Newly updated to Mini 2 bug list: I.cantrememberu, U.dontstayinmymind, B.lessdetailed, C.howdumbthisis and G.usuck, T.Hisisbullox

Ay me...

A thought just occurred to me. Not that it's profound or life-changing, but that's what this blog is for...my thoughts. We're not allowed to appreciate this island, whatever good it has to offer.
We're forced to just sit here and be grumpy and busy and completely at odds with its culture.
 Of course we're going to hate it!
I think I'd hate it regardless because I'm just too Type A for a "relaxed" culture, regardless of whether or I not I have an exam next week
As a side note:  putting a thousand arguably OVER-eduacted people in one of the cradles of idiocy where people do not think past the end of their nose and do not care what is going on around them...what genius came up with that idea.

Case in point... Not only did the incident itself absolutely blow my mind, but the sheer ignorance found even in statements condemning what happened speak volumes about the views the people here possess. This is such a closed-minded society. I really think that if Dominica wants to not necessarily keep up, but just move with the rest of the world, they need to open their eyes and at least acknowledge that the world is out there. I read on wikipedia (okay okay consider the source) that over 10, 000 people have emigrated from the island since the year 2000. That is astounding considering the island's population is only about 70, 000. That should be an eye-opener to people that a number that amounts to OVER TEN PERCENT of your population has left in ten years. Sadly, I predict the people who remain (the grossly uneducated) will simply walk down the street in their fog. Fine, let them do so, I want out of here, STAT!

PARTS and PROBLEMS

This past week, and the next week, we are covering what I not-so-affectionately call PARTS and PROBLEMS. In other words, STI's. Woo. I'm trying my best to be professional about it, but I don't think even a gynecologist would see this many vaginas (let alone sick ones) in one day. Good grief, it's just.too.much.

No names to protect the not-so-innocent..

A: how can you be "like" a virgin, anyway?
B: I don't know, Preparation H?? 

Miami it looks like...

So, for those not in the know, in January we have twelve weeks in either Miami, Saginaw, or back here (why why oh why). The majority go to Miami. Saginaw, by word-of-mouth, is the "better" of the two programs in the states. I would personally prefer Saginaw simply because it's not Florida. I'm not a fan of Florida. Either way, given I do not have a STELLAR GPA, a good, solid one, but not a stellar one, and all of the people who do have the stellar GPAs AND say that they want to go to Michigan are people I find incredibly obnoxious, I put in for Miami. That is not to say that everybody I know who wants to go to Michigan is obnoxious...but rather that it seems everyone I FIND obnoxious is going. Verstehst du? Now, that would require a place to LIVE for twelve weeks.

When I came to Dominica, I had no idea where my apartment was when I signed for it. Simply that it was well rated and within walking distance. I am not taking such chances with Miami!!! I want to know where I'm living, how far away it is from campus, and all sorts of other things!! That and I need a break. My trip to Puerto Rico in July did wonders for my sanity. So I booked my flights.

Because I'm just that lucky, American Airlines was booked solid out of Dominica on my outbound leg, so I had to get a little creative. Luckily, I'm an airplane/travel geek and know pretty much all of the routes and major operators everywhere in the world. Thus, one can deduce I'm familiar with the same in the Caribbean. That's all well and good until one considers that there are only four nonstop destinations served out of Dominica: Antigua, Barbados, San Juan, and St. Maarten. St. Maarten immediately got the axe because the nonstops are operated by Winair and their ten-seater planes. No thank you. San Juan was eliminated on the outbound due to American Airlines being booked. (Thankfully, American Airlines DID have open seats to Dominica on my return leg). That left Antigua or Barbados for the outbound plane--cue Suzy Bogguss.  This was pretty much perfect, as it meant one less flight on LIAT, an airline I abhor. Had I not taken American on on the return, it would have  LIAT out of Antigua or Barbados and a tight (Antigua) or next day (Barbados) connection, . Neither of those was acceptable. All in all, I would rather do a short connection in San Juan and I get to avoid Antigua--an airport I abhor, see the trend here--completely.  I do, however, have a rather lengthy 8am-240pm layover in Barbados during which I can read and study.

I made all my flight arrangements, paid for it, then looked over it. I discovered I was an idiot and booked the return flight for one day early...BONK! Thankfully I just called up American Airlines and they changed it no charge. This was literally minutes after I'd made the initial booking. My opinion of American Airlines is SLIGHTLY raised. They still have a year's worth of flight schedule-related aggravation to overcome. I'm currently debating whether or not to put this and any future American Airlines flights on my Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. The AS account gets much more use as it is attached to a credit card.

Rainnnnnnnn

Last night/early this morning is rained incredibly hard. It had started rumbling with a little bit of lightning about 930 last night, and I was so tired that I put a movie on about 1030 and unplugged the internet. I had to have fallen asleep by 11 because I have very little recollection of much of the movie.  Toll! for sleep :P. I was woken up about 245ish by the LOUD rain and thunder and I also had to go the bathroom. I get into the bathroom, and I'm knocked over by this absolutely PUTRID smell. Water (and anything and everything suspended in the water) was backing up through the drain into my shower. My shower looked disgusting this morning. I dumped bleach in it and rain it on scalding hot for about twenty minutes before I even thought of getting into it this morning...I love Dominica. . . 72 days and COUNTING!!!

