Quick Pictures

Before I get to some biochemistry (and you thought I didn't have a life), I took some pictures and uploaded them onto my pictures website. They are all views from the 'Upper True Blue' campus, which is basically walking out my dorm room and 'up' a hill (I live on 'Lower True Blue').

Most of the pictures can be seen directly when I walk out of classes (we have all our lectures in the same lecture hall). There is one picture of the memorial to the Marines who were killed when the medical students were evacuated in the '80s. That memorial leads to the anatomy building (I know that it sounds like a tough life so far). Also, there are two pictures of an island called Glover's island, which is an old whale fisherman's station. They would leave their ships there and then take smaller row-boats into Grenada.

Unfortunately, they are not properly labeled as I forgot to do that before I uploaded them, but you can feel free to ask me questions about them and hopefully I will be able to answer (additionally, the local weather report shows some pretty nice weather for the next few days - I just couldn't help myself).

Suddenly it's Sunday

Sunday. A day of relaxation. It certainly has been. I have relaxed in the study-lounge of my dorm. I have relaxed during my run to Carib (a local brewery) and back in the steaming hot sun (did I mention that it almost never gets cold here. In fact, the times when I put on the most clothes are when I am inside because the a/c is usually kept to Arctic temperatures around here. I sometimes have to wear pants and long-sleeved shirts indoors!). I then relaxed while I gulped my dinner to get a good seat in the Histology building (it’s a great place to study and spread out). Finally, I'm relaxing right now before I head to a study session later to talk about syncitiotrophoblasts and cytotrophoblasts (sounds intriguing, doesn't it?).

Actually, it is pretty fun. In fact, your fun fact of the week is that syncitiotrophoblasts are cells which have no distinct plasma membrane, and invade the endometrium of the uterus during implantation of the blastocyst (i.e., fertilized ovum). How interesting is that? Then, they absorb uterine ducts and maternal blood to create the primordial placenta . . . but, I suppose that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, I believe I briefly mentioned the Sugar Shack in an earlier post. That is the restaurant with the best roti ever. Well, we went there on Saturday night for dinner and, let me just say, you will not have better jerk pork or chicken in the world. It was out of control. I am, however, sad to report that they only serve the jerk-dinner on Saturday night, so it will be another week until I can have it again!

Afterward we headed to the student center. It’s a lot like the Memorial Union in Madison. We have two restaurants, a weight room, a bank, and a couple of outdoor basketball courts (which are readily and easily converted into street hockey courts. More on that later.) Additionally, we have a full-service bar, much like Madison. So, we went to have a few drinks and enjoy the weather from the huge porch/deck combination of the upper level. Even though I don't particularly rubbing it in to people who aren't here, it does feel strange to be enjoying the late January weather. We keep making references to things that happen in the summer at home as though we will have to wait for them. It’s also strange to be thinking about the Winter Olympics when there is no winter (not that I'm complaining). The point is, it was a great night.

I would like to take this opportunity to also describe the street hockey situation here at SGU. Interestingly enough, one of our anatomy prof. hails from Canada, but way of the University of Michigan for his doctorate, so he has hockey in every orifice. He has set-up a fairly competitive and incredibly well-attended street hockey following for all the students.

So, a friend and I decided to join in on Saturday as they were gearing up for some pick-up games. Many of you may not know this, but when I was younger, I actually played ice hockey. My dad and I had some fun mornings at 6.00am Sunday practice, and although I look back upon my hockey days fondly, I'm not sure I reacted that way when I was little. As an aside (I really enjoy stream-of-consciousness writing, by the way), my team was selected to play during one of the intermissions at an Admiral's game, and that was awesome. My team won, and although I wasn't the best on the team, I definitely had the best clothes-line penalty of the night. Since there were no officials during the little game that we played, it was pretty outstanding!

I also spent some very exciting Sunday afternoons at the NAT, in Madison, playing floor hockey. The team on which I played was awesome but we kept getting screwed by the blue-haired ref who hated us for some reason.

