The Stuggles of a Midwesterner at Life

Last one before the big sha-bang…

2010-08-28T19:35:00.001-04:00

So, fifth semester is done done DONE! It ended oh, say 3 weeks ago, and do you think that our grades are out yet? Nope. So hopefully all is well.

Currently I’m residing in Aventura Florida, which is just north of Miami. Its got some major attractions like a giant mall, and a casino that is also a horse track. Sadly I don’t go to either because its all business on my end… well, mostly business. Study study study, with some guilty pleasure television mixed in.

I take my next test on September 10^th (everybody cross your fingers, toes, and any other crossable appendage that I do AWESOME). After that, I immediately drive up to Fort Lauderdale to pick up my mom, and then back to Aventura to pack up all my stuff so we can head out in the morning for the grueling Florida to Illinois drive. Perhaps I will be greated by some pumpkin bars when I get home (hint hint cough cough). :)

Otherwise, not much to report here except that I have depleted all of my fancy popcorn seasonings, and now only have white cheddar…. Boring….

~Kristen

2 weeks and counting

2010-07-24T13:26:00.003-04:00

PE exam- DONE. Thats 20% of my grade that I know is a 90 or above, so that sortof levels out my average midterm performance. Now for the other 50% that is still yet to be determined.... Let me whine for a moment, but is that not insane!?!?! 70% of our grades is still up in the air and the semester ends on August 6th. That is absolutely nutty.

Anyhow- I have one rotation left and it turns out that its in pediatrics. Hopefully that will go well. (I actually hope that the doctor wont want us there the whole week so I can go visit my mom and dad, but either way- lets hope for something). Nothing much as to add to the list of stuff I am doing. I am studying so I can get through this semester, and then I will study some more so I can rock the NBME comprehensive exam, so then I can (you guessed it) come home and study some more for the USMLE 1. *sigh*

Kristen

Are we done yet?

2010-07-18T14:16:00.003-04:00

So 5th semester drags on.... getting close to the end though. Lets just do well with the rest of the semester exams and whatnot, which conveniently are all within this last 3 weeks. (NOTE SARCASM).

Just got done with a 2 week ER rotation, which was 3- 11 hour sessions in the hospital. Note to self- if I decide to go into ER make sure you a) have a good pair of shoes or b) can sit when you write about the patient. To much standing.

Now, I'm just studying for the final (which can be on anything) and gearing up for the Physical Exam test that I have in a week. What I need to do is practice, but Bela is never around, so I suppose I will substitute a pillow for her... not too much difference really, and practice that way. I need to do well on that to off set my not so stellar mid term and paper performances.

Cue posting!

2010-07-05T19:50:00.003-04:00

Its been a month, so an update is in order :) (in actuality I forget that I have this now that I'm back in the states until I get an email from a family member)

So- Happy 4th of July!!!! I hope that everyones was just as enjoyable as mine was. Mike flew in for the weekend so I had to show him a good time riiight. We went to a piano bar and South Beach clubbing the first night, which was the first time both of us had gone to SoBe (what they call S. Beach) That night confirmed the fact that I'm an old fart at heart. My friend Ben and Brit were picking places based on closing times and well this one place was cool, but it closed at 3am, so they decided the club that closed at 5 am would be a better choice. All the meanwhile I'm tagging along thinking to myself- its already midnight.... my bedtime was 2 hours ago. And apparently Mike is pretty much on the same page as I am. Not exactly big partiers. Getting home by 4:30 am is insane, and not something I want to make a habit of. I dont know how some of my friends do it.

That was the 3rd (and the wee hours of the 4th) so for evening festivties on the 4th we went to Downtown S. Miami to a place called Bayfront park. Its pretty much right by where we have class. The fireworks were awesome and since the bay curves everyone pretty much had front row viewing spots. Very cool. The only thing not cool about the evening was the fact that the place we had dinner was a total disappointment. Bad food, bad service, but the major kicker was food poisoning. GROSS! Dinner is never good the second time around on the same evening- but I'm finally feeling better.

Otherwise- life has been relatively low key because I had case study for the last 2 weeks. But it has gotten better. Mom visiting for a week, then a delivery of my car and with it- FREEDOM!!!!!!!! This week I'm scheduled at a hospital called North Shore (somewhere up in North Miami... great- another hour long plus drive in the morning) but I dont know what in yet. Lets hope surgery. Had a midterm a week ago- could have gone better, but didnt totally F up. Now I just need to do better on the final and physical exam part.

Well, I'll try to remember that its not just me living my life right now :) and try to be a little better about updating.

Como se dice Miami en espanol?

2010-06-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

After much deliberation and some persuation, I have decided to keep doing the blog. So far Miami has been like a roller coaster ride that started in an underground cave. Lots of ups and downs, but its getting better, and hopefully the ride ends above ground. I guess first you will need the basics- we don’t have a land line here so if you need/want to reach me call the cell phone. My address here is 6870 SW 44^th St. Apt 207, Miami FL 33155, if you need/want to send me anything.

So now- I will attempt to start my Miami journey from the beginning. Got here on May 8^th so that I could get situated and keep studying before our big test which was on the 20^th. But class started on the 17^th and they were basically 9-4 (or 5) days at a building that takes us 45 minutes to get too, and by the time class was over we were so tired that studying was a definite chore. I did get the program done that I wanted to complete, but in the end I was still just shy of passing this test. I will get another chance in September, and will have more than 2 weeks to study 2 years of medical school that time. The pass rate for this test was pretty much 50% so it wasn’t exactly easy. 4 hours of any test just sucks- next time I will do more practice tests as a means of endurance training.

Meanwhile- in the first week here, my friends were busy turning their lives upsidedown and changing my happy little normal existence. Jon (who had been looking at engagement rings for his girlfriend of 4 years not but 3 weeks earlier) and Bela (who is married) decided that they were both simultaneously unhappy in their relationships and that the other was a far superior option- and POOF they are now dating. Hopefully it all turns out fine, because if not it will sure make things awkward around the apartment complex, and in carpool rides to class. I was not exactly pleasant during the big reveal and change either, but I’m over it. I am adopting a Sheryl Crow mantra for the situation, and If it Makes Them Happy, then what the hell.

That first week, we went out too- an Italian place called Scarpetta’s where dinner cost me 100 bucks. I mean the food was fantastic, but I am just as content eating chicken fritters for 9 dollars thanks. And there is a pretty cool mall fairly close to our house. It’s a big 2 story outdoor type mall that also has a theatre and IMAX and a bowling alley/bar too. Its very cool.

Then school started. The first two weeks we (Bela and I- we are clinical partners, so we go everywhere together. They do it to make carpooling easier) were scheduled for Family Medicine. We went to a doctors office in North Miami (which takes an hour to get too) twice a week to shadow the doctor (who turns out isn’t even an MD- he’s a PA, so we felt jipped). And let me tell you- this office is shady as hell. If the HIPPA lady went there, it would get fined out the behind. Absolutely. The thing is that he has a niche because he speaks the Haitian dialect of creole and his office is located in a part of town very close to a Haitian neighborhood. AND his doctor patient relationships are probably what keep patients coming back. But still- shady as hell.

Our schedule here is basically a big giant mystery except for I know what I do on Wednesdays- Class at the Hyatt, in downtown Miami. Otherwise- they let us know what we’re doing about 4 days in advance- which super sucks for planning a vacation etc.

Otherwise life is very busy and in my free time I try to study so I can rock this test the next time. But last night was pretty fun. Bela and I went to a drug company sponsored dinner, so of course I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu- a beef tenderloin dinner, and let me tell you- it was the best piece of beef I have had ever. AMAZING. If only I could go to nice restaurants on someone elses dollar more often. *sigh* But it was funny, the head honcho dude that was there was from North Chicago, and he had a 17 year son that was looking into Augustana- small world right. Ha.

That’s pretty much all I’ve got right now. We just our schedule for next week today, and we don’t have clinical- but some other thing that was like learning how to do a proper neuro exam or something. Its all a giant mess really. I really wish that it were more organized.

~Kristen

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T15:03:00.002-04:00

I'm so close I can almost taste it. I just took one of my final 4 tests, so 3 more to go and then HOME!!!! Unfortunately this test sorta sucked. Its just hard to do an exam on someone in 6 minutes when A- you dont know what one of 60 you're gonna get, and B- you're a little nervous. Needless to say, the buzzer went off and I still had two fingers in the poonanie model.... :( Oh well, I did a killer respiratory exam though. I'm just glad that one's over because I have bigger more intimidating fish to fry. Like mini 3 on the 14th, and our two part Uber intimidating final on the 22nd, but then, on Friday, I'm flying my white ass outta here!

Nothing much of interest has happened in the past 2 weeks here really. I studied, I went to the market for the last time, I made pumpkin cake- and while making pumpkin cake dropped an entire carton of eggs on the floor requiring me to the market for the real last time to buy more eggs, dyed my eggs for Easter, and took my ICM exam. Pretty uneventful. You can expect that I will be hard core studying for the next 16 days of my life to insure that I can do and will do my best. That being said, this is most likely my last Dominica post. Feel free to email me, and I will be home later this month. YAY! COUNTDOWN!!!

~Kristen

So close... yet so far

2010-03-21T11:40:00.004-04:00

We'll, lots has gone down since my last post. I took a test, did both good and bad on it. Then went to the semester 4 banquet- ie "Med School Prom" that weekend and then celebrated some birthdays the next weekend. So basically, now I need to study like there is no tomorrow because 50% of our grades are still up in the air, and I dont particularly feel like staying on this island any longer than absolutely necessary.

I know I mentioned Splash Bash earlier, but I ended up not going. That party wouldnt have really started until midnight, and well, I dont stay up that late. AND Jon was sick and he was the only one of us that really really wanted to go. I hear that it was crazy awesome, but I got to sleep and then went to the market in the morning so whatever.

Banquet was a blast. Good food and fun people usually is though.

Then on Friday Jon wanted to celebrate his birthday (a week early mind you) so we went and had dinner at De Champs (a local bar on the top of a very large hill). And finally last night, was my friend Nadia's birthday party- which was UNBELIEVABLE. She rented our a place that was 40 minutes away and had the food catered in. I forgot that I was in Dominica for a few hours. It was sooo nice. I dont even want to imagine how much money she spent on it, because it had to have been crazy expensive. What I can say coming off of the adventure that was yesterday, is that if I dont hear Shania Twain's "Come on Over" album for the next year or so, I will still be ok. That was the only tape that the bus driver had, so we listened to it at least twice. But I did know all of the words, so go me.

~Kristen

Welcome to Miami

2010-02-28T10:38:00.002-04:00

So big news, I'm going to MIAMI for 5th semester!!!!!!! (once I get through the hell that is shaping out to be 4th semester). Instead of dealing with the application process and selection nonsense for Michigan and the insecurity of not knowing if you'll even get in, Bela and I (convinced by our friend Jon) will be living together in a super nice townhouse/condo thing. Its called Ludlam Point, and its located in the Coral Gables area. You can check out what they rent out here. We will be staying in "The Beacon" model- 2 bed 2 bath, that will be fully furnished, water and electricity included, with a washer and dryer for $1000 each per month... which is pretty darn cheap unless you wanted to rent a room in somebodies house. They even allow dogs of any sizes! But I will most likely end up just adding to my fish collection because they are soooo much easier.

