Devils Bridge

Two of my roommates decided before the semester started that we should do a few fun things before the semester and classes made it impossible for us to have a little adventure.  Us girls decided to drive 40 minutes to Devils Bridge.  I am not sure if the ride or the destination was the best part.  It was great for sure!  Needless to say it was amazingly beautiful and offered an intense view.  I didn't know that I could spend so much time staring at the waves, the water, and the beautiful rocks.  The landscape itself was something to behold.  Anyone that decides to visit the island or is already here must see this location.  This for sure will be a place that I take my parents if they ever come and visit again. Below are some photos from our little outing and even some of the things that we saw on the way.  I hope that you enjoy the photos that I took and get a tiny glimpse of how beautiful some of the scenery God provides.  I know the history of this location is sad and I would recommend anyone that has seen or wants to see this location to Google the history.....you will be surprised!

AUA welcome back party and East Restaurant

My first few days back on the island were full of hugs, kisses, tears and happiness.  Along with several of my friends I had the opportunity to celebrate several birthdays, eat tons of cake and eat at nice restaurants to celebrate.  One of these Restaurants was East at Carlisle Bay.  Carlisle Bay is located on the other side of the island and was quite a trek by car when it is dark and the driver of the car you are in cant determine if you are still on All Saints Road that cuts through the center of the island.  Needless to say, after stopping at least 7 times to ask for directions at several questionable locations we made a 30 minute trip last an hour and a half.  This caused use to be an hour late for our 8 p.m. reservations and made for one cranky restaurant manager.  But we still got to keep our table for 20 and were got to eat overly priced food that was fairly tasty.  I do have to admit that the restaurant was beautiful and located in an amazing location.  I would love to go again if I felt like I could afford the dinner to enjoy the amazing view.  According to the internet East is the only air conditioned restaurant on the island......cant say that by itself won me over. But the Koi     fish, fire pit and beautiful pool did the job.

  

After leaving east my friends and I went to Ocean Point Hotel where the school or a student from the school hosted a welcome back party for the students.  The hotel was much improved since we had last gone there for the schools semi formal and I enjoyed being there very much.  The patio was jammed packed with students and it was nice to get to see all my fellow classmates and friends in one central location.  I even got to see my knight in shining armor, the med 2 student that helped me out with my plane tickets at the airport.  I got to meet his close friends and probably talked for a good 30 minutes or so.  It was nice getting to meet new people and catch up with my close friends.

Med 2 and remembering home

The first week of med 2 went amazing and I love my new schedule!!!  Instead of 8 hrs or more a day in class we are in class about 3 hrs a day on average.  This leaves more time for studying and preparing for shelves at the end of the semester.  Sounds amazing huh?!?! Oh how the small things mean the most to me at this point in my life.

One thing I want to comment on is the fact that during the crossing of the med 1 to med 2 threshold my class size nearly shrunk in half.  At the beginning of last semester our class contained roughly 500 and some odd students and now at the beginning of med 2 our class is around 275-300 students at this point.  I guess that some individuals struggled because the material was difficult and others didn't do well because the partying at the beach was just "too" good to pass up.   I guess this sobering fact seemed to really sink in during a small group lecture when one of our professors told us congratulations and starting clapping........got to love feeling like your future is just sitting on the chopping block waiting for you to slip and be cleaved to the side.

Well instead of talking about school I would like to talk about my great and maybe boring at times Christmas break.  While back in Missouri I did indeed get plenty of relaxing and added a little bit of shopping to my schedule but, I also got my fair share of farm work too.  Although it was by no means intense and not very busy it was filled was very interesting experiences to say the least.  For the first two weeks I was home I was on some major baby watching duty. lol jk Just some annoying baby watching duty.  Nothing worse than waiting on three heifers to deliver babies during a cold nasty time of year and getting up several times in the night checking for discharge and if your lucky feet!!!  So while I was home I had the pleasure of seeing about 10 babies be born and even got to pull a breech baby boy at 4 a.m.  Lucky me.  I also got to clean some lacerated hooves, set a compound fracture on a baby calf, and artificially inseminate 3 cows.  As you can tell I was too lazy to do much more "breeding" than that....sad huh?  Ok, Ok sad "farmy" humor.  lol I kid anyway, it was a good break and I had fun riding on my four wheeler, and checking cows in the Jeep!  The Jeep seems to be the only way to go when the weather is cold and the ground is covered in snow!  I guess all the Carib sun and heat has made me a complete wussy!  But this is what I got to see when I was out.........

Below is a picture of my dad, grandmother, and I at my sisters 19th birthday party where I was showing her all the picture from my med 1 adventure.  I hope that grandma enjoyed it because I sure enjoyed showing her what I have been up to for the last few months.

Also during my break I got to complete an enhancement project at the local clinic and hospital.  During this period I had the opportunity to observe clinic, rounds, surgery and deliveries with a team of obgyn's.  This was nothing short of amazing.  I loved the love hours, amazing procedures, and the interesting cases.  I got to see my first c-section and vaginal delivery!!!   Pretty amazing is all that I got to see. Although it would of be more helpful to have observed this specialty after med 2 (that is when we cover renal and repro), I still had a phenomenal time.  I even got to attend hospital meetings and see all the paper pushing that goes on behind closed doors.  All I have to say is even with electronic medical records, doctors/nurses can wipe out a whole forest with the amount of paper that is used!!! (insert frown face)!  On a lighter note I learned how to write prescriptions and even got to write a few (with the doctor watching and then signing and approving).....made me feel like a big deal......for a few seconds anyway.

