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