We're Officially Medical Students

Just a short post today with a picture from the Ross University White Coat Ceremony, which is a rite of passage kicking off our tenure as students of the art of medicine. Words of encouragement and some guidelines and expectations were given to us by members of the faculty. Then we donned our "short" white coats, presented to us by a member of the faculty. The "short" coat, as opposed to a long coat, is the sign of a doctor in training. When I graduate and receive my M.D., I will then be authorized to wear the long coat.

The people shown with me in the photo are my Ross peeps. Most flew in on the same airplane that I did.

Last Day Before Class Begins

Today I took a island bus tour that took us along the western coast and down to the southern end of the island. Although the buses here are definitely not made for anyone over six feet tall, I had a very good, although tiring, time and saw some amazing sights.

Being the last day before classes start for the semester, I will not have as many new photos to post for a while. My head will be in a book for the next 4 months, but I will occasionally update this blog because I've taken way more beautiful and interesting pictures than the few I have uploaded so far.

Okay. Here goes.

The buses lined up on campus, ready to take us on our island tour

View from a bluff overlooking the capital city of Roseau. It was raining fairly hard, thus the haze.

Dominica's only sports stadium was built to attract international Cricket tournaments

This tree is known as a cannonball tree because of its cannonball shaped fruit. The driver also called it "Devil's Poo" because apparently the fruit smells terrible if you crack it open.
The elevation changes in this country are breathtaking. Here, mist shrouds the top of a mountain in the distance.

More amazing scenery
Climbing the slippery, mossy rocks up to Trafalgar Falls. One of many spectacular waterfalls in Dominica, Trafalgar Falls is actually a set of three waterfalls all right by each other. The hike up close to the falls was a lot of fun, although probably a bit dangerous considering it was raining.
One of the three falls that are all in close proximity to each other.

In order to get to this position, I had to climb up a bunch of wet boulders. Only a few of us made it up this far, but it was worth it. The thundering of the falls all around you, and the warm mist hitting your face was amazing.

This video helps show how amazing the Trafalgar Falls is from up close

The roads get insanely close to the ocean. This was taken from the bus window.

Soufriere Bay with Scotts Head protruding out into the sea. Scotts Head is the barrier between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. One the far side is the pounding surf of the Atlantic, while the inner side is the tranquil waters of the Caribbean.
View from the thin connection between the main island and Scotts Head, looking north.

Boats in Soulfriere Bay

We got an amazing view of Soufriere Bay from the little mountain on Scotts Head. The hike up to this position was also a bit difficult, requiring me to scale some steep boulders, which was a lot of fun.

A look down the cliff on top of Scotts Head

More from the first week in Dominica

Hello again.

I've got lots more to share from my first week here, and plenty of pictures to upload. My friends have also taken some great pictures, so take a peek at my Facebook pictures too, if you like.

Yesterday was the first day here where it did not feel like just a vacation. We finished up the 4th and final day of orientation, then had a litany of errands to run, things to sign up for, items to pick up, etc. I've found that things are not exactly organized in the most efficient manner here at Ross. It seems like everything turns into a scavenger hunt, of sorts. You learn to ask others where they found this and that, then when you get there the person in charge may or may not be there anymore, or the item(s) you came for may be all out and they ask you to return tomorrow. If I learn anything at all here, it will be patience (although, I better learn a lot more than that...).

Before I left, my cousin Leota made this awesome cake for me! I see a future as the next Ace of Cakes!

This is taken from the steps of the "Annex", which is where the first semester students have lecture. The building in the forefront is just a storage building, but I took the photo because the clouds blowing over the mountains in the background are just gorgeous. Photos really do not do this country justice. You have to see it in person to fully understand its grandeur.

Yes, there is a KFC on the road between campus and the Annex. A taste of home will be nice once in a while, and its surprisingly inexpensive. The place right next door to it is called Rituals and is essentially a Starbucks, but with much much better food, that is also surprisingly inexpensive.

