I'm not alone!

I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer last night, yet I couldn't fall asleep because I wasn't sure I studied enough yesterday; thus, I was reviewing as I lay in bed until I drifted off to sleep. This morning, I skimmed the NY Times and an article caught my eye. It is written by a physician reflecting on medical school and in retrospect, how miserable she was. I'm not miserable (tired, but not miserable), but it was sure nice to see a successful woman physician talk openly (in print in a major newspaper) about how medical school isn't all that fun. I've talked with physicians from home about this which is always nice, but the timing of this article was great--just a few days before an exam.

Medical School is so cool

We had the coolest lecture ever today: a real-time-live abdominal ultrasound with a Radiologist performing and analysing the ultrasound. So amazing!!! When our patient was breathing (and therefore moving the diaphragm) we could see the apex of our patient's heart and watch it beat---what a beautiful heart!! In my opinion, seeing ultrasounds of babies is the most amazing, which I've been lucky enough to see before, but I can read the scan now. So COOL!!

Come Tuesday, it's time for exams, elections and events!

We have our second exam on Tuesday. Yupee. I just wish we could stop having classes so that I could go study. I think that this is one of the worst test information sets we have had for several reasons. (1) Disorganized: we were taught how to treat malaria before we were taught what exactly malaria is.---pharmacology professor thought we had already had the microbiology lecture on malaria and was NOT happy that no one answered her questions about the disease during class. (2) Poor Weather and Illnesses: We have had classes several classes moved to do weather and professors being ill. and (3) Segmented: All of the lectures are well done, but even before the schedule changes, we were scheduled for a lecture on viruses, then one on bacteria, then one on fungi--just really hit and miss --topic to topic. It makes things much harder for the poor student to keep things straight. Nonetheless, it is my job to make sense of it and I will.

Obviously, the election is on Tuesday as well. Every time I turn on CNN it says something like"6 days, 5 hours, 12.6 minute until the close of the polls" and that sure weirds me out. It's like a giant banner reminding me of my upcoming exam. As if I need reminding: I had 30 anticancer drugs to learn (than goodness I worked on oncology) and that is just 2 hours worth of lectures! I don't need to be reminded that I need to study. On another note, if you haven't voted yet, you should. I found time to read my voter's pamphlet, vote and mail in my ballot last week so I know everyone else can find time. I often don't even have time to go to the grocery store or gym on a regular basis because I have to study and review so much (Don't worry Mom, I have a stockpile of Costco products....no one is going hungry).

Most exciting, the EVENTS. Dominica is having their 30th anniversary of Independence (from Britain). These Dominicans KNOW how to party. They basically shut down the island from Friday until next Wednesday. Yea, you read correctly: FRIDAY (10/31) UNTIL WEDNESDAY (11/4)! They do NOT mess around when it is time to party it up and "jump up". I'm a bit bummed out that we can't go to the World Creole Festival (Sean Paul is the headliner) in Roseau, which is about 20 miles from us (and an hour drive). I'm also bummed out that they are going to be partying when we need to sleep, eat and study all weekend. The bars/clubs in the next town over (1.5 miles away) have the music so loud on normal days (I think it also amplifies across the bay) that it keeps me from falling asleep with my windows closed, air conditioner on and ear plugs in! However, I'm excited that we get an extra day to study for the exam (our exams are always on Monday, but the actual independence day is Nov. 3rd so school is closed). After we finish our super, fun exam, we Americans will get our own little party. The US Embassy/Ross University School of Medicine is throwing an election party for the students. I know you are jealous. We get to sit at our local beach side bar and grill (literally one step to black sands and the Caribbean Sea) and watch the election results come in.

Exams, elections and events....a very busy week!

I'm Finally Coming HOME!!!

Thanks to my super travel agent, Mom, we worked out a plan so that Farley and I can get home on the 19th of December and be able to stay at home until the 9th of January! It is so exciting, as the flights appeared to be all booked and we thought we were not going to get home until Christmas Eve (and LATE at that) and we were going to have to leave home on the 3rd of January to get back to the island. The only way we could get a flight so late in January was if we fly ouy of Miami on January 10th for Barbados, stay overnight then go onto Dominica on the 11th. Farley and I will have to keep a stiff upper lip during our 23 hour stay in Barbados. We start classes on the 12th so we will make it back just in time.

