Yo estoy relajada.

It's been a looooong week and yet it's been over a week Already!?!?! Hard to believe.

My class, Pharmacology, is over. We had our final in the class yesterday. In addition to the same, large amount of new information we were also responsible for class information from our Toxicology class, And it was cumulative, so add all previous info we'd crammed into our minds. I had only concentrated on the new information and so arrived at the exam with Chemotherapy (antibiotics & the like)on the brain. Upon beginning the exam I read the first question and panicked. Momentary brain lapse and I had forgotten that the final was cumulative. It took me twice as long to get through the first page as I had to first find where in my brain I'd stored all previous drugs. It seemed everyone left that room in mourning. Mourning their Pharm grade that is.

After the exam my classmates did one of three. 1) Head to the beach! 2) nap! 3) clean!
I did the later. Yeehaw! My floors are now so happy.

This past week the pavement finally won one. It wasn't even a dangerous part, but guess I still didn't pick my feet up high enough. I was running next to a wall at the time, and thankfully fell towards it bouncing off it before sprawling on the ground.
In other running words, Tuesday I started having a pain in my right foot which my classmate diagnosed as Turf Toe. (See link for explanation
http://orthopedics.about.com/od/toeproblems/p/turftoe.htm )
So now I find myself in the midst of a conundrum. My physical health for which I need to pause the running to let my foot heal or my mental health for which I keep running.....and then my foot never heals. I don't like either of these options.

Hasta!

Yo estoy confundida.

I don't know why I'm not tired yet. I guess, checking the clock, technically this is going to be posted on Thursday but to me it is still Wednesday night. I've had a very long two days. Studying for my test this morning I camped out in my bedroom all night. I experienced the feeling that I was in a movie. You know when, to show the passage of time, the sun moves quickly across the sky. Well, the sun went down and came up and I was still there doin' the same old. (My head did fall asleep on me for a few hours) So far this semester I haven't had to spend my nights as such, so it wasn't a pleasant feeling to experience that again. Hours, days, and days of studying all culminated in an exam that I keep realizing mistakes I made. For example, I switched answers I had correct to wrong!!! Argh!!! After that, everything just unravels. At this point I've thought, stewed, dwelt enough on it I'm just prayin I passed it. Since the exam was at 1 instead of in the morning I was working on Bible study right up until Bible study. So it wasn't till after Bible study that I have finally gotten time to clean myself up. Yes, time's are bad when you don't even take the time to shower. I'm so ashamed! and this following a lesson in integrity my daily devotional had. Granted cleanliness is not in the definition of integrity, but would you ever look at a dirty person and even think "that person has integrity?" ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

On a side note, I've been getting stuck in my bathroom ever since coming back in January. Sometimes the door just sticks and to open it you really have to yank it hard! and more often than not more than one yank is required. I realized yesterday that I hadn't been turning the doorknob enough. Oh, I amaze myself sometimes.

Hasta!

Yo estoy enamorada...

...con JESUS!!!

Feliz Dia de San Valentin

(Happy Valentine's Day)

Yo estoy tosiendo.

We had an exam last Monday. The scores were definitely lower than the first, meaning more effort needs to be put into the upcoming exam, this coming Monday. However, there is a problem. There is more material covered, and much less time to study it in. Of course, I was panicing like everyone else, but by golly, that just means you hit the books till they bleed this time. Apparently, my classmates don't agree. We, as a class, petitioned to have the exam moved till Wednesday. I signed of course. Not only would I have been hung and then forced to sign, but I felt everyone behind me staring down my back when the petition came to me. Honestly though, I could use the extra two days to study for a test I probably would fail if it were on Monday. I just wanted to study and get it over with, and have those extra two days to study for the final the following week. The petition was approved at 2:00 Friday afternoon. So our exam is now on Wednesday instead of Monday! Good news right?! And everyone went out and celebrated it last night. (shakes head) Can I call my class lazy? just this once?!

Oh well, I should be thanking my lazy class. I might have a hope of passing on Wednesday!

Hasta!

Yo estoy tratando.

The one class that is keeping me on campus everyday from 8 - 11 every day is Pharmacology. Yes, very applicable and rather important to my future, however I find myself groaning as I get out of bed these last couple of days. Our professor Dr. Garcia has, it seems, been jumping all over. In other words, not organized. As a result, someone who knows nothing on the subject, ME, trying to follow along gets horribly lost. This then preceeds to turn into annoyance. This started last week when Dr. Garcia started using someone else's powerpoints as his outline for teaching. Oh well, it's not like this isn't the first class I'm completely lost in. I shall survive.

the following are compliments of Dr. Garcia:

Upon asking the class a question and receiving nothing more than blank stares in return Dr. Garcia shouts..."I'm waiting!!!" "The patient is dying!!!"

