A fresh start...

Today I just completed my final for parasitology, the last of my 1 credit courses to start this term. Tomorrow I start in with new courses, so tonight I have nothing to study! I was up studying a lot last night, so today I've been pretty exhausted, thus I haven't really taken advantage of my temporary freedom from school work. This weekend I did take a break on Saturday to go hiking with the girls. We actually took part in a hash run. You can read about it at the link, but essentially it was a hike through the jungle on a trail marked out with symbols drawn on the ground with shredded paper. Sometimes there are false trails marked, so we had to do a little navigating which made it more interesting than a regular hike. They have them every two weeks, so we'll probably be doing a few of them this term. It felt good to get a little exercise for a change. I've included a few pictures from that day, and as usual I didn't take the pictures because I never remember my camera (thanks Kristen.) I don't really have much more exciting to report. This coming Saturday we might return to the market in St. George's. I hope to see some more of the produce they have this time. The only other time I visited all I bought were spices to bring back for Christmas. I also really want to visit the fish market they have here some time. I've been down here surrounded by water for nearly 5 months and I can probably count the number of times I've had fish on one hand. That's it for now...I'll post again on Saturday hopefully with some pictures of the market. P.S. I couldn't resist the picture of the wiener dog since I actually found one on the island.

Back in Grenada

I apologize for the length of time it took me to post since being back here, but I've been getting things settled in my apartment and hanging around with friends in the free time when I'm not in lecture. I've been back for a little over a week now, and it seems like I never left. My winter break went by a little too quickly for my taste, but judging by how fast last term seemed to go by, I expect my time down here in Grenada to be over in no time. It's also nice to see the looks on the first term students' faces during their first week here. I know how overwhelmed they feel, and it's nice not to have an unfamiliar environment to worry about in addition to course work. Speaking of course work, I'm currently in two 1 credit courses, parasitology and genetics. I only have these 2 courses for the first 2 weeks and then we will be taking the finals in them next Monday and Tuesday. I've had both of these classes in undergrad, so I'm enjoying how the familiarity is letting me ease into the semester a little. Nothing much more of note has been happening. Here's a picture of a view from my balcony to let you get a idea of where my humble abode is.

Last night in Grenada

Well the first term has finally come to its conclusion. I made it! And they're going to let me come back again for a second term, so I've got that going for me. Over the last few days I've spent a few hours at the beach, and I've also had a handful of errands to finish before I head home. It's been sad to see all my friends leave, one after another, until only I remain. I've been pretty bored the last 2 days, so I had to come up with my own devices to pass the time. The included picture is of a box of some of my laundry and bathroom stuff that I'm leaving here in storage. Making that sign took about a half an hour, so it was a successful waste of time. The abrupt transition from the previous 2 weeks of studying non-stop for finals to having absolutely nothing to do really caught me off guard. But now I get to look forward to a day and a half of traveling and a mini visit with Maria and Kamau, yippy! On my way back from storage, Mama one of the campus dogs followed me back to spend a little time with me before I have to leave in the morning. The forecast says I'm to expect 10 degree weather when I get home. Mom, the car better be warm when you get to the airport. I'll see most of you in the coming weeks. It'll be nice being back.

1 week left.

1 week from now I'll probably be lounging around drinking a cold beer or living it up at a post finals party. My last final ends around 2 pm on Friday Dec. 12. I don't leave for home until Tuesday the 16th so I have 3 days to relax on the beach. In retrospect I would have liked to come home right away on Saturday, but I went for the cheaper flight. I'll have to work on my tan during this time so I can make all of you jealous when I get back. I included a pic of where I will be unwinding to make you jealous preemptively since I know most of you have snow. Although I'm looking forward to getting home, I'm not looking forward to flying. Apparently it's hard to get from Grenada to La Crosse, WI, so I have a lot of layovers both home and back. I get the opportunity to get acquainted with the Miami airport for about 5 hours. I also get to spend the night in Chicago. Now all I have to do is make it through these god forsaken tests. If you read my last post, I've made it to the stage where I'm not stressing about the tests anymore. I just want to get them over with. I won't be stressed again until I wake up the morning of each of the tests. I want some Culver's now.

Almost there...

Sorry for the long hiatus since my last post. It's been a combination of the hectic windup to finals and a little homesickness that's given me little ambition to put together a blog post. But now I need a break from biochem (mnemonics are frying my brain,) so I'll catch you all up on the happenings down here. Although Grenadian Thanksgiving was about a month ago, most of the American students attended a few private little home brewed Thanksgiving dinners with fellow classmates and the various academic clubs. Mine was an exclusive invite as I dined with my girlfriend Kristen, and 2 other girls who are a couple of her vet student friends. We had a fairly comprehensive Thanksgiving dinner menu prepared. Fried honey glazed ham was the only substitute we had to make since there are no ovens in the dorms for turkey. Other than that, we had mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, yams, pasta salad, deviled eggs, and even a stove top pumpkin pie. Other than that, all weekend has been spent studying with a small break on Friday at the beach. Now is when my final study preparations are being made. I find this to be the scariest and most discouraging point, in going over all the material it seems entirely overwhelming in the sense that I know I can never master it all. In a few days this will inevitably proceed into the phase where I'm sick of studying and just want to get the tests over with and go home, but my stomach will be in knots until then.
Since I've been studying biochem for the last 6 hours you are all treated to this fun factoid which will be especially appreciated by all my readers in pharmaceuticals. Cytochrome P450 is a liver enzyme that is responsible for the processing of many toxins and drugs that pass through the system. This enzyme is inhibited by grapefruit juice, thus if you drink grapefruit juice while taking medication you inhibit your livers ability to get the drug out of your system and it'll start building up when you take more doses and may reach a toxic level. So that's the explanation of why you might see this on prescription bottles and you ever wondered why grapefruit juice was a no-no. Sorry for that, I'm sick of studying and needed to vent.