First Week of Classes Down

So, my first week of classes are officially over!  What have I learned?  Nothing.  Or at least that's what I think I've learned.  So remember that ant problem I mentioned.  Yea, I came home from school on Wednesday on the 5:00 pm  bus and they were everywhere.  I have never seen ants that just crawl around for no apparent reason.  It was absolutely disgusting.  I can't do this and it is a sign to me as filth.  In case you're wondering.  Yes I did clean up.  I did not leave dishes in the sink or food on the counter.  I had actually put all of the clean dishes inside the refrigerator to prevent ants from getting on clean dishes.  I know.  It's a shame.

Well, when I stayed at school the other night, I was "studying" with this guy that ended up being my roommate.  Well you know how I stated that I was kind of lonely and bored all the time well, now I'm not.  I moved in with another man.  Yes, I know you're thinking, "I thought this girl said she had a boyfriend?"  I do.  I still do.  He was not for it but after coming home that Wednesday and Thursday afternoon to filth, I had to do it.  I have never lived in such conditions and I wasn't going to start.

So this is not my recommended way of vacating an apartment and I don't suggest the method that I took but this is what I did.  I told my landlord on that Thursday that the ant problem was becoming ridiculous and that I was going to move.  He then stated that he was going to take my rent and deposit.  I paid this guy with a $1000 check.  I'm going to just let that marinate.

That $1000 consisted of a security deposit and first month's rent.  If I stay until Saturday, I would have only lived there two weeks.  At the most, I feel like I owe him half a month's rent which could be covered by the deposit I paid for the electric company and filling the gas tank for the stove.  In case you're wondering, I cancelled the check.  I know it was wrong but I wasn't going to let this man walk over me.  I understand as saints we are to turn the other cheek but being that I have asked him repeatedly to do things for me and they were not done, I don't feel obligated to do so.  So, I cleaned the apartment so that it's presentation was better than it was given to me and had my new landlord pick me up.

Beach at the Forest Bay, Anguilla

So far she seems very nice.  I will say that my new place is much bigger although I share it with 3 other people right now.  It has a 5 minute walk from the beach and an unforgettable view.  I picked the master bedroom in this 5 bedroom house.  And yes I picked it because of the king sized bed.  I have one at home and it's what I'm used to.  So I started unpacking on Saturday after moving in and attempted to study but I got the best sleep in my new bed because I wasn't paranoid of bugs crawly on my things.  The best part was the view.

Well, that dream was shortened when one of my room mates came home and said I moved into his room.  So I moved down the stairs next to the kitchen which is still not that bad because I still have a killer view.
And I still get a king sized bed.  My room is a little bit smaller.  I only gave it up without a fight because it is his last semester and I didn't feel like fighting at 7 at night.  So currently, I am straightening up and trying to place all of my belongings while studying for school this week.  One thing is going to have to give.  Ugh.....

Well, this week is all about sustain and maintain.  I'm sure with God, that this is not impossible.  Again, I thank my classmate for opening up and letting me know of this place so that I can study in peace.
If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.

Leviticus 25:35, ESV

My First Day of Medical School

So, let's just say that today was absolutely CRAZY!  Ummm, so first of all, I am asking the question, "what in the hell have I gotten myself into?"  According to a friend in his second semester of medical school in the states, this is normal.  So at this point, I don't know what normal is.  It's only my first day, right?

Well, today I had 4 classes.  A way to say welcome to medical school right?  I know. You don't have to tell me.  We started classes promptly at 8 am.  We started the day with Anatomy.  I can tell already that I am not going to be very fond of this class.  From what I've heard from many upper classmen is that it requires a lot of memorization.  At the same time, it would be difficult to memorize EVERYthing in the human body right?  I am just going to take this class one day at a time and see where it gets me.

