Busy, busy

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but I'll say... I warned you. Medical school is keeping me busy; what with biochemistry, anatomy, histology and bioethics and this is just the first semester. On top of that, our campus lacks any organized food service so we must fend for ourselves on a daily basis. Quite the adventure given the diversity of our campus. St. George's University has a large number of students from both the United States and Canada, but the next largest country represented must be India.

This was made evident in our student handbook which requested that 'for students with common last names such as Smith or Patel, please include your middle initial along with your first name." Really, this has been quite the time so far. I have had more Indian Food in the last couple weeks than all my years in Colorado and Minnesota combined. I've learned the joy that is the "roti" and come to a greater appreciation for HOT spicy foods.

If my wife thought that she couldn't handle my taste for spicy foods before, just wait 'till I come home and start dousing everything in Caribbean Catsup (i.e. Baron West Indian Hot Sauce).

Joking aside, I truly do appreciate the preparation Colorado College provided. This institution offered an anatomy class every year in which undergrads were permitted the honor of studying anatomy as part of the physical science department. This course included a wet-lab human cadaver dissection where there were only five students per body! Even now in medical school, I am learning anatomy by prosection (pre-dissected specimens). Some students may complain about this style of instruction, but I actually prefer it. Having spent hour upon hour tediously removing layers of subcutaneous tissue (read: fat) only to find that we accidentally sliced through an important nerve/vein/other superficial structure, learning from excellently exposed bodies is far better in my book. Besides, there are enough other things I have to be doing in this first term. Reading being at the top.

Between the anatomy book, detailed analysis of embryo development, exquisite analysis of chemical interactions in biochemistry, and a fair bit of global medical ethics reading to complete, I do not know how I find time to work sample test problems, sit in lecture and find time to sleep. The Mr. Coffee left by the soon to be "Dr." J Butterfield helps quite a bit in these days.

So why is it that I am suddenly posting this rambling overview? Well, I awoke to attend my 8:30am bioethics small group discussion meeting only to arrive at the assigned room to find no one. Further investigation (read: looked at posting on corkboard) led me to understand that my group did not meet until 10. Those two hours of free time provides me with enough time to eat breakfast, stop by the housing department to learn about becoming a Residence Assistant --more on that later, perhaps--and write this little post.

Now, if I am glossing over anything that you, reader, would like to know more about; or if you would just like to know something about this program (medical school, Grenada, blogspot.com) post me a note below. I will do my best to respond and I would be very happy to know that someone's out there reading my thoughts.

Oh, as a final aside - it was a lot of fun to watch the superbowl this past Sunday. Yes, we got a live view of the game on our campus TV here in Grenada. The funny thing was (no not he doritos ad) that the broadcast came from Fox in Denver, CO! Talk about a small world. After watching the game, and House MD, I got to see that a massive amount of snow was piling on Summit county and the front range of Colorado. I was very tempted to call my brother in Denver--who may have as well been on the slopes--and ask about some mundane news detail. However, I did not, and felt a pinge of nostalgia for such cold snowy weather as I wore kahki shorts, sat in the breeze of an open cafe, and listened to the nearby roar of ocean waves pounding the sandy beachfront.

So close, yet so very, very far away.