Yesterday, a few of us were rather confused as to what anti-contraceptives were. Didn't take us long to realize that anticonceptivos + contraceptives = anti-contraceptives. I love learning in Spanglish!

Today, a few minutes were spent on chemical contraceptives for males. Drugs which are still being experimented with especially in places like China. However, their expensive price prevents them from making much progress fast. Dr. Garcia emphatically concluded this point by exclaiming "it's cheaper to get a baby!!!"

Hasta!

Prayer request: Bible study tonight!

Yo estoy word up!

Yesterday I turned left instead of right
Today I spun instead of run.
Changin it up, yo!

Peace out home dogg!

Yo estoy secada de nuevo.

Sunday night the rains came, bringing with them lower temperatures that constantly spiraled downwards over the following days. By Monday afternoon we had already received an inch of rain. And still the heavens released it's watery contents. Life continued under the gray wet relentless blanket. We went to class the same, just having to jump the rivers of rainwater swirling down the streets. The parking lots were overflowing as everyone and their dog was driving to the campus. I relied on my trusty umbrella, but didn't say no to an offer of a ride home. Wednesday night heading to Bible study was the worse I walked in. The rivers were the widest and as it was dark I couldn't always see the best places to put me feet. At one point I found myself in the midst of a blind awkard leap from the street to the curb with an on coming car. Thankfully I landed it and was able to stay on the sidewalk, as it would have been rather embarrassing had it not played out that way. Four days later, sometime between 8 am when I walked into class and 11 am when I walked out of class the rain finally moved on. The constant downpour was over. The sun is even shining from time to time now. Hopefully the temperatures will start to rise again soon. The Mexicans have it right when they call this 'loco febrero' (crazy February)!

Hasta!

Yo estoy mojada.

I had planned on updating the blog Monday, today… or in the current tense, yesterday, when I got back from Ixtlan. However, the internet was acting weirdly and so I am writing in a word document for the time being and will post the following to my blog tomorrow, Tuesday…or in the current tense, today. One would think that internet would be a rather conformed staple. However, in Mexico even the internet seems to be more laid back. I mean, today was a national holiday in Mexico, even the internet got the day off!

After staying in Ixtlan for the extra day I am unfortunately confused now and have had to remind myself more than a few times that tomorrow is Tuesday not Monday. It’s not that I want tomorrow to be Monday, but more along the lines that I almost always get back from Ixtlan Sunday night, and so that’s what it automatically feels like.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. A pleasant sound, yes, but to me, on this particular day I couldn’t quite enjoy it. The young group (and a few married) had plans, and rain had the potential of spoiling those plans. As the day progressed the clouds never did clear up, nor did the rain ever completely stop, however, plans were carried out almost as planned. We went to the geyser, played volleyball, and ate food. Playing volleyball is always fun. When the rain wasn’t sprinkling us then it was the geyser that was erupting and spraying us with its mist. My hair I’m sure was a huge friz mess. Thank goodness there were no mirrors around to confirm what I was feeling on top of my head. For our meal, the dough was brought, we made a fire there, and we made our own tortillas on the spot. Took awhile to get the fire hot enough due to the wet conditions, but after lots of smoking and blowing on it, a flame was produced and maintained. The weather did finally win out in the end. When it started pouring after the meal, we couldn’t play more volleyball, so everyone was starting to get a bit chilled. We called it a day.

Here’s a few pictures:
Warming up, getting ready for some fierce Ixtlan-style volleyball playing!!! Notice the net is half tied to the tree, and half to the post. We make due with what is available!


The tortilla making assembly line. Yet still waiting for the fire to get hot enough.


L to R: Lupita, Jessica, Elsa, Me, Issa; everyone moved undercover when the rain started hard. Notice behind us the tortilla makers are still at work. Maria, happened to have a huge patio type umbrella with her that they used to protect themselves…and the tortillas.


The whole group from the day. First row L to R: Jessica, Lupita, Elsa, Maggie, Fabi, Claudia, Nayeli, Rosario, Natan, Rudy. Back row L to R: Ana, Issa, Maria, Regg, Diego, Gloria, Me


Hasta!