Half way!

wow. I can't believe 1st semester is half way done! The time has gone by extremely fast... my first day of medical school was 2 months ago. I guess this fast pace is good for one thing!

Third round of exams are coming up on monday and tuesday. I have to say that this time things have been hectic. The abdomen and pelvis is such a small space with MANY many organs, spaces, nerves, arteries, veins, lymph nodes, relations... well you get the picture. The good thing about doing the abdomen is that it finally lets you connect the dots between the thoracic cavity and the lower limbs from the first 2 exams. It's all coming together and it is quite fascinating. For such a small space, the precision and placement of each organ is really astounding - the coils of the small intestine, the protection of the, liver, kidney...At the same time it makes me realize how many chances there are for things can go wrong during the development of the embryo. One error and it can lead to fatal conditions. Scary.

In terms of general updates - which I know I haven't been so good at posting in these two weeks - nothing is really new. I entered a very repetitive study schedule this time so besides taking a break to go to the gym or take a walk, I ate, slept and studied. I know, it's an extremely exciting schedule! :P
But I just wanted to write and say that everything is okay. 2 more exams + the shelf exam (a USA official cumulative examination) and I am home bound!

It's funny, I was talking to some of my friends today and we were already starting to plan for the Tuesday after the exam.... swimming? snorkel? hike the mountain? local resort for the day? dinner and movie?

Simply stunning

I went for a walk today to get away from studying anatomical relations in the abdomen (ugh). I ended up taking the path I use for running but I kept going all the way down this crazy, winding hill. (bumped into my anatomy professor on the way down - they look different not wearing scrubs! haha) The road led to Well's Bay which is one of the few places you can go swimming on Saba, if the water is calm enough. The waves were crashing into the rocks too hard to go swimming today so I ended up just sitting and taking in the view and the relaxing sounds. It was truly amazing. A postcard picture. Taking it all in was the most relaxing thing I've done so far...
-- Unfortunately the hike back was a gruelling 30min walk back up a VERY steep hill just to get into town!
Here are some pictures from the walk... wish you guys could've been with me.

Starting to walk down as the sun is setting. The cloud reflections off of the water were beautiful

Well's Bay. I was about 10 minutes away at this point.

Finally made it!

Starting the hike back up. Even though the sun set and there are no street lights you could still see because of the brightness of the stars. 

It was incredible. I tried taking pictures of the starry sky but no good. I wonder what kind of lens you would need... my photographer friends back home would be in paradise on this island! Maybe I should take up photography!! (in my "spare" time?)

St. John's

Zumba last night and volleyball tonight didn't leave me much time to write so I decided to put up some of the pictures from the village of St. John's  (where I had to go for both activities) and write about them tomorrow seeing as it's already 12:20am here and I still have to finish up a lecture tonight.

St. John's cemetery

find waldo! (or rooster in this case)

gorgeous sun rays peering through the clouds. Times like these I wish I knew more about photography and how to use the light properly.

mural in front of the school gymnasium 

this is the view on the walk back from St. John's to 'The Bottom' where the school campus is located and where I live right now :)

clear head

For those of you who know me know I love to run. You can probably say that I am addicted to running. The sensation you get when your body takes over and your mind just stops is unbelievable. I run because it clears my head. I forget about reality, stress from school and everything else I need to get done. It's just me and the road. It doesn't matter where the end is or even if it's near - my legs just keeps going.

Yesterday, I went for a run outside for the first time since I got to Saba. It was absolutely breathtaking; stunning; I was left in awe and overtaken by emotion. Pure, natural beauty. I had to stop and stare. Looking down was a rocky cliff covered in sparse vegetation. All around I was surrounded by the Caribbean sea with the sun about to set. It's very hard to describe but if you would've been there you would've been speechless too. I was completely alone and yet not scared - not scared to look out and see nothing but water ahead; no one around me. The songs of crickets and birds singing filled the air. All I could do is just stand there and just be present. I didn't have to think about anything. (this is one of the hardest things to do when you are washed up in the daily grind of work and school).

Amazing.

I would encourage everyone to try and reach this kind of sense of self... running is my hobby but maybe it can be achieved through yoga or meditation. Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

I will be sure to bring my camera with me next time I go - hopefully tomorrow.

Progress :)

Progress in the cooking department! Pooja and I decided to buy some red snapper. We marinated it in lemon juice and black pepper and grilled it on the Forman Grill with asparagus and potatoes.
Sooo good.

I also survived my second set of exams!! Wohooo! Now going out to relax and hang out with my classmates and enjoy the nice caribbean breeze.
Will be posting more this week & weekend. Thanks for all the comments and views. Love to see people are actually reading my blog -- so I don't feel like I'm just talking to myself :)

The White Coat... and Bananas!

So this post is more of a quick update and long overdue pictures from the white coat ceremony in the first week of school :)

Me (on the right) and one of my roommates, Vanessa. 

