Besides the normal classwork, I had a wonderful week! After my grand purchase of buying a new bed (I got rid of my stiff, ??-year old, wicker trundle bed), I went to a great Burrito/Taco trunk right along our main road in Simpson Bay. The family that cooks there is from Ensenada and makes fabulous food! Some of my favorite places to eat out here are from trunks...I will let that one sit for now. In my ICM(Introduction to Clinical Medicine) course, I conducted my first patient interview! It was a brief, introductory interview that lasted about 2 minutes. Every week, we will continuing building our interviewing skills. I just finished a long weekend catching up on nucleotide and lipid metabolism and steroid hormones for my MCB class. Two more weeks until my first set of block exams for my second semester!

Another beautiful day in the Caribbean ...one long day in the library! Classwork is keeping me busy as usual. I think that this semester was definitely an easier transition than last semester. Now that I have established my study skills and understand what I need to do to succeed in medical school, I am the happiest I have ever been in my life (next to meeting Alec ;) We just completed our first set of quizzes and since I did so well, I treated myself to at night at our local favorite- The Red Piano Bar! Now, this weekend was spent in the library preparing for my Immunology and Biostatistics quizzes, while also keeping up with my other classes. I am definitely enjoying Immunology and my Introduction to Clinical Medicine courses. In ICM, we are in a group of 14 students with an instructor who will begin to train us on basic medical assessment (taking blood pressure, checking ears, eyes, nose and throat, etc.) and interviewing skills!!! It is a nice change from everyday lectures and reminds me of what I came here to do...become a stupendous doctor!

Living Room View of the Lagoon

My Cote D'Azure Marina Apartment

2nd Semester at AUC Begins!

I had a wonderful Christmas vacation with friends and family. I finally have my new apartment in order and will have pictures up shortly! I have already begun my classes for 2nd semester. I am taking Molecular/Cellular Biology II, Immunology, Physiology, Biostatistics (one month duration), and Introduction to Clinical Medicine. Thank goodness I am on a beautiful island to find some serenity during studying. Here we go again...I added a picture from the airplane (this island is located off the coast of Sint. Maarten- I was not able to identify the name)