Being the only 1st termers on the court, we weren't really sure what we were about to experience. It was only 4 vs. 4, so it couldn't be too bad, right? In fact, that would be false. We looked like complete fools as these guys ran circles around us and our teammates just bailed us out the entire time. Eventually, they just left us alone by our respective goals and did their own thing on offense while we pretended to play defense. It was a lot of fun, but you need a full semester just to get acclimated!

Back to reality, tomorrow morning I will spend some time with the various cadavers in the anatomy lab. I have not actually named the male that I (along with other students) am specifically assigned to dissect, but I will ask around and see what some other students have decided about their respective bodies. I was thinking Wayne for mine, but I can't really say why . . . just seems appropriate.

Enjoying your weekends

I really enjoy the weekend. One can relax, spend time with friends, watch some football/basketball/crummy movies or spend the weekend with your new best friend: a dead body. I'm not saying I don't enjoy spending time with dead bodies (well, I'm not saying that I actually do, either), but it was a different weekend than I might normally have, when I was not concerned with work and exams and more exams and a quiz.

Regardless, it was a good weekend. The Badgers loss notwithstanding, I'm ready for the week ahead. I am acutely aware, however, that is now Tuesday night (and the week ahead has been well-established). Where have the days gone? Already I am worried about our 'unified quiz'. A 20-25 point examination in each class destined to gauge our progress after four weeks of the term. It’s purposefully not worth many points, but it will shunt students into the Department of Educational Services if they score particularly poorly in any/all of the subjects.

Consequently, many of us spent our weekends with books and bodies, and did not do the things that would normally be considered fun and relaxing. The one truly fun activity I did have was grocery shopping. Having already braved my first experience, it was a pleasure to head back and learn more. For instance, the milk was fresh (not due to expire until January 26th), but the bread did not arrive to the store until after I had finished my shopping. This is apparently normal in Grenada. Although not devoutly religious, they observe many devoutly religious customs. Mainly, this includes not working on Sunday. It was by sheer luck that the grocery store was even open on Sunday morning (we actually arrived before 10.00am, and were turned away until that time).

Saturday, however, is an apparently different custom. Next to my dorm they are building another dorm to accommodate more students on campus (i.e., make more money so students can live on-campus and not off-campus). This is a great idea as I would personally love to be one of those students next term. One would think that the whole weekend would be sacred, especially considering the way the rest of life tends to operate around here.

This is not the case. Precisely at 7.30am, on Saturday, my first day of freedom to sleep, they began constructing a scaffolding directly outside of my room. I live on the end of the hall next to the new building, and they were simply going up. That would be fair enough, except that I swear they were using a steel press to build their own scaffolds and then assembling them with the Grenadian version of a jack-hammer. It’s great that they want to get an early start, but by noon, everyone is relaxing, taking naps on the trucks, randomly firing up grills and generally not working at all. Lest you think they are behaving like Spaniards, they are just chilling out on the worksite. Half the guys and moving around and doing things, the other half is basically lounging all over the place.

I guess you just can't win many battles around here. Right now, I'm going to head to a friend's room and we are going to quiz each other on Histology and Embryology, two subjects getting the short ends of our respective straws as we all are crazy over Anatomy and Biochemistry. It continues to be my great pleasure to write, and I'm glad that people are enjoying, at least a little, of what I have to say. I'm finding it is a great study break (who am I kidding, anything is a great study break) and I'm glad to oblige.

Finally, I do have my first exam on Thursday. I can honestly say I'm not worried about it, but actually happy to have a class with which I am confident of an A: CPR. So, wish me luck and remember, even though the new standards are 30 compressions to 2 breaths, the American Heart Association is still teaching 15:2 due to the lack of new materials with which to test people. It is nice to know that the AHA is taking some lessons from the Grenadian way of life.

One Week Down

We have officially finished our first week as medical students. It was definitely a daunting experience. Learning anatomy is very interesting, and although I knew the body was a complex place, it amazes me how many muscles, bones and nerves are truly interconnected and dependent on each other.

Speaking of anatomy, we had our first dissection on Friday. This was an extremely interesting and, though it might initially sound inappropriate, fun experience. I recently realized I had become desensitized to death and the human body when, in the aftermath of a code, i.e., cardiac/respiratory arrest (a code that I'm sure was preventable had the infamous trifecta not been working), I headed to the morgue with the body and a pocketful of pretzels since I was hungry. This is not to say that I am not sensitive to the deceased, but that I have learned that bodies are only temporary vessels.