The next mini is in a week, so its once again crunch time. But the weekend after the mini is jam packed with events- the 4th semester banquet, Splash Bash, and more I'm sure. All I can say currently is that we are all feeling the pressure, and are having to dig deep down inside to muster the will to keep studying. It is BRUTAL! That being said, I am going to continue to study, or at least try to.

~Kristen

Happy Valentines Day- almost

2010-02-13T14:47:00.003-04:00

So its been a busy few weeks since my birthday. I lay it out for you here quickly... First I had to Study Study Study, then I took a test, went to the Beach Bash after the test, studied some more, and then went to a surprise for my friend Kieran yesterday, and now its back to study study study. The parties were definitely a blast, but the test- not so much. I did not do as well as I would have hoped, BUT I did do better than I was doing last semester, which is good.

In island news, I'm not sure if you heard, but yesterday pretty much everything was covered in volcanic ash because a cap or dome of some sort on a volcano on a neighboring island collapsed and ash went everywhere. Here's the link they sent us- www.mvo.ms I didnt know this for a while and just kept wondering why everything was so damn dusty. Ha.

I still havent decided what to do for 5th semester yet. Lots of my friends are headed towards Miami, but like I said, I dont know if I want to throw my name in the ring for Michigan. All I do know, is that the countdown is at 68... I made a website for this semester too- COUNTDOWN

OH! I almost forgot the biggest scandal of the week!!!! On Tuesday morning, at approximately 5:15 AM my backpack was stolen from my apartment. How- you may ask??? I was staying at a beach cottage with Bela that night so I wasnt there, but basically the burglars took the screen off my back window and went fishing. Fishing because all of my windows are barred and the door was locked so they couldnt physically get into my apartment, but they did happen to have a 12 ft 2x1 with a nail in the end that they used to hook my backpack. Then they pulled it out of my apartment. Lucky for me my computer was NOT in there... but I sadly realized that the charger to my computer was, basically rendering my laptop useless in 1 hours time. SO I called security and the police (which by the way- the police here STILL havent called me back... I'm supposed to be waiting to hear back from them- I called TUESDAY!!!!!!! so Law Enforcement here is about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop) and reported it. It turns out that a neighbor called security because she was woken up by the thieves fishing, and security had recovered most of my belongings from the backpack. I.E. the thieves stole my backpack, and instead of just taking it and running, they emptied it outside of my apartment (they didnt want my tampons and chapstick apparently.... but they also didnt want my COMPUTER CHARGER!!!) So happy day I got it back from security! :) But not before I had to fight them for it. They still have a bunch of my stuff but wont let me have it because maybe the Magistrate will want to take these guys to court and they will need it for evidence. I asked how long that would take, and the answer was "I dont know, it could be days, weeks, months, or years..." Ridiculous right. Then I asked if I could just drop the charges, because they dont have my backpack anyways, and his response "so then all of our efforts would have been in vein?" ARE YOU KIDDING!!! The security here is the biggest f*ing cluster f*** I have ever seen. All they do is sit on their arses all day watching students come and go and drive around. I think the robbery at my place was the first in almost a months time... So give me a break here! (sorry for the vent, but I'm fed up with it).

Anyways, here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

<3 ~Kristen

Another Successful Journey Around the Sun

2010-01-26T20:42:00.005-04:00

One year older... and one year wiser?? Lets hope so :) So I had a pretty fantastic weekend. On Friday we went to the beach for my birthday, because Friday was "Research Day" which meant that there was no class, but instead Ross brings in speakers that students have the option to go listen to in the morning. I had ICM so I couldnt go, but at 3 pm we met up at the beach. I will put some pictures up from that.

Then for Saturday the plan was to try out this new Indian food place for dinner at my friend Jon's house. I was never to keen on this though because all of my friends that had gone there all said it had sucked, but whatever. But at around 3 pm on Saturday I got a serious case of heartburn and thought I was going to die. Its a good thing that my friend Kieran had some tums though and I felt better eventually... its a good thing too, because when I went over to meet my friends at Jon's place I was pleasantly surprised to find that we weren't actually getting Indian food, but instead they threw me a SURPRISE PARTY!!!!! It was amazing. All of it.... the food, the people, the fact that they planned it. All amazing. I was definitely surprised. They gave me a new Tupperware bowl for popcorn (because I broke another one of mine) and popcorn to go in it. And Kieran got me some mace. I will post pictures from that too.

What else is going on... well they decided that now would be a great time to add the 3rd floor to my apartment building. You know now that I could finally study at home because I didnt have a neighbor with kids, and it was peaceful and lovely... yeah. So basically it sounds like they are trying to juggle elephants but keep dropping them every day from 8-4. Other than that, nothing much else is happening as of yet... Our first test is on Feb. 8th so we are all working for that.

~Kristen

Photo Guide: (because it doesnt let me put the description by the picture....)
1) Josh
2) Charles
3) Me... all on friday
4) I blew all 23 out
5)The people at my party... from the left: Ben, Josh, Bela, Jon, Charles, Me, and Kieran
6)I was very very surprised.

I'm BAAACK!

2010-01-16T08:20:00.003-04:00

Well I made it back to island safe and sound. There were a few minor hitches in the initial travels... ie I had to magically make 30 pounds disappear from my checked bag before they could go on the plane. Needless to say I had a very very heavy carryon. So far we have already had 27 hours of class plus ICM endeavors, and we all already feel behind, but still are going out this weekend because it will be the only one where we can "afford" it timewise. So yesterday our little group went out to dinner, and on Sunday Bela and I with other various friends are going river tubing. Then my social life is no more. :(

Disney world was a lot of fun, just as it should be. I dont really know what to say about it, but that it was a very good idea, and I'm glad we went, but it was pretty chilly. I had to bought another sweatshirt, and wore a hat and gloves the whole time, but compared to -2.... 45 is great.

Here are some pictures of the various excursions.

2 weeks

2009-12-03T12:46:00.002-04:00

This very well may be my last post before you see me because there are- as the title states- only 2 weeks left (actually only 13 days- I will be home on the 14th day).

Monday is the start of our final tests- its a Pathology lab final. Then Wednesday is our Mini 3, then the Wednesday after that- the 16th- is our cumulative final. They all promise to be terrible, so all I can say is "hold on to your butts."

The pictures are from a 2hour beach excursion for my friend Charles' 30th birthday (thats him in the 3rd picture). Other than that I havent been doing to much- I baked a lot last week... Pumpkin Bars, Chocolate Chip cookies, and a brownie (had to get rid of my sugar and butter somehow and I found no better alternative).

Back to studying for me. Today I have to work in the anatomy lab from 5:40 till 7ish because of a 1st semester exam, so I need to be productive before that. And to prove that fact to you-- Duloxitine is a SNRI, Tolcapone is a COMT inhibitor, and I really just want to shoot myself. hahaha. I cant wait to be home.

~Kristen

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T12:09:00.002-04:00

Have a great dinner! I will be dining courtesy of SGA- a take it to go turkey diner. I'm not expecting much seeing as it only cost 15ECs, but maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Then this weekend we will have our own little post Thanksgiving/birthday celebration pot luck of sorts.

Anywho- home soon. http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?month=12&day=16&year=2009&hour=16&min=0&sec=0&p0=226 very soon. (but you have to add a day to that because THAT counter is my time till I'm off the island counter... so by that time- if all goes well, I will be in San Juan checking into my hotel room for the evening)

~Kristen

Its the final countdown!

2009-11-21T18:15:00.003-04:00

>>>Insert cheesy music here<<<

Well, its that time... finally. Less than one month and I'll be HOME!!!! woot woot!!! Not much has happened here that is worth mentioning besides from these few points.

Today was the Powderpuff game. I had gone to one practice and one practice only because I needed to study (this semester is kicking my butt). So needless to say I was a little rusty, but whatever. Sadly, I ended up getting jacked in the face by this crazy ass girl that was playing on the other team... right in the jaw by her elbow, so the next play we met again and I headbutted her in the face. It was all to much, and I ended up leaving before it was over because I was so mad with how it was being played and ref'ed, so I dont know how it ended, but I think we lost. Which is pretty sad because the 3rd and 4th semester team hasnt lost a game in years. hahahaha!

Other news, I finally saw some roadkill today that was not a centipede, or a land crab- a cow finally got pummeled. As sadistic as that sounds, let me inform you- people here drive like freaking maniacs, and the cows roam free, and walk, and poop, and do whatever they want wherever they want- including the road. It was only a matter of time. My theory (because it was a calf that was dead) is that the car saw the big momma cow and swerved to miss it, and then took out the baby. BUT the roadkill cow- which was there at 7:11 am, was gone when I came back from the market at 7:41 am, so I will not be buying anything at the food shacks that is beef in the near future.

Thats all I've got now. Got to study for some practicals in ICM and Behavioral Sciences... the classes that we actually get to touch people and feel and listen for problems.

~Kristen
25 days

Picture guide: 1) My best attempt at an "angry" face. 2) My name: Discostick #99. 3) My personal favorite... my what the hell just happened picture... The blonde girl on the top of the pile is playing defense on the other team and started before our QB hiked the ball, so I didnt even move to stop her, but I didnt have to- because she collided with another played on her team. They hit each other so hard, the blonde on top came out with 2 huge gashes on her face most likely requiring stitches. Serves you right.

Fighting to stay above water

2009-11-08T16:18:00.003-04:00

OK, so that test was hard... whatever I've said about any test before this one- forget it. This test wins for the hardest test I have ever taken, and well, I bombed it. Bad. So, here to fore, I now need A's on all the rest of the tests to get to the next semester, so no more even little breaks for this girl... only books. Books morning noon and night. And then when I'm sick of studying I'll study some more.

Good news is that I got one last hoorah before the devastation of grades came out: which was a halloween party hosted by one of the campus charity groups. Bela, Kim (one of my other friends), and I went as trailer trash. Oh yeah. I was pregnant trailer trash to boot. Anyways, we ended up winning best group. :) And I'll have you all know that I coordinated this dressing so at least I'm good at something. haha. Whats awesome though- is that we one a 2 night stay at the Picard Beach Cottages, which are at the beach practically right on campus and they are where some of the actors/other people involved in filming Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean stayed while they were here filming.

I probably wont be posting very often till I get home due to me having to study my arse off... but if something interesting happens I'll let ya'll know. Sad news was now I cant do powderpuff: no time to practice... but they need girls on the line so bad they said I could just come for the game and play- so rock on!

~Kristen
38 days

TEST TOMORROW

2009-11-01T10:59:00.002-04:00

So I've been studying like a mad woman for the 8 weeks I've been here for this semester and still feel like I know pretty much nothing... SHIT! Test is tomorrow and I feel not so hot about it- so if you read this before Monday- send me some happy thoughts (but make sure they are intelligent ones too)

I miss home :( but just think- when I get to come back it will already be Christmas Time!!!! wow. Anyways, much love
~Kristen

45 days

Canyoning

2009-10-22T17:59:00.003-04:00

So Canyoning was definitely worth it. So here's what happened. There was a group of 10 students that went (which was the maximum number allowed to go with the company- Extreme Dominica). We took the school transport to Roseau, the capital of Dominica, and from there were picked up by Extreme Dominica. They operate out of a beautiful little place called Cocoa Cottages- such a beautiful view- smack dab in the middle of the rainforest.

