12 Days!

Don't really have time for much of a blog but wanted to give a quick update. 12 Days until I'm home and while that is so exciting, the thought of everything I have to do in these next 12 days makes it daunting.

2 full cumulative exams for Cell Biology and Histology and 2 anatomy exams covering the head and neck, the most complex neurovasculature we have learned yet.

Leisa, Brittany and I are looking at a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom place tomorrow morning so cross your fingers that it works out for us. Can't cut it much closer than we have, getting desperate for a new living situation!

I sawed a human skull in half today. AMAZING. Used a saw that I've seen in Dad's garage before, pretty barbaric. High light of my week by far.

Back to the grind. Love, miss, and see you soon :)

An Island Thanksgiving

This is a quick post for anyone who was worried about me not getting an authentic Thanksgiving meal, because I know you all were worrying about me!

The Marriott Resort had a Thanksgiving buffet with ALL of the fixings! A group of us went, most of these are the guys I play flag football with. The food was delicious! Turkey and honey ham carved right in front of us, tons of desserts, mash potatoes, stuffing, veggies, fruit, salads, and wine made for a great combo! It was nice to take our mind off school for an hour and get in a good meal. This has been my only break this week from studying because we have two exams coming up on Monday. I wake up at 6 every morning, stay in the library until eleven every night and then wake up and do it all over again. It's CRUNCH TIME BABY!

My parents were nice enough to change my flight so that I can come home four days earlier, yay!!! With time already limited that I can spend at home, every day is a gift. I cannot wait to see everyone back home and see snow! Back to cell biology, just wanted to say a quick hello and let you know of my "island" Thanksgiving.

19 days until I am back on sweet sweet US soil!!

A Visitor!

Hello all!

I had my first ever visitor from back home, Tom! It was so refreshing to see him and just what I needed going into this last stretch of exams. I have 27 days until I go home for Christmas so I had to repeat that mantra in my head as I said a tearful good bye to Tom at the airport. It's hard at times to stay strong when your under so much stress and pressure in school and lack the support system you are so used to having. Don't get me wrong Skype is a god send, but sometimes you just need a hug and Skype has yet to solve that problem.

I received many goodies from home (Thank you Diedricks, Mom, Shannon, and Tom!) and so I at least have delicious things to snack on while studying for exams. We have two exams this coming Monday so it's going to be a loooooong week. In the next 27 days we have 2 more sets of exams for each class which comprise 50% of our final grade. Not sure exactly how the math works out on that one but conclusion is it's crunch time! Power out this last month so that I can feel good when I come home.

I feel completely unprepared for Christmas because I have nothing to ease me into the holiday spirit. No snow, christmas movies and music, or Moms delicious cooking. I promised myself that I wouldn't become a wuss to cold weather when I came back home but I'm going to be a huge wuss, I can tell already. All this warm weather makes you soft!

Our flag football team had its last game yesterday. Royal on our team messed up his knee pretty bad. Poor guy can't bear weight on it, its swollen like a watermelon, and very sore. The nurse gave him a pair of crutches to use but he clearly needs a MRI and of course there isn't an MRI machine on this island! He may have to go to an island a ways away to get treatment. Seeing as we just covered the lower limb in anatomy I offered to do an anterior drawer test to see if his ACL was torn...apparently he wanted more confirmation than that. 3 months of medical school isn't enough?? This island is NOT a place you want to get hurt.

I'm hanging in there. Seeing Tom was great and much MUCH needed. It was so nice to have somebody from home be here with me. It is the first time since I have moved to this island that I felt 100% okay. He knows just the way to cheer me up and I miss his company more than I can tell you. I cannot wait to see everyone back home. I miss you guys so so much!

Countdown!

It's time for yet another exam here on the beautiful island of St. Kitts. Included this photo of our whole class from the white coat ceremony, thought it was a great picture.

Anatomy exam on Monday. This is exam is upper and lower limbs and we've only had 2.5 weeks to learn this section. The musculature and neurovasculature supply to the limbs is a lot of information to learn in this amount of time. Needless to say I have spent most of my days and evenings hunched over a cadaver in the Anatomy lab. Beginning to feel like formaldehyde is my new perfume. Hoping it will all pay off and I can keep my good grade going in this class. Have thought about possibly being a TA next semester.