So, anyway, our lab was fun in that we could actually see how the muscles are working together with the bones to move different parts of the body. It truly makes the anatomy come alive (no pun intended). In fact, all of my classes are fun. Reviewing the material and seeing what we are about to learn is what keeps everything interesting. For example, did you know that

In addition to schoolwork, of which I have probably done more in one week than the entirety of my undergraduate career, I have learned that Indian food is outstanding. There is a little-known restaurant on campus named the Sugar Shack, and they serve a dished called roti that is amazing. It only costs EC$9.00 (about $3.00) and is out of this world. Additionally, its as big as a burrito from Q-doba (which is incidentally infinitely better than Chipotle).

I'm not really sure where my point lies in all this, but let me summarize briefly. I've adjusted to living here, now I need to adjust to going back to school. It was certainly nice not having an responsibility except work (where I generally also have little responsibility). This week of classes has definitely taught me some humility, the fact that I now love Indian food, and the fact that the human body is incredibly more interesting than I originally thought.

Finally, I love to hear what's happening at home, so please keep your e-mails coming, and you'll find I respond with passable regularity.

'Good Morning', in Grenadian

After two days of classes, everyone in our class is already behind. Living on an island in the Caribbean, though it has its advantages (some pictures), also has some disadvantages. The first one being that sometimes the jet carrying your course companions for anatomy and histology haven't yet arrived. So, we're a little behind on our studying until they arrive and are distributed!

I did, however, have a definitively 'island' experience this morning. Here in Grenada, the 1st termers are required to live 'on campus'. Our dorms are very little different than dorms at most major colleges, with the minor exceptions that we have a full-size 'fridge, our own bathroom with shower, a stove-top and some cupboard space in the kitchenette. Additionally, along with the price of our housing comes a cleaning service twice per week.

This is not nearly as glamorous as it sounds. The cleaning ladies will mop the floor, give a wipe-down to the exposed surfaces and give a small cleaning to the bathroom. This is pretty lavish for most of us since we have lived in slum-housing for the past years and paid out the nose for our own selves to clean and then get charged after one year for the things we apparently did not clean well enough, e.g., scrubbing the oven.

So, in my dorm, the ladies clean half the rooms every Monday and Wednesday, and the other half every Tuesday and Thursday. Not having class until 1.00pm today, I thought a little late sleep would then accompany my running some errands (my phone is now back!), some light review before lecture and then class.

So, when my alarm when off this morning, one can imagine my surprise when the cleaning lady was standing at the foot of my bed mopping the floor! She said, "Good morning," and I responded in kind, but was unsure where our interaction would next proceed. At the risk of offending some readers, I will reveal that I wear boxers to bed. In Grenada, when men and women attend any function together, the men generally have to wear pants and the women wear formal slacks or dress pants. Generally, it is a religious country and you need to show the proper respect when addressing, or socializing with, the opposite sex. It turns out I was no longer appropriately dressed in my own room.

Despite my morning not going exactly as planned, I made it into town to retrieve my phone (and it actually works . . . one can e-mail me for the number as I don't want to publish it), went to the 'hardware' store for a plate, mug, silverware and binders, bought some Calamine Lotion at the pharmacy (how could I have forgotten that?!) and made it to the bank. After this, its back to Anatomy for more fun.

As an aside, for those who are curious, my classes are: Gross Anatomy (meaning learn the entirety of the body), Biochemistry, Histology (cells and cellular structures), Embryology (the embryo and its development) and Clinical Skills (this term we study ethics & learn the proper patient interview).

On the First Day?

After reading, taking notes and studying for the last three hours, I'm ready for a break. We had our first classes today, but they were about what was expected: syllabi, greet the students, explain the grading, the class structure, give office hours, etc. All of the professors were great speakers and really gave the impression that they wanted the students to do well and would do everything in their power to accomplish this goal.

