License and registration.....

What is worse than being pulled over by a police officer in New York?? Being pulled over in Grenada....okay, so I wasn't REALLY pulled over. It was a check point, but to really see it from my point of view, let me entertain you with the whole story:

So on Saturday, I was coming back around 8:30am from working out on campus when up ahead was a check point. Of course I'm screwed....why?? Because I haven't renewed my license this semester. I came back in January and thought, I'm a good driver and I'll never get pulled over, so why bother giving Grenada 30EC every 3 months for some stupid piece of paper. So, of course now, on an early Saturday morning, I'm pooping my pants thinking about what I'm going to say to the police. I opened the glove compartment box to find my insurance paper and to my surprise Alison's (my roomates) license. For a brief moment I was saved...until I saw that it had expired 5 days earlier.....CRAP!! So, I slowly pulled forward to where the nice Police officer was standing and she says "We are checking for licenses, registrations, and insurance." So, I hand her the insurance paper....registrations are on the windshield and mine was current...and then I say, "Here is my license (which remember, was actually Alison's), but I just noticed its expired....I have been so busy these last few weeks with this term. I am really sorry....and I promise I will go this week to renew it." Now, you need to picture me saying that not with conviction or any amount of confidence behind me, but more in a "I promise Mom I was only going to have 1 cookie before dinner and I thought you were in the other room when I opened the package and now you have caught me and I'm really sorry" type of voice. Anyway, she handed my paperwork back and said "Okay, make sure you get it done this week....you can go". YES!!!! I made it!!! I lived to tell my roommates and the rest of the world my tale!!!

Well, true to my word, during lunch today I went to the Grenada Police Station in Grand Anse....

And, I got my licensed renewed......

And now, I am legal....until I get back in August where I will have to pay another 30EC..... maybe!!

Everyone have a great night!!! And don't forget....Episode #2 of Grey's on Thursday night. I can't wait!!!!

Hi vet building.....

So, tonight I am studying in the new vet building. Well, not SO new....it opened at the beginning of this year. Whats nice about it is its very quiet. Not many students know about this secret spot.....or, they know and just choose not to come. Either way, its great for me. Why you ask am I not at home on a saturday night pounding out path....well, every once in a while Dr. Groom's (bar on the beach nearby) hosts a local party....and everyone shows up. The music is SO LOUD, the base beat shakes the walls of our apartment. So, instead of siting in my dining room in my pajamas complaining.....i decided to come here to get work done. The only downfall will be trying to get home. There is only one road in and out....its very narrow....and on party nights people like to just stop their cars, get out and walk. Of course, they just leave theirs cars in the road because there is no place to pull over. So I get the pleasure and joy of trying to maneuver the car through the chaos. Wish me luck!!

What to talk about??? How about thursday night.....best night of my life.....why?? Because Grey's is back!!!!! I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is to look forward to something in Grenada. And I won't, because it would take all night.....just trust me.....anyway, Layne and I drove to school and sat in front of the TV at the student lounge and had the stupidest grins on our faces for an entire hour. Of course, all good things must come to an end....but then there is next Thursday!!!!!! I'm so overjoyed, i can't control myself right now!! And here is a spoiler...Addison's back!!!!

I'm getting comments from some that are asking "who exactly are your roomates??" Good question......so, sit back and relax as you watch my roommates in action!!!

Yes, my roommates are funny!! But they are also all around great. It has been a joy to live with them this term....and I think because of them, I'm not such a Grenada hater (I'll have to fill you in on this at a later time....no time now....sorry). Anyway, I love them!!! And I am also very grateful to have them around.

Well, time to get back to reviewing. I'm finishing up Cardio path now....then it's on to red blood cell disorders. Tomorrow, I get to start my slides for GI which we start on Monday. And.....in 2 weeks....we have tests!!!! I know I'll do fine in pathology.....don't even get me started with Micro though. Everyone have a great night.

Sometimes......

I love being in grenada....






Everyone have a great night!!

EXTRA EXTRA read all about it....monkey traps human!!!