My next class at 10 am was histology.  Well, it seems our teacher took it kind of easy on us today because we were talking about cell biology which is mostly what I learned in my advanced course in undergrad.  I know it will get harder than this but it was a nice relief after Anatomy for certain.  Plus today we didn't even touch the PowerPoint our teacher prepared.  We went over "Chatology."  Yes, we literally talked for about an hour and our teacher let us go.  I'm glad he gave us a "break" but we still had the rest of the day to go.

So before the next class began, we had our lunch time.  I had brought my lunch from home but I thought that I should try out the food from the food truck behind the school.  I ordered the Curry Chicken and my, my, my, it was delicious!  I cannot complain about it not one bit!  Plus I started making more friends and learning more and more about my classmates.  I only have 25 in my class including myself.  That is a great relief because it won't be hard to find classmates to study with.

So at 1 pm, we had embryology.  I think that should be the only sentence I write although I'm sure you are curious to know what happened.  So, ummm, it was not like I expected.  The teacher came in and went through 35 slides of information that I did NOT expect to learn during my first day of medical school.  It was great to know where babies come from but I didn't expect to learn that fast.  

After embryology, we didn't have any more classes for the day because it was a Tuesday.  Some students went home while others stayed to start studying.  I stayed to start "studying" as well.  Now, I will say that I have never studied for any class or subject in over 3 years and it is difficult trying to figure out how to do that.  So currently I am in the student lounge typing this rather than looking over the information that was gone over in my classes shows just how much I am doing what I am supposed to do in medical school.  

There is a bus for the students that takes them home at 3, 5, and 10 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays which is what I waiting for.  I don't plan on purchasing a car because I don't have the money to do so and I don't think it is a very smart investment.  So wait and study it is.  Maybe I can do this everyday....

Now that the first hurdle is complete (day one), it is on to see what the rest of the semester brings.  Pray for me that this semester doesn't break me like I think it will.

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Luke 17:6, NIV

My Last Day Before School

So today we had orientation at school.  I am so glad that I met one of my classmates at Shoal Bay yesterday.  So let me back up a day.

Yesterday, someone posted in our group about meeting as a class at Shoal Bay so we could all meet each other.  It sounds like a good idea until you really think about it.  People who have never met and don't even know what they look like plan to meet at a beach and talk about our futures?  Yep.  But it actually happened.

Shoal Bay

One of my classmates actually lives down the street from me.  We were planning to walk together but that didn't exactly happen.  She left well before I did and I was walking pretty slow.  I will say that that 3 miles of walking in the heat of the day was probably not the brightest idea I've ever had.  When I got to the beach, a local typed in the WiFi code so that I could message my classmates and talk with my family and show them what I was able to see.  It is beyond beautiful and more than I can take in.  So I started messaging my classmate to discover that I was sitting right behind her.  Get that?  She was very sweet and she wanted to know about our other classmates.  I had met a few already but I didn't know all of them.  But something is better than nothing right?

Turns out that the idea of telling people to meet at the beach did work because it was about 10 of us in all that actually showed.

Me at Shoal Bay
getting some color

 It felt really good to meet some classmates and know that there were some like me.  Some people had taken time off from school, like I have and we have a few that are coming straight from school.  Overall,  I think we had a really good meet and greet.  So about the girl who lives down the street from me, she gave me a ride to orientation the next day.  God is so good!

So orientation.  We arrived on time but of all things to forget, I forgot to bring a pen.  Who does that?  It only looked like there were about 20 students but there were parents and other spectators there so I am unsure.  All of the teachers sat across the front of the room.  I don't know but I was there listening to the Deans speak and asking okay, this is what I really want to do right?  The teachers introduced themselves and then we had a teacher that was a local give some history about the island.  Plus admissions had told us on our last webinar that it would be like some sort of party.  I beg to differ.  We had a guy playing guitar that was the Calypso King.  Calypso is the form of music they play here and I wish I had recorded it but didn't realize it until halfway through.  He was really good and it was a very warm welcome.

