Dec 29, 2007, Back from vacation

Well, what a wild last two weeks this has been. At my last update, I
had finished with exams, and was just getting ready to travel to
Nebraska for a much-needed week away from Dominica. Traveling to or
from here is easily comparable to stepping back 30 or more years in
travel. Leaving the island, or getting here, for that matter, is not
a kind, relaxing experience. On my trip to Nebraska, I left here in
the afternoon, got to Miami at 1 a.m. stayed for 4 hours, and left
Miami again. When I finally got to Nebraska at 11:30 a.m., I felt
like I had been put through the ringer.

But, in reality, all was well. Some members of Becky's side of the
family met me at the airport with open arms, and we had a great time
getting lunch in Omaha, and heading to Utica for a meal and some
socializing. Then, I went to Merna to visit my parents, my brothers
family, and my mom's sister and her husband. Food, hijinks, and a few
exchanged gifts were the order of that visit.

Then, things got down to business. I got my grades back--and I am
most definitely continuing on to third semester. I know many of you
had to question, but I do have to say that second semester was very,
very difficult. I am glad it is over.

When I was traveling back, though, my travel became an adventure
instead of modern travel. I flew out of Omaha, hit Chicago, and on
nonstop to San Juan. I was flying United on that part, and it all
went swimmingly. No delays. No lost luggage. Nice, comfortable
aircraft with intercoms you can understand. Everything was all that a
21st Century traveler could expect.

But, when I got to San Juan, it all went pear-shaped. The first
trouble I was aware of was that I hadn't got a room yet, so I began
calling around for a room. The first hotel I called was booked
up--and then in the process of calling a second, my phone died. No
problem, I thought. I'll go to the courtesy phone. But, in San Juan,
the only courtesy phone goes to car rental places, hoping to get
vacationers to their resorts away from the airport. Nothing for
travelers merely passing through. So, I laid down at 2 a.m. in San
Juan's luggage claim area for a terrible night's sleep--getting
awakened every 30 minutes by another arrival getting their luggage.
At about 7 a.m., I got up to go check in at the Liat counter--the
Caribbean airline continuing my trek to Dominica. When I got there,
there wasn't a soul--just a sign that said that they wouldn't be open
until 11:45 a.m.

So, I set to cooling my heals on Christmas Day in the unsecured side
of San Juan's airport for almost 5 hours. Tired, and a simmer
starting on my temper. 11:45 rolled around, and the counter help
came, as expected--but when checking in, they took everyone's baggage
and told us all to come back in an hour--there were unforeseen delays,
and they would know what was happening then. Uh-oh. I went to get
some coffee with a couple of the other passengers. At 12:45, we got
back and Liat said the flight would not go out because there was a
sick-out by many of the flight attendants, and they couldn't get any
that day.

I went off to the hotel, put my stuff up, dug out a phone charger, and
went to sleep. I got up the next day, checked in at nearly noon, and
went on to my 2:30, no that was crossed out, 1:20, no that was crossed
out, 2:10? flight. I got through security, hit the Duty Free for some
gifts for Becky, and went to wait. I had waited for 15 minutes when
they announced that my flight, 563 was delayed until 4 p.m.

I was really concerned with this. Dominica's airport doesn't have
lights, you see (or don't, in the dark--that being the problem). And,
it gets dark around 5:30 here--so a 95 minute flight that boards at 4
p.m. is going to have to run a little faster than 95 minutes to make
it to Dominica. Well, we boarded and got off the ground, only to have
my fears realized. When we were descending at about 5:15, I looked
out the window, and saw land. However, the island there didn't look
like Guadelupe, the island to the north of us that we begin our
descent at. The not-so-charming flight attendant announced that we
would be staying in Antigua.

This is all well and good--Antigua is a destination island in the
Caribbean. However, we got there right at sundown, and our flight to
Dominica was theoretically going to leave right after sunup. So, this
leaves precious little time to see a dark island. Not to mention that
now there is an immigration nightmare for a plane full of people who
had already been delayed one day, and now are getting delayed a
second. We made it through immigration, got bussed to a hotel, and
while checking into the room, I find out that Liat forgot to put my
name on the list to the hotel. So, now I don't have a room. This
isn't as bad as it would get. I am perfectly willing to pay for the
room. However, the hotel staff won't let me do this transaction until
they have checked with Liat. Fine, but be quick about it. So, for
the next two hours, I was reassured that they should hear back any
time in the next five minutes. And, as I look at my watch, 10 p.m.
clicks by on a short night of sleep for a 3:30 wakeup to get on a 4
a.m. bus for a 5:50 a.m. flight. Grr.

Finally, Liat calls back and everything is in order. I get my room
and lay down, when a holiday party starts up at full blaring volume,
shaking the windows--6 blocks away. So much for any rest. My watch
hands inched their way to 3:30 ever so slowly after that.

Time comes to go, I get down to the bus, get on, and get back to the
airport. Check-in comes fine. I call Becky to let her know I'm on my
way. BEEP! My island phone is now letting me know it needed charged,
too. Oh well. I'm a 45 minute flight away from home. I can charge
it there. Then, the intercom comes to life. Flight 1363 to Dominica
has been delayed. Boarding is now at 6:30. Blast! Becky is on her
way, and I can't get in touch with her. Thankfully, though, that was
the last delay. I make it home, and proceed to take two naps on the
27th, two days late.

Here's the thing, though. Through it all, Liat kept up a whole web of
lies and deceit, and takes no responsibility for any travel
difficulties. Talking to the many people on the flight with me, many
of them long-time Caribbean residents, there is a long history of such
problems with Liat. Apparently, they've been in and out of bankruptcy
for the past ten years. I feel bad because many family and friends
who are traveling down here to visit us have Liat legs. I can't
guarantee that they will be unaffected by this inept airline, and I
also feel doubly bad for giving a lousy service customers. But life
goes on, and better late than many other things.

Happy New Year (sorry about not being able to send one closer to
Christmas, but now you know why)

Whew, exams for second semester are finished. I might be an MS2 soon!

One more semester break here in Dominica. I've been waiting for this one for quite a while. I haven't been more than 40 miles away since April, when I got here. It's been a long two semesters on the island, and I'm ready for a change, especially one involving snow, rest, and relaxation.