The Portsmouth Beach Hotel has cabins that are right on the beach. This is where the cast of the Pirates of the Caribbean stayed during filming on the island, except Johnny Depp, who stayed on his yacht in the harbor. Notice the black sand beach.

This picture is essentially the view I have from my front door. Photos do not do the elevation changes justice. That mountain in the background goes up at about a 50 percent grade.

This is the view from the road that runs right next to campus, facing north. Campus is just to the right and the Annex is about a quarter mile down the road.

This is the Activities Center, located on the north end of campus. The workout room takes up the bottom floor and the top floor is a student lounge with flat screen televisions, ping pong, and pool. I'll be spending a lot of time here, mostly downstairs where the workout room is decently well equipped.

This was the site of my first dive, just south of RUH. The barge on the right of the picture has been grounded for a while and teams is now an artificial reef. The dog is the Dive Master's.

Taken from the main road, my apartment is the bright orange/salmon colored building in the center of the screen. I live on the bottom floor.

This is the door to my apartment. I have three windows and a door with a screen, and when I open them all up the breeze blows nicely through. When I use my computer I sit at the kitchen table and enjoy the wind. My apartment pretty nice quality construction, but what is mind-boggling is that just about everything is done by hand here. I see laborers building new constructions and there is not a forklift, crane, jack-hammer, or nail gun to be seen. Building sites are cleared with machetes. It really is amazing what these people can do with their bare hands.

I leave you with a video from a BBQ that was thrown by the University for 1st semester students. Of course, I was particularly excited to listen to a steel drum band that performed above us as we ate and mingled.


My Best to all!

D-Day + 5

Although part of me thought the day would never really arrive, D-Day (Dominica Day) has come and went, and after a full day of travel and months of preparation, here I am.

The first thing I said when I stepped off the plane, onto the tarmac in front of the tiniest airport I've ever seen, was "Wow", and I've continued to say that word over and over as I see more of this raw, beautiful, rugged island. When I stepped off the plane and saw that the airport had an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean, I knew that this was going to be interesting, and for the most part it has been a very good experience.

I promised to avoid long wordy posts, and I'm no writer anyway, so let me begin with the pictures, which is what you want to see any way:

(*Remember, if you click on the image you can see a higher resolution version*)

The plane we took on the final leg to Dominica

My first view of Dominica from the plane. As you can see, the interior is very rugged with dense foliage. In many regions the coast is also very rugged, with steep cliffs running into the water. However, other regions have beautiful sand or pebble beaches
The Airport is tiny with just one room sectioned into two areas, one for arriving passengers to get their passports stamped and another for inspection of luggage.

After a little issue with our luggage and a 1.5 hr wait (patience is a necessity in this country), we were packed into this bus to head to campus.
Most of the ride included views such as the above, although the road also traveled along the ocean at times giving us some amazing views of incredible beaches, coves, and natural harbors. The roads here are no larger than typical one lane roads in the States, but cars fly at each other and veer to the "shoulder", just avoiding crashing into each other. Riding with a Dominican driver is quite an experience. They negotiate the incredibly curvy, hilly roads with much talent, at relatively high speeds. Often times, however, you'll notice cars with side mirrors broken off, which is no surprise considering the closeness with with the cars pass each other on the tiny roads. And because the island was controlled by the British before gaining its independence, cars travel on the "wrong" side of the road, making it even scarier.
Much of the local population, especially those living on the eastern side of the island, are not very well off. During our hour drive from the airport to Portsmouth, we saw many of these small shanties. On this side of the island, rainfall can reach over 120 inches a year. Our side still gets a wet 60-80 inches. Up in the mountains: 300 inches.

After an hour drive through the mountains, and with a few of the people around me starting to feel sick from the sharp dips and climbs, we were dropped off at Ross University Housing (RUH), were we gathered out luggage and received a very brief introduction to the island. Those of us with housing already arranged were either picked up by our landlords or dropped off by Ross vans at the apartment buildings.


