The next few days after arrival. January 2015

January 15 2015

Wow. 

These last few days have been like none other-and classes have not even begun. It is the anticipation that I am feeling for them to begin that makes me struggle with creating a balance of feeling at peace with everything while acknowledging the reality of the challenge that is fast approaching…

I cannot even remember all the details from the past few days-however I am fully aware that at some point over the past 36 hours-a big change occurred- a good change which I will attempt to convey to you. 

From the moment I stepped on the island from the airplane-I felt like I was on a movie set-this place is unlike anywhere I have ever been and It is beyond what any picture is able to convey-and I have taken hundreds since arriving just trying to capture the numerous beautiful moments of each day. I am amazed that I get to study here.

Three days ago, I went on a few tours of the campus, surrounding area and then the island as
provided by the school. The island tour was a 4 hour experience of pure joy for me. We traveled in a packed bus throughout the curving and steep hills of this paradise. One of the first things all the students spoke of was how CRAZY the driving is in Grenada. I am seriously wondering what the MVA stats are for this country because I feel like even taking a seat in the car is taking a huge risk. The roads are extremely narrow and the drivers drive extremely fast. This combined with wet, foggy conditions made for a thrilling time. It is almost as thrilling as the Jurassic park ride at Universal studios. They say that if you can drive here-you can drive anywhere and I would not argue with this logic. My family and friends have seen me drive my little 71’ VW bug around at home and always scorn me for zipping around the way I do…well friends-you can no longer complain about my driving!  I thought I was going to die when me and another student took the taxi from the airport. We zoomed down the road at a remarkable speed and swerved in and out of the lane-coming within inches of people and other cars. This is not an exaggeration!

During the tour, we climbed into the mountain areas to view a national rainforest, a bottomless lake that is the product of a volcanic eruption, a very social monkey named Jack (affiliated with Pirates of the Caribbean), ate “oil down” (local Grenadian food), nutmeg ice cream and a delicious coffee drink, went to see the hospital where we will eventually do rotations, the hotel where meals, a view like no other, health care and TV are all free (the local prison) and my all time favorite….ETANG waterfall. Just typing that gives me goose bumps! Wow. What an extraordinary place. It was raining hard as we walked along the path to the falls but this added to the thrill of the beauty and heightened the sense of adventure. The tour guides advised us to jump into the falls and at first, only two guys agreed to jump. Then a few more decided to jump and then I decided to jump!! I wish I could replay that moment over and over-because that was when the change occurred. That was when I think I let go  of my presumptions of this island and the schooling and the challenges-and just knew that this was going to be good-I needed that moment of release and I am really looking forward to going back sometime during the term when I need to really clear my head. 

I do not know yet how medical school will go-I am hoping for the best and have this rookie sense of confidence, optimism and determination that is playing in my mind... However, what I imagine medical school to be like is similar to the feeling I had upon jumping into that waterfall. As I approached the edge, my heart raced faster and I grew more anxious as the fear grew inside me while looking at that somewhat large leap. Yet-there is also this strong desire to jump to the beauty below. As the days approach for classes to begin and as I attend the orientation sessions, talk to upper term students and continue learning more about what I am about to embark on, there is this combination of both fear and excitement. It is similar to walking toward the edge of the water fall cliff and looking down-I have this growing curiosity and even though it will undoubtedly be un-nerving- I feel like school is just like that moment when I decided to step off the cliff, the fall into the water below is thrilling and scary but the landing does not hurt-it is so worth it! I am hoping that this will be the case with medical school! 

I am now very curious as to how I will feel once the term is underway-but that is the beauty of documenting this and seeing that change and my response. I have this prediction of the experience and I am about to begin the experimentation portion of the process. Please pray for this! 

After my initial jump from the waterfall-I jumped repeatedly until we had to leave. I was completely soaked in my clothes but was all smiles the remainder of the day. 

I have met a variety of very interesting people. The most amazing thing about SGU is the diversity. This is the place to be if you want to get to meet someone from Iran, Korea, Africa, Canada, India, US, South america, other carib islands, London and so on and so forth within a matter of minutes. This is what appeals to me so much and this is the type of community I want to live in. The international experience is something I have been missing and craving for many years-and as much as I love Oregon and Florida (the places where I have spent the majority of my years) I have yet to experience this type of cultural beauty. And the best part-we all love medicine!! 

It is a sifting process-meeting people and forming relationships. Not everyone I meet will turn into an amazing interaction and connection-but that is ok because each interaction is significant in some way-however small it may be. Each person leaves an impression on someone and whether we are aware of it or not-they do leave an impact that can be positive, negative or a mixture of both. I am always amazed at how my day ends compared to how it begins-every morning that I have woken up here-which has only been a total of 4, feels completely different from the day before. I meet someone that I can laugh with, someone I feel I can study with and someone I can swim with, someone to shop with, someone to walk with, someone to dance with, someone to share a plate of food and good conversation with, etc. I am very curious as to how the people that enter this season of my life will affect it-and how I will affect them. The lord has always blessed me with the most amazing friends when having traveled to different places and during my studies-so I simply know and trust He will provide here. Good things take time-I am convinced of this-and have experienced it over and over-so even though it may be tough to wait for-the beautiful friendships that I want are out there on the horizon. 

Speaking of horizons…I stumbled upon the most amazing sunset of my life the other night. I went to meet someone at the “cliff”-the famously photographed place of the university near the southern most edge of the island. I had been waiting in the grass and talking with another upper term student when he advised that I check out the nearby trail for a killer sunset view. So as the sun was setting, I walked to the edge and saw a miracle-I really cannot describe it any other way. It was incredible. The sun was melting into the pure blue water. There were some Grenadian fisherman on the outmost rocks and me and some students spotted crabs with each new wave cycle that crashed onto the rocks below. I stood there and every thought I had dissolved immediately. It was very calming and now I  know where I can find this type of peace when the work starts heating up. 