Once there, it was time to put on our wet suits and harnesses. We then got our helmets and lifejackets and then proceeded to go up the mountain near by to practice how exactly to repel before we would be doing it for real. (Apparently I was a natural :-D ) Once we had all got the technique down we drove to Titou Gorge and began the trek down to the river.

The course just followed the river and included 7 repels and I think 3 jumps. The company had already drilled into the rock before (they have been doing this a long time) so all they had to do was tether us into safety and we were off. Unfortunately there was only one guy that had a waterproof digital camera, and in the gorge there wasnt much direct sunlight so many of his pics were too dark to make anything out.

It was wonderful- jumping off rocks into natural pools and repelling down waterfalls. At one point, I took a nap in a pool in the middle of the rainforest... now how many people can say they've done THAT! (its because I went first down one of the big repels, and with 10 other people that need to go- it took about 30 minutes to get them all through- plenty of time for a nap)

Overall the trip was crazy awesome, but I had to come back to reality seeing as I have my next test in less than 2 weeks.... damn.

Off to study I go :)
~Kristen

Pic 1- the group... I'm 3rd from the left.

Pics 2 and 3- Follow the yellow helmet.

Stuff

2009-10-13T13:43:00.004-04:00

Just a quick little update.

Snorkeling was a blast! Champagne Bay was overrated... I think the only bubbles I saw were from fish- so NOT as cool as I was expecting- BUT- Scotts head was way cool. It was just like snorkeling in Finding Nemo. By that I mean that there were tons of tropical fish and corals etc. (no anemones) but then as you went out from the shore, there was, just like in Nemo, "the drop." Seriously, I wish I had an underwater camera to show you how it went. You would be swimming along and then, out of nowhere, the bottom just DROPS OFF. So cool. I did some free dives to the bottom of the shallow part, that was at least 20ft down- in of course crystal clear waters.

Oddly enough, the only part of myself that I managed to sunburn was my knees... how you ask? No idea. I'm going with reflection up from the bottom, because clearly- you snorkel face (and knees) down.

Lets see, yesterday I did my first solo patient interview. This woman was a bit, um, weird... and to my disadvantage had all sorts of stuff wrong with her and I only get 2000 words to do a chart and then differential diagnoses and explanations of the diseases she has... so I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get it all in.

Canyoning on Saturday!!! My friends that went last Saturday said it was very very awesome. We repel down 2 different waterfalls apparently. I dont really know the exact details. I will when I have experience it first hand this weekend.

Until then- adios muchachos.

~Kristen

Moving on

2009-10-09T16:01:00.003-04:00

OK, so since my last post let me think what has happened..... not much really.

Mini one was Monday, and I came out feeling pretty good about it except for one subject so I was all pumped. THEN we figured out grades and my pumped-ness totally disappeared. :-( My personal worst test here. I didnt fail anything, but I sure didnt excel at anything either. I think my problem is that I have a problem being average. I hate C's. Ugh.

Moving on from that, its only going to get worse, so I need to up my studying somehow. (The "how" part is the part I'm still working on). I do know that I still am going to take some me time which should be awesome. For example- Sunday I'm going to Champagne Bay and Scott's head to go snorkeling. I'm going with Bela (of course) through Wellness club. The whole trip cost 10ec which is less than 4US. THEN next Saturday we are going "Canyoning". It should be super duper awesome. It involves dawning a wet suit and harness and repelling off Mountains, through waterfalls into lakes etc. Woot Woot!

Really, I need to cheer up and get going, but its hard when all your going is just more studying- hence the bit of fun that I am determined to mix in in the next 2 weekends.

HOME IN 68 DAYS!!!!

~Kristen

Mini on monday

2009-09-29T16:52:00.002-04:00

So its that time again... Mini time. This is looking to be the hardest test that I have had to take here, simply because the subject material is so intense. I suppose in any case I have about 5 days to reinforce all that I can.

Otherwise, life is pretty boring and repetitive as normal- except today I had a killer headache (so bad that I had to go home to get pills to make it bearable). I am also going to try out a new tutor session tonight by a girl doing 5th semester here, so we shall see how that pans out.

I guess, everybody start your praying, and I'll keep on studying. :-)

<3 Kristen

Its the little things

2009-09-20T20:23:00.002-04:00

So after hitting what can only be described as a major slump, today I felt much better. No bouts of overwhelming sadness while studying is a nice thing. And I thought I would put in here something that made my night.

After taking an unexpectedly long study break and talking about how we are going to be in debt until we are 45, we were still outside as the sun set and darkness fell. Then a few things went right... for me at least.

First- a friend had gone down to Rituals (a coffee shop- a crappy Panera) to get himself a burger for dinner, because this place is one of the only places thats close that sells beef that you would want to eat. He came back and gave it to us because he forgot to ask for it without condiments and he cant eat them so he had to order another plain, and we got to eat a fantastic Omaha burger (with condiments) at his expense. mmmmmmmmmm.

THEN- I'm looking off towards the main campus and see a lightning bug and exclaim "Is that a lightning bug!?!" I can not describe how excited I was to see it... I may as well been a 4 year old that just got a pony from Santa. My friends that are standing with me go... "yeah, you didnt know that they were here? There are like hundreds of them behind that shed at night." I suppose I dont get out much at night seeing as I'm always studying, but those stupid little bugs (and a fantastic burger) really made my night.

~Kristen

Week 2...

2009-09-15T16:38:00.002-04:00

Mom thought I should update this thing so here we go.

Lets see... clearly by the title of this post you have no doubt concluded that it is indeed the beginning of week 2. Everything is pretty much same ole same ole except for Behavioral Sciences and ICM (which means Introduction to Clinical Medicine). Yesterday was the first ICM and behavioral lab. These allow us to practice our interviewing skills.... I suppose looking back on yesterday and the past 8 months here, it would have been nice if they actually taught us how to do an interview.

We have the guts to an interview- like this goes here and this goes here, but never an actual ran through one. Well I cant say that anymore. My ICM visit to the Portsmouth clinic consisted of me and another student (thankfully I knew her and we are friends) being shown to a room and a nurse saying "here's a patient. interview her." Yes, that was how it went. I am certainly not a pro and it was probably the longest and most in depth interview that this patient has ever had, but oh well... we're learning.

In other news: Bela and I started p90X (which is an exercise program) today and I realized that I have about 1 good pushup in me and no more... the rest are done girl style. The other thing I realized is that if I ever fall into a hole that is taller than I am and wider than I can reach I would die there because I sure as hell cant do a pull up either. haha.

Well I need to study. I was sick last week and did a lot of R and R and not a lot of reading.

~Kristen

Back To School...

2009-09-07T09:31:00.002-04:00

Back in Dominica and back to the old bump and grind, except this time I have popcorn. :-) By that I mean that now my apartment is equip with an air popper for my popcorn kernels... so I had popcorn for breakfast. Actually the American Indians used to eat popcorn for breakfast as cereal- so maybe I will try that sometime.

Life has certainly not changed since I have been gone. Some new bath rugs may have appeared in my bathroom, but aside form that- the power still went out last night so I slept like shit. My laundry guy was supposed to show up at 7 and still wasn't there at 7:30. And class is still slow and tortuous.

~Kristen

Good News!

2009-08-12T16:56:00.002-04:00

6 finals left and I'm FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, according to my calculations, I knocked mini 3 out of the park. Super home run :-) So now I think I need to get 5 questions (out of 80) in one class to get a C, and the others, I have already passed. (except for DPS because we dont know our grades yet for a written paper thingy). Soooo I'm just working now to get A's and B's in the classes that I can, but I'm also unmotivated :-(.

Cant wait to come home and see everyone

<3 Kristen

Let the games begin

2009-08-03T21:51:00.002-04:00

It is officially CRUNCH TIME!

This week: Neurology Lab Exam (Tues), Histology Lab Exam (Wed), Anatomy Lab Practical (Friday)

Next week: Mini 3 (Tuesday)

Next Next Week: CUMULATIVE FINALS OVER SEMESTERS 1 and 2. Physiology and Histology (Tuesday), Anatomy and Neurology (Wednesday), Biochemistry and Genetics + Doctor Patient Society (Thursday).

Then Friday I start my 2 day journey back to the states. So I will not be posting until maybe the 20th or 21st, but by that time my brain will pretty much be fried so once again- not promising anything. :-P

I just cant wait to see everyone and honestly- go to a REAL grocery store and of course a mega super store- ie SAMS CLUB!

<3 Kristen

3 posts in one day!! wow!

2009-07-25T19:01:00.005-04:00

I suppose I'm making up for lost time, and time that I will not have in the very near future. I just wanted to get some pics up from the Powderpuff game, which we lost- like 8 to 24 or something... It was very close up to the 2nd half, and then they got 2 more touchdowns. Oh well. Here are some highlights thanks to Bela.

And then I broke my own rule and went to KFC and bought something for my half birthday... A SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM CONE!!!!!! and it was fabulous! I still wont buy their chicken, but at only 3.50 ecs, I may be having a cold treat every now and again.

figured the picture thing out

2009-07-25T13:06:00.011-04:00

Apparently, I have to add them one at a time instead of in a bulk upload, which is what I normally did. These are from the ziplining trip and then the Bahamas weekend trip.

This first one of me in the maroon is from our balcony in Antigua. The rest are Bahamas

Less than a month!

2009-07-25T12:50:00.003-04:00

Many apologies for not updating in a while, but as always, life here has been BUSY! This time more than usual. Last weekend was the trip to the Bahamas. I was supposed to leave Thursday morning and get back Saturday afternoon. I was cool with that, I would have Saturday night and all of Sunday to study. Well, as it turns out, the weather in the Caribbean was bad on Saturday and all of us on that trip were forced to overnight in Antigua. Sunday came and there weren't enough planes, so yet again stuck in Antigua. Basically, my trip turned into a 5 day 4 night hiatus, so I'm behind in my ideal study schedule.

We finally got back, and I was in love with the Bahamas campus. Everything was newer, the staff were awesome, and the teacher to student ratio was small and therefore ideal. I went and signed up the next day- only to receive and email on Wednesday saying that California was not sure what this new Bahamas campus was and that they were going to have to go and access it. I didn't know this, but a lot of states follow California and base which foreign medical school grads can work in there state off of what California decides to do. That being said- even if I cant work in one state, that bothers me, so to have a possible 13 others on the list of places I could never go to work was out of the question. Also- when the VP of Enrollment says flat out, "Don't Go" that sends a pretty big message. I mean, I already have an apartment here, and know whats up etc. etc., but this place does suck, and I want to be closer to home and not have to travel for 2 days to get back here.

Today is the big Powderpuff Football game. My nickname this time is Turd Ferguson, which just cracks me up. I haven't gone to many practices, and the field is a big muddy mess, so this should be interesting. All I can say is that I have my old glasses, so if nothing else, I wont break my good pair. :-)

I'll try to get some stuff up here after the game but I cant promise much- our test load in the next 3 weeks is Hellish. 10 of them to be exact, and lots of the grade yet to be determined. Really, I just want to pass. Of course I will take A's, but passing is also good.

*Also- I have been trying to post pictures but it wont let me... sorry*

Kristen

PICTURES!

2009-07-15T13:20:00.002-04:00

Only 9 tests left... haha

2009-07-10T11:48:00.002-04:00

Second test down, now only 9 left until I get to come home. :-) This test was crappy. Thats all I feel that I want to say about it. Lets just say that I now need to somehow figure out how to work harder than I already am. Booooo this. That being said, this and next weekend should be really fun.

