I am so looking forward to this weekend. You wonder why? I have no CPR activities to attend to and even better no mandatory events to participate in.  I can’t wait to wake up on Saturday and just know I have the whole day to tackle my Anatomy and Embryology.

I took the CPR exam today after class, it went well  (only 20 questions) will let you know when the results are out. I do appreciate taking that CPR course last week because now I know that I can help when I find someone in need of resuscitation.  In Anatomy class today we learned about different injuries that can occur to the spinal cord.  One thing that I have always loved about being in the science field was the many opportunities you have to see how wonderful our God really is.  Every detail is so perfectly planned out and sculpted that even doing something as simple as lifting our arm takes a lot from our body and we don’t even realize it.   When I am in class finding out how  many things could possible go wrong with our body I am always thankful to God that I am among to be among the living.  I am truly blessed. 

 

Yesterday was a rough day.  I was feeling very overwhelmed and my mind just seemed to be all over the place.  I had so much studying to do and I couldnt’ quite understand why because I have been studying everyday.   I managed to review for my dissection lab in anatomy today because if you remember in one of my blogs I mentioned that I don’t want to ever go to lab unprepared.  I read through the dissection manual, some of it made sense and for some I was like “What?”  Today was the first official dissection in my lab and I was on a table with 5 other students (3 no shows).  I wasn’t excited to dissect and neither was my partner but since we were the only ones there we both had to.  It wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it was going to be and we were both well prepared for it.  I heard someone say once that most of the things we worry about never occur, which they didn’t today but my imagination had taken me to so many places and I was feeling a liitle nervous going to lab this morning.  I have class in the next 20 minutes so I really have to wrap things up.    The bottom line is that today is going well and I am happy about that.  Nunu I miss you.  

BTW, I went grocery shopping yesterday and spent a gang of money and I really don’t have much to show for it.  My total was $120EC which is just about $60 in US dollars.  Although it might not seem like a lot at all, you should see my empty grocery basket.  The most ridiulous thing was paying $7.50 (already converted to US) for a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and get this it wasn’t even the big box. :)  Oh well, I have to deal with it.

 

This morning I woke up with my left eye swollen, I had planned to go to church with the Nigerian girls and my friend from grad school and I was scheduled to meet them at 8:30.  I woke up at 7am and I could feel that my eyes were swollen and then I looked in the mirror and it looked as if  if I had gotten in a fist fight the night before and lost.  The devil was seriously trying to stop me from going to church.  I got in the shower, got dressed and walked out of my room.  The first thing my friends said when they saw me was “what happened?”  To make the long story short, I made it to church and I was glad I did. The message preached was meant for me. The topic was “Don’t let the Devil Stop You.” I just smiled.  As the service went on, the swelling in my eye began to go down.  By the time the church was over it was back to normal.  God was truly on my side today.  As soon as I got back to my dorm, my friends suggested we take  a group photo.  Those of you that know me, know I don’t take a lot of bad pictures.  I am always looking good in my pics (Thank God) and this time again I must say I was looking beautiful. 

Well, it’s the start of a new week and I believe I am ready and like the preacher said this morning “Be brave, Be strong, God is on your side.”  

I am sure gonna miss my Dad reading my blog regularly now that is back home in Nigeria but I am sure I can still count on him on some funny comments.  Love you Dad.

 Just to tell you a little bit about the church;  it was a small church, a Grenadian church not too far from school.   A group of us to a taxi to church (which is actually a bus) and it reminded me of a time in Nigeria when I used to go to church with my Grandma. 

BTW, One of my Nigerian friends cooked some rice, fish and plantains today. I was invited and once again didn’t decline

Be sure to look at the picture of those I went to church with.

 

Wow, I feel like I have been in Grenada for a month already.  I miss home and Mas like crazy. This week was quite long 4 hour classess every day not including the labs that we take.  Not unexpected.   I was looking forward to my Friday. I couldn’t wait to say TGIF.  And then I found out that after my class on Friday which ends at 5pm, I have another 2hr CPR class starting at 7pm. Boy was i disappointed.  To make matter worse,  I have a 4 hr CPR practical starting at 8am on Saturday.  After waking up at 6am everyday this week the last thing I want to do is wake up at 6:30am on a saturday.  It is important that I attend the CPR classes because I would want to be able to respond when someone asks while i am in public “Is there a Doctor in the house?” when someone is passed out . So I guess I will be up early tomorrow morning again.  

On a side note , No offense Dad but this week I found myself wisihing my last name started with an N or M or something in the middle of the alphabet. Since my last name begins with A, every lab session, and any other class related activities I have to attend I am always in the first set of groups. The first set of groups usually have to be there by 8am.  It sucks a little bit but I am glad that after midterms they will rotate.  Why can’t they just do it randomly? Anyways, I don’t mean to complain but these are issues that I am currently laughing about.   

