Tonight was the first weekend after our 2nd block exams and much like the first exam weekend, it was quite an adventure. While 1st block was quite a bit more depressing, my fellow classmates and I still took advantage of tonight and spent it as a typical Caribbean vacation night. Fifteen of us took a terrifying cab ride up and around the island up to a stunning little hotel located further north of campus, and fuck was it a roller coaster getting there. Right before we actually arrived to the hotel we had to drive up an unbelievably steep hill; it was literally like a 35 degree incline. We had to get some acceleration into a rolling start because the cab was too overweight (the shit-mobile that it was didn't help at all either). Anyways, we arrive at the restaurant/hotel to be greeted by the owners with a beautiful balcony overlooking the eastern side of the island, a nice pool in the center, and the stars calmly relaxing up above. A friend and I split some quality Merlot as neither of us has had any wine in nearly three months and fuck was it satisfying. With a small portioned filet mignon and a tiramisu for dessert, it was a dinner none of us would get to enjoy again for at least another month. Dinner ending only at 10pm, we still had the entire night in front of us; we all ended up heading down to Scout's Place, a decently sized bar with sabaoke (the island's version of karaoke), and met up with a handful of other students and started a long road into the night. The locals along with plenty of first and third semesters took hand of the mics as they sang some tunes for the rest of the bar. Shockingly I stood up there with three other buddies as we shouted out the lyrics to Californication. Three hours and countless drinks later, we headed over to another bar called Guido's, and yeah it's pretty ghetto in there. Loud music, a dance floor, and some bright blinking lights were all we needed to finish the night off.
There most likely won't be another night like this at least until the end of the month, which is quite upsetting. We all get along very well together as we can all relate to each other's suffering and it's rare that everyone gets to spend an alcoholic filled journey with one another. Like high school and college, after these two years of basic sciences, we all head our separate ways, and so what time we do spend together is treasured quite a bit, although not everyone may realize it (also considering that 114% of the students are Canadian, they're pretty far away from me and each other). With Halloween approaching, I'm interested in seeing what creative costumes some of us are able to conjure up; should be an amusing month.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
October
It honestly feels like I've been here for a year now, that's how slow time passes here, but unfortunately it's only been a month. It's a depressing thought of having to spend October way down here int he middle of fucking nowhere; fall is my favorite season of year and it also happens to be the month of my birthday, yet I don't get to experience or enjoy the benefits. Seeing your breath for the first time with the leaves gradually shifting colors just makes you feel like a necessary change is finally approaching. Simply knowing that you'll see the same scenery over and over again for the two year stay just isn't very satisfying. I've always been someone who hated being exposed to the same shit time and time again, which makes this whole experience all the more interesting - how the fuck did I end up here? I hope a crunchy brown leaf finds its way here somehow.
I briefly read through my previous posts and realized that not once have I had something good to say about this island, other than the view, and thought I'd enlighten you guys with the wonderful parts of this little volcano.
1. The air conditioner has a remote.
That's it.
Furthermore, today was the day of our 2nd block exams, After the exam, all the tension that's been built up for the past three weeks have been lifted. Too bad that of the last four weeks of sunny weather, today was the one day it rained all day. Apparently another hurricane formed on top of us, and while we completely avoided the storm, we still got hit by the rain (and fuck was it a lot of rain). With the elevation of our dorm being so high, we're pretty much covered by clouds when it rains here; it got to the point where we couldn't even see down the street from the balcony of our dorm.
On a completely random note, I fucking hate the fact that obnoxious idiots with absolutely no education or any ability to speak proper English work the dorms. I understand that idiots manage to inhabit more places than they should, but for once I wish they could've hired English affluent people to work in a dorm full of medical students; this is an English speaking school/island after all. I accidentally left a $40 pen in my scrubs when I was throwing them in the laundry, so I later go down to ask the people working the laundry machines if they had seen a pen, they did and they set it aside somewhere, but they don't remember where and didn't want to bother looking for it (at least that's what I think they said, bitches). Obviously I shouldn't have been so careless with the pen, but for anyone who keeps track of things I lose, I've lost one thing in the last six years, which was that SAME fucking pen I re-bought; shits cursed.
I briefly read through my previous posts and realized that not once have I had something good to say about this island, other than the view, and thought I'd enlighten you guys with the wonderful parts of this little volcano.
1. The air conditioner has a remote.
That's it.
Furthermore, today was the day of our 2nd block exams, After the exam, all the tension that's been built up for the past three weeks have been lifted. Too bad that of the last four weeks of sunny weather, today was the one day it rained all day. Apparently another hurricane formed on top of us, and while we completely avoided the storm, we still got hit by the rain (and fuck was it a lot of rain). With the elevation of our dorm being so high, we're pretty much covered by clouds when it rains here; it got to the point where we couldn't even see down the street from the balcony of our dorm.
On a completely random note, I fucking hate the fact that obnoxious idiots with absolutely no education or any ability to speak proper English work the dorms. I understand that idiots manage to inhabit more places than they should, but for once I wish they could've hired English affluent people to work in a dorm full of medical students; this is an English speaking school/island after all. I accidentally left a $40 pen in my scrubs when I was throwing them in the laundry, so I later go down to ask the people working the laundry machines if they had seen a pen, they did and they set it aside somewhere, but they don't remember where and didn't want to bother looking for it (at least that's what I think they said, bitches). Obviously I shouldn't have been so careless with the pen, but for anyone who keeps track of things I lose, I've lost one thing in the last six years, which was that SAME fucking pen I re-bought; shits cursed.
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Big Leagues
My name was called today along with the other half of the class as the professor handed us a piece of paper. Wondering what the fuck it was I open it up to see the first line reading, 'You have been chosen at random for a drug screening.' I laugh a bit then continue to wonder why the fuck this school administers drug tests - since when is medical school a professional sport? I mentioned before how the professors purposefully make the first semester exams significantly harder to weed out as many possible students, I'm assuming that these drug screens are just another game this school likes to throw at the students to fail us out. I can understand that the school would not want their students to be using drugs while on the island, but honestly who the fuck cares? It's unlikely that anyone using the enormous list of study aid drugs, adderall (any others? nope), would be taking advantage of it to the point where they're cheating in their studies, let alone making it into medical school in the first place had they been abusing drugs. Any other drugs are most likely going to be used for recreational purposes. The fact that they also look for traces of marijuana is just mind boggling. I also find it amusing that the drug screening is administered EXACTLY one month since we've first arrived on this island. Let the toxins flush out of our systems from our wild youth and acceptance celebrations. It's possible that since we're on foreign soil, they would want students to avoid any mishaps with the locals and all two police officers, but if you've seen this island I'm pretty sure everyone here is on drugs. If that is the case however, then it is slightly more reasonable, but they could've used other means than to surprise us all with stupid shit like this. With the big Dr. Auction party just this past Saturday, nearly all those present at the party were called for the screening with the exception of a few students who weren't there. But more likely of the cases, I've heard that these 'random' screenings aren't so random. They are usually sent out only once, at this point of the semester, and are directed towards those who are currently failing (with 74% of our class failing, the school is going to have a lot of piss to look through), not because they think the drugs are affecting their studies, but rather because they do not want to kick out the ones who may be doing drugs but are also doing well - where the fuck are the ethics in that? Missing your appointment for the screening also means that you are 'assumed' to be positive and your action will be taken 'very seriously.' The school warns us for a dozen different inappropriate actions all leading to a 'very serious' consequence. Just fucking say we will be kicked out instead of beating around the bush with your overly sized ego covered stick.
