Tonight! Dreams Come True!

Tonight I accomplished my 2 greatest goals for life on this island:

1) my friend Paul and I built a bonfire  on the beach with our bare hands! which was particularly impressive because:
 a) it just rained for 3 days and all the wood in the jungle was wet
 b) we didn't have lighter fluid or any of the fancy stuff you have in the US
  c) we actually cooked hotdogs and made smores!

2) I swam in the ocean at night with biolumenescent plankton!!!! The most amazing swimming experience here; at night at least. They sparkle all around you!

Tonight was amazing and I am so happy that I had some really good friends to share it with! The moon was full, the weather (which has been stormy) held out, and we ended the night with a light drizzle which put out our fire for us. What an amazing time! I finally feel like I've used my experience on this island to it's full potential. :)

Tonight, I love you Dominica. But I still hope that in a month, I will never have to return again.

Til Next Time Folks!

So my big, scary, Clinical Skills Final Exam is over...

AND ALL I FELT LIKE DOING WHEN I GOT HOME WAS THIS...

PARTS OF THAT EXAM COULD HAVE GONE MUCH BETTER.

Like:
a) having the main neurology prof as my grader for the neurology/motor exam...completely froze and forgot how to perform the task, only to recover most of my points and laugh nervously as he frowned at me. I'm pretty sure, since he WROTE that task, he was thinking: "You either did not attend my lecture or have no idea how perform a neurological exam". Neither are true...but anything is possible on exam day.

b) having one of the strictest clinical skills instructors for my Scenario room/respiratory exam.

Life...

WHEN I ZONE OUT WHILE STUDYING DUE TO LIFE...

Because I Can

I am writing this post purely because I can now, with out having to go through the hassle of logging off and on different Google accounts. For I have the power to merge both accounts, and I win!

Shameless "Hunger Games" plug that expresses how I feel.

I will be writing from my new Google account from now on...not that any readers can tell the difference. But it is a large step for me and my OCD tendencies. It's so much more stream-lined this way and at this point in my life it's the "little things" that make me grin. So hooray!

I also think I am sleep-deprived again. As evidenced by my rambling and the fact that lay my head down a few hours ago and when I woke up I thought I was A) in my bed at home, B) had been sleeping for 2 hours. I had only been asleep 20 minutes and had 10 vivid dreams. In the main classroom. At my desk.

More later. Ta!

WHATSHOULDWECALLROSS

A Friend Directed Me To The Best Ross Blog Ever.

It uses Gifs to explain "medical school feelings" and experiences at this crazy university. 

One of my favorites posted below:

WHEN I SPEND ALL NIGHT
MAKING STUDY PRODUCTS.

Sun Set Bay: Snorkelling, Lobster Dinner, Relaxation

Sun Set Bay: Lobsters, Snorkelling, Relaxation

Yesterday my friend Paul and I realized that we meant to plan a trip to Sun Set Bay; a resort with beach access and a seafood restaurant. So we quickly made a plan, emailed friends and I called my Rasta friend "Charley" to give us a ride.


After getting some work done this morning, I headed over to the Main Gate to meet Charley and the others to head out. This day started out so chill and relaxed, that after getting some work out of the way I was ready to have some fun.


The restaurant is only about 30 minutes away from campus. When we arrived around 4 pm we were the only ones there, aside from some French tourists who were staying on the grounds. The sun was out and smouldering and I decided to get some food--fish soup and garlic bread--before joining Paul in the ocean. I brought Jamie's old snorkel gear along just in case we wanted to dive. I have never been snorkelling before, mostly because I'm like a skiddish cat in the ocean and in water in general. I don't trust my swimming abilities against the strong ocean currents and the fear of the "unknown great deep" always scares me too. What's out there? Will it attack me? Etc.


But today, with the sun shining on my face, surrounded by the beauty of a new part of the island, standing in the cool Caribbean waters, I decided to take the plunge. I told myself that I only have 40 days left on this island and I may as well try something different.


Paul instructed me how to use the goggles/mask--since it was cracked--with out getting water inside and showed me where he had seen some fish. I quickly caught the hang of preventing water from seeping in, but of course this involved released air through my nose, and shortening my dives. 


Just looking at the pebbly ocean floor covered in algae was so cool to me. I was estatic when I started noticing tiny fish, then swam further out to see schools of tiny black and white fish, as well as larger silver fish. The silver fish swam in a large school of 40 at least, and would turn and flee en masse when spooked. 


After snorkelling around for a while, Paul and I decided to walk to another part of the beach toward some boulders. I collected some volcanic rocks and an interesting piece of white coral.  We climbed a large boulder, that was inhabited by a few black crabs. Were they land crabs or sea crabs? I feel like there is a species for every habitat on this island. The beach was scattered with tiny hermit crabs as well. 


We noticed the sun was beginning to set so we climbed back down and joined Jadden and Will in the water again. We showed the others where we had spotted fish and Jadden mentioned seeing "a fin". We all thought he was seeing things. Then 15 minutes later when we were all planning on swimming back to the beach I spotted a large, black fin as well, around the same area that Paul and I had been standing. Now that I think about it I'm a bit scared because we had been investigating why these silver fish had been jumping out of the ocean. Now it makes sense; they were trying to escape a predator. Despite my fear of sharks, I think that the predator was probably just a large fish---some of the tuna here are 2x my weight. But still...scary


The dinner was amazing! Small lobsters with garlic cream sauce--an entire platter-ful--mussels swimming in garlic sauce, rice, salad, French fries, complimentary Chardonnay, mango juice, and for desert a Caribbean banana split. 


My corset-style dress was feeling much tighter by the end of that meal. But it was so worth it. We all agreed, it was the best food we have eaten on this island so far.


I took plenty of pictures to capture the day. Here are a few...

Me, and Paul, being weird

Sun Set Bay

Lobster dinner!