the first two classes we had. I could have easily gotten 2 A's, but oh well. Then, after those classes, we moved right into Neuroscience and Physiology. For 2 weeks we had this awful class called CPM (don't get me started on this crappy class - in fact, I will tell you all about it soon because it was crazy), and after that Immunology started. Wow!! LOTS OF CLASSES!!
So, today I just finished my midterm week. Here is the short version: Physio did not go as well as I had thought (still passed but.....); Immuno was a cramfest the day before the exam (complement, cytokines, phagocytes oh my); Neuro went really well for me today considering I have put alot of my time into this class thinking it is very, very, VERY relevant for my future career.
And now, I am just chilling out for tonight and the weekend. I'm thinking about watching some Grey's Anatomy or maybe Friends and doing nothing that requires any information storage in my cortex. Have a great night!!!
First term: To start I should say that I was a little crazy with my study habits last term. I decided to concentrate on biochem, my nemesis, which worked out great. However, I could have totally gotten an A in anatomy if i put just a little more time in. I'm extremely happy with my grades, I just know I could have gotten that A.
Start of second term: HORRENDOUS!!! Why?? Because you spend 12 weeks at home in the comfort, freedom, and convenience of the united states only to come back to Grenada and realize that this sucks!!! Last term was not that bad and I'm thinking its because its new. New island, new people, new classes, and all of this combines to strip your senses of how crappy this island can be. Don't get me wrong, I love the weather, I love the classes and the school, but there is just something about the idea of being able to jump in your car and make a taco bell run at 1 am when you are up studying your butt off. Nothing like that here; everything closes at 9 or 10 pm (except on the weekends but then only the bars are open). So it took me quite a while to get out of my "i hate it here and i want to go back home right now" attitude, to studying for classes. Result: I got a B in both parasitology and genetics, the first two classes we had. I could have easily gotten 2 A's, but oh well. Then, after those classes, we moved right into Neuroscience and Physiology. For 2 weeks we had this awful class called CPM (don't get me started on this crappy class - in fact, I will tell you all about it soon because it was crazy), and after that Immunology started. Wow!! LOTS OF CLASSES!!
So, today I just finished my midterm week. Here is the short version: Physio did not go as well as I had thought (still passed but.....); Immuno was a cramfest the day before the exam (complement, cytokines, phagocytes oh my); Neuro went really well for me today considering I have put alot of my time into this class thinking it is very, very, VERY relevant for my future career.
And now, I am just chilling out for tonight and the weekend. I'm thinking about watching some Grey's Anatomy or maybe Friends and doing nothing that requires any information storage in my cortex. Have a great night!!!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
11:12 pm
As the title of this post will tell you, it's late!! I'm currently sitting in the library trying to force feed my brain information on the leg and foot. My brain does not like the taste and insits on trying to force it back out!!! So far, I have been successful with keeping some of the information in.....but I'm hoping with a good night sleep I will remember more tomorrow.
So what have I been doing for the last few weeks.....study!!! Actually, the material has not been overwhelming which is a nice break, especially after midterms. But next week is when the fun begins!! 4 weeks of head and neck!!! I've already looked ahead at the mountains of information that is patiently waiting to fry my nerve endings!!! I hear it is the toughest part of Anatomy and I'm just hoping I have the endurance to get through it. I have come to realize that medical school is not about how smart you are......it's all about stamina. We have 5 weeks left in the semester, and I have already begun to see some people faltering. More and more people are missing classes and labs. All I keep telling myself is 5 MORE WEEKS!!!!
Biochem was horrendous a few weeks ago. We did almost 2 weeks of DNA replication, RNA transcription and translation. Yes I know it is important for genetic disease, but most of the things we covered I learned in biology 101 in undergrad. The lack of interest on my part in this particular subject definitely decreases my studying habits in Biochem for those 2 weeks. The only positive was more study time for Anatomy.
