Chuggin' Along!

It's hard to believe that it's already almost December. That's the one major drawback of living in a tropical climate such as this one; you lose track of the seasons you're used to. So Thanksgiving sort of snuck up on us, and it's looking like Christmas will do the same. Well, at least until we get back to the states.

At this point in the semester, Melissa basically has two weeks left. She takes Mini #3 next Monday, then has 3 practicals between Tuesday and Wednesday (behavioral, histology, and gross anatomy), then the following Monday she takes her final. Needless to say, you probably won't be hearing from her much during this time. Although I can tell you that she always needs a silly YouTube video or two for study breaks, so be sure to send those her way!

As you may know, Melissa and I will be heading to Colorado for Christmas/Laura's wedding (Melissa's sister). We're getting pretty excited to be back stateside. It will be nice to see paved sidewalks and traffic lights again. Although the honking won't be as pleasant (honking down here is like saying hi, and since everyone seems to know everyone...there's a lot of honking). 

I have this irrational fear that when we get back and try to eat some 'familiar' food (like Red Robin), my stomach will freak out because it's gotten used to island fare. I doubt it will happen, but I worry nonetheless. I am somewhat convinced that our dairy-light diets were messed up after we got a gallon of milk last week. So it doesn't take that long to happen...ugh. 

Anyhoo, I'm also taking the GRE in a little less than a month! So that's exciting. I've been looking over review materials, but it can be a little tricky a)not finding sites that trick you into buying some product after you start a practice quiz and b)not stealing. I really, REALLY don't want to pirate any software. So please don't send me any. Really, I mean it. Studying is going well, though. I mostly discover how much vocabulary I actually remember from middle/high school. It's those little things that make your day, you know? 

In closing, I hope you all had a stress-light Black Friday (virtually nonexistent down here), and are out chopping down Christmas trees (or getting Hannukah foliage? Are any of you reading this Jewish?). Keep posting lots of festive stuff on facebook. I enjoy the preparation vicariously through y'all (there's that 7th-grade vocab for you). 

Later, gators (and gatorettes)

-Eric

AAAHHHH UPDATE (w/ pictures)

Ugh, ugh.

Remember that one time? When I said I'd post pictures from our weekend to Roseau after we got back?

Well, I have them now!  The lesson I learned was, "Med students have trouble remembering things that aren't related to school". Basically, Chelsea (one of Melissa's friends who went with us) took the most - and best - pictures. And we kept asking her to send us the pictures we liked to Melissa so we could use them on the blog. But it was tricky because she took the pictures on her iPhone, and...she kept forgetting. But now, we have the pictures, I'm using Melissa's compy to access said computers, and here we go! 

This picture basically sums up our first 24-ish  hours in Roseau. We took a taxi early Saturday morning (from the excellent driver Peter), and got to Roseau at about 9 or 10. The only problem was that check-in at the hotel wasn't until 3, so we had some major time to kill. So, we did what any good tourists would, and wandered around the city. We walked west until we hit the Caribbean, then north until we hit the cricket stadium, then we saw a marching band, then we went to the botanical garden (the one with the smashed bus) and sat for a while, and then we wandered back to the hotel for lunch. 'Twas a buffet of signature Dominican dishes; some fish, some chicken, creole rice and a potato-type food. Then we had the brilliant idea of going to the grocery store we passed earlier to pick up breakfast foods so we could save some money (and to kill the last little bit of time before check-in). We got bagels, granola, fruit, and yogurt. Then we checked in and napped (lots of walking will do that to you). After all that, we found out that some other students had come down to Roseau for the day as well, so we met up with them for dinner (some actual Pizza Hut! amazing). So this picture is of Kara (other friend who came with), Melissa and me eating breakfast the following morning on Kara and Chelsea's patio. Note the pizza box that Chelsea was using as her seat. Yikes, this is a long caption.

Picture from their patio. Short caption!

Melissa in our taxi on the way to snorkeling! We had a nice old man driving us down to Scott's Head. Plus, he had a wicked sunroof. I'm not sure how Melissa feels about this picture. The angle makes her head look...wonky.

Here we are at Scott's Head. The Atlantic ocean sits on the left (lots of waves and riptides), and the Caribbean sea is on the right (calm and clear). Guess which side we snorkeled in? My one regret is that none of us had an underwater camera. There were some pretty nifty fish down there. I just wish saltwater didn't taste so horrible.

