I'm Sorry... thats what I need to tell all of you who looked forward to reading my blog over the year. When I look and see my last post was October, I cringe (hand over my face peering between my fingers). Never did I EVER want this blog to trail off like this but you have my word, I WILL PICK UP THE PACE and KEEP YOU INFORMED from here on out. I do have to say though, the posts might not always be lengthy but they will hopefully put a smile on your face!

Ok! MOVING ON!

So I'll give you a brief overview of what you missed out on and it might be a few parts so... you are forewarned.

Ill pick up on my October post.

So the First term ended with me finishing with almost a 3.9 GPA. I felt like I got what I deserved in all of my classes as I worked so hard for all of my grades.  Lots of long nights and early mornings went into that GPA...I feel a big thank you goes out to my roommate Chris... I can't tell you how much you helped me through the term and helping for a laugh when I needed it. 

One thing that I find really funny is that professional school has such a way of humbling you. Anyone who knows me knows that I RARELY get all worked up about things but in the August term I had my moments let me tell you... I sometimes found myself on Skype with my my girlfriend Rachel or my mom/dad, and telling them "I don't know how the test is going to pan out! They aren't going to let me back into school!" They were definitely mild freak outs but nonetheless, they definitely tested my patience... if during August term you found yourself on the end of one of these phone calls know that I greatly appreciate your help!

So one of the highlights of the term was when my girlfriend Rachel came down to visit me! This picture above was taken in front of a waterfall in the rainforest (mid October). It was so nice to have someone from home come and visit! It was great too because I really didn't get a chance to tour the island before she came down so it was nice to see the sights with her. On the trip we went to the north end of the island to a fish festival where local fishermen bring their catch to be cooked for the crowds. Its called 'Fish Friday' and it is simply amazing. You can get fish anyway your heart desires and the way the different fishes are cooked are out of this world delicious! From the coconut shrimp to the fried shark, I couldn't make a bad choice for food! haha I definitely recommend going to fish friday if you ever visit Grenada. One of the other things we did was drive into the rain forest to feed monkeys and catch piranhas with our hands! thats right!!! WE TRIED TO CATCH THEM WITH OUR HANDS! I will show you some cool pics that we have later because at the end of the January Term Rachel and two friends flew down to visit and we got to do a lot of the same things plus some other really cool journeys so I will fill you in on that all later...

But back to Augusts term...

The term absolutely flew by... I feel like I left JFK and before I knew it I was on a flight mid december back to JFK to see everyone back home.

I want to say thank you to all of you for your support and help with my first stint on the island. Let me tell you, it was not easy at all taking that initial step but knowing I had the support of family/friends behind me I knew I would succeed. 

Thank you so much!

More to follow from the Spring term next!

Chris and I... the Roommates

Midterms done!

So midterms are done!!!! I feel like that movie where the kid runs outside and throws his papers into the air and pumps his fist as if to say "done!" Well, I am officially half way done with my term here on the island! We had an exam every day for 5 days and needless to say, when the week was done I was thoroughly wiped! I know, last night I was planning on going staying in and my friend Nick called me up around 11 and said "Be ready in 10, we are coming to pick you up!" Then he hung up.... so no rebuttal was made on my behalf and there I was 10 min later at the bar with some good friends... truth, I was very happy I went. I have met some really amazing people down here that have nothing but the best interest at hand for me and are trying to help introduce me to the way to LIVE island life while being a student...

