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Lately I have been wondering about this homesickness that everyone talks about. A lot of students here seem to get homesick a lot, especially in the first month of being away from home and stranded on this underdeveloped island called Dominica. Interestingly I haven't gotten homesick, or maybe I am just unaware. After the first week of adjustment to heat and humidity I actually feel at home (not as 'at home' as when I am in Vancouver but close enough). Am I an emotionless person? I do miss my parents and my friends in Vancouver, but not to the extent that I am feeling sad or in anyway affected negatively. Perhaps I have been so busy all the time studying and trying to stay sane here that I seem to have bypassed those sentimental moments? Anyway I am not sure. But those are some questions that have been running through my mind these days. HOWEVER, I am looking forward to going home on Aug 20! OH home sweet home... and food.
We had our DPS practical exam today. It was ridiculous, as in ridiculously simple. But I guess the point is to get our feet wet since we are the naive freshmen who are anxious to jump into the pool of complex medicine and ethics! The exam was basically an hour of story-writing. We were given a scenario - eg. Patient with chest pain. And we were supposed to write up a script of an interview conducted by a physician to narrow in on the differential diagnosis. Many students thought the exam was a joke after they finished it. But I thought it was actually a great way for us to get an idea of what sort of questions to ask in an interview to have the proper diagnosis. I named my 'patient' Craig Chimney... long story.
I miss my kitty Miho. He is now officially a Mama's boy! My mom is the commander in the house and Miho follows her EVERYWHERE, even to the bathroom. When she webcams me, Mih
o always shows up 30 seconds later and walks back and forth in front of the camera. Sometimes he spreads himself out on the back of the chair behind my mom's shoulders. He is getting big now. I can't wait to see him grow bigger! Oh I want to hug him so badly and bury my face in his belly like I used to... Miho is an Egyptian Abyssinian, an extremely loyal and royal exotic breed. And he is a handsome fella who knows he is goodlooking! However, my fantasy pet (yes I do have a fantasy pet) is a cheetah. I must say - cheetahs rank number ONE on my list of 'Pets to Have', although it may very well be impossible. Oh well. One can dream!
Finally - our semester is coming close to an end. Our exam schedule for the rest of the term is as such:
Aug 6 Anatomy Practical
Aug 7 Histology Practical
Aug 11 Mini 3
Aug 18 Local Final Exam
Days left before heading home: 24 days
It is officially the hurricane season in Dominica. We have had monsoons for the past few days almost nonstop, occasionally interspersed with light rainy periods. Not much different from good ol' Vancouver, only slightly worse when it does rain! The school sent an email out to everyone just warning us about a heavy cloud that will be hanging around for this week, giving us the wettest of the wettest weather - plus high winds. Why don't we just have the hurricane and get it over with huh? I vote for that. The locals told me that the hurricane season goes on till November. I was pretty excited to hear that... not.
Anyway 2 nights ago I went to a meeting held by the Canadian Student Association at Ross. We had Tom come and talk to us about the 'next steps' in our medical education, especially regarding clinical rotations and applying for residency. I must say that I had trouble wrapping my head around all the info I was given. But in a nut shell, it was a positive message - even though Canadian IMGs will have a bit of a tougher time than American IMGs in getting residencies back home, it is do-able and already done by many. Canada, especially Ontario, is taking in more IMGs every year due to shortage of doctors all over. However, there are a few options that we could choose from. But I need to do some homework on that topic and map out a plan for myself before I could comment any further.
My bed has been like this for a while (and this picture shows its tidiest state). Most of the time there are 3 more piles of binder/notes/books along with the backpack. I just leave them there and sleep on the inner half of the mattress... Lazy? I don't know. I figured that I would have to reopen all the books in the morning and saw no point in putting everything back just to take them out in the same order in 6 hours again. So... they stay.
