This is it! The final semester of basic science, and the last four months on the island (or any island) for me!! I arrived two nights ago after a few delays but nothing worse, thankfully. The rough weather apparently caused many flight cancellations at major airports in the states and Canada. On my first day back at school I noticed that it was very very empty. Well it was kind of expected given the unideal situation from last semester. I was kind of sad to hear that some people had transferred to other schools, just because I had grown familiar with their presence in the classroom since first semester. My two classes this semester are ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) and FCM (Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine), but technically only one real course (ICM), as the other one consists of the Kaplan Review in preparation for the NBME that I have to write (and pass) at the end of the semester. Yesterday at noon, the school's new CEO held a town hall meeting to go over the school's status and changes being implemented. The only change I did not like was that we were ordered to wear scrubs during class. Did I mention that I made a few New Year's resolutions this year? (I don't usually). I plan on working out at the gym at least 5 times a week, and meal-prepping! The gym I go to is right on the main road and about a five minute walk from where I live. It is on the ground floor of a large hotel beside the marina. The gym itself is actually quite small. There are three areas: the weight room, the cardio room and the room with the glass mirrors (cool-down room?). Anyways I was there yesterday for about an hour. After I got home I started meal-prepping. I wanted to do meal-prepping just to force myself to cook instead of buying food everyday. So I bought a huge bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, a bag of broccoli florets, and a box of mashed potato flakes and some fresh sweet potato as well as some quinoa. Also I bought a 24-piece set of plastic containers to place all the food in. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized how long meal-prepping takes. But it did feel satisfying afterwards to see all the food packed neatly in the containers on top of one another. It will also help me control my portions (which I have a big problem with!)
At the gym~
Today I went to the gym again and bumped into my two friends from Toronto who were also working out there. Later we went out for food (since their stove exploded!!), and ended up at a restaurant on the main road called Harbor Queen. My two friends both got the all-you-can-eat ribs option, and I ordered… lobster!! (as usual)
The semester is just whizzing by! One month and ten days left before I get to go home to a Winter Wonderland. It's been raining almost nonstop for the past two days. I haven't seen the island this bleak since I got here. The sky is just a solid grey.
I saw the movie Escape Plan with some friends the other week right after pharm block. It was very gripping and intense and by the end it was like I was holding my breath because there were so many close calls. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out and to watch it in the theatres here!
We started our patient-doctor IV course this week. It takes place in a separate building about 2 mins away from the school. So far it's a very easy-going course and the prof is so sweet. Each of us will have to do an individual presentation worth 30% sometime during the semester, and then there will be a final evaluation at the end worth 70%.
I feel guilty for not cooking much this semester even though my place comes fully equipped and there's really no excuse not to be cooking. I think I've maybe cooked three times this semester so far, and two of those three times it did not come out well. The third time I made mussels with white wine sauce. That was my first time trying a recipe like that and I actually really liked it! (Recipe here) I made it a second time and added pasta to it and this is how it turned out:
Mussels and linguine in a white wine sauce
Currently studying for my final path II block, which will be covering renal, male and female, breast, and endocrine pathologies. Fingers crossed the prof won't destroy us on this block.
POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
My Spring break has ended and now I'm back on the rock!
Yup, pretty describes any break that I have.
I arrived on Tuesday at my new place and have been really busy unpacking and moving in and adjusting to my third semester schedule. So far I really like my new place. It's really close to the school and right next door to a convenience store. However, it is also far from some places, like the grocery store. It is also situated on the hillside, so it is a bit of an uphill climb.
My classes this semester go from 10 AM - 5 PM everyday. I do not like coming home so late because it doesn't feel like I have enough time to do stuff. The other day I spent the entire evening simply doing my laundry after class ended. I am trying to adjust my sleep schedule so that I sleep late and wake up late.
My classes this semester are: pathology 1, microbiology, psychology, and bioethics.
So far pathology and microbiology are proving to be quite interesting. A lot of new terms and long words that I struggle to wrap my head around, especially in microbiology.
We have new professors for pathology and psychology. The path prof we've met but have not been formally taught by her yet. The psych prof is... different, from what myself and a lot of students are used to. The other day he walked us through breathing techniques, and he starts each lecture by playing soft country music for the class.
Anyways. I already have a lot to study, and there's a psych quiz on Monday and a micro quiz on Tuesday.
Just wrote my biochem shelf. Someone described the feeling of coming out of that exam like "getting hit by a bus". I whole-heartedly agree. There were 125 questions and we were given 2 hours to complete the exam. The questions weren't straight recalls, they were secondary and tertiary long questions. Even just reading the questions made my head hurt. By the end of the exam I was just like,
I'm just glad that it's over. Now to study for the physio shelf exam tomorrow!
