I can see the beach from here...

So, after a productive day and a very apathetic week I am feeling hopeful again. Finals are only two weeks away. Just 27 hours of lecture, 13 hours of small group/lab, three weekends to study for for finals and then I'll be sitting for the exams that mark the end of first term. I have SO much to learn, review and study in the meantime but I also know that I'll be on a plane home four weeks from tomorrow and that thought is sustaining me. I can study, I like to study, I can drink coffee, I can do without 8 hours of sleep a night. I can and I will. This is my mantra. I will post again when finals are over and I'm enjoying the island of Grenada as a normal person and not a student. Until then I will study.... Only 21 days and I can wake up and go to the beach without BRS!

I kind of like it here

Now, don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to my last real summer vacation. Who knows when or how old I'll be before I have over two months of personal time to work, travel and lounge at my discretion again. And of course I do miss certain things and people from home. I am looking forward to going home, but I am not dreading coming back in August either.

The thing is, I like Grenada and I think I'm getting a good medical education at SGU. I like my classmates, I've made some amazing friends. Sure medical school is a lot of work, but I think this setting makes it easier to work. There are few distractions that are not self created and people here work hard. Of course there will always be those that work harder or play harder than you but for the most part my classmates want to be here and we are all doing our best to do well. 

I have not been counting down the days because I really don't have anything to count down to. Sure ordering a drink from Starbucks, seeing my husband, going to the playground with my nieces, walking around a modern hospital, reading The New Yorker on the Monday it comes out, all of that will be nice. But last night I went out to dinner with a few of my favorite island people and we celebrated a Birthday, a published paper, a summer travel internship and being a month away from completing first term, and that was nice too...

I could write about everything I miss from home and the States, but the thing is, I am starting to think of Grenada as my second home and I'm going to miss my friends from here and the amazing view of the water and the Island time lifestyle over the summer. I recognize that this is not the place for everyone, but as for me I'm okay with being a SGU student in Grenada, 'cause, I kind of like it here! 

quiet spots

The last few days have been filled with quiet, a very good quiet.

Thursday after class I headed to Carriacou with two of my favorite people. A nauseating, rainy, windy and very crowded 2 hour + ferry ride later we arrived to find that everything was closing. Dinner was beer and bread but we were on vacay so no complaints. The next day being Good Friday meant that all shops and such were closed so it gave us plenty of time to catch up on anatomy and biochem. And we even made it to the beach despite the rain shower and scary dogs. Afterwards more studying was had. It was just nice to be somewhere different even if we were doing the same things (studying, eating, sleeping, watching a movie on a computer). Saturday was a bit more eventful with a proper british breakfast at the cutest little house/restaurant, Lyme and Dine followed by a walk through the main town of Hillsborough. It was time to come back to Grenada but not everyone was ready to leave so we found a place for "but I'm not ready to go back to Grenada" girl to stay and said our goodbyes. The ferry ride back was peaceful. The weekend proceeded without much to note, it seems many students went away and campus seemed deserted, it was a change to walk around and not see 1/2 the class between the anatomy lab and the student center. I love my class but Grenada is kind of small and our class is large so you are bound to run into someone no matter where you go. Grocery store, coffee shop, far side of the island, it doesn't seem to matter.... so for a day it was refreshing to only see a total of 2 people during the walk from my apartment to the anatomy lab. 

Today I decided to go for a run and found a desolate spot with a view of campus on one side and the airport on the other. (See picture above.) After sitting and reflecting for awhile I was ready to study again. I think I needed this weekend. Finals will be here in just over a month and there is so much to learn and review in that time. Now I'm sure that before I know it, I'll be home for the summer and first term will seem a distant memory... but in the meantime I've found my quiet spot to run to when I need a study break or feel homesick or just want to sit and appreciate the place I'm in. And next Easter I've got a whole quiet island to visit again...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

...blue birds fly? Maybe but not in Grenada. Instead we've got cows, geckos and toads!

You never know what you might see walking home. In the past two months I've seen all three.

The cows like to roam around campus and have often been cited across from Mocha Jumby or by an unsuspecting student out for an evening jog. The seems to graze at dusk (the three times I've seen them at least), I have no idea where they are during the day, but I like to think they are the SGU cows. 

The gecko I saw just this past week on my way home from class, I thought he was kind of cute.

The toad greeted me tonight. At first I thought someone put a rock in front of my door and I was about to kick it when I realized that it was alive! I thought I would scare him off or squish him when I opened the door, but no, he just looked at me.  Hopefully he hops away by morning. Else I may have to keep him for a pet. 

Oh, and the rainbow? That is the 2nd one I've seen since arriving. The first one was the day of the white coat ceremony. And now that the semester is half way over I looked out my window and saw this one. I think its a sign. While Grenada may not have blue birds we've got rainbows and critters and cows and our skies are blue and I think dreams do dare come true...