Tonight is the "Paint Party." Premise being- wear the white t-shirt that you bought to get in, and once at the party- throw paint at people. haha. I think its going to be pretty fun.

Tomorrow is also promising. After the market and tutoring etc. I will be going ziplining through the rain forest. ^_^ Hopefully I will get lots of cool pictures. I just dont want to drop my camera.

Other than that- my life is anything but eventful. I just want to get through this semester. I just keep reciting to myself- C's for degrees! But of course I want A's, but thats out of the question at this point in some classes... I will just continue to give it all that I've got.

Oh- next weekend- duh. I AM GOING TO THE BAHAMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!! Can you tell that I'm excited about it? Because I am. The school is taking 300 people there to look at the new campus and talk to the people that are there now. I'm pretty damn stoked for the fact that there is a movie theatre there so I should be able to go see Harry Potter, and hopefully Transformers as well. Both of those are one that I would want to see in theatre.

If the Bahamas campus looks legit and looks like somewhere I could see myself, I will most likely be making another move in September, but that is still a humongous IF.

Thats pretty much it... yup.

<3 Kristen

Holy Crap Mini 2 is almost here!

2009-06-25T16:40:00.002-04:00

I reiterate the title of this post- HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! See its important because I bolded it, made it red, changed the font, AND its italics. Its on July 6th, so I cant promise any updates before then, unless I can not take studying anymore and perhaps something cool happened, but honestly- I dont see that happening until AFTER the mini, so ugh.

Biochemistry is a freaking beast, and well I realized that Histo is worth 30% on this test and I dont know it... HA! and I dont know Physio either which is like 25%, so I need to get my ass in gear. srsly. The good news is that if I can master Histo- I have also mastered Physio and vice versa because they overlap nicely, which is good.

In un-school related news- I have lost A LOT of weight. I mean by the time I come back home there is a very good chance that I will hit triple digit loss. :-D yay! Went to body tracker today and I was 225- once again- YAY!!!!!!! Thats only 5 pounds away from my goal of being classified as just overweight- which would make me super duper freaking happy. And 3 people told me I was pretty yesterday, and one said that I was going to be dangerous if I keep getting skinnier (think of it- me? Kristen? dangerous... muah haha- boys watch out :-P)

Otherwise- here is some current news, its someones birthday and there is cake here and it smells really good, but since I am not this persons friend, I can not eat her cake :-( sad. But good? for me in the long run? no- its just sad- I like cake.

Thats really all I've got.

Much love! <3
~Kristen

Study study study

2009-06-16T18:17:00.003-04:00

Hey hey hey! Been studying... like usual haha... what else do I do? Well, seeing as June seems to be the month of birthdays- Happy Birthday Grandma Corrine (two days ago) and Happy Birthday Grandma Greta today!!!- I made cake. Today was also Bela's birthday, so I made a chocolate cake for her. That was a task. My oven does not have numbers on it.... just: Alta, M. Alta, Media, M. Baja, and Baja... so I guessed that 350 was right around M. Alta and it turned out just fine.

I cant remember what I wrote last time, but since then I got a haircut. It's "medium" so says Mike, I feel like its short, but I like it, and thats all that matters.

I'm going out to dinner tonight with Bela for her birthday, so I am trying to get all my lecture stuff done, but I find myself looking more at anatomy, because the lab practical is on Friday and I need an A on it... because I got a C on the test. boooo! The worst part is that the lab has been absolutely PACKED with people lately, and that the bodies look terrible. I cant find anything, and the havent been sprayed down when students are looking at them, which leads to them looking dry and quite frankly like beef jerky. A smelly nasty human jerky- ewww. I wish students had more respect for the bodies, but alas- they dont.

Well, back to studying. Hopefully dinner is awesome. We are going to the Iguana Cafe, which everyone says is amazing. We shall see.

~Kristen

First Big Test Down

2009-06-09T15:50:00.002-04:00

Mini 1 = over. My performance = not so hot. Sadly I calculated my grades and 2 are in the C range, one of those which is pretty low (which is close to failure here... A-B-C-Fail). We shall see when everything gets grieved and what not whether those improve or go down... hopefully they only get better.

Last night was super fun, and full of after Mini madness. I decided to spend the money I had gotten out of the bank earlier for laundry on alcohol, and make myself a sweet-tart (which is pretty much amazing). Needless to say, I drank the whole 2 liter over the course of the evening and had myself a really good time. I made a few new friends and made a whole lot of people laugh. I suppose its hard to tell who people really are when the only time you ever see them is studying. So letting loose was a shocker to some. :-) haha.

Other than that, the week prior was super uneventful, just studying like a mad woman, which didnt even pay off- sadly. *sigh* Today we have an 8 hour day of lecture, which I am watching from home. I went to the first 4 hours, and was just too tired, so I came home and took a nap- yet I'm still tired. The only thing I dont like about mediasite is this weird downtime between lectures... but hey, I'm getting something done. I hadnt wrote on here for a week +.

AND, today I got a parcel slip, so we'll have to see what I got, whether its the package my mom just sent, or one that I've been waiting for for over 3 months... Alright, I'm going to watch some more lecture :-), and then study... I have to be super on top of this shit so I dont get any more C's.... I do not like C's.

<3 Kristen

Life keeps going forwards

2009-05-30T15:41:00.002-04:00

Well, school keeps going, yet I seem to be in the same spot that I started at. Its quite frustrating. I keep studying and studying and yet feel like I havent even scratched the surface of what I need to master for this first test, which is in 8 days!!!! AHHHH!! I hate this, and dont know what to do to fix it. Thats the worst part. I'm doing the same things I did last semester, but there is just so much more info this semester. Ugh.

In other news, Bela and I had people show up to our tutoring session and they thought we were great -well at least one did :-) . The tutor that I was going to go to today had absolutely NO SPOTS left in the room, so at least its not just me who thinks that second semester is hard.

I went to the market and bought some new things- "cherries" and "plums". They are fruit, but not cherries or plums... at least not like any kind I have seen in the states. But whatever the "plums" were, they were good. I also bought a watermelon, which I proceeded to drop back at my apartment and it split into 2 pieces and the ants are having a field day.

Other than that, my life is hard and sucky and August can not come soon enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA DICK!!!! (tomorrow)

<3 and miss everyone,
Kristen

So much to master in so little time

2009-05-23T09:25:00.002-04:00

Well, its been one hell of first 2 weeks.... I've been studying all the time, and yet know nothing, which totally sucks. And then to add insult to injury, I have managed to catch a cold... awesome. So my plan of catching up and being a super studier this weekend were shattered. Instead of having a great productive day yesterday, my body revolted and I left the annex at 7 and was sleeping at 9pm. and then got up at 8. Now I have a tutoring session from 10-noon, and then a couple of my friends and I are going to the the anatomy lab to learn. And then later I will try to catch up with class related things. Ugh

Other than that, 2nd semester is living up to its reputation of being hard as hell. I can only hope that I can study enough before the first test, which is in 2 weeks.

This is going to suck...

2009-05-13T18:03:00.002-04:00

3 days in to a new semester... and well, like my title says, its going to suck. Another class added to the 5 others we are already taking, and unfortunately, I have never had neuroanatomy before, so it is a brand new thing that I need to learn. super. I havent been as motivated as I should be these last few days, but I was sick in there so I feel a bit better now, which is good. I still havent figured out what made my stomach revolt, but I have narrowed it down to either coleslaw I made, or guavas... I have a bad feeling that its the coleslaw, which is sad, because I would have to throw it all out.

I will not be writing very much on here though... I have already decided that much. Only when I have time or something super interesting happened. I will try to keep a once a week update though.... maybe on Sunday or something. I dont know (I do like to take mental breaks though and this is perfect for one of those.)

Class so far is shitty. A bunch of memorization, which is basically my least favorite part. Right now I'm in the Annex studying and the police are here practicing for the Whitecoat ceremony. Its cool, but I would like quiet :-P.

I'm trying to get a schedule down that I can stick to too. Since we have that extra class, we now have more class-- so some days we have 8 hours of class.... booo. The tutor schedule aso isnt ready yet either. Hopefully the ones I went to last semester want to tutor again so I wont have to test drive any new tutors. Also- I get to be a tutor for 1st semester. It should be good, so long as the 2 hours out of m week doesnt drive me crazy.

Well, I need to get back to being studious. Far too much stuff already and I need to stay caught up, because falling behind in this semester is not an option because you wouldnt be able to come back from it.

Much love-
Kristen

Happy Mothers Day!!!

2009-05-10T16:20:00.002-04:00

Happy Mothers Day momma and grandmas! I hope it was a lovely day. I used my last day off to sleep in till 9, then watch some TV, check in (so they know I'm on the island), and then I went snorkeling. I went out in front of campus by the old pier, and it was really neat. Too bad it was cloudy :-(, BUT the fish were still there. And I saw some really awesome sea urchins. They had spines that were about 8 inches long.

Otherwise, my week was full of nothing... and it was lovely. I watched lots of Starz. Last night, Game Plan and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian were on, so I popped my last bag of popcorn, made some crystal lite and watched away. And BTW (by the way), it bothered me that the characters in the Narnia movie all had different accents... I mean, whats that about! A Latino prince, British children, a Scottish dwarf, and others that were just weird.

See, like I said pretty boring right... but that will certainly change after tomorrow. Now, dont get me wrong... my life will most likely still be boring and filled with studying, but at least I will have a purpose again. Its good to have a purpose.

Thats all I've got to tell you right now.
LOVE YOU!!!
<3 Kristen

Vacation is almost over

2009-05-03T19:02:00.003-04:00

Hola All!

My parents left today... sad. But it was definitely fun to have them here. We got to go site seeing and see a bunch of cool stuff. But the best story of the week is by far this one.... So I've mentioned this before, but they filmed the parts of the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movies here. The parts that have to do with Tia Dalma on the river, we're filmed VERY NEAR campus. They actually built little houses for the directors and cast that I saw as we were walking on the beach on Monday (i had never noticed them before). Anyways, the river they used was the Indian River, and you can pay to have someone row you up it, because motors are not allowed in the national park, so I called a company to arrange diner in the national park and to have someone row us up there. So we drive and park by the river, and our rower crosses the street and I say "Are you from Cobra?" (cobra is the company I called earlier) and he says, "yes, they told me you were coming." So we all go and hop in his rowboat and start the tour up the river. We are about half way up the river when my phone starts ringing... total mod killer there... ha. But whats even better is that I answer and the woman on the other end asks me- are you still coming? the boat driver is waiting for you. hmmm.... if the rower from their company is waiting for us... they WHO THE HELL IS ROWING US RIGHT NOW!?!?! I say we are already halfway up the river with a rower who said he was with Cobra and that was the end of that phone call. She calls me back a little later, and now we're sure that me and my parents are in a boat with not the correct driver... awesome. We finally get to the bar in the national park and this is where the boat driver's plan gets messed up. I had already arranged to have dinner prepared for us, so now he has to wait, if I hadnt, he would have just taken us back I would have payed him and his scam would have worked, but now he is stuck. We are now waiting for our meal, and the cooks phone rings, and the woman wants to talk to me. She wanted us not to worry, and even if our boat driver leaves us, they will send another to pick us up. Great. Also note, that we are now watching our rower that hijacked us, proceed to take some marijuana out of his pocket and roll up a joint and smoke it.... so now we have to go back with a high pirate captain... hahaha. We finished dinner and desert, got rowed back to the main road in the rain and then I had to pay at the Cobra office... they are who I arranged it with, and they accepted my debit card. We told our high rower to talk to them, because he lied to us. If he worked for Cobra then me paying the company should not be a problem at all. It was definitely a memorable outing. And my dad and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes... literally we each had about 100 bites each. Terrible. But they arent itchy anymore.