Histology is another story completely. I've come to realize that I understand more by self studying then I do with going to class. I think it has to do with sitting in a lecture hall seeing the same slides over and over, with the same explanations over and over. Instead of going to class, I spend that time reviewing the lecture presentation while skimming the corresponding chapter for more information. I then spend 30 minutes looking at slides, making comparisons/differences tables. This has definitely increased my understanding of histo as well as my ability to recognize tissue types.
Alright, enough about Anatomy, Histo, and Biochem....2 days ago I put down my deposit for my apartment next term. Here is a brief overview of the situation: School has housing lottery, I enter housing lottery, I lose, I along w/half the school spend the next day walking all over near campus for housing, I find housing, the girl that is supposed to be my roommate changes her mind, my friends get housing at really nice apartment complex, I get back home and find roommate at 10:30 pm, I get up next morning at 7 am, we bang on apartment managers door until he lets us in, we manage to snag THE LAST APARTMENT at 8:45 am!!!! Overally the experience was hectic, but the apartment is really nice, and brand new. I actually wish I could move in NOW!! Living on campus in a dorm has become really annoying...I'll blog about that experience at another time.
Well, I'm going to walk back to my dorm now for some much needed sleep. Have a good night!!
So what have I been doing for the last few weeks.....study!!! Actually, the material has not been overwhelming which is a nice break, especially after midterms. But next week is when the fun begins!! 4 weeks of head and neck!!! I've already looked ahead at the mountains of information that is patiently waiting to fry my nerve endings!!! I hear it is the toughest part of Anatomy and I'm just hoping I have the endurance to get through it. I have come to realize that medical school is not about how smart you are......it's all about stamina. We have 5 weeks left in the semester, and I have already begun to see some people faltering. More and more people are missing classes and labs. All I keep telling myself is 5 MORE WEEKS!!!!
Biochem was horrendous a few weeks ago. We did almost 2 weeks of DNA replication, RNA transcription and translation. Yes I know it is important for genetic disease, but most of the things we covered I learned in biology 101 in undergrad. The lack of interest on my part in this particular subject definitely decreases my studying habits in Biochem for those 2 weeks. The only positive was more study time for Anatomy.
Histology is another story completely. I've come to realize that I understand more by self studying then I do with going to class. I think it has to do with sitting in a lecture hall seeing the same slides over and over, with the same explanations over and over. Instead of going to class, I spend that time reviewing the lecture presentation while skimming the corresponding chapter for more information. I then spend 30 minutes looking at slides, making comparisons/differences tables. This has definitely increased my understanding of histo as well as my ability to recognize tissue types.
Alright, enough about Anatomy, Histo, and Biochem....2 days ago I put down my deposit for my apartment next term. Here is a brief overview of the situation: School has housing lottery, I enter housing lottery, I lose, I along w/half the school spend the next day walking all over near campus for housing, I find housing, the girl that is supposed to be my roommate changes her mind, my friends get housing at really nice apartment complex, I get back home and find roommate at 10:30 pm, I get up next morning at 7 am, we bang on apartment managers door until he lets us in, we manage to snag THE LAST APARTMENT at 8:45 am!!!! Overally the experience was hectic, but the apartment is really nice, and brand new. I actually wish I could move in NOW!! Living on campus in a dorm has become really annoying...I'll blog about that experience at another time.
Well, I'm going to walk back to my dorm now for some much needed sleep. Have a good night!!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunsets on the beach
Gorgeous, I know!! So, I have been studying as if my boards are tomorrow. I have midterms in exactly 8 days. Well, not just me as evident by the large amounts of students in the library on a saturday night (typically, they are all out drinking). So far, my studying is going very well. Anatomy is alot of review for me since I am picking up the material rather quickly. Histology is okay; I have seen it before in undergrad, so it's just a matter of teasing it out of my brain. Biochem is still the beast that can not be tamed!! I plan on devoting the entire day tomorrow (sunday) to tackly lipid synthesis/degradation.