Below are a few pictures from when I was home and some of my cute beautiful baby calves......with faces only a farmer could love.

 My sister and a nearly full grown Susie, a calf she and I raised on a bottle.

 A 4 month old Predestined daughter that I A.I. and this is the first time seeing her.

 On the left is a Cheyenne Blend grandson and a commercial heifer on the right.

 Big money daughter I artificialed.  I have previously posted pictures my sister had sent me of this heifer.

 Another Cheyenne Blend grandson out of a Sim/Angus cow.

Oh how I hate planes

As of 4 p.m. yesterday I am back on the island of Antigua......and it was by far the worse trip known to man, or at least known to me.  I was excited that for once I wasnt flying out of KCI at 6 a.m. but had a nice 9:20 flight.  That nice flight was short lived.  First of all the plane was delayed due to weather in the first place and was late taking off by roughly about 20-30 minutes or so.  However, before the flight got to far along I got violently sick because of all the turbulence.  Oh the poor people that were sitting next to me!!!  Things got even worse when the plane took a nice hour and a half detour around another storm in Oklahoma......which was followed by even more turbulence. By the time I reached Dallas/Fort Worth Texas I was exhausted......and very very late!!!  Thinking that I had missed my connecting flight I rushed to find my next flight.  To my surprise and delight the plane I was suppose to board was still on the ground due to sensor issues.  An hour later we were told the plane was being taken out of service and we were being moved to another aircraft that would be taking off an hour and a half later.....oh dear!!!  By this time my stomach and nausea had finally settled and I am ready to start the next leg of my journey to San Juan.

After the plane had been in the air for quite some time the cabin of the plane heading for San Juan begins to smell of smoke and I begin to feel a little uneasy.  This causes everyone in the plane quite a bit of concern and a landing was made in Tampa Florida 20 minutes later!  Oh what a great trip!  I am hungry, smelly, tired, and now will be late for my connected flight in PR.  I am not a happy camper.  However, with the help of another AUA student on my flight I was able to obtain a dinner, and hotel voucher.  This made for a great evening that included a fellow med 2 student, a margarita, Chili's chicken crispers and a crazy massage therapist named Dawn from Des Moines.  Needless to say the med 2 student and I had a hoot listening to Dawn.  Dawn loved sharing all her personal sex details and elaborate about her obsession with Jason Mraz......enough said.  But I did appreciate having a guy student help me out with my bags and to help navigate the rest of my trip.  It made me feel so much better about my flawed trip.  The following morning at the gate for Miami Dawn, shared with me that she had went out partying and drinking the night before and even attempted to go to a Tampa strip club.  Then it was followed with something to do with Jason Mraz!  Oh my!!!!  She also shared with me the fact she takes Valtrex for her cold sores....and not for any "other" type of herpies....again enough said.

Anyway...enough with Dawn I finally made it to Antigua and this time customs was not a complete bear like it was when I arrived in August the previous semester.  I was greeted by one of my room mates whom was kind enough to pay for my luggage to trollied out to the car.  That man is too nice!  Oh had I missed him so much!!!  When I got out to the car all the rest of my roommates were waiting and even got to see a few of my good friends from New Jersey that were also leaving the airport at the same time. Who knew that seeing school friends and getting hugs could make you feel so good.  Anyway, I rushed to campus to get registered for my classes and even got the my new Antigua drivers license to go with the car that I am leasing this semester with my girlfriends.  Oh how NOT cute a Toyota Yaris is!!!!  Will write more soon!

Heading back to the rock

After a long hiatus from blogging and a short break from medical school I am less than a week away from flying back from Missouri to Antigua.  Can say it makes me sad to leave home again but on the other hand I am ready to "get back to work" so to speak and put another semester of hard work and tears behind me!  This puts me one step closer to clinical rotations in the US and a residency!!!  A girl can dream cant she?!?!?!?  Anyway break has been pretty boring besides my enhancement project required by the school.  As students we are required to shadow a physician, research or a community outreach program.  I chose to do clinical shadowing and decided to follow a OB/GYN for two weeks during break.  All I have to say is that standing for 10-13 hrs a day on average makes me wish I didnt have plantar fasciitis and that Cole Haan made cute shoe that didnt assault my poor feet.  I guess the rest of my career beckons ugly comfy shoes or I am going to need morphine.  During my awesome clinical time I got to observe surgeries, procedures, deliveries, and even get to go on rounds at 7 am in the morning.  It was rough but it was amazing to see how the life of an OB/GYN truly is!!!  It is long hours, crazy patients, neat surgeries and cute babies....what can I say.....who isnt a sucker for a cute baby?  

I think that the neatest aspect is that I will remember the names of the first few babies that I had seen delivered naturally.  Since I am doing my observation in my home town I am sure that I will get to see these children grow older and attend preschool and have their pictures in the local news paper.  The nostalgia of the whole thing is quite surreal.  Something that makes me proud and excited for the future.  So very neat!!!

Another thing that has been going down since I have arrived back in the states is tons of shopping.  Shopping for shoes, dress clothes, and random toileries that will hopefully last me the next 6 months....hopefully.  It is for sure a big reality check when you get to come back home and actually shop in a store that doesnt have the inflated Antiguan prices and the eastern carribean conversion.  So nice to buy coffee that is $7 verses $40 EC.  It goes without say.....I bought a few pounds of coffee and they are hanging out in my carry on suitcase.  

The cold weather back here in Missouri has been a killer and I have to say that Antigua has some of the best weather this time of the year and I can wait to go back just for that part.....no school please lol  Anyway....until tomorrow!

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!