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!

Clothing Drive, Motivation

I'm going solo now in running the Women's Health Advocacy Committee of my student chapter of Physicians for Human Rights. So I've cut back on what I want to accomplish through the org this semester. One goal was to have a clothing drive for the Women's Club down in Portsmouth (20 mins away from Picard). 

Initially I thought it would be pretty lame, but after receiving unsolicited, but much appreciated, help from the head of Student Activities, the drive turned out to be a success.


Mark Sheakley (husband of cardio-phys prof Dr. Maria Sheakley) at my university contacted me about giving me an official donation bin. This may not sound like a big deal, but considering our org is tiny compared to other "more popular" ones like AMSA and Salybia, I was surprised that he even knew who I/we were. He graciously offered to allow to have a donation bin (industrial size, yellow, recycling bin) outside the library. This is prime real estate as far as donations go, and we've encountered issues with Student Government bureacracy in the past, so I was kinda elated that we were offered this.


After sending an email to Flavia who runs the weekly email announcements to the entire university, she placed an ad I designed to run for the entire semester to announce the clothing drive. By 1 1/2 weeks the bin was full to the brim. In fact I had to put a note on it the other day that we were no longer accepting donations. How awesome is that?


The Women's Club mainly needs work-wear and uniforms that they can refurbish and resell, but I think they will pretty much take anything. Today, when me and my loyal recruited volunteers, visited the Club, Ms. Kate was asking for book donations too. Give a mouse a cookie...


She also told me that she (cryptically) "had something for me". I'm trying not to be excited because for all I know it's a receipt for the gate installations that I raised donation money for last semester. I really need to go back there and take a picture next to the murals on the outside and with Ms. Kate. Damn, should have done that today. But I was too distracted by the bags of clothing and making sure we had a ride back. The local driver--nice Rasta man--was patient though and waited for us to unload the bags of clothing, then took us back to school. I have him a 20 EC note and told him to give me whatever change he thought fit, and he also gave me a business card--as usual. Except this time it was laminated! Haha. He must be doing pretty well, eh?











We only had 4 hours of class today, which I sat through starting at 8 a.m. I'm so proud of myself for making it to class before 9 a.m. I've been sleeping at 2:30 a.m. every day, after a full day of studying til midnight. Turns out 4th semester is just as challenging i.e. insane, as 3rd. When will it get easier??? *whines* I'm thinking Never. 


Motivation, or Lack Thereof


My friend, Amy, and I had a short conversation on the ride back to campus about what made us motivated to go to medical school. She said she's always wanted to be a doctor, since she was young...I tried to explain my philosophy. It starts with my desire to work in a non-profit public health/medical organization in the developing world. Idealistic and slightly romantic, it's true, but it's about the only thing I have left to "fantasize" about for my future. It's my dream, and aren't dreams supposed to be sort of "out there"? I told her that while there are many ways of going about achieving this goal, medical school is one of the better options that gives me more skills and preparation. 


I always feel like my answer to that question is weak, and over the last 2 years my desire and motivation to get through this has dwindled. Hell, I still don't know if I'll be able to make it through. But I hope I can. So I keep working hard and pushing myself a little more each semester. My main motivation stems from all the clinical interactions I have had on this island, and the awesome jobs I have had in the past. Hopefully this profession will end up matching my expectations. I dare not think of the alternative; I've read too many blogs and discussion board posts of people regretting their decision to enter med school and medical practice because they realized too late, "I guess I really don't want to this after all". 


For now I would like to afford myself the opportunity to be able to be in the position to reflect on my decision. I think it's too early in the game to decide now. Especially since the first 2 years is Not reflective of the following 5-6 years. (Hopefully)


Only 55 days left on the island! Just gotta keep pushing until the end!


I will be blogging again after my next hospital rotation in July.