Tom will be here in 4 DAYS!!! I'm not sure how to explain how badly I am in need of someone from home. Two and a half months is a long time to go without seeing any of your family and friends, especially when going through the most difficult and stressful experience of my life. Tom will be here Wednesday through Sunday and is bringing me lots of goodies from my family and the Diedrick family. Yay! After Tom leaves I only have to grind out one more month here and then I'll be home for Christmas. The end is near!! (Temporary end that is)

Regardless, I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by here. Leisa and I are looking at a new apartment on Monday. Hopefully it will be nice and we'll have a new, more cockroach-free home, for when we come back in January. Lots of other students are signing leases there and I would stay in Frigate Bay where I live now. Keep your fingers crossed!

My parents are saying many people back home have been following my blog and checking in on how I'm doing. Thank you so much! It's easy sometimes to feel really cut off from life back home and just hearing little things like that make my day. Back to Anatomy but I love and miss everyone and I'll be back in the states in 36 days!!! (but who's counting right...)

Block 2 is over!

We have officially survived Block 2 of exams! Everyone has been posting pictures of their Halloween online so I decided it was only fair for me to do the same. I wanted to give you the whole experience. Ya see sometimes I like to study inside at my rickety table, for those of you keen observers you'll notice the stacks of notecards I have under one of the table legs to keep it from rocking. But sometimes, when it's a nice evening (which is most evenings) I move my stuff out to the balcony and enjoy the fresh air. Just wanted to let people know that my fun beach pictures, unfortunately, only make up about 5% of my island life.

So while people were enjoying the splendiferous holiday that is Halloween we were here cramming for our exams. This round felt much more stressful than the first because there seemed to be much more material and the difficulty level is increasing exponentially. The friends I have made here are beginning to feel like a second family; we study together, eat together, stress together, and on several occasions have cried together. There is no "going home" for the weekend to be with your family or escape school life. As fantastic as living in the Caribbean sounds, it isn't what you see in the travel brochures! This experience teaches me new lessons everyday, about life and about myself. We have all been pushed out, or better yet shoved, out of our comfort zone and it's only going to make us stronger people for it.

Enough of that talk. Now for the real story. I want everyone to brace themselves, sit down if you happen to be standing. Swallow whatever you are drinking or eating, I don't want anyone choking on my account. Sunday night I was at the brink of mental exhaustion. I had stayed up all weekend studying for the exams and was struggling to keep my eyes open while I tried to get a little more reading in. I finally allowed myself to shut my eyes around 2 am. I woke up at 6, feeling miserable and looking even worse. I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, put my hair in a pony and attempted to make coffee. As I am standing near my bed putting my books together I see a GIANT COCKROACH ON MY BED. If your mouth hasn't dropped open in horror maybe you didn't hear me. I said a GIANT COCKROACH IN MY BED. It had the longest feelers ever and they were wiggling around feeling my sheets and blankets. It took my mind a second to process and then I did the only logical thing I could think of. I screamed at the top of my lungs. He stopped and we stared at each other for about 10 seconds. I threw a book at him, missed by a foot, and watched him scurry under my blankets. I was mortified. Any other morning this would have been disgusting but I probably could have handled it. But not this morning, not in the mental state I was in. I called Tom in hysterics and scared him because it was 6 am and I'm pretty sure he thought I was being attacked. He was so good and calmed me down, "deep breaths," and "bigger things to worry about" were about all I remember from that convo. Next I called my mother, scaring her half to death as well. Then I just left the cockroach in my bed and got on the bus. So thats my story. I raised hell at the front desk and am getting my room fumigated tomorrow. Washed all my sheets, took a nap, and have regained whatever sanity I have left at this point.

Hope all is well and bug free back in the states. We'll see once my grades come back but I think I have mentioned previously, ya know what they say about cockroaches....they bring good luck...or disease...can't seem to remember which...

Go WISCO!

