Loving Life.

Well, as nearly everybody in the world knows, today is Valentine’s Day, or as some of my fellow singles may say, Single’s Awareness Day. Although that may be true, I am in fact spending today technically single, I couldn’t be happier. You see, the truth is, despite having been single for the majority of my adult life, I’ve come to really appreciate and embrace it. Even more than that, I love my friends and what they bring to my life. Just last night I had the wonderful privilege of going out to dinner at a restaurant about 45 minutes south of campus with a group of fellow students whom I don’t usually spend a lot of time with. Despite not knowing them very well, I had a fantastic time. Based on the way our evening began- I wouldn’t have expected anything else. This not being the first time I’ve been to this particular restaurant, I was caught off guard when our transport was not a large taxi van as I had taken in the past, but two yellow taxi- cabs. Yes, they do actually have yellow cabs here in Dominica. As a result, our group of 11 needed to split into two cars. Now, I don’t know what the condition of the other vehicle was, but the steering column in our cab revealed a few exposed wires, and there was a tablet on the dashboard which the driver fiddled with consistently throughout our drive. Add to that a Styrofoam cup filled with vodka (completely legal here in Dominica) given to us by a member of our group in the other taxi, and how could this evening NOT start on a good foot?! Throughout the course of our drive through the ups, downs, and twisting roads of Dominica we enjoyed conversation and the salty wind rushing through the windows as the cup was passed around- each of us trying to avoid drinking it. As we arrived at the restaurant so aptly named “Sunset Bay,” the sun was just beginning to set through the clouds. Although I may say it all the time, and I’m sure everybody back home is sick of hearing about it from me, I don’t think there will ever come a time that the view of the setting sun over the water will become mundane or “just another thing that happens.” Each day is different- from the way the colors reflect on the water to the way the clouds absorb and display those exquisite tones. To put it simply, I love it, and take pictures at every chance I get. In addition to it being a beautiful place to watch the sunset, Sunset Bay’s other “claim to fame” is its lobster dinner. Between 8 of us, we split 5 lobster dinners and 3 buckets of garlic mussels. Although I had dined there previously, this was my first experience with their lobster, and let me tell you, there is only one phrase that may even come close to describing it- to die for. At one point, the person I was sitting next to and I looked at each other with garlic butter covering our fingers and agreed that we felt like we were literally inhaling our food because it was so incredibly delicious. In addition to the lobster, the mussels are exquisite. We’ll just say that at the end of the meal, Ashleigh was a very happy camper. I was so grateful and excited to have had the opportunity to spend such a wonderful evening getting to know people who I see everyday, but may not have had a chance to talk in the same way without this dinner.

Now, the dinner, the sunset, and the company were great, but that was just the beginning. You see, over the last several weeks, one of my friends has been trying to put together a game night at his apartment. Between exams and others’ schedules, it just hadn’t worked out until, finally, everybody agreed on last night. He and his roommates had everything planned out based on the number of people coming, and we all had to sign up on a team to make sure all of the games worked out. Everything was supposed to start at 9, and I figured I’d have no problem being back from dinner at that point. Well, I was wrong. Our taxi arrived back on campus at 9:30, and I felt awful. Not only was I going to be late, but I was letting my game partner down by not being there. Luckily, the start time had been pushed back by an hour, but even had that not occurred, the response from my teammate, Ericka, who is honestly much more like a sister to me than I could have imagined, was completely understanding of it. Yes, I think she was a little worried I wasn’t going to make it in time, but she knew it was out of my control and she just rolled with it. So, we got to the party, had a great time with other wonderful friends, won some rounds, lost others, and went home laughing about those little things that in the end add up to a lot. Needless to say, despite all of the cliché and cheesiness that it brings, I’m extremely lucky and feel incredibly blessed to have met so many wonderful friends since moving here, and one in particular whom I know will be around for the long haul.

The last thing that I will touch on before returning to the current love of my life, school, is actually school. As I mentioned in my last post, the first few weeks of the this semester were a little rough for whatever reason in terms of getting back into the swing of things. I felt like I was in a funk that I just couldn’t shake and I couldn’t figure out why. Now, I’m not here to delve further into that or even explain why it happened, but to do quite the opposite. To express how doing things like practicing physical exam (PE) skills brings me back to the roots of why I’m here. Yesterday we didn’t have classes, but we, as 2^nd semester students, had our abdominal exam PE skills lab in the afternoon. Now, we’ve had experience with these several times up to this point for various things- blood pressure, pulses, cardiovascular and respiratory exams, and an intro abdominal exam last semester, so we all knew what to expect. We had watched the introductory video online and read (or at least skimmed) the handout posted before arriving. Knowing we would have a standardized community patient, we arrived at school with our white coats and professional dress in tow. After stepping into my group’s exam room (imagine your standard Dr.’s office exam room), we waited for our patient to arrive so we could get started. Walking in just on time, our patient walked in, and it was none other than Mr. Charles! Okay, okay, for anybody reading who is not from Ross, that means absolutely nothing, but let me try to explain it to you. For each of these labs, as I mentioned, we have a video that we have to watch that essentially goes through the entire exam as we are supposed to practice and perform it during our sessions. In nearly all of these videos, Mr. Charles is the patient, which pretty much makes him a local celebrity. I had heard from friends who had had previous sessions with him that as a result of him doing these sessions multiple times, he knew the protocol of each exam almost better than the students, but for me to have the chance to work with him? I couldn’t believe it. Everything that I had heard from others about him was absolutely true. His hands were already raised in preparation of them being checked for jaundice caused by possible liver failure, and he knew exactly where to place them in order to perform a test checking for ascites, or extra fluid, in the abdomen. He was funny, which put everybody at ease, and was completely comfortable with us all poking and prodding him for practice. In fact, maybe a little too comfortable. Halfway through my exam, he fell asleep!! I was trying to check for possible lower abdominal pain caused by appendicitis, and asked him to lift his leg against resistance. The response? Nothing. No movement, no verbal response, just silence. Despite my best efforts (and the efforts of everybody else in the room), we all just started laughing- Mr. Charles included. Needless to say, although it wasn’t an incredibly tense environment to begin with, his falling asleep definitely removed any remaining tension or nerves. It was refreshing, and it reminded me again not only how much I really do enjoy what I’m working toward, but that every encounter I have with a patient has the possibility of becoming something I don’t even expect- whether good or bad.

As always, the writing could continue for days and days, and although we have a long weekend due to Carnivale on the island, I just don’t have that much time and I need to get ready for what will arguably be one of the greatest Valentine's Day dinners with the best teammate, study buddy, and most of all friend a girl could ask for. That being said, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day wherever you are, whomever you’re with, and whatever you’re doing. Until next time, and with lots of love.

 Team #Flawless: best teammate ever

Sunset at Sunset Bay