That's another reason why I absolutely hate this school; they're so unbelievably strict on nearly every single matter when it comes to not only student's rights, but also on matters like attendance, internet usage, etc. You wonder why this school in particular has such an amazing USMLE step 1 performance, well it's because they do not let students pass unless they are guaranteed to pass it. You could waste two agonizing years and $75,000+, all to fail your 5th semester classes or the NBME (exam required to be allowed to take the USMLE step 1). But don't get me wrong, this school definitely prepares the students (who go on to make it) the best for the upcoming USMLEs and performance in the future medical field, But the struggle through this school's academic praise is in no way worth it compared to other schools. I just found out too that my school teaches us extra shit that other medical schools don't even touch. SGU, another Caribbean medical school part of 'the big four' had twenty students fail out the first semester out of 500; we've already had over fifteen students of ninety-seven drop out after only one fucking exam.
I've got nothing to worry about concerning this randomized drug screen test, and apparently since it's to be only once a semester, happy drugging to all.
That's another reason why I absolutely hate this school; they're so unbelievably strict on nearly every single matter when it comes to not only student's rights, but also on matters like attendance, internet usage, etc. You wonder why this school in particular has such an amazing USMLE step 1 performance, well it's because they do not let students pass unless they are guaranteed to pass it. You could waste two agonizing years and $75,000+, all to fail your 5th semester classes or the NBME (exam required to be allowed to take the USMLE step 1). But don't get me wrong, this school definitely prepares the students (who go on to make it) the best for the upcoming USMLEs and performance in the future medical field, But the struggle through this school's academic praise is in no way worth it compared to other schools. I just found out too that my school teaches us extra shit that other medical schools don't even touch. SGU, another Caribbean medical school part of 'the big four' had twenty students fail out the first semester out of 500; we've already had over fifteen students of ninety-seven drop out after only one fucking exam.
I've got nothing to worry about concerning this randomized drug screen test, and apparently since it's to be only once a semester, happy drugging to all.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Doctor's auction
Once a year there's an event at our school called the doctor's auction where a bunch of random shit are auctioned off; anything from the professor's time to student baked food. All I have to say is that it was a very fun night (not because of the auction). Some of my friends auctioned themselves off selling their own time or teaching piano lessons etc. There were a lot of massages being auctioned (no happy endings were included as they mentioned) as well as miscellaneous things such as scuba diving lessons, internet cards, dinner and drinks to restaurants, dates with girls and guys. Apparently last year, one of the professor's rastafarian hats sold for $400 while he himself sold for $1,200.
There were at least a hundred students there which was pretty good for a tiny fucking bar on the side of the road. It was a good night to network with the older semester students and I continued to meet some more people in my class. If you've ever wondered whether a doctor smokes or not or why they smoke for that matter, you haven't been to medical school. Roughly a quarter of the students here smoke, while some picked it up after the first block exams.
Other than the auctioning portion of the night, I got to enjoy a lot of beers, shots, and mixed drinks. I haven't had this much to drink even in college - let's just say I was drunk enough to actually start dancing with everyone else, which doesn't happen very often. Walking back at 2am was a fucking blast. There was no point taking a cab back to the dorm because it was literally a five minute walk down the hill, but these roads are such shit that I was tripping all over the place. It was a perfect night for a walk though with a cool breeze flowing through and the stars peeking their faces out from behind the clouds (I managed to see the moon for the first fucking time since I've been here). I ran into a friend who was still awake and after talking to her for a bit, I said I should stop talking because I probably sound like an idiot not having been this drunk in a long while, then someone mentioned that I'm functionally drunk, so I continued to blabber on about the whatever something I think I was talking about. I felt a little sick going to bed, but the greatest part of drinking too much is that you just pass out, no need of 'trying' to fall asleep. I haven't been hung over since high school, and waking up I had no idea if I was actually going to have a hangover. You always wake up fine, but the minute you sit up it hits you like the Super Star Destroyer hit the Death Star... very explosively. So I tell Neil to watch because I was probably going to fall over as soon as I stand up from the bed, but luckily I didn't fall, I just tripped over flat ground into a door.
There were at least a hundred students there which was pretty good for a tiny fucking bar on the side of the road. It was a good night to network with the older semester students and I continued to meet some more people in my class. If you've ever wondered whether a doctor smokes or not or why they smoke for that matter, you haven't been to medical school. Roughly a quarter of the students here smoke, while some picked it up after the first block exams.
Other than the auctioning portion of the night, I got to enjoy a lot of beers, shots, and mixed drinks. I haven't had this much to drink even in college - let's just say I was drunk enough to actually start dancing with everyone else, which doesn't happen very often. Walking back at 2am was a fucking blast. There was no point taking a cab back to the dorm because it was literally a five minute walk down the hill, but these roads are such shit that I was tripping all over the place. It was a perfect night for a walk though with a cool breeze flowing through and the stars peeking their faces out from behind the clouds (I managed to see the moon for the first fucking time since I've been here). I ran into a friend who was still awake and after talking to her for a bit, I said I should stop talking because I probably sound like an idiot not having been this drunk in a long while, then someone mentioned that I'm functionally drunk, so I continued to blabber on about the whatever something I think I was talking about. I felt a little sick going to bed, but the greatest part of drinking too much is that you just pass out, no need of 'trying' to fall asleep. I haven't been hung over since high school, and waking up I had no idea if I was actually going to have a hangover. You always wake up fine, but the minute you sit up it hits you like the Super Star Destroyer hit the Death Star... very explosively. So I tell Neil to watch because I was probably going to fall over as soon as I stand up from the bed, but luckily I didn't fall, I just tripped over flat ground into a door.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Firsts.
There have now been a few things that I've done on this island that I either haven't had the chance to do at home or never got around to doing (or forced to do).