Besides being unable to get flights off the island easily (we started working on this in JUNE) the most astounding thing is that the flights are so expensive. For example, Farley and I could have gone to Paris or Rome for two weeks (air and hotel but excluding food) for cheaper than it cost me to get home. That is crazy! It is a good thing we didn't look into that before we booked our flights home because ....well, that is how we ended up in Argentina. I'm so excited to get to see everyone, but I will sure miss my Farley. Farley and I haven't been apart for more than 8-12 hours since last December; it is going to be strange not to see him for three weeks!

No More Walks on the beach for a while....

We were discussing parasites today in microbiology and I don't' think there will be any walks on the beach anytime soon. The thought of a hook worm larvae climbing into my IN TACT skin and crawling into the blood stream right into my gastrointestinal tract is enough to make me want to take some Mebendazole (an anthelmintic drug---an anti worm drug) and run! The tropics have their disadvantages: worms, mosquito vector infections, dirt in the water; however, I'm not sure it is safer up north as you are at a MUCH higher risk for Multiple Sclerosis if you live at a certain latitude north of the equator (I'm not sure if this is also true if you are the same distance latitude south of the equator). But, we also can't go too far south or we will be under the spot that isn't protected by the O zone. GEEEZE, there isn't anywhere safe. Pick your poison, we can't win!

I Learn Something New Every Day....

One of the most influential immunologist (a WOMAN) developed the "danger model" of immunology and has recently published some additional research regarding the danger model. She led a very interesting life before becoming a world famous immunologist, such as being a cocktail waitress, jazz singer, and playboy bunny. It's amazing that you can't really find an article about her with a comment about her Playboy days. Apparently, she overheard some professors talking about immunology while she was a bunny waitress and which sparked an interest in immunology. Now she is a world famous immunologist---I guess Playboy was good for her (and us)!

Dominica: The Original Maverick Country

Dominica decided to get mavericky yesterday: we had a storm and they closed the entire country. That's right, Dominica such a maverick country that they declared at 9:50 am that the country will close down at 10:00am---where else do you hear about closing down an entire country due to one storm in ten minutes or less? I should probably start at the beginning....

Wednesday night, Farley was hanging out in the anatomy lab helping prepare his students for the anatomy lab test on Friday. He came over to my apartment, smelling like formaldehyde and declared, "Are you ready for the hurricane?" I had been locked in my room reading pathology and was shocked to hear THAT! I started questioning him like he was a criminal caught red handed who had been taken to the police precinct without a way to escape. He calmly declared, that our apartment management had placed fliers in the hall and that the school hadn't said anything that he knew of. I promptly moved my cute leather shoes off the floor in hopes of protecting them if a flood managed to climb to the third story of my solid concrete building then I went to bed. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep much as the ocean was ripping and the sounds of waves awoke me throughout the night, despite my ear plugs and my fan and air conditioner being on. Sometime around sunrise on Thursday morning, I heard a noise I've grown very familiar with since moving to Dominica: the rain falling so fiercely that it sounds like someone is pointing a garden hose on full blast onto a concrete driveway. Alas, the storm had arrived. I always attend class, but was wishing that I didn't have to go and could Mediasite (watch lectures on the Internet from on campus or at home), but I get SO bored mediasiting so I got dressed. Looking at the muddy trail, I was proactive and decided to wear scrub pants (rolled up so they didn't get too muddy toward the ankles), my keen sandals and a tank top. Farley came over and coffee in hand we braved the muddy trail.

We made it to class relatively easily, as a break in the rain occurred as we were leaving our apartments. On Thursday, all second year medical students are required to attend CPC, which is a case presentation and review of a certain condition (this week steroids given to pregnant women that are likely to delivery babies prematurely and problems babies have when they are born prematurely). After CPC, we headed to our normal classroom and got ready for another great Behavioral Science lecture. About 9:50, one of the assistant deans politely interrupted the class and said that the dean, after direction from the Prime Minister, is closing the campus as of 10:00am. In fact, the Prime Minister declared that EVERYONE in the whole country should go home unless it isn't safe to go home (then I guess you have to go to a friend's home). Farley and I usually filter water at home, but the water has been too dirty to filter lately so we brought containers to school to fill up, which we did quickly before campus closed. At approximately 10:00 (when we were all to be heading home), the rain started and BOY did it start.