Well that was my interesting story about our outings in Dominica. Lets see what else happened... I PASSED 1st Semester!!! I did pretty damn well too. 4 A's and a B is not too shabby at all. And my parents gave me a new iPod nano as a celebration gift. Its lime green and pretty awesome, but I need to buy a big one so all my music can be safe.

While my parents were here, we decided to rent a car so we could go wherever we wanted and not worry so much about time, but what we did not realize is how crazy it is to drive anywhere on this island. Until this week I had always just been a happy passenger... let someone else worry about cliffs and rain gullies that are 2 feet deep, and roads that are not wide enough for two cars to pass on. Holy shit! I'm honestly surprised that my parents got in the car with me the next day. It is crazy stuff driving on this island for sure. No more of that for me.

I successfully moved over one apartment, and the difference is amazing! Probably a good 10 degrees cooler easy. Its got 2 more windows then the other apartment did and great airflow. I'm glad that I moved. Very glad. Now I just need to unpack all my stuff again.

<3 Kristen

Parents in 24 hours

2009-04-23T13:48:00.004-04:00

Hey! Sorry for not updating, apparently I was freaking some folks out. I'm glad that ya'll care that much. So my final was Tuesday, and well, I finished it really quickly. I mean I already finished the other tests pretty fast, but I was done with this one in about an hour and 20 minutes. Which is fast for a 120 question final, or at least I think thats fast. So that either means that I did really well, or I messed up.... But I suppose those are your options no matter how long it takes you to finish a test. :-)

Um, good news, I dont feel bad about the final and I guess I'm relieved to be done with my 1st 4 months of med school. No matter what happens, I made it this far. I'm almost certain that I'm now a 2nd semester med school student, but I dont like talking about tests until I can figure out/know my grade for certain.

I've been catching up on TV and entertainment in the last couple of days. Who knew it was an all new Wed. on the Discovery Channel... to bad you can make microwave diamonds, that would have been nice. (but honestly when ever would peanut butter + charcoal brickets = gem stone)

I've been my normal self lately which is nice. And by normal I mean a certified water baby. Yesterday I went to the pool for 2 hours in the morning. Then went back for another 2 in the evening, but in the evening pool romp, I decided to go out into the Caribbean. I swam out further than I ever had before because the tide was coming in, so I figured if something was to go terribly wrong I can float and drift back to shore eventually. I swam out to the end of the picturesque dock, and found that about 3/4ths to the end of it, there was a little man made unintentional reef that had some really pretty tropical fish inhabiting it. Nothing like feeling that you're swimming in an aquarium. I also swam through a school of fish- AWESOME! They just split up and let me swim through and then formed their school again. And they were pretty big fish too- about a foot long.

Lastly, there had been this coffee shop that opened up called Rituals. I dont know if I mentioned it before, but its like Dominica's version of Panera... so and overpriced Starbucks. But they have very "american" food, or so I was told, I had never eaten there before because it was so expensive, but when it first opened Bela and I had gone to see what the hype was about, and we saw the desserts that they had there. Decedent pies and cheesecakes... mmmmmm. But expensive. On that day I told her that after our final we are coming to eat here, and that was realized Tuesday night. We sat and ate for two hours. I had a turkey and bacon panini, and she had some sort of wrap. I drank a Kona Mocha chiller, and then for dessert I ordered a slice of german chocolate cake, and Bela had blueberry cheesecake and we split them. Fantastic. I took some pictures of my "american" food. And look how HAPPY I was to eat cake. YAY cake!

The worst is yet to come

2009-04-18T16:41:00.003-04:00

Well, I havent gotten my official grades back yet for the test, but goodnews! I didnt fail anything. I actually got the same grade in biochem as I did last time... So all I can do now is study my butt off and pass the final- which should be pretty terrible. I'm realizing that I dont remember half of the stuff I learned 4 months ago :-/ crap. So thats all I'm saying today, and most likely until Tuesday.

Went to the market today, and bought some fresh pork. And by FRESH... I mean cut me off a piece of its leg with your machete please fresh. Thats cool though, pork is really hard to come by, so I bought 2 pounds and had a pork chop for lunch, which was a deliciously scrumptious change from tuna. And the 4th semester sale was today. I dont even remember how much I spent... probably 130-150 ECs... something around that, but now I have 3 new 3" binders, 3 new knives, a nice set of dishes, a folding clipboard book stand, and some Mister Clean magic erasers. And considering that the clipboard alone sells for 140EC in the bookstore, I made out like a bandit.

Must study more biochem now. My fear of failure is an allpowerfull drive. Its too bad that it comes with total emotional breakdowns and sadness too... so damn. I miss everyone soooo much and I hope you (the grandparents) enjoy the pictures my mother should be delivering to you soon. I just had them printed yesterday.

<3 Kristen

Well that sucked....

2009-04-16T17:38:00.005-04:00

Oh dear Jesus, Mary and Joseph... That test was not only super sucky... but super hard and tricky too. I mean I studyed soooo hard for this test. I didnt take any days off, or slack off at all, and yet Biochemistry was TERRIBLE!!! I mean come on... I knew those gene disorders backwards and forwards, and instead of being straight forward, he had a question about an aborted fetus that had short limbs AND broken legs and pelvis... so I didnt know whether he was referring to Osteogenesis Imperfecta (the broken bones) or Achondroplasia (the short limbs)... I think I picked the second, but other students say the OI can also have short limbs. Just shit-tastic.

I am just upset about this right now I dont even know what to do with myself. I went to the gym to try and relieve some stress, but was still sad and mad. So I had planned it out. I was going to go home and call my mom and just let off some steam and I open my door and flip the switch to turn on my kitchen light, and the power is out. AHHHHHHH!!! So no phonecall home :-(

I just really hope that I didnt bomb this test too bad... I am FREAKING OUT!!!!! I would be so upset to make it this far and then fail in the end. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness... this is all very bad.

But good news- I got both Easter Cards from the grandparents today, THANKS! and I got a package, but I dont know what it is yet. I will tomorrow when I pick it up ^_^

Now back to badnews... we wont know what our grades are on this test (or be able to calculate them) until Monday... so I have to go all weekend in angst and not knowing where I should put my focus... I will just put my money on biochemistry and physiology... because I dont think I did too hot. AND more bad news... there are only 25 questions per subject on the final, and biochem and physiology are both worth 30% of your final grade, which means that you can NOT afford to miss many... Oh dear Jesus... just jesus... FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!

I'm done... going to watch some movies.

<3 Kristen

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T10:54:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter family and friends!

I found this comic funny, so hopefully you do too.

And the next one, is well, more for dad. haha

It reminded me of when he drew a picture on the TV sketch program we had of Easter Bunny roadkill...

Otherwise, I dont have much new to say. Nothing really very interesting happening. I cant wait until this term is over and I can relax and watch some TV!

But I cant relax just yet, because over 50% in my biochemistry grade, and 65% of my physiology grade have yet to happen (they will in these next two tests) so I really need to study them hard core, so I can do super well in them.

I am definitely in a time warp here though... Its really weird doing the same thing every day... and not to mention that the weather is pretty much the same every day too... weird.

Well, I need to study- ALOT. But at least I didnt go out on Friday and get drunk like many of the folks here, and then they wasted all of yesterday feeling like shit, so ha.

Anywho, Happy Easter.

<3 Kristen

Going with the KISS method today

2009-04-07T21:18:00.002-04:00

Alright... I cant focus anymore on Pulmonary Physiology, so blog it is! (a short one though still, because I want to sleep a lot tonight)

I have 3 tests this week (2 lab practicals on Thursday and a Physio application session on Friday) so this will probably be it for posts till the weekend. After those 3 things, I have one last Mini, and then 4 days after that, the final... And then I should be a 2nd semester Med School student. Actually, its 2 weeks to the day. In 2 weeks, I will finally be able to take a much needed and deserved break.

I havent really done anything of much interest or importance other than make coleslaw and cucumber thingys... but they could have turned out better had a owned a measuring receptacle (I just used a coffee cup :-P ) Oh well, I will try to find a set of measuring cups at the main store, or wait and see if any 4th semesters have some.

Well, my eyes are telling me that its time to stop looking at the computer for the day and give reading/studying a break... and its only 9:30... early evening.

I cant wait until 2 weeks from now... and I cant wait even more for 3 days after that and my folks will get here. YAY!

<3 and Hugs to everyone! (Morris included this time)
~Kristen

I'm Le' Tired

2009-04-02T20:05:00.002-04:00

And no amount of napping can fix it. But I dont nap... or at least not intentionally. But I shouldnt need a nap, I have gotten lots of sleep the past few days. Maybe thats why I'm tired. Who knows... all I know is that my brain is trying super hard to remember all of the information that I am trying to cram into it, and I think its trying to tell me it needs a break. To which I reply- Dammit brain! You can have a break in 3 weeks!!! But not right now! Now shut up and remember things. Perhaps the fact that I am having conversations with body parts shines some light on the stress we are under... and perhaps I am slightly mental.

Didnt do anything interesting today... Went to the anatomy lab for 2 hours... I think about 4-5 more in there and I will be set for Thursday (which is our 2nd and last practical of the term)... Histology also has a lab practical that day. joy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it was lovely. I'm glad you liked the flowers. I didnt want to send them through eflowers because then you would have had to make the bouquet yourself, so I ordered locally :-) because I love you!

I forgot to mention this before, but my neighbor and I talked two days ago (so I guess you wouldnt have known anyways because my home internet had been out for those two days....) but his wife is going to school here, so he has lots of free time to do whatever... Like make spear guns for spear fishing. Seriously... He McGivered 2 of them here and goes fishing out in front of campus... its nuts! But he did say I could borrow one whenever I wanted to maybe I will have to try my hand at spear fishing :-P ha.

Below is a picture of me and my crawdads... or mini lobsters. They were HUGE!!! But also very tasty.

Well I need to study some more.. I have sufficiently avoided it for about half an hour by doing this. :-)

Once again, Happy Birthday Mom!

<3 Kristen

Oh yeah baby

2009-03-28T16:30:00.002-04:00

Clearly we were the biggest badasses on the team. You don't mess with these lines. BTW you are looking at the O and D line there.

Why is it that weekends seem to suck now more than weekdays...

2009-03-27T19:28:00.003-04:00

OH I know why... because they have even MORE studying in them... stupid weekends.

Today was the big powderpuff game... and we lost. BUT it was not a shut out (we scored a touchdown). I think the end score was 27 to 6... haha. Lets see. This one girl Amy (on the other team) lived up to her name as being a beast. She knocked me off balance once and I stumbled backwards and onto a knee, and then knocked our center flat out on her ass and then fell on top of her. This woman is large too. How she does it, is that shes on Defense, so she can move before our QB hikes the ball, and she uses this time where the O-line has to remain motionless to start her lunge... So by the time WE can move, SHE was already coming at us... Enough of her, I did knock another girl on her ass though.