I went for a run for the first time the other day up around the island. And when I say 'went' for a run, it was about a quarter mile before i said, fuck this, and turned around. I knew the run was going to be difficult for a few reasons. One being that I haven't done any cardio in at least two months now, but mostly because I was running up a ridiculously steep incline - this is the same road hitch hiked along, and let's just say it didn't seem as steep in a car. I'd guess the incline was around 15-20 degrees the entire run (srsly), after a quarter mile of looping around the face of the mountain, I was already several hundred feet above from where I started. Several cars passed by while I was suffering through the run and then up came a car with this fat white kid with a Jew fro lounging on the back of a rusted pickup truck staring at me like I was an idiot, and while running up this road might've appeared like a stupid decision, that look coming from an obese 13 yr old with a pig face and the dressing fashion of some southern white trash's trashcan that got mauled by a bear raises the question of who's the real idiot. The next day I was walking back to my dorm from the convenient store near the foot of the mountain and realized just how high I actually got, then said to myself, 'I'm awesome.'
Another first that I haven't done in awhile was drinking soda. I may have had beer, Redbull, and other carbonated drinks somewhere along the road, but no coke or sprite, etc. I would've liked to have kept avoiding those drinks, but living on this island severely limits the choices given to you for beverages - and plenty of other shit. I managed to stay hidden from soda for nearly 4 months, but it finally found me. Going down to my stomach was rough, I don't remember coke and sprite having such a burning sensation, but I guess when you're out of the soda drinking business for a few months it sneaks up on you and fucks you in the throat.
So I'm pretty sure none of the locals on this island have ever heard of a haircut - or a shower for that fact. I've been around the town a few times now and never saw a barber or a hairdresser shit thing, so I took it upon myself to grab a pair of scissors and go at it Han style, solo. I ended up spending a good 2 hours in front of a tiny fucking mirror cutting an area of hair I CAN'T FUCKING SEE. And looking at the back of your head requires 2 mirrors, but oh wait this island is too cheap to sell mirrors (I actually haven't looked but it's a safe assumption). So I used a little piece of reflective metal and well... I think it worked, haven't heard anyone ask wtf is up with my hair. I'll probably just end up growing it out like I always do during the semester.
I've also gone to every class so far (except 1 because of drinking too much and staying up way too late after the first block exams (plenty of others joined me for that one so no worries)) for the first time in awhile. But that's just due to the fact that we have fucking attendance in class. While it is reasonable that they don't want students missing class and failing out (failing out more easily that is ), 8 out of 10 people I've talked to don't even pay attention in class. The profs go way too fast and in too much detail to fully be able to keep up with them (and it's stupid to ask to go slower because we WILL fall behind and have class over the weekends). It's better to zone out during their lectures and learn the thing on your own in class. It's also quite difficult, for me at least, to pay attention when I'm falling asleep at my desk. That extra 2 hours of sleep I'd gain from skipping histo lectures would do me wonders for anatomy because I actually do listen to that shit. During my last semester at Umass, I went to a grand total of one lecture for my sociology class.
I also started doing my physical therapy exercises for my herniated disc for the first time in half a year. Since getting my third lumbar epidural steroid injection in June, my active 'fix my back' motive kind of went to shit since the pain was alleviated to some extent. But obviously there is no place here where I can really get another injection, and sitting for the majority of the day studying and listening to lecture is the worst fucking thing I can do my back right now; I need to delay the onset of pain again for as long as possible before returning to the states. I've always hated relying on medicine and drugs to relieve pain and to get rid of colds etc, but knowing that this herniated disc will never heal on its own is pretty depressing. Physical therapy will help but it's no solution, so I've started wondering if I should take a more invasive view on this whole ordeal. My doc recommended my other getting injections into the articular facet joints (for those of you who know some anatomy, these are structures on the lamina of the vertebrae which articulate with the adjacent superior and inferior vertebrae) or I can burn the sensory nerves (sensory nerves would probably be a better fix, and don't worry about spinal injuries because your spinal cord ends at L2 and this would be at the L4-L5 junction (I've already forgotten some of the spinal section and I'm much too lazy to go read it up, but the L4 nerve root (branches to dorsal rami at the level of T11) is still responsible for general somatic afferent and efferent (GSA - GSE) signals, so there could be risks involved. I honestly don't know enough about it to assume anything, but it helps to know a little bit.)) (*edit* - The sciatic nerve has root values from L4,5,S1,2,3 and so fucking this up will pretty much fuck over my legs; there are nearly 30 innervations from this nerve responsible for posterior and lateral parts of my legs). Anyways, I've drifted from the main topic of this post, but you guys now know that even on an island with such little to do and with plenty of studying to do, I've still got other shit to think about (like how the fuck am I going to watch the season premiere of House and How I Met Your Mother tonight? FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU)
Another first, missing tv shows. Anyone who knows me knows that tv shows are the most important part of the day to me. This is absolute torture and I want to burn, destroy, and flush this island into the sea for making me writhe in pain while 20 million viewers enjoy some of my favorite shows and 1 dedicated viewer ISN'T viewing.
I went for a run for the first time the other day up around the island. And when I say 'went' for a run, it was about a quarter mile before i said, fuck this, and turned around. I knew the run was going to be difficult for a few reasons. One being that I haven't done any cardio in at least two months now, but mostly because I was running up a ridiculously steep incline - this is the same road hitch hiked along, and let's just say it didn't seem as steep in a car. I'd guess the incline was around 15-20 degrees the entire run (srsly), after a quarter mile of looping around the face of the mountain, I was already several hundred feet above from where I started. Several cars passed by while I was suffering through the run and then up came a car with this fat white kid with a Jew fro lounging on the back of a rusted pickup truck staring at me like I was an idiot, and while running up this road might've appeared like a stupid decision, that look coming from an obese 13 yr old with a pig face and the dressing fashion of some southern white trash's trashcan that got mauled by a bear raises the question of who's the real idiot. The next day I was walking back to my dorm from the convenient store near the foot of the mountain and realized just how high I actually got, then said to myself, 'I'm awesome.'
Another first that I haven't done in awhile was drinking soda. I may have had beer, Redbull, and other carbonated drinks somewhere along the road, but no coke or sprite, etc. I would've liked to have kept avoiding those drinks, but living on this island severely limits the choices given to you for beverages - and plenty of other shit. I managed to stay hidden from soda for nearly 4 months, but it finally found me. Going down to my stomach was rough, I don't remember coke and sprite having such a burning sensation, but I guess when you're out of the soda drinking business for a few months it sneaks up on you and fucks you in the throat.
So I'm pretty sure none of the locals on this island have ever heard of a haircut - or a shower for that fact. I've been around the town a few times now and never saw a barber or a hairdresser shit thing, so I took it upon myself to grab a pair of scissors and go at it Han style, solo. I ended up spending a good 2 hours in front of a tiny fucking mirror cutting an area of hair I CAN'T FUCKING SEE. And looking at the back of your head requires 2 mirrors, but oh wait this island is too cheap to sell mirrors (I actually haven't looked but it's a safe assumption). So I used a little piece of reflective metal and well... I think it worked, haven't heard anyone ask wtf is up with my hair. I'll probably just end up growing it out like I always do during the semester.
