New experiences

This past week I've tried to broaden my horizons a little. Considering the extreme change in my environment, there is a lot of new things to try. I went up to the small farmers' market that they have on campus every morning and bought some interesting fruits that I've never tried before. First I bought a bag of guineps which are pretty much like grapes covered in a thin lime skin and they also contain a large seed. The things taste similar to grapes, but they have a horrible fruit to seed ratio, so they're hardly worth the effort or money. I also tried a guava for the first time. Although I had heard of them before, I had no idea what they looked like. They are shaped similarly to pomegranates, but they're about the size of a golf ball and have a yellow citrus type skin. They taste pretty good, but they have tons of really hard seeds in them which are impossible to avoid and difficult to deal with while trying to chew. The picture I included is of the guineps on the stem they came on and also an enormous 6 lb pineapple I bought. The pineapple was per pound priced, so it still cost a small fortune even though it grew up around here. I also had to carve it with a paring knife since it was all we had.
Also classmate of mine set up a group to go scuba diving the week after midterms, and I figure I've got to try it at least once while I'm down here. So I'll be going down with them tonight to check out the program. I'm not that fond of snorkeling in Wisconsin lakes so this should be interesting. At least I'll have more than 6 feet of visibility though.
Also speaking of Pineapples, it won a landslide victory in the poll, but I suspect there may have been some jerrymandering. Check out the new one.

A birthday meal

Since Monday is my 25th birthday, a group of friends and I made a trip downtown to a nicer restaurant. I had the dish you see here. It was a catch of the day sort of thing with a lime garlic sauce. I have no idea what gave it such a bright yellow color though. It tasted great. We also shared a couple of Crabbacks. No, that's not supposed to be crabshack or crab-bake like we also thought. It's an hors d'œuvre made by mixing crab meat with some herbs and spices and then restuffing the crab shell (sans beady eyes) with the mixture. Obviously it was a welcome change from the usual ham and cheese sandwiches. Many of my friends' birthdays are also coming up in late October after our midterm, so we're going to find a few more of the nicer eateries in the area. Other than that, not much is happening on the spice island. The service union affiliated with the school went on strike last week, so we got an email that our housekeeping and transportation services might be disrupted, but I haven't seen any difference. We're also starting to get a little precipitation. I was beginning to think the rainy season was a misnomer. I want to experience at least one tropical storm while I'm down here too.
Well I'll get some productive stuff done now that I'm back on campus. But, I'm definitely having a drink on Monday to mark my quarter century.

Short lived relief

I finished my unified quiz after only an hour and a half of the three hour allotted time. I promptly headed back to my dorm room with a classmate where we enjoyed a beer to celebrate our completion. After grabbing a bite to eat, a group of about 50 students headed to the beach to enjoy the last few hours of sunshine. Because Grenada is in the eastern time zone yet it lies several hundred miles east of the east coast of the US, the sun sets at about 6 o'clock. The picture included is of the coastline and setting sun. A group of 4 of us invested in a bottle of rum, some soda, and some ice to replenish our electrolytes that we lost in the quiz. Some of us exclaimed that we need to have tests more often because it gives us a reason to visit the beach. Most of us only see the Grenadian weather on the way between our dorms and the lecture hall. So it was a good change of pace.
We continued the celebration at Bananas, but we all went home relatively early because everyone had early labs in the morning. This morning reminded us all why we don't go out to the bars on school nights. Waking up to attend an 8 0'clock histology lab after spending the night at the beach and a bar and not having showered since, I must admit I've probably looked better than I did at lab this morning. The funny thing about all the celebrating was that it was an insignificant part of our grade, and we're going to be retested on the same material in 3 weeks on the midterm, so we're going to have to review the material again anyway. But I feel I did very well on the anatomy and bioethics portion, and I held my own on the other two sections. We have an idea of what to expect now and I hope to improve my approach in the coming weeks. Our histology professor commented today in class that this is just the first step on the road, and when we signed our name on the line we actually signed away the next 4 and more realistically 7 years of our lives until we get out of residency. So we're in it for the long haul, but time's already flying. I'm sure I'll get there in no time.
On another note, Mojito won with 57% of the vote. That was also my favorite. There is a new poll now, so check it out.

