Daily Grind...

It is kinda of amazing how your body responds to differing workloads. For the last week, I have not been going to bed before 4am. Granted, I have not needed to be up before 1 in the afternoon but I really should be better organized or more willing to give up on whatever subject I am studying to just close the books like I did last night.


Regardless, I recently woke from a one-hour nap and I cannot figure out what has been making me so fatigued? I get up, go to lab, come home and have lunch. This is followed by several hours of sitting in a darkened classroom listening to lectures --today only saw three hours of lecture. By the time I get home my body feels wiped. Sometimes I've fallen asleep for several hours midday and I cannot get to sleep at night.

Whether it is the hot, hot sun, afternoon rain showers or my lack of regular exercise, I am going to hope this is only a phase. Lab is earlier tomorrow.


The picture here is from the "black sand" beach just off the back steps of campus. Friends and I regularly swim here in the afternoons after lecture to cool off and get re-energized for an evening of studying. It was taken by Matt and you can see more of his images here: Matt's Flickr Site

You were warned....

To begin, half of me feels like apologizing. I know that I have not posted in quite some time, these postings to not take all that long to put together, and I have been getting enough sleep for the last week or so. That said, I do not feel all that bad for waiting until now. Why...I hear your unconscious murmur...? In the past month (I believe since I last posted here?) my class has had their first round of exams, I have been working to better understand the biochemical pathways that were thrown at us like beads at a Mardi Gras parade, and I have most recently been trying to reconnect with my fun-loving classmates at the annual beach party "Sandblast." So all, in all, it's been a busy few weeks.

What prompted this posting? Several factors:

1. It has been a while since I've written
2. A lot has occurred
   
1. midterms
2. family news
3. school events
4. ok, perhaps not all that much
3. I learned that there are more people reading this than just my family!
1. Co-workers
• Here's my big chance to shout out to all the RNs and ERTs at Regions Hospital in St. Paul!! Hey guys, enjoy digging your cars out after this past weekend.... it's STILL sunny and 80 here.
2. Classmates
• Ok, I have only heard of 1, but Linda did convince me that an update was due.
• Anyone else?
• You have to comment. Only those that stand up get recognized. You deserve to be recognized, don't you?

But I digress, this update is not to be a commentary about why this update is here. This is to be an update and insight as to this student's experience in medical school. Let me say this: Medical School is hard. I have not studied enough yet, and I realize that. I am now redoubling my efforts and working to study smarter....and a bit harder too. Along with many of my classmates, midterm exams did not go as well as I thought they may have. I am still passing, but I do not desire to be a "C" level physician.
It is no joke. There is no limit to the number of problems you can do, books you can review, flashcards you can look at. Strike that, there is no limit to the number of books, flashcard and problems you SHOULD do while in medical school. And for that matter, don't just do them once, do them over and over again. I am working, already, to put this lesson to practice well before my 1st term finals.

As for the family events, my brother got to return home and visit Rochester, MN for Spring Break '08. My sister's enjoying her time in Peru, and quickly learning that managing a business is a full-time job. And my parents are, well, still in the Cold white north and taunting me with ribs, salmon and other home cooking whenever I get them to chat online.
Then there's my wife. She's been EXTREMELY busy these past few weeks. More so than I, actually. Flying between too many cities to list here, having those flights delayed, re-routed and then canceled, and having to spend many, many nights in hotels. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and right about now, I love her even more than the day we were married.
There is good news for us, though. She managed to find a weekend and flight deal that worked and is coming down to visit me again before the term is over! Needless to say I'm overjoyed, and my friends down here are very excited to see her too. Although, one buddy recommended that I ask her to bring something with her. The story is this:
Grenada has no Mc Donald's. There's no Burger King, there's no Dariy Queen or Wendy's, and there sure as hell is no Chipotle.

What am I craving today? What have I been craving for the last 2 months? What will I devour en-masse when I return home? Burritos. Specifically, Chipotle and Qudoba. It is a dream of mine that Grenada would accept and open a single (1, uno) chipotle restaurant in their shopping mall across from the Grand Anse campus. Just thinking about their soft-shell wraps with marinated chicken breasts, 13spice black beans, lime salted chips, corn salsa and guacamole.... I know she can't bring it down here. It would not last the full 16hr trip. I can only dream, and wait.

That said, I had a near-Mexican (kinda) encounter yesterday. Saturday was the annual St. George's University Sandblast. This year's theme was "Fiesta Spring '08" and the drinks ran freely, the men's and women's hot body contests did entertain and the water came so hight that there was hardly any beach to relax on. Honestly, it was amazing. There were so many people enjoying themselves, relaxing in the sun, chatting away, and drinking beer, tequila sunrise, rum punch and whatever other drinks they could get the bar to mix up. Students were dancing around with big woven sombrero-like hats and bad black stick-on mustaches. Fortunately, the SGU mustache club had recently adjourned, and all the horrible facial hair that many men were growing was wonderfully absent.

The sun was hot, the music was loud and the party was rocking until 6pm, when the party suddenly stopped, we were told that we "did not have to go home, but you..." yeah, you know the line. Despite the disclaimer, I did go home. I got changed...and went out again. This is a 4 day weekend. It would, honestly, have been a waste not to waste one full day.

Now, it's Sunday night. Monday is my last "weekend" day and there are many, many things yet to review. To those of you that made it this far down the story, thank you for reading, and keep in touch.

One last thought.....
there have been comments from some wishing I would post some pictures on this blog of the campus, my living facilities and the like. Allow me to say that I do not have a camera down here with me. I thought my large digital camera too bulky and too battery-thristy to be a viable option. Perhaps that will be an investment I will have to make over the summer. But to make up for it, I have contacted a friend of mine with a fantastic eye to see if I could "borrow" a few of his images to illustrate my dialog. His name is Matt and you can check out some of his pictures on his Flickr site.