Today, in microbiology class, I was reminded of one of my favorite things....listening to the insane stories, non sense words, and just plain funny comments that come out of our professors' mouths. So, in tonights blog, I am going to re-count some of these classics that occurred in this semester.

While doing infectious pathology, our professor, female bush (there is a male bush also...they are married) says something close to the following: Toxic shock syndrome toxin is found in toxic shock syndrome. Toxic shock syndrome happens when you use intra vaginal tampons. Excuse me....INTRA vaginal tampons....I guess being a woman I assumed ALL tampons were supposed to go INTO the vagina, so having that descriptive word seemed funny. Maybe there are EXTRA vaginal tampons....or INTER vaginal tampons (if you have a rectal-vaginal fistula).

Another pathology NOT so funny.....while doing environmental pathology, our professor, while trying to explain the effects of radiation on the body says: Hiroshima was an accident. Really....so the Enola Gay just happened to be flying over Japan during WWII with an H bomb on board for what??? a sight seeing mission??? when whoops....the pilot hit the wrong button....sorry Japan....I will say that I do have a friend here from Japan who is in my path group and she did not take kindly to that comment. And, it was said twice during the lecture.

How about microbiology.....we recently finished up gastrointestinal infections with Dr. Ro** (sorry, can't use her real name). She is a really great professor. But on to the point, at the end of last friday's lecture she says: "I know how you feel about alot of the lecturers here, but i can honestly say and you can honestly now tell people back at home that you have heard a lecturer talk about absolute crap for a whole week and it actually means something".

But the cake of all cakes comes from today's microbiology lecture. Our visiting professor, who was gracing us with his knowledge on central nervous infections was talking about the Simian B virus. This is a virus that is found in monkeys, yet can be transferred to humans who work closely with these animals. And how does this process occur?? Well, monkeys lay traps for humans!!! Thats right....they gather in the dark corners of their cages in research laboratories plotting and planning on how to get those evil, devilish humans. At least this is the story we were told today. I've never been in a monkey testing laboratory, so maybe its true!!

Well, I have to get back to lung pathology. Need to finish my slide on saddle embolism. I hope you all have a great night. :)

The weekend is here to save me......

I never imagined I would say this but, I am so happy the weekend is here so I can study!!! Most people say thanks for the weekend so they can relax....but not me.....not this term, and especially not after this week!!! This is the first week in 4th term that I have felt completely overwhelmed. Up to this point, I have handled the work.....the first test....everything. But not this week.

In pathology we were learning about hematopoeisis which includes disorder of red blood cells and white blood cells. There was alot of information as usual. Unfortunately, I did not have the time that I had hoped to prestudy and review before both class and lab. And because of that, for the first time, I felt lab was a complete waste of time. I wasn't learning the material. Our tutor would throw out numbers to us that I franticly wrote down yet had no clue what it meant. He would ask questions that were good for remembering and learning, except I felt I didn't even know the material yet and therefore could not answer anything. On top of this, we were given a new assignment on Tuesday called a CPC that was due on Thursday. Basically its a clinical case that we need to write up and then present to our group. The case was very long and detailed, and instead of my original plan of studying on Wednesday night, I spent over 3 hours doing this assignment. So I felt more behind yesterday than I have ever felt in medical school before.

On top of Path, we had clinical skills all week where we learned head and neck exams, eyes, ear, and throat exams, and all of the anatomy and clinical stuff related to those structures. Our first quiz is on monday and I honestly feel like I have no time this weekend to learn the material. I am not so worried about the actual exams, but knowing the questions and patient presentations requires me to read the clinical book. NO TIME!!!

I also have to find some time to squeeze in Micro study on the GI tract organsims that we learned this week. AHHHHH!!!

With all of this I am still hopeful. This morning I put a good plan into place for myself regarding this weekend. Hopefully by Sunday night I will learn everything I need to know. Of course, we start Lung path, clinical skills exams for cardiovascular and central nervous system organisms in Micro all on Monday. A big thank you to whoever devised the weekend!!!!!

