Party

This morning I had to wake up before I wanted to. Well, I almost always have to wake up before I want to. I am quite capable of doing some serious sleeping.. I could easily sleep past noon even if I went to bed early the night before. Dunno if this is a good thing, but yeah. It's kind of a paradox because I like sleeping late, but I don't like losing the day to sleep. I like utilizing the day time for stuff.. so yeah, it's not exactly a win-win situtaion. But I deal, because I just take it as part of life and living. You choose what you want to do, even if you don't really always want to do it. If that makes sense at all... Anyway, I woke early to return an overnight loan book I checked out for a class. Then I rechecked it out on a 4 hour loan and studied some before taking a mini-power nap.

I went over to Paul and Kate's place and hung out there for the rest of the day til about 6. Found out what my MAC address was and was able to use thier wireless service. That was neat. Kate found a simple recipe for some bisquits and made bisquits. They turned out looking somewhat like sugar cookies, but they tasted great and much like you'd expect a bisquit to. So yeah, we basically chilled for most of the time I was there. Paul came back from school and we just did more internet stuff. You know, just stuff... I seemed to be making some progress with Lady. I was able to play a bit with her and she didn't quite skitter everytime she was by me, so that was neat. I could make a journal or blog just chronicalling my progress with her. If only she could understand me, then one day I would be able to tell her how we met and how she used to be so fightened, but now was (hopefully) cool with me.

I left for the bus around 5:57-6:00. The bus left campus at 5;55 and usually takes about 10 minutes to get to the stop where I get off to go to Paul and Kate's. Since I was really kind of pushing it with the clock I powerwalked and attempted to almost run up a very very steep incline in the road leading to their place. Well, I arrived at the bus stop at about 6:06pm, and after waiting for a while I asked a couple of kids who were hanging out at the corner whether the bus had passed by. And of course it had "just" gone by. Great. So I hiked it back to Paul and Kate's to ask them when the next bus would come by. I, unthinkingly, didn't really make any effort to make my approach known, and when I arrived at thier door step, seeing Kate, I said, "psst!" My abrupt and unexpected appearance and unconventional greeting had the unfortunate consequence of scaring Kate. I will be sure next time to shout my "Hello" from a far, so they can prepare for my arrival. Heh. that almost sounds... I dunno, poshy. Bleh. Well, I don't mean it that way. Whatever.

So I hiked back to the bus stop to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus to arrive. I was getting eatten alive at that time by a swarm of mosquitoes I had unwittingly been standing in. When I walked away from the spot I was standing and looked back, I could see them furiously flying around in the proverbial, black cloud. I waited... and waited... the bus should have been there at 6:40, but 6:40 came and passed... Then a small red bus came whizing by and someone shouted, "bus!" I was like, yes! and rushed to get on. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that it didn't have a white SGU seal on the hood, but instead had a "1" in the upper corner of the windshield, like some of the reggae busses do. I climbed in the van, and off we went. And it was not the usual bus route. I just figured that maybe the school bus had a problem so they recuriuted one of the reggae busses to pick up the slack, I mean, it was red and looked just like the normal school bus that ran that route... but of course, my trying to explain to myself what didn't really make sense was a bad idea. Fortunately, one of the passengers asked me if i was going to St. George's... I of course said yes, but at least had the mind to make sure after a moment that he wasn't talking about the captial.. was he? And of course he was. Oh stink. I had taken the wrong bus and was now headed for somewhere... elsewhere... def not in my desitination. But thankfully, the bus driver was kind enough to drop me off on the side of the road in a well lit, pretty busy turnabout and told me, "school bus will pick you up here." So I got off and began my wait... I saw plenty of red busses go by, but each and everyone had a big number 1 on the windshield teasing me... taunting me... 6:45 came and went... 7:00.. nothing. there was a sheen of sweat on my brow, but not from the heat... I kept telling myself that, surely the next bus to come by would have the SGU seal on the hood.. surely... but no. Then a food vendor I had been standing by asked if I was waiting for the university bus. I said yes, and he told me to walk down a bit further and wait on the sidewalk. So, just being happy to be told to do something by someone who seemed to know more than I did, I walked the few yards to the sidewalk. 5 minutes later, Ta-Da! the bus... Oh the elation and relief that enfused me at that moment. I was able to actually breathe... I mean, okay, during the whole experience, I wasn't every really scared... somewhat anxious and nervous, but not truly frightened. Yet another good learning experience.

When I finally got back to campus, I was afraid that I would be late to Shaheryar's birthday bash, but no, I was actually just in time. I was able to change and the group of us took the bus to Grand Anse where we had reservations at the Le Boulenguire (sp?) They were a coffee/pastry shop that also served pasta and pizza. I ordered a Pesto Pasta with a Ting (grapefruit soda) and settled down for the wait. It ended up being a looong wait. Some people waited almost 45 minutes or more for thier food to come out. But the pasta was good, and the company was fun. It was a good time. Some of the folks picked him up a slice of choclate cake with a huge candle and we all sang Happy Birthday and it was like any birthday party in the Caribbean.