Over the last two weeks, I had 3 practical exams, 5 National Board of Medical Examiners shelf exams, and 1 mini exam. Most of the people I've talked to who have completed second semester told me that this examination period in second semester was the worst experience of their life. After having gone through it, I can certainly say it wasn't easy, but it certainly wasn't the most difficult thing I've gone through. That being said, it did feel like it just wouldn't stop. I went from exam to exam with little break, and they were reasonably exhaustive in their testing. However, I actually enjoyed going through an examination with well-thought-out, well-worded questions created by people whose main thrust was clinical medicine—much different than most of the instructors I've had so far. I'm not knocking people with Ph.D's educating us in medical school, but there are certain differences in what is considered important, in my opinion.

It's been a little disappointing, being done, though. Becky and I had hoped to spend a fair amount of time on the beach, just being bums. But, the weather has conspired against us. Tropical storm Olga passed north of us, pulling rain up fromVenezuela, and it's still been cominig. Every day has been rain, rain, rain, and cloud, cloud, cloud. It's not bad weather. It's certainly comfortable enough. But, we wanted some sun and quiet, and we're not exactly getting that. Especially the quiet.

There is something here that many locals simply do different than most Americans I've lived next to. Music blares here. It's worse than most teen-agers' cars back home. And, I'm not saying people here shouldn't listen to music they like, because that is wicked to think they should only listen to music I like to listen to. But, there is only so much reggae christmas music one can listen to when one isn't, firstly a fan of reggae, and secondly when it starts early in the morning, and goes until earlier in the morning—with one neighbor picking up where another left off.

It definitely illustrates a difference between living in Nebraska where it's generally true that people have a large space buffer between one house and another compared to here. Houses here butt up next to each other like they're searching for warmth in a cold night or something. There are occasional houses that have a lawn, or distance between each other, but not mine. I think it just shows how ready I am for a small reprieve.

So, now my bags are packed. I've prepared some leftovers for Becky to eat for a week, and tomorrow I fly to Miami, overnight, and continue to Omaha on Tuesday. Then, it's time for good coffee, familiar food, family, and old friends. It's about time.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

December 2, 2007, Reviewing intangible costs

When you pick up and move to a largely undeveloped country to study,
there are costs that you incur that are simply unable to be prepared
for beforehand. I thought it might be interesting for people to see a
short accounting of some of them.

This is what being here has cost in unpredictable ways:
2 pairs of sandals already worn out by walking to and from class.
1 pair of 72-inch shoelaces because they are apparently dissolved by
the fluid they embalm the cadavers in
1 floor from flooding
1 mattress because the foam one just couldn't support two adults
1 umbrella
4 pairs of underwear that simply wore out in the wash and wear
8 hours trying to contact people after the hurricane
24 hours tracking possible hurricanes
2 hours running after fish sellers trying to buy fish
1 hour telling people our dogs aren't for sale
1 hour telling people our dachshund is a 13 year old dog, not a puppy
12 hours drinking original coke, with sugar, from glass bottles
1 hour collecting eggs from a box by our door
4 hours cleaning fish
3 hours researching an earthquake I didn't feel, but Becky did--7.4!
70 hours walking to and from campus
1 general issue jungle hat
1 teflon coated pan
10 water filters for our Pur pitcher
7 days lacking power, water, or both
6 months waiting for transfer orders to get cut by the Army--and counting

All this is to say that the trappings of everyday life in the US are
significantly different than the trappings of everyday life in
Dominica. As an example, our neighbors who headed back to Indiana,
have been corresponding with us, and telling us that they've
completely lost their taste for eating at McDonald's. This is
probably the most interesting example, because when they were getting
ready to head back, they were telling Becky and me how excited they
were to go to McDonald's. Now, they say it's too greasy and
tasteless.

But right now what would I spend a lot of time and effort on getting
here? A recliner to read in. Don't get me wrong, we probably have
one of the most comfortable sets of furniture in our apartment, but
the more you cram your head with information, the heavier it gets.
And, there's just something about being able to tilt the La-Z-Boy back
for a while to take the strain off of your neck.

Right now, I'm in the middle of my home stretch of exams in the second
semester. This entails 3 laboratory practicals--from gross anatomy,
histology, and neuroscience. Then, I have 5 NBME shelf
examinations--anatomy, neuroscience, physiology, histology, and
biochemistry. Finally, I have mini 3. For mini 3 alone, I have a
stack of information that is 9 inches tall, unbound--not counting
anything in my textbooks or study guides. After that, I get to rest
from Dec 14-16 and fly out on the 17th.

If the weather is cooperative, I should be in Nebraska on the 18th.
If it doesn't, who knows where I'll be anywhere, or when. Becky and I
are certainly jealous with the winter weather that just hit in
Nebraska. I just read an article this morning saying that it was so
bad that it actually caused a group to cancel a polar bear plunge.
There's a great amount of irony there. It's doubly ironic that here,
nothing seems to change. The sun rises at 5:40 a.m. or so, just like
it did when I got here 7 months ago. It also sets about 5:45 p.m.
The thing that is so weird is when the sun sets, twilight is very
short here. Light doesn't linger after the sun sets like it does in
Nebraska. There also aren't nearly the colors that we saw in
Nebraska.

Send pictures of snow.

Love,

-j

December 1, 2007, We felt it!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQC3hfRIKRpzwM4P3WNn9qWXszrgD8T7HAIO0

This is from the AP

Powerful Earthquake Hits Caribbean

1 hour ago

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — A powerful earthquake rocked the eastern
Caribbean on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. No damage was
immediately reported.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3, was centered 23 miles
southeast of Roseau, the capital of Dominica, where the shaking lasted
for about 20 seconds. The quake was felt as far away as Puerto Rico.

The quake struck at 2 p.m. EST at a depth of 90 miles beneath the
surface of the Earth, according to the geological survey's Web site.


Becky felt it! I was just out of an exam, and wasn't really noticing
anything. We're okay. No apparent damage around here.

Cheers!

-j&b

November 18, 2007, Beginning Semester 2, Week 12

In which, our protagonist begins rapidly losing his patience due to
sheer load of work.

Well, another week has come and gone here with disturbing rapidity.
Last weekend saw Becky and myself going to a neighboring island, Terre
de Haut, a French island in the Les Saintes group of islands. It was
a much needed trip off of Dominica, my first in almost 7 months. The
island we went to was beautiful, and the food was some very good
French fare. But, the thing that made it all worth it was the five
hours we spent on a sailboat going there, and coming back. Especially
the moments where we got to watch the sunset, and then the rainstorm
we went through that gave me my first set of goosebumps that I've had
here below an altitude of 4000 feet.