Looking professional :) I think that at this moment I started to say to myself  "this is real. I am becoming a doctor!"

Okay. Here's the exciting update...

So remember when I posted about the relaxing weekend my roommates and I spent two weeks ago? and how we went grocery shopping? Well, Pooja and I bought a bunch of bananas and we were extremely proud of our purchase since they make for a great healthy snack! 

WELL it's been 2 weeks and the bananas are finally ripened! I had the first one today :) Yes, I know, probably not as exciting as you hoped for, but these little things really make my day. (especially since we went through a huge ordeal of wrapping the bananas in paper bags - which are impossible to find on this island - and then wrap the bag in a cloth and place it outside in the sun everyday at lunch time!) After all that work wouldn't you be excited to finally be able to eat one?!

quite lame, I know; but probably not as lame as our nerdy anatomy jokes we come up with in lab. THAT will be for another post entirely!

Studying in Paradise

As another week is flying by I haven't had time to properly reflect or write much. I've spent my time memorizing the MILLIONS of muscles found in the upper and lower limbs. Who knew such a tiny hand could have soooo many muscles! (actually fascinating).

so, instead, I decided to post some pictures of my view from the dorm.
Tonight, and every night, the sky turns a pinkish blueish-grey haze atop of the rolling hills. A beautiful reminder that I am in paradise... (at least natural paradise )

so sit back and try to picture yourself here if you ever need a relaxing break during the day :)

The pictures don't do it justice. It's really quite mesmerizing.

This one is of my school campus. I realized I haven't posted one up yet.

Till tomorrow! (or thursday).

the experiment that went wrong

This is the beef I was telling you about yesterday. It has been in the fridge overnight but STILL! Beef should not look like that.

So for dinner tonight we decided to stick to a vegetarian option with lots of carbs. Pilaf with left over pasta and a green salad with tomatoes and carrots. Great dinner after a nice evening workout at the school gym!

Adjusting. Maybe…

 This week has been as crazy as the past two; 80 slide lectures in 2 hours and never-ending muscles, nerves, veins and arteries to memorize. I’ve already mentioned the crazy amount of information we are expected to know from one anatomy lecture… and you will probably hear me say it over and over again. But somehow I think my brain is adjusting to the information overload. It’s making more sense in class and memorizing has become much easier J

On the other hand, last night my roommate, Pooja, and I decided to cook a beef pilaf with vegetables. This past weekend we both concluded that we have the same taste and similar style of cooking (not to mention we both like to know what is in our food and eat ‘real food’ not the meal plans offered by the school which includes burgers, fries, pizza and pop for every meal!). Anyways we were so excited for the beef we had bought since the staff said it makes great stew. So we chopped up our vegetables and meat, combined everything with some salt, pepper, chicken broth, and indian spices to give it some more taste and let it simmer with the rice for 1.5 hours. (as a side note, I totally misjudged the amount of rice I put in and the pot started overflowing. I think we have rice to last us for a good two weeks now – dinner party anyone?) The smells were amazing. So I took a fork and sampled a piece of rice. Great taste. Then a piece of meat…. And I could not bite into it. It was like chewing rubber!! I was so confused. I’ve seen my grandma make beef pilaf so many times at home and her meat never tasted, well… like tires. I called Pooja to the kitchen, she tried the meat and started laughing.

(I was also talking to my boyfriend on skype at the time and asked him if he knew a way to make the beef edible. His answer? Throw it out and get new beef. Hahaha. Thanks for the genius advice :P)

So we ended up taking out all the meat pieces and boiled them separately. 30 minutes passed by. Still rubber. An hour. An hour and a half. Still rubber. TWO hours. The meat finally become edible after 2 hours of extra boiling.

Ugh. This island makes cooking sooo much more difficult, experimental and innovative. Cutting meat with a serrated knife, chopping vegetables with no chopping board, making sunny side eggs on a foreman grill so it doesn’t stick and placing a frying pan with a handle in the oven since we don’t have a cooking pan.

I’m sure most of you living at home are laughing at us by now – I would be too!

Definitely an experiment gone wrong.

I think I might become a vegetarian for the next 2 years.

Recharging.

This has been the most relaxing end of the week/saturday yet! We have had time to just hang out in the dorms and take longer study breaks.

My roommates and I decided to go out for lunch in a nearby village where we can also do our grocery shopping. We ended up eating at 'Tropics' which is a restaurant associated with one of the resorts on the island and it had amazing food! We even treated ourselves to a pina colada and tried to forget we were at school.

Jenn and I enjoying our drinks :) 

Roomies

The little kid in Jenn came out when she saw the floating swan! A very happy, medical school- free moment.

On our 2 hour "vacation".

 Enjoying Pina Coladas at the edge of Saba island overlooking the Caribbean Sea

Just hanging out :)

Wild goats! We see them everywhere and have to be careful when walking to and from school as they graze right along our path.