Great shot of the nearest city to Scott's Head (it's called Soufriere). This sort of helps show why Dominica hasn't been poisoned by tourism and cheesiness like other tropical islands; too many mountains and not enough sandy beaches. It makes for quiet and undisturbed oceanic ecosystems that are amazing to look at (and why Dominica is such a diving hot spot).

See, even our 'entry point' for snorkeling was covered in rocks. Definitely the worst part about snorkeling is the entry/exit. Those flippers are impossible to walk in, but if you take them off, you'll get urchined. I got a little poke from one on my finger. But it's better now. Mostly.

Another really great shot from the top of Scott's Head. After we were done snorkeling, our driver took us to a restaurant he knew of in town. Melissa and Chelsea saw that the menu was offering "Fried Fish and Chips", which they both assumed would be the traditional English dish of battered fish meat with french fries.

Well, they got the fries, and the fish was fried...

Yep. That's exactly what they got. Fried fish. Faces still attached (don't worry, the girls didn't eat the faces). By all accounts, the meat was tasty, just not quite what they expected.

At sunset on our second night, with dinner also bought at the grocery store. This is a little patio that the hotel owns, right on the water! I had sunglasses, but then I broke them. You're not supposed to throw those at the ground, apparently.

Better view of the sunset. But sadly, we didn't see the green flash either night.

All in all, the weekend was a lot of relaxing fun. Melissa was rested and ready to go on Tuesday morning, and all the girls seemed happy to get a little sun. Again, I'm sorry to be so lame about the extreme delay, but I hope you liked the photos! Also, I'm actually a bit jealous of all of you that have snow right now. I miss it. 

Ok, take care, y'all.

-Eric

Quick, pre-trip post

Hey there.

This weekend Dominican Independence celebration! Why is this significant, you ask?  Because Melissa has school off on Monday! And she just had her mini, so there's not a ton to study over the weekend. As this doesn't happen often, we are going to take a little vacation to another part of the island Saturday-Monday. We're going to basically just relax and enjoy the island during the festivities, and we may even go snorkeling.

I'll make sure to take pictures while we're out and post them up Monday or Tuesday. It should be a lot of fun!

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather you are most likely experiencing. Take care,

Eric

Your Typical Island Brushfire

So, let me tell you about last night.

Melissa was home studying early (due to campus buildings being ridiculously cold), and I was minding my own business on the computer. We hear our downstairs neighbors and landlord talking about something sort of loudly, and it's odd because the sound isn't coming from below us, but outside. So I go to check it out, and what do I see but smoke. A pretty good amount of smoke

Part of the forest was on fire.

Being the self-preservers that we are, Melissa and I quickly pack up our important things and prepare for the worst: will we need to evacuate? Where will we go? I go back outside to see if everyone else is preparing to leave as well, half-expecting to jump into the car and head to campus.

But no, everyone is just sort of watching the smoke. 

According to Trevor (our landlord), the fire is on the far side of the road, and there isn't a chance of it getting across it. Also, since our building is made out of concrete, there isn't a lot that would catch fire easily. I was still skeptical until a security patrolman from Ross came up and echoed these remarks. We don't have to worry about the forest fire happening 70 yards away. Astounding. 

Fortunately, the fire crew came up a few minutes later and started working on controlling the burn. It was also just nice to be out under the stars and chat with our new Minnesotan friends under the bright full moon. 

The next morning the fire was but a memory, and we got back into our regular groove. Melissa has Mini #2 on Thursday, so she's been studying all over the place. Keep thinking of her; she takes her test at 8:00 am E.T.  

In other news, we've decided that after we come back from Christmas we want to get a puppy. I've been starting to do some research about how to transport a dog off our island, so if you have any tips, please let me know (both about traveling to the U.S. with a dog and getting a puppy here in Dominica). Thanks in advance!

Take care,

-Eric

Finally, some pictures from our apartment!

So, I have actually remembered to go take some pictures of the outside of our apartment, in order to show you where we live. Cue the pics!

An exterior shot. The Wrights (family from Minnesota) live down through the archway,  and we live above them.

If you look straight down the archway, you can see the grill. Anybody can use it! Although we haven't...YET. Soon, though. We have a lot of frozen chicken to cook.

A step or two past the archway is the entrance to our apartment. Technically, this door leads to  a little area that we share with our neighbor (3rd semester named Kristen). At night there are many lizards trying to get in. I sometimes yell at them. It works.

