One month in

Block week again! Our second set of exams (Block II) are on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

In the meantime, I was very excited to receive a care package from Maman! Most eventful part of my life this week. She sent lots of snacks - pringles, doritos, tostitos, almonds, mini eggs (they didn’t last long), brownies, jelly beans, etc – as well as spices, Puffs (with lotion), candles, cute sticky notes, and my favourite yellow shirt that I missed while packing. The best part though was the mail and the cards. I have the cards up in my room now.
 

Yay!

As a general note, I love all your messages and e-mails and I’m sorry if I don’t get back to you right away. That’s the main reason I created this blog – so I could let everyone know that I was alive and well and all that even if I didn’t have the time to chat.
Melissa's man came for a visit this past weekend. He brought me a sleeve of caramilk bars so of course I was an instant fan. They tried to fish for goats using mangos and a phone cord which was hilarious. It’s always refreshing to have positive energy around.
Classes and studying are going steady as always, not a whole lot to report. We did dissect the thorax of our cadaver and that was pretty amazing. I’m also coming around to Histology a little bit – I feel I have a better grasp on it this block than last block. We have been doing a lot of discussion and quizzing each other which is helpful and also makes me realize when I don’t fully understand something. It still blows my mind how much information we learn in a day. I will finally have something down and then the next day there is another mountain of work to tackle.
Apparently there is a doctor from Sydney who travels here with his wife once a year or so to take all of the Cape Breton students out for pizza and beer and talk to them about the process of coming home to work. I’m definitely looking forward to that happening a couple weeks from now. It was actually a girl from Cantley Village who tracked me down for it (small world!).
Another thing that still surprises me is how little some of the Americans know about Canada. Some of my favourite quotes...
After explaining that I’m from one of 10 Canadian provinces: “Oh okay so your provinces are like… our states?”
After saying I’m from Nova Scotia, Canada: “Oh! You’re from Canada! So like… Vancouver?” Yes… but no.
The politeness of Canadians we always hear about is also evident here. Someone bumped into me and I said sorry out of habit and the guy says “Ha… you’re such a Canadian.” I actually love that.
I’m just realizing how long this post is… clearly I get a little carried away. If you made it this far then thanks for reading! I love hearing that you guys have been keeping up with this and checking regularly.
Shout out to Laura who is probably reading this on break at work - crazy woman took on 5 straight weekends of OT shifts. Miss gossiping from the cubicle next to you.
Hoping Michelle isn’t too bored during the StFX strike. And wishing Dan a safe flight to Florida!
Looking forward to a famjam reunion in April.
Xoxo,
Kimberly

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