Aus, Chris, Adam and I having a drink at the Beach House

So far so good I can honestly say... occasionally you are tired of the same old scenery around campus... walking to class and back to your dorm, then over to Taylor to study... the time absolutely FLIES by and before you know it the week is done! That week turns into two weeks, then a month then the month quickly speeds by the term  and before you know it you are on a flight back to JFK... So I'm sure you wanna hear about the grades.... I did well... I'm waiting on one more grade in Physiology but I the other grades that I got were good... after the midterm break we drop two classes and only have 4 classes from here to the end... so I am going to go for it all and try to do straight A's for my final grades.... why not right??? We study at Taylor... its about 40 feet from the dorm where I live and its also about 40 degrees in there! They have the air-conditioning skyrocketed in the buildings on campus... I bring a sweater and socks to put on my feet and recently I begun wearing pajama bottoms while I study... yeah thats right! I wear pajama bottoms when I study in public! I must say too, its quite a sight! So, if you ever think "Hmm... I wonder what Justin is doing right now on a Caribbean island??" know I am in my pj's with socks and flip flops and a hooded sweater on studying in Taylor Hall... trust me, its not exciting! After midterms we did go to the beach though... which was very nice! A ton of classmates all went and it was more than needed....

So now its about 9 pm and I am sitting in my room exhausted... Saturday night and guess what I am doing?!?!?!?! NOTHING! and I am going to love every second of it! Probably watch some football games online and just eat some ice cream... very exciting here in Grenada!

I do want to show you some pics here... so Im just going to put up pictures and insert captions underneath them...

OHHHHHH..... this pic deserves justice though... Ok... so today Chris, Adam and I were walking in downtown St. Georges when I heard those "island drums" playing, so I just walked into the place and this guy, around my age, was playing the drums... he smiled at me and asked how I was doing and I told him I was always interested in learning how to play those drums! He just handed me the drummer sticks and off I went! I was playing those drums like mad! Of course, what I was playing sounded awful, but for those couple of seconds in my head I sounded great! Plus, I have always wanted to play those, and having a chance to finally do it was awesome.....

This is a picture that I took while I was in town.... this is how they sell bananas in Grenada!! haha, I know my mom is probably looking at this photo and saying NOW THAT is what I call a farmers market!!! Yeah, you just walk up, tell them you want a couple, they take a machete and hack you off some and off you go! Fresh bananas!

So I told you all I was going to get a photo of those reggae vans that drive you around... this is just the side of one, but yes you can read... the side of the van says "blingers." I thought this was priceless..... but the inside of the vans are bare bones... just room for the people sitting and thats it!

This is just a tent of goods at the market in down town St. Georges... if you see one of them you know what they all look like... just a lot of locally grown things... mostly spices.  Grenada is known as the "Isle of Spices" and they truly are plentiful on the island and in these markets... everything is Nutmeg this, and Cocoa that... really is cool because if you are into cooking and preparing your own food then this truly is a must see for you because you can pick up some one of a kind stuff here...

Come on now... what would a post be from me without a pic of me on the beach!!!!!

This is just a quick shot of me and my friend Christine.... we are hanging out in my room with a bunch of people... this is after midterms... I think in this photo you can really see how tan I am... 

Like I said before, I have a great group of friends down here and when we hang out it is always a good time... very relaxing.. its definitely needed from the vast amount of hours we put in studying...

This is a good shot of what my weekends look like... thats Chris in the background.  My desk consists of thats right... 3 books, 3 three ring binders and a TON of notes to skim through and learn haha.  We go there every single say of the weekend (Taylor Hall) and basically study until we can't keep our eyes open any more. 

So with this I am going to leave you... until we talk again! Hey, I have a question for you all reading my blog... is there anything that you all want to see or hear about on the island??? I am always open to exploring and trying new things out and with all of your input I think it would make for only a more exciting adventure down here. Just comment and lemme know how you are doing too! I love to hear from all of you in the states.... Family and Friends....

Talk to you all soon!!! 

Im BACK!!!

The kid is back!!!! hahaha

Whats new everyone?!?!?! Just got back after a long days studying... I could have sworn I was on a Caribbean island! I haven't seen the beach in forever, all I have been doing is studying!