The Boys
(L-R) Bruce, Jon, Shaheryar, Ken, Hashim
(Rear) Robin, Mike, Rom

The Girls (& Shaheryar)
(L-R) Mahsa, Kate, Vanessa, Payal, Shaheryar, Me, Teresa

We got back from the "party" around 12:30 and I went upstairs to write this blog. At 3:00, Mahsa, having come back from The Surge (Surgery Club) party at the Aquarium she had gone to after Shaheryar's party, came by with Shaheryar and seeing me told me that I should go with them to the Black Sand Beach... Yeah, we have a beach right pretty much on campus with black sand. The sand is actually really black. Not the kind of grey look, except when dry and in the sun, but seems to really be black. But anyway, we went to the beach and Shaheryar having a flashlight with him shone the light on the beach... and discovered that we were not alone. There was a couple on the beach... and they apparently thought it was late enough that the beach would be secluded and such so that they could have the privacy they craved for certain intimate playtime . Let's just say they were not happy with us joining them on the beach. I mean, how would you like it if someone shined a maglight at your buck naked body while you were in a compromising position? Well, I was surprised, and somewhat amused... and my curiosity was peaked, I'll admit. I didn't see anything, I'll just tell you up front, but yeah... curiosity... ever a weakness. We hung out for a while, chatted, talked about the couple that was on the other end of the beach who in the mean time had been getting dressed and desperately looking for another way off the beach than the steps that were only about 20 ft from where our little group was laying out. But they were not so fortunate, and attempted to walk by us without giving us so much as a glance. The Walk of Shame. yeah. Shaheryar felt bad so he tried apologizing, but mhmm.. the dude was pissed. Oh well... they should have known better. tsk tsk.

We didn't stay long on the beach. The mosquitoes there were ferocious. Blood-sucking devilish fiends... I returned to my dorm and counted my bites. 13. 13 stink'n mosquito bites.... grrrr... I will have my vengence, in this life or the next!

Free Food

This post has been edited per request :)

Yeah, it doesn't take much to get me at least interested in attending some meeting or other. All you really need to do is mention "free food" in the flyer, and you've got my interest . I know, pathetic. Well, when cash is tight and you've got the time, free food looks good. So this evening, I went to an Ice Cream Social held by the Christian Students Association (CSA). The ice cream was quite good. I had some mint chocolate chip and strawberry something. Topped with chocolate and Three Musketeer Syrups and of course... sprinkles! I haven't had sprinkles on ice cream since I was a kid. It was nice to indulge. Then after that I went to the Asian Pacific Islander Students Association (APISA)'s first general meeting. Where after some brief announcements they served more free food! yay! lol. I actually wasn't very hungry since I had just eaten dinner about an hour prior, but I took a box of it back to my dorm for a later time.

For the CSA thing, all I did was go there, get ice cream, leave, and eat ice cream. I actually listened and stayed for the entirety of the APISA meeting. Their president, one of the biggest, buffest Asians I have ever seen, Mike, got up and made his schpeel (sp?). He just looked like a "muscle-head".. no offense. But yeah, I found out about a volunteer project called Project Vietnam that's in conjunction with a Pediatric Association in Cali (CA). Basically, students can go to Vietnam for a period of time with persons from this association and they can get involved with hands on primary and pediatric care. This I found quite intriguing and signed up for more information. Oh and the food was decently okay. Not quite like Chinese back home, but a decent substitute for the time being.

This afternoon in Substance Abuse class, my prof, who shall not be named, was talking about how he had not yet come to a decision about what he believed in spiritually. He said that he was raised in a very conservative religious home, and was a pastor at the age of 17. But for reasons he did not say, or that I fail to remember, he no longer holds to those beliefs. He now refers to God in prayer (when asked by his mother, who is still very religious, to pray) as "Father, Mother, God." He found it interesting that his mother found this offensive. He said he was intrigued his acknowledging that God may have female attributes would cause someone of the female gender to be so upset. He does though seem to believe the world was created, or at least there was intelligence behind how the world came to be. Then he said that he was open to any of us students who wanted to try and enlighten him more about God and spiritual matters, and asked if any of us would like to come by his office and do so... I had the urge to say something, but remained quite as did the rest of the class. He then asked if we were like him then, not sure yet what we believed spiritually. He asked if there was anyone who... knew what we believed. Here the urge to say something was very strong and in my mind I thought of the story about the student who dared to defy an atheistic university professor and say he was a Christian and believed in God when no one else dared. But somehow, I never did say anything and my professor asked if perhaps none of us just wished to say... I must say, I questioned myself as he returned to the subject at hand and continued to lecture. What was it that kept me from taking a stand? Was it fear? Was it shame or embarrassment? No, I don't think it was the later, because I had just the day before voiced somewhat of my beliefs and how I was named for the grace of God. But fear? I don't know if it was quite that. I think it may have been more of an uncertainty I had that if he were to ask me deep probing questions about my faith I would not have an answer to give, or not one that I felt I could... well defend, even though I stood by it. I feared more my hesitancy, stuttering, and lack of knowledge. This was foolish I know. Part of me was struggling to say something because he needs the truth, while another was saying to me, well, you don't know it well enough to convey it clearly to him. And my silence saddened me, because I had not the confidence or boldness to speak when given such willing and open opportunity. I must needs address these issues in myself...

Pensive

Dude. I took a much need nap this afternoon. Completely zonked out, sprawled across my bed for a solid 2 hours. It was wonderful. But yeah, when I woke and was doing some reading for class, I remembered somewhat of what I had said in my intro to my Substance Abuse class... it brought to mind once again how God has truly been guiding my life to where I am now. I haven't always seen, or probably just haven't paid attention, to how much I am blessed to be alive. Starting from before I was born, when I was just conceived, God's hand was there preserving my life. Throughout my childhood, when I would do crazy, wild things or just events I would be invovled in that could have totally splattered me like a bug on the windshield, I somehow survived. And now, only when I had finally come to the realization that I am not in control of my life, and my life is not my own.. have my eyes truly been opened. I am here at St. George's because God has been so merciful to me to bring me to this point in my life. He has guided, ordained, opened and closed doors so that I could be here. I am so thankful. Words truly cannot express the debt I, and all His children, owe to Him for every breath we take. Sometimes I try to look to what my future may be, and I get all freaked out and worried, but you know, it really isn't in my hands. I am in His hands. I am so happy, just conveying the thoughts I've had into this "concrete" form and putting into words gives me a strange exhaultation. I am so free... Ready to run out and spin like crazy, arms outstretched and just laugh with sheer delight...

