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