The first thing you see when you walk in (typically drenched in sweat; that hill is MURDER) is our good friend Mr. Fan. That guy is a workhorse. Much respect. Also you can see our humble bookshelf from the side, our computer desk, and Melissa's boxes of medical stuff. And a purse.

Le Kitchen. Yes, that is a can of bugspray next to the sink. You have to put those ants in their place, or else they'll just run amok. Luckily, they don't know how to climb the fridge/microwave, so chips and granola bars are always safe. Fun fact: we keep our peanut butter in the fridge! Don't judge!

Here's a reverse shot of our living room. Mr. Fan in a different position.  You can also see my hat/bandana wall, as well as our cushy victorian-esque chairs/couch. Sidenote: the top shelf of our bookshelf is for the empty water bottles that I will eventually take down to campus to reload. In case of bad rain turning the running water brown. Only has happened twice, I think, so far. 

Our sea-facing window (so I guess it's west facing? Sounds right). This picure fails to demonstrate the brightness of this wall. Word of advice: do not sit in front of this window at 5:30. The sun is directly in your/my eyes. But it's a great view.

Quick shot of the bedroom/bathroom/closet. Don't look, it's messy!

One more shot of the living area with a better view of the couch. Mr. Fan is still working hard. Also, you can see our assortment of shoes nesting near the door. 

Looks like I'm playing a game on my computer. BIG SURPRISE TO NO ONE. Hey past self: the sun is going down soon! You should think about moving to a different seat. Hey! Are you listening to me? HEY!

So that's what our place looks like. I hope the captions were enlightening. Feel free to post any questions/comments, and I'll be sure to respond! 

Hope you're all well!

-Eric

Rain is dumb.

So, we've had an interesting week. 

Last tuesday, Melissa was taking 2 practicals. A practical, if you don't know, is a test of your lab skills and ability to identify muscles/bones/cells. One practical was over gross anatomy (bones and muscles), and the other was histology (erm, not exactly sure what that means). From all accounts, both practicals were stupid hard. I think the average score between those two tests was about a 55%. Melissa, feel free to correct me if I'm off.

But that's not all! Because the very next day, Melissa had another mini! Well, technically it's part 2 of the first mini, but that doesn't mean you study any less for it. And then, like clockwork, all of the first-semesters exited the testing centers, took a deep breath, and started planning how they were going to spend the rest of their free day (most students, especially firsties, take most or all of the rest of test day to relax and reload for the next wave).

Then the rain came.

'Luckily', it waited just long enough for us to get down to the beach and get comfortable before it started pouring. And it came hecka fast. As we were scrambling up the stairs to get under shelter, Melissa took a dive and did a number on her knees/palms. It looked worse than it ended up being, but she was not a happy camper that day. On the plus side, we got a free ride all the way up our hill! 

On a sidenote, it has rained for both of the semester 1 minis so far. I'm going to keep a close eye on the weather for November 3rd (or 2nd. Again, Melissa: correct me!).

The next day, we woke up to a torrential rainstorm. Not much wind, but WAAAY too much water. And thus, Melissa took her first sick day. Slept in until 11 (the meds they gave her for her injuries must be CRAZY), then she got to work. Luckily, she's allowed to Mediasite (watch lectures from home), so she didn't really miss too much. She was back and ready to go before class the next day, but it was nice to be around her on a weekday. 

Meanwhile, still raining. 

Saturday: RAIN.

Sunday: STILL RAIN.

Today: ...no rain? ABOUT TIME. 

The worst side effect of lots of rain is that the water stops when it comes down too hard. Consequently, I took my first sponge bath of my life on Saturday. And hopefully, I won't have to do that again. Gross.

But now the rain has stopped, the sun is back out, our laundry's getting washed, and things are back to normal. I'll try to get some pictures of our apartment (inside and out) up tomorrow or Wednesday, but I need to get my camera first. 

Hope you're all staying dry!

-Eric

Pardon my negligence

Apologies, apologies. 

I have been somewhat lax recently in updating my blog stuff. No real good reason; I just kept forgetting to sit down and do it. But NOT TONIGHT! I am blogging! HaHA!

Anyway, things are getting busier and busier for me (relatively speaking; I can't hold a candle to Melissa's schedule). I knew that I should be careful about over-committing at the start of the semester, but I think I'm getting into a rhythm that works.