Countdown to going home: 29 days
This photo was taken on a bus when my neighbor Serg and I went into town for some shopping. That was a one-hour zigzag bus ride in the heat! I ended up buying a lot more stuff than him, including 2 bottles of juice concentrate (passion fruit and guava, yum!). I also bought my first pair of crocs... I know, it is a surprise. Back home I always thought those were ugly and weird looking! But now with my foot injury I had no choice. And strangely they are very comfortable! So now they are growing on me and I absolutely love them.
I am thinking about moving. My roommates just told me yesterday that they were looking for places to move and that prompted me to think about moving as well! Maybe I was sad to hear that my roomies are leaving because I love them and we get along so well. Sigh... Apartments on campus are very tempting but they are also very expensive. I am paying half as much rent right now. But the convenience of on-campus housing is winking at me, especially with this foot injury these days.
and things just keep piling up (not school stuff, thank goodness!), like my flight tickets for the next term. Apparently American Airline has no more spots left for September returns to Dominica! What the heck! I fired a dozen emails back and forth with my agent in Vancouver to settle down the dates, airlines, and price. After all that struggle, it is still not booked yet. And she is supposed to let me know tomorrow. I decided to not go back in December just to avoid the holiday rush and perhaps the cold, snowy winter? ;) But we'll see. Oh by the way, I saw the milky way 2 nights ago!! It was AMAZING - and that is an understatement. I had never seen it before and my friend Taylor pointed out to me! I almost got too excited. Dominica has a beautiful sky right above it. Every night you can see stars blinking at you all over the place!
Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard from me, my Mini 2 exam went well, which was shocking! But I am not complaining. I will just study hard for the next one! Add oil~
Love you all!
OH my... I wrote the most difficult exam in my life today!! Not sure how I feel at the moment but one thing I know is that I am not touching any books for the rest of the evening. Most of the students were either looking for a rope to hang themselves or a gun to blast their own brains out after walking out of the exam room... I am tired, and have been studying so hard that I don't feel sad about how horrible the exam felt. Is that bad? I am not sure. Oh well. Then shortly after I dragged myself home I broke my best pair of sunglasses because I forgot that it was sitting on top of my head... WHAT AN ALEXIS MOMENT!
Normally I would go out for a run after the exam but my foot injury is keeping me back. Sigh. I am gonna do some pilates :)
I miss my friends back home. I miss being silly with them and not having to sit ALL day and study like a maniac, especially the week before the exam. But on the other hand I like med school (yes, still) and I like the stress to a certain degree. I wish I wasn't being evaluated - that way I would REALLY enjoy learning haha! My friend's boyfriend came to visit her here and he said after seeing how much we study here and how much stress we have to go through, he doesn't think med students are human beings. It is somewhat true.
Alright. Off to exercise.
Lately I have been wondering about this homesickness that everyone talks about. A lot of students here seem to get homesick a lot, especially in the first month of being away from home and stranded on this underdeveloped island called Dominica. Interestingly I haven't gotten homesick, or maybe I am just unaware. After the first week of adjustment to heat and humidity I actually feel at home (not as 'at home' as when I am in Vancouver but close enough). Am I an emotionless person? I do miss my parents and my friends in Vancouver, but not to the extent that I am feeling sad or in anyway affected negatively. Perhaps I have been so busy all the time studying and trying to stay sane here that I seem to have bypassed those sentimental moments? Anyway I am not sure. But those are some questions that have been running through my mind these days. HOWEVER, I am looking forward to going home on Aug 20! OH home sweet home... and food.
o always shows up 30 seconds later and walks back and forth in front of the camera. Sometimes he spreads himself out on the back of the chair behind my mom's shoulders. He is getting big now. I can't wait to see him grow bigger! Oh I want to hug him so badly and bury my face in his belly like I used to... Miho is an Egyptian Abyssinian, an extremely loyal and royal exotic breed. And he is a handsome fella who knows he is goodlooking! However, my fantasy pet (yes I do have a fantasy pet) is a cheetah. I must say - cheetahs rank number ONE on my list of 'Pets to Have', although it may very well be impossible. Oh well. One can dream!
