Retrospective #2

September 29, 2006

Life, Whitecoat, and the Pursuit of a Car

Well folks, It's over! Our first exams have come and gone and I'm that much closer to my MD. No, I'm sorry, I don't know why your knee hurts and I can't tell you what kind of medication to take for your aching back! But I can tell all about the Brachial Plexus and the anastamoses of the arteries of the upper limb...

But that's for another time and place. Right now, I want to bring you up to speed on life here has been like lately.

I'm sure it's become clear to most of you that things have been really busy here. Classes run daily and require about 6 hrs of studying on a light day just to keep up. The first weeks were filled with a lot of activities for us First Semesters. Club barbecues, workshops, pledge meetings (more on this in a second), in between long stretches in the library make the days go by way too fast. It's now been a month that I've been living here, and it seems like yesterday that I was stepping off the plane.

The highlight of the second week was a ceremony called "White Coat." This is something of an initiation into medical school and the medical profession in general. Technically, it's supposed to be the first time that you wear the white labcoat as a student. Basically, Friday evening, we all gathered in one of the lecture halls, listened to speakers, then read our "Honor Code" (something about not cheating or whatever) then filed up to the stage, single file like good little kindergartners, and the professors put the white coats on us for the "first time" (forget the fact that we'd been wearing them around dead people for 2 weeks at that point). Afterwards they threw us a huge party at a club called "Bamboo Bernie's" (you can't make this stuff up) where, to the best of my recollection, the evening went swell! (insert smile with two thumbs up) Pictures are attached.

In the meantime, Hovig and I had been trying to get settled in as much as possible, which meant, acquiring a car. Now let me preface the next story like this. Opening a regular run of the mill bank savings account in this country requires a previous appointment, 2 forms of ID, including a U.S. Passport, proof of residence, acceptance letter from the university, your first born and a kidney... not to mention 2 hours to get everything set up.
Now I told you that story to tell you this one. During the car search we were able to get in touch with Junior (you can't make this stuff up) at the Nissan dealership, who called us a day later to inform us that he had a car for us to lease. We walked up to the dealership, he handed us the keys, we got in the car and drove off. Terms of the lease? EHH, we'll talk about that later.
So to recap...
Savings Account: 2 Hours, Passport, Kidney
Car Lease: 2 minutes, a smile, a thankful wave as you drive off...
You can't make this stuff up.

This is getting lengthy, so I'll try to answer all you questions bullet point style:

- Nope, still no hurricanes or tropical storms so keep lighting those candles in Church for us!
- STILL Humid. I've given up on doing anything with my hair. This is about as fro-ed out as I've ever been
- We now find ourselves saying things like "Nah, don't go to Simpson Bay for that, French side is much better!" and "Damn tourists need to get off the road."
- No, I don't study on the beach. Studying anatomy alone requires 3 books, a booklet of possible test questions, a lab guide, and my laptop with lecture notes. Sound like I can do that on the beach?
- The words "YAH-MON!" are rarely uttered here, although I did hear it the other day. Must have been Jamaican tourists.
- Yes, I'm rushing a medical fraternity. It's never too early to start networking or acting like a frat guy.

OK, I think that's everything for now.

If anyone can find a way to package In & Out and cheekoufteh and send it to me, I'd love you forever.

Love,

Nareg