Things I Miss...

Here are the things I miss...

1. Legit fast food. We have a KFC but that's about it. I miss USDA processed beef. McDonald's, Burger King, even Arby's. A Chinese food joint. Yes, we have a few, but they all suck. They all taste like they've been made out of chicken that's been fried seven times and sat in the fridge for a week.

2. 24-hour coffee/food/store. The entire island shuts down at around 8pm. Grocery stores close at 9pm, food joints close earlier, and the only "coffee" place on campus closes at 11pm. Say you're sitting around at the library at 2am, and want some food or coffee. Tough cookies.

3. Fast customer service. The island's customer service doesn't compare to the states. You think you had a rude cashier/server? HAH! At least you can complain to the manager or something. The average perspective here on servers/cashiers is that the customers OWE something to the servers/cashiers. It's a little bizarre. If you ask for something, they often roll their eyes or scoff, etc. Chances are, if you go to a restaurant and order something to eat, be prepared to wait a while. Some restaurants are better than others, but overall, it's bad. I've waited anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes to 3.5 hours. Yes. 3.5 hours...for a chicken breast.

4. Reliable utilities. Our internet has been shoddy lately...when we get it, it's almost dial-up speed. The internet is somewhat of a luxury (not to med students) but overall, fine, it's doable. Water...we're going through somewhat of a drought right now, so water's pretty valuable. I was told that we only have roughly 3 weeks of water left on the island, so conservation is crucial. There are times throughout the day where we have no water, but again, it's doable.

5. My car. The bus schedule sucks. Nuff said.

Two more months

Midterms are over. I am still alive. Was it difficult? Yes. Could it have been worse? Absolutely.

I pulled out alright. I didn't do as well as I thought I would, nor did I do as well as everyone here THINKS I did (I'm looking at you, Mendoza), but I did ok.

We pretty much partied all weekend...stayed in, did nothing, laid in bed all day, etc. Now, it's back to the beginning...

This semester, I figured that I'd actually put in the time daily (or at least once every two days) to study and catch up on classes so that I don't have to pull multiple all nighters. Yes. This I will do.

It's time to go study some, call some people back home, possibly clean my desk drawers as it's filled with randomness.

Cabin Fever

Yesterday, I made the ultimate mistake of studying for 11 hours straight (few breaks in between) on one subject: anatomy. Learning the muscles, their innervations, and their functions made me start losing it around 11pm. I couldn't retain any information even though I had just read it 20 seconds ago...and when I lifted my hand, I realized that it was trembling. Blech.

Thankfully, my buddies (@#$!nuts and Mendoza) dragged me out to Owl's (local watering hole) and...let's just say that my inability to sleep lately is gone methinks.

Today is Physiology Day. Tomorrow is Physiology Day. Saturday/Sunday is Biochemistry Day.

Wish me luck everyone.

5 Days Remaining...

Until midterm week begins.

I never knew what "studying" meant until now. It feels like I'm hanging my head outside and beating it with a whiffle ball bat constantly until it's reduced to a bloody pulp.

I must say, I have a newfound respect for the human brain and its ability to retain so much information. I also have a newfound respect for the human body and its ability to stay awake for such long periods of time.

Studying the human body makes me question one thing: God. Why...did he make the human body so darn convoluted/complex? Couldn't he make us like...gumby? He can walk, talk, etc...and I'm pretty sure he has no circulatory systems, nerve fibers, etc. I'm just sayin.

I have my anatomy midterm Monday afternoon, then Biochem + Ab Psych Thursday, then Physio Friday.

I'm fairly comfortable with Ab psych, seeing as I am a sociopath/psychopath (thanks to Mendoza, Babycakes, and Jersey for pointing that out). Apparently, I have psychopathic tendencies, which explains my inabilities to be "human" and have "human emotions." Whatevs.

Biochem is scaring the living daylights out of me, but no time to worry about that right now. More on anatomy than anything. Other than the multitude of things I have to know, I also have to know multiple skeletal components, as well as 68 muscles, their functions (trust me, they suck), and the nerves that innervate them. I've spent the past 3 days on this, and have yet to get anywhere close of finishing. I hope to finish by tonight, so I can at least sleep a little, so I can be lucid enough to start studying for physio/biochem in the remaining few days.

Few people have emailed asking for pictures, and I wanted to keep this somewhat anonymous, but I guess it's a little difficult with pics...and seeing as most of you guys know who I am...here you are:

Waiting for muscle lab:

After suture lab:

Suture Lab...I kicked ass on that sponge

Before we headed out. notice the black/blue theme