So, a few weeks ago I was in the grocery store and what did I see; cake mix. So I bought it to celebrate after midterms. I figure that I will make the mix sometime on the weekend, give half of it to the girls down the hall so they can make some mini cakes (they have a toaster oven) and the rest I will gladly eat with a spoon right out of the bowl while sitting on my bed watching Legally Blonde!! I know, raw cake batter is bad for you because of the eggs, blah, blah blah. BUT, I have been a connoisseur of raw cake batter since I was in my mom's womb. So you can blame her, she is the one who gave me my first "beater to lick".
If it turns out I do contract some vile bacteria then: 1. The hospital in Grenada is on a HUGE hill overlooking the ocean and my room should have a sweet view! 2. At least my last meal before the eruptions from both ends was something I really wanted and enjoyed tremendously.
Alright, back to anatomy study. Have a great night. My next post will most likely be after my last midterm (March 9th). Hey, maybe I will write it while eating Devil Food Cake Mix!
J
So, a few weeks ago I was in the grocery store and what did I see; cake mix. So I bought it to celebrate after midterms. I figure that I will make the mix sometime on the weekend, give half of it to the girls down the hall so they can make some mini cakes (they have a toaster oven) and the rest I will gladly eat with a spoon right out of the bowl while sitting on my bed watching Legally Blonde!! I know, raw cake batter is bad for you because of the eggs, blah, blah blah. BUT, I have been a connoisseur of raw cake batter since I was in my mom's womb. So you can blame her, she is the one who gave me my first "beater to lick".
If it turns out I do contract some vile bacteria then: 1. The hospital in Grenada is on a HUGE hill overlooking the ocean and my room should have a sweet view! 2. At least my last meal before the eruptions from both ends was something I really wanted and enjoyed tremendously.
Alright, back to anatomy study. Have a great night. My next post will most likely be after my last midterm (March 9th). Hey, maybe I will write it while eating Devil Food Cake Mix!
J
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
HAPPY BUSY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
Happy Valentine's Day to all. Hopefully, you are having a great day!!
I just realized that I have not posted here in a very long time. The reason for this is biochem is VERY HARD!!! First, I digress: i am taking 4 classes this semester which are biochemistry, anatomy, histology, and clinical skills. Anatomy is a beast requiring lots of time for structure knowledge and relationship to other structure knowledge. Biochem is the devil requiring lots of time for good old memorization. Because of the above two classes, I have not put any effort or time into Histology. I have taken histo in the past, and thus have a slight advantage. However, histo should not be taken lightly and unfortunately that is what i'm doing right now!!!
I have decided that to effectively study for biochem, I need to repeat the reactions and cycles over and over and over again. I do it everynight, and on the days we have lecture, I add more to my memorization list. So far tonight I have been through: glycolysis, beta oxidation, alpha oxidation, carnitine shuttle, malate aspartate shuttle, glycerol phosphate shuttle, electron transport chain, TCA cycle, synthesis of ketones and their use, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, gluconeogenesis, and hormone transduction signaling. Not only have I been going over all of the pathways, but also all of the diseases and genetic abnormalites that are associated with these pathways.
Did I mention that my brain is not happy with me right now; that it is screaming like it is being hacked up by a machette, and that all of it's oligodendrite wrapped axon sheaths are unable to effectively communicate via acetylcholine neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft! OH MY GOD, I WAS ABLE TO LEARN SOMETHING IN HISTO LECTURE TODAY!!!
Although I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes, I must be doing something right. We recently took our Unified Quiz. It is basically a 25 question per subject quiz (75 in total) taken in 2 hours. It allows the student to evaluate their study methods and in the event they do bad on the quiz, change said study methods before the midterm in 3 WEEKS!!! Well I got the following grades: 22/25 in anatomy, 20/25 in biochem, and 19/25 in histo (due to my non-study habits in this class). Hopefully, these grades will be a major reflection on my midterm grades; as long as I keep studying my butt off every night!!!
