Yep, you read that right. The Eastern Caribbean Dollar no longer jingles in my pocket. They've all been traded in for real American folding money.
I am back in Miami with Eric and Evan, waiting for Becky and the dogs.
Behave Hurricane Gustav. I have family flying over you.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
22 Aug 2008, All but gone
I just looked at my countdown timer for when I leave. 3 days, 1 hour, 48 minutes, 1 second. I remember when I started using this countdown timer as my homepage, it was well over 100 days. Time hardly seemed to move. Now, I can't even nap for an hour without going through more than 1% of my time left on Dominica.
I took my last exam yesterday. It started at 8 a.m. I was done by about 9:30 a.m. I'm not sure what to think of it other than I'll be continuing on to the next semester without a hitch (unless I just jinxed myself). Afterward, Becky and I celebrated a little bit.
But, the way things are going, I just don't feel too celebratory. There's so much to do before we leave here. And, once we get back to the States, there's a bunch to do there, too. I can sum up what needs to be done in two sentences. Move my family to Miami. Review 4 semesters' worth of medical school for an exam the day after we start fifth semester.
Hopefully, seeing some new digs in 3 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes will help re-energize me.
-j
I took my last exam yesterday. It started at 8 a.m. I was done by about 9:30 a.m. I'm not sure what to think of it other than I'll be continuing on to the next semester without a hitch (unless I just jinxed myself). Afterward, Becky and I celebrated a little bit.
But, the way things are going, I just don't feel too celebratory. There's so much to do before we leave here. And, once we get back to the States, there's a bunch to do there, too. I can sum up what needs to be done in two sentences. Move my family to Miami. Review 4 semesters' worth of medical school for an exam the day after we start fifth semester.
Hopefully, seeing some new digs in 3 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes will help re-energize me.
-j
Monday, August 18, 2008
18 Aug 2008, Single Digit Midget
I was talking to my Uncle Mike yesterday when I called my parents. Uncle Mike and his wife LaVerne were visiting on their way home from Chicago. I told Mike that I had looked at the countdown I have has my homepage, and it said I had 8 days, 8 hours, and 8 minutes. Given the importance that the news media put on the date 08/08/08 a few days ago, I thought it would be worth noting. Mike told me that I was a single digit midget. I think his term is HIGHLY superior. Thanks Uncle Mike!
It's Olympics time. The Olympics are interesting to watch here, because the coverage has been so bizarre. A local Caribbean channel was covering it, then for several days they had a notice up that they weren't a licensed rebroadcaster, so they took the channel down. Then, we noticed it was up again a few days ago--as AFN. The Armed Forces Network is broadcasting the Olympics here. I can't help but wonder if this is authorized, or one of those piracy things. I'm not complaining because they show the Americans instead of the Caribbeans in the Olympics. It is interesting to comment on, though. Becky is especially amused by the commercials aimed at servicemembers. They seem to be selling the military to people who are already in the military.
When Becky brought this up to me, I had to remind her that being in the military isn't all tea and crumpets. Recruiters do lie to get people in the military, and the commands people are under in the military aren't always nice to their soldiers. So, it makes sense to me that the military has a strong sense of needing to resell itself to its own people. I guess I never thought about how it might seem strange to people outside.
And, while the Olympics have been going on, I've been in my own heptathlon of exams. So far, I've got 5 down, and another coming today. It's going. That's about all I can say. 4 of the exams are from the National Board of Medical Examiners. Being from an external group, we aren't really sure what to expect on the exams. On one hand, it's nice having exams with really well thought-out and well-worded questions. On the other hand, they are VERY comprehensive, and it exposes a lot of holes in our knowledge. The good thing is that they are standardized across the US, and our grade is reflective of our percentile rank instead of on raw score. This makes it very easy to score in the B-C range, and very hard to score in the F range. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to score in the A range. It could be worse, though.
Our new puppy Kubuli is growing like a weed, too. We got him almost 3 weeks ago, and he's gone from about 4 pounds to 6 or 7. He's almost outgrown the travel carrier I'll be using with him in one week. I hope that doesn't happen. The last thing I'd like is to be stuck in San Juan because someone at American Airlines thinks my dog is too big for the carrier because he grew in the month we've had him.
