Remembering my Grandma

My grandma passed away unexpectedly last year.  I was pregnant with E at the time and I remember being so excited for her to meet him.  You never think about someone passing when they are healthy.  I secretly expected her to live at least until I graduated from medical school. (I had pictured her at the ceremony!)  My grandma lived an incredible life of generosity.  As my family wrote her obituary, they had to leave out organizations that she volunteered for because she had so many!  Even in her late 80s, she still actively volunteered at close to 10 places!  In fact, when she passed away, she was planting flowers for some friends outside of a chapel. 

I say all of this because I still think of her often.  There is a place that I walk by on my way home that smells exactly like her downstairs deck.  Each time I breathe it in, I'm reminded of the wonderful memories I have of her home and the lake.  Yesterday, I took a different way home and I thought for sure I could smell the incense that comes from the thurible during Catholic mass.  It was a sweet reminder of Grandma.

I want my life to positively affect people the way hers did. 

Carnival

It's almost the weekend!  This weekend, we have a "three-day weekend" (the quotes are because we don't actually get to rest :D) due to Carnival here in Dominica.  Carnival is a pre-Lent celebration started by the Catholic Europeans in the 1700s (according to A Virtual Dominica).  Freed slaves continued to celebrate with costumes and parading through the streets.

Here is a picture from a past Carnival celebration:


I'm planning on taking some photos from around campus/town to give you more of an insight into our daily life.  Here are a few I took today:

This is Classroom 6 where all of the lectures for first semester students take place.  You might be able to see the microphones on the desks where we can ask questions during lectures.  There are also multiple TVs so that if you are farther back or seated on the sides at a funny angle, you can still see the power point.  One thing we have on campus is called "Mediasite."  The university records every lecture and while within a certain distance from the school, we are able to watch the recordings.  At first, I wasn't a fan of this, having always preferred going to lecture.  However, because we cover so much, so quickly, I found myself getting behind while sitting in lecture.  Once I began mediasiting, I was able to pause the lectures and look up concepts/watch videos/ask questions as I went along.  This increased my understanding exponentially.  Now, almost all of my study group gets together in the morning and we watch our lectures individually, then ask questions if we need to afterwards.

This is the view looking west north west.  To the left (out of view) is the student center, straight ahead is the "old library" where I study in a carrel because it is supposed to be absolutely silent.  It is pretty quiet in there, which I appreciate, but it is also freezing.  (I'm talking probably 64 degrees.)  So sometimes I can't focus because I am so cold!

If you have questions about something specific about Ross/Dominica, please feel free to ask in the comments and I'll do my best to find out the answer.  If you are considering RUSM for medical school, I'd be happy to communicate with you!

For His Glory,
KCE

Settling into School and Beach Pictures

"Its been awhile since our last post.  This is mostly because we have been so very busy that even taking time to post is a luxury. Kyle had an exam that he completed today, while I had a lab practical on Friday.  I have another Mini in 1.5 weeks."

This is the post I started writing 1.5 weeks ago, before I got distracted/busy/back on track (I don't remember which :).  We completed our anatomy practical two Fridays ago; 50 questions, every cadaver had some structure tagged with a pin and there was an associated question.  For example, there might be a pin in a nerve and the question would ask, "What action does the muscle innervated by this nerve perform?"  I did well on that exam, thanks to lots of extra study practice with my friend/study buddy, Hawkeye.  Over the last week, we have been studying all day and most of the evenings (after E's bedtime.)  This culminated in our second Mini today.  A "mini" is an exam.  Don't let the moniker fool you, it covered 46 lectures (biochem, gross anatomy, micro-anatomy, physiology, clinical medicine, epidemiology....and a few others.)  It was probably the hardest test I've ever taken.  But to God be the glory, its over now and we move on to Hematology and Lymphatics (study of blood and its waste.)

This afternoon, to celebrate the fact that we completed it, Hawkeye and I took E to the beach.  K had a very well deserved afternoon to himself, during which he napped.  We walked down the hill from our apartment and down to the beach.  For those of you who've never pushed a stroller on the beach, it is quite the workout!  E had fallen asleep on the way, so we let him nap in the stroller while we wandered into the water.  It was so warm!  We spent about an hour swimming, running onto the beach about every five minutes to check on E (he was never out of our sight and was completely out of the sun, safe in his stroller.)  He napped the entire time, lulled to sleep by the sounds of the ocean.

We then went home and had pizza for dinner. K had woken up and felt very refreshed.  I was able to read his most recent project for graduate school.  He is working on a pic-monic concerning "Meshiah" (not Messiah.)  Meshiah means "anointed one," in Hebrew, but it doesn't always refer to Christ.  K had to list every occurrence of it in the Old Testament, and discuss the context. What a smartie!  He is also writing his paper on how Israel's relationship with God reflects how a parent trains up a child.  I can't wait to read it!

Thank you for praying for us and loving on us!  You are the best family and friends!

For His glory!
KCE