Well, it is getting late and I should wrap it up and head on home for bed. My day starts early tomorrow morning at 7 am (which happens to be the time my day always starts). Have a good night and I'll hopefully post soon
I just realized that I have not posted here in a very long time. The reason for this is biochem is VERY HARD!!! First, I digress: i am taking 4 classes this semester which are biochemistry, anatomy, histology, and clinical skills. Anatomy is a beast requiring lots of time for structure knowledge and relationship to other structure knowledge. Biochem is the devil requiring lots of time for good old memorization. Because of the above two classes, I have not put any effort or time into Histology. I have taken histo in the past, and thus have a slight advantage. However, histo should not be taken lightly and unfortunately that is what i'm doing right now!!!
I have decided that to effectively study for biochem, I need to repeat the reactions and cycles over and over and over again. I do it everynight, and on the days we have lecture, I add more to my memorization list. So far tonight I have been through: glycolysis, beta oxidation, alpha oxidation, carnitine shuttle, malate aspartate shuttle, glycerol phosphate shuttle, electron transport chain, TCA cycle, synthesis of ketones and their use, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, gluconeogenesis, and hormone transduction signaling. Not only have I been going over all of the pathways, but also all of the diseases and genetic abnormalites that are associated with these pathways.
Did I mention that my brain is not happy with me right now; that it is screaming like it is being hacked up by a machette, and that all of it's oligodendrite wrapped axon sheaths are unable to effectively communicate via acetylcholine neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft! OH MY GOD, I WAS ABLE TO LEARN SOMETHING IN HISTO LECTURE TODAY!!!
Although I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes, I must be doing something right. We recently took our Unified Quiz. It is basically a 25 question per subject quiz (75 in total) taken in 2 hours. It allows the student to evaluate their study methods and in the event they do bad on the quiz, change said study methods before the midterm in 3 WEEKS!!! Well I got the following grades: 22/25 in anatomy, 20/25 in biochem, and 19/25 in histo (due to my non-study habits in this class). Hopefully, these grades will be a major reflection on my midterm grades; as long as I keep studying my butt off every night!!!
Well, it is getting late and I should wrap it up and head on home for bed. My day starts early tomorrow morning at 7 am (which happens to be the time my day always starts). Have a good night and I'll hopefully post soon
Monday, January 29, 2007
3rd week, here i come!!
I know, I know. I haven't posted in a long time, but it's incredibly hard to give information (in the form of writing) when you are trying so hard to retain (in the form of anatomy, histology, and the dreaded biochem)!!!
So far, everything is going well. The studying is very intense. I believe I have studied more in the last 2 weeks than I ever had in my entire undergraduate career!! NO JOKE!! The amount of material that is thrown at you everyday is insane. For instance, here is a typical day: Get up 7 am, eat breakfast, shower, and have a small amount of "free time" until 8 am. Non-Lab days I study and pre-read for upcoming lectures until 12:30, on lab days I can only pre-read for a few hours as labs run 8 am - 10 am or 10 am - 12 pm. At 12 or 12:30, I have lunch and take a much needed break. Lectures run from 1 pm - 5 pm. At 5 I run back to the dorm to eat dinner and grab study material. From 6 pm - 11 pm is study time. I'm back in my dorm around 11:30 pm, and in bed by 12 am. Then it's back up at 7 am to do it all over again!!
Weekends are little easier with no classes, but if you are behind or need extra help, the studying time may be just as long. For instance, yesterday I had a selective on complementary medicine that ran from 9 am - 4 pm. I did get some studying done after, but not much. So, sunday was the day to catch up. From 11 am - 6 pm, and 7 pm - 11 pm I did nothing but cram information into my head.
What i've found so far is that the first 2 weeks are the hardest. You are trying to find out how to be successful in terms of the best ways to study and retain information. Of course, everyone wants to give you their opinion on how they study and remember, but in the end, it is up to you to determine what works and does not work for you. Once you find that, studying becomes so much easier. I think I have found my way, and hopefully this will be reinforced by our first unified quiz.
Well, i'm off to class. In the next few days I will be posting more about fun stuff at school and also more about the island. Have a good day!