New Classes

Yesterday, I started a new class - Principles of Biostats. We had a prof. who was new to the university and somehow my class was able to convience him that the only thing we do on the first day of class are introductions and review the syllabus. So we got out of class 2 hours early. Very cool. Poor guy is so very nice. He was like, "I trust you guys. I hope you're not lying to me." Well, I didn't exactly have any say in the matter. Of course I could have said something and made the class stay.. but.. why?

I went shopping with Kate that afternoon. We stopped at a sandwhich shop by Spiceland Mall for lunch, and it was great food. We got sandwiches, and not only was the food good, but the lady and her husband who ran the shop were really friendly, and it was inexpensive. Wonderful combination. She's really cool and great for putting up with me and allowing me to tag along with her.

Today, I was so exhausted. I stayed up late reading, and woke early to read again. But it was pointless.. the reading I exhausted myself to read didn't even end up to really be on the quiz. so I slept through part of class.. kind of unintentionally. I was already struggling during class, but then when I napped during one of our breaks, I kind of just kept sleeping. Well, when there's only 40-50 students in your class, and the prof walks around, and 10% of your grade depends on participation, it's really not a good thing. Oh well... Better show next time...

Also started another new class today, Substance Abuse and Public Health. Looks as if it promosises to be interesting and very difficult. 30% of my grade is riding on a 50-minute ppt presentation I have to do. We spent the first hour of class doing intros. It was very interesting because it was so much more than just the, "My name is What's In a Name, and I'm from Whereever, and I'm so happy to be here" junk. But it was way more informative. People gave their real full names, all middle/catholic/foreign names as well as sometimes a background of where their family was from ethnically, and the source of thier name. It was faciniating how many people had super-extreme long names or were born in other countries but immigrated to the states in thier early childhood or teen years. I gave my name story, and everyone loved it . It is a unique and poigant story to be sure, more so because it's true...

Oh I made an awesome dinner tonight. I was quite impressed with myself . The food was great. It's one of those once in a long time things, and I have no idea how I did it, but it was a thrill to be sure.

The starfruit here is so cheap! It's great. I bought 4 for less than $1USD. How cool is that. And they've also got.. uh.. no clue what the english name is, but chinese it's called nein-woo. Pink skin in the shape of a pear. Delish. I love being in school here. This is such an experience...

Sunday

well, today was nice. I went over to Paul and Kate's for "church." We watched the webcast of the service at FFPC. The quality of the broadcast is quite good, and the message was really good. It was over Col. 1(or 2):13-14. I found the message encouraging and uplifting.

Afterwards, we had lunch. Kate cooked some chicken marinated with Sun-dried Tomato Dressing which we ate with rice and salad. The food was wonderful. Another very good homestyle meal. Heh. My hope is to be able to do that someday. Still working on that...

We watched Legend of Zorro this afternoon. It was good, even the second time around. Paul just recently got into the whole BT thing, so it was cool. I don't know why, but I'm always so thrilled and excited when my friends find something good that they like that I've been doing as well... it just makes me happy knowing that they're "getting the good stuff" as well. I know I'm weird...

I think Lady, their dog, is finally (heh. I say finally, even though I've only been over twice now) slowly adjusting to my presence. She let me pet her and even play nibbled on my hands some today. I was able to really pet her and even got her to do the "thumper" move when you hit a sweet spot . That made me happy as well... Again, okay, so I'm weird... I take joy in the simple pleasures of life.

I had a good convo with Paul while I was waiting for the bus to take me back to campus. He offered some good tips on communication between a guy and a girl. Girls when a guy asks us what we want to do, or where we want to go, etc. and you really have a preference, do the guy a favor and just tell him. He may or may not choose according to your pref, but he does want to know usually. He may pick your pref because he wants to and he feels that his pref, even if different from yours, isn't that big of a deal in that matter. If you really don't care, tell him that, and don't complain or anything when he ends up choosing something you don't want to do, because you said you didn't care . here's another. if we have a problem with something, or have an issue on our minds the guy, if he really cares, usually wants to know how he can fix the problem or make you feel better. So if all you want is for him to just listen to you so you can vent, etc, just tell him. Ask him to just listen. If you want him to take an action of some sort, tell him. Tell him that you want him to do "such & such" or that you want him to "fix it." I found this rather clarifying and I'm sure our guys will appreciate us not being so vague all the time .

I've been getting emails from USC's grad school because I applied to their biomedical program for the upcoming fall semester. They've been saying how they think I'd be a great addition to their program, etc, etc. you know, the usual please apply to our program deal. But i just also got an email where they said they want me to visit and they'll pay for my hotel and everything, and that was cool. But here's the thing, and I've given this a lot of thought, while I would love to do my schooling in the states for a number of very good reasons (1. no question of accreditation, 2. cheaper, 3. a lot more convenient than being out of country, 4. closer to family and friends, etc) I've come to realize that I really don't have all the time in the world anymore. It's not like when I was 17, when I felt I had more whole life ahead of me. Now I'm 23 and have come to realize how fleeting time really is. Time is now so much more precious to me than it was before, a lot having to do with some of my future goals. If I didn't care about getting married or having children, the decision would be a lot less difficult. But since I do very much want to have a family, my decisions now will have a large impact on my future and theirs. If I were to choose the program in the states, I will not be guaranteed a spot in their med school which is my primary goal: to become a physician. And even if they could afford me that guarantee, it would add at least another 2 years to my schooling. And I don't know if I can afford those two years. My biological clock is ticking and I don't want to be in the middle of residency when I have my first child (yes, I know I have to get a man first). I don't want to have to end up making a decision between my family and my career. If presented with such a decision, I know my family is first. Always. But God is good and gracious and has brought me this far in my life. I know that I can trust Him. Time is so much more than money. I can always pay back debts and earn money, but I can never get my time back... It's quite sobering if you really think about it. Puts things in perspective. I think it's a def. step in the whole maturity thing, but I've still got a long ways to go. I love my inner wild child, but I know eventually part of her will have to grow up. I look forward to that time with both trepidation and excitement.... what a conflict of emotions...

