Tuesday, October 14, 2014

And the award for least consistent blogger goes to....

We made it to the top of Mt. Scenery! (and off the Rock) 
So its been a very very very long time since my last update but I was never very good at remembering to keep a journal and this is pretty much the same thing so i'm not surprised. I find that when I put it off for awhile that its hard to know where to start writing again.... I guess i'll just jump right in..... The overall summary of my last couple years is that I finished Saba in one piece! I finished my 5 semesters this past April/May and came home to study for Step 1 which I wrote in July. I got my results sometime in August (I PASSED!!!) and have recently been scheduled to start clinical rotations in December.

My last semesters on Saba were pretty intense, lots of studying but also lots of fun (apparently not much time for blogging). I ended up staying on island for most of the breaks but I went to Mexico for the second christmas holiday and I went home between second and third semester. Overall I had an amazing experience on Saba and although the school was definitely tough, I met some incredible people and got to live a totally different lifestyle than I would have anywhere else.
Potluck for Chinese New Year! 

One of the things that I like to do at the end of any experience are the highlights and lowlights. I think the highlights of Saba definitely have to include meeting all the incredible people (students, faculty, and locals), scuba diving (I almost got in 50 dives), hiking, the feeling after finishing a block of exams, no cell phones, hitching everywhere, and constant potlucks (every holiday, birthday, and sometimes just because we felt like it!)! I celebrated a lot more holidays than I ever would have otherwise because of the amazing diversity of cultures and religions that made up the students and faculty of Saba. The lowlights have to include grocery day wednesdays (no bananas), saying goodbye to friends in the upper semesters as they finished on the island (bittersweet), and of course block exams. I think the highlights win and that is definitely how I feel after finishing on Saba. I think every experience is what you make of it and memories of the tough experiences fade with time (block exams i'm looking at you!) but the good ones last for a lot longer.

Love my class! Rainbow day just for the fun of it! 
Our last day in class! I couldn't believe it was over! 
Looking back I definitely miss how simple things were and how few distractions there were. I lived without a cell phone for two years and actually loved it! I miss the diving and I miss the sun (especially as its starting to get rainy in Vancouver) but overall I am ready for my next adventure.

White Coat Ceremony, first week on Saba!
We did it! My class graduating from Basic Sciences! 
Heres a great video that some Sabans made, gives you a feel for the locals :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRZ5lBBV04

Running the race for kids urban obstacle course with my siblin
Other than studying and writing the big paper, I've just been really enjoying spending some time with my family and enjoying Vancouver (it was a gorgeous summer!). I got to go out to Toronto and stayed with some of my Saba family and have been up to Whistler and Kelowna a few times. I competed in my first charity race which was the Boys and Girls Club Race for Kids. I teamed up with my siblings and competed in the urban obstacle course including slinging rubber chickens, three-legged races, and throwing cheesies at my sister, it was tons of fun and we raised lots of money!

Its for the kids! My sister being a
good sport!
Checking out the falls and
playing tourist in Toronto
I got to catch up with my friend Josh who, with his mom, is doing really cool things and working hard to increase knowledge about CP and having some fun while they're at it. Check him and his mom out at http://teamjoshua.ca Go Team Josh!

Catching up with my buddy Josh from
Team Josh, check them out!
He and his mom are doing some pretty
cool things!
Go team josh!
http://teamjoshua.ca
I don't get to start until December 15th so i've got some time to fill, I'm going to try my hand at cold water diving starting with a drysuit course this thursday, hopefully it keeps me nice and warm! Im also planning a very long road trip to try and circumvent some of the rougher road conditions as I head east. I'll be starting in Georgia, my brother in law thinks I should rebrand my blog Georgia in Georgia... it'll be a little weird but i'm sure I'm not the first person named Georgia to relocate there.

Meeting the new additions at my friends house!
My mom gave my kitty a haircut, she loves it
but i'm not sure how I feel about it! 
Whistler:

Whistler view
Peak to Peak gondola view in Whistler
Green lake at Whistler thanksgiving weekend, the snow
is starting to fall on the peaks! (Armchair glacier pictured)




Until the next time....