Added this picture to give a little shout out to my alma mater for beating no. 1 ranked Ohio State last night!!! What an awesome game and so exciting for UW. They haven't upset a number one seed since 1981. Made me wish I was there. Sitting in my room studying the pelvis and watching Madison go crazy made me miss the Badger nation so much!

Oh well, time to grow up. So far not a huge fan of being grown up but I'm adjusting. Our next anatomy exam is one week from tomorrow. Feels like we just had our last round of exams! I'm sticking to studying and thankfully the rain has died down here and it is back to being beautiful. I can tell tourism season is starting to swing into high gear because there are many more people visiting the island. The season starts now and goes through February.

My goal is to start taking more pictures of island life here and tell you guys a little more about the culture and people of St. Kitts. So far my encounters with the local people have not been entirely positive. Many of them do not like having students live on the island, for what reason I am not sure. It seems like no matter how polite or friendly you are they lump you into the foreign student group. I'm still trying though! There are a few women I have met here that have been absolutely great so I'm not giving up on getting to know the culture.

Hopefully more pictures soon to come!

Love and miss!

Water...Everywhere!

We've been hit hard the last three days by tropical storm Otto. Torrential downpours, high winds, and flooding everywhere! I have never seen rain like this before! We are in hurricane season and this is the worst it has been since I moved to St Kitts. Luckily we have kept power but the water has been out for the last day. School has continued but was canceled early today.

The pictures here are from my back blacony. Beyond the palm trees is a little pond. At the palm trees is where the pond usually stops. As you can see it over flooded and filled the lawn behind my room. Luckily I am on the second floor because the people below me woke up with a foot of water in their rooms this morning! The ripples in the water are fish that were in the pond but now are swimming in my back yard!

The other photos are flooded areas of the yard, as well as the pool.

On the up side I survived my exams! Not only survived but did really well. I'm very proud of the hard work I put into preparing. I'm developing a routine here (study, study, study, sleep) and it really seems to be paying off.

Some more exciting news....Tom has a ticket to come see me! I have already began the countdown until he gets here (42 days). I cannot wait to show him my life here and introduce him to all the amazing people I have met.

Rereading this entry I realize how terribly written it is. I apologize! I guess I only know how to read science textbooks now....

First Exam!

Just wanted to give everyone the heads up that I have my first medical school exam today! We have our Anatomy exam both lecture and lab portions today. I'm pretty calm at the moment but it may be because I literally have no energy left to do anything but be calm. All weekend was spent studying, a total of 24 hours logged at the library between Saturday and Sunday. I should be a genius after all that time, pretty sure that isn't the case. Wish me luck!

Picture of the cockroach I found on my floor when I woke up in the morning. Thought it was dead but it was very much alive. Left it laying there on its back for 12 hours while I was at the library. Came home and it was still alive! Leisa and I attempted to drown the poor little guy with All Purpose Cleaner. Amidst our screams and squeals, much to the dismay of our neighbors who were probably trying to sleep (it was one am), la cucharacha finally kicked the bucket. He's still laying on my floor in the same spot, I just keep walking around him.

You know what they say about cockroaches, you see one and it gives you good luck on anatomy exams....?

Happy Independence Day!

How many people can take a study break in a place like this?!

This weekend is St. Kitts Independence celebration. And what that means for students is that we get a three day weekend! With my first Anatomy exam looming a week away (yikes!) I've been hitting the books really hard. It was a long weekend of studying so today Leisa and I took a well deserved break.

We went to the beach right across the street from where we live and soaked up some Vitamin D. The water is so blue and so clear here, you can see straight down to the bottom. Our break was only about an hour long but it felt great to get out of my room and clear my mind for a bit. You would not believe how warm the water is here. I'm used to swimming in the cold lakes of WI so here the ocean feels like bath water!

Finally to top it off we got pictures with monkeys. The monkeys are so cute and they crawl right into your lap. What a great study break, now time to get back to the books!

love and miss!!

Good Morning!

First time morning post! Usually I'm not pleasant enough to subject my readers to a morning post but today I'm feeling good. I stayed in the anatomy lab yesterday until 5:30, I came home and finally got to go for a run! It is rarely below 90 degrees here during the day and I'm too cheap to pay for a gym membership so I try to run in the early evening. The window to work out is very short. It starts at six pm when the sun starts to set and is totally dark by 6:45. I won't run after it gets dark because the roads here aren't very good and the drivers are crazy!

