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Final Entry

Derek and I are proud to say we are back in the US for good. I don't believe we will be leaving the country for quit some time.

We returned home on May 14, the day after Derek's birthday...he said it was the best birthday gift he has ever received. We spent the next couple months studying for the USMLE Step 1. We took our exam on July 14. After our exam we headed to New York to find an apartment. We were successful in finding the perfect apartment that God had

prepared for us! We moved to Brooklyn the first week in August. We begin working at Brooklyn Hospital Center on August 16th. We are looking forward to this next step in our lives together.

As I reflect on our time in Grenada I am very thankful. It was very difficult to leave our family and friends, but it was good for us to grow as a married couple. We were all alone, just the two of us, in a foreign country. All we had to rely on was each other! We had many difficult, exciting, and unforgettable experiences while in Grenada. Also, we are extremely grateful for the wonderful friends we made while in Grenada. Thank you Grenada, hopefully we will see again one day!

Off we go into the sunset

Last Day of Class

Friday was our last day of class in Grenada. This was actually our last day of official class for medical school. Our remaining 2 years we will be learning & working in the hospital. It was a really good feeling knowing that we have no more class! Now we just have to work hard for this last week of final exams.

Friday afternoon our entire class got together to make a class photo. Here you have it…

SGU class of 2012

White Coat Beach Photos

We got all the pictures from our photo shoot at the beach in our white coats. I made this sideshow of all the pictures! I have also upload these pictures to our Shutterfly site (http://newlywedslostingrenada.shutterfly.com/). From the site you can download the pictures or order prints, if you want. I hope you enjoy them!

Thanks again, Alexis! You did a great job! We love the final product!

Check out Alexis Shaeffer Photography (http://shaefferphotography.blogspot.com/)

Another Photo Shoot

A few days ago I got an inspiration to have more pictures taken of Derek & I before we leave Grenada.  I wanted to have pictures made of the two of us in our white coats on the beach.  I really hated to ask Derek to do this again but I knew if I did not I would regret it.  So, I told Derek my idea & luckily he agreed!  We are very lucky here to have close friends who’s wives are so talented.  I contacted Alexis, her husband Zane is in our class, about taking some pictures for us.  Thankfully she was able to fit us into her schedule, between caring for their two little boys who both have double ear infections, on such short notice.  We got together on Friday to make my inspiration come to life.  You can go to her website, Alexis Shaeffer Photography, to see a preview of the photos.  I will post pictures as soon as I get them from her.  I hope you enjoy these first few pictures!  I can’t wait to see more!

Brooklyn Here We Come

As we are counting down our last 30 days in Grenada, we are looking ahead to what our future holds.

A few weeks ago we were asked by the school to rank our top 3 choices of hospitals, for which we will complete our last 2 clinical years of medical school. We ranked our choices, gave a detailed explanation for our choices, & waited patiently for the results to come back. We ranked 3 hospitals in Brooklyn, not caring which hospital we were placed at as long as we were a) at the same hospital and b) in Brooklyn.

The results are in…

On Friday we received an e-mail that read:

Your preliminary placement for Fall 2010 is Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, NY.

Click here to go to their website.

Click here for a little bit of information from Wikipedia.

View Long Island College Hospital in a larger map

We are very much so looking forward to this next adventure in our journey to become physicians. However, we must stay focused for our final month on the island & finish our classes so we can come home!

5th Term thus far…

My Birthday

My birthday was in February, we went to dinner with Derek & Doris at Rhodes Restaurant. This was a much needed relaxing evening with great friends. The atmosphere at Rhodes was very different from what we are used to…there was even a grand piano being played while we were there (definitely not something you see here in Grenada). When we got home Derek & Doris surprised me with a birthday cake. Since I could not be home with my family, this was the perfect way to enjoy my birthday!

Fishing Trip

The weekend after our 1st set of exams this term we decided to enjoy the island and do something we have never done here! Our choice was deep sea fishing!! Derek H. & I were the main 2 that really wanted to go, Derek W. & Doris decided they would go along for the trip. We got some recommendations from some friends and decided to go out with Captain Gary Clifford of Yes Aye. Thanks to Captain Gary and his deck-hand for showing us a great time deep sea fishing.

Here’s our fishing story and pictures…

It was a beautiful day for an afternoon of fishing

On our way out to deeper waters. We were given the option of fishing in shallow water or going deep for big fish…we of course decided to go for the big catch & boy oh boy did we get what we wanted!

On our way out Captain Gary was looking for birds to help him find where the fish were. We came upon an area of about 8,000 feet deep with several birds and the fish struck. It was between Derek H. & I as to who would take the 1st catch, Derek being a gentleman let the lady go first…so I took the first catch. It took me about 15-20 minutes to reel in this 50 lb sailfish. As you can see from the picture it was a beautiful fish (it would have been a nice one to mount)! But, they protect billfish so we could not keep this one. It was a quick catch & release. Not to brag, but after we released this fish the deck hand told me that he has been taking people fishing for many years & he had never seen anyone do as well as I did bringing that fish in. I didn’t bother to tell him that I love to fish and come from a long line of fisherman…I guess he just thought I was a natural.