Anatomical Model

Thursday like usual was my anatomy lab. We are learning about the thorax at the moment, and during this particular lab we were mapping out the contents of the thoracic cavity. It seems like a rite of passage in most medical schools to draw out the locations of these internal structures on fellow students. In the future when we may need to perform procedures like a pleural centesis to remove liquid buildup from around the lung, so we use these exercises to get our bearings on the exterior surface. I was volunteered by my fellow group members for today's activities because my torso is devoid of most of the stuff (muscle and fat) which would obscure the underlying structures that the group was trying to palpate, like counting ribs for instance. So scrawny boy got marked up like a connect the dots puzzle. Unfortunatly I was volunteered before I was told the markers were Sharpie™. Jenny did give me the helpful advice that alcohol helps remove it. So last night I rubbed some cheap rum on myself to get it off. The above picture is of the DiVincis working on their perfectly sculpted canvas.
After this lab I came home with a hungry stomach, and the 2 bags of fully ripe mangoes were still sitting on the refrigerator since I'd shied away from them the week before. Because all my allergy symptoms were gone, I decided not to let the mangoes go to waste. I threw some of my anatomy gloves on and gave the mangoes a shot. I washed the exterior of the mangoes with dish soap to get rid of any sap residue left on them. Since I was still wearing my scrubs from lab this whole process was probably pretty comical to watch. I proceeded with my paring knife making a complete rostral to caudal sagittal incision and removed the flesh with a spoon. I also played it safe by washing my mouth afterward to prevent and more swollen lips. It's been 2 days since then and I don't feel any effects, so the mango surgery was a complete success. Although I think it may be a little too much work to justify buying anymore.
Monday is the unified quiz that I mentioned before. I overshot the estimate on the weight of the quiz for each class. Apparently it's only worth like 7% of each classes grade. Nonetheless, I still feel pretty anxious about it since all the work is finally starting to pile up. I talked with a friend of mine tonight from undergrad that worked in the same research lab as me. He's currently in a DO school (also a med school but grants a DO and not an MD) in NYC and he's in the middle of midterms right now, but he's also feeling the strain. So, it's comforting that there are also people out there suffering like the rest of us book worms here in Grenada. I'll write an elated post on Monday night after I've finished the dreaded thing. But, until then I'll be stuck studying all I can this weekend.

Gastronomical cross-training

On a different note, I recently found this list hitting the internet meme circuit called the Omnivore's 100. It's essentially a list of 100 foods to try before you die. I've always had the philosophy that the best item on any menu is the one you haven't tried. So, I'd like to give the entire thing a go. I'm actually pretty pleased at my personal progress in my relatively sheltered culinary environment. I believe this one would be much easier to obtain than the top 100 books to read. Hurray for hedonism.
Also, sorry about all the typing today. I bought some instant coffee on Thursday and I've been drinking a lot of it today. I rarely drink caffeine, so I'm really feeling the effects.

The Lazy Weekend & Blog Improvements

First of all I'd just make sure that everybody notices the changes and additions that I've made to the blog. Obviously the color scheme has changed to a mellower tone. And I've limited the main page to the latest 5 posts in order to limit the clutter and load time. One can access older posts from the archives to the lower left. 2 new additions have been added to the left tool bar. First of which is a poll for you all to participate, and I will try to remember to change it periodically. I believe anyone can take this poll even though only blogspot members can comment on my blog articles (so far Jenny is the only one doing this.) Beneath that is a list of some of the blogs I've been subscribed to (dad you made it into an elite list and better update yours.)
Now that that's all taken care of, last night ended up being pretty low key around here. I hung around campus with friends for the majority of the night, but did end up going to one of the two bars within walking distance for about an hour and a half. This morning I tried my hardest to watch the Badgers' game somehow online, but I ended up having to listen to a online radio broadcast of it (which was nice because I could review lecture slides at the same time.) They improved to 2-0 on the season with a 51-14 win over Marshall. Hopefully I'll get to see the Packers on Monday against the Vikings for not only the beginning of Aaron Rodgers' era, but also a game which might have great importance for the NFC north race.
The above picture is from the corner of my dorm building. If I press my head up against the window frame of my dorm and look through the window diagonally, I can see this sliver of ocean which is centered in the picture. So, I guess I could technically advertise an "ocean view." If one were able to see that far, peering off into the southern horizon you'd see a straight passing between the Island of Trinidad and the northeastern coast of Venezuela. This I estimate to be about 90 miles away, and I believe that the curve of the earth limits someone standing on shore to only a 3 mile line of sight.
This second picture is a view of a portion of the campus which can be seen from the front of my dorm. The building in the foreground on the left is the student center (restaurant, cafeteria, bank, gym, general store.) On the right is the newly built lecture hall which my entire class of about 350 has our lectures together in. All the buildings behind them are apartment style dorms. The big field in front is used for recreation. All the intramural football/soccer teams are out there pretty regularly.
So far all of today has been spent inside with the Badger game and biochem studying. A week from Monday we all have the Unified Quiz. It's a 3 hour quiz and each course has 25 multiple choice questions on it. Each of these sections account for about 10-12% of each respective course's grade. So, it's not make or break for us, but it gives us an idea where we stand and how effective our studying strategies have been. It'll be nice to get something under my belt. It feels weird already being done with the white coat ceremony and knowing that there is a 5% attrition rate (half for academic reasons, and the other half for personal.) I'd just like to pass the thing comfortably and know I can handle this whole thing.

