jenniferhawke.com

so the organic chem lab final last night went surprisingly well. it was harder than i was expecting, but not unreasonably so for something only worth 18% of the final grade.

i think the most notable thing about last night’s exam is that it was the first one i have ever written in a university setting with classical music. the lab director asked for any objections at the start of the test and then provided a meagre (but adequate) disclaimer that if anyone found they couldn’t concentrate, they could raise their hand and she would turn it off. everyone around me seemed a bit surprised, but no one dissented. the classical CD started up.

for the first five minutes, i was so distracted i thought my head was going to explode. then i settled into an amazing groove and sailed through the rest of the questions.

another first for me from UNBC: cheat sheets allowed in final exams. my organic chem (lecture) prof announced last week that we would be allowed one 8.5×11″ sheet of paper with as much info as we wanted to cram on both sides for our final on april 16th. this freaking blows my mind. my writing may not be neat, but with the right motivation it sure can be small!

taking a little recuperation this weekend in the form of “less computer” and “more outside”. easy to do when the sun is shining (right now). tougher – but still manageable – in furiously frustrated wet spring flurries (the rest of today). floating along, okay.

my organic chem prof surprised us by finishing all of the material he wanted to cover a full week early. which meant my last day of classes was yesterday instead of next Wednesday. good-bye, room 166 with lights that make the white board impossible to see at some angles!

tonight is my organic chem lab final. once that’s over, i hope i never have to think about azeotropic distillation and the qualities of a good extraction solvent ever again. good-bye Fisher, Wittig, and Cannizzaro!

as busy as these last few weeks are going to be, the fact that they are filled with good-byes (and a few good riddances) of all colours, shapes, and sizes, makes me a wee bit melancholy. i’m not sure i’ll miss this dirty, smelly city very much, but the peaceful solitude this past year has brought into my life was desperately needed and never taken for granted.

and, of course, i’m going to miss my mom and my sister to pieces. our little bubble here is so gossip- and drama-free that the insulation (isolation!) feels warm and fuzzy. i have lived “away from home” (and usually in a different province) for the past 12 years. it took much less than 12 months to remind me how much i enjoy having family close by.

it is impossible for me to exaggerate how excited i am about the Big Things coming up in my life. but at the same time, it feels like time is slipping by too quickly. i want to hold on to a few things just a tiiiny bit longer…

from an email i received today from the bursar at the Medical University of the Americas:

The Ministry of Advanced Education, Student Services Branch recently reviewed Medical University of the Americas to be considered as a designated institution for participation in the British Columbia Student Assistance Program (BCSAP). The application has now been reviewed; unfortunately our institution does not meet all of the basic criteria for BCSAP designation at this time.

As of May 2006, MUA does not meet the federal and provincial designation requirement that medical schools located outside of North America be in operation for a minimum of ten years. MUA has been in operation for nine years.

In order to be non-punitive to students currently completing their Medical program, BCSAP will continue to fund those students to the end of their program. No new students will be eligible for BCSAP funding.

since they are continuing to fund students that have already started, and will obviously meet their required “ten years in operation” next year, it’s only the students looking for financial assistance this year that are falling through the cracks.

that includes me.

even though the student loan application packages for courses in 2007-08 don’t come out until June, i was doing a little research into the process last month. i didn’t think there would be an eligibility problem because in February, MUA was approved enough for Canadian government funding to have their own designated institution code. the application review mentioned above must have been “in process” at the time.

i’m guessing that once MUA is in operation for ten years, they will re-apply for participation eligibility in the BCSAP. i’m guessing it will once again take a little time. i’m guessing this means i likely can’t count on government funding next year either.

hrm. that sorta sucks.

coming from someone that lives ~750km from her boyfriend (and has talked to him every single night for the past 10 months) as well as most of her other friends, it may be hard to believe that i very much dislike talking on the phone. “hate” is a strong word, but possibly appropriate here.

right now i live with my mom and sister* and never answer the home phone because it’s never for me. i use so few minutes on my cell phone that i have a pay-as-you go plan and the minutes usually expire at the end of their 30-or-60-day limit instead of being used up. i have often been known to text quick messages when planning get-togethers with friends instead of dialing.

in short, i would much rather see you in person than catch up on the phone. and yet, those kilometres between us make that next to impossible most of the time.

moving to Nevis for school isn’t going to exactly improve the situation. oh yah, and Zambia? not any closer.

part of my planning for med school overseas has included research on what type of phone plan is cheapest and/or most convenient. and part of that planning has definitely included a review of my current phone habits (little-to-none) and needs (emergency, SMS texting, cameraphone would be nice). for anyone else looking for information, here is a concise (albeit not necessarily comprehensive) review of the options i discovered…

land line
it is possible to get a local home phone number hooked up in your dorm room or apartment. Cable & Wireless (clever name, no?) is the company that operates the local and international telephone service on St. Kitts and Nevis. they are also the folks to talk to about hooking up your high-speed internet – a process that is rumoured to take 2-3 weeks. this is probably your best bet if you intend to do a lot of international calling (ie: home) and want competitive long-distance rates.