On Wednesday, I had a training session for Standardized Patients. They taught us how to log into our grading system. In other words, they were basically testing to see if we were halfway competent at opening Internet Explorer and following 3 directions from a slip of paper.  But at least it means more hours!

No joke, the coordinator told us that we could come in later to practice if we wanted. But we wouldn't get paid for that extra time to "learn the system". I think if I couldn't figure it out from the time you showed us, and then gave us step-by-step instructions, I would stop taking any money you were offering. It's super easy.

So that was Wednesday. On Thursday, I subbed for the math teacher I've been volunteering with. It went pretty great; even the class that she was worried about didn't give me much trouble. Granted, I did play the "quiet game" with them to much success (although only 2 kids were left by the end of it). I can't believe kids will still do that. It's awesome. 

Then, it turns out that the science teacher needed a sub for Friday (and the regular science sub was already busy), so I got another day of working! When it rains, it pours, you know? So that was a fun week. 

Yesterday we had our second softball game of the season (our team's called the Free Agents; I'm not sure why, but I think it could maybe be a medical thing - wait, that's free radicals). We lost again, BUT a)we only lost by 4 [15-11], and b)we only had 6 players. Yes, that's right: we used the classic defensive formation of 2 infielders, 3 outfielders, pitcher, and catcher-from-the-other-team. I had some pretty good hits, including one that got over the center fielder's head! That's kind of a big deal for me, since I tend to line/ground out a lot. Got some serious elevation.

Oh, and I discovered later yesterday that I got the slightest of burns on my collarbone. No big deal. Waaay better than last week. Yeouch.

So, Melissa is getting ready right now for 2 things. Tomorrow, she has her first Anatomy practical, and Tuesday she has Mini 1 part 2. Here's my positive spin for her: no class for 2 days!!

From what she's told me, here's how the practical works: the anatomy lab is set up into a bunch of stations with various cadavers with pins in them pointing to different things, and there is a question attached pertaining to the indicated part. You get 50 seconds at each station. Sounds crazy to me. But Melissa has been studying the crap out of the cadavers, so I don't think she's worried. Fun note: if she can get the grade requirement for it, she's going to apply to be a TA in the anatomy lab! She just loves the smell so much! 

Anyways, she's been studying really hard all week. But she wanted me to share some pictures with you of her study area, just because it's amazing:

 So here is what her "study zone" looks like. Nice big table to spread out, but where's all that natural light coming from?...

 Oh yeah, she's outside! With a ridiculous view of the ocean! How could I forget?

 Here's another shot of the view. This particular study area that she studies on is called the "Upper Seaside Deck" (aptly named in my opinion)

This is a shot of the "Lower Seaside Deck". They do yoga and stuff here.

So there you have it. Super Long Update! Again, I hope you're all doing well, and I hope you're enjoying the seasons changing. Take care!

-Eric

Asymmetrical feet, and my other faults.

So as you facebookers may know, I recently found out that I am is the small population of humans that do not have the Palmaris Longus tendon in either arm. I don't think it's a "deal breaker", health-wise, but it is an interesting peculiarity nonetheless.

So this got me thinking: what are some of my other oddities?  Here's what I determined.

Let's start at the bottom. I am quite flat-footed. Like, basically a duck. No arch whatsoever. I've tried shoe inserts, and if I were wearing more tennis shoes, I might consider getting some. But for now, I'm basically in sandals all the time, so I just need to make sure the ones I wear give me good support.


Also, as alluded to in the title, my feet are not symmetric. My second toe (or Pointer toe, if my big toe counts like a thumb) is longer on my left foot than the one on my right. In fact, it's longer than my left big toe, while my other pointer toe is not. 

Interesting stuff, I know.

Another strange fact is that I can bend my wrists forward so far that my thumbs completely touch my forearms. It looks much more painful than it actually is, trust me.

I am incapable of rolling my r's. Some claim that it merely takes practice, but I don't know about that. I'm pretty miserable at it.

This seems to be tailing off a bit, so here's one last bit of trivia, per se. If you take my first and middle names (Eric Paul), and rearrange the letters, you get the word peculiar. Not the greatest of words, but I think it's cool that there's actually a word there, and not gibberish.

(Note: I realize in the grand scheme of things, there are many, far more interesting physiological oddities that normal people may possess. But this isn't their blog. It's mine.)

Keep it real, y'all.

Eric

Makin' some mad edits!

