We are in the throws of rainy season here on the island of Dominica. Not only has the weather changed but the generally feel of things have shifted somehow. The clouds and periodic down pour have eliminated the need for sun block (although sunglasses are still need to combat the intense UV rays). I'm conflicted about the weather change.
Rainy weather on the island means several things...
1. I now have to brush/rinse my mouth with filtered, bottled water from the Ross water fountains... in the beginning of the season I had some G.I. issues which I attribute to rinsing my mouth with tap water. (In the dry-er season this is okay I guess because I have never found this correlation to be true.)
2. Dressing up in my "doctor clothes"--skirt/suit, White coat and heels--presents a problem for climbing up the steep, gravel hill that I live at the bottom of in the mornings. Rain + mud + gravel=disaster. So far *knock on wood* I have not fallen but there have been clothes calls in proper shoes.
3. Cooler days...makes swimming in the ocean, walking to campus so much nicer. Of course the increased humidity does make you sweat more. But at this point we have all given up the idea of being dry and perspiration-free here. The idea is a joke.
4. Power outages--luckily the generator in my building has proven sufficient so far, but no real storm has hit yet either. My first semester here was filled with constant outages, damaged electrical wires and a broken generator. Oh yes and no Internet. I'm glad I live in a different apartment complex to say the least.
To review, this is the order of disciplines that we have covered so far in 2nd semester:
1. Neuroscience
2. Endocrine
3. Gastrointestinal Physiology/Histology
Next is Reproductive Phys/Anat/etc. I can't believe we are already "done" with G.I. It went by so fast! It has only been 2 weeks since my 1st Mini exam and those week have been hellish. I have had two patient interviews, a visit to the homeless shelter in Roseau to conduct interviews not to mention the hours upon hours of back to back histology/physiology tag-team lectures, PBL and of cours anatomy lab dissections.
On the up side I am almost completely comfortable in my professional clothes and somewhat comfortable with wearing my White Coat--stuffed with exam equipment.
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Two more semesters left then I get to feel somewhat like a real Doctor-in-training and am granted the Go card back to the States. Oh the States, the land of queso, tacos, Fresh Milk, good coffee...oh yes and family and friends.
On another note I think I may be going insane. I also have taken to increasing the "zoom" on my web browser to 140%...I think med school may be taking a toll on my eyes.
More to come soon!
Rainy weather on the island means several things...
1. I now have to brush/rinse my mouth with filtered, bottled water from the Ross water fountains... in the beginning of the season I had some G.I. issues which I attribute to rinsing my mouth with tap water. (In the dry-er season this is okay I guess because I have never found this correlation to be true.)
2. Dressing up in my "doctor clothes"--skirt/suit, White coat and heels--presents a problem for climbing up the steep, gravel hill that I live at the bottom of in the mornings. Rain + mud + gravel=disaster. So far *knock on wood* I have not fallen but there have been clothes calls in proper shoes.
3. Cooler days...makes swimming in the ocean, walking to campus so much nicer. Of course the increased humidity does make you sweat more. But at this point we have all given up the idea of being dry and perspiration-free here. The idea is a joke.
4. Power outages--luckily the generator in my building has proven sufficient so far, but no real storm has hit yet either. My first semester here was filled with constant outages, damaged electrical wires and a broken generator. Oh yes and no Internet. I'm glad I live in a different apartment complex to say the least.
To review, this is the order of disciplines that we have covered so far in 2nd semester:
1. Neuroscience
2. Endocrine
3. Gastrointestinal Physiology/Histology
Next is Reproductive Phys/Anat/etc. I can't believe we are already "done" with G.I. It went by so fast! It has only been 2 weeks since my 1st Mini exam and those week have been hellish. I have had two patient interviews, a visit to the homeless shelter in Roseau to conduct interviews not to mention the hours upon hours of back to back histology/physiology tag-team lectures, PBL and of cours anatomy lab dissections.
On the up side I am almost completely comfortable in my professional clothes and somewhat comfortable with wearing my White Coat--stuffed with exam equipment.
Two more semesters left then I get to feel somewhat like a real Doctor-in-training and am granted the Go card back to the States. Oh the States, the land of queso, tacos, Fresh Milk, good coffee...oh yes and family and friends.
On another note I think I may be going insane. I also have taken to increasing the "zoom" on my web browser to 140%...I think med school may be taking a toll on my eyes.
More to come soon!
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