Farley thought it would be a good idea to walk along the street (it is one of the few paved streets in the country) rather than the muddy trail, which was a good idea, but it did mean we had to walk a little further. I'm not sure if any of you have seen this commercial, but I remember an insurance commercial (I believe All State) that had a guy walking with an umbrella against the wind in a storm. That was us. We managed to walk the approximately two blocks and both looked like we had just hopped out of the shower. My rolled up scrub pants were unrolled by the weight of the rain and my cotton clothes stuck to me skin like spandex. We were in the home front when we had to walk down a set of stairs. There was muddy water that was more than ankle deep. I'm lucky a fish didn't swim up and crawl in my pants! After climbing to the third story and safely into our apartments, we decided to take a few pictures.

View of the storm from my apartment at about 10:15am. Note, the storm was so dense at this point, we couldn't see the Cabrits.

View from the top of the apartment complex. Usually the Caribbean Sea near our apartment is as calm as a lake, almost like bath water. However, as you can see, it wasn't calm at all today. I know there are places where the waves get very large on a daily basis, but considering how calm it usually is, this was big. At this point, the storm wasn't as bad; you can now see the Cabrits again.

Here is our sturdy dock. Now, the end has already been destroyed in a previous storm (before we arrived in Dominica), but there was an entire section that broke away (the missing section that is closest to the shore). I watched it floating in the sea about 300 feet down the beach from the dock.

There is a little stream that is by the apartment usually. It is just runoff, but is very small, but not yesterday.

Here is the grassy garden between our apartment and the restaurant. I suspect the overflowing "stream" above caused some of the flooding.

I'm not sure if you can see this well, but there were multiple colors in the sea. The brown color toward the shore, a teal color, then a dark blue, then teal again and finally dark blue again. I think the teal and blue is due to the depth of the water, but I'm not sure. I do know it was really strange looking because it was so clear yesterday and it usually isn't this defined.

After taking pictures, I decided to take a nap since I didn't sleep well Wednesday. Again, it was so loud that I didn't really get to sleep much but it was nice to get to rest. After the rain stopped, Farley decided it would be nice to read on the balcony so we went outside and read novels for fun. I made a late lunch/early dinner (we had pasta with zucchini and "doctored up tomato sauce"). It was so lovely: we had an anti-mosquito candle lit and enjoyed our lunch on the balcony. That's right a candle lit lunch! After that we both buckled down and studied for about five or six hours, but even that wasn't too bad because we were already caught up and got to do extra review and prepare for today's lectures.

Unfortunately, the waves were still very loud last night and I didn't sleep too great. Fortunately, closer to day break the waves seemed to be quieting down, but then it was time to wake up for school. I suppose I can catch up my beauty sleep this weekend. As usual, when there is a lot of rain, the water is brown (similar to the water seen above in the little flood). Apparently, these are the worst waves they have had in Dominica since a big hurricane in the 1980s, so they didn't want people on the beach or even out and about. However, I'm still not sure why they shut down the school and country during the worst part of the storm and had 1,600 students walking home; but heck that's what mavericks do. Mavericks don't follow convention....they wouldn't be mavericky if they did!

Chased by a cow...

Things like this only happen to me. I was minding my own business walking from my apartment to the study space. Now this study space is about 30 degrees Fahrenheit so I needed to go get a parka to maintain a healthy body temperature. I safely made it to my apartment and saw a few cows, there are always cows.....returning to the study place, I was coming around a blind corner and I heard a noise. You must always be paying very close attention down here in the tropics as you never know when a giant crab, lizard or cow is just around the corner. Thus, I peered around the corner; low and behold, there is Betsy, the cow, scratching her hind legs in a bush with her two calves munching on grass. Right as I came around the corner, a security officer tried to scare her off and she starting running toward me! So there I am, with my red Gonzaga University sweat shirt in my hand, in the way of the 1,000 pound bovine! I tried to act brave, I managed not to run, but I did power walk away from Betsy...to which the security officer said to me, "you have to let the cows know who is boss and not move out of their way. If you move they know you are afraid." Well, I had to state the obvious, but when a 1,000 pound cow with HORNS is running toward me, I am a little afraid!!! Then the security guard started yelling at the cow. Betsy and I looked at each other and I think we were both a little afraid. Needless to say, I've been studying at home as to limit my exposures to the cows.

Yea! I'm a second year medical student!!