Riding a 74 foot catamaran in the channel between the two islands was
quite an experience. The seas were somewhere between 4 and 6 feet, so
there would be good crashes of water onto the net where we were
sitting, but that only helped keep things interesting. The thing that
I just couldn't keep from watching was the whitecaps on the waves. As
the waves would go on their course at an oblique angle to our
direction, the whitecaps would start at the crest in small spots, and
lazily fall down the backside.

The whole boat trip, we were in sight of both Dominica, and Terre de
Haut, so that was comforting to a Nebraskan landlubber like me. But,
I can certainly understand why people wax romantic about sailing, and
sailing vessels. But, it's too much work, money, and everything else
for me.

Everything else? Well, I've had a couple of interesting turns here.
First, I had one of my classmates nominate me, out of the blue, for
the SGA (student government association) IT chair position. That was
pretty neat. A lot of my classmates are really happy that I accepted
the nomination. I hope it works out. The position doesn't seem to
necessarily be a lot of work, so it should all work out if I actually
do get elected.

Secondly, a couple of weeks ago, I found an interesting article in the
health section of the New York Times on a guy who started having
memory problems. I sent it in to the Neuroscience society here,
something that, quite honestly, I'm not interested in joining, and
have only tangential interest in. Well, they loved the article so
much, that they are arranging a whole program around the article, and
asked me to be there to read the article. The sad part is, I really
don't understand their whole to-do over the article. It was
interesting, but I don't see it as such an Earth-shaking article.
Although, not much news gets back here, so perhaps it's just a form of
homesickness--like all things Parisian, or some such fascination.

Otherwise, in a week and a half, I get a fascinating experience in
crash-course examination taking. I get to take 10 exams in 11 days,
or something close to that. So, if I don't e-mail, call, or anything
else, it's not because I don't want to. But, I'm probably swimming to
a more hospitable island--one without exams. Terre de Haut might be a
good first place to look.

But, December 17th, I leave Dominica for a week. I'll spend a night
in Miami before I fly into Omaha, but since Becky and the dogs are
staying in Dominica, I'll be flying back on December 24th, to make
sure they don't spend Christmas alone. Hopefully we can make some
extra scratch by showing new students around. The rumor is that the
school pays cash money for doing that. Hopefully they ask for
volunteers soon.

Cheers!

-j

November 6, 2007, Your typical multi-holiday

Life is different here. Common theme, I know. But, this weekend we
had an experience that definitely brings it home more than others.
Saturday, November 3, was Dominican Independence Day. So, there was
definitely a party atmosphere going on in the area. The school across
the street was out both Friday and Monday due to the holiday. And, I
finally experienced the first day off I've had here, yesterday.

To celebrate a group of holidays that we're missing back home, Becky
and I decided to try to have a Thanksgiving lunch here for some of our
new friends. The concept started out simply enough, invite over a few
friends, and have a quiet afternoon before a mini. So, invitations
were sent, and we got a few who said yes, and a few who declined.
But, then our inner sense of Nebraskan fairness took hold, as we
realized there were more guys invited than girls. A second set of
invitations went out... and then a third... and with a wink and a nod
we had 13 people who said they would be there (counting the two of us,
but not the dogs).

We got a few things at the grocery store, a ham, a turkey, some
cucumbers, and away we went. Our neighbors Kit and Addy made a few
pies, and a salad, and jello. Chris made potatoes, and stuffing and
several other things his parents sent him. Helena brought some roast
pumpkin--which was surprisingly good. Then some wine showed up. Some
cheese. A corn casserole. And, the food kept coming. We ended up
with quite an impressive spread, for humble beginnings.

Just when everyone showed up, we looked over the mountain to the east,
and saw the rain clouds coming, and heard the thunder. Now, this
wouldn't necessarily be as worrisome, except, a week ago, our landlord
started to tear up our bedroom floor to stop an incessant leak that's
been around since Hurricane Dean. So, all of our stuff is in our
living room--no room there. Kit and Addy weren't the instigators of
the party, so we couldn't really impose on them to crash their
apartment. But, the rain thankfully only gave us a little sprinkle,
and moved on.

And that's how a whole bunch of us celebrated Dominican Independence
Day, early Thanksgiving, and Guy Fawkes Day, all at once. It was the
best study break ever here. It was really a great relief from having
our floor torn up, mediasite being down, and the thousand other things
that had been weighing on my mind the last week coming up to the mini.

I hope everything is seeing everyone well at home!

-j

October 28, 2007, The days are just packed!

Dear Gentle Reader,

I'm here, really! Well, we're here! I have no real excuse for not
writing, aside from saying that life here in Dominica intervened, but
not in any huge, tremendous way. There have been no earthquakes that
I know of. No additional hurricanes. No fires, crime, or anything.
Just simple things like studying, going to the beach weekly, and the
general things of everyday life.

I'm a little sad, though. A personal goal came and went without a
fight here, and I am very disappointed in the handling of it by both
me and the school. In January, Becky and I signed up for the Chicago
marathon, and had been planning on running it together. Last
semester, in June, I spoke to one of my instructors about when the
exams in the second semester would be, and I got information that
ended up being a week off. So, one of four exams that occur during
each semester ended up being on the day we would have flown back from
Chicago. When I went to the assistant dean here, the level of help I
received was next to nil. The only option I got from the
administration was to simply take a whole semester off to run one
marathon. I didn't think that would be a great option, so I ended up
taking the financial hit on the marathon entry fee, and the airline
fee to change the date of my flight to using it to return from
Christmas break. But, I'm not going to dwell on that. It's in the
past, and in the grand scheme of things it's a minor annoyance.

Classes are going reasonably well. I'm surprised by one thing,
though. The attrition rate here is something that simply astounds me.
I understand how many pressures can cause people to take a break from
school, and that has definitely occurred here. I also understand how
people get held back or suspended due to grades, and that has also
occurred. It cuts close to home with me, though. One of the guys
that I have had several small group things with, Kit Crafton, is
withdrawing from this semester. He and his wife have become good
friends with Becky and me. So much so, that last week, they moved
into one of the apartments next to us--now it's not simply due to
being close to us that they moved in, but they are still our
neighbors. And, next semester, Kit will still be semester 2, and I
(hopefully) will have moved on to semester 3. It took the wind out of
my sails, because Kit is getting a perfect 4.0. This is something
that I haven't got here. So, it took me aback.