So, I've been doing some hardcore work on all of the various settings for this blog of mine. Please notice my new favicon (which sadly is not animated like I wanted...) and various other small tweaks as well. Although Sara, I can't seem to find the setting to change that will make it easier for google+ users to find it. At least, I don't think I can find it...

Ok. That's all. Oh, apparently I can post this way too! Crazy!

-Eric

2^3

Man, we've been getting rained on like crazy here!  Today we only had one little shower in the afternoon, but the last couple of days have been quite precipitatious. 

New rule: precipitatious is a word. Continuing...

So Melissa got her results from her first test. She passed! Unfortunately for you, she doesn't want me to post her score for some reason. I dunno. She's pretty pleased with herself, and for good reason. She worked hard for that score, which I still can't tell you.

Maybe if you ask her discreetly, she'll tell you. Who knows?

Funny story: so, I've been volunteering at the prep school, where I sit in on a 6th/7th grade class as well as a 3rd grade class. One of the 3rd-graders is my downstairs neighbor, and he always does this funny thing where he remembers that he knows me. It's this sort of unspoken interaction we have, like, "hey, it's you." Anyway, now whenever he sees me outside of school he thinks he needs to raise his hand to talk to me. I don't have the heart to stop him, though. It's good for my teacher ego.

So yes. The title of this blog is supposed to just be "2 cubed", but I don't know how to get superscripts to come up in the title.  There isn't any significance to that other than this is the 8th post I've done so far. I like numbers. 

So there you go. Hope everyone is doing well!

-Eric

Melissa's Mini Monday!

So, as you may know, today Melissa had her first exam of medical school! They call these tests "minis", because they are smaller than the final. 

Fair enough. Still I think they could come up with a better name. You know, something that doesn't sound so, well, diminutive.  Because you really can't take the minis for granted. 

Anyhow, we won't know how she did for a couple days at least, but I can say with certainty that her disposition has improved drastically since she's been finished taking it. 

Like, a lot. I think it cured her cold even.  Maybe, maybe not. I just hope we don't see this same fluctuation between stress level (and health level) for the next mini. That mini is three weeks from tomorrow (the 9th of October). 

And she has 2 practicals that Monday the 8th. Better stock up on cold meds...

So yeah. We'll let you know how it went after the scores come in (probably Wednesday?).  I'm about to head off to my first training session as a Standardized Patient! I hope the rain stays away though; our hill is awful when it's wet.

Ok, that's all for now.

- Eric

Latest Updates

Hey all,

Sorry about slacking this last week. I wanted to wait until I had things to say in terms of work and school stuff, but that was probably Wednesday. Yesterday I was just ridin' the lazy train. Well, not all day. I did stuff in the morning.

So here's what's new.

This coming Monday, Melissa has Mini #1, part 1 (it's a two-parter, I guess). Minis are tests, generally smaller and less weighty on grades than the Final, but still significant benchmarks. The funny thing is, the minis don't have a consistent number of questions on them. The tests are made like this: for each hour of lecture during the chunk the mini is covering, 2 questions will be put on the test. So depending on how many hours of lecture there have been, that's how many questions you have. It also means that for studying purposes, it's advantageous to spend more time on the subjects that you've had more lectures on (and they can't surprise you with 10 questions from one random lecture). For timing, they give you 70 seconds per question. Just like that. So every test is potentially a different length, but you can figure out how long you'll get. So that's basically what Melissa has and will be doing this week/weekend. Studyfest.

Not that I won't be busy on Monday as well. I have my first training session to be a Standardized Patient, or SP. As an SP, I will be given a 'script' detailing a certain patient with some disease/disorder, and I will learn the part of this ill person. Then med students will have to interview me and take a patient history, as well as practice their patient rapport. For each session that I do, I will be required to give feedback about how they did. I'm not sure if this means that I have a part to play in the grade they get, but I'm working under that assumption for now. So basically they're paying me to act sick in a specific way. Good times, I'm sure. 

Also, I've officially put my foot in the door at the Prep school. I've started volunteering on Thursdays with a Social Studies/Math teacher, and I'm pretty sure they have me scheduled as a substitute on a day when the new hires have to go to a training seminar. Also, the principal sent my information out to the parents as a certified math tutor, for a little extra money on the side. The trick there is just finding a price that works for both me and the parents. The kids I've met so far are pretty good, but it just takes a little while to readjust to elementary/middle school students. 

Also, I emailed the IM cricket coordinator. The first step has been taken...

Anyway, those are some new things. I hope you found it illuminating. 

