It's been an interesting ride

Okay, so I finally started medical school this week and today marks my 10th day here in Grenada. So far, I feel that I have adjusted well to the island life (except for the copious amount of sweating). Needless to say, I was a little nervous coming here. See, I have so far lived a life that rarely required me to travel outside my comfort zone and even if I did have to travel outside that zone it was for a brief preiod of time which I block out later.

But coming here was a big decision for me and so far, it seems that I have made the right decision. I haven't run into any of the problems that I was worried about....yet. My luggage was safe and sound (albeit broken handle on one of my bags), customs didn't do any cavity searches (yayyy!) and my roommate and living quarters are decent enough. I still don't know why the hell they call it a "Double kitchenette"...there's nothing double in the damn kitchen...let's see...one microwave (that doesn't turn), one refrigerator, one stove, one sink....yup, nothing double all right. But the plus side of the dorm room is the room is very cool (temperature-wise) and the internet works. So, those little things makes the loss of personal space bearable.

Now, let's talk about the classes. Anatomy seems interesting...but the course companion or compendium sucks enormous balls. It's seems disorganized and all over the place. We so far had Dr. B lecturing. He did a good enough job but the compendium again creates some problems. I don't expect to be have the instructors hold my hand but a little clarity is not too much to ask for. Biochem has been a blast from the past with all the lectures about macromolecules. The instructors are nice and they really want you to focus on understaning the concept rather than memorize details...i.e. structures of AA's and stuff. They also tell you during the lecture what they want you to know vs. what you don't need to give a flying freak about. Next, is Histology...which is my kryptonite. Out of all the subjects I have dreaded, this is at the top of the list. But my fears have been allayed...Dr. P. is a kick ass lecturer and the compendium is the histology bible to me. Anatomy department should get a three day lecture from Dr. P. and the Histology Department about how to write a course compendium properly. I took medical histo in Georgetown and I gotta say the SGU Histo blows them out of the water. I actually learned what a basement membrane and its functions....I went through 3 months of Histo at Georgetown trying to figure that out. And finally, last but not least....the Bioethics class....Zzzzzz. It's necessary but is also very boring and seems to cut into study or R&R time. I still went to all the lectures since I have a tendency to creat a slippery slope once I start to ditch lectures.

And finally, the locals here are very nice. I met quite a few of them at the Bazzar and of course they handle a lot of the administrative aspects of the whole enrollment and registration process. I am still new so I am not going to say that everything is sugar and spice and everything nice. But so far so good. I was polite and they returned the favor.

So, all in all not a bad week. I am anti-social so I don't really know a lot of people yet. Hopefully, I can alleviate this condition.