I walked back from the trail and ended the evening having a nice discussion with an upper term student who is heavily involved in the emergency club. While sitting there, his 5th term friend joined us, gave me some advise for school and shared his insights, then proceeded to play classical piano in the dimly lit terrace for our enjoyment. Does this even sound real? I know, it doesn’t, but it is. :-) 

The next day-I went to the grocery store with my roommate-this was quite the outing!! I took the bus with her and spent an unfortunately large amount of money on an equally unfortunate little amount of food. That is life here-incredibly expensive-then again I can be incredibly cheap. We then went out for pizza and got to know each other more. I really enjoy her! She has been a great roommate so far and we live together really well. I am curious as to how things will go when our last roommate arrives considering we have a good thing going. 

The following day, I met up with that friend-Roy-who is very social as described before-and had lunch with him and his friends. I enjoyed their company and felt like I was with a group of older brothers. (I do miss my brother and got to see him for only 15 seconds when he answered my Facetime upon pulling into the ER at home-he was on shift but at least answered my call to say hello.) We then went to Grand Anse beach-which was my first time. It was gorgeous even though it was cloudy. The clouds and darkness added to the dynamic feeling of being there. Only Roy and I swam but we had a lot of fun and had a hand stand contest :). 

We then went grocery shopping and I was completely soaked. I feel as though I spend a good majority of time here completely soaked….

On a side note-I finally bought an umbrella- fortunately it is very large-however, unfortunately it is every color of the rainbow-but it was the only one the store had and I desperately needed to decrease the time I spend each day being wet from head to toe. Everyone must have bought the cool, mono colored umbrellas. Oh well-it does its job. 

Then came yesterday-the start of orientation! 

With the exception of learning about the school and their policies-there was nothing too notable. I will share the most interesting piece of information I learned: having any trace of marijuana on you will cost you 250-500K and place you in prison for 2 years. You can imagine what the consequences for other illicit drugs will result in… Swearing in public will do the same-I think the fine was slightly less and the prison time is only 2 months. 

I like those rules.

After orientation, me, my roommate and a few others went to Grand Anse beach… we had approximately 20 minutes of sunshine before it began to set. This was another one of those miraculous  evening views. Wadding in the blue water and looking out to the volcanic hills sprinkled with lights looked unreal while watching the large cruise ship sail away. While swimming, I got to practice my Spanish for the first time since arriving! That made me feel like I was back home with mis amigos and amigas! Que bueno!

I then came back “home” and had a nice evening talking with my roommate and sharing some dinner. We had walked off campus to a restaurant and I got my new favorite- nutmeg ice cream. Although I had showered, I had made a cloud of bug repellant around my entire body to avoid mosquito bites-I was bitten yesterday and would really like to avoid starting the term with contracting chikngunya… pray for health and protection. 

Today, was another day of orientation-better in my opinion because we learned about the special group I have been placed in-AEP. I will get extra tutoring and guaranteed this on a weekly basis. I chose biochemistry for the subject that I think will be most difficult. It was either this or anatomy-I am sure both will be challenging but I have my reasons. I am hoping that this group will really be helpful and effective. 

We also learned about loans-I have never taken out a loan nor been in debt and that changed within a matter of seconds last month when I accepted close to $40,000 for just this term. It does not even feel real-that  remarkable amount of money. 

The club fair was after that financial session and I signed up for emergency club (learn to read EKGs, intubate, start IVs along with other emergent/first responder duties). I am SO looking forward to this! I loved working in the ER over the past few years and feel like I am in my element. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to that. 

I also signed up for the surgery club, radiology club and international students club. I hope I am able to lead a balanced schedule that will allow me to be involved with the clubs and do exceedingly well in my classes. I often question/complain why there are only 24 hours in each day when there is so much I want to do. I then walked to the dock and enjoyed looking at the dark water and far off lights on boats and the surrounding island. 

I then ate dinner with some new friends-one of whom is from Colombia and wants to be a trauma surgeon-for some reason I can foresee a good friendship here :) We practiced Spanish all day-which was awesome because she corrected me a lot and helped me in my speaking. Tonight, I laughed the hardest I have laughed in a long time while eating dinner with her, her roommate and their funny guy friend. We ate chicken shwarma and sat outside and enjoyed a breeze while flags of bob marley waved in the wind. The music playing was great (mix of reggaton and Caribbean) and made me and my new Colombian friend want to dance-but we only swayed. 

And now I sit here and as I write out my memories and thoughts-they prompt hundreds of new memories that I have made over the past several days. I left Oregon one week ago tomorrow-and arrived on the island only 4 days ago, however I feel like I have been here a long time. Things are getting more familiar but still hold that amazement and beauty that they did when I first got here. 

Looking forward to the days ahead. Even though things are going to change drastically-It will be like that water fall experience- I am inching my way closer to the leap-but just know that it will be good. 

Lastly, the idea of “patience” has been something I have pondered a lot over the past few days. Patience in terms of starting this term, patience in terms of forming valuable friendships and patience in terms of trusting that God knows exactly what He is doing. 

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

Ps. As the fun and craziness increases, the pictures decrease. I can’t miss those moments! It is like that scene in the Walter Middy movie-even though the object of the photo is in clear view, the photographer chooses to not spoil the moment by looking through his camera lens. Sometimes, you just need to be capture the moment with your eyes as a non-digital memory. 

-M.H-

First year medical student -who is waiting with anticipation as the storm approaches.