Many updates

A lot has happened since my last post. My parents came for a weeklong visit and we had a lot of fun adventures. I also took Mini II, my second midterm, and received my grades back. We are actively trying to find a place to live in Dominica as our time here nears its end.


I guess I will start with the test. After my parents left, I had one week to prepare for mini II. Of course, I never stopped studying while they were here but my focus was a little off. I was happy to have a full week to regain concentration and get down to business. The week before the mini was rough. I put in a minimum of 8 additional hrs of studying everyday on top of lectures. I was exhausted. The exam itself was very hard. I think that the majority of my class felt that it was harder then MINI I, particularly in microbiology and physiology. In micro it included all the hypersensitivities, assays, and viruses. In physiology the test covered cardiac and respiratory physiology. Two very difficult subjects. Overall the test went well. My grade in physiology was lower than on mini I but fortunately I did really well on the first test. I also did really well in the other subjects so my overall MINI I grade was higher than MINI I. I was very pleased with my performance except in physiology. We only have 4 weeks of class left. Our last quiz is this Wednesday. I can’t believe it. Mini 3/final exam is on July 23rd. I am updating now because I am not sure how much time I will have for updates between now and the final. The final is worth 35% of our grade, so there is a lot of pressure to do well. Also, I am striving for acceptance into the PACE program. In order for Ross to offer MERP students PACE you need to be in the top 20% of your class. I am not there yet but I am close and if I do well on the final I will have a very good chance of being taken into the program. I will talk more about PACE at a later time because I only know the basic information. Someone from the New Jersey office is coming to talk to us about it on Wednesday.

Moving on to a new topic: My parents!!! It was incredible to have them here. They came in late on a Wednesday night and the first thing we did was take them to fish fry. We had a great time and the food did not disappoint as usual. Over the next few days Brandon, Gabby and my parents did some sightseeing and lots of COOKING. I remember walking into the apartment on that Thursday after class and smelling the home cooked Bulgarian food from the stairs. It’s amazing but it really made me feel like I was coming home. Having them here, cooking the same way they always had, making the same food they always did when I was little. It was like we were still back in our old house. The saying: “Home is where the heart is” came to mind many times during their visit here. Having them here along with Gabby and Brandon I truly felt home. It didn’t matter that we were in a 650sq ft apartment. But like all good things, their visit came to an end. They are safely back in Bulgaria enjoying their 4 month vacation. It is very sad to think that we will not see them for a full year. Some of the fun things my parents did while they were here is go to the beach, visit Port Lucaya market, fishing, fish fry, the beach, and on the one day that I did take off from studying we went to the Port Lucaya National Park and beach. We also went snorkeling at the reefs (my personal favorite). Pictures will follow. Enjoy!

Lastly, we have started to make our preparations to depart here. Wednesday we meet with the coordinator that will help us workout issues for Dominica such as housing, visa’s, transportation, etc. I am excited to see what we need to do. I will post all of that information during my month long break from school. More of this to come later.