I think I forgot to mention that I participated in a practice phlebotomy clinic on Monday where we got to draw "blood" ie red water out of the practice arms. It was pretty sweet, but do ever get better you would have to practice on a person, and nobody was volunteering for that. (this farside reminded me of it)

Well I still need to decide whether I'm going to the party with free drinks, or will study. Sadly I will probably choose the later. What I good little student I am. mheh. BUT I sure as hell dont want to jeopardize any of my tomorrow by drinking to much today so whatever.

Love and Hugs to all! (except maybe morris.... because he got to have a fun spring break in disney world and at water parks while I was stuck here... so he only gets a head nod)
<3 kristen

Craptastic

2009-03-23T20:31:00.003-04:00

Thats what life is like right now... Just craptastic. Perhaps its because a new week and we're nearing the end of this first semester, or perhaps I'm just in a bit of a slump. Either way I do not feel very chipper and am having a really REALLY hard time trying to get myself motivated to study.

I've also just been really, well, sad lately and I dont really have a reason for why. Its not grades because those are good. (except biochem >:-/ ) So i really dont have a reason, and that irritates me. So I'm full of a bunch of I dont know right now. And the smallest little things will get me going too. A song that makes me sad makes me really sad... Or thinking about something that I miss makes me upset... its quite ridiculous. I'm convinced that my brain just needs something to worry about so why not everything... stupid brain... its trying to get my stomach upset so it will give me an ulcer. They're in it together plotting against me. Oh well.

I got one of my ebay purchases today- New Cami and some bras! I havent tried them on yet because I havent been home, so lets hope they fit. I also got Laura's awesome card triad- Thanks! (I'm not even sure if you read this... but thanks anyways, I'll have to send you an email) Theres nothing like getting 3 holidays all at once... Hey, at least Easter got here before easter. :-)... speaking of which I dont even know when Easter is anyways. Its a holliday I never really understood though anyways.. Crucification, reserection---> Giant bunny, colored eggs... you tell me.

So much on my mind right now... school, life, having no life, seeing people that still have social lives and wondering if they are doing better than me and if they are why dont I have a social life, I hurt all over from practice and we have it again tomorrow... I want it to be done. See so many things, and I dont want to study, but I have to and it sucks.

Which in fact I am going to attempt to do right now. Probably more histology and then some physiology, and lastly biochem in bed. It will be my bedtime story... Perhaps I will read to my mother tonight-- about single gene disorders. HA!

much <3
~Kristen

PS.. the Farside is what greeted me in one of Laura's cards and I found it just too totally funny and ironic that it arrived today not to put is up... I think its just hilarious.. so thats why its there.

I apparently dont know how to put on sunscreen

2009-03-21T22:06:00.002-04:00

Just a short entry/update today... The sun is hot... and when you dont put sunscreen on everywhere you get toasted. Today I didnt spray evenly and half of my back is burnt. :-(

just duh. Other than studying all the time that is my life.... study and now sunburns. Stupid Stupid stupid.

<3 to all!!!
~Kristen

Happy Hump Day

2009-03-18T18:14:00.002-04:00

Its wednesday... Thats about all I've got. No I'm just kidding. Stuff happened today. Lets see- for the rest of this week classes start at 9 instead of 8 so me and Bela (my best friend here.. its crazy how similar we are and the events in our lifes that brought us to meeting... ask me and I'll tell you but its too much to type) will be gym'n it up in the morning instead of the afternoon.

Had a Pace session today... They always suck --> because they remind you of all the stuff you dont know :-( and should :-( :-( BUT! Since I had a Pace session today (which started at 1, and my classes ended at noon) I had time to go to the pool and swim a little and lay out in the sun. Dont worry- I had my SPF 50 on. But that brings me to my next point. I need to figure out how to get the back of my legs with the spray on sunscreen in a uniform fashion. I have some serious burnage going on in select spots.

I also had to rescue a persons necklace and pendant from the bottom of the pool; so that made me feel quite useful, AND gave me a valid reason to play in the pool.

Also apparently I looked good today. "cute". Just had a little see through white top thing that mom bought me- an XL (woot) on over my swim suit. And at the pool I saw one of girls from class that I sort of talk to/know.. (and acquaintance I guess) and she said that I have really pretty hair. ^_^ She didnt know before because its always up.

Well that was my 10 minute study break of the 6 oclock hour, so now back to gene disorders.... Which are some NASTY buggers. Sucks what on little substitution on a gene can do to you- that is if that mutation is compatible with life.

Much love and Happy St. Patricks day Late!
<3 Kristen

The beginning of the end

2009-03-15T11:07:00.002-04:00

Its getting closer and closer... the end of the first semester! Which is the best of times and worst of times. It means that you're almost done, but it also means that the last barrage of tests are coming as well. Lets see... we do get about 4 weeks of simply class which is both good and bad. It means that we dont have any intermittent tests in there, but with no test in between that means that they are all of the end. The last week of classes ends with a histology lab practical in the morning and an anatomy lab practical in the afternoon... break 3 days for the weekend and then the third mini... then break 5 days and the cumulative final. THEN I can relax and if all goes well, move on to second semester :-).

Went to the market yesterday. That has become pretty much a weekly occurrence due to the wonderful cost benefits. Fruit and veggies and eggs are much cheaper at the market then they are at the store... so I go. The only problem is that I have to get up super early- 530 AM to go, because the longer you wait to go, the less of a selection you have. The positive there is that I am up, but the negative is that I am terribly tired by the time 10pm rolls around.

Today we had powderpuff practice. That game is coming up soon. The 22nd or something like that ( I really dont know :-p... all I know is soon). Right now I was going to attempt to study in the library, but I find that there is far too much foot traffic in the library for me to concentrate, here to fore, I am writing a blog entry. But when I am attempting to study, I will be working on cardiac physiology because that is basically learning a bunch of equations and how to apply them to problems. hmmm I also need to look at anatomy some more. We are moving on the the thorax-- which includes lungs, heart, etc.-- and is really concept based instead of this does this and if you injure this, this happens (like the limbs were).

I had a full 8-9 hours of sleep last night which was very nice. But I think I may have over done it... you know, sometimes when you sleep for a really long time you're tired the next day? I may be there. Oh well. Other than that, my life is pretty predictable... Like now- guess what I'm going to do? If you answered study- YOU ARE CORRECT!

Thats all Folks
~Kristen

Is there a calm after the storm?

2009-03-11T19:18:00.002-04:00

I was just wondering... Everyone mentions the calm before the storm but what about afterwards? Because yesterday was definitely calm. I watched a movie (the punisher) and had some peanut butter MnMs (thanks mom!) and called people! It was nice getting to talk to everyone even though the connection was choppy. I guess you cant expect perfect calls from an internet voice over service.

As for my test- I did good again... by my calculations. Unofficially I got 4 As and 1 B this time... But that may change depending on what gets thrown out. Last time my grades went down, which needless to say I was not happy about. All I have to say is that the Eenie, Meenie, Minee Mo gods were with me during the test. :-) ...seriously (if you could see my test there were at least 3 where I had it narrowed down to 2 but then couldnt decide... so I did what anyone would do right??? maybe not. but it worked for me this time!

Its quite terrible really. How guilty I felt today about not studying yesterday... I'm conditioned to put in 11 hour days and when I dont I feel like a bum... oh well. What I did do though was figure out what channel VH1 was and watch some grade A reality show smut (which I shouldnt have because I am easliy addicted... Tila Tequila? count me in!) BUT!! watching VH1 made me realize that I loathe drag queens. Not because I dont agree with what they're doing- I could care less about that... but because those men make better looking ladies than half the girls I know. ITS NOT FAIR!!! oh well.. thats my rant on drag queens.

Other than that I had a huge day today filled with classes and I should be studying right now but I am so tired that its not even funny. And I shouldnt be tired because its only 730pm. Ugh. Well I have to at least attempt to get through all of the lectures again before I poop out in 2-3 more hours. Other than that I havent got much else.

Love ya!
~Kristen

Two down, two to go!

2009-03-09T20:57:00.002-04:00

So the second mini was today... And really I'm just happy that its over. Anatomy was a bunch of crap. There were supposed to be only a few questions on the hand/upper arm. There was one hour on the hand and one hour on the joints of the upper limb and wrist... so that means that there should have been 2 to max 4 questions regarding that. WRONG! there were more like 6-8 on the upper limb- INCLUDING nerves of the upper arm... which should have not been on this test at all. Oh well. I think *crosses fingers* that I got those right... and considering that there were only 18 anatomy questions total.. I really needed to.

The rest of the test was really hit or miss... so I'll let ya'll know how I did when I get the scores back. I got my new pants in the mail today. One size smaller. YAY! Then after my test I was all pumped to go to the beach and go swimming, but it was definitely high tide so that was a big ole negatory on the swimming. Especially because I could see the undertoe swirls about 20 feet out. So I looked for sea shells and for pretty rocks. I found some conch shells (just the normal kind like we get from florida) plus one really big one that had a hole in it but was still cool. And some neat coral, but it smells funny so its still outside. :-P

I cooked some fish tonight- tuna- which was very very tasty. Quite a bit better than the stuff from a can. And then, well actually right now, I had some peanut butter MnM's. Which I must admit are very tasty.

Thats really all I've got for now. That and a whole new bracket of stuff to look forward to learning.

Hope all is well at home. Love you all.

<3 Kristen

Save me Jebus!

2009-03-06T17:04:00.003-04:00

Holy crap... next test is on Monday. So lets start praying now... and sleeping for that matter. I have decided that I will be getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night this weekend. Once again- there is just so much to know and so little that I feel that I have mastered. Well I suppose I have 2 days to finish memorizing the things I dont know. And if I hadnt mentioned it before- I HATE memorizing things. HATE HATE HATE!!! (must be said like Mad Madame Mim) And if you dont know who Mad Madame Mim is- figure it out or I can not be your friend.

I definitely havent cried as much as I did before the last mini, but once again- I still have 2 days right. :-P
Well I need to study. Send me happy emails and of course PRAY!!! Grandpa Marty- I hope you still have a little prayer capital seeing as I'm going to need it.

Much Love!
Kristen

And this is a picture of my kitchen area... before it was clean, or the refridgerator was plugged in... hence the towel drying on its door. lol. I think this was after I went river tubing... yup.

A PICTURE!!!

2009-03-02T09:36:00.000-04:00

IT WORKED!!!!!! look- thats me on my 22nd birthday in the Caribbean Sea... and I think those are extinct volcanoes behind me. (they may just be mountains... I dont know)

New Countdown ... T minus 7 days

2009-03-02T09:20:00.000-04:00

This may be my only post in the next week here... Like before- the next test is in one week and basically the whole student body is going into lockdown mode (myself included). Being in class and studying can now take up 13-14 hours of your day and nobody would think twice about it.

For this mini once again histology is being a little thorn in my side- this time its embryology though... Not that its that difficult to grasp, but that the professor who teaches it wants you to remember every single mintue detail that he mentions or puts in his powerpoint which is unfortunate.

Also unfortunate is that this week is basically Phsysiology oriented which accounts for the major part of our test. Also we are getting a lot of biochemistry and anatomy- so hopefully they didnt put the super difficult stuff last and I will be able to comprehend it and then study it instead of having to teach it to myself this week.... which would be really bad.

I feel totally overwhelmed with all of this information and on top of that I feel like I am forgetting the stuff that I learned over the first 4 weeks, which is bad because it will be on the final. Just crap... but I'll just have to get over it, because I'm sure I will feel that way no matter what week it is.