That catch was a lot of fun but I was afraid we would not catch anything else because Captain Gary told us that if we went deep we might catch something & we might not…the chances of us catching more were unlikely. Believe it or not…we lucked up! Captain Gary told me that we just found the right spot at the right time! There were birds diving in the water & fishing jumping all over the place. We got another strike! This time it was Derek’s turn to reel the catch in. He worked very hard for about 20 minutes, until he started to feel sick & had to trade-off to someone else. This catch was a yellow fin tuna that are known to fight for along time and to fight hard. I thought Derek W. might go next but he wasn’t sure what to do and said since I had such good technique that I could go again and Doris wanted no part of the fish, so, I was up again. I didn’t mind I was looking forward to it but I don’t think Captain Gary was so sure. He looked at me and asked “Are you strong?!?!” I was not sure how to answer this question but there was no one else so I had to be strong…I guess he doubted me because I am a girl. Needless to say, I proved him wrong. After an hour and a half, we finally got this whopping 142 lb tuna on board.

Yet again, the deck-hand was very impressed and told me that he just had to have a drink with me! So a round of beer for everyone on our way back in to the dock. A beautiful sunset after a hard afternoons work.

As we came into the marina they flew these flags to let everyone know that we had a catch…and lots of people came to the boat to see what we caught, thanks to them for taking most of the pictures for us. There was a barracuda flag from their morning trip, a sailfish flag for my catch & release, and a tuna flag for this huge yellow fin tuna.

The 4 of us attempting to hold this very heavy fish…we managed to last long enough to snap a picture.

Me holding the fish up by the tail…yes the fish is as long as I am tall.

We took lots of tuna meat back to campus with us, this is only the tail meat! Captain Gary was going to sell the rest to the fish market and local restaurants. We have a freezer full of tuna, that will last until our time in Grenada is up, and a good story to go along with it!

North End of the Island

The same weekend of our fishing trip we rented a car for the week. Derek & I wanted to rent a car because we were going fishing & it is easier to get to the marina if you drive than having to take public transportation or a taxi. We also wanted to drive around the entire island, we have lived here for almost 3 years & had not had the opportunity to see the whole island. So, one afternoon we took off & went for a long drive. It took us about 3 and a half hours. I really enjoyed it, it was neat seeing all the small little towns and villages. When we got to the very far north end of the island we came upon this really cool beach and decided to stop & take a little walk. It was very long & there were palm trees all over the place. The weirdest thing was that we were on the gorgeous beach and there was no one else around. You typically expect to see such beautiful beaches covered with people enjoying the sun.

I love how you can see the palm trees in our sunglasses in this picture!

It looks like it could be an advertisement for Maui Jim (our sunglasses)!

Hospital

This term as part of one of our classes we get to go to the hospital once a week. This has been a fun eye opening experience. It makes me really appreciate the healthcare we have at home. We have gotten to see patients with diseases that you would only see in a developing country, diseases that we may never have the opportunity to see again in our lives. We have done anesthesia, emergency room, psychiatry, pediatrics, general medicine, surgery, and pathology rotations. The picture below is of the hospital…it may not have air conditioning or private rooms, and it may not be the best of facilities but it does have an amazing view. The majority of the wards have windows that look out over the water. There are windows from the operating room that look out over the ocean and toward Grand Anse beach…what an incredible view to have while doing surgery!! Don’t you think?

Christmas 2009

I wanted to share a few pictures from our Christmas break. We had a great time at home. We got to spend lots of time with our family & friends…we always look forward to this! Of course, we enjoyed spending time with Tee. We can’t wait to get home & be with him all the time again.

Kenny G Concert

My Mom, Dad, and I are all big fans of Kenny G, he has such a soothing and relaxing sound. I found out that over our Christmas break he was performing a Christmas concert in Chattanooga, so of course I had to go. I decided it would be fun for the whole family to go, especially considering the concert was on Mom & Dad’s 36th wedding anniversary! We had a great time!

Snow

Every winter when we go home, Derek & I really want snow. We are so use to the topical weather we experience year round, here in Grenada. This year we got some snow…not much but enough to satisfy us.

Can you find the little white fluffy guy looking out the window?

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas day. We did our traditional routine. We had brunch at Derek’s parents, which was delicious as always. Then we had dinner at my parents house.

Uncle Todd with Tee & Aubie

I tried a new cheesecake this year…Coconut Cheesecake covered with chocolate ganache!

It was a big hit!

Mimi, Me, & Mom