This isn't everything that goes on here. I've sadly been losing focus
somewhat, though. Every day here is almost exactly like the last. I
can barely find anything that really makes one day different than the
last. But last night, Becky and I found a website that helped to get
me motivated again. The Alaska Family Medicine Residency program
http://www.akfmr.org and its student showcases have given me a little
more hope. Practicing in Alaska may not necessarily be the end of
Becky and my plan, but it is certainly an option. We've spoken many
times about going there for several years, and being able to go there
for training is something we're definitely not just open to, but
probably going to actively seek out. They even have a clinical
rotation program or two that I will probably look into.

So, recharged, I'll be trying my best to do the best with what I've got.

Cheers!

-j

September 2, 2007, Staying in Dominica

Hello all,

I apologize for sending out the test e-mails and then not following up
sooner. The gremlins were chewing on the wires in the internet again,
and then life in a Caribbean paradise intervened after the Hurricane
Dean.

Things here have been going reasonably well. I made it through Mini 3
and then went on to take the final just before Hurricane Dean hit.
The final was on a Wednesday, and the Hurricane hit us on the
following Friday morning.

Since I am in the campus EMS organization, I volunteered to help with
the hurricane shelter Ross has for students. I wasn't really
impressed with how the preparations went for the hurricane, as the
campus waited until after all semesters had finished their exams to
prepare for the hurricane which meant we were in a big time crunch.
Becky and I helped pack up and hurricane proof the Health Center, and
then declined being in the hurricane shelter because Ross couldn't
make up their minds if we could bring the dogs or not, but were sure
that they would keep us there for 72 hours if we entered the shelter.

Opting for staying at home during the hurricane I think was actually a
pretty good idea. When the hurricane's edge hit, it was about 12:30
a.m., and the power went out at 1 a.m. We got out of bed about 2:30
a.m. to finish the ice cream we had in the freezer because it would be
a shame to let that go to waste. After that we went to bed til about
7:30 a.m. We found that our cell phone still worked, so we called a
few people in the US to find out where the hurricane was in relation
to us, because we wanted to know how long it would last. The
hurricane ended up keeping one of its long arms over us for a while,
so it was well into the evening that we had wind, clouds, and rain.

During the hurricane, we played some cards, and entertained ourselves
by trying to get the dogs to go outside and relieve themselves--quite
a challenge! Our dachshund, Gabby really didn't like the rain pelting
her, and didn't even think it was good enough when I was standing out
in the hurricane sheltering her with my body. We finally got her to
go when she found a nicely sheltered spot under a small palm in our
ditch outside the apartment.

We didn't have any flooding in our area, and no storm surge that I
could tell, so we weathered the storm well. Other parts of the island
were not so lucky, and I understand that the current banana crop on
Dominica is a total loss. Venezuela sent in troops on a relief
mission, but I haven't seen them in our area of the island.

After the hurricane, Becky and I rented a Jeep and commenced touring
the island. I don't have all of the pictures up, but there is some
truly amazing stuff here. We attempted to go to Fresh Water Lake and
Trafalgar Falls on our own, but couldn't quite get there because a
land slide in June had gone over the main road there, and the
rerouting that they were making could only be traversed in 4 low on
the Jeep. We were going well on that until we came to where the
workers were actively pouring cement, and I decided that it would be
better to turn around and try to see Scotts Head, where the Atlantic
and Caribbean meet, instead of getting the Jeep stuck in wet cement.

Unfortunately, the EU Development Commission had other plans, and we
couldn't make it to Scotts Head because there were road improvements
being done that stopped those plans. So Becky and I went home for the
day. The next day we attempted to go to Cold Soufriere springs which
is a cold sulfur spring on the north side of the island in an old
volcano's crater. This place was amazing, and more than a thousand
feet above sea level, so we could easily see Les Saintes and
Guadeloupe (I think).

Becky and I also spent some time going to Fort Shirley which was a
British base on the Island to protect their sugar investments on the
island. It is currently under renovation, but it overlooks both
Prince Rupert Bay and Douglas Bay. I'm not sure how old Fort Shirley
is, but it is well over 200 years old, and quite possibly over 300.
The walls on the buildings are 4-5 feet thick in most places and I
simply can't imagine trying to build something like that in the
tropical sun here. After it was built, I'm certain the only more
comfortable area to be would be in the water, but it was built to shed
cannonballs instead of protect from heat.

We had some friends visit Guadeloupe for a week, and we watched over
their two dogs while we were doing this which made scheduling
everything entertaining, and also meant no overnight trips. It would
have been nice to have an overnight trip somewhere, but with the way
you have to drive over here, we're not sad we didn't get to do an
overnight trip--but we will at some point soon.

After we had the Jeep for a 4 days, we asked one of the local guides
to take us on the Boiling Lake/Valley of Desolation hike. This is
about a 6-7 hour hike into the interior of Dominica. We went on this
hike with 2 other couples. When you start the hike, it is at Titou
Gorge. You can hop into the water there and swim up to some
waterfalls, but usually people save that for afterward. Then you hike
up and down a couple of mountains to get to the Valley of Desolation.
Of course, the hiking isn't something that should be glossed very
much. The trail we were told was still "Officially Closed" and our
safety was our own concern, not the governments. But, we bravely went
on the trail, and gladly so. As we were hiking up and down, there
were several trees down over parts of the trail, and a couple of areas
where landslides had completely taken out the trail, but none of our
diversions around these were more than 30 meters or so. But, the
trail is definitely more vertical travel than horizontal travel, and
certainly not a straight line to the lake or the valley. And
everywhere, you could see evidence of recent landslides, uprooted
trees, and broken bamboo. Birds and insects were out, but we were
high enough that none of the insects were the biting kind which was
very nice.