- Eric


P.S. Fun fact: I cannot spell "hour" right the first time I type it ever. I always write it as "our". Those darn homophones.

Pictures from our first 2 weeks!

I realize that it has been a few days since I mentioned putting pictures up 'soon'. What I failed to mention is that now I'm on 'island time'. You see, in island time, '10 minutes' means '20 minutes, at least', 'be right there' means '10 minutes', and 'soon' means 'about a week or so'.

I hope that wasn't too confusing with all the apostrophes. Full quotation marks looked too intimidating.

In any case, here are some pictures to hopefully give you some more context.

This is the dreaded hill that leads to our apartment. We hate it. We hate it with a burning passion.

Here we are on a hill overlooking Roseau, the capital city, with the other med students that were on our bus. Fun fact: this picture was taken by a former Ross SA president!

This is really cool. At the southern end of Dominica, there's a tiny peninsula (is there a word for tiny peninsula?). The water on the left is the Atlantic Ocean, and the water on the right is the Caribbean Sea. As you can see, the ocean is a lot rougher and grosser looking, while the sea is green and calm. And it's only separated by, what, 10 meters? We also hiked up that hill you see. Almost as arduous as our demon hill, but a really nice view.

This is one of Dominica's famous sulphur springs. It's constantly bubbling, and smells like old eggs. We literally looked at it for 15 seconds, then got back on the bus. Quite noxious.

This is a sort of memorial to the last hurricane to truly hit Dominica (1979, as you may recall). The wind knocked a tree over onto an empty school bus, and they decided to leave it be. It's in the middle of a garden, too, which makes it all the more surreal.

This is the place to go for all of your Dominican sporting events! And by all, I mean football (soccer) and cricket (hence the roundness). Mark my words: I will learn the game of cricket. Whether I can get to a match is a different story; I guess Roseau is NUTS on a cricket day.

Funny story about the white coat ceremony: when we got down to the "Annex" (1st-semester lecture hall), I was told that there wasn't room for family and friends inside the hall, so I got to watch it via a projector outside. This is the best shot I could get of Melissa during the ceremony. Not sure what she's looking at. I'll have to ask her later.

So proud of her!

 

 

So there you go! There are many more pictures, but this post is PLENTY long already, so I'll put some more up next week, probably.

 

Let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to hear about. The more this works like a conversation, the easier it'll be for me to write.  Hope you're all doing well!

 

-Eric

 

No-Fly Zone (I wish) and the Introduction to Melissa Mondays!

Today we have had 2 distinct massacres in our apartment. In the morning, I slayed a legion of ants in the sink, and just after dinner we waged war against some flies that had camped out on our kitchen light.

There were no survivors. Except us. 

Luckily none of the pests we've run into are any sort of dangerous. We heard about these nasty centipedes that are big (a foot long), red, and sting from both ends. Definitely avoiding those. No question. But even the ants we have are microscopic. Just annoying really. As long as we don't they don't get any bigger, we shouldn't have problems.

Anyhoo...

I decided back when I was first thinking about this blog that I would dedicate one day a week specifically for Melissa's adventure in med school. And what better day to use than the one that alliterates with her name so nicely? Hence, Melissa's Medical Mondays. And, maybe once she starts working with the cadaver, Melissa's Macabre Medical Mondays. M's for everyone! She'll basically dictate things for me to include to help you get some perspective of how things are going.

To start, here are some numbers to maybe help you conceptualize: 

Melissa, along with 430 other first semesters, just got underway with classes today. Those 400+ students are broken down into 3 groups for Anatomy lab, which are then divided into groups of 5-6 per cadaver. Most mornings, she will head to the "Annex" for morning lectures (8-12ish), then eat lunch, and study into the afternoon. From what she told me, today was mostly review from courses she took during her post-bacc program at Dominican University in River Forest, but she isn't taking anything for granted. Right now, in fact, she's prepping her books for tomorrow's lecture. I think. 

Speaking of tomorrow, Melissa's White Coat ceremony happens at 2:00 ET, so if you'd like to see what exactly that is, here is the link: https://ch1prd0202.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=EaDEcNtG1UKswz8nVJAycV-z6JEJXM8IFUYanUykHS4NfZ1aTR_njVtcqQYI4Ltmai7Kw-HrVaI.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fexmediasite.rossmed.edu.dm%2fwebcast 

(note that it probably won't start working until 1:30 tomorrow when they begin the broadcast)

Well that's all for now. Until next time,

-Eric

For those of you worrying about hurricanes...

