Wierd little things.

The term "lazy Sunday" was clearly coined by someone who had no intentions of being a doctor (or, at least, of being a very good one). Of course, there were some people who lounged out by the pool today - and I myself am guilty of an afternoon study break/quick splash in the Caribbean Sea - but it was a hard workin' day. It's only the first week, and I'm seeing my hours sluggishly pass by the windows of this study building I now call a second (third?) home. Mingled with trying to learn the information is the unclear expectations from some of the classes. There are posted objectives, but even those hold on to a certain amount of ambiguity. I generally know what I should know - my problem is that, sometimes, I'm just too lazy to get there (It's not enough to just learn the things I like - here, in this intense craziness that's only just beginning, I've gotta know it all). It's only the first week - how much do I need to know about the back? How well should I understand the basics of biomolecules? I guess the answers to those depends on whether or not I want to be at the top of the class, or just floating somewhere in the middle. (In case you're wondering, that's the Philadelphia chromosome seen in chronic myelogenous leukemia.)

It's wierd getting back into this right at the beginning. By the end of Merp, I knew how the professors tested, how they wrote questions, and what they expected me to be able to pick out from the readings and lectures. It was a good system, and we all had it down - in addition to that, we'd covered so much information that we were able to answer a high percentage of questions from the various review books available. It's different now - back at the beginning, there's a sense of aimlessness. Part of me feels that this nebulous disconnectedness will dissipate when I finally get my hands on the cadaver this week - but if that happens, it will only be for anatomy, and even then, just for the lab part. I'm going to have to work extra-hard to master biochemistry in the same depth that I'l be able to reach in the subjects I'll enjoy. I've already been over all of this information several times, but i know that I should know it better. It's comforting to know that MERP alum traditionally do exceptionally well here, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy.

It's only the first week. That's no excuse to take things easy (which I am by no means doing), but there are still a few days to get things figured out. I need to figure out how the different professors are going to ask questions (pardon me if this post devolves into my thinking out loud - I kind of need to plan a bit right now), so it might be a good idea to stop by their office hours before I need any help. I need to figure out how much time I need to spend on everything, and I need to figure out how best to memorize it all. They won't hold our hands here like they did in MERP, and I've got to figure out how to do it on my own. Another thing I need to figure out is what this thing is. I've never seen one before - it was so wierd looking that I thought it was fake. It must be some kind of unholy Caribbean caterpillar - what on earth is it going to grow into? This thing was about 6 inches long, and, I suppose, based on its coloring, either poisonous or absoutely wretched-tasting. Every day is wierder than the one before.

Make no mistake: this is a third world country. My power went off yesterday (through no fault of my own this time), and I finally got it turned back on, befriending yet another security guard in the process. It's just too bad that my power probably went out because a half-gallon of rainwater (I think, it might have come from some pipes somewhere) collected in the bowl surrounding the light on my ceiling. I'm....at a loss of words on that one, but at least I had hot water today.

But I digress. if I were to be brutally honest with myself, I'd say that I should get back to biochemistry (show me a surgeon who gives a flying fart about ions, and I'll show you someone who should chew on my mystery caterpillar).