So far, everything is going well. The studying is very intense. I believe I have studied more in the last 2 weeks than I ever had in my entire undergraduate career!! NO JOKE!! The amount of material that is thrown at you everyday is insane. For instance, here is a typical day: Get up 7 am, eat breakfast, shower, and have a small amount of "free time" until 8 am. Non-Lab days I study and pre-read for upcoming lectures until 12:30, on lab days I can only pre-read for a few hours as labs run 8 am - 10 am or 10 am - 12 pm. At 12 or 12:30, I have lunch and take a much needed break. Lectures run from 1 pm - 5 pm. At 5 I run back to the dorm to eat dinner and grab study material. From 6 pm - 11 pm is study time. I'm back in my dorm around 11:30 pm, and in bed by 12 am. Then it's back up at 7 am to do it all over again!!
Weekends are little easier with no classes, but if you are behind or need extra help, the studying time may be just as long. For instance, yesterday I had a selective on complementary medicine that ran from 9 am - 4 pm. I did get some studying done after, but not much. So, sunday was the day to catch up. From 11 am - 6 pm, and 7 pm - 11 pm I did nothing but cram information into my head.
What i've found so far is that the first 2 weeks are the hardest. You are trying to find out how to be successful in terms of the best ways to study and retain information. Of course, everyone wants to give you their opinion on how they study and remember, but in the end, it is up to you to determine what works and does not work for you. Once you find that, studying becomes so much easier. I think I have found my way, and hopefully this will be reinforced by our first unified quiz.
Well, i'm off to class. In the next few days I will be posting more about fun stuff at school and also more about the island. Have a good day!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
FOOD!!!
So this is my first official meal outside of the campus.....i had gone into the city of St. George's with friends to do some grocery shopping (this of course occurred on 1/13, so my post is a tad bit late). There is a port that docks cruise ships and they have this giant strip mall of duty free items. So, we went inside and the first thing we see is pizza. So of course we needed to eat some. I bought the vegetable slice. It had peppers, onions, corn, green beans, broccoli, and something else that was un-identifiable. However, the pizza was great!!! It was 5 ec for the slice (about $2.00) and it was oh so good!!! We were debating if we should get another. We didn't!!!So the grocery shopping was not a great success. There is a huge farmer's type market in the city where fresh vegetables and fruits are sold. The selection was okay although it seemed that many of the farmer's had the same produce - carrots, mangos, grapfruit, oranges (which are green here), peppers, onions, etc, etc. I did pick up something called cashew. It is a fruit and tastes like a watered down version of an apple (at least to me). It was very good though. Anyway, I quickly realized that when three american medical students approached a stand, the prices suddenly jumped. I guess if you are grenandian the prices are great, but for us, it wasn't any cheaper than the over-priced supermarket. We did however get apples, gala apples. They said on the sticker, grown in the USA....it was pretty funny!!! Anyway, i was able to get 4 apples for 5 ec (about 4 for $2.00). Now you may be saying, WHOA, THAT IS A LOT!! However, in the grocery store apples were $2.69 ec EACH!!! That is almost $1/apple.
Alright, time to do some studying. I had embryology yesterday and already I can see that this class will be a big pain in the rear end in terminology. Have a great day and i'll post again soon.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
St. George"s
Just wanted to give you all a glimpse of the beautiful city of St. George's. I'm waiting to board the rhum runner for a short cruise.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Day 3
So today marks my 3rd day of being on this beautiful island. Although today is very cloudy and overcast, the temperature is still 85 degrees and very, VERY humid.
Today is tour day....i signed up for the campus tour and the tour of the national rain forest. The campus tour was okay....very short, and very hard to hear. The tour guide spoke so softly. I've noticed that many grenadians speak very softly and of course they annunciate differently, so it's very hard to understand them. The rain forest tour is at 2 pm, although it may be very wet considering there is a very dark cloud encompassing the entire island!!
Yesterday was my first trip to the grocery store. Prices were very expensive for name brand, american items, but cheaper for local items. For example, a small box of uncle ben's minute rice was 16 EC ($6.40), however, a 5 lb. bag of local white rice (not instant) was 5 EC ($2). Naturally, my roomate and I decided to go for the 5 lb bag. Fruit and vegetables were absurdly expensive....1 apple was 2.79 EC, which is about $1.10 per fruit. The capital tour is saturday and many 2nd termers have told us that they have open markets for fish and fruit there....so we will definitely check that out, and I'll inform you as to the differences in prices.