A Visit to Paul and Kate's

Spent most of this morning asleep, minus the 45 min or so when I ate breakfast with some of the guys. I just went back to bed after. This afternoon and for most of the rest of the day, I spent visiting with Paul and Kate. I took the bus to their place and walked with Kate to their house/apt. It's a very nice neighborhood. The houses, landscaping, environment is all very... nice. heh. it's the only word I can think of right now. I really liked it. Kate said they live in what's considered the "ritzy" part of town, and I can see how that would be. A lot of people seem to have their vacation homes in their neighborhood. They live with a view of a harbor "The Secret Harbor" and it really is quite a tranquil, beautiful view. The steps leading up to their apt reminded me kind of like the rustic steps in Taiwan when I visited, and I love that type of atmosphere and setting. They had a really nice lawn set up as well, it was tiered with short rock.. wall type things separating each tier. I met their dog, Lady, who's a bit shy, but she didn't pee all over the place when she saw me so I guess that's a good thing. Apparently I'm not really a giant of an Asian, so while I still intimidated her, I didn't have the towering, monstrous presence that it takes to trigger an episode .

I had a really good time talking with Paul and Kate, listening to them telling stories of when they were dating (Paul is such a sweetheart and utter romantic. He did pretty much everything right. From what I heard, he was the boyfriend that all girls dream about but never quite believe exists. Kate is definitely a special girl and has been very blessed. They're having a baby! yay! so exciting!), telling stories of school, etc. It was fun. I hope I didn't intrude on too much of their time (I spent almost 8 hours there! yikes!). But it was nice being able to talk to people from back home, and that we actually had something in common and knew the same people and stuff.. it was just a really great time.

I'm going back tomorrow morning and we're going to watch a webcast of the message at Faith Free Presbyterian online together. That'll be nice. Closest thing to church that we have here... I'm so happy that they're here. I think it'd be a lot more... lonely in a sense not having Christian friends here. While I'm sure there are Christians here on campus, it's just a comfort having them here and being able to converse with them about spiritual things as well as other stuff. People with a common ground... not sure if it's coming across clearly, but yeah, I'm just glad they're here.

CPR & a movie

heh. I just pretty much chilled today. Slept in late. That was nice. Kind of just putzed around. Did some reading for class. Went and talked to a couple of my professors and got some things figured out (like what I should focus on in my readings, what's actually covered on in quizzes, etc).

Did a fast track course of CPR this evening. It was pretty much a joke. I mean, I knew all the stuff, and found it a good simple review of everything, but there were people there in the "fast track" who didn't even know what an OPA was or what it was for. I kept thinking and wondering if they had really taken CPR before... and I was like, "there's no way, I'd want you to be the one responding to me if I was in an emergency." People didn't know where to place their hands or how to do compressions.. I mean, it was pretty bad. But yeah, so we don't have to take a written test, and now we just wait for our cards to get printed out and sent back here for us.

One of my friends here, Ken, is sick. It just came on all of a sudden. His throat is sore and he can't really talk. Hopefully he'll be better soon. It's a really bum time to get sick.

I watched Saw II with Jon tonight. It wasn't really scary or what not... more horrific in an actually not that horrific way. There's maybe 2 really gross parts where I just had to shake myself to get the feeling off me. I finished the movie with a really sick, disturbed, and filthy feeling. I'm rather icked about that...

But yeah, tomorrow should be a good day. I'm going to visit Paul and Kate at their apartment in the afternoon.. should be nice. And I'll actually be taking one of the busses off campus on my own. It'll be a good experience I'm sure. About time...

Survey

Can you tell I was really bored...

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:	Grace
Birthday:	Dec 23
Birthplace:	Dallas, TX
Current Location:	Grenada
Eye Color:	Brown
Hair Color:	Black
Height:	5' 5"
Right Handed or Left Handed:	More control with the right, more strength with the left
Your Heritage:	Asian - Chinese
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Gotcha Sandals
Your Weakness:	Bad Boys
Your Fears:	Zombies, Sharks
Your Perfect Pizza:	veggie; everything
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	+3.5 GPA, go diving/surfing
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	heh
Thoughts First Waking Up:	what time is it; ugh.. morning...; where's the snooze; I'm awake?
Your Best Physical Feature:
Your Bedtime:	never
Your Most Missed Memory:	when my mom and I were so close, people mistook us for sisters
Pepsi or Coke:	Pepsi
MacDonalds or Burger King:
Single or Group Dates:	depends
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	nestea
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Vanilla
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Cappuccino
Do you Smoke:	nope
Do you Swear:	Nah, only in very rare and extenuating circumstances; not usually intentionally
Do you Sing:	sure, I try
Do you Shower Daily:	eh
Have you Been in Love:	I believe so
Do you want to go to College:	been there, done that
Do you want to get Married:	please...
Do you belive in yourself:	to a degree
Do you get Motion Sickness:	only rarely from watching a vid game
Do you think you are Attractive:	nah
Are you a Health Freak:	nope
Do you get along with your Parents:	mostly
Do you like Thunderstorms:	absolutely love them
Do you play an Instrument:	did...
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	just a sip on New Years, and a sip of something I thought was Fruit Punch
In the past month have you Smoked:	nope
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	nopes
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	oh yeah, Restaurant O, baby!!!
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	uh-huh
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	no, it's been a while.. a good long whiles
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	I do so wish
In the past month have you been on Stage:	uh... no
In the past month have you been Dumped:	heh. no
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	whoopie! no.
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	no
Ever been Drunk:	no
Ever been called a Tease:	uh... maybe?
Ever been Beaten up:	no
Ever Shoplifted:	no, well, does candy as a kid count if I ate it then?
How do you want to Die:	remembered and making a difference
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	hero
What country would you most like to Visit:	Scotland/Ireland
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	Brown, or really clear turquiose blue
Favourite Hair Color:	Dark
Short or Long Hair:	depends on the guy, but long hair can be super sexy
Height:	5'10 - 6'5
Weight:	160-200?
Best Clothing Style:	relaxed, AE, surfer/punk/prep combo; something he's comfy in, uniquely him
Number of Drugs I have taken:	perscription, plenty; illicit - 0
Number of CDs I own:	actually bought from store CD's? maybe 1
Number of Piercings:	2 - ears
Number of Tattoos:	0, though it'd be cool... I've had my share of temps
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	too many

Random

Your love is...
Your name is...
Your kiss is...	erotic
Your hugs are...	to die for
Your eyes...	twinkle in the moonlight
Your touch is...	awakening my heart
Your smell is...	amazing
Your smile is...	hypnotising
Your love is...	unique

What are you like, when in love?
Your name/nickname...
When in love, you are...	Content
Your love is...	Beautiful
Your kisses are...	Arousing
Your hugs are...	Loving
People love you because...	You're unique

Great Start

Well, last night as I was preparing for the following morning's class, I freaked myself out because I looked at the schedule and it said that there was a quiz in class. Well, I knew there was a quiz, but what I wasn't sure about was if the 50 page handout we had been given was going to be quizzed. I was all thinking "shoot!" and stuff, so I read about 10 pages that night and decided to read the rest, or most of the rest the following morning. So I set my alarm to wake me up at 7:15AM since my class didn't start til 9, I'd have a decent hour and some to read. So I wake up when my alarm goes off, and I'm wide awake and thinking how sunny it is outside and how I don't know why the people here mow their lawns so early, etc, etc... So, I do my reading, even take a nap before my alarm clock tells me it's 8:45, time to head out for class. Well, as I'm walking up the steps to the road, I look at my watch and oh freak! it's 9:50! Somehow the time on my alarm clock had been pushed back an hour. This was definitely not a good way to start out with your first quiz. I pass some friends on my way to class, and they were like, "hey, are you alright? you look kind of sick.." To which I could only reply, "I am" and explained the situation.. Well, they all made sympathetic sounds and gestures, even offering to give me a hug (how very nice :) ) and so I went to class. I was able to make up the quiz without any difficulty to my relief and the quiz was pretty simplistic, so no difficulties. Also the reason for all this mishap, or one of the causes anyhow, turned out to not have had to been a problem. The quiz wasn't over the handout. Go figure.

So yeah, it rained today. The first time since Orientation Week that it's rained. It was nice for a bit, cooled things down, but yeah it does become an inconvenience when walking to the library to print something or check out a textbook becomes a feat of you and your umbrella against the tumultuous tempest. And well, let's just say the victor is clear when you get back, your umbrella a complete joke that does not hold up in the winds and you're soaked.. so yeah, I didn't go to the library. I opted to just do some Pilates, eat dinner, watch a movie, and type up my notes so I could print everything out at once. There's always tomorrow...

Mosquitoes here are quite blood thirsty and some are much larger than the variety I'm used to back home. I usually have to spray myself with repellent every morning before I go out if I wish to go through the day unscathed. However, this morning I forgot, and I can count at least 5 new bites in addition to old ones. These are in such inconvenient locations (neck, thumb, shoulder, chin, etc)...

Still no refund check... and my mailbox is way above reach. I actually tried to reach it today to get a better idea instead of just assuming I needed a chair, and yeah, I have to stand on my "tippy-toes" just to reach the dial. Now just because I'm Asian, doesn't automatically make me short, but even my giant of an Asian self was too short for the task. And I mean, the mere fact that they have a chair for that purpose tells me that I'm not the only one who has difficulties...

My box is the 5th from the top right corner. If you look closely you can see a counter in the bottom right corner of the pic. That comes to about mid-torso, if that helps give you a better idea of how high the boxes go... but yeah, I took the pic right next to the counter, so perspective is another factor because the bottom of the boxes don't start from the top of the counter, obviously.

Here's some pics of the view from campus, courtesy of my friend Ken... very nice, eh? Don't you all wish you were here? Yeah, I know you don't but you have to admit, the view and such is spectacular.


The tiles you see are for roof repairs from hurricane damage.

What to do when you've got nothing to do... sign up for more classes!

Mmm... it was nice to sleep in today. I didn't have class until 5 this evening, so I was able to sleep in a bit. I woke around 9, checked my email, then went back to bed til about 12:30. My roomie came and went during her lunch break and I didn't bother to get up .

But yeah, since I had really nothing to do til class started, I checked my mail for the first time. I love my box number. It's the same box number my mom had back in NJ, so it's really convienant to remember. Also the combination is very similar to that of my box back at BJ. The only thing about it is that my box is pretty much out of reach. I can touch the combination dial, but there's no way I can see the numbers. I have to step on a chair to check my mail.. heh. Well, whatever it takes. I can't wait to get my refund check... That'll def. help with some of the concerns I have with money issues. Even though I know the money isn't tech. "mine," I do have need for it.

I signed up for an alternative medicine class. Basically the only requirement is that you attend 1 class (includes 2 workshops) once a term for 3 terms. I think it's only 1 credit, but it's free and it seems interesting and infomative. I signed up for the Reflextology and Osteopathy workshops, though I wanted to sign up for Accupressure rather than Osteopathy, but that workshop was full. I may try to just slip into the class anyway, but I'm not sure if I'll get credit for it if I don't sign up for it... oh well, guess I'll figure it out when the time comes.

