Just another day in paradise..

I saw an upperclassman wearing a, "just another day in paradise" t-shirt. He didn't look too happy; in fact, he looked stressed. I'm not a big fan of t-shirts like this; however, I feel as though it was the best t-shirt I've seen since coming to Dominica. It is stress time here on the beautiful, paradise island (better known as Dominica). We have just a little less than three weeks left in the semester and 50% of the grades are up for grabs. Needless to say, it is no longer a School of Medicine---it is a School of Stress. Everyone is trying to do their best work, but we are starting to get tired. It is the 12 week of the semester and we have been going like gangbusters since day one. I guess that is the disadvantage of an accelerated program.

I've spoken happily about my lovely, little apartment on the beach since arriving to Dominica. There are many people moving all over my little village of Picard. I'm not going anywhere (neither is Farley). I thought that I had a little kitchen (okay I know that I have a little, tiny, New York City sized kitchen). However, it is very functional, in large part to the nails that we added to my kitchen so that I have room to hang my pots and pans.

Note the 50Lb bag of rice. Yea, we brought 50Lbs of rice. It was such a good deal, we just couldn't turn it down. I guess when we leave Dominica in May of 2009, we can give the 47 Lbs of left over rice to our favorite security guard. Oh, and if 50Lbs of rice isn't enough, Farley and I needed baking powder for a pancake recipe, and apparently on this island, you can only buy baking powder in 5Kg packages or larger. What the heck are we going to do with 5Kg of baking powder--you generally only need a teaspoon or two at a time? Oh, and 5Kg is 11.03 Lbs--OVER 11 POUNDS!!!! I guess our favorite security guard is getting baking powder too--oh I bet he can't wait until May of 2009. His wife can make lots of rice and baked goods. In case you don't believe me, here is a close up of the baking powder:

On a sad note, I decided not to run for office in the newly formed oncology club. I really want to be on the executive board; however, next semester is suppose to be HORRIBLY difficult and I didn't want to add another obligation to my plate when we are adding more credits and doing more difficult concepts. Anyway, I can run for office during the following semester, which is suppose to be a little less stressful. In September, will be doing microbiology, pharmacology, behavioral sciences and clinical medicine. From what I hear, other than pharmacology, it isn't nearly as bad as the previous semester. I know that I made the right decision, as having time to study and understanding is most important, but I love oncology and it was hard for me not to get as involved as possible in the oncology club. But there is still time. Here is another picture of paradise: