Woo, what are you doing?

Some mornings, my little sister calls me from Nashville on her drive in to work. She always starts with the same question, "Woo, what are you doing?" I laugh, because she's funny, and respond, "Studying, I'm always studying."

The truth is, I am. Minus a few much needed breaks with Jess Stackhouse, meals with my mama, mass on Sundays, and trips to Bergen, there is a great chance that if you call the house, I'll be studying. I went to the gym in the afternoon today, and I was thinking about what I'd say to Em in two weeks. First, who knows if I'll be up when she's driving to work, but how weird (and wonderful) it will be to NOT be studying.

My exam is scheduled for May 10. The day after Mother's day, because really who is more lucky to me than my mom, and frankly all of the moms in my life. It is an 8 hour exam, so at about 5pm on Monday I'll be on cloud nine! (And probably really exhausted.) So, I will write after my exam but until then think happy thoughts and have a wonderful week and a half!

End of Cayman..

Because the fact that I'm taking Step1 is stressing the crap out of me, I thought I'd take a break to update on my last Cayman days. It has not hit me that I won't be back to the island for a long time.

The last week was filled with three exams, which I managed to pull off well and Friday at 3pm was a very odd feeling. There was, no more Cayman studying? I walked out of the lecture hall that I have had class in since my first day in September 2008. I said goodbye to a few classmates, and I headed home. I called my mom, for her to inform me it was snowing at home. I was less than ecstatic.

Friday night I went to dinner with some close friends to celebrate. It was great to relax, and pretty hard to think about "outside of med school" things to talk about. There was a great Caribbean band. Saturday morning I spent shopping for souvenirs with miss Sajitha Joseph. By then, I was soaking up every second with my beloved 1st semester roommate and wonderful friend. Saturday night I went on a catamaran trip to Rum Point, one of Cayman's hottest tourist spots with a panoramic view of the ocean and the sunset. We ate another delicious dinner, then went back to my friends place and played charades and laughed. Sunday was weird, I packed almost everything, had lunch with some 4th semester students, and made dinner for my roommates. Then, the goodbyes came. Some of my closest smu friends stopped over with ice cream cake, and when it was time for them to leave the tears were falling. It wasn't like we won't see each other again, it was just that I had seen them almost every day for the past two years. Change is sad, even when its happy. Here are some pictures:


Nirav and I at one of our favorite restaurants, Deckers.


Some of the best medical school friends a girl could wish for, Sajitha Joseph and Shazia Siddiqui.


The gang at Rum Point.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, an update on life back in Warsaw during my next freak out moment :)

Last Cayman post!

I have what I feel like is a lifetime to catch up on, but for now I just wanted to say goodbye from Cayman, and a soon to be hello from 30 Park. While it seems like I've been counting the seconds to home since I've been here, the last few days have certainly humbled me to my environment here.

The emails from home saying how proud everyone is of me warm my heart, but the truth is I couldn't have made it here without all of you, and all the crazy people I met here. Don't get me wrong, they drive me nuts sometimes, but my friends here have survived the last 20 months of hell with me, and I can't imagine a better group of people to laugh about it at the end. It was a tearful day to say the least. And I'm sure tomorrow night, around 10pm when I hug my mama the tears will pour again for really happy reasons. Hope everyone has a wonderful week...I will email soon!

All my love, and goodbye from down south.

Happy Birthday Roo :)

I think about as lame as you can get is to call your best friend at 11:20pm on her birthday to wish her happy birthday. No card, no mail, and tons of excuses. So what if you're across the ocean in a different country with medical exams? Luckily, she understands, our friendship has been defined by understanding distance.

But, with distance comes the understanding that we're better together, and we're better people because of the friendship we share. Today my very best turned 23, and I wish her all the best in the next year of her life. I still joke with her that at 23 she has lived lessons of a lifetime, and she'll be saving the world by 25. I hope this year brings happiness, good health, safety, and hopefully best friend hugs! Happy Birthday, Mrs. Franks. I love you and appreciate you so much :)

April Update!

The last week...and still deciding how I feel about it. Ready or not, I have 1 suitcase packed and could be completely packed in about 30 minutes if need be. However, two exams stand between me and western NY. Monday, I had a test where I walk in to a patient, take their history, decide which physical examination to perform (abdominal, heart, respiratory, etc.). The exam went well, and I only missed two minor portions so I was happy with that, and happy to have 1/3 of the stress behind me. Thursday and Friday I have two more written exams.

Today, I was lucky enough to get a visit from my friend Katy, and her boyfriend Paul. They went on a cruise together, and one of their stops was Grand Cayman! This morning we walked on the beach, catching up (even though we email about 3 times a week) and chatted about our beloved friends, the angels. We laid on rafts in the ocean, and Paul's sister and her fiancee met up with us for some lounging and burgers for lunch. It was short, too short, but the perfect breath of fresh air I needed to survive my last island days. The truth is, I'm a mainland girl. I'm happy with a distant drive to my family and close friends, the $400 plane drive is a little much. Katy and Paul's sister Jen took some great pics of us, but I only took a few so below is Kate and Paul lounging in the clear Caribbean water for the first time. So glad I go to share it with them. Yay for best friends visiting, even if its only for 6 hour stints!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! This post will be short, since I started today over 16 hours ago. I hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with family, or at least friends who felt like it. I am missing the days mom would dress us up in dresses and socks with ruffles and take us to the front pew of Saint Michael's. Easter without family definitely feels like something is missing.

This week, I'm so thankful for my family. April 1st was Grandma Schiraldi's birthday, and hearing her voice and her thanking me for calling was more of a present to me. I am, so thankful for her spirit, her health, and her chicken soup. Just kidding gram, but seriously. I also got to talk to my brother, my aunt laura, and am just constantly overwhelmed at how much family can mean to someone. I was glad to talk to both my parents, and get some sort of contact w/all three of my wonderful siblings, as well as my best friend. Kind of puts perspective to the saying, you don't have to be there to be there.

Tomorrow I have an exam, and Tuesday a day off with one of my favorite friends (and angel), Katy Dorman. And the best news of Easter is, its one week to 30 Park :)

In all seriousness though, Happy Easter. I am in awe always at how much the Lord has given me and how He really is what keeps me going. I cannot underestimate the feeling of calm and relaxation that I get from mass.