Becky and I are also packing all of our things and getting our food eaten down in the refrigerator. I forgot how frustrating those things are because I sort of missed that experience when I came here. Being gone a month before Becky had its privileges, but now I get all of the experiences again. We've given away, sold, and packed almost everything but the notes I'm studying from, and our clothes. We have 2 55 gallon barrels full, 1 almost full, and a full suitcase. Everything else will be packed the day I leave here, or the next. I assure you, the feeling of anticipation is almost overwhelming my urge to study.
Almost. I'm still studying, don't get me wrong. I have to, because we have two REALLY terrible pathology professors who are writing questions for my last exam on Thursday. One of them writes questions that pretty much require a person to either be able to read his mind, or see the future because normal testing strategies simply do not work. So much so that being absolutely conversant in the material still requires you to know what he's thinking because there are answers that you still can't rule out based on his questions. It's super frustrating, and hopefully things will go modestly well. I'm not in the running for an A in the class, but it would terribly disappoint me if unfair questions caused me to have to repeat 4th.
Other than that, the only thing I have to say is I hope everyone I'm visiting has a comfy study chair. My experience with the shelves has told me that I really need to bone up for the Comp the first week of 5th Semester. I promise I'll be social, but I'll have to both study and be social in moderation. I'm thinking no one will have a problem with that--everyone will be fawning over Kubby. He really is that cute. Honestly. He's super cute. You'll see.
Save some AC and dry air for us, because we'll be back soon.
-j
It's Olympics time. The Olympics are interesting to watch here, because the coverage has been so bizarre. A local Caribbean channel was covering it, then for several days they had a notice up that they weren't a licensed rebroadcaster, so they took the channel down. Then, we noticed it was up again a few days ago--as AFN. The Armed Forces Network is broadcasting the Olympics here. I can't help but wonder if this is authorized, or one of those piracy things. I'm not complaining because they show the Americans instead of the Caribbeans in the Olympics. It is interesting to comment on, though. Becky is especially amused by the commercials aimed at servicemembers. They seem to be selling the military to people who are already in the military.
When Becky brought this up to me, I had to remind her that being in the military isn't all tea and crumpets. Recruiters do lie to get people in the military, and the commands people are under in the military aren't always nice to their soldiers. So, it makes sense to me that the military has a strong sense of needing to resell itself to its own people. I guess I never thought about how it might seem strange to people outside.
And, while the Olympics have been going on, I've been in my own heptathlon of exams. So far, I've got 5 down, and another coming today. It's going. That's about all I can say. 4 of the exams are from the National Board of Medical Examiners. Being from an external group, we aren't really sure what to expect on the exams. On one hand, it's nice having exams with really well thought-out and well-worded questions. On the other hand, they are VERY comprehensive, and it exposes a lot of holes in our knowledge. The good thing is that they are standardized across the US, and our grade is reflective of our percentile rank instead of on raw score. This makes it very easy to score in the B-C range, and very hard to score in the F range. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to score in the A range. It could be worse, though.
Our new puppy Kubuli is growing like a weed, too. We got him almost 3 weeks ago, and he's gone from about 4 pounds to 6 or 7. He's almost outgrown the travel carrier I'll be using with him in one week. I hope that doesn't happen. The last thing I'd like is to be stuck in San Juan because someone at American Airlines thinks my dog is too big for the carrier because he grew in the month we've had him.
Becky and I are also packing all of our things and getting our food eaten down in the refrigerator. I forgot how frustrating those things are because I sort of missed that experience when I came here. Being gone a month before Becky had its privileges, but now I get all of the experiences again. We've given away, sold, and packed almost everything but the notes I'm studying from, and our clothes. We have 2 55 gallon barrels full, 1 almost full, and a full suitcase. Everything else will be packed the day I leave here, or the next. I assure you, the feeling of anticipation is almost overwhelming my urge to study.
Almost. I'm still studying, don't get me wrong. I have to, because we have two REALLY terrible pathology professors who are writing questions for my last exam on Thursday. One of them writes questions that pretty much require a person to either be able to read his mind, or see the future because normal testing strategies simply do not work. So much so that being absolutely conversant in the material still requires you to know what he's thinking because there are answers that you still can't rule out based on his questions. It's super frustrating, and hopefully things will go modestly well. I'm not in the running for an A in the class, but it would terribly disappoint me if unfair questions caused me to have to repeat 4th.
Other than that, the only thing I have to say is I hope everyone I'm visiting has a comfy study chair. My experience with the shelves has told me that I really need to bone up for the Comp the first week of 5th Semester. I promise I'll be social, but I'll have to both study and be social in moderation. I'm thinking no one will have a problem with that--everyone will be fawning over Kubby. He really is that cute. Honestly. He's super cute. You'll see.
Save some AC and dry air for us, because we'll be back soon.
-j
Sunday, August 10, 2008
10 Aug 2008, Are we having fun yet?
Well, it's started. I'm two exams into a seven exam marathon. I had my introduction to clinical medicine exam on Monday last week and my pathology lab final on Friday. Next week, I have exams on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And the following week on Monday and Thursday.
It's an odd feeling on campus. All of the people in my class are very happy to be this close to being done here in Dominica, but it doesn't feel like closure. I'm not sure if it's because the Comp exam has been given so much importance by the administration, or any other of a number of reasons. All I know is that I am ready to be somewhere that seems a little more normal to me. Hopefully Miami will fit the bill.
I wish I had more to say, but I need to spend time studying.
-j
It's an odd feeling on campus. All of the people in my class are very happy to be this close to being done here in Dominica, but it doesn't feel like closure. I'm not sure if it's because the Comp exam has been given so much importance by the administration, or any other of a number of reasons. All I know is that I am ready to be somewhere that seems a little more normal to me. Hopefully Miami will fit the bill.
I wish I had more to say, but I need to spend time studying.
-j
Sunday, August 3, 2008
3 Aug 2008 Spending social capital
I've mentioned before that Becky and I aren't boat people. I do honestly believe that once a decade is enough for a real boat ride for me. Well, today, Becky and I allowed social capital to pay off one extra boat ride in the next decade.
It all started last Monday when we went to Purple Turtle because I didn't want to cook, and we hadn't been there in a while. We showed up and there were two other groups there. One was a large group of local Dominicans, and the other was a group of two that looked like students. Just as we were getting settled, the ones that looked like students paid and as they were walking away, they asked if we were here on a boat. Becky and I told them that we lived here. Their response was that we could tell them what was good to see on the island.
We invited them to sit and chat with us for a while. We found out that they were a German and a Swede to had been sailing for over a year. They were both musicians and had just got to Dominica the day before. One thing led to another, and then we decided to meet at Peter's Ribs on Friday. We met there, and as things tend to happen, we set up another meeting. Today, we met on their boat and went to Secret Beach for a chance to show them a "touristy place".
We went there, and while Becky and I were in the water, just fooling around, they went and hunted squid because I said that I liked it! I couldn't believe how nice these two were. After they got the squid, they came back and we cooked it for them and had a very charming little snack with some squid salad.
The sad part is, this was basically my last fun session for several days as tomorrow exams start. Wish me luck!
-j
It all started last Monday when we went to Purple Turtle because I didn't want to cook, and we hadn't been there in a while. We showed up and there were two other groups there. One was a large group of local Dominicans, and the other was a group of two that looked like students. Just as we were getting settled, the ones that looked like students paid and as they were walking away, they asked if we were here on a boat. Becky and I told them that we lived here. Their response was that we could tell them what was good to see on the island.
We invited them to sit and chat with us for a while. We found out that they were a German and a Swede to had been sailing for over a year. They were both musicians and had just got to Dominica the day before. One thing led to another, and then we decided to meet at Peter's Ribs on Friday. We met there, and as things tend to happen, we set up another meeting. Today, we met on their boat and went to Secret Beach for a chance to show them a "touristy place".
We went there, and while Becky and I were in the water, just fooling around, they went and hunted squid because I said that I liked it! I couldn't believe how nice these two were. After they got the squid, they came back and we cooked it for them and had a very charming little snack with some squid salad.
The sad part is, this was basically my last fun session for several days as tomorrow exams start. Wish me luck!
-j
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