This road is an exception, not the norm, because it can actually pass two cars side-by-side. Typically the roads are about half this size and one car has to veer over to allow the other to pass. This picture is of the main road that runs down along the ocean and passes by campus and Ross University Housing.
This is a picture of a small part of the community surrounding campus. For the most part, campus, and its surrounding apartments and restaurants, are disconnected from Portsmouth and is really its own little town dedicated to Ross and its students. This picture was taken from a trail that leads up to my apartment.

The on which Portsmouth and campus sits is called Prince Ruperts Bay and is gorgeous. It in this natural harbor, with the relatively tranquil waters on the western side of the island, where Christopher Columbus anchored and came ashore. He named the island after the day on which he discovered it, Sunday (latin: Dominica). This is a picture from the student deck on campus. While taking this picture, right behind me was a Subway, where I'll be frequenting often throughout my stay.

During my first 5 days here, I have had some incredible adventures; too many to write about and put up pictures from right now. From snorkeling on a coral reef just a few hundred feet from the beach behind RUH, to climbing a mountain to get up to a patio bar with the most amazing view I've ever seen , to meeting tons of really cool people interested in the same goal as me, to learning about Dominica and Ross and about what it takes to become a doctor, to SCUBA diving and seeing eels, puffer fish, angel fish, and sea urchins, to cutting open a recently fallen coconut with my dive knife to taste what real coconut should taste like, to listening to a steel drum band play Bob Marley songs while eating at a BBQ thrown by the University, to walking through the rain but not caring because the scenery is still amazing and you know the sun will come out if you just give it a few minutes, to sweating like crazy all the time, to discovering that many of the items you thought you'd never see for 16 months are actually available (Monster energy drink, brandy, rice crispie treats, etc.), to forming a really good group of friends that will support and push each other in our studies, to getting an amazing tan already, to finding out that work-out room is very adequate and I won't lose my muscles but knowing that I will lose a whole bunch of flub because I'm walking endlessly up and down hills and mountains and sweating like crazy and swimming and working out while not eating nearly as much as before and eating healthier, to being able to sea the ocean from about anywhere I am, to stepping on a piece of razor-sharp metal fencing and it nearly going all the way through my foot (hmm... thats not a great memory, but one of the few bad ones), to playing sand volleyball with my friends on campus with a view of the ocean, to eating the freshest bananas nearly right off the tree, to seeing crabs scurrying across the roads as you walk by, to seeing random cows grazing just about anywhere, to playing a basketball with a little Dominican boy, and many more.

Although I am loving my experiences here, I also greatly miss much from home: my family, girlfriend and friends, a respite from the sometimes overwhelming heat and especially the humidity, real milk, my car, my queen-sized bed, Notre Dame... It is hard to be so far away from the things I love and cherish, and that will take some time to get used to, although I never think the longing and tug of home will ever go away. But, after being here for a few days, I am more certain than ever that I will grow tremendously from this experience. I'll come home a different and better person, and hopefully well trained and ready to be a doctor.

I'll be updating again soon with more pictures. I have plenty and may just start a photo-share account so you can see them all, rather than just the few I have time to put up and caption here.

My best to all.

-Jim

3 Weeks Until D-Day

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the long delay between posts. I plan on typically posting more frequently with lots of PICTURES! but the past number of weeks have been mostly filled with more preparations, which means not many fun pictures to post.

Continuing from where I left off last post, I'm going to run down my list of things to do and think about prior to enrolling at Ross in the beginning of May.

I'm going to start with my:

Student Visa

What a pain in the butt! If getting a student visa into the U.S. is as difficult as it is for Dominica, I feel bad for all my international friends at Notre Dame. I went through a very thorough health physical prior to testing out the ROTC waters, but this one was even more comprehensive, not to mention very EXPENSIVE.

A visa is required by anyone planning on staying for more than 30 days in Dominica.

Here's what I had to do:

- Get up-to-date hepatitis A and B shots
- Tetanus booster
- Typhoid vaccine (this was optional, but in my opinion worth it)
- HIV test
- Tuberculosis test
- Chest x-ray
- Physician physical exam

The visa application also requires a valid passport, a $50 money order, a police background check, and travel itinerary indicating a purchased return flight to the US.

