The Surpassing Grace of God: This is it! ( January 12-January 22)

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138:8

How reassuring to know that our Lord does not abandon us b/c we are the work of His hands. His Love is ever present for us and he is fulfilling and will fulfill every purpose that He has us. This was my New Year's verse or my verse to summarize 2011. New Years seems million years away..because it's 77 degrees outside! Yep...I'm back in Grenada!!!

From the Painted sky, to my plank filled eye

He is God of all, He is everything! -chris august

This semester feels a bit different from my first time on this island. The good is that I know what to expect, I see familiar faces, I have people saying hello to me because they know who I am, I have people inviting me to spend time/study with them, I know where offices/buildings/grocery stores are...this is all very different from last semester. The "bad" thing is is that I don't CONSTANTLY have this " in awe" feelings anymore. This made me a bit confused when I got here at first. Last semester the moment I stepped off the airplane, I was utterly amazed and enthralled by every little detail of the island and the school. I "studied" every wave in the ocean..haha...every tree on campus, every weird thing I saw... I was even amazed by every mosquito that bit me. I wanted to see every sunset, try every new fruit, and jump off every jump-able cliff. While I'm still amazed at the beauty of the ocean, the breathtaking campus, I have a more peaceful love towards everything I see, not so much, "AHHH..i can't breath or think or eat..it's all too beautiful."

Maybe my primary excitement is MEDICAL SCHOOL!!! Oh, also this term is/was so busy from day ONE. (there is no time to look at sunsets ;)) I really like my classes. I am already learning so much. All my classes are very clinical bases. Even thought we are learning anatomy or histology..we apply everything to a clinical case...which was ALWAYS my favorite part of ANY class!!!

I'm in a bioethics class which so far is VERY interesting. All about the attributes of a physician. Today I read these two articles. If you have a moment and if you like ethics/healthcare/attributes of physicians -corrupt vs. good (physicians who's primary goal is money or who don't know how to/don't want to deal with death vs. those who really care for patients/families), glace at these articles.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?printable=true

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande

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The weather is VERY different from last term. It rains almost every day a few times a day and some days are pretty cloudy (which is new to me from last term and very beautiful). The water is much colder then last term. Not cold, just colder. Last term, it was like REALLY warm bath water. This term it's room-temperature. :)

Here are some pictures:

Notice the beautiful clouds! The water is not as clear because of the stronger waves - picking up more sand.

This is the building that I live in. My door is on the top, right side :) I think you should stop by sometime :)

View from the front door!

The campus kind of has three levels, my building is on the upper most lever, so you can see the rest of the campus :)

View from the kitchen window..you can see a bit of the ocean ( or sea).

View from the bedroom window.

Before school started, the school held an ice-cream social for the students.

Making food ( chili) and freezing some for my first week of school! I tried to start out on a smart , organized foot. lol

White Coat Ceremony!

The physician who put on my coat was wonderful! He lead the ceremony. He said, "On this day, January 16, in the year of our Lord, 2012... I was so amazed and joyful at how he said the date, that I loved him right away. He talked about how being a physician is all about being a servant and a true physician always has the needs of others in from of his/her own. One more amazing physician that i've met and was blessed by! He shook my hand, congratulated me and put the while coat on.

With my wonderful friend, JENN!

The MD, MPH group

BOOKS!!!

Cutting up a papaya.

The seeds and the inner connecting layer can by used in a salad. (Thank you google)

The papaya seeds tastes like pepper, this I discovered on my own , with out the help of google, which makes them a perfect salad dressing. COOL!

Desk and bookshelf. My roommates have beautifully decorated rooms, so I thought I would try to to make my room pleasant..now if I can only keep it clean :)