This will be short and sweet.

I know with Isaac hitting the States pretty hard right now some of you might be concerned about our safety here. You know, in the middle of the Caribbean. But as I found out, today is actually the 33rd anniversary of the last hurricane to hit Dominica. We went on a tour of the Indian river (which is where they shot the scenes in Pirates 2 and 3 involving Calypso or something). Our guide's name was Charlie Love. Cool dude. Saw a lot of crabs on the river bank.

But anyhow, them's the facts. Optimists among you might say, "Oh good! Their island hardly gets hit! Hooray!" 

Meanwhile, you glass-half-empty folk are thinking, "They're due."

Er, in short, don't worry. The island and the school are both well equipped for 'inclement weather'.

WE'LL BE FINE. [wait, that looks too intense]

we'll be fine.

-Eric

We have arrived!

Lots of walking...

Insane drivers...

Sweltering humidity...

...Wait, I thought we left Chicago!

But yes, we have left, and we are settling in here quite nicely. We got in on Friday evening, but our bags didn't make it until Saturday, due to some shuffling around caused by all the flight cancellations due to Tropical Storm Isaac.  But it seems we made it with relatively little trouble compared to some other students; people who booked flights for Wednesday and Thursday weren't able to come down because of the storm, and a lot of them are just getting in now. Apparently, Delta/Liat is going to be losing a lot of customers soon..

Our landlord is a pretty good guy. We live at the top of a hill, which is a pretty reasonable trek down, but an absolute bear back up. But he has an SUV, so a quick phone call and he drives us up. His name is Trevor. He has a cool accent (as do all of the islanders).

Since Dominica was once an English colony, all of the cars drive on the left side of the road. Yet only about half of the cars have the steering wheel on the right side, and the other half are left side steering wheel.  Trevor has a left side steering wheel, so it takes a little getting used to being on the wrong side of the road. Also, it takes some getting used to the speed at which most drivers navigate. Holy moley, I swear Melissa has had five mini heart attacks since Friday. Fast driving + narrow, poorly-lit roads + driving on the opposite side = premature graying.

A lot of upperclassmen (or uppersemesterians, I don't know) have been warning us about getting used to the island food. Honestly, we haven't had any problems yet. I think living in a city like Chicago where you can get 12 different ethnic dishes within a city block prepares you pretty well for anything.

So right now, we're just charging our computers (we have to pay for electricity in our apartment by the kWh, and it's stupid expensive) and heading off for a bite to eat. 

I feel like I just wrote a report for third grade or something. I'm not feeling especially witty just yet, but I'll get there once I get my bearings a little better. 

Pictures to be posted (hopefully) soon!

- Eric

P.S. Still playing around with fonts. I don't know how I got through that last one in Times New Roman. Blech. I may use Trebuchet or Verdana next time.

Starting It Up Before We Go!

In this day and age, it's remarkable how out of touch I can be. As a certain Clarissa Johnson can attest, as recently as last month I was under the impression that people still use Zynga.

Apparently that is not so.
But that sort of tells you about how long ago it was when I last considered making a blog (if Zynga was still in fashion). And even though my last consideration ended in futility (read: never happened), I am ready to go this time!

As many of you know (assuming I know you), Melissa is going to Ross University Medical School, and I am going with her. Now, this particular medical school happens to operate on the small Caribbean island of Dominica (if you're curious, here it is). Her program will consist of 4 accelerated semesters over a span of 16 months, after which we'll move back to the U.S. for clinical rotations and residency. Basically what Melissa will be doing at the Dominica campus is the equivalent of the first 2 years at a traditional med school.

And basically what I will be doing is keeping her sane.

I'm kidding. Probably. Maybe.

But that's why I want to start blogging: this way I can keep all of you posted about how we're doing. The last thing we want is for us to be completely isolated while we're down there.

Plus, this will give me something to do on a regular basis! As far as I can tell right now, employment at Ross will be part-time at best; they only need so many arms to practice drawing blood (oh how I hope it doesn't come to that...).

So yeah. Keeping you in the loop. Keeping myself busy. Keeping Melissa sane.

And most importantly: Keeping the posts at a reasonable length. Which, for this first entry, seems to be now.

- Eric

P.S. We are leaving for Dominica on Friday, August 24th, so if you want to hang out one more time before we vamoose, that's our deadline.