I played Powderpuff football yesterday, which is very fun... and now I have some new bruises to show for it. I still need to get angrier, but I am finding that difficult. I was never an angry person was I? I said what I felt and let you know if you were doing something I didnt like- but thats straightforeward yes? not mean... Who knows... I'm not the best judge of my own character.

Didnt go to class this morning because there is a PACE case at 11, so now I have to watch the lecture that just posted about blood groups. If I remember correctly, they werent too terribly hard- but I may have just gotten the undergrad gloss over- which Augie seems to have been pretty damn good at so far.

Aight- to internet school I go!
~Kristen

ps- send me emails! I love getting emails, if for nothing else to distract me from my depressing world of studying for a minute.

mheh.

2009-02-27T09:43:00.001-04:00

so i seriously want for this to be over... Basic sciences suck. That is what I have decided... and they especially suck when you go through them as fast as we do here. My next mini is in less than 2 weeks and I'm starting to freak out a little. I just study as much as I possibly can and hope that it will be enough... but I still have a hard time accepting that I cant learn everything that I need to- and I'm working on not feeling overwhelmed with the amount of things that I still need to learn for the test. Its just a lot of stuff. So so much stuff.

My life has been pretty boring as of late. I bought some crackers, tuna, seasoning, and butter from the store. The rest of the stuff I want I'll pick up on Saturday. The market is definitely cheaper than the store for fruits and veggies and eggs. So I will just go there early on Saturday morning. Then go to the gym, shower, and go to some tutoring sessions before spending the rest of my day studying. What a life. I feel like shampoo- lather rinse repeat. Just replace lather and rinse with study and sleep and you've got it.

I'll try to post some pictures up here (actually I HAVE tried, but my computer is a butt). Dont get your hopes up though.

~Kristen

Happy I feel Fat Tuesday!

2009-02-24T16:05:00.000-04:00

Stuff just keeps piling up.... such is life I guess. I just wasnt and still arent adjusted to the overwhelming workload that medschool is. I study for what seems to me- all the time... I consider 10 hour days of studying all the time... and then feel remorseful when I didnt study more because I was tired or just couldnt do it anymore... enough is enough some days.

I complain far to often, but when all I do is study- its easy to complain about it :-)

Some stuff I forgot to mention last time- I saw an iguana... a real life wild freaking iguana. Just chillin by the sidewalk. It was crazy! and then on my way back to the Annex, I saw a hummingbird.

I went to Powderpuff practice on Sunday and will be part of the O-Line. On Saturday I went to the market for the first time ever and got some fruit, nutella like spread, and some fresh eggs. I'm happy to have the eggs (which I didnt know how to hard boil without looking it up first- in case you were wondering- 10 minutes in boiling water).

Carnival was yesterday (Monday) but apparently it was really weird this year meaning that they had all of the parades in Portsmouth starting at 4Am and by 9am, there was just one truck left.... so bust there. But I did hear the drums and music at 730am when I went to the gym- so I believe that they started and finished early. For my Carnival I had a study day- which so did most of the rest of the student body- I would say 95%.

I was going to go to the grocery store today and by some food stuffs- like fish, salt, pepper, butter... but realized that I had forgot my wallet... and the bank is closed- and I didnt feel like going back and forth 2 extra times to get my money and stuff so that will be pushed to tomorrow.

I dont really think that anything else interesting has happened. I study alot, and still havent really touched on anatomy which is bad- so I must do that this evening... AFTER I master physiology from the day though. I hate feeling overwhelmed so I have to stay on top of the days lectures or else I will totally loose it.

Last thing- I think my powderpuff nickname will be Krakatoa. I like it, and it will fit nicely on the back of a shirt.

Peace out!
Kristen

Ok... ok... so I freak out sometimes.

2009-02-20T19:02:00.000-04:00

This was by far the most prompt we have gotten exam scores back... and drum roll please....................................... I got an A! Yup, all of the unnecessary freaking out after the fact for nothing... And I really dont know why I freaked out in the first place- because going in, I knew that I definitely knew my shit. I knew it sideways and slantways and longways and backways... and frontways and squareways- and any other way that the Wonkavator can travel... I knew it. So yeah... I knew it- and I got an A. Now my anatomy grade thus far is also an A because this grade brought it up. Its barely an A- one point or less on the border, but right now- its an A.

OH, this is mostly for Mike because he asked- PAcE is the honors program here. Basically, they market it as a self teaching (they call it learn at your own pace or something like that) that makes it so you dont ever have to go to class or even Cadaver lab... You dont even have to come to campus if you dont want to. You can stay at home all day long and watch the lectures from your computer. Keep in mind that the whole rest of the campus also has this option- only that they have to be using a school server to access the lecture material. Personally I hate having to stare at my computer for 3 hours straining to see where the gd cursor is (that is if the camera guy is attentive or quick enough to pan to the overhead screen- which most of the time he isnt). The only benefit is getting to take a quiz every other week that sort of lets you know where you stand- knowledge retention wise and how much you really need to get your ass in gear. The other part of PaCE is that you are only in Dominca for 2 semesters and then they ship you off to their brand new Bahamas branch for the last 2 semesters. So clearly if you go to the Bahamas you better like only watching lectures and not going to class. The problem with the Bahamas campus is that nobody here really knows if its accredited or not. The rumor mill is going full blast and to be quite honest, I doubt I will go there because I dont want to risk the chance of that campus not being fully accredited. And I like going to class and my friends, except one, are not in PaCE so they will not be going... so I would be all lonely in the Bahamas which would be not fun at all.

I have a shit ton of studying to do this weekend, but what else is knew right. HA! thats all we do :-), but it seems to be working. Also, I will let you know how Carnival pans out, but its mostly a big deal in the larger cities- so Rossau and Portsmouth.. so there may not be a parade or a bunch of drunks here.

I'm going to the market tomorrow because I need food. All I have left is one frozen banana. Luckily I have friends that feed me- so for dinner tonight Merhunisa made me an egg sandwich with Bosnian sausage. It was very very good. I dont remember what the sausage was called, but it was like a hard salami and I really <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Ghirardelli chocolate with caramel that she gave me- and which I ate later ( I shared it), but she just kept whipping out the deserty items... so before I left I had eaten two lindor truffles, some crackers with nutella, and another Bosnian dessert that was- well the only way I know how to describe it is- a banana flavored circus peanut covered in chocolate.

I guess its time for me to get back the the ole bump and grind of a lively Friday night of studying.

~Kristen

Make stupid mistakes in a lab practical day...

2009-02-19T18:47:00.000-04:00

Well my first anatomy lab practical is now over, and I know that I made some pretty stupid mistakes... I mean come on. Just stupid little things- and then were was the stuff that I flat out didnt know. I better damn well have passed it... I did way to much second guessing myself, but we'll see when the grades come out I guess. Just shit. Thats how I feel about this whole thing... A big bunch of well I sure messed that up. Oh well.

Maybe I'm making something out of nothing and I did just fine. Like I said, well find out when the grades come out.

Other than that, a pretty uneventful day of more studying... actually I'm still not done watching class right now, so I have to finish that.

Just a big ole bunch of ugh... the more I look up answers on the internet, the more I know I got wrong... so just ugh

~Kristen

Answer- Its a soul eater

2009-02-18T12:40:00.001-04:00

What is Anatomy? Thats CORRECT!!!! The first anatomy lab practical is tomorrow and man have I been studying that... I even made my mom (thanks btw) help me study the brachial plexus and axillary artery on the phone last night. Its hard to study that kind of stuff from a book, especially when the answers are all right there- for me it helps to talk stuff out. So thats what we did, and I knew that beast pretty darn well (only a few stumbles).

Me and Blerina are going into the lab one last time this afternoon- just to do a run through of everything, by this time cramming is useless- either you know it or you dont and you have tonight to work out the small details that you don't know well. This week has basically been entirely dominated by Histology- embryology to be more specific, and it is hard so I've been making sure that I still take notes on the packets each day so that I dont feel too overwhelmed come the weekend. Good news is that the weekend is almost here- only 2 more days... and then we have Monday off because its a national holiday called Carnival. Its supposed to be absolutely crazy, so I will probably be no where near the craziness and either cooped up in my apartment or the annex (unless I decide to go to the beach).

Powderpuff starts on Sunday- so I think I'll go and see what thats about here... aparently its a big deal, and I mix sports a bit so what the hell right?

Lastly, I did circuit training on Tuesday and that was pretty darn hard... my abs hurt, and so do alot of other things... well anyways, its time to take a PACE quiz so I've got to go.

~Kristen

Histo Histo Histo!

2009-02-12T19:45:00.000-04:00

(of course you must be thinking brady bunch, because thats how I always say it :-D)

ummm... tomorrow is the first of 2 histology lab exams... I'm pretty sure I know my stuff for it, so lets hope that I ace this bad boy. Unfortunately I can not say that I feel anywhere near as confident for my first anatomy lab practical that is on Thursday... Anatomy will be dominating most of my weekend for sure... I cant let the other stuff slide though, so I will work on it as well, but I am in for some long days I can tell you that much.

And considering that my anatomy grade wasnt as high as I would have liked it to be (not a big enough buffer) I neeeeeeeeeeed to do well on it too. Ugh... just a big ole batch of ugh. So think of me next week and pray that all of the necessary anatomical stuff will be there when I need it.

~Kristen

Take a breath and start all over again

2009-02-10T16:42:00.000-04:00

So, its been quite awhile since I've posted, but lets face it... I've been BUSY STUDYING!!!!! all the time, every day (of course intermixed with freaking out). But, Mini 1 is over, and now I know what to expect for the next one. Basically, what everyone already said- "study the packets." And they were not kidding- at all... Nit picky freaking questions from once mentioned slides (if mentioned at all) and I was like- WHAT THE HELL.... really... what the hell. I may have actually said that during the test. Or at least muttered it- and then laughed. Which I am proud of myself for doing... not knowing an answer and laughing instead of having a meltdown because I did not know an answer. :-)

I tried to pump myself up before the test by listening to a massive amount of Hoku- Perfect Day- until my computer was out of batteries and I could no longer access youtube. Then I thought of any other songs that made me happy, and just thought of those going to the test, before the test, during the test... and AFTER the test I had one of the best workouts I had had in a long time. Just walked out all of the stress that was lingering within me.

It is unfortunate that we cant have even a little reprieve of studying though- Histology Lab exam is on Friday and I need to rock the shit out of it. 7% of my grade that I need to be an A! And then next week we have our first anatomy lab practical... which will most likely SUCK... because thats where they can ask what all of the little origins and insertions are and what is this nerve and what is this artery/vein... and let me tell you.... THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME... ALL OF THEM! veins, arteries, nerves... I want to go back and dissect the cat in high school again that has the blue and red silicone crap pumped into its arteries and veins so you know which is which... THOSE were the days. *sigh*

I tried mediasite-ing stuff today (which is where you can watch all of your lectures online). I'm not sure if I'm sold on it yet. Considering its 5 oclock and I still havent technically finished mediasite-ing yet.... BUT it was definitely useful for anatomy... They talk so fast that you try to write something down and you've already missed it. This way I can pause them and write it down, and then play it again.

The only draw back is that the people that go to class will all be done by noon... and I would get done at 1- if I started right at 9 and then didnt take any breaks or anything. It would take serious diligence, but if I want to go to the Bahamas, I need to start doing it.