I've also gone to every class so far (except 1 because of drinking too much and staying up way too late after the first block exams (plenty of others joined me for that one so no worries)) for the first time in awhile. But that's just due to the fact that we have fucking attendance in class. While it is reasonable that they don't want students missing class and failing out (failing out more easily that is ), 8 out of 10 people I've talked to don't even pay attention in class. The profs go way too fast and in too much detail to fully be able to keep up with them (and it's stupid to ask to go slower because we WILL fall behind and have class over the weekends). It's better to zone out during their lectures and learn the thing on your own in class. It's also quite difficult, for me at least, to pay attention when I'm falling asleep at my desk. That extra 2 hours of sleep I'd gain from skipping histo lectures would do me wonders for anatomy because I actually do listen to that shit. During my last semester at Umass, I went to a grand total of one lecture for my sociology class.
I also started doing my physical therapy exercises for my herniated disc for the first time in half a year. Since getting my third lumbar epidural steroid injection in June, my active 'fix my back' motive kind of went to shit since the pain was alleviated to some extent. But obviously there is no place here where I can really get another injection, and sitting for the majority of the day studying and listening to lecture is the worst fucking thing I can do my back right now; I need to delay the onset of pain again for as long as possible before returning to the states. I've always hated relying on medicine and drugs to relieve pain and to get rid of colds etc, but knowing that this herniated disc will never heal on its own is pretty depressing. Physical therapy will help but it's no solution, so I've started wondering if I should take a more invasive view on this whole ordeal. My doc recommended my other getting injections into the articular facet joints (for those of you who know some anatomy, these are structures on the lamina of the vertebrae which articulate with the adjacent superior and inferior vertebrae) or I can burn the sensory nerves (sensory nerves would probably be a better fix, and don't worry about spinal injuries because your spinal cord ends at L2 and this would be at the L4-L5 junction (I've already forgotten some of the spinal section and I'm much too lazy to go read it up, but the L4 nerve root (branches to dorsal rami at the level of T11) is still responsible for general somatic afferent and efferent (GSA - GSE) signals, so there could be risks involved. I honestly don't know enough about it to assume anything, but it helps to know a little bit.)) (*edit* - The sciatic nerve has root values from L4,5,S1,2,3 and so fucking this up will pretty much fuck over my legs; there are nearly 30 innervations from this nerve responsible for posterior and lateral parts of my legs). Anyways, I've drifted from the main topic of this post, but you guys now know that even on an island with such little to do and with plenty of studying to do, I've still got other shit to think about (like how the fuck am I going to watch the season premiere of House and How I Met Your Mother tonight? FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU)
Another first, missing tv shows. Anyone who knows me knows that tv shows are the most important part of the day to me. This is absolute torture and I want to burn, destroy, and flush this island into the sea for making me writhe in pain while 20 million viewers enjoy some of my favorite shows and 1 dedicated viewer ISN'T viewing.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
imagination is more important than knowledge
I've come to realize lately that I've been having more and more ideas of shit I want to write and just do when I get back home. On the days where I have some time off, I find myself writing quite often, not just the blog, but also more short stories, adding a few extra paragraphs to Faint, the book I started last year, and just concepts for other stories I'd like to one day start if I get out of here alive. When I think about it, I probably shouldn't even be writing, let alone write these blogs, as I should probably spend the time studying, but I love to write and personally find it more important than med school because simply put, I enjoy it more, and the brief chances I get of doing what I love is what keeps me going on this rock.
With the unusual changes in lifestyle from my norm, my general condition, hygiene, diet, health, sanity, etc, has been declining. To make up for that, I've decided on a few things I'm going to do first thing when I land back on flat, non-erupting, internet friendly, food worthy, population dense, water running, technology rich, snow covered ground.
1. Turn the faucet on and keep it running for the next week. I need to waste the water I've been conserving somehow right?
2. Lock myself in a movie theater and catch up on every single movie I've been missing for the past 4 months.
3. Sell all the low priced alcohol I bought here to stupid high school kids to make back the money spent for med school.
4. Eat 4 months worth of missed meals.
5. Go to the gym and work out for 6 weeks straight non-stop without rest.
6. Take all my pent up anger and beat the fuck out of the first bird I see.
7. Open a Taco Bell back on the island and make bank. Seriously, I found myself saying I want taco bell more often than I said I hate this place. True story.
8. Find a Taco Bell and drain the state of taco shells.
9. Burn every textbook within a mile of my house
And finally.
10. Sleep. There's nothing I love more in this world than my fantastically soft, pillow covered bed.
With the unusual changes in lifestyle from my norm, my general condition, hygiene, diet, health, sanity, etc, has been declining. To make up for that, I've decided on a few things I'm going to do first thing when I land back on flat, non-erupting, internet friendly, food worthy, population dense, water running, technology rich, snow covered ground.
1. Turn the faucet on and keep it running for the next week. I need to waste the water I've been conserving somehow right?
2. Lock myself in a movie theater and catch up on every single movie I've been missing for the past 4 months.
3. Sell all the low priced alcohol I bought here to stupid high school kids to make back the money spent for med school.
4. Eat 4 months worth of missed meals.
5. Go to the gym and work out for 6 weeks straight non-stop without rest.
6. Take all my pent up anger and beat the fuck out of the first bird I see.
7. Open a Taco Bell back on the island and make bank. Seriously, I found myself saying I want taco bell more often than I said I hate this place. True story.
8. Find a Taco Bell and drain the state of taco shells.
9. Burn every textbook within a mile of my house
And finally.
10. Sleep. There's nothing I love more in this world than my fantastically soft, pillow covered bed.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
and the results are in...
The last 2 weeks have been hell for everyone in my class for the first block exams. Not knowing what to expect for the exams in regards to questions, format, and approximate length it would take for each individual student. I was pretty sure going into this the range I would score. I was also pretty confident that our class was going to do pretty well overall because there are honestly some intelligent and very capable people here. Well it's nice to know that I was completely wrong in predicting the outcome of our classes average.
73% failed.
Of the 102 students in our Anatomy class, several of which are from the semester before us retaking the course, 74 students failed the exam.
I was probably the 10th person to be finished with the exam so I got to see a lot of my fellow classmates walk out the door. Some shouted fuck, others walked out with shrugged shoulders mouthing wtf was that?, others with tears running down their face. All I can say is that there were very very few people that weren't showing some sign of suicidal thoughts. Within an hour of the end of the exam, nearly everyone in my dorm was wielding a beer in their hand trying to cheer up. Me and a few others went out to get some lunch to try and brighten up the day while simultaneously blur the day with the cheapest alcohol on the planet. A .750 of vodka back in Amherst was around $17-18?. Fucking $8 for a liter here. This miserable island just got a little better.