Just spent twenty minutes...

...shuffling through my notes trying to remember which form of viral pneumonia children tend to get versus adults. For the three people who care: children tend to get viral pneumonia cased by the Respiratory synctial virus (RSV),  a paramyxoviridae (eveloped, pleiomorphic, ss-(-)-RNA). Adults, you will be delighted to know, predominantly develop viral pneumonia from influenza A&B, orthomyxoviridae (segmented, evenloped ss-(-)RNA). Woo?? Somebody pull the plug...This better show up on the test!

All this goes out the window however, when BACTERIAL pneumonia shows up (now I know you're REALLY excited, bouncing in your seats yet?) That delightful disorder is caused by the wonderful little creatures (in order of prevalence) 1. Streptococcus pneumoniae, 2. Hemophilus influenzae, and 3.
Moraxella catarrhalis....you can sleep better tonight right??? RIGHT???

Sooooo.....still not wanting to study, but I'm actually being fairly productive. Amazing how that works isn't it? My eyes, however, are KILLING me. The delightful combination of fluorescents and staring at a computer screen for HOURS on end have accumulated into a painful and uncomfortable periorbital THROB!

This morning at yoga, I was sweating so bad, my hands were slipping all over the place. Didn't help that every other position was a downdog! I was sliding and slipping, trying not to faceplant. It was probably the most challenging session I've gone to yet! Ugh, back to studying. Boo!

Mini's around the Corner...

...so what am I doing...not studying right now of course. As much as I love what I'm doing I despise studying for hours on end. I always have. I've never been a big proponent of endless studying. PROPER studying wins out always in the long run.

Today I was eating lunch with Canuck, Yauser, and Pillow Pants. Yauser's repeating this semester, sadly :(. Pillow Pants and I got into a somewhat involved conversation with a fellow student who was having a very difficult time coping with the class load and stress that all this induces. We were trying to talk to him about how we dealt with. Now, I've had nights where I'm so wound up that I could not fall asleep, so I can certainly sympathize with him. Though they have been rare thankfully, they always come more toward the end of a semester. Anyway, we were talking to him, and I just felt really bad for him. You don't even do it on purpose, but you just get so wound up. Sometimes you just have to put the stuff away. I remember one evening my first semester (and by evening I mean an hour that would have allowed me to call a friend in London and not wake them...) I was studying, and I read the word "roller coaster." About a minute later, I realized that I had indeed read it, and I went back, and the word I substituted "roller coaster" for was "varicella zoster." For those who care that's the virus that causes chicken pox. Then and there, lesson learned or unlearned, it was time to put it away. Perhaps we'll see him at yoga tomorrow trying to relax, I really hope he gets the help he needs.

Try a Little Bitterness...

The title of this post is a bit of a play on words on the song "Try a Little Tenderness," for those who care. I've noticed--and it certainly has been pointed out to me--that I've been incredibly touchy/quick/short/irritable/crabby/cantankerous and just downright unpleasant the past week or so. I'm somewhat sorry to be taking out my frustrations on others, even if they are only a very small part of it. Sorry, but as much as you love them, your friends can irritate the hell out of you. On the flipside I'm not sorry because I'm done bottling all of my emotions. It's unhealthy and stressful. With three of them it's downright aggravation and lack of any more capacity for an ongoing situation that just reeks of a sixth-grade mentality. With another it's more of a reflection of my general state of pessimism, unfortunately. When you're already aggravated the "flaws" you normally overlook in people because you see the bigger picture just irritate you simply because you're irritated. Is there a manual to this machine??? Do I kill the chicken or shatter the egg????!?!?

While we're being honest and reflective...I would have to be completely transparent and say my overall bad mood is probably twofold in cause: 1) a nasty case of loneliness and 2) stagnation. Despite it being second on the list, let's address stagnation first. It's my blog if I want to be inconsistent I shall! Being here in Dominica is like watching the flight you were ticketed on depart from the gate without you on it. We have to deal with emotions and feel like that much more so than students not stuck on an island. Dear God please let the 89 days go quickly. I feel like I can't do anything with my life while I'm here. Most of the people I care about/am interested/want to be around/want to be with are all back in the states. Yeah you make some friends here, but then you go back to the states with no promise them again because the schedules and locations of your rotations might vary. On top of that you see them every day, so you don't necessarily miss them. I probably will in the future when I don't see them, but that is not causing the problem. It just feels like we're in limbo here, and people at home are just as busy and just as slammed, but they don't feel nearly as isolated.

Case 1, well, let's just say some of the most concrete steps I've ever made were taken toward amending that particular problem. I had a great time over break thanks to a certain one or two individuals. That's all on that.