As we got to the highest peak on the hike, we could both see and smell
the sulfur springs that are both the Valley of Desolation and the
Boiling Lake. Looking over at them, I had a realization (one of many
here) of the differences in scale between the US and here. The Valley
of Desolation is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile long and maybe 150
meters wide at its widest. I was expecting to see some sort of huge
Death Valley type of thing, but it was actually quite small. The
Boiling Lake was on a sort of diminutive scale, too--being the size of
many farm ponds I've seen, but apparently it is quite deep. And, it
boils, oh my does it boil. We were at the overlook, 40 or so feet
over the top, and there was a stiff breeze blowing. We were at about
3000 feet, so the breeze was fairly cooling, but when the breeze would
take the vapor off of the lake over us, it was quite stifling. One of
the people in our group hiked down to the lake and decided to drag his
fingers through to see if it was really hot at the edge. He got some
good video of doing this--and he found out that it is still really hot
there, too.

On the hike back, we stopped at some hot springs to recover a little
before we went on for another 2 hours. Becky didn't partake, but I
thought they were quite amazing mid-way through the hike. We also
intended on washing the sweat off in Titou Gorge. But, about 45
minutes or so before we got back, the heavens opened up with a mighty
rain. By the time we got to Titou Gorge, the level had risen a couple
of feet, and it was rushing much more quickly than we were willing to
brave, so we washed the mud off of our feet, and stood in the rain to
get the sweat off. Then, on the way back to Portsmouth, we stopped in
Rouseau for ice cream. That was definitely some of the most
hard-earned ice cream I've had. I highly suggest anyone who visits
here to do both the Boiling Lake hike and then go for ice cream after.

Between all of this hilarity, Becky and I have also had several
friends over for grilled chicken and burgers, and pasta, found some
time to have a good meal at a little restaurant close, and even spent
a couple of afternoons at the beach. The snorkeling is still
amazing--but the sea urchins that used to nearly infest the sea floor
seem to have not survived the hurricane well. Almost everything else
is back to normal, though.

But, Monday, I start semester 2 of medical school, so things will be
back to work for me, and back to dog sitting for Becky.

Make sure you check out our picture site at
http://picasaweb.google.com/jjsolomon because some of the pictures I
just put up are quite amazing.

Happy Labor Day!


-j

August 23, 2007, We survived!!

Greetings everyone!

I am happy to hopefully, finally be able to announce that Becky, the dogs, and I finally survived Hurricane Dean! The hope lasts, because for the past week or so, Google hasn't been able to figure out how to get e-mail from my account to the e-mail list.

Becky and I weathered the storm with typical Nebraskan aplomb. We got up shortly after the power went out to make sure that our stash of 1 final pint of ice cream didn't get too melty in the freezer. That was about 2:30 a.m. We stayed up for about an hour listening to the storm--but without street lights or anything to light the night, we couldn't really watch much but the candle burn. After that, we stayed in bed for quite a while. The storm blew and blew and rained and rained but our apartment is very nicely sheltered, and we didn't have any flooding inside at all.

However, it took quite some trying to get the dogs somewhere sheltered and dry enough that they felt impelled to relieve their bladders during the storm. Becky got a rather good picture of me hunkered over Gabby, our dachshund, trying to shelter her with my rain coat and my body, getting plastered by the rain.

Hurricane Dean blew by without much ado, although I was betting it would stay less than it actually did. Since the time from the start of the storm to the eye was about 7 hours, I was betting on about 8 more hours til the storm was past. It ended up being more like 12, so we had a 19 hour hurricane. Then the power was off for a total of 39 hours. Just yesterday we got cable TV back, and we were without municipal water for about 20 hours. Our landlord did hook up a catch cistern for all of us, but one of our neighbors kept a train going to get water and get water. Becky and I couldn't understand what was going on that one apartment with 6 people in it would need somewhere about 200 gallons, but they apparently had a reason.

Now that Dean is gone, and grades are back--yes, I am invited back to be a 2nd semester student! Yay! Becky and I have been exploring the island. Of course, this has the logistical problem of the island having just sustained a hurricane. So, we've found that ATV tours are blocked by downed trees and landslides. So is the trail to the boiling lake, the tours on the Indian river, and other things ad nauseum. We're still finding ways to amuse ourselves.

Be ready for pictures and stories. We're trying to get some attained over break.

-Jared and Becky

August 16, 2007, Hurricane Info

For those who are interested, here is where you can track Hurricane
Dean as it bears down on us.

http://www.stormcarib.com/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/

We are prepared to hole up for as long as 3 days, unsupported. Ross
University has set up a web page at www.rossu.edu to have information
on. I haven't looked at it yet, but it might be something useful.

We'll make sure we get in contact as soon as possible once the storm
passes. I don't know when that will be. It likely will be after we
get power and internet or cell phone back. I'm not sure which will
take longest.

Cheers!

-j

P.S. For those who are curious, the drink of choice at the hurricane
party is lime Kool-Aid :)

August 14, 2007, Tropical Storm Dean

It looks like Becky and I might see some weather this weekend!

Make sure to watch the news and weather outlets. We have registered
with the US Embassy in Barbados. We have food and water for both us
and the dogs. The good news is that we are on the west side of the
island, so I believe we will have smaller effect from Dean if it comes
this way.

We are paying attention to the weather warnings and are prepared to
seek higher ground/shelter, as long as it hits after tomorrow's final.

-j

August 11, 2007, Less than one week left!

Hello everyone,

I'm crawling out from under my studying rock a few days after mini III
that I took just this past Thursday. This home stretch here at Ross
is certainly unique. Before the mini, I had a practical in Histology
and Anatomy. I did reasonably well in both of those, but my mini
scores I don't find out until the 21st of August, also when I find out
my scores from the final that I take this Wednesday--and then that's
if for the semester!

Becky and I had an interesting night last night. Apparently, we have
fallen in with a crowd, so we went to one of the local night spots
last night, StaBox cafe. For the second time since we got here, we
had a drink of American beer. They were selling Coors Light cans. We
had some of those, and the first one was, well, ambrosia. Once we got
past the first one, though, the reality of it being Coors Light hit.
But, for that perfect bit of time while we were enjoying the first
one, it was really nice.

The group we've fallen in with is a really nice, interesting group.
There is a Canadian retired military officer and chiropractor.
Another is a self-described redneck who just wants to be able to drive
a tractor with power shift. One of the females has a soft spot in her
heart for the island dogs. All of us, or our spouses, are runners,
which is probably why we all got together the first time.