I got to spend the majority of the day actually getting to know the rest of my class which I've been wanting to do for the few weeks I've been here now. In times of stress here we all just tend to socialize and come to be friends with one another, although I'm sure that the fact that about 95% of the class was drunk tonight helped the process. I stopped by my friend's room and tried to cheer him up with some pizza and a beer. It's just tough to imagine so many people down and unbelievably upset at once, but you just gotta stay optimistic and stick together. And get fucked up. Regardless, having been late to the school because of Hurricane Fuck, it was time for some overdue meet and greet with the dorm mates. Drinking and talking tonight with the others was probably the best night I've had in a long while, except for the scary encounter me and one other had with this fucking crazy local. This guy, Michael, somehow came to talking with me and 7 others. Must have been in his 40s and just overall bad condition, hygiene, health, sanity. Anyways, 5 of the others ended up getting a ride to some house while we were supposed to follow, but that didn't happen. Michael starts talking about some random shit and having us answer some questions about fucking pointless things. I may have been drunk, but I was sober enough to realize that this was not where I wanted to be; with that in mind I was definitely ready to either run or save my buddy... and then run. Some time later we end up getting back with a near horror story to tell the others and continued our drinking with the clock now approaching 11. No one cared about the 9 hours of lecture we have tomorrow and just enjoyed this day as if it were a vacation in the Caribbean.
On another note, I just finished watching the season finale for both Entourage and True Blood tonight and must say I fucking hate these writers. No one likes cliff hangers and the fact that HBO had 2 HUGE cliff hangers for both these shows just makes me want to cry myself to sleep, but no need to cry about the tv shows because we're all too busy crying about our failed exams; what a glorious day it's been today. I'm almost certain people are getting to know me as the guy who shouts and curses at the top of his lung from day to night in his room, and I can't help but laugh because I really do (mostly from trying to download 600mb files going at 20kb/s which is about 7 hours of expensive internet, then it disconnecting and losing my progress). For instance, just last night I finished studying after a grueling day of solid work. Spent about $8 worth of internet downloading Entourage and finally winding down for the night to relax, the fucking file was corrupted. It's the shit like this that I can't stand on this rock.
Fuck passing Med School, I just want my internet.
73% failed.
Of the 102 students in our Anatomy class, several of which are from the semester before us retaking the course, 74 students failed the exam.
I was probably the 10th person to be finished with the exam so I got to see a lot of my fellow classmates walk out the door. Some shouted fuck, others walked out with shrugged shoulders mouthing wtf was that?, others with tears running down their face. All I can say is that there were very very few people that weren't showing some sign of suicidal thoughts. Within an hour of the end of the exam, nearly everyone in my dorm was wielding a beer in their hand trying to cheer up. Me and a few others went out to get some lunch to try and brighten up the day while simultaneously blur the day with the cheapest alcohol on the planet. A .750 of vodka back in Amherst was around $17-18?. Fucking $8 for a liter here. This miserable island just got a little better.
I got to spend the majority of the day actually getting to know the rest of my class which I've been wanting to do for the few weeks I've been here now. In times of stress here we all just tend to socialize and come to be friends with one another, although I'm sure that the fact that about 95% of the class was drunk tonight helped the process. I stopped by my friend's room and tried to cheer him up with some pizza and a beer. It's just tough to imagine so many people down and unbelievably upset at once, but you just gotta stay optimistic and stick together. And get fucked up. Regardless, having been late to the school because of Hurricane Fuck, it was time for some overdue meet and greet with the dorm mates. Drinking and talking tonight with the others was probably the best night I've had in a long while, except for the scary encounter me and one other had with this fucking crazy local. This guy, Michael, somehow came to talking with me and 7 others. Must have been in his 40s and just overall bad condition, hygiene, health, sanity. Anyways, 5 of the others ended up getting a ride to some house while we were supposed to follow, but that didn't happen. Michael starts talking about some random shit and having us answer some questions about fucking pointless things. I may have been drunk, but I was sober enough to realize that this was not where I wanted to be; with that in mind I was definitely ready to either run or save my buddy... and then run. Some time later we end up getting back with a near horror story to tell the others and continued our drinking with the clock now approaching 11. No one cared about the 9 hours of lecture we have tomorrow and just enjoyed this day as if it were a vacation in the Caribbean.
On another note, I just finished watching the season finale for both Entourage and True Blood tonight and must say I fucking hate these writers. No one likes cliff hangers and the fact that HBO had 2 HUGE cliff hangers for both these shows just makes me want to cry myself to sleep, but no need to cry about the tv shows because we're all too busy crying about our failed exams; what a glorious day it's been today. I'm almost certain people are getting to know me as the guy who shouts and curses at the top of his lung from day to night in his room, and I can't help but laugh because I really do (mostly from trying to download 600mb files going at 20kb/s which is about 7 hours of expensive internet, then it disconnecting and losing my progress). For instance, just last night I finished studying after a grueling day of solid work. Spent about $8 worth of internet downloading Entourage and finally winding down for the night to relax, the fucking file was corrupted. It's the shit like this that I can't stand on this rock.
Fuck passing Med School, I just want my internet.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The new King of Queens
The 2010 US Open final comes to an end with Nadal sweeping the courts with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 win against Djokovic. I knew Nadal would take this one for his final Major win, but I was quite surprised Djokovic managed to win a set. Don't get me wrong, Novak is a great player, but no way is he going to beat Nadal gunning for the last trophy. It was a little upsetting that Djokovic beat Fed in the semi-finals because everyone who watches tennis has been waiting for another Nadal - Federer final. Wimbledon 2008 was by the far the greatest game I've ever seen in tennis and have been waiting since for another.
Listening to this final on the radio for the last 4 hours + rain delay was just depressing, but at least I know the results. Nadal, being only 24, has already accomplished more than most players will get to, and while I hope he keeps going this strong, I do hope he doesn't burn himself out. He's got 9 major titles and is slowly catching up to my boy Fed; 5 years younger than Roger, but what many don't realize is that Federer has been able to hold so well because he simply does not fatigue his body at all. Federer has such an immaculate play style and just simply is never injured. Nadal on the other hand has had a handful of injuries holding him back on a few Grand Slams and will not be able to continue the way he's been playing for 5 more years. Djokovic at 23, currently ranked 3rd with only 1 Grand Slam title, still has a strong future ahead of him, but until Nadal and Federer are out of the picture, I don't see him or Murray making it to the finals of Majors very consistently. Let's just hope this match doesn't hurt Djokovic's and Nadal's relationship and their overpowering doubles team that we'll hopefully see again.
With my first block exams in the morning and a disappointing final match, this weekend was just a let down. fml.