Gathering all this was very time and money exhaustive, and it was very satisfying to receive confirmation of its approval.


Plane Ticket

Considering I will be traveling over 2,300 miles to a country just a few times bigger than Washington D.C., flying to Dominica is actually not that difficult. Two airlines operate out of Dominica: American Airlines and Liat Air, a Caribbean-based airline. Because Dominica's largest airport/runway can only accommodate small propeller-driven aircraft, a direct flight from the U.S. is not possible. Most trips stop-over in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where you go through Dominican Customs before boarding a small plane to travel the final 350 miles of the trip.

There are two airports in Dominica (more accurately called airfields or airstrips), although only one has lights. The airport used by the airlines is called Melville Hall and is located near the northeast coast. The airport is so small that there is only a single terminal. Only a few commercial flights land at the airport each day.

Melville Hall Airfield. The pink building behind the plane is the one and only terminal.

A front view of the pink Melville Hall Airport terminal

I purchased my plane tickets a few months ago, and was able to secure a direct flight from Chicago to San Juan, set for April 3oth. After a layover of about 21 hrs (a long layover in beautiful Puerto Rico? I don't mind!), I'll fly to Dominica and arrive around 2 PM on May 1st. At the airport, I will be met by a Ross driver who will help load my luggage into a van then drive me across Dominica's rugged, mountainous interior to my apartment. Although only 12 miles separate the airport and the Ross campus, it is about an hour drive along a winding, dizzying road that snakes its way through the mountains to Portsmouth.

My flight path: Chicago to San Juan to Dominica

Note: Liat Air allows only one check-in bag. Just fyi for anyone wanting to visit :)



Communication

As anyone who has traveled abroad understands, communicating with friends and family back home can be tricky and expensive. Dominica is definitely no different. I have spent a lot of time researching the options and have developed a communication plan that will be as convenient and inexpensive as possible.

Cell Phone:

Dominica does have a cellular network in place, although no major U.S. carrier provides standard coverage in the country. That means even if my Verizon phone did work (which it won't), if I called home I would incur international roaming charges that would be more than $2.50 a minute!! Instead, I have purchased a prepaid SIM card, which is Dominica-specific. It gives me a local number, and I can use the local cellular network with much lower per-minute fees. The SIM card is prepaid, so I just continue adding $ to it by buying "top-up" coupons. This is nice because I won't have to sign up for a service, and I'll always know exactly how much I'm spending.

Another major problem with cell phones in Dominica is that the local cellular network uses different frequencies than those used in the United States. Therefore, it's important to have a compatible cell phone. Also, in order for the phone to use the new SIM card, it must not be locked into a certain network provider, like AT&T, etc.

My solution was to purchase an unlocked, quad-band cell phone. There are many of these that can be bought online, so after looking at my options I decided on a Sciphone i68+, which is a iPhone rip-off made in China.

Sciphone i68+: iPhone Clone

The i68+ looks almost exactly like an iPhone, and acts like an iPhone in many ways. But I've found that it most certainly is NOT an iPhone. Some of the functions are clunky, slow, or difficult to use, but for a fraction of the price (unlocked iPhones run about $650!!!!) this phone is really cool. I can also use it back home because it will work with the American cellular frequencies.

I will only use my phone sparingly when away from my computer because most of my communication will be done via Skype.

Skype

This amazing program will save me hundreds of dollars by allowing me to call home for free from my computer. Not only can I call other people who have Skype, but I can call people's cell phones and land lines back in the States.

I also have signed up for a Skype number which is (574) 914-0031. This number has an Indiana 574 area code but is used to call my Skype internet account. Therefore, people who want to talk to me can call my number and their phone company will only charge the cost of a call to a 574 area code number. When I by my computer, I can just talk to you using my microphone. What is really cool is that if I'm away from my computer, the call can be forwarded, via the internet and Skype, to my cell phone. The call will be a local for you and a local call for me in Dominica. This will save both me and the people calling me from insane international rates, but allow both of us to use our cell phones.