We've started venturing further from our apartment now. I've got some
pictures up on my picasa site, http://picasaweb.google.com/jjsolomon
with some pictures of some of our wanderings. All over this area of
the island there are ruins of sugar refineries from who knows how long
ago, and there is also a lot of left over wreckage from Hurricane
David that came through in 1979. It's one of the things that I don't
understand why it is still around, until I step back and remember that
it is probably too expensive to scrap the stuff because there simply
isn't any capability to recycle metal on the island. I don't think
there's the capacity in the energy market here to support a foundry or
anything that energy intensive.

With the semester coming to a close, Becky and I have been talking
about what we want to do over the break. We've decided that we're not
going to come back to the US very often. It is simply too difficult
to travel from here to the US in one day by plane, and we also have
the dogs to worry about. So, we're going to try to experience a lot
of the island diversions here. We're planning on doing the Boiling
Lake hike. We're going to do a lot of training for the Chicago
Marathon in October. There will also be swimming and snorkeling, and
anything else we can find.

I hope everyone is doing well at home!

-j

July 21, 2007, Finally, the rainy season!

Well, it's been a while since I've got the last post out. I apologize
for that. Things have been busy. Last weekend, Becky and I went to
Wacky Rollers Adventure park here. It was really fun. The weekend
before that, i was studying for Mini2. I came through that fairly
well, but with a distinct understanding that I need to study histology
and embryology different from the other classes I'm in.

We've finally got to the rainy season here. The locals, when I got
here, were apologizing for how brown and dead everything was. I have
no idea where they got that from. It was green green green when I got
here, and I haven't really seen anything comparing to what happens to
the grasslands back home. But now! Wow! We get 2-3 rain squalls a
day that last 20-40 minutes, and easily rain at about an inch and hour
sort of rate. Occasionally, it rains hard enough that the municipal
water pressure isn't enough to keep the water in the soil from coming
into the pipes, and then we get brown, gritty watter for a couple of
hours. So, now we run our water through a coffee filter before we run
it through the pur filter pitcher, otherwise, I'm sure it would clog
really quickly!

The funny thing about the rainy season is that the land crabs (fresh
water crabs) come out more when it rains. Apparently, they can't
handle how so much rain clogs their gills, or something. I've been
talking to the locals about them, because I'd like to eat one to see
how they taste. The locals say that they eat them all the time. So,
we've been asking around to see who we collect them. We finally found
one who is going to sell us some crabs today, so we'll see how that
goes. We don't have a big pot to cook a whole mess of crabs in, so we
might have to do them one-by-one. But, we're getting six crabs for
$10EC. Hopefully they're decent-sized, but it could be worse.

It's not like we have a problem getting food. Yesterday, as I was
leaving campus, there was a fish-selling pickup at the shacks, so I
asked them what they had. It was tuna. So, I had them hack me off a
piece--a 6-pound piece. Took it home and cleaned it up into 4
decent-sized steaks of tuna. Last week, we got sardines. The
sardines were lovely cooked in butter, and even better grilled.

Kody, our terrier has been kind of depressed and sad the past few
weeks, and we weren't really sure what was going on. We'd changed dog
food on him a couple of times since he got here, and he's been cooped
up in the house a lot because we've heard stories of locals snatching
dogs. But, yesterday, we finally took Kody on a run with us. We were
exploring a new running trail trying to get to a radio tower that I've
been seeing every day and just wanted to run to. The trail we went on
with Kody was so steep, that it even had him beat before we got to the
point we wanted to turn around, and he's 4-paw drive! This place we
went, provided us with a great view of Prince Rupert Bay, Cabrits,
Portsmouth, and even our place here. It was amazing! To make
everything better, Kody was so happy that we took him out, he has been
his old self ever since.

I've also gotten my feet wet into snorkeling. Becky isn't really
interested in it, but I talked her into letting me get a pair of fins,
and borrowed a mask and snorkel from a classmate, and over the past
week, I've got snorkeling 3 times in the bay right by school. It's
amazing! I've seen starfish, octopi, all kinds of fish that you would
see in Finding Nemo, sea urchins, sea slugs, coral, anemones, and all
kinds of great stuff.

Not sure what else is going on. I'll cut this short, and sent out
another update soon.

Cheers!

-j

June 17, 2007, Father's Day Update

Hello, everyone! Allow me to first wish all of the fathers I have
included on my list a Happy Fathers' Day. You have all inspired and
shaped me in many ways that have helped me get to medical school. I
appreciate all of your efforts, and I hope I am doing right by you.

The past couple of weeks have been fairly interesting at Ross.
Monday, June 11, we had our first mini exam. The mini exam here
covers all of the subjects that we have had to date, there isn't a
separate exam for each class. Then, there was also the practical for
Gross Anatomy lab on June 8.

I got my scores back, and I'm pleased with all of my scores but
Histology. I'm going to go speak with my histology professors and see
what my problems were. I'm not very worried, because the vast
majority of year 1 histology is yet to come, so I will have no
problems making up my score. But, I do find it embarrassing because I
thought I had a much better handle on the histology information than
my score showed. I guess it's time for my first Morbidity and
Mortality session in med school.

I think in my past few updates, I glossed over that Becky has come
here to stay for the remainder of my time. That is our current plan,
at least. Also, our two dogs have come here, and have finished their
second week in Dominica. They seem to be adjusting well. Although, I
think their biggest two adjustments are to a new dog food brand, and
the humidity. We keep them inside almost all of the time. This is
partially because that way Becky can watch them, and we've also heard
cautionary tales of dog thievery happening here. The locals do marvel
at Gabby, our miniature Dachshund. I don't think they have every seen
a Dachshund, and most local dogs are true mutts.

With all of the studying, and diving directly back into the books
right after the mini, one of my classmates organized a small group to
clime Morne Diablotin, Dominica's highest peak. There was a guide,
and a group of 7 students and spouses on the trip. We started out at
6:30 a.m. with a quick 25 minute trip to the trailhead. I had
memories of Barr Trail, that I ran Pike's Peak marathon on in 2005.
The advertised there and back time was similar within an hour or two.

The trip started out with the guide apologizing for the weather. He
said that on clear days, the whole of the island could be seen from
the peak. Unfortunately, today wasn't going to be a clear day. This
proved very true. We didn't break out from under cloud cover until we
were well out of the park, on our way back to Portsmouth at the end of
the trip. The trip to the trailhead was fairly uneventful, with
greetings and introductions all around.