We had some upperclassmen show us around the school.  It isn't very big but it is built abnormally to my norm.  I was expecting a single building with air conditioning in the hallways.  Well, the classroom isn't located in an area like that.  All the rooms in this section of the school have doors that go to the outside.  They call our classroom the "dungeon" because it is so dark which doesn't sound like I will like it too much.

So they told us that they were going to have refreshments after the orientation.  I wish I had taken a picture of the gloriousness they had for us.  It really consisted of a bunch of snacks and juices.  Not what I thought it was going to be at all.

I did remember that I had a package delivered to the school that I needed to pick up from the receptionist.  I retrieved it and it just so happened to be my diploma from Walden University for my certificate in Project Management I just obtained and my books for my upcoming program.  It was a nice surprise especially being that my diploma of all things was shipped here instead of my address in the states but oh well.

Lastly, they had a bus tour that was going to show people around the island but being that I didn't know if they were going to drop me off at my house, I opted to ride with the person I came with.  Orientation started at 10 am and I got home around 1 pm if that says anything.  So for the rest of the day, I have just been cleaning my house and trying to fix something to eat.  This apartment is really large but kind of lonely.  I did think that having a 2 bedroom apartment would be fun but it is really not starting to sound like it.  I think I want a roommate but on the other hand, I am kind of embarrassed of this ant problem I have in the kitchen.  I'm going to talk to the landlord to get this cleared up.

Well, the time is here to finally start on this unknown path.  The only wisdom I can conclude for now is:

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Ecclesiastes 11:5, NLT

My First Week Exploring Anguilla and St. Martin

Well, when I left off last, I was just getting to the island and I had not eaten a complete meal since Friday.  Well on Monday, that all changed.  I finally ate something.  But how?

Mosquito Problem in
St. Martin sign

Well I got on Facebook and communicated with some of my fellow classmates to see who was on the island and their experience thus far.  I came in contact with one of my peers who still had her mom in town.  They came and picked me up so that we could go to Shoal Bay.  I had not seen the beaches in Anguilla yet so I was very excited to go.  The beach was beautiful.  We ate at the restaurant called the Madearimen and they had really good tasting food.  Although we were at the beach, we didn’t swim at the beach.  We concluded the evening by going to the grocery store called Best Buy and swam back at the hotel, the Royal Palms.

The next day, we went to St. Martin to explore the island before her mom had to go back home.  We took the public ferry which cost $20 one way.  One of the first things I happen to see as I stepped off the ferry was a sign about the mosquitoes. 
 It was odd but I went through and had my passport stamped like you’re supposed to.  We shopped around at the vendors on the street and even went inside a pharmacy but didn’t get any bug repellent.

SXM Airport

That night for dinner we went to the infamous beach where you can see the jet blasting fanatics.  During dinner we were able to see a plane land and take off.  After eating, we took a walk on the beach to feel some waves.  And take a few pictures!  It was beautiful.

Before calling it a night, my classmate and I got to know each other a little better by the pool. While sitting at the pool, I was bitten by mosquitoes numerous times and decided then to get a 100% citronella bracelet the next day.  Just knowing each other's goals for attending medical school in the Caribbean made us a little bit closer.  The next day, we needed to return the rental car so we went back to Marigot.  We went to a pharmacy and the first thing I looked at was a 100% citronella bracelet.  While there, we went to a bakery called Sarafina's and they had delicious pastries to choose from.  I tried a chocolate macaroon for the first time in my life and it was absolutely delicious.

After taxing back to the hotel, we called it a night by taking a swim at the pool.  The next morning we wished her mother well on her flight back to the United States.  We got up later on and taxied back to the ferry to come back "home" to Anguilla.  We taxied back to our apartments and went with some other students to Shoal Bay.  After this fun filled day, I slept wonderfully.

Ferry to Anguilla

For the rest of the week, I chatted with students in the Facebook group that we made and waited until orientation on Monday.  While chatting, I went to Shoal Bay a last time the day before orientation.  I think my skin has transitioned about five shades darker.  I am just ready to start my journey already!!!

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

-Ephesians 4:2, NIV