Listening to this final on the radio for the last 4 hours + rain delay was just depressing, but at least I know the results. Nadal, being only 24, has already accomplished more than most players will get to, and while I hope he keeps going this strong, I do hope he doesn't burn himself out. He's got 9 major titles and is slowly catching up to my boy Fed; 5 years younger than Roger, but what many don't realize is that Federer has been able to hold so well because he simply does not fatigue his body at all. Federer has such an immaculate play style and just simply is never injured. Nadal on the other hand has had a handful of injuries holding him back on a few Grand Slams and will not be able to continue the way he's been playing for 5 more years. Djokovic at 23, currently ranked 3rd with only 1 Grand Slam title, still has a strong future ahead of him, but until Nadal and Federer are out of the picture, I don't see him or Murray making it to the finals of Majors very consistently. Let's just hope this match doesn't hurt Djokovic's and Nadal's relationship and their overpowering doubles team that we'll hopefully see again.
With my first block exams in the morning and a disappointing final match, this weekend was just a let down. fml.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
block 1
With the upcoming first block exams, everyone is freaking out with insane amounts of studying and review sessions every night. I used to cry about exams that were like 500 powerpoint slides in length, but 500 slides here is roughly 4 days of classes. For a total of 1,432 slides, I want to shoot myself in the face. The days have literally been a non stop study grind from awakening to sleep time. When I'm not in class I'm studying, when I'm not studying I'm sleeping, when I'm not sleeping I'm eating, when I'm not eating I'm showering, when I'm not showering I'm writing this, when I'm not writing this I'm relaxing on the internet, and when I'm not relaxing I'm working out.
Professors and TAs keep telling us to sleep and get as much rest as possible and while they're correct in teling us to do so, what they don't realize is that they're talking to 90 students absolutely scared to shit. With about 10% of the class dropping out every semester, each exam cuts off a few students. We've already had 6, I believe, drop out of an entering class of 97. Everyone's been uniting together sharing notes, study techniques and just general support, and it's been pretty fun (and by fun I mean I'll hold jumping off a cliff until tomorrow). We're told we can't succeed in these classes by memory and we need to actually learn the material. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but learning several hundred pages in each 3 textbooks takes longer than a week. It's also incredibly unfair to the students that the professors here TRY to fail out students. With only 50 or so clinical rotation spots at the end of the 5th semester, over half the class needs to fail out or stay behind. This school was never intended as a competition, but with the shit this school pulls, it is very much a competition.
Unfortunately for me the US Open quarter finals through finals have been occurring this weekend. Fuck. Usually I'd get an epic day of food, 3 tvs/monitors running and recording simultaneously watching multiple games on my beautiful lcd. With the move to this fuckingshitassdickfuck hole, I've resorted to LISTENING to the games on a radio, since I can't stream with this shit internet, let alone not being on an espn affiliated network. I just finished listening to an absolutely amazing revenge game for Djokovic defeating Federer in a glorious 3h44 5 set match. All I can say now is the Joker is screwed for the upcoming final on Monday against Nadal. I'm predicting Nadal in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Professors and TAs keep telling us to sleep and get as much rest as possible and while they're correct in teling us to do so, what they don't realize is that they're talking to 90 students absolutely scared to shit. With about 10% of the class dropping out every semester, each exam cuts off a few students. We've already had 6, I believe, drop out of an entering class of 97. Everyone's been uniting together sharing notes, study techniques and just general support, and it's been pretty fun (and by fun I mean I'll hold jumping off a cliff until tomorrow). We're told we can't succeed in these classes by memory and we need to actually learn the material. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but learning several hundred pages in each 3 textbooks takes longer than a week. It's also incredibly unfair to the students that the professors here TRY to fail out students. With only 50 or so clinical rotation spots at the end of the 5th semester, over half the class needs to fail out or stay behind. This school was never intended as a competition, but with the shit this school pulls, it is very much a competition.
Unfortunately for me the US Open quarter finals through finals have been occurring this weekend. Fuck. Usually I'd get an epic day of food, 3 tvs/monitors running and recording simultaneously watching multiple games on my beautiful lcd. With the move to this fuckingshitassdickfuck hole, I've resorted to LISTENING to the games on a radio, since I can't stream with this shit internet, let alone not being on an espn affiliated network. I just finished listening to an absolutely amazing revenge game for Djokovic defeating Federer in a glorious 3h44 5 set match. All I can say now is the Joker is screwed for the upcoming final on Monday against Nadal. I'm predicting Nadal in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
I smell dead people
You've got to love the smell of formaldehyde in the heated afternoon, because otherwise you're fucked for the next 4 months.
Biology lab is usually something we all hate. Cutting up the poor cats and frogs just isn't very satisfying in college or in high school. But for Anatomy lab here, we get to slice right into our very own cadavers. Coffins, funerals and vampires aside, our cadaver was the first dead person I've ever seen and interacted with (interact as in poking, fondling, and brutally abusing with my scalpel). Is it also sad that the first vagina I've seen in a while was that of a 4ft dead 80yr old woman who's been rotting away for however many months? Probably.
I've heard stories of girls going to med school and on their first day of lab with a cadaver, quit and left without a word. We haven't had anything like that yet.
I was hoping that cutting into a cadaver would lead to a color coded, indexed, and pinned showcase of all the anatomical structures because I knew exactly how much of a hassle identifying shit would be. And of course my group got stuck with the one cadaver who led a life of sitting, eating endlessly and accumulating zero exercise in the latter decades of her life. Seriously this cadaver has more fat on it than fat exists in the world. Cutting through only the thin layer of skin isn't too hard for the first time, but removing the excess fat from the body without damaging the muscles is just a tedious job in itself. Doing all this for the first time though was a long task. It took us over 2 hours to cut open 4 quadrants of the upper back to expose the trapezius and the lattisimus dorsi. It was a very messy end product too.
Flipping the cadaver over is honestly harder than you'd think, but of course we also have to keep the body on a narrow table and keep the flavorful orange juices from spilling onto the floor. The body is stiff as a tree, but also as frail as a... small tree, and shit is it an ugly site. Cutting into the pleural cavity, where the lungs are located, made a nice crunch when snapping the ribs open and sawing through the sternum - and bam, there were the lungs. If you ever get a chance to touch and squeeze a human lung, I'd recommend trying it at least once because it feels very... damaging. Taking the lungs out too was quite difficult for us. The pulmonary ligament is very tough to cut and requires a bit of finesse to get through. While we were struggling with that, one of the professors came by and showed us the definition of precision with brute force. 1st semester students tend to be a bit careful with the scalpel and scissors, so when someone experienced comes by, we just look stupid.
If there's one thing I've learned so far in anatomy lab, it would be that latex gloves fucking suck. The chemicals and preservative left on the body seep right through the gloves and cover your fingers. My hand ended up numb for about an hour after lab. Guess I'll double wrap next time.
With lab EVERY FUCKING DAY, I expect us to become quite proficient with a blade. I also expect our scrubs to become permanently stained with dead people juices. At least I'll lose my sense of smell in a few weeks and won't bother needing my sixth sense of smelling dead people.