Side note- Spare tires are hard to deflate... but I was walking home to shower after the gym this morning, and this guy on his front porch yelled "looking good!" which made me happy. pretty sure I said "getting there." Which I am. I dont notice it, but my friends say that I look taller and smaller at the waist. :-) It was a personal decision.... I am trying to be a doctor here... and I will NOT be a big ole fat doctor that tells my patients that they need to go on a diet and start exercising because they are unhealthy... nope... nope nope nope... It would be the same reason that if I smoked, I would stop because its unhealthy and you are trying to be a DOCTOR??!?!? and you smoke?!?!?! Some people... I just dont get it.

Well, now that I have sufficiently managed to not study for quite some time, I need to finish watching lecture and then make some sort of master document for my histology lab exam so I can ROCK IT!!!!

Also, Thank You for everybody that said a prayer for me and believed that I can do this. Thats probably my biggest problem... not believing in myself (so it helps that everyone else seems to believing in me for me... and I will do my ABSOLUTE BEST not to let you down.)

Much love,
Kristen

Its been awhile

2009-02-01T17:03:00.000-04:00

So its been awhile since I posted, but thats because I have LOTS of stuff to do and limited time to do said stuff in. There is always something that I can be studying and when I stop I feel like I could be studying more... What I need to do is stop comparing myself to others (I have some friends that LIVE in the library- I consider an 18 hour day there living there), whereas I just try to put up a good 10-11 hours a day in. I have other things like eating and sleeping and trying to go to the gym that I need to do too.

My first test is in 8 days- February 9th and to be honest I'm quite freaked out by it. Only because since I study so much, if I bomb it, what do I change? I dont know. Just keep studying I guess. Hopefully once I jump this first educational, emotional, and mental hurtle my life will get a little better, but upper classmen have assured me that it doesnt. HA!

I did get to watch Nadal win the Australian Open today though- in the gym- I was multitasking. Then I tried to study more biochem and then spent 3.5 hours in the anatomy lab trying to learn that.

Now i need to study more biochem, histology, and anatomy. I was trying to make it so that I could possibly watch the superbowl but lets face it. That aint gonna happen.

I did buy a copy of Twilight today though. Apparently bootlegging is not illegal in Dominica. So when- notice i say WHEN i pass my first mini (so when i get the scores back) this will be my treat to myself.

Ross is just very stressful, and I'm very stressed... but the good news is so is everybody else.

Well like I said, I need to go study some more, and also hope hope hope that my package from home gets here tomorrow because this is my last day of toothpaste before I have to buy some. UGH. I just want that damn Crest to get here.

**also- sidenote- adding this after I posted this already... I really need a hug :-(

Weekends? What are those?

2009-01-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

Lets see... tomorrow is my birthday. Ugh... I dont mind turning a year older, its just that this is the first birthday that I wont be with my family and well "augie friends". My friends here are taking me to the beach though- which should be fun. And they are making me something... a surprise that I cant know about until tomorrow.

Update on school- its freaking hard! I spent i think 13 hours on friday doing just cell biology. I doubt it would be as frustrating if I actually liked it... but alas- I hate it and therefore it sucks! But I now have a 21 page typed document of the learning objectives for her lectures.

I did the same thing today with the anatomy that we have had so far- but that document is only 16 pages long.

Tomorrow is my bio-chem/genetics day which should be a little less stressful, but then on my way home in the taxi, a 5th semester student was like… first mini- biochem. So now I’m thinking oh shit. But the good news is that the course of Biochem here encompasses genetics and maybe embryology- both of which I had a very good teacher for. So hopefully she was good in the sense that the things I learned at Augie will pertain to the things I need to know here.

I also have to find out if Alloy ships to the island because I’m gonna be needing some new shorts/pants eventually. Not in the immediate future- but I will have to go find a belt. he shorts that I did bring were once pants that I chopped the bottom off- and they were on clearance to they are already a size to big which is leading to shorts that I do not have to unbutton to take off… which is interesting.

I went through my music on windows media player today- cleaned off 600 songs that I couldn’t access for some reason (well my computer did) and I was having a good time listening to the random stuff that was on there… Like a Tenacious D album and South Park songs… sadly its easy Mkay was not on there L. Then I listened to the entire At Worlds End CD while typing anatomy origins and insertions, innervations and actions. Monday comes the Brachial Plexus (which apparently dominates the first mini).

I blasted my apartment with spray stuff today and at least currently it smells better. Which is nice. The bathroom now has a weird funk to it though… which makes no sense because I hardly ever use it. (and I think of it more like the camper bathroom- only #1 unless you’re really desperate). Im never in my apartment during the day so its easy to use other buildings toilet paper.

On to week 2

2009-01-20T07:40:00.000-04:00

Well its now Wednesday of week 2 and I'm still alive. I'm working on my anxiety issues and trying to get into a good groove for me that involves all the things that need to happen- study, eat, sleep, and me time. All I seem to do is study and yet I still worry all the time about what if its not enough. Hopefully after the first test- which is in 3 weeks, well 2 and a half now, I'll either feel a lot better or way worse- I'm shooting for feeling a lot better.

On the menu for today is 2 Gross anatomy lectures, then a Histology lecture, a DPS lecture and then anatomy lab. And thats just the class part- which will last until about 5- then I need to find time to eat and study and throw in some exercise as well.

My apartment is still smelly, but since basically all I do there is shower and sleep, it doesnt bother me too much.

I went river tubing this weekend, which was really fun. We each had individual intertubes and had to don lifejacket (of course) but also helmets, because there were sections of some pretty sweet rapids. I laughed a whole lot and would definitely do it again.

I think that I found the place where I'll be studying for the majority of this first semester- a building called the Annex- which is where all of the first semesters have class. Its a huge building that is a whole lot less populated as the library for studying so its quieter, which I like.

Well its time for class and I need to get organized. I dont know how often my posts will come, but I'll try to stay fairly up to date.

Things that eat your soul

2009-01-14T21:48:00.000-04:00

Right now I am fairly certain that Gross Anatomy is eating my soul... Perhaps its because of the sheer amount that we are expected to know already (day 3) or the fact that we have had different sections of the body each of those 3 days to memorize/learn. I never thought I'd see the day where I would want to attend a biochemistry lecture more than an anatomy lecture but its here.

Good news is that tomorrow we are scheduled for two lectures in two new subjects- Histology and Physiology. I can only hope that my optimism that having two new subjects to learn upon the massive amount of things to learn from 3 days will last into said lectures.

Other than the soul eating properties of Gross Anatomy, things have been going pretty well here. It still rains alot- and when it does its always random and of course it cant just sprinkle- it has to pour for a minute and then its done. All the while its still sunny while its raining.... it leads to lots of rainbows.

I bought some used anatomy flash cards today in the shacks (where we eat... chicken or tuna) and they are certainly nice to have. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to find a Clinically Oriented Anatomy book at the Islandthrift table. It will cost significantly more than the used books at the bookstore... but all of those books are gone and I need one ASAP. So whatever. 200EC, I'll just have to pay it. BTW $1 US = $2.67 EC. Which leads to jars of nutella that have a price tag of $58 EC... nutella is apparently a delicacy in the Caribbean.

I must also admit that in this short 3 day period I have studied for what seems like half the time I would have spent studying for a final at Augustana (in one subject). Today alone I studied for 5.5 hours which is in addition to the 4 hours that I spent in lecture. Thats 9.5 hours of studying in one day and yesterday I think I put in a 10-11 hour day of studying. Its absolutely draining. I just hope that I am able to retain what I do try to study. Theres nothing like feeling like a Jack of All trades and master of none on DAY3!!!!!

Food here seems to change prices daily. I got a chicken wrap for 8ec one day and then today the same chicken wrap at the same vendor was 15ec... They seem to make up prices on the fly. I have been trying to explore the different booths but mostly like Nelson's chicken because it is the best. Unfortunately everyone else also likes Nelson's chicken which leads to long lines. At least I'm used to eating a diet that consists of mostly chicken anyhow ;-). (<3 u mom... and your chicken).

I keep trying to put pictures up here- or anywhere on the internet but my computer keeps disagreeing with me. It will be all but done and then give me an Upload failed notice... stupid internet. But I will keep trying. The school isnt really anything spectacular to look at but if you take the bus to the surrounding areas its really quite majestic.

More stuff to work out

2009-01-09T10:59:00.000-04:00

So apparently I never sent my official official transcript from Augie to here... the one with my English credits on it. So now I need to work that out, which sucks. I'll have have them fax it over, but I dont think that Augie is even back in session quite yet so I'm not at all sure. hmmmm. I stood in line for another hour today to "check in" apparently thats the only way they have of knowing if you are for sure on the island. Whatever. But good news is that I got my check from student loans- which have rates of 6.8% and 8.5% interest. So I need to figure out how much money I will actually need to live and then funnel all of the rest back. There is no point of paying interest on money I'm not really using.

My new adventure is finding shoes... going to see if Amazon ships for free here- otherwise USPS is the only type of box that I can actually get to arrive on campus and not have to pay a taxi driver to go and get for me.

My school address is
Kristen Krakovec
Ross University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 266
Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
West Indies

A mouthful I know. The weird thing is that the school is actually in Picard, so that is why I would have to pay someone to retrieve it if it is sent through UPS or whatnot.

Thats all for now

I'm ALIVE!!!!!!

2009-01-07T21:44:00.000-04:00

Just letting you all know that I am alive and well. After a terrible layover in Antigua, and a journey to find a hotel while lugging around two 70 pound bags, I have made it to Dominica.

It really is beautiful. And very different. On the "taxi" drive in, which entailed an hour long drive through winding roads and mountains, I saw 12 cows, 4 dogs, a goat and a sheep.... All of which were just chillin on the side of the road. Some tied up, others not.

My apartment is livable, but SMELLS!!! and its not a good smell either. Its a mix of what has been dubbed "foot and old people.... or foot and incontinence" ugh... but for 425 a month... i cant really complain. I have friends that are paying 700 dollars for the same type of space. (less smelly of course) :-)

The campus is nice... from the outside it looks like well large tin barns- but on the inside... quite honestly is is more technologically savvy then Augustana was. There is so much technology there its unbelievable.

And they use the tuition money to better the campus... (not like some campuses I know. wink wink). They just built a new three story building that houses the campus Gym, Student Group center, and then the SGA floor.

My apartment is about 10 minutes from the main campus, but what I didnt know was that all of the 1st semester classes are held in a building that they call the Annex, which is only about 4 minutes from my house.

The locals are all mostly really nice. I've only met one shady character in my time here. He was a "taxi driver" that wasnt driving the stereotypical taxi and I was waiting for friends to arrive and he gave me his number in case I needed a ride. When my friends arrived in their taxi the driver for them told me to delete that number immediately and he preys on 1st semester female students. In his words- to me and my friend Jesse- "he is like the spider and waits for the fly to get stuck in his web." Creeeeepy!

All of my stuff arrived in tact. Which is really nice. And it all arrived with me :-). Some of my friends had to wait DAYS for their luggage, and I got both on the same day. And I do believe that I thoroughly over packed. But I'd much rather have the problem of over packing, than having not brought enough... because stuff here is EXPENSIVE!!! But it makes sense... it takes a lot of effort to get stuff here. I bought some Air Wick to try and mask the foot smell for 3.50 today. But i certainly needed it.

More to come later, but thats all for tonight.

I'll also put pictures up here eventually.