So between now and the tour, I will be picking up my books and having lunch, all in 3 hours of time. The orientation week is great, however, the days are not packed solid with things to do so there is a lot of down time....like now....most students use the time to meet others or explore the campus on their own.
Last night, i went with two other students to a bar off campus...it was fun!! I only had 1 beer, a local called caribe....it tasted like miller lite.....oh...i'll be right back, time to go get books....
okay, i'm back.....we have alot of books.....12 to be exact.....luckily we didn't have to carry them from the bookstore.....a girl down the hall allowed us to ride with her and her parent's in their rental jeep.....
so back to the bar.....it was right on the water and they played alot of 80's and 90's dance music....by 10:30, the bar was packed with students and unfortunately it was very hard to hear with the music. add to that all of the different nationalities and accents, and it was very hard to converse and meet new people, but i tried.....i did meet a guy from south africa, another from brazil, and several from england and scotland. although many students are from the states, most of them are from different nationalities and speak other languages. For example, my roommate stephanie lives in new jersey, but her parents are hungarian so when she speaks with them, she speaks in that language. Joanne down the hall lives in LA, but she is asian....she speaks with her parents in their native tongue.....i met a another guy the other day from nyc talking to his parents in jewish. So it seems i am a minority when it comes to speaking other languages!!!
Well, i'm going to have lunch and get ready for the Grand Etang tour. I'm desperately trying to learn how to add photos...i did sign up for flickr, now i just have to figure out how to get them on this blog.
Have a great day!!
Today is tour day....i signed up for the campus tour and the tour of the national rain forest. The campus tour was okay....very short, and very hard to hear. The tour guide spoke so softly. I've noticed that many grenadians speak very softly and of course they annunciate differently, so it's very hard to understand them. The rain forest tour is at 2 pm, although it may be very wet considering there is a very dark cloud encompassing the entire island!!
Yesterday was my first trip to the grocery store. Prices were very expensive for name brand, american items, but cheaper for local items. For example, a small box of uncle ben's minute rice was 16 EC ($6.40), however, a 5 lb. bag of local white rice (not instant) was 5 EC ($2). Naturally, my roomate and I decided to go for the 5 lb bag. Fruit and vegetables were absurdly expensive....1 apple was 2.79 EC, which is about $1.10 per fruit. The capital tour is saturday and many 2nd termers have told us that they have open markets for fish and fruit there....so we will definitely check that out, and I'll inform you as to the differences in prices.
So between now and the tour, I will be picking up my books and having lunch, all in 3 hours of time. The orientation week is great, however, the days are not packed solid with things to do so there is a lot of down time....like now....most students use the time to meet others or explore the campus on their own.
Last night, i went with two other students to a bar off campus...it was fun!! I only had 1 beer, a local called caribe....it tasted like miller lite.....oh...i'll be right back, time to go get books....
okay, i'm back.....we have alot of books.....12 to be exact.....luckily we didn't have to carry them from the bookstore.....a girl down the hall allowed us to ride with her and her parent's in their rental jeep.....
so back to the bar.....it was right on the water and they played alot of 80's and 90's dance music....by 10:30, the bar was packed with students and unfortunately it was very hard to hear with the music. add to that all of the different nationalities and accents, and it was very hard to converse and meet new people, but i tried.....i did meet a guy from south africa, another from brazil, and several from england and scotland. although many students are from the states, most of them are from different nationalities and speak other languages. For example, my roommate stephanie lives in new jersey, but her parents are hungarian so when she speaks with them, she speaks in that language. Joanne down the hall lives in LA, but she is asian....she speaks with her parents in their native tongue.....i met a another guy the other day from nyc talking to his parents in jewish. So it seems i am a minority when it comes to speaking other languages!!!