After my very very sweaty run I came home, showered, ate dinner and crawled into bed to read. After a quick skype session with my family and Tom my eyes were burning. I was so exhausted I couldn't even read the words on the page. So I allowed myself to indulge in a guilty pleasure and go to sleep at 9:15!!!! Man did I feel guilty but now today I feel rejuvenated so I'll have to study extra hard to make up for the lost time.

Just wanted to say good morning and I hope that everyone has a great day!

Love and miss!!!

p.s. thanks to all the encouraging words from family and friends after my melancholy post a couple days ago :)

It is through sleepy, squinty eyes that I write this entry tonight. The high I have been on the last week thanks to my anatomy lab is still there but a more dim. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation talking or maybe it's all the textbooks I'm buried under, not sure.

Tomorrow I get to do an upper chest and arm dissection. Maybe that'll re-energize me. I'm trying to get my body into a routine but these late nights and early mornings catch up quickly and take their toll. Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are always long days because we begin at seven and end at 5:30. Usually I get home around 6:15 and by this time all I want to do is collapse into bed! But we must press on and this is what I do. Study for a couple more hours and do my best to be in bed before midnight.

I try to retain as much information as possible but it feels like trying to catch a waterfall in a shot glass. I'm doing my best but everyday they throw so much information at us! All the other students are great. Everyone is very supportive and friendly and we do our best to work together.

I'm going to sleep and I know I'll be out as soon as my head hits the pillow!

love and miss!

I'm a medical student!

My latest blog entry and the one I have been most excited to write.

Let me start with yesterday. We had our first dissection anatomy lab. We received our cadavers, met our dissection groups, and got to work. We began by turning the cadaver onto its stomach and doing a dissection of the back. We removed the skin from the back in rectangular sections then removed the superficial adipose tissue to expose the muscles underneath. This was amazing!!!!! I have always been in awe of the human body but this experience made me appreciate life on a complete different platform. In the middle of the lab I took a step back to take in what was going on. For the first time I felt like a true medical student. Here I was scalpel in hand doing the thing I have dreamed of doing for the last four years. Standing in lab surrounded by my peers who are all working towards the same goal made it feel real. I was momentarily overcome by the true depth of the journey I have undertaken. I have worked so hard for the past four years to reach this place in my education, so hard that I forgot to enjoy some steps along the way. I plan to enjoy all of the steps to come.

Today we had our white coat ceremony. The ceremony is done to welcome incoming medical students and prepare us for a career in medicine. The school did a great job with it giving us words of wisdom, encouragement, and promising to be with us every step of the way. The professors present us with our white coats, embroidered with our names and the school logo. We then sign the register and take a medical student pledge. It was an experience I wish I could have shared with my family and friends. I am so proud to be a part of this school and career choice.

After dissection lab, the white coat ceremony, and being completely exhausted I finally feel like a medical student! Wanted to share my exciting last couple of days with you!

love and miss!!

Settling in

I am back again! I'm starting to get settled in here and bit by bit I am learning the island better. It actually feels much larger than I had expected! The island is about 27 miles long but it takes quite a while to get places because the roads aren't that great and the terrain is very mountainous.

You can see I put up a picture of my most delicious meal yet, a chicken sandwich. Boring you say?? Not for me! I'm eating so healthy its disgusting. Not by choice, simply because I have nothing but healthy stuff to eat...boring!

I posted a picture of the view from my balcony along with my beautiful new conch shell. I also posted pictures of my room. In one photo you can see my tv room/office area and the other you can see my bedroom/kitchen. Pretty spacious.

Almost finished with the first week of classes. As my Mom said, one week of medical school down! (many many many more to go) My professors all seem good and haven't hesitated to start throwing the material at us. I have cellular and molecular biology, histology, and gross anatomy this semester and already have run through over 200 slides (3 full topics) in my cell bio class. The material has been mostly review thus far so I'm brushing up on things I once knew. I'm doing my best to stay on top of the material because I know the second I allow myself to get behind I will become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information.