OK! I know what you all are thinking... but sometimes I need a break from studying and the Anatomy book that is about 800 pages doesn't make a good pillow.  We just had an Anatomy exam this Monday that was very hard.  Out of about 100 questions, there were many that could have gone either way with the answers... we shall see how this course shakes out in the end.  Our courses include Biochemistry as well which is another tough nugget... right now we are reviewing glycolysis and the TCA cycle, which I know some of you reading this blog right now know all about it but its very tough for me especially coming from a business background.  The cool part about some of the courses we are taking now is the clinical correlates.  For instance, we are learning about the cardiovascular system right now in two classes and hearing about what can go wrong and how physicians fix these problems is amazing! It is here, I get a small glimpse into what the light at the end of the tunnel will entail.  

I'm going to put some pics of the island and island life up here in about 10 min....

I know... I know... I'm bad at keeping up

Everyone, I want to apologize for no posting in what seems like FOREVER! Well see... there is a definite time difference between here and the states! I know all of you reading this post are thinking "what the heck is this guy talking about?" What I'm trying to say is, the last month may have crawled by for a few of you, but here I can barely remember it... the only thing I can tell you about the days is what I studied and how FAST they went!
The term is absolutely FLYING by! I truly, and honestly feel as if I had just got on the island! Now we are about 2 weeks from the dreaded midterms. The studying is going very well though! I took 3 quizzes two weeks ago and my average for the 3 was  3.5 on the GPA scale so I think thats ok, but I know I can do so much better! I made some dumb mistakes and there were some questions that I know I just plain missed, but that is the breaks of school.
I am going to throw some pics up of the school and my studying... figured it should give you a good idea of the day to day of Justin Roberts!
How is everyone back home? I miss you all so very much and I can't wait to see you all over break!

Comment so I can hear about all of your lives!

I know... I know... I'm bad at keeping up

Everyone, I want to apologize for no posting in what seems like FOREVER! Well see... there is a definite time difference between here and the states! I know all of you reading this post are thinking "what the heck is this guy talking about?" What I'm trying to say is, the last month may have crawled by for a few of you, but here I can barely remember it... the only thing I can tell you about the days is what I studied and how FAST they went!
The term is absolutely FLYING by! I truly, and honestly feel as if I had just got on the island! Now we are about 2 weeks from the dreaded midterms. The studying is going very well though! I took 3 quizzes two weeks ago and my average for the 3 was  3.5 on the GPA scale so I think thats ok, but I know I can do so much better! I made some dumb mistakes and there were some questions that I know I just plain missed, but that is the breaks of school.
I am going to throw some pics up of the school and my studying... figured it should give you a good idea of the day to day of Justin Roberts!
How is everyone back home? I miss you all so very much and I can't wait to see you all over break!

Comment so I can hear about all of your lives!

Week one done... week two here we come!

WEEK ONE DONE!!!!! I made it... in one piece. Classes are going well, but the pace of work is very fast. I am taking class every day of the week, and this week we start anatomy lab which should be very cool. Apparently there is a wet lab and a dry lab... we will be working mainly in the wet lab but I'm just excited to get in any lab!
Ill give you an overview of the week just so you can see all the fun you are missing here in Grenada! lets see... I wake up around 7, give or take about 5 min.  My roommate and I have breakfast which we make in the room together and enjoy a nice cup of Colcafe coffee... which basically is like drinking mud... lets just say when i get home I'm going to drink an iced coffee from Dunkin' with my pinkie finger up like its a delicacy! haha      After breakfast in the morning, my bag is normally packed and then I leave for class around 7:40.  It takes us a little while to walk up the hill which normally isn't bad, but the fact of 85 degree weather with 90% humidity isn't too fun before 8 AM.  Chris(my roommate) and I normally try to make that trek as quick as possible; I think our record currently stands at 5 minutes.

This is the view from upper campus, and directly behind me about 50 yards is where we have our morning lectures.  The steepness of the hill really can't be judged from this pic, but let me reassure you, its no joke!
The mountains in the distance really make this picture scenic... its kind of hard to see but I will try to get a better picture up soon enough.