Let me update you on the last month. I successfully made it out of the first year of medical school and I'm not looking back! Don't get me wrong, I liked the first year of medical school but it was hard and not as interesting as what we are doing now. The first year was all important but it important because it is the foundation for understanding the exciting stuff: diseases, pathology, diagnosis and treatment! We are just starting this stuff and I LOVE it. The pathology, so far, just seems to make sense. I have been enjoying pharmacology more than I thought I would and I've always liked microbiology and immunology. We are also taking Behavioral Science, which is interesting but there are a lot of grey areas which makes taking multiple choice tests in Behavioral Science very challenging. However, that is how the boards will test Behavioral Sciences so that is how we will be tested now. I do wish we could write an essay or something other than multiple choice. As part of our Behavioral Science grade, we are taking Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM). ICM is where we learn how to do a physical exam, write up a history and physical, etc. ICM is very fun and we even get to go to a local hospital. I went last week and it looked like a t.v. show. There were 23 patients in four rooms (men, women, OB, and pediatrics). There were no screens on the windows, only fans--no air conditioning. My patient was a 39 year old male with an abscess (infection) on his hip, who was in the middle of a sickle cell anemia crisis (extremely painful) and was also paralyzed from the waist down. Needless to say, it was interesting. The attending physician was VERY nice to us, but still pushed us to answer questions and think like a physician. Of everything we saw at the hospital, I was most surprised about the very tightly regulated visiting hours. There were four or five hours a day that visitors could be in the hospital. From 6:00 to 8:00; 12:00-1:00 and 6:00-8:00 in the evening. Anyway, I think the patients were happy to have the medical students around because at least they had someone to talk to, even if it isn't there loved ones.

I REALLY feel like I'm starting to think like a physician. I've wanted to be an oncologist since I was six years old and grandma died, so I can't express how exciting this is for me. I can really see myself as a physician....it's not just a dream anymore, it's becoming reality.

Finally, I'll finish my Argentine tale.....

On Sunday, Farley and I decided to go to Argentina's National Museum of Art. It wasn't as amazing as the National Gallery of Art in D.C., but it was still large and fun. There were Picasso, Monet, and even Rodin (a very famous scalper). We even saw Rodin's the kiss which was so much larger than I would have guessed. The lovers int he sculpture were life sized. WOW. We had a great time at the museum and saw some beautiful art, but couldn't take pictures in the museum. However, I have some pictures of the museum:
Here is handsome Farley on the roof of the museum:
Oh and one thing that I found very strange was the soap in the bathrooms. They had a bar of soap on this metal arm rather than liquid soap. When I first walked into the bathroom, I had no idea what it was. Farley said that the soap in the men's room was blue.

The museum is in the same area as the flower that we saw on the city tour. We went to that park and took a few more pictures of the flowers.
Tango is everywhere, here is an advertisement on the walk way into the park with the flower. The art museum is actually just across the street.

To get to the park from the art museum, you cross over this big walking only bridge. Here is a picture from the bridge looking toward the downtown area.

Going the opposite direction from the museum, there was another park with a weekend farmer's market and crafts fair. It was fun to go to these parks on a Sunday because there were so many locals out and about. It was a very busy day, in part because there had been a road race earlier in the morning. Here is a picture from the other area and some of the beautiful architecture:

After returning to the area around the hotel, we wandered around and ended up at another mall. I have no idea where it was but there was a beautiful ceiling with mirrors all around. Here is a great picture that Farley took:

Later Sunday night, we went to see "The Dark Night." I didn't really like it too much because it was too violent for my taste, but Farley loved it. I did enjoy the movie theater. It was tall and steep--Farley said it was like the theaters in NYC. We bought the tickets for the movie on one block then had to go down two blocks to get to the theater. They had four or five screens at three different locations down the block. I thought it had been two or three different theaters before we went to the movie. After the movie, we went to dinner and it was okay. It wasn't our best of the trip but it was still good.

On Monday, we decided to take it easy and enjoy the neighborhood. We both decided to do some Christmas shopping and I had to buy a purse....I just couldn't leave the great country of Argentina without buying a leather purse! We had such a great day. I don't have too many pictures of the day, but here are some pictures from dinner:

Here is handsome Farley in his new Argentine tie. I got to help him pick it out

Here I am:

This was Farley's favorite restaurant and part of the reason we returned was because we LOVED the wine we had there. In case you run into any Argentine wines, look out for this one. It was fantastic:

One last picture of the outside of the restaurant. The decor alone was one of the reasons we had to go to this place in the first place, but the food and wine made us come back:

We left about noon on Tuesday morning, despite wanting to say for another few weeks. We landed in San Juan late Tuesday night then did some shopping and shipped supplies back to the Dominica. We did NOT have a good experience in San Juan and couldn't wait to leave the island. I never been anywhere that the locals, as a group, have been so rude and mean. I'm sure that not everyone on this beautiful island was being accurately represented by the cohort we met, but geeze, I sure don't want to go on vacation there.