Hilariously, after about 1 & 1/2 hours of the 2 hour session, two guys got up from the front and tried to leave the lecture hall. The professor at the time called them back and just berated them with jokes in front of the entire class. This is one of those 'You had to be there' stories, but where exactly did they have to be that was more important than finding out all the information that they could about their upcoming classes? This was the only thing the entire first term had planned for the day and they still had to leave early, disrupt the entire class and look like idiots. The good news is that all the professors were there in the classroom and watched/listened to the two of them make complete fools of themselves as they tried to explain their way out of it to the professor who was at the front at the time.

Anyway, after this session, all 1st term students attended the 'White Coat Ceremony'. This is to induct students into the 'noble profession of medicine' and start the journey of 'professionalism'. I posted two pictures from that and will have more when some of my friends are able to upload their pictures as well.

Tomorrow morning we have anatomy lab for the first time. This is simply a lab orientation period, but we start the superficial back and pectoral region on Friday. From 1.00pm until 5.00pm (which will be the schedule virtually each day for the rest of the semester) we have lecture, broken only by the change in professors from one subject to another.

Four classes: Biochemistry, Gross Anatomy, Histology and Embryology. Additionally, a clinical skills component will be given once a week and we start that this Saturday with CPR (at least there is one class in which I have an advantage!). Thanks to everyone who wished me well today, but it was the easy one.

It begins.

The Definition of Irony

On Saturday, I took a tour of St. Georges (the capital, not the school) with some friends and a number of 1st termers here from school. We walked throughout a great deal of the city, taking in the daily vegetable market, Fort George, the local parliament building, the 'tourist mall', the fish market, and two destroyed churches. I updated a number of photos regarding this tour and want to explain a little about the pictures that I took.

It seems, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan (I've been assured that Grenada is below the hurricane belt numerous times) destroyed 90% of the roofs in the entire country. The country responded with force and have repaired and rebuilt many of these structures, bringing back the beauty and showing the resilient spirit of the Grenadian people. Despite Grenada being a tourist destination for the cruise ships and for the many tourists who fly in daily from other various Caribbean islands, there were two churches on our tour which remained destroyed from this hurricane.

One of the many interesting juxtapositions on the tour was seeing two cruise ships docked outside one of the poorest neighborhoods, while the city found the money to erect a large mall for the cheesy, tourist crap that one can buy, they can't feed many of the citizens and have to deal with silly foreigners walking through their city and asking stupid questions, clogging the streets and just acting foolish. So, some of the pictures I think represent the interesting irony of the massive cash flow of these ships dwarfing the local economy.

Anyway, I also posted a picture of a woman who cooked one of the best barbecued dinners that I think I have ever eaten, which happened on Friday night. But, on Saturday, I think the most ironic event of the week took place. The entire student body was invited to the semi-annual 'AMSA Party.' This takes place at the beginning of every term, and for the low price of EC$35.00, one has an open bar available from 10.00pm until 2.00am. It is held on the Grand Anse campus of the school and has a beautiful beach.

This doesn't seem ironic until one considers the student body which attends St. George's University. Generally speaking, many of the students at St. George's are here for the simple fact that they partied too hard in their undergraduate years and here they were, partying like there would be no tomorrow, on a beach in a tropical paradise, much like many of their undergraduate years. It was certainly a fun time, but I can't help but wondering about some people's motivation. Most of the older students said that it is the only party of the term, which makes me a little more comfortable.

Regardless, I'm just about to pack my things up and go to bed with my last few hours of normalcy. Everything will change in the morning. I'm extremely excited, but I cannot begin to explain the nervous feeling that I have in the pit of my stomach. Everyone around me has a background in biochem, anatomy, some are PAs, some are research assistants, etc. Although I couldn't be more proud of my time at St. Michaels, I can't help but feeling like everyone else is a step ahead of me in terms of the sciences which we are about to learn.

I've said this before, but in the morning I officially begin the rest of my life.

Spiceland Mall/Super-Value

As anyone who has gone to college is acutely aware, buying groceries for the first time and then trying to cook/eat said groceries is an interesting, yet dangerous, proposal. Though I cooked from time-to-time while living off-campus, it never really occurred to me to attempt this feat while living in the dorms.