So we have classes in the morning for about 3 hours and then anatomy lab once every week. It really isn't too bad of a schedule, but when you throw in about 8 hours of studying to do on top of that you have a packed schedule.  I can tell you that not only is my Anatomy book intimidating to look at, it doesn't make a good pillow either!!! So when the day winds down, I normally get back to my room around 10 or 11 and have time to pack my bag and get ready for the next day... check some emails/Facebook and then hit the sack... not too exciting!
This week should be interesting though. The material is really starting to pick up in class and I know the amount of info is only going to get more in depth... Especially with  this one class, Physiology.  The professor is a good guy but the material is a little dry and not really my cup of Joe... so it makes concentrating very hard!

When I get a little overwhelmed though I just take a step back and look around at the school... this really is a beautiful place.  This picture was taken right outside of our library.  As soon as you walk out of the library, I looked left and saw the sun setting. The sun is like clockwork here because we are on the equator... up at 6:30 and down at 6:30. No fluctuation on it at all... and when the sun goes down, it gets dark so quick!!!!
Well its about 11 at night and I need to get to bed but I hope everyone else is doing good back in the US!!!
Talk to you all soon!!!!!!!

Lets kick this off!

First day of classes. Thought this day would never come! We have had orientation things for the past week and classes have been lingering in the distance, but now I am officially off and running.  Woke up bright and early with Anatomy followed by two more classes and then studying.  Being back in school is definitely a change of pace.  Listening, reading, writing... its all going to take some getting used to again but when I look down at my textbook and the pictures are of cadavers and transverse sections of the human body I cannot help but to get excited.  This is what I truly want to do with my life.
The last few pictures I have been putting up have been me on the beach... and for all of you who thought I'm living the life, here is your payback moment... the next time I am going to get to see that beach will probably be after midterms haha
The last few days I had leading up to classes were great.  I really have met some good people down here, and everyone has a truly amazing story to tell.

Here is a picture of my roommate Chris (on the left) and our friend Adam.  we are walking on Grand Anse beach.

We picked a spot under a tree to put all of our things so they stay out of the sun. Now, this beach is lined with trees... and some of them provide a lot of shade... you would think that if you saw someone else's things there you might keep moving until the next tree to put your things down right???? Not exactly... at least that is not what one gentleman thought.  So we are in the water just relaxing, and we look up to see a guy standing in front of our tree... just standing.  Chris and I look at each other and say "is this guy lost? Maybe he needs something?" Then he walks over our stuff and sits down next to all of our belongings and starts reading a book... now our first thought was, he looks innocent just let him linger for a little bit. Then we decided to go over and say something to this guy, so Chris and I walk over and say to the guy, "Hey, our stuff is here and we aren't to keen on you staying here. We have a lot of expensive stuff in our bag and not for nothing, but we don't know you." He very bluntly said, well maybe you should have someone here watching your stuff. Believe me... i wanted to say right back to him, well maybe you should find another tree to read your novel jerk!!! But, the good man in myself, Chris let the guy chill... partly because we were going to grab something to eat anyway... SO MUCH FOR LOCALS BEING NICE!
Its very different from the nice culture on the island we have been experiencing.  I have adopted a motto, "if you treat Grenada nice, she will be nice back to you." Now what this means, is before you ask anyone to do something for you i.e.: ordering a sandwich, you need to ask that person how they are doing... if this is not done you are not getting your sandwich this century, and when you do it will be the smallest, driest sandwich you have ever eaten in your life.  When you go to the store always introduce yourself and be nice, because I have witnessed on numerous occasions already that the locals remember you and can either help/hurt your chances of getting your way... this seems to be the golden rule down here.
Sorry to go off on a tangent there... ok Im back... so we were at the beach... as we moved down the water we found these kids who we were playing with a few days previous.  About 4 kids, all of which are brothers between 10 and 15 years old.  These kids it seems, just wander the beach and hang out... no apparent responsibility on the summer breaks from school.  In fact, the previous time we saw these kids we built a sandcastle with them...

So, nothing very exciting here to publish but I thought, "Hey, its been a few days and I haven't published a post in a while." I hope everyone in the states is doing very well and I will talk to everyone very soon!
 sorry this post was so quick... ill write again soon.

J