We get into the dissection lab tomorrow with our first dissection being the back. We got to meet our cadavers yesterday as well as the groups we will be working with. The lab is state of the art and beautifully done with a high tech air filtration system. They have done a great job with the campus! That's all I have in me for tonight, I'm exhausted and still trying to get used to the early mornings and LONG days.

love and miss!!

More Pictures!

Here are some more pictures! I officially have all my luggage and have settled into my room.

The pictures are from this weekend. The school threw a welcome party for all new students on Saturday. The party was on the other side of the island so it was my first chance to see more of my new home!

The pictures of the water and the beach restaurant are where the party was held. The beach was located in this beautiful cove surrounded by mountains, the water was crystal clear and it is still hard to believe that this is my new home. I feel like I'm on a vacation but I know that will change when we begin class on Monday.

My favorite picture is the one where I am looking down on mountains and the ocean. This is during our drive to the other side of the island. I love it because on the left you see the Atlantic Ocean and on the right is the Caribbean Sea. So beautiful!

The people here are all very friendly and it has been fun meeting new people from all over the United States and Canada. In the last picture you see me and Leisa. Her and I have become really good friends and do just about everything together. She was a real life saver while I was here without any luggage. She made me dinner, let me borrow her clothes, and gave me whatever else I didn't have.

I went grocery shopping for the first time also. This was an experience! You can use US dollars at many places on the island but most places use EC's which is the East Caribbean dollar. 2.7 EC is equivalent to $1 US. I figured out that I spent $53 US and I feel like I did not buy very much at all! Looks like I'll be snacking on granola bars!

This is all for now. I'm probably leaving things out so if you have any questions you want me to answer then you can post them in the comment box below and I will do my best! I begin class on Monday so it's time to focus!

I love and miss everybody back home but thanks to skype I've been able to see my parents and Tom everyday and have talked to many friends back home. I am using magic jack which is an internet phone that allows me to call the United States and allows people in the US to call me just as if I were in the states!! As long as it is plugged into my computer anyone can call. If you want to call just let me know and I can get you my number!

Love and miss!!!!

Some pictures

As promised here are some of the pictures that I have taken of the school. I'll do another post after this one because it will only allow me to post 5 at a time.

The first two pictures with the mountains are taken standing on the campus with my back to the ocean looking up. Gorgeous huh?

The rest of the photos are of part of the campus. The one with all the picnic tables is an outdoor area for us to eat. It usually has a canopy over the top of it but they have had to keep it off lately due to the hurricanes.

Safe and Sound

This is going to be a quick post because I am beyond exhausted but just wanted to let everyone know I arrived this evening in St. Kitts safely with only two luggage bags missing (the only two I brought!) I knew that my travel day was going too good to be true so when I got to St. Kitts and was told my luggage was still in St. Maartin I wasn't too surprised.

Once I got to the Royal St. Kitts where I will be living (around 10:45 pm) they said my room wasn't ready so they put me up in a different room for the night. To be honest I just wanted a bed to sleep in because I have been up since 3 am and traveling all day really took it out of me. I am excited and relieved to be here but feeling a bit alone. I was able to skype my parents and Tom tonight which is a big comfort but just not the same as having them in real life!

I don't get any break though, have to be up at 7 am for school orientation and need to get on the horn with the airlines and track down my luggage. With the way I'm sweating in this humidity one t-shirt sure isn't going to last me long...too much information??

Love and miss, another entry to come soon once I get a chance to check out the campus!

Those of you who know my good friend Marie say a prayer for her safety as well. She is on her way to London to study abroad this semester. Go get 'em girl!

Hurricane Earl is A Blowin'

Seems as though my Mom isn't the only one trying keep me home. The weather lately is showing a nasty Category 4 hurricane whirling around near Puerto Rico, not far from St. Kitts. No news yet on how this will effect my travel plans. The school has emailed us giving the heads up on the hurricane warnings, which should be passed the island by today. The hurricane is moving north though which may cause some problems for me as I fly out of Miami on Wednesday.