I'm also going to be taking a CPR class this Sat. My CPR cert. expired this past spring/summer (either in March or May) so I'm hoping I can still just take the Fast Track and skip most of the class hours, since it's supposed to take all day.

I'm going to miss these days of not having to do anything. heh. I should use this time to like familiarize myself with the bus routes and how to get to the markets and such... Maybe I'll actually visit the black sand beach sometime during this "free" time. It's right behind campus and supposedly fairly accessible. Man, I've never been much of a beach person... mainly because I haven't had much of a chance to go to the beach, but it's nice here. And not so crowded, a def plus. So yeah... If it weren't for my paranoia of sharks from watching too many movies and reading too many books, I'll prob go all out and see how far I can swim and such.. but alas, I've always got this twinge of nervousness when I go out in the water.

The Studies Begin...

I friggin studied from 1pm to 11pm today!!! (or I guess it'd be yesterday by the time this gets posted). Okay, so it wasn't quite straight through in one entire sitting, because I mean, that'd cause for some serious pressure ulcers. So I mean, I took some time to eat, talk with Mahsa's parent's, checked my email.... etc. Checked out the textbooks for my studies from the library on 4 hour loans, renewed them a couple of times and yeah... dude. Ends up being much cheaper than buying textbooks. One of my classmates bought all of her books from the bookstore and she spent $478 USD on them.. I mean, for real people. It was only 5 books for 10 weeks, but a stinkin almost $500?!!!

Mahsa's parent's are leaving tomorrow. They are so sweet. Her mom cooked dinner for me and Mahsa and it was the best meal I've had on this island. Prob the last "home-style" meal I'll have in a good long while. She said that she thinks of me as a daughter and that when she's there, she wants to do everything she can for us. She's really sad that she'll be leaving her daughter, but she knows she has to. My mom told me that after I was gone, she felt that a part of her heart was missing. That really touched me and made me cry. I love you, Mom and I miss you too...

Orientation Events

Yesterday, we had a convocation where the Deans and important faculty and staff members were introduced to us. To be honest, it was quite boring and the auditorium we were in did not feel air conditioned so it got quite warm. Mahsa and I were slowly sliding down our chairs and ready to just doze off. After the convocation while the regular med students had their orientation and got their white coats for the white coat ceremony, I went to Spiceland Mall and did some grocery shopping. I finally was able to get some laundry detergent and do some much needed laundry. The dorms have 2 washers and dryers on each floor, one for each end of the hall. However, most of the knobs on the machines are missing, so if you want to adjust or change any of the settings, you're pretty much out of luck. I heard that they were stolen or something. I was able to find one set of machines on the third floor that had both their knobs still intact. Must be a recent acquisition by the school or something is my thought. But anyway, after I finished my shopping, I met up with some of the guys and ate lunch at the mini "food court" at Grill Master. Their special of the day was decently priced: BBQ chicken, rice, and vegetable or salad for 12EC (~$5USD).

There was an Orientation Bazzar in front of the Student Center as well. There were a couple of booths selling food, some selling souvenir stuff, one for signing up for student organizations. I signed up for Women in Medicine and Christian Student Association. I'm probably going to sign up for Asian/Pacific Islander Association too. But yeah, I spent way too much money there... oi I always fall for those tourist traps. I should just lock my money up from myself . There was this group of people that did some drum playing and dancing. They recruited people from the crowd and I ended up being one of them. So yeah, I limboed and was even forced to dance! oh my word.. I did.. they formed a large circle of people and everyone had to go one at a time to the middle and do a little dance. and well, I was the last and dragged out there I'm doomed now. heh. it was embarrassing and I blushed like nothing else, but it made me laugh, and apparently made my friends laugh too, so that was cool. I'm sure I looked the complete fool...

Check out this dude's hair!!!! Bob Marley...

That evening a group of about 12 of us got together and played Mafia. It was a blast, like bang, BANG! cool hah! and I met a lot of new people. We ended up having about 6 more people join us who were just passing by and saw us playing. It was kind of amusing because the "mafia" had no plan or no communication and organization when they played, so they didn't do too well with killing off the townsfolk.

I had a Professionalism Workshop this morning at 8am. (Bam, Bam, Bam) Boring. Basically it was the Provost's ppt about what professionalism was and what we should do, etc, etc, etc. ZZZzzzz... Also the faculty for the MPH program were introduced to us, and we met with our advisors for a bit, and that was it. Oh I found out from my advisor that it's illegal to swear in Grenada, and it's also of course against school policy (go figure), so a lot of the people I know are going to have to edit their speech habits with a "Bleep, Bleep!" or what not...yeah.

I was finally able to register, and got my ID card. My pic on the card looks retarded, but that's only to be expected for ID pics... Blech.


I met Paul and Kate for the first time since I got here on the island and went shopping at Spiceland Mall with Kate and another MPH classmate, Vanessa. Oh boy, food and a lot of other stuff are super-duper expensive here. I spent almost $90USD! on almost nothing... I mean, it was freak'n expensive!!! This stuff had better last me the rest of my life! or at least a month... Fresh foods are bad for your wallet... good for your health... so go broke, or die... well, okay, maybe not that extreme, but either way it's going to cause you pain...

I had my first class tonight from 5pm - 8pm. Concepts class. It was pretty straight-forward, also moderately boring. The room gets really cold after 3 hours of A/C. I found out that we were supposed to have read 3 chapters already, though how we were supposed to have known is beyond me. I guess we could have always asked... And the fact that the majority of the class don't even have their books... yeah. that would include me...