VoIP
i think one of the main benefits of this option is that you get to keep your local area code, even when traveling overseas. drawbacks include the fact that you obviously need an internet connection and you will not be able to send calls during a power outage. this is probably the one of the cheapest options, but you get what you pay for in terms of reliability and quality of service – two things that may be totally fine in North America, but a little different on a tiny island in the Caribbean. i am hesitant to rely on a service such as this as my sole form of telephone communication with “civilization” back home.

local cell phone
if you don’t already have a GSM international cell phone (see below), your next option might be to rent or buy a cell phone locally, with a local number. Bmobile (affiliated with Cable & Wireless above) has island-wide networks throughout the Caribbean and offers pre- or post-paid service plans. this is probably the option with the cheapest mobile rates if you plan to do a lot of calling within the Caribbean.

GSM international cell phone
Rogers and Fido are GSM carriers here in Canada, but you will need to have your phone unlocked before you can use it in Nevis. some North American GSM companies do not offer roaming minutes (or charge a $$fortune$$) so the best bet with this option is to use a local SIM card in your phone. you simply pop it in your phone and – voila – you have a local Nevis number on a pay-as-you-go service plan. this option appeals to me because i am not tied to a contract and not paying for minutes i don’t use.** the only drawback i can see is that i will have a different phone number depending on what country i am in, with different SIM cards for Canada, USA, Zambia, and Nevis.

i’m sure you can tell by the photo which option i chose. my new quad-band unlocked Palm Treo 650 just arrived today. i also ordered international SIM cards from Telestial.

the Palm (over other GSM compatible phones) was a no-brainer for me as i will likely use the wide variety of fancy medical software well into my clinical years. this particular phone has a “cingular” logo on it but is unlocked for international use. just tested my local Rogers SIM card and i have a new Vancouver area code phone number that works great.

with all that said, one of the big reasons phone conversations just don’t cut it for me is because i like to see the person i am talking to. ichat kicks the telephone’s butt any day of the week. and is a whole heckuvalot cheaper.

i think E.T. would have agreed.

———
*of note, living with family has immensely cut down on the Phone Home conversations. which is awesome.

**unless, of course, if they expire before i use them.

i just gave my desktop computer, bea-oo-tiful monitor, and speaker/subwoofer system to my sister, so i guess it fits.

i could also fill the box of my truck any day now with several garbage bags of clothes and a variety of Other Crap I Don’t Need. i hope the local thrift store is happy to see me.

according to TerraPass – a carbon consumption calculator and offset provider – my flights to Zambia and Nevis (as well as half a dozen flights within the province last year) total 31,232 miles and make me personally responsible for 623 gallons of fuel consumption and 12,180 additional lbs of CO2 in our atmosphere.

i like to think i’m pretty green. i eat very little red meat and a lot of local organic produce. i recycle. i don’t drive much. and i wash my clothes in cold water, turn off lights (and the electric blanket!) during the day… but i have been doing a lot of flying lately. the fact that that won’t be getting much better in the near future has prompted me to do a bit of research into carbon offset contribution options.

i love this idea, but i’m stuck in the “where is my money really going?” black hole. the David Suzuki Foundation has a list of carbon offset providers and i have no idea how to tell one from another.

does anyone have personal experience with this? any research advice or recommendations?

hello. hi. hello!

yes, i’m alive and have just returned home from a relaxing weekend with the Amazing Boyfriend in Vancouver. thank you for all of the comments and emails from the last post. i am so so thrilled that a few of you have been encouraged to add a little more “adventure” to your life. my plane ticket to Zambia is booked, insurance (complete with repatriation coverage – eep) has been purchased, and the appropriate immunization appointments have been made.

i have just over three weeks left here in Prince George and will be packing up to leave for good around April 17th. yikes. i know it’s going to creep up on me FAST.

(alternate title: “Sarah, you were right”) ;)

“hello? Africa? no, Toto isn’t here right now… yeah, i like that song too.”

sometimes a sequence of events is too perfect to be coincidental.

Tuesday PM: i find out MUA’s waitlist isn’t moving at all and i will definitely be starting school in September and am worried about what the heck i am going to do all summer.

Wednesday AM: i receive an email stating that “a volunteer position you had been looking into just opened up for the month of June and even though there are other people interested i wanted to run it by you first because you seem super cool and ready to go and are you interested?”

definitely. it’s 5am on Thursday and i’m so interested, i can’t sleep.

still in the very early stages of sorting out the details, but it looks like i will be spending the month of June in Livingstone, Zambia volunteering at a medical clinic with African Impact. i know i previously mentioned that the fact i’m already traveling to go to school (along with the steep cost) was a deterrent, but the timing of the email really feels like a smack in the forehead. i know how to sit up and take notice when i’m supposed to.

coincidentally, it was also Tuesday that i briefly mentioned there are very few volunteer programs nowadays that will take your free labour for, well, free. there are likely more than a few exceptions, but i believe worthwhile and established overseas volunteer organizations put your funds back into the project you are supporting with your physical labour; putting your money where your mouth is, so to speak. i also believe paying for the administration and organization to help ensure i arrive in a safe and supervised environment is important.

African Impact charges ~$2500 for one month in Zambia and has a general outline of where your project fee goes, what it covers and what it doesn’t. while it may sound absurd to find out you have to pay to work for free, i think it sounds even crazier to expect any volunteer organization in an extremely poor country to be able to support my pampered North American buttocks. i think African Impact’s goal of “facilitating the social development and economic upliftment of Africa through carefully designed volunteer projects” is extremely worthwhile (even if i believe “upliftment” is a really weird-looking word). i also believe it would be great “to see negative perceptions of Africa challenged through the development of cross-cultural relationships, shared experiences and increased awareness.”

plus, the opportunity to learn about tropical diseases! the clinical experience! the kids! the photo ops! oh my!

in short, i guess my only advice if you are considering a similar volunteer opportunity overseas is to research (contact previous participants, look into their mission statement, how long have they been around? etc) the organization thoroughly. there are a TON of “gap year” adventure holiday companies based all over the globe looking to make a buck off restless souls like us. if you’re going to spend the money, i think it would be wise to know where it’s going to end up.

back to the whole Africa thing… yes, i have watched both “Blood Diamond” and “The Last King of Scotland”. yes, i am nervous enough to travel smart and be as prepared as possible.

yes, i think it will be a freaking amazing experience. :)

“All news out of Africa is bad. It made me want to go there.”
~ Paul Theroux

new news regarding me and Africa to come soon (i hope).

EDIT: thank you kev for giving me a site design that can handle 500 pixels of photo goodness. you totally rock. :))

September 4, 2007: i will officially start med school one day before my 30th birthday.

i would be lying if i claimed i wasn’t a little disappointed to be starting later than earlier. but after a couple of emails with the ever-patient and ever-accommodating director of admissions at MUA, i have decided to remove my name from the May ‘07 waitlist. apparently there has been such little movement on the May roster that no one has been bumped up from the waitlist yet. and if anyone is, it will likely be on very short notice.

for a move like this, anything less than a month is too short on notice for me.

i wasn’t always this old and set in my ways. the first time i left the country was at the tender age of 18 and with much less than a month’s notice. one day i just decided i wanted to see Japan. my family has never had a lot of money and i figured landing a volunteer position that covered my room-and-board would be the only way. nowadays you have to pay for the privilege of lending your work for free to a volunteer organization overseas. back then, i lucked out. my dad offered to foot the bill for my $1400 plane ticket and i applied for my very first passport.

i landed in Narita airport mid-1996, just about three weeks after the initial decision was made. and i was dumbfounded. i’m pretty sure my innocent ignorance was the main reason the trip was successful. if i had had any inkling of the cultural and language craziness i was getting into, it might not have ever happened. i was a small-town girl from Saskatchewan who had never even seen sushi.

what did i leave behind back then? well… i was living in Red Deer, AB with tina at the time. so i would have left behind a mattress on the floor, a job as a waitress in a local bar, a rollerblading boyfriend (that sent me lengthy love letters and mixed tapes with Canadian flags on them), and a very stalled academic path that had no idea which way it was wandering.

since then, i have worked/volunteered in England, France, and Scotland. and each time i leave, my preparations seem to get lengthier and more complicated. as i sort out storage options for furniture and “stuff” in my current house, i miss the mattress on the floor. i miss the pick-up-and-leave-it-all-behind youthful attitude.

what am i leaving behind now? well… i am living in Prince George, BC right now with my mom and my sister. so i will be leaving a small roomful of aforementioned furniture and “stuff”, a great dog, an independent boyfriend (that will hopefully send me lengthy emails, ichats, and itunes playlists), and a restless spirit.

i think that last one is wishful thinking. no matter how far or often i travel, i never seem to be able to leave that restless spirit behind. in fact, it’s making the next four months look a little intimidating…