Well, i'm going to have lunch and get ready for the Grand Etang tour. I'm desperately trying to learn how to add photos...i did sign up for flickr, now i just have to figure out how to get them on this blog.
Have a great day!!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I'm Here!!!!
Well, i made it to grenada!! my plane arrived today at 4:42 pm (grenada time is one hour ahead). Of course, I do have an airport story. My seat was in row 12 and usually they board the back of the plane first. So, by the time they called the remaining seats,(rows 6-18) there was no room for anymore carry-on luggage and everything had to go underneath. It was a very long process of hearing the whining and moaning from my fellow passengers, and then to have to hand-right tickets for the 30 or so people that needed to check their bags....the flight was delayed by almost 45 minutes. However, the pilots definitely made up for it in the air.
Customs in grenadanwas not bad at all. They are doing some renovations to the airport so we had to walk onto the tarmac and then about 500 yards to the six custom agents. It was fairly humid and there was no air conditioning, only a few fans which made the wait seem like forever, but in reality it was only 10 minutes. The custom agents don't speak much. My agent asked how my flight was and that was it. I handed him the appropriate paperwork (passport, immigration letter) and then I was off to get my luggage. There were way too many black bags!!! i'm glad jenna got me a green luggage set!!! although, one of my bags was black and it took me forever to find. Then I was off to the claim center where you have to declare the items you are bringing in to grenada. Basically, they just want to see your laptop. I handed the agent my laptop and receipt and he punched some numbers and said "$46". Then it was out the door to be picked up by SGU. And the weather is awesome!!!! Bright blue skies, palm trees, i am so glad i decided to come here for school!!
I arrived at my dorm, superdorm 2, which is located near the b-ball courts. I am on the 2nd floor, room #3. So far I have met my roommate Stephanie, and another girl Chelsea that lives a few doors down. I also met another girl but I can't remember her name, so i'll have to get that tomorrow!!
I decided to unpack as soon as I got into my dorm. That took me over an hour, and when I was done, it was too dark outside to see anything. So, tomorrow is a day for just walking around!! I have to register at 11:30 for classes, but after that, the day is mine to do whatever I like. I think I'm going to go check out the grocery store and maybe the beach too. Although I didn't bring a bathing suit!! I figure I can where my board shorts and a sport bra!!
i'm also going to find time tomorrow to figure out how to get pictures up on this blog. They will be awesome!!
Have a good night all, and be safe!
J
Customs in grenadanwas not bad at all. They are doing some renovations to the airport so we had to walk onto the tarmac and then about 500 yards to the six custom agents. It was fairly humid and there was no air conditioning, only a few fans which made the wait seem like forever, but in reality it was only 10 minutes. The custom agents don't speak much. My agent asked how my flight was and that was it. I handed him the appropriate paperwork (passport, immigration letter) and then I was off to get my luggage. There were way too many black bags!!! i'm glad jenna got me a green luggage set!!! although, one of my bags was black and it took me forever to find. Then I was off to the claim center where you have to declare the items you are bringing in to grenada. Basically, they just want to see your laptop. I handed the agent my laptop and receipt and he punched some numbers and said "$46". Then it was out the door to be picked up by SGU. And the weather is awesome!!!! Bright blue skies, palm trees, i am so glad i decided to come here for school!!
I arrived at my dorm, superdorm 2, which is located near the b-ball courts. I am on the 2nd floor, room #3. So far I have met my roommate Stephanie, and another girl Chelsea that lives a few doors down. I also met another girl but I can't remember her name, so i'll have to get that tomorrow!!
I decided to unpack as soon as I got into my dorm. That took me over an hour, and when I was done, it was too dark outside to see anything. So, tomorrow is a day for just walking around!! I have to register at 11:30 for classes, but after that, the day is mine to do whatever I like. I think I'm going to go check out the grocery store and maybe the beach too. Although I didn't bring a bathing suit!! I figure I can where my board shorts and a sport bra!!
i'm also going to find time tomorrow to figure out how to get pictures up on this blog. They will be awesome!!
Have a good night all, and be safe!
J
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