Biology lab is usually something we all hate. Cutting up the poor cats and frogs just isn't very satisfying in college or in high school. But for Anatomy lab here, we get to slice right into our very own cadavers. Coffins, funerals and vampires aside, our cadaver was the first dead person I've ever seen and interacted with (interact as in poking, fondling, and brutally abusing with my scalpel). Is it also sad that the first vagina I've seen in a while was that of a 4ft dead 80yr old woman who's been rotting away for however many months? Probably.
I've heard stories of girls going to med school and on their first day of lab with a cadaver, quit and left without a word. We haven't had anything like that yet.
I was hoping that cutting into a cadaver would lead to a color coded, indexed, and pinned showcase of all the anatomical structures because I knew exactly how much of a hassle identifying shit would be. And of course my group got stuck with the one cadaver who led a life of sitting, eating endlessly and accumulating zero exercise in the latter decades of her life. Seriously this cadaver has more fat on it than fat exists in the world. Cutting through only the thin layer of skin isn't too hard for the first time, but removing the excess fat from the body without damaging the muscles is just a tedious job in itself. Doing all this for the first time though was a long task. It took us over 2 hours to cut open 4 quadrants of the upper back to expose the trapezius and the lattisimus dorsi. It was a very messy end product too.
Flipping the cadaver over is honestly harder than you'd think, but of course we also have to keep the body on a narrow table and keep the flavorful orange juices from spilling onto the floor. The body is stiff as a tree, but also as frail as a... small tree, and shit is it an ugly site. Cutting into the pleural cavity, where the lungs are located, made a nice crunch when snapping the ribs open and sawing through the sternum - and bam, there were the lungs. If you ever get a chance to touch and squeeze a human lung, I'd recommend trying it at least once because it feels very... damaging. Taking the lungs out too was quite difficult for us. The pulmonary ligament is very tough to cut and requires a bit of finesse to get through. While we were struggling with that, one of the professors came by and showed us the definition of precision with brute force. 1st semester students tend to be a bit careful with the scalpel and scissors, so when someone experienced comes by, we just look stupid.
If there's one thing I've learned so far in anatomy lab, it would be that latex gloves fucking suck. The chemicals and preservative left on the body seep right through the gloves and cover your fingers. My hand ended up numb for about an hour after lab. Guess I'll double wrap next time.
With lab EVERY FUCKING DAY, I expect us to become quite proficient with a blade. I also expect our scrubs to become permanently stained with dead people juices. At least I'll lose my sense of smell in a few weeks and won't bother needing my sixth sense of smelling dead people.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The light side of the island
A 2 megapixel iphone camera can't really describe just how vibrant this place really is, but it'll give you a basic idea; depth perception is also quite hindered. Taking these pictures while standing up on the back of a pickup truck with a 1,000ft drop below me was absolutely thrilling. Grabbing tightly onto the truck with one hand and awkwardly positioning my other hand around the iphone securely for a landscape picture was quite difficult but it got the job done.
I've got to admit though, the social aspect of not only the students, but the island community as well, is something you don't get to experience in many cities or neighborhoods. This island is about as safe as Jake Gyllenhall in Bubble Boy. A baby with a handful of tiny knives stumbling towards the edge of a cliff couldn't even be harmed here, although it is sketchy as fuck where we live. Apparently the goats can be dangerous.
The grocery stores on the other side of the island where we drove to, WayWardSide, has such a better selection of food than the shit store near me. I managed to actually find my favorite fucking taquitos in the world sitting in the fridge. Boxes of Redbull just lying on the ground (not 4 packs, but 40 packs), every kind of cream cheese (no bagls tho fml), frozen foods of all shapes and size, and so on. Obviously the prices were a bit steep, but you have to get what you can find. I don't see myself hitching a ride over there every other day as it's just too much of a hassle. These stores also deliver the food for you later on which is pretty damn convenient.
Also saw some of the off campus houses in this town and fuck are they a step up from these dorms. For one they have walls that are painted and bathrooms where you have enough space to lift your arms up above your head. The floors are actually legit tiled floors too and not that shitty, face, dirt producing tiles that houses diseases and a general aura of gross.
The only thing that was running through my head as I was riding on the truck through the mountains was this song -
Define Dancing
I'll get some pictures of the dorm and school later this week.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
saturday is now a weekday
I've desperately been wanting to work out the past few days since school started, but with such little time I get for myself to actually slack around, I'm usually trying to catch up with my buddies and read a few days worth of facebook news feeds.
Finally the weekend comes around, but not only do we have class today and a review session on top of that, the fitness center was also locked. I decide to do what I can in the room, which is basically just body weight exercises, and realize there isn't much to do other than dips and push ups. Ended up breaking a shelf and dislodging a rack that's screwed into the wall trying to do pull ups. I got a brilliant idea however and filled up one of my smaller suitcases with text books and water bottles for curls. What's my source of protein after my workout? A fuck ton of peanuts, peanut butter, and some milk. I may not be getting the proper exercise I want, but at least my creativity is getting a workout.
Finally the weekend comes around, but not only do we have class today and a review session on top of that, the fitness center was also locked. I decide to do what I can in the room, which is basically just body weight exercises, and realize there isn't much to do other than dips and push ups. Ended up breaking a shelf and dislodging a rack that's screwed into the wall trying to do pull ups. I got a brilliant idea however and filled up one of my smaller suitcases with text books and water bottles for curls. What's my source of protein after my workout? A fuck ton of peanuts, peanut butter, and some milk. I may not be getting the proper exercise I want, but at least my creativity is getting a workout.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Americans doesn't afraid of Hurricane Earl
The weather wasn’t too bad on the morning of the hurricane. Ended up sleeping for a solid 10 hours as there wasn't shit to do on this island with the approach of a hurricane. St. Maarten was on lockdown. They shut off the phones, stores, travel (obviously), no one was allowed outside. Tv wasn't working and with no internet in a scorching hotel room, fun was far away.
I ran outside at around 11am to find some internet to send word to my family of the hurricane and an update of what exactly has been happening. At the time, all I could see were leaves and a few branches on the sidewalk. Neil was trying to fix the tv when I got back and we finally got it working. Beautiful HBO, TNT, CBS, ESPN, etc. apparently there was another storm heading our way behind Earl – whatever we got tv now. The fucking power goes out for 2 seconds when we finally start enjoying the day and the tv dies again. I managed to turn the miserable day around with my router lanning some classic warcraft 3.
1 o’clock rolled by and water starts pouring in from the rain and simultaneously the fridge stops working. I don't know about you guys, but when I'm dying of boredom and there's a hurricane outside my door ripping buildings apart, going outside is still something to do.