But, then we started on the trail. There is a lot of difference
between a Dominican trail and an American trail. The first half was
very steep, with wooden steps built into the mountain to help us stay
on the trail. We climbed and climbed and climbed. We heard many
calls of the local parrots, frogs, bugs, and other things. We didn't
see much other than trees, especially the ones the Carib Indians built
canoes out of--but those were only at lower elevations. The first
half of the trail was leaf covered, and fairly clean, but challenging.
We took a few rest breaks and stayed together as a group fairly well.

We stopped about halfway up for a rest and breakfast break. After
this, there weren't any more steps. It was rock, mud, and climbing
with your arms as much as your legs. Many areas, the trail wasn't
even on the floor of the forest (we were in the Northern Forest
Reserve), but we were several feet off of the ground climbing through
passages among tree limbs and roots. I got a picture of it at one
section, and it is very indicative of the whole second half of the
trip. Very challenging. But, we were too busy and occupied climbing
(and trying to keep our cameras dry) to take very many pictures.

On our way to the summit, we broke through the foliage in a few areas
high up the mountain. I estimate the sustained winds above 4000 ft
were 40 miles per hour plus, and the temperature was easily in the
60's, possibly a little lower. I thought it felt wonderful. Most of
the other people on the trip were chilled, but I was quite
comfortable. However, once we would plunge back into the foliage, it
was so thick that we were completely sheltered from the wind. The
temperature was the same, but being sheltered from the wind was quite
important as even if you weren't uncomfortable with the windchill, a
40 mph wind will push you around quite well, and there were several
gusts.

After we broke through several times, we reached the summit, and
really couldn't tell. We had been climbing through clouds for well
over half of the trip, and this area wasn't any different other than
we were in a larger clearing. Once or twice during our picture and
food break, the sun broke through the clouds for 30 seconds, or so.
Nothing sustained, and the wind blew and blew and blew.

The summit is 4747 or 4749 feet depending on your source, but it's
quite a trip to get there, even if it isn't high by Colorado peak
standards. We turned around and made it back down with a 6 hour 45
minute total time. We washed up in a stream, and then went back to
the apartment, let the dogs out, and collapsed.

Today, Becky and I have that full-body soreness that I really wasn't
expecting when I started the trip, but if I would have realized that
we would have been climbing, instead of hiking, I would have known
this would happen. All in all, it was a great trip. I'm glad we went
on it. Pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jjsolomon/MorneDiablotinClimb

I'm still beat from the climb, so that's about all I can think of at
this point. The jungle here is amazing. If you get a chance to come
to Dominica, I highly suggest it.

-j

June 13, 2007, Quick Update

I'm here! I survived the first round of exams. Becky and our dogs
are here too!

More to come later. This is a long lecture-week.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjsolomon/KodyAndGabbyArriveInDominica/

I do have some updated pictures.

-j

June 3, 2007, Wow! Time Flies!

Holy cow, everyone! I'm sorry I have been so remiss in sending out
e-mails. The level of work required to keep one nostril above water
in medical school is astounding!

What's been going on here... Well, we're certainly firmly ensconced
in the semester. I have had several sessions of Gross Anatomy lab--in
fact our first lab practical is in less than a week, June 8. Then,
June 11 is our first Mini Exam. So, if people are wondering where I
am for the next week, I'm firmly emplaced in my
books/lectures/notes/study guides/study groups.

It's very interesting for me, and another late admission, Kit. We
feel just as lost about most things as our classmates, but when we
walk around on campus, they come and ask us questions because we're
the "smart kids". This all started about a week ago, and has been
going on hard and fast for the whole week since. It's really bizarre.
We're not really complaining about it, though. The interesting thing
about it is, a large percentage of these people I don't know from
Adam. I can't speak for Kit, but I have a feeling our reputation
precedes us, earned or not.

One thing that surprises me here is that there seems to be almost no
attempt at rumor control from the administration. Communication of
anything other than knowledge for exams and medicine seems to be a
very late afterthought. Not only that, but as I am now a member of
Campus EMS, I got to participate in a campus hurricane drill. Yet
another after-thought. So, now I appear to be working in a REMA (Ross
Emergency Management Agency) type of disaster planning area--when I
get time around all of my studies. So, in the past week, I think I've
spent about 30 minutes looking up things from FEMA for how to plan and
run a disaster shelter. It seems to be fairly interesting, and it
certainly necessary. I plan on using it to help get myself one of the
two letters of recommendation you need to get off the island and go to
clinicals and residencies. So, it's not like this isn't for a real
educational reason, too.

Other things new and different here. I have basically given up all
attempts of cooking and/or making my own food until I have more
time--so that will probably be after the first semester. I have
almost no time, no condiments, no kitchen tools, few pots and pans,
and the list goes on. Becky gets here today, so hopefully some of
that she can help remedy, but I'm sure it will take her several
days/weeks to get her feet under her. So, food will continue to be an
interesting experience, what with going to the "lunch shacks" 2 meals
a day and getting grilled chicken and salad with rice and beans. It's
good food, and nutritious. But, it's rather lacking in variety day in
and day out for a month by this time. The fresh juice you can get is
good. Being able to get a fresh coconut, mango, or pineapple hasn't
lost its luster. Passionfruit needs a blender, though. The seeds and
the slime around them is a little hard to take all the time.

I'm also going to let this be known well ahead of time. Becky and my
marathon trip to Chicago in October will be a week or two before my
first mini exam of the second semester. If I am curt and short and
don't spend my time being fun, it's because I must study. No I'm not
going to be sorry, and no, I won't apologize for it. I will be snowed
under.

I'm not sure what else is really new and interesting here. I haven't
taken much time to digest anything but going to class and studying
after class.

Take care everyone!

-j

May 14, 2007, 1 week of classes-2 weeks island life

Hello All,

I just finished my first week of classes, and my second week of island
life. I'm sure everyone is very curious about how things are going.

Things are going fairly well. I have been invited (and accepted the
invitation) to work in the Pace program at Ross. What this is, is as
close as you can get to independent study in medical school and still
maintain your accreditation according to whichever educational bodies
there are. The Pace program works by recording lectures, as well as
their slides, and allowing Pace students to watch the lectures off
campus, and provides us with some slightly different access to
instructors. Also, we get weekly quizzes and small group work that
the rest of the students in our class don't get. In exchange, we're
theoretically not supposed to attend class in the classroom.