St. George's

St. George's, Captial City

Well, I woke up early today after having a pretty late night (went to bed around 3am) and had breakfast with a couple of buds at Grove's Bistro in our student center. Food on campus runs a bit on the high end, but I think I mentioned that... Well, at 10 I went on a school sponsored tour of the capital, St. George's. It was pretty good, though a couple of the others were better. But it was beneficial because we got to see where a lot of the markets were including the Fish Market where fresh fish are brought in daily and the Vegetable Market that runs Monday through Saturday. The Fish Market is less than 500 yards from the ocean, so it's easy to believe how fresh the fish is. My interviewer told me that down here in Grenada, it'd be best to avoid the beef and pork as they aren't USDA certified and checked, chicken is okay depending on where you get it, but the fish is good stuff. Walking by the market reminded me of being in Taiwan with all the scents..

Next, after the Fish Market, we went to a mall. It actually looked like a real mall (similar to the interior of Greenville Mall), only it was definitely geared towards the tourists. All the stores were mostly souvenir shops and it ended in a waiting area for the people waiting to board a cruise ship. There were two cruise ships docked when we went by: the Norwegian Spirit and Ocean Village. We walked by the Vegetable Market. The best day for the freshest goods is Saturday. The Vegetable Market is located at the bottom of a very steep incline that we climbed to get to another road leading to a fort. I may not have mentioned, but Grenada is extremely hilly and there are a lot of steep inclines both for driving and walking. I'm constantly amazed at how people drive here as well. They use beeps for alerting other drivers that they're coming around a curve, and the roads are super narrow, but somehow they still manage to drive with cars going both ways. The taxi drivers have no fear. Oh, and the roads and cars are the British version, everything on the left, rather than the right. But anyway, back to the subject at hand.. yeah, the fort...

Apparently this fort was built around 1983 by the Americans, when there was an uprising or revolt and the Americans came to liberate the Grenadians. The natives love Ronald Regan for delivering them and think that he was the greatest guy ever. But yeah, we also saw a couple churches. If you look closely at some of the pics you'll notice that the roofs are missing. This is some of the residual aftermath of Hurricane Ivan that came through a couple of years ago. From what I heard it was pretty bad here. The last hurricane that came through was maybe 50 years ago, so the current generation was completely unprepared. Students were hiding out in the dorms with bats and mace, while some locals roamed the streets with machetes. Many of the homes have just been completely destroyed. My advisor said that some homes that were close to the ocean were completely uprooted and set back down in the middle of streets. While driving along the roads often you'll see staircases on the exterior of homes leading up to the roof. Those stairs used to lead up to the next floor, but due to the hurricane, they lost a whole floor of the house. But the Grenadians are recovering well after the hurricane.

While there are a lot of buildings that still need work, the people here run on their own time.. which is very lax. We jokingly call it "Caribbean Time" because there really isn't any sense of time here. If a schedule says that something opens at 8am, it might not be until 830am before you actually saw someone come by and unlock the doors. A few of my friends said that they went to pick up books at the warehouse right when it was supposed to open, and they ended up waiting about 20 minutes before anyone showed up. Then the guy just sat there on a stool for another 10 minutes, looked at them, stretched and then sat for another 10 minutes before greeting them. So like I said before... everything here is very relaxed. To us, Americans, sometimes it's easy to let yourself get frustrated and annoyed with the people because back home, time is money. But the people here just seem to soak up life and take time to just sit and enjoy it. They don't really get all stressed out about things.

Well, tonight's the AMSA (American Medical Students Associations) big party of the term. It's supposed to be the first and biggest party of the term. It's being held on the Grand Anse Beach, and has an "open bar." Cost is 35EC ($13USD) for nonmembers, and 25EC ($10USD) for members. Membership seems to have lots of benefits back in the states. You can get discounts for a lot of items and insurance, etc. It seems that it would be a good time to get to mingle and get to know a lot of people. However, I'm not going to go in part because I'm not going to be drinking so there really is no point in shelling out $13 just to stand and watch everyone else get wasted and because I'm really tired. So yeah, party-hearty all... Just let me know how it goes...

My Dorm

Super Dorm 1

My room is on the first floor (actually 2nd floor, but the first floor is called the Ground Floor, so I'm on the "first" floor), Room 1. Currently we are without A/C and have been since I arrived. They say that we should get it Monday, but they've been pushing the date back since I arrived. After arriving at my dorm, Shaheryar and I, went out and tried the campus cuisine. We got a large cheese pizza at the Student Center, located right next to my dorm at their "Pizza Express". A small pizza is 11 EC (Eastern Caribbean currency; 1 EC = 2.67 USD) and a large is 21 EC (aprox 8.40 USD). The pizza was decent, though it seemed they may have added sugar to the sauce to make it taste "better". A large can of Arizona Iced Tea labeled as "Great Buy 99 cents" cost almost $3USD! After our pizza was consumed save for two slices, we walked a bit around campus. There are a lot of black cats here. We saw at least 3-4 black cats, that could easily be mistaken for the same cat except for the fact that cats cannot possibly be in multiple places at the same time. Some have white socks to distinguish them from the completely black cats, but yeah, there are a lot of cats on campus.

Anyway, upon returning to our dorm, I went to my room and proceeded to unpack. The room is actually not nearly as small as I had been lead to believe after reading forum posts by current students. It's decently sized for a double. The room is not quite as large as a normal BJ dorm room, but it's furnished with 2 twin beds, desks, and closets (4 shelves and 2 rods). The room also has a kitchenette with fridge, 2 stovetop burners, sink, microwave, and undercounter cupboards. We also have a private bathroom. My roommate arrived before I did and had already settled in. Her name is Mahsa. She is 27, Persian, from Atlanta, majored in neuroscience at Emory, and a 1st term med student. I didn't see much of her the first day or two because her parents are here with her and she's been spending the night at their hotel room since they have A/C.