Other than 100+ mph winds and the tree that fell in front of my door, it wasn’t too bad. Leaves, branches, small trees and chairs scattered the beach. Getting pelted by 100mph rain/sand/leaves however was not the most enjoyable sensation on my face. The only other people walking around were clearly Americans; we are either stupid or curious (i'm going with bored). I've always seen hurricanes on the news and in pictures; the aftereffects of the storm and everything, I never pictured myself walking into one for shits and giggles. The next day showed true of what's depicted on tv, trees and flooded roads everywhere, yet these people i'm sure are used to it with it being hurricane season and all.
The day I left for Saba from St. Maarten was fucking terrible. I was at the airport from 11am to 5:30pm on a standby flight after hearing that the tiny plane might be flying out. $160 for ticket and fees and I never ended up taking the flight over. Instead once they officially shut down any hope of a flight because of Tropical Storm Fiona (fuck you) we headed to the ferry again as they announced they'd leave due to the 'calm' waters. I spent upwards of near $500 for rooms and cabs because of these storms and I end up leaving on a ferry which was actually more like a tugboat. A 2 hour ride to Saba and with everyone hiding inside and under a roof, I decide to stay outside on top of the boat for a fucking adventure. Stupid decision on my part as my luggage wasn't on the ferry but rather on the second trip. Windy conditions and waves tossing the boat around, I was soaked in minutes. Again the only other people outside with me were 3 americans. Lots of puking from others and plenty of QQ heard around the boat, but arriving on the 5sq mile island at 10pm was quite a sight. Apparently this island was used for the recent King Kong movie during the far away shot of Skull Island. Coming up underneath the barely visible peaks with everything else being pitch black was something else.
After 4 days of torture, I get to my dorm and take a shower and try to wash what clothes I was wearing since I didn't have anything to change into nor did I know when my luggage would arrive. I ended up sleeping on gross sheets in my cold, wet boxers on my first night here. Shit can only get better from here right?
I ran outside at around 11am to find some internet to send word to my family of the hurricane and an update of what exactly has been happening. At the time, all I could see were leaves and a few branches on the sidewalk. Neil was trying to fix the tv when I got back and we finally got it working. Beautiful HBO, TNT, CBS, ESPN, etc. apparently there was another storm heading our way behind Earl – whatever we got tv now. The fucking power goes out for 2 seconds when we finally start enjoying the day and the tv dies again. I managed to turn the miserable day around with my router lanning some classic warcraft 3.
1 o’clock rolled by and water starts pouring in from the rain and simultaneously the fridge stops working. I don't know about you guys, but when I'm dying of boredom and there's a hurricane outside my door ripping buildings apart, going outside is still something to do.
Other than 100+ mph winds and the tree that fell in front of my door, it wasn’t too bad. Leaves, branches, small trees and chairs scattered the beach. Getting pelted by 100mph rain/sand/leaves however was not the most enjoyable sensation on my face. The only other people walking around were clearly Americans; we are either stupid or curious (i'm going with bored). I've always seen hurricanes on the news and in pictures; the aftereffects of the storm and everything, I never pictured myself walking into one for shits and giggles. The next day showed true of what's depicted on tv, trees and flooded roads everywhere, yet these people i'm sure are used to it with it being hurricane season and all.
The day I left for Saba from St. Maarten was fucking terrible. I was at the airport from 11am to 5:30pm on a standby flight after hearing that the tiny plane might be flying out. $160 for ticket and fees and I never ended up taking the flight over. Instead once they officially shut down any hope of a flight because of Tropical Storm Fiona (fuck you) we headed to the ferry again as they announced they'd leave due to the 'calm' waters. I spent upwards of near $500 for rooms and cabs because of these storms and I end up leaving on a ferry which was actually more like a tugboat. A 2 hour ride to Saba and with everyone hiding inside and under a roof, I decide to stay outside on top of the boat for a fucking adventure. Stupid decision on my part as my luggage wasn't on the ferry but rather on the second trip. Windy conditions and waves tossing the boat around, I was soaked in minutes. Again the only other people outside with me were 3 americans. Lots of puking from others and plenty of QQ heard around the boat, but arriving on the 5sq mile island at 10pm was quite a sight. Apparently this island was used for the recent King Kong movie during the far away shot of Skull Island. Coming up underneath the barely visible peaks with everything else being pitch black was something else.
After 4 days of torture, I get to my dorm and take a shower and try to wash what clothes I was wearing since I didn't have anything to change into nor did I know when my luggage would arrive. I ended up sleeping on gross sheets in my cold, wet boxers on my first night here. Shit can only get better from here right?
Day 1 to the next 90 years of my life
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The start
I've never had any idea of what I wanted to do with my life as I'm sure many of you are also in the same boat. Most of those planning on becoming a doctor I'd expect probably had it set in their mind for quite some time whether it was their choice or already set by their parents. My story is a little different. I've thought of going the medical career for quite some time, but never really settled on the idea as a realistic goal. I graduated undergrad at Umass Amherst with decent grades, nothing stellar, and I did finish all the pre-requisite courses and exams for med school. I applied for the sole reason of not having to work for the summer and I somehow ended up here; possibly the last place I saw myself living let alone going to med school, the fucking Caribbean. While you may view the Caribbean as a place of beauty and the ideal spot for vacation to enjoy some quality r&r, it is a terrible place to be stuck for the next 2 years when you're someone like me, someone who despises hot weather, humidity above 0%, hills, being surrounded by fucking fish on an extinct volcano with a population of approximately a school bus (It's actually like 1500, but compared to my undergrad college of over 25,000 students, this place might as well be 0). I love cold weather, it's where I thrive and being stranded on an island is pretty much torture for me, coupled with the study load of med school.
I'm 22 years old and just started the next transition into the last decade of what I view as 'the potentially better years than the last few shitty years.' I figured after graduating from undergrad I'd spend at least a year to fuck around and do what I do best, nothing. We've all done the math of how long we're in school, ranging anywhere from 13 to 17+ years through college, throw on another 7 minimum for med school. I guess I should be glad though getting into a position where I may reach one of my goals, although I'd much rather would have preferred something easier. For someone as lazy as I am, I sure have an annoying habit of doing shit that requires too much work. I've never really been able to see myself years into the future, and with no idea if I'll stick through this, It'll be an interesting and probably terrible experience.
I'm 22 years old and just started the next transition into the last decade of what I view as 'the potentially better years than the last few shitty years.' I figured after graduating from undergrad I'd spend at least a year to fuck around and do what I do best, nothing. We've all done the math of how long we're in school, ranging anywhere from 13 to 17+ years through college, throw on another 7 minimum for med school. I guess I should be glad though getting into a position where I may reach one of my goals, although I'd much rather would have preferred something easier. For someone as lazy as I am, I sure have an annoying habit of doing shit that requires too much work. I've never really been able to see myself years into the future, and with no idea if I'll stick through this, It'll be an interesting and probably terrible experience.
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