This is it! The final semester of basic science, and the last four months on the island (or any island) for me!! I arrived two nights ago after a few delays but nothing worse, thankfully. The rough weather apparently caused many flight cancellations at major airports in the states and Canada. On my first day back at school I noticed that it was very very empty. Well it was kind of expected given the unideal situation from last semester. I was kind of sad to hear that some people had transferred to other schools, just because I had grown familiar with their presence in the classroom since first semester. My two classes this semester are ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) and FCM (Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine), but technically only one real course (ICM), as the other one consists of the Kaplan Review in preparation for the NBME that I have to write (and pass) at the end of the semester. Yesterday at noon, the school's new CEO held a town hall meeting to go over the school's status and changes being implemented. The only change I did not like was that we were ordered to wear scrubs during class. Did I mention that I made a few New Year's resolutions this year? (I don't usually). I plan on working out at the gym at least 5 times a week, and meal-prepping! The gym I go to is right on the main road and about a five minute walk from where I live. It is on the ground floor of a large hotel beside the marina. The gym itself is actually quite small. There are three areas: the weight room, the cardio room and the room with the glass mirrors (cool-down room?). Anyways I was there yesterday for about an hour. After I got home I started meal-prepping. I wanted to do meal-prepping just to force myself to cook instead of buying food everyday. So I bought a huge bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, a bag of broccoli florets, and a box of mashed potato flakes and some fresh sweet potato as well as some quinoa. Also I bought a 24-piece set of plastic containers to place all the food in. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized how long meal-prepping takes. But it did feel satisfying afterwards to see all the food packed neatly in the containers on top of one another. It will also help me control my portions (which I have a big problem with!)
At the gym~
Today I went to the gym again and bumped into my two friends from Toronto who were also working out there. Later we went out for food (since their stove exploded!!), and ended up at a restaurant on the main road called Harbor Queen. My two friends both got the all-you-can-eat ribs option, and I ordered… lobster!! (as usual)
The semester is just whizzing by! One month and ten days left before I get to go home to a Winter Wonderland. It's been raining almost nonstop for the past two days. I haven't seen the island this bleak since I got here. The sky is just a solid grey.
I saw the movie Escape Plan with some friends the other week right after pharm block. It was very gripping and intense and by the end it was like I was holding my breath because there were so many close calls. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out and to watch it in the theatres here!
We started our patient-doctor IV course this week. It takes place in a separate building about 2 mins away from the school. So far it's a very easy-going course and the prof is so sweet. Each of us will have to do an individual presentation worth 30% sometime during the semester, and then there will be a final evaluation at the end worth 70%.
I feel guilty for not cooking much this semester even though my place comes fully equipped and there's really no excuse not to be cooking. I think I've maybe cooked three times this semester so far, and two of those three times it did not come out well. The third time I made mussels with white wine sauce. That was my first time trying a recipe like that and I actually really liked it! (Recipe here) I made it a second time and added pasta to it and this is how it turned out:
Mussels and linguine in a white wine sauce
Currently studying for my final path II block, which will be covering renal, male and female, breast, and endocrine pathologies. Fingers crossed the prof won't destroy us on this block.
POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
My Spring break has ended and now I'm back on the rock!
Yup, pretty describes any break that I have.
I arrived on Tuesday at my new place and have been really busy unpacking and moving in and adjusting to my third semester schedule. So far I really like my new place. It's really close to the school and right next door to a convenience store. However, it is also far from some places, like the grocery store. It is also situated on the hillside, so it is a bit of an uphill climb.
My classes this semester go from 10 AM - 5 PM everyday. I do not like coming home so late because it doesn't feel like I have enough time to do stuff. The other day I spent the entire evening simply doing my laundry after class ended. I am trying to adjust my sleep schedule so that I sleep late and wake up late.
My classes this semester are: pathology 1, microbiology, psychology, and bioethics.
So far pathology and microbiology are proving to be quite interesting. A lot of new terms and long words that I struggle to wrap my head around, especially in microbiology.
We have new professors for pathology and psychology. The path prof we've met but have not been formally taught by her yet. The psych prof is... different, from what myself and a lot of students are used to. The other day he walked us through breathing techniques, and he starts each lecture by playing soft country music for the class.
Anyways. I already have a lot to study, and there's a psych quiz on Monday and a micro quiz on Tuesday.
Just wrote my biochem shelf. Someone described the feeling of coming out of that exam like "getting hit by a bus". I whole-heartedly agree. There were 125 questions and we were given 2 hours to complete the exam. The questions weren't straight recalls, they were secondary and tertiary long questions. Even just reading the questions made my head hurt. By the end of the exam I was just like,
I'm just glad that it's over. Now to study for the physio shelf exam tomorrow!
