Teased by Airplanes

It has been a few weeks since I have had the time or the motivation to update my blog.  It has been extremely stressful here on the island and I think I speak for all my classmate that most of us cant wait to go home.  The tests have been very difficult for all and many individuals including myself are feeling very discouraged at this point in the semester.  It isn't really the worry about failing but the worry of knowing we have comprehensive shelves this coming summer and and the USMLE Step 1 at the end of basic sciences......we want to feel more prepared and confident than we do right at this moment.  All of us students want to have the opportunity to obtain a great residency and to do well in our future careers.....hopefully things will start looking up and feeling better for all my fellow classmates.  I think the fatigue is starting to wear us all down.

Living just down the street from the airport I feel teased and torn several times a day when I sit in the lobby of my apartment building and see various airplanes fly (what seems like just a few feet.....in my child like mind) closely over the building.  Liat...... British airways.....Virgin....and the occasional Delta or US airways......It is also very funny when my friends and I head to school in the morning and we always pass under the Bon Voyage/come again sign close to the airport....and then when we come home in the evening we are faced with the opposite side of the sign......welcome to Antigua Barbuda.....ugh!!!  Just want to come home....for a few days.

As silly as it sounds I want to come home and see my cows, dogs, cats, horses and of course my family....I am so ridiculous I know.  But I love my life and the people that I am lucky enough to share my life with.

On a less serious and more fun note one of my best girlfriends and I finally went to the Saturday farmers market in Saint Johns!  What an experience and sight to behold...nothing short of crazy for sure!  There where booths and tables of fruits, veggies, and even some prepackaged items lining the streets and the inside of the a market building.  We found out later on that we arrived to late in the morning to purchase at the fish market across the street but none the less we had fun shopping and seeing all the different produce.  A lot of it looked better than what I could of gotten at any of the grocery stores here on the island.  I hope that we can go again and purchase even more yummy food.






The picture are terrible but you get the neat idea.....produce/fruit everywhere!!!

On an academic not fun but very proud note I accomplished and passed my first patient interview!!!  I am not going to lie.....I absolutely despise my foundations of clinical medicine class.  I felt like that class was an excuse for teachers/professors to ream us for not know things we haven't been taught yet.  Although it took a lot of practice and humiliation I finally know the basics of taking a patients medical history and have a very vague understanding of how to present a patient!  Something that I thought would be easy and turned out to be one of the hardest most difficult things I have done yet in school.  Makes me so nervous just typing about it!  I also did quite well on my lab exam and feel more confident about identifying anatomy in a cadaver vs a plastinated/plastic models.  Hopefully that trend will keep going on into next semester!  Hopefully all this crazy studying will pay off!  

Back to studying for my comprehensive finals!!!  Hope to post again soon!!!

Weekend at Dutchmens Bay!

During my parents stay during white coat they decided to rent a cottage on the beach and it was above and beyond our expectations.  The cottage was cute, quaint, and very cool with the ocean breeze....no need for air conditioning this family!   Because the cottage came equipped with a kitchen, I had the opportunity to take my parents grocery shopping at my favorite yet expensive grocery store on the island.... Epicurean.  I liked that I got to share with my parents how I have to use a taxi to get my food, how to coordinate with a taxi driver, and how MUCH everything cost here on the island....sadly enough my dad didn't get to see any of the goats or cows roaming out in front of the grocery store as usual.  Since my dad is a farmer I thought that it would be interesting for him to see cows, babies and a few bulls roaming the island dragging chains around their necks grazing nasty weeds out of the ditches.....so not how we ranch back in Missouri and Kansas!  According to the owner of the cottages, the cow/goat herds have decreased immensely.  Not sure if I believe the guy!   Below are some of the picture my mom and dad captured during their cab ride and grocery store adventure!  

Yes our cab driver was drinking and driving!

Yes any beef product is very expensive!

Bringing home the BACON????

Below are some picture from cottage that was stayed at and I think they are very neat!

 My dad was told by the owner of the cottages that the guy standing in the boat fishing with the red shirt on was a famous cricketer....not sure if that was here in Antigua or in general.  None the less one can enjoy fun stories. These guys buy the way spent about 10 hrs that day in front of our cottage fishing.  Pretty neat sight.  Dont see fishing like that in Missouri!

Beautiful huh??!?!?!  It was a great weekend enjoyed by all.  While here on the island I got to take my parents shopping and even took them to the downtown St. Johns and we even purchased a few souvenirs.  I came away with 2 awesome paintings that my mom brought back to the states and will be getting framed for me.....I am sure that I wont have a place to hang them for a long long time!!! I am sure that I will have more pictures and more to write about when we finish our next exam in a week and we being to move into our new house.....pictures soon to come!