Skype seriously is amazing, and a life saver for students studying abroad.

Once again my Skype number/the number to reach me at after April 3oth:

(574) 914-0031

If you have Skype, my username is:

ndsnare2008


Thanks for reading! More to come soon.

- Jim

The countdown continues...

Hello all!

A little over 2 months to go before D-Day (Dominica-Day) and the preparations continue. There is so much to do and think about. Some of the items on the list include:

-Housing
-Plane Ticket
-Student Visa
-Financial Aid
-Communication
-Shipping my stuff to the island
-Figuring out how to succeed in medical school

The next couple posts I'll be talking a bit about each of these considerations, beginning with:

Housing

Finding quality housing could potentially be a very difficult and dangerous proposition. No one in their right mind would agree to lease from a landlord they've never met, in a foreign country they've never been to, and without ever seeing the apartment they plan on living in for the foreseeable future. But that is exactly what I must do.

Luckily, the University does offer assistance in finding housing and regulates which landlords students can rent from. All apartments authorized by Ross include air-conditioning, Internet access, cable TV, hot water, and some security measures. The Housing Office maintains a website that posts the available apartments with a list of their amenities, distance from campus, price, and also a few pictures. The price of apartments varies dramatically, from $300/month for a dumpy apartment 20+ minutes walking from campus to over $1200/month for an awesome condo near campus.

Besides price, distance from campus, and quality, another important consideration is the landlord. I've heard quite a few horror stories so I need to be extra careful. For instance, I've heard of landlords who randomly refuse to give back security deposits (which is a full month's rent, so a big deal), landlords who randomly evict their tenants, landlords who randomly levy fines and extra charges. Then their are the stories of rat and bug infestations... not something I want to deal with.

So, after scouring the housing list and getting the opinions of some current/past students, I have decided on renting an apartment from a complex called Harmony Apartments. The building is fairly new, decently close to campus, and fully furnished.

That color is oh so Caribbean...

To reserve my unit, I mailed my security deposit via an International Money Order (done through the post office) to the Ross Housing Office in Dominica. The landlord then will cash the money order at a Dominica post office, and my housing plans will then be solidified.

Harmony Apartments Website

Some more photos of my apartment:

The kitchen is quite pretty

The bathroom is nice as well

A backup generator is really nice because the power in Dominica is very unreliable

View from the top floor (unfortunately, I'll be on the bottom floor)

2nd floor view

Obviously the apartment's distance from campus is a big deal, because you'll be walking back and forth multiple times a day, and rarely do people have cars or bikes. Using Google Earth, I was able to locate the exact location of my apartment and determine how far away the school is.

The collection of white buildings is the Ross University campus, and my apartment is on Banana Trail, a little less than a 1/2 mile walk down a windy gravel road to campus and .25 miles from the ocean (click on the picture for a higher resolution version of the picture).

The bay on which Ross and my apartment sit is called Prince Ruperts Bay. On the photo, the town to the left (north) of Ross is Portsmouth. Its a bit over a mile away from my apartment and 1/2 mile from Ross. (click image for higher resolution)

A Google Earth view of Prince Ruperts Bay, looking to the East. The white buildings of the Ross campus can be seen just to the right of the center of the frame.

Overall, I'm really excited about my housing! While my Dad probably would prefer I stay somewhere cheaper, I really think having a comfortable place to rest and rejuvenate is vital to do well in my studies. Living away from everything and everyone that I'm accustomed to and comforted by, in a country with a completely different climate and culture, with the stress of a medical school workload will be an extremely challenging experience. A comfy place to unwind, relax, study, and sleep will tremendously help me overcome these challenges.


Dominica Fact of the Day:

The name "Dominica" is pronounced "Dom-ah-knee-ka", as opposed to "Dom-in-ah-ka". It is important to differentiate between Dominica and the more popularly known Dominican Republic. I hear the locals will give you a dirty look if you get it wrong.



Thanks for reading! Next time I'll detail some of the other preparations I've been making.

And remember: POST COMMENTS PLEASE!


- Jim