My Side

Mahsa's Side

On Thursday, I met with an advisor for the MPH program and picked out my classes for the year. The program has 5 required core courses and 2 required program courses. There are 4 tracks of study you can pursue: Epidemiology and Biostatistics Track, Health Behavior and Policy Track, Environmental/Occupational Health Track, and a General Track. The classes are 3 hours each with a 10 min break every 50 min lasting 8 weeks. The classes are arranged so that they are staggered throughout 10 week term with some beginning the 1st week, some the 2nd, and the rest the 3rd. This term I will be taking Principles of Epidemiology, Principles of Biostatistics, Principles of Environmental Health, Substance Abuse and Public Health, and Concepts, Practice and Leadership of Public Health. My schedule came out so that I have Fridays completely free (oh yeah!) and for 4 weeks, on Monday and Wednesday I will have class from 9am to 8pm, with an hour off for lunch and dinner. Those days I predict to be exhausting...

It's been quite a time trying to register for my classes... It's not so much the actual registering process, but getting my registration voucher I need to present in order to register was a bit of a nerve-racking. When I first went to register I found out that I had not been given an email account so I could not get my voucher. Then when the IT department created my account, there was no voucher waiting, so I called the Financial Aid office in Bayshore, NY and was told that they had not heard anything about my loans from any bank. Without receiving confirmation that my loan was approved they could not give me a voucher. So I emailed my dad who told me that the bank had sent out the info to the school. I emailed my FA advisor last night notifying her of the situation, and when I called her today she said that I should be receiving my voucher in my email today. And voila, after about 4 hours, it was there, only to find that I couldn't print it out because my inbox suddenly went from 17% to 0%. I ran to the IT department, who informed me that they were working on some stuff, so it was causing issues. But praise the Lord, they were able to print out my voucher and I'll be able to register for my classes. Yay!

So anyway, Thursday I went on a tour of the Annandale Falls and the Grande Etang Lake. The Annandale Falls wasn't exactly a huge waterfall or anything, but it was kind of cool. The scenery, flora, and rock formations were really neat. We had some "chaps" or 2nd term student volunteers that were there to make sure none of us jumped off the falls. There were some natives there that were part of the "Annandale Falls Jumpers Association" and they did some jumps off the falls, approx. 50-100 ft. About the distance of Turtleback Falls, for those who know what I'm talking about. They took a collection afterwards for their "fund."

(L-R) Tristan, Jamela, me, Shaheryar
Thanks, Robin, for the great pic

I believe I failed to mention before, but this is supposed to be the dry season right now in Grenada. From January til about June/July it's the dry season and July to December it's supposed to be the wet season. However, it has rained so much since I've been here. It rains about 7-10 times a day, short bursts usually lasting no longer than 20 minutes. So while we were out at Grande Etange Lake, which is a volcanic lake, it began to pour. All of us ran to the 3 gazebo structures they had, but due to the wind the rain was pretty much coming at us horizontally and it was cold, so there was no shelter to really be had. Some of the students just decided to jump into the lake since they were getting wet anyway. I seriously considered the idea, but figured it'd be an uncomfortable ride back to campus if I did. Had I known I was going to get drenched through and through anyway or if I had brought a change of clothing, I'd prob have been in the lake with the rest. So yeah, as you may have gathered, we were completely drenched to the skin. What wasn't wet from the run down to the gazebos got wet running back to the shuttles. But after the run back to the shuttles, my body warmed up and then the rain was actually enjoyable. Warm rain can be a lot of fun as long as you're open to the experience. heh, you should have seen the lot of us. We were soaking wet and while some were grumbling, I was loving it. They had free drinks for us as well when we got to the shuttles: Ting, a carbonated grapefruit soda. Pretty good, shockingly sour. A nice combination, in my opinion. They don't have any plastic bottled soda here. When you ask for soda, they give you a half liter glass bottle. Very spiffy, and they ask that you return the bottles (I assume to be reused).

Thanks for most of the following pics go out to Jon and Ken...

Okay, finally I'm almost caught up... now on to today's events...

This morning I went on another school sponsored event, a cruise of a sort actually. It was called Rhum Runner, after the ferry/boat we were on. We boarded this double decker ferry and were told that it was probably the largest party boat in Grenada... well, that sounded promising . There was a steel band, New Dimension, that played Caribbean music and I have to say, I liked it. We left the docks and headed out to a reef where they dropped a glass bottom box into the water so we could view the reef, and they fed the yellow-tailed snappers there so we were able to view some of the sea life as well. From there we headed toward the beach. During our cruise to the beach, the band played and the "bar" handed out free drinks of Rhum Punch (a "street" rum punch) and soda. I didn't try any of the rum, but many students did and said it was very strong. From what I saw of them nearing the end of our trip, I'll have to agree.. there was more than one red-eyed stuttering student... Anyway the beach was gorgeous. We were told there weren't any dangerous animals or such but that if we saw a green ball shaped object in the sand that resembled a Granny Smith apple, not to touch it. While it wouldn't kill us, it'd give us a really nasty blister. (L-R) Me, Jamila, Ken, Payle

White sand, crystal clear blue/aqua-marine (kind of a redundancy there) waters... simply exquisite. We spent about 2 hours at the beach, most of which time I spent walking with friends and meeting new people. I did get to go swimming and it was awesome. The water felt great, warm, soothing.. paradise. I did get some mild sun burn, having forgotten to put on the suntan lotion I had with me.. fool was I.

I can hardly believe how nice things are down here. Everything has far exceeded my expectations... then again, classes haven't started yet, so who knows...(L-R) Hashim, Me, Jon, Shaheryar, ?, Robin

(Back Row) Tristan, ?, Mike