It turns out; cooking for yourself is somewhat of a necessity here at St. Georges. They have a number of fine restaurant establishments here at school, but I am slowly starving myself as its difficult to eat more than one or two meals per day at these places as you are paying cash, and since I can't receive my loan check until tomorrow, cash is rapidly disappearing and not being replaced.

But, all is not lost. After joining many of the '1st termers' on the school-sponsored 'Rhum Runner Cruise' today, I decided I would try to get into town in order to repair my phone and buy groceries. Let me first say a word, or two, on the aforementioned 'Cruise.' The Rhum Runner (yes, I spelled it that way twice on purpose) is a vessel much like the Iroquois in Milwaukee. A large group embarks, the band starts playing the steel drums, and they start serving the most potent rum punches in the world (for free) to everyone on board.

You leave the harbor, go directly over a reef where they toss some food overboard and open the glass-bottom section of the boat. Then, after about an hour of being on the water, they drop you off at a beach, let you roam from an hour and a half, and then take you directly home. I had a great time while only consuming one drink (you could seriously take paint off the walls with this stuff), but let me say that already I have met someone who will skinny-dip at 11.00am if it means more punch is on the way.

I have posted some new pictures from this journey (not of the naked man) on my photo-site, should anyone be interested. After this cruise, I decided to try my hand at grocery shopping. This was a fun experience. I have made some observations:

1. Fresh (as in refrigerated) milk is only available when it comes in, but boxed milk is good forever as long as you refrigerate it after opening.
2. Chicken feet can be butchered to order, or they are also in the freezer isle.
3. Frozen foods may or may not be opened and 'inspected' by other consumers before deciding against the purchase.
4. Fresh, packaged fish is usually stored on the floor due to the smell.

So, this was a fun, fact-finding experience for me, one which I regret not taking more pictures to share. Also included in this trip was a stop at the phone store, where I discovered that they will need to keep my phone until Tuesday, at which time I can call a very nice lady who will tell me if it’s done or not. She assured me that it will be finished Tuesday, yet I would not be surprised if that was not the case.

Finally, I have figured out my new mailing address, so if anyone wants it, please ask (I'm not posting it on the website!), but I have to find the nearest post office and so you won't be receiving anything back for a few days at least. Tomorrow should be an easy, so maybe I'll let you know how it goes cooking my own food.

Every Cloud has a Silver Cloud....

I'm thrilled to report that, despite their best efforts to the contrary, American Airlines was able to locate my luggage in Barbados and send it to Grenada (through a different airline company) and have it arrive safely, but soaking wet, to me. Of course, the only major downside to the whole situation being the fact that I only received my things on the second trip to the airport, because they mistakenly told me it was already in on Wednesday, which it was not.

So anyway, most of my things are currently in the dryer while I write this, and hopefully they will remain there until I return. The sad and silver cloud to my recently completed adventure is that the phone I bought yesterday apparently locked itself (meaning I can no longer send or receive calls) and so now I have to get into town and find the 'Customer Service Center' of my phone company. They can't give me a new one because it supposedly is an easy fix, but can only be accomplished at that specific location. With that in mind, I will have a new adventure tomorrow. As an aside, this made locating my luggage an interesting endeavor.

Included in that adventure, I think, will the purchase of some modest cooking items and food to have in my dorm room. I had high hopes of taking some campus pictures and maybe one or two of my room, but since it is raining today (I swear they said the rainy season ended in November/December), I decided against the picture route. But, the point of that statement was that my roommate and I share a full-size 'fridge and two burner stove-top, including numerous cabinets. Since food on campus, though well-prepared, is exorbitantly expensive, having some things of my own will come in extremely handy.

Other than those two major things, I'm afraid I do not have much to report. I did receive my books today, and that took some intestinal fortitude, since there are a lot of them. Of course, that would be taken for granted when one attends med-school, but the weight was more than I initially expected. I think I'm going to check my laundry and hope that I won't have to rush right back here and post how I lost the clothes I was drying anyway!

Thanks to everyone who has written so far. I keep getting requests for my address, so as soon as I remember to bring it with me when I go to a wireless area (every school building is enabled, and the top floor of the dorms has it. Basically, the only places on campus where they don't provide free wireless is in everyone's dorm room) I forget to bring the necessary paperwork (its kind of a long address). Also, the sun is starting to come back out, so I'm going to have to punish myself by going outside in the 80 degree heat.