Will keep everyone posted though and in the meantime I'll leave you a nice link to what the weather looks like on St. Kitts today courtesy of someones home video (accompanied by a nice sound track)

http://iwitness.weather.com/_Hurricane-Earl-12pm-St-Kitts/video/1283320/148597.html

To ease your mind...

This message is for all of my second moms out there! I know a lot of you have been worrying about my housing, safety, living arrangements, etc. I won't mention any names (Aunt Cathy, and Aunt Donna...) so I thought I would write a post that could help ease your minds a bit! :)

After many headaches Dad was able to change my flight to September 1st. We were a little behind the ball on changing the flight so the one we wanted was booked. Originally my departure was 5:40 am from Chicago, one stop in Miami then I was on the island by 1:30 pm. A pretty ideal flight! My flight is now a 5:40 am departure from Chicago, then to Miami, then to the island of St. Martin. I hang out for about six hours on St. Martin then get a Caribbean airline to fly me to St. Kitts where I will eventually land around 9:30 pm. Don't worry that isn't supposed to be the part where I ease your mind

So although my flight is not ideal I am very excited to be landing on September 1st and very grateful for the time I have left here at home. Tom and I have been enjoying my last week back by spending it in Wausau! It's great to be with my family and I've spent the last couple days seeing Shannon, Marie, Alyssa, and Sarah. Said a tearful good bye to them last night...

So NOW for the part where I make you feel better! The girl I have been talking to all summer who is also living at the Royal St Kitts got to the island this past Wednesday (August 25). She went early with her mom to explore and get to know the island before school started. I was anxious to hear from her and get the skinny on what she thought about everything!! After hearing that the airline lost all four of her bags (made me a bit nervous) she said that the island is great. She told me the school is right on the water and has everything we'll need, the people are very welcoming and friendly, and that the place we will be living is even nicer than she had expected! Talking to her made me even MORE excited. She said that being on the island has reassured her that everything is going to work out and that this was the school and the place for her. My hope is that I will get that same reassurance once I arrive. Her confidence was a huge morale boost for me as I prepare to say good bye to everyone over the next few days I have left.

For those of you who wish to have more than just email contact with me once I am gone...this better refer to ALL of you reading this...we're in the process of figuring out how this will work. I already have Skype set up on my computer, bummer when we found out international Skype is not free. It is only 2 cents a min which is pretty affordable so I'd love to see your shining faces :) As for an actual phone there are several options. I will probably get a phone that allows me to make international phone calls and use it as a "pay as you go phone" to be used mostly if I need to get a hold of someone in a hurry or if someone from home really needed to get ahold of me. My mom and I plan to look into "Magic Jack" today which is a phone you plug into your computer and use via the internet. I heard the connection is great and it works just like a land line phone. Rumor is its only $40 per year unlimited talk time, which would be great!

That's all for now. People reading this need to look at the right hand side of the blog where it says you can become a follower of my awesome blog. Not sure what it means to be a follower but can you just do this for me? I look like a real loser with only three people being my followers (Thank you Mal, Mom and Mrs. Bardis!!!) And I'm not sure if it still counts as three followers when one of them is your mom...

Love and miss!!

Packing & Preparing!

Thought I would kick off this blog with my first post!

My departure is officially two weeks from today, I leave September 1st. I'm attempting to get organized enough to pack but this whole process has been far more complicated than I imagined. I've been organizing health records, appointments, finances, and attempting to see as many family members and friends as I can.

I feel like I'm on auto-pilot these last couple weeks. I thought by now I would be feeling some type of overwhelming emotion; excited, anxious, nervous, something?! But I don't. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I am leaving the country for 15 months. How do you pack your entire life into two suit cases, weighing no more than 50 lbs a piece? I've accepted the fact that I cannot bring everything I would like to and some comforts from home must be left behind. I just don't know how to leave behind all the people I love.

I am so grateful and excited to have this opportunity and cannot wait to embark on this incredible next chapter of my life. If your reading this then you are a person who is important and who I will most likely turn to for support. I will need all the support and encouragement I can get!

Tom and I are taking a road trip for a couple days to visit Mal and see a concert. My last rendezvous before I head out into the world! After that I will be back home with my family until I leave. You'll hear from me again soon!

Love and miss you!