Week One Finished

So I have completed the first week of medical school.

I would love to say how amazing everything is and how I am ahead of the game.


My reality...

Its a lot of information.
I am still trying to find the right study strategy to retain and integrate all the material.
Living in a foreign country with resources and ways I am not accustomed is taking a while to get used to.
I miss my baby, and she never calls me :(
I am a little stressed that I am not where I want to be.
  - I have not started working out.
  - My anatomy recall is not good
  - I am in a less than ideal mental space.

But...

I have adjusted my study strategy after meeting with some of the resources on campus.
I am going to pack some work out clothes and put them in my locker @ school and when I am ready I will hit the gym (hopefully tomorrow)
My landlord has fixed some of the problems at my apt and I have tried to make it as homely as I can. 
I want to try and go to the beach maybe for lunch next week. Get a chance to appreciate the beauty of where I am not just the challenges. 

I am super surprised that I am feeling so stressed this early in the game. 
I think I am just hard on myself. 
I am going to focus up. And if I don't do as well as I want on the first test. I will know that I worked my hardest. 

Almost there...

I had a couple of friends reach out to check on me.   Thank you so much for thinking of me.  

What's the haps?

I flew out of DFW 8/28 and the last leg from Puerto Rico to Dominica was canceled due to the damage done to the area by hurricanes Danny and Erika.  

I have been in San Juan since Friday, but the school has been amazing.  They are paying for hotels and giving a food allowance.  There are over 200 students here and some on 3 other nearby islands. 

The school campus is not damaged and as of 8/31 all electricity, water, and communication has been restored in the school and near by areas.  

The airport is not opened yet and the roads are not consistent.  

But the school will start as planned on 8/7.  The plan so far for us in Puerto Rico  is to fly to Guadalupe starting Today (I leave Thursday) and then take a Ferry to Portsmith where the school is.  

It was nice to have a basically free mini vaycay , but we are missing orientation and that week we had to get settled and acclimated.   

It was a chance to meet other students. But to be homest as kind of a quite non-traditional career changer, some of these folks are a bit much.  So much competition and the need to feel superior or awesome in conversation is kind of annoying.  I spent a lot of time in my room.  Unfortunately the Wifi in the hotel is inconsistent so no Netflix or Internet. Just reading and TV.  

  

Any who. That's were I am at now.  Hope all is well with anyone who stops by to read this.    

Here are a couple picks from walking around old San Juan, PR

4 days left !

well.. actually really only 3 because I have to be at the airport at like 3 am on Friday.

My head is spinning.  Every time I mark a few things off the list new things pop up.

There are also so many things I have to do when I get to the island.  I need to start writing some things down.

I think one of the main things to realize about going international, especially to a school that has so many people is  you have to be responsible and independent.

Starting any major program and moving is a lot of work.  But you throw on top of that international visas, travel arrangement, planning orientation and registration a 2000 miles a way.  Its a lot of WORK.  And no one does it for you, they help as much as they can and send emails.  But you have to make sure it gets done.

I personally do not have a problem with the work, but I am super paranoid about missing something or something going wrong. 

I read all these stories of bags not getting there for 3 weeks, the lack of this product or that product, and all these things you should be bringing with you...  ::internal scream::

Anywho.
  this week will be filled with "closing the loop"
    - getting J completly packed and moved ( about 74% done)
    - purging "stuff" and packing the rest for me (20% done)
    - Getting all J's administrative & health done. ( 84% done)
          -- dentist appt on Wed & getting school physical notarized as soon as the call me to pick it up)
    - My medical stuff ( 90% done)
          -- got my years worth of Rx script done, dentist appt today)
    - shopping (80 % done)  
          -- still need to get J a few incidentals and some random things for me if my suitcase allows.
    - Good byes, 
         -- I have like 5 lunches/breakfast/dinners  planed with friends to say good bye.
    - mental preparedness.  
        -- I think I need to print off of checklist of all the things I need to have to get into the country     and all the task I need to complete on the island prior to registration ( a lot)

Everyone keeps asking me "Are you excited"   I should just say "yes" and leave it at that.  But I never can.   I know I should be excited, and maybe I am excited.   But I think I have other dominating feelings like stress, fear, and guilt that are tugging at me.

I know this is a great opportunity.  And I am pretty sure my kid is ok with it.  I know she is going to a good place.  Its just all these decisions that are coming up for her, that I usually help her make and follow through on, I am giving them to someone else.    She is a great kid and has done pretty well with all my/our craziness.  And she wanted to stay.  So I just need to make my peace with it and move forward.

I spent extended periods away from my mom as a kid and it shaped who I am .  There are many mothers who have to spend time away from their kids to serve our country (not that I am comparing my story to theirs)  and their kids do well.

But I digress... 

To sum up my rant.
 -- 4 days left
 - things are moving forward and I am for the most part on tract.
 - looks like Hurricane Danny has been downgraded to a tropical storm and should be passed the island by Thursday 8/27. ( I am leaving the US 8/28)

And so it begins indeed.....

Happy Birthday to Me!

So today is my 36th Birthday.... What the what what???

I cant believe how the time continues to fly by me.  That is still a lot of time so I am not complaining.

I read a cool little article about multiple women who did great things after the age of 40.  I am looking forward to all the adventures and accomplishments I will add to my life list.


10 MORE DAYS LEFT....

still have not made much progress on getting my stuff packed. I think its something I am going to knock out in a day.

I thinking should I try to make my blog into a helpful blog instead of just ramblings inside my head...

Maybe I can do one helpful blog a month and then the rest just randomness.. :-P

It's approaching fast

Well 14 days left and then I am on a plane.  

Things have been progressing. 

My friends threw me an amazing going away party. 

I received awesome gifts for school and enough money to put a down payment on my apartment.  

Speaking of which I signed my lease last week, it's crazy small and a pretty minimalistic.  But it will leave me with enough money to make sure my baby can still dance and do a couple of fun things while I am away.  

I took off this morning and ran a few errands with her.   

She was pretty excited to open up her first checking account.  

We also got every thing ready for her passport.  

I am considering having her visit during the summer, but I will be in class so I am not sure what we are going to do yet.  

May even meet some friends at a resort in the Caribbean and she just fly up and back with them.  

Most of my administrative task are complete. 

Visa application complete 

Financial aid has been awarded and scheduled to be released at orientation.  

Insurance is still not complete, but I am staying on top of it. 

Now I just need to organize and pack.  My mom's place looks a hot mess with my crap everywhere.  I am really bad at doing a little at a time.   

I just want to turn on the music and just knock it out all at once.  So that's my plan for the next two Sunday's.  

I am barely making it through work.  I totally should have made this my last week. I am thinking that extra 300$ for next week is not actually worth it.  

I still have not hit excitement yet.  I think once I get everything done and I am coasting I will feel it.  

Next two weeks are the last two with my baby for a while.  I gotta find a way to make the most of it.  

Well back to work (kind of).