Barbados International Airport

Right now, I'm looking out into a bay with clear, blue water, several small offshore islands and a beautiful blue sky. I would be lying if I said my trip to get here was uneventful, because it was eventful. Let's reminisce . . .

My trip from Milwaukee to Chicago was OUT-standing. Maggie and Dad drove me down and I have absolutely no complaints. From Chicago to San Juan, also awesome. I sat next to an elderly lady and her daughter and we chit-chatted the whole time and laughed and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Even the flight from San Juan to Barbados was nice and quiet, with marginal turbulence.

When most people fly, there is only one possible thing that can go wrong: their luggage doesn't make it. When most people fly to foreign countries, the worry about a number of things, including not having their luggage arrive with them. When the average person arrives in a foreign country, specifically in the airport where he or she is about to spend the night waiting for an AM flight, they are concerned that their luggage will remain with them throughout that special evening.

Fortunately for me, I did not have to worry about my luggage getting stolen: it simply did not arrive from San Juan to Barbados. Now, to be fair, I have my carry-on and one of my bags. But, the bag with (wait for it, this gets good!) my SOCKS, PILLOW, and TOWEL (note the importance of these three items!), and other clothing items, somehow did not arrive in Barbados, and would consequently not be arriving in Grenada "until Wednesday at the earliest," quota the baggage handler in Barbados. So, I spent the night in Barbados International, waiting for a flight that wouldn't leave for another 10 hours. The good news is that I didn't need my pillow in the airport, because it was open-air, i.e., I had to sit with my bags all night long outside at the ticket check-in, staring into the parking lot of the airport. At least I met a lovely woman, also spending the night, so we could have bathroom breaks and little naps while the other watched our things.

The rest has been uneventful, and I met a nice guy from my dorm who let me store my stuff in his room while we explored the campus since the RA was nowhere to be found when I arrived to get my key, have since eaten (which has made me more tolerable) and also have finally met my RA to unpack my now extremely meager lot of worldly items.

And here I sit, in one of the open-air cafeterias, staring out over a soccer field, through some palm trees, at the ocean. Its been a fun 36 hours, but I could do with a little less drama and a little more PILLOW!

Finished Packing

Its about time. If collecting your items and putting them all together into a suitcase is any measure of being ready, then I'm ready. I mean, how I could be more prepared to move over 2,500 miles with only some clothes, a computer and some school supplies. I should be extremely happy; I'm about to start medical school, an adventure which will last me the rest of my life and be the rest of my life.

I'd like to move completely off topic to say a little but about my family. Right now, we're watching Remember the Titans in the family room, and my sister Maggie says, "There are just so many parts to this movie when I want to cry." Madeline, who at this point is lying on Maggie's stomach, also watching the movie, says right back at her, "You would cry at this movie." These are the things that I miss while I'm not living at home, and will definitely miss while I'm away at school. Also, Maggie is the only one in the family willing to swear around our mother, which I would say is a risky proposal.

I have a very clear memory of Maggie and my mother (if you work with me, you also may have referred to her as 'Momma Meloy') at a Brewer game. Everyone except Joe was there and we were basically alone in our section. At one of the breaks between innings, Steve Miller Band's Swingtown starts playing on the sound system. If you ever attended a UW-Madison football game, you heard it and sang along with their special lyrics. In addition, the student section also has been known to swear at each other. So, into the spirit of the student section, but actually at the Brewer game, Maggie turns over to her mother and yells, "Eat shit!" My mom, clue less as to the nature of this outburst, basically falls out of her seat and everyone else is laughing hysterically.

Anyway, I figure that this post has gone on long enough, and I'm not sure just exactly what the point was when I started out, but I think the point now is that I'm going to miss things like this while I'm away. I'm not saying that its not to move onto a new playing field, or move to a new country, but I'm a little sad about leaving the comforts and things that I have gotten to know so well over the last few years.

Its going to be hard to leave in the morning, to be sure, but its nothing more than another adventure I've been preparing my whole life to start.