Bingo!

I think I've cracked the allergy mystery. I did a little bit of research on some of the stuff that I've been using lately down here, and some stuff I was using at home before I came. About 2 weeks before I came down to Grenada my dad and I went hiking in Perrot State Park. I tried as hard as I could, but somehow I still came out with a fairly decent poison ivy rash down my right forearm. It was irritating and regretful, but all of these symptoms were gone within a week. As I was preparing to leave my lips started tingling and chapping like they have been this past week. I was sure this was a re-exposure to some of the oils from the poison ivy that was still on my shoes or under my fingernail from that day. But now they mirrored the reaction I had down here, so I started to rethink. What did I start using just before I left and continued doing so down here? I narrowed it down to either my shampoo/body wash, or mangoes (the food co-op in La Crosse had a sale.) I looked into it and apparently poison ivy and mangoes are in the same family, anacardiaceae. Which is equivalent to our link with gorillas.
I guess the mangos have the same oil, urushiol, that poison ivy also has. The oil in mangoes is mainly in the sap of the mango tree and traces can be found in the skin of the fruit. This explains why my lips are always getting affected. I must also be rubbing my eyes after peeling them. There isn't more than a small trace amount in the actual flesh of the mango, so if I treat them like a bio hazard or I get someone else to prepare them I guess I can continue to eat them. I've eaten like 10 since I've been down here ($0.50 a piece), so it explains the persistent and delayed nature of my reactions. And since my latest exposure to poison ivy was so recent, my immune system was probably primed for the attack more than it usually would have been.
Anyway, after all that amazing deduction which surely would put Sherlock Holmes to shame, there is a 45% chance I'll be going out to enjoy this Friday and a 60% chance of me returning to the beach sometime this weekend. Although last weekend was a pretty hard one to top. We had a 90's theme party at a club right next to the marina. $2 beers and $6 cuban cigars made for an enjoyable night not to mention jumping around to House of Pain (Go Badgers!) I'll hopefully have a picture for my next post this weekend.

Clean Caribbean air?

I've been felling much better lately. Even though I'm waiting on the lingering effects of my allergy to subside, I only had to take the steroids for 1 day. Today was my marathon day. On Thursdays I have 4 hours of anatomy lab and another 4 hours of lecture with only an hour break for lunch. To up the ante, we had a few power disturbances in the morning for only a few seconds at a time, but this seems to inactivate the ventilation fans in the anatomy lab (I never understood why they simply didn't restart.) For the "wet lab" portion where we get to view the structures on the cadavers, there was no air circulation thus resulting in a room filled with formalin fumes. You'll be surprised to know that it not only has an unpleasant effect on your eyes and nose, but it's also a carcinogen. Luckily I only have to hang out in that place once a week for the duration of this term. I feel sorry for the professors though. Tomorrow is a pretty easy day since we have bioethics for half of our lectures. All you have to do for that class is think like a good doctor, so it's a small respite from the unending memorization of my other classes. My other 2 classes besides Anatomy and Bioethics are Biochem and Histology. So far I'm very pleased with the curriculum. It's all keeping me interested and it seems clinically relevant. They don't make us learn something just for the sake of learning it which was what I found disenchanting about undergrad. I'm looking forward to pathology (even though it's 13 credits) next year so I can finally find out about all the things that can go wrong with us. So far we just get to hear about diseases if they're peculiar examples related to our current topic. For now I'll just have to be satisfied with knowing how everything looks when it's running smoothly.

On the other side of a diagnosis...

Sorry for the longer than usual hiatus. I've been a little under the weather lately. I had an allergic reaction to something on Saturday or Sunday. This happened the week before I left for Grenada too, but the symptoms were much milder, so that must have been my first exposure. This presumptive second exposure was much more unpleasant. I've had very red puffy rings around my eyes and tingly puffy lips that sting and crack when the swelling goes down. I went to the health center today. Unfortunately I had to pick the day that the campus set up immunization titers for those who didn't get them already. So, after an hour and a half in the waiting room, my case was clear cut and the consult only took 5 minutes. Then I headed out to get a nice little gift basket from the pharmacy stuffed with benadryl and prednisone. I was pleasantly surprised when the prescription only cost $2. I'm trying to figure out what's triggering these reactions, but can't come up with anything unusual in my routines. It'll be another miserable week if I don't guess correctly. I did go to the beach on Sunday even though I was already starting to feel the allergy coming back. It was a good time, and I got to see my first sea star in person. Plus my tan erases any trace evidence of my Wisconsin roots.