April 10th??? Already....what happened to March

Wow, time is flying!!! I just realized last night what day it was....I thought I was still in March. I have come to find this term to be not only the busiest in terms of work (path, micro, and now clinical skills with there numerous labs), but it is also the most likely to be awarded "Groundhogs Day". Why? Because I have the same schedule almost everyday, Monday-Friday. I get up at 6 am, I pre-read for that days classes, I have class from 9-12pm (sometimes I have 8am class but I have been skipping clinical skills on the basis of its boring factor), then I head to the library to study. On mondays and wednesdays I have clinical skills lab from 1-3pm. On tues. and thurs. I have that same time frame to study. Monday - thurs. its Pathology lab form 3-5pm. Friday I have Microbiology lab from 3-5pm (and every other friday its Patient interviewing from 1-3....thanks clinical skills!!!). After my hectic day, I always give my brain a rest and abuse my body...i mean work out....for about an hour. Then I eat dinner, and by 7:30 I'm back to studying, doing Path slides, and more studying until 11 pm, when I go to bed and do it all over again the next day. The weekends have a slightly different schedule....but I will save that description for another day.


So, last week was test week. I got my grades back. A "B" in micro and an "A" in Path. I was very happy with the Path grade....really pissy with Micro. The questions were not in the least bit representative of what we should know as Dr's. I felt with some questions I was taking a reading/vocab test. Others I felt weren't even covered and therefore, I needed to use my best "which one sounds more micro" guessing abilities. I still have a shot to get an A in micro....I just have to really work hard for the last test. Path, I am extremely happy with. I only hope I can do as well on the remaining tests (2 more to go).



So, on saturday, I decided to take the entire day and treat myself at a resort here in Grenada called La Source. I went with my roomates, Layne and Alison, Layne's sister Danielle, and Kaushik. It was awesome!!! We paid for a day pass from 9am-6pm that included breakfast, lunch, snacks, and unlimited alchohol. Not to mention use of their pools, water activities, golfing and tennis courts. It was so nice. They also have a full spa there, but I decided against any treatments as I was trying to conserve money. But, I did learn how to play cricket from the staff there. I'm not saying I was any good at it, but I tried!!! Here are some pics....please excuse the fluff...i'm trying hard to lose it!!!








Before any of you email me to say "is this what i'm doing in medical school", you should note that this was ONE DAY of relaxation and fun since January 14th. So, I don't want to here it!!!

Alright....i have lots of Cardiovascular Path to study. Need to catch up since next week we start a new topic....hematopoeitic system!!! Sounds like loads of fun. Have a great night everyone!!

April 1st!!!

I know, I know...i'm horrible at this whole blogging thing. But I have a wonderful excuse this semester. I'm taking Pathology and the workload is kicking my ASS!!! I had my first test yesterday. Four weeks of material about inflammation, regeneration and repair, infarction, hemorrhage, shock, neoplasms, molecular stuff (still not sure what this is), environmental path., immuno path, infectious diseases, and a bunch of slides on pathologies made for one fun 3 hour test. I'm confident I did very well. I didn't ace it....but I did well.

So besides being locked in my room for the last 2 weeks studying like a fiend, what have I been doing??? Well, in the beginning of March I was inducted into IEA, which is the honor society here at SGU. I had a really nice dinner at the University Club, and I got a nice little certificate....and all because I have a GPA higher than 3.5 (yes, i'm nerdy).

That is Issac and Me with our wonderful certs (we are both a little tipsy in this pic). So then, on Easter Monday, which is a holiday here in Grenada....why I don't know, but we have off from school.....Alison, Layne, and myself decided to go horseback riding. It was a great experience...here are some pics:

So, I was riding the horse named Princess who just happened to be pregnant....great combo for me!! Overall, the scenery was fantastic and we only payed for an hour but ended up being on the horses longer. Oh, forgot to mention that in order to get to the horse trail, we had to take this incredibly long and bumpy dirt road.....no pavement....just dirt....i felt like I was in the wild west back in the late 1800's....you know, California gold rush style!!!!

Well, now its time to concentrate on Micro which is friday. I will definitely try to post more pics and stories this weekend!!! Have a great week!!!