Chris had his first exam on Monday. He was a little bit stressed and worried afterward, since it was a difficult test and some of the questions seemed unfair. But... he got an A! He's excited because now he knows his study schedule is effective without him staying up every night til 2 am, and I'm excited because I don't have to worry about his grades. Everyone wins!
We went out for dinner that night to celebrate the passing of his first exam. The sun sets early here, it's usually pitch black outside by 7 pm, so I didn't take pictures of the restaurant, but I will in the future. It's basically a big covered patio right next to the dock on the beach. Here are some pictures of the view, taken that night from just outside the restaurant.
I feel like I am beginning a new period of adjustment here. I'm getting used to all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and heat, and starting to venture out on campus and so forth. Yesterday the RSO had a bake sale (for which I made pumpkin bread, and it was delicious) and I volunteered to work the bake sale table in the future. Med students are funny, a lot of them walked by the table without a backward glance. I guess all that health-related information makes them disinclined to buy baked goods?
Also, I got a job! Kind of. I'm a standardized patient, which means I have to pretend to be sick with certain symptoms, and students examine me and ask me questions like I'm actually their patient. It's only one afternoon per week, but the pay is around $15 US per hour, and I'll take what I can get here. I can't say what case scenario I'm doing in case any of the students here read my blog, but I'm working with fourth semester students. Actually, I thought about trying to get a job in one of the local restaurants, but most are not air conditioned and about 120 degrees inside. No thanks. A few people have tried to recruit me to work at the prep school and for a few other positions that are child-related, but then I'd have to work with children. I'm not a big fan of kids... so work opportunities for me might be few and far between for the next 15 months.
Today I went to the pool with Olivia, another spouse, and on the way back we saw an iguana! My first island iguana! I was excited. Thankfully I take my camera with me everywhere.
How cool is that? (Answer: very cool.) I love being able to see awesome new things every day in Dominica.