There is nothing to keep us from actually attending lectures, except
for the occasional schedule collision. So, I'm certain as I prepare
for various things, I'll have items that I come across that I will
decide to attend the lecture so I can ask a question that the whole
class may get some utility out of.

Yes, I realize that MS and LG may have recommendations that I attend
the traditional side instead of the independent study side. But, when
I weighed the options, I decided that it would likely be better for me
to have weekly measures of how I was keeping up with my studies than
to get to Mini one 5 weeks into med school and realize that I needed
to pick up a lot of slack.

Island life... yes, that is significantly different. Let me start by
saying there are two very stark differences in everyday life between
here and the U.S. First is that I had no idea how good we had it in
the U.S. with electricity. Power here is generally pre-paid--however,
this is minor. Power here is somewhere around 10-15 times more
expensive per kilowatt-hour than in the U.S. To run a window A.C.
overnight will cost something like $3 US. Central Air is a very rare
luxury here, as such. All of the power on the island is generated by
hydroelectric generation, and I'm certain that there is an amazing
amount of untapped hydro potential. Perhaps political will isn't
there to sully more of the recovering rainforest. I'm not sure.
Also, on the Atlantic side of the island, I'm certain that either wind
or tidal action could be tapped, but again there is probably the lack
of will and/or funding. This island is poor and seems to not work on
a credit system very well.

The second stark difference is that I really had no idea how much I
relied on things like refrigeration and tupperware-like things. At
the two stores I've looked at here, they simply aren't available.
There are plastic bags that people seem to use for everything--but
they are simple bags with no ties, zips, or twists with them. There
is so much beautiful fruit and vegetation on the island to be
purchased and eaten, but little of it is in handy individual portions.
And some things--like baked plantains--I would love to make, but I
have big pots to cook in and small bags to store in. It just doesn't
work, and I'm certain you can all understand how frustrating that is!

Speaking of that, I suppose I should let you know how my living
arrangements are set up. My apartment is a little over half a mile
from the annex, where semester 1 lectures are held, and a little over
a mile from main campus, where the rest of everything is. It's a good
hike. My apartment is also slightly larger than our house--square
footage-wise. But, I actually went DOWN in usable counter space.
GRRRRRRR! So, the apartment has a living/dining/kitchen room, a
bedroom, and a bathroom. Total square-footage is supposedly 948, but
I haven't measured it.

The sink in the kitchen is tiny, and has one basin. It doesn't even
have hot and cold water. Just one that is somewhere in the middle. I
have an apartment-sized stove that runs on propane and doesn't have a
pilot. It's also calibrated--sort of--in Celsius. So, baking may be
an interesting proposition. The fridge is full-sized, but sadly
empty. I'm not sure what else to say other than power and internet
are not nearly as reliable as they are back in the states. I didn't
know how well we had it.

Feel free to ask me any questions about stuff you want me to go into
further detail on.

-j

May 8, 2007, Postcards from Dominica

Welcome to my welcome to Dominica!

First things first, I don't seem to be able to send many pictures
through this list service, so to see my pictures from the island tour,
browse here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jjsolomon/IntroTourPics

Many of you have not heard many things from me regarding getting in to
Ross University in Dominica, much less anything since I have come
here. So, here is the first big e-mail about my recent lifestyle
changes.

This past March, my application to UNMC was turned down, and thanks to
a blogger that I had recently started reading, I found out about Ross
University. I did some checking on Ross's accreditation and
reputation. When I found out that it seemed legit (if a bit large,
there are 430 in my semester) I decided to apply.

I interviewed in Detroit on April 2, and on April 19 found out that I
was accepted to Ross starting on May 1. I spoke to their recommended
travel agency, and left Lincoln on April 29, overnighted in Miami, and
made it to Dominica on April 30.

From the airport, Melville Hall, it is about a 30 mile, 90 minute ride
through terrain that made El Salvador seem inhabited and gentle. But
soon we were at the Ross University Housing for my first overnight in
Dominica. That first night, I sweated like a dog until I figured out
how to turn on the air conditioner. Once I got that done, I was
pretty comfortable.

The next day, I got up to a free breakfast of finger sandwiches and
coffee, and went off to a pep talk before the apartment tour. There,
I went through with several people until we came to the apartment that
Becky and I had agreed on, about 1.5 miles from the school. I think I
am the farthest out of all of the new semester of students, but I have
several neighbors in the new semester who live in the same apartment
building, so I am in good company.

From there, we started the orientation pretty much straight away. The
main things I found out at orientation is that the eating places
around the campus cater pretty well to the students, and the Chinese
restaurants around campus are some of the worst I have ever eaten at.
That moved through fairly quickly. I met some other people from
Nebraska, and some very interesting classmates. I am making new
friends and new study partners, which is always a helpful thing to
have to fall back on.

Then, this past Saturday, Ross organized a tour to introduce us to
some of Dominica. The tour went to one of the lakes that is in a
nature reserve. It is called Fresh Water Lake. I think it is at
about 3000 feet elevation. I included a picture of it that really
doesn't do it justice. The jungle around it is astounding, and the
ruggedness of the mountains it is in rival the ruggedness of the back
country of the Rockies--only with a tropical rain forest on it.

After that, we moved to Trafalgar Falls--a place much lower which is a
double falls. But, the double falls also have a set of hot springs
feeding the falls pools too. The whole spectacle of it really defied
explanation. It is so large that no camera can give you a real feel
of the size and scope of it. The smaller of the falls is the picture
I attached.

Following that, we went to an old sugar refinery that was originally
run by a water wheel and then a steam engine, the ruins of which I
also included a picture of. I don't think that there is a metal
foundry on the island, otherwise this many tons of steel would have
been recycled long ago. I was amazed at how good of condition it was
in after lying dormant all of these years.

Finally, we went to Scott's Head. This is the point on the south side
of Dominica where the Atlantic plate meets the Caribbean plate, and as
such, is the delineation between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic
Ocean. No good pictures from there. It was really cool to know that
there is a place that you can stand with a foot in each here.

Sunday I did some laundry and bummed around a little, taking a run on
the beach and a swim in the Caribbean--which is about 5 blocks from my
new apartment.

Today we finally started classes. I've already studied some gross
anatomy and some biochemistry. But, today is May Day, so nothing is
open. I really need to buy some groceries! But, I have a few
grapefruit and bananas left, so I can make it another day.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

-j