Today, I got to  see the bodies we will be working on in Gross Anatomy. I was not nauseated by the sight of dead bodies instead I had a lot of respect for those that donate their bodies to the good of mankind. It is truly a generous act.   I hope that throughout the semester I will not say or do anything that will disrespect the individuals that have made such huge donations.  I am excited to learn more about the human body especially the navigation aspect of it.   (just to get to see what the inside looks like would be nice)

Something different about SGU is that unlike most campuses in the U.S. they actually allow alcohol on campus. I remember all the orientation activities we had last week, along with soda and water they also had different types of alcoholic drinks.  They even had wine at the white coat ceremony. I was impressed to see that no one abused the beverages.  Along those lines of alcohol on campus; I was quite disappointed when I was asked to pay $10EC to participate in an activity that involved reviewing gross anatomy and then drinking beers after.  I mentioned to the people in-charge that I was not going to be drinking and that I just wanted to attend the review section, and he said I still had to pay the money,, which i know was  for the drinks because tutorial services are free on campus. I decided to bow out gracefully from this one. I am sure another alcohol-free review session will be held.  

One thing about medical school that I have realized today is that they always find ways to keep you busy. So busy  that any free minute you have the best think you can do with it is Study.  WOW! 

The fact that I am now in medical school is finally starting to settle in my brain. I have so much work and sometimes it feels like they just isn’t enough time for all that work.  The classes are so often but the good thing is I enjoy most of them.   The ones I don’t enjoy I will have to learn to.  The lecturers always tells us “No all-nighters” and then I think about all the all-nighters I did while in grad school they sure did pay off. I think this time I will have to listen to their advice  because they certainly know better.  Will see how this works in the next couple of weeks.  Had to believe that I will complete Gross Anatomy (full body) by the end of December: lecture and lab included. Wow, that’s a lot of material.. Well gotta go back to the books. bye

The WCC was very beautiful.  It was quite long but interesting.   The main theme the whole night was in all you do in your  medical profession don’t forget to live life.  Take time for yourself.  Specifically to medical students give yourself one hour of personal time to do whatever you desire. I have to say SGU has to be the most diverse university I have ever been to. At the event so many countries were represented.  There were student from Iran, Greece, India, Sri Lanka, China,Canada, Grenada, Trinidad, Ukraine, Nigeria and ofcourse the U.S.  I was quite impressed. Besides me there was only one other nigerian (in pic with me). The Nigerian sistas here are nice. They all came to congratulate me after the ceremony. I forgot to mention in my last blog, one of the nigerian sisters I knew from grad school invited me to have rice and plantains last sunday, I couldn’t decline.

Back to the event, The guy seating next to me at the WCC had been married for 31 years and had children that were already out of college.  My purpose of mentioning this is to let you know that the diversity extends beyond countries represented.  If there are any of you who have  dreams that have not been realized, don’t let anything stop you.  
    Following the cermeony was a reception in which finger foods were served and there was a live calypso band.. It was quite a big shindig..

 

 

 

    

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Flies everywhere.  I can’t stand it. I can’t even get a moments rest.  I am not even eating anything but they are flies all around me. (I must be carrying a sweet scent or something).  Today is the White Coat Ceremony (WCC), the WCC is considered our ‘rite of passage.’ Our coversion from citizen to medical student. It should be very interesintg. I understand that  every new student doctor will walk across the stage with their regular outfits on and then one of the deans help us put on our white coat which we received yesterday at the convocation.  I have been waiting for this day for a loooong time so I am very excited about it.  I’ll be sure to take some pictures and post it on the site.  These flies are bugging me and I just can’t take it any more.  I’m outta here.

Interesting things have been happening to my face and I hope whatever is causing it disappears very soon.  I have swollen eyes, looks kinda like i have big bags underneath  my eyes . Doctors say it’s an allergic reaction to some pollen but have no idea what it is.  I never had allergies like this before so I hope this doesn’t last too long.  As uncomfortable as I am feeling walkling around with this look on my face, I still managed to get a pedicure yesterday and a free hand and shoulder massage.  The masseuse said I was very tense and that I have strong hands (what’s new?) I hear that everytime i get a massage. My roommate arrived today, she’s from Trinidad. She seems cool.   I know that God will answer my prayers concerning her.  I miss everyone at home sooo much.. I have to keep  saying  to myself BE STRONG.

Classes start on Monday, we have a huge first term class here, but from what I hear the class begins to dwindle before the second term.  Anyways, bottomline is that I have to make it to class on time so I can find a good seat.  I also have to begin scoping for secret locations  in the library where I can hand out.  I miss Diggity.

N.B. to those of you reading my blogs, expecting perfect grammar every time would be unfair.  :)enjoy

It was a pleasant day overall.  I learned some new things and was glad to not have being surprised by anything.   I am feeling like I have made a good choice; afterall all this people could not have possibly been mislead. I ran into Ms. E a friend from grad school she’s in her 4th term here at sgu.  My, my, my was she a God sent. I have been blessed with people that are just kind to me simply because they are good friends.  My mother always says “people are good to you because you are good to them.” Ms. E was so kind to get me settled and showed me some of the places I will be visiting frequently.  Registered for classes: Anatomy/Embryology, Histology/Cell biology and Biochemistry.  The word here is that Biochem is the killer but ask me if I am intimidated.. HELL NO.  It will take a lot more than biochem to intimidate me.   People are so honest in Grenada says Ms. E; today I found out that in Grenadians take their time with everything. Why should we rush life?  It’s admirable. 2morrow, I will be getting my SIM card,  finally I can talk more to my family and mas. I forgot to mention they have subway and KFC here. and guess what? They have Sushi… SWEET