My time in the Virgin Islands is flying by, with less than
four weeks left I feel there is so much more I want to do and learn! I then think how much I have done since I have
been here. I have experienced a new
culture in a way that I never thought possible.
I understand more about the culture and the people who live on the
islands. Today I went to the only mall
on St. Thomas. The mall had about ten
stores, two restaurants in the food court and was attached to a Kmart. I went looking for a Halloween costume and
was lucky enough to find one at Kmart.
When
I asked my friends who live on the island if they celebrate Halloween, majority
of them say no. One girl said she
usually watches the ABC Halloween special on TV with her family to celebrate
Halloween. When I told her that I used
to trick or treat she was shocked. “I didn’t
know people actually did that,” she said.
Besides Halloween I have also learned other things about the culture
here. I learned that newspapers are not
delivered to homes every day. If someone
wants a newspaper they have to buy it either at a store or someone on the
street. There is also not a garbage pick-up
every week. When someone wants to get
rid of their trash they have to take it to a dumpster that are located around
the island and the garbage trucks will pick the trash from there. These are a few culture facts that I have
learned while being on the island.
One of
the classes that I am enrolled in at the University is snorkeling. We have class every Monday for two
hours. This was the first and so far the
only class that I have ever had to wear a bathing suit to class. The first test I had for the class was a swim
test. At class this past Monday, we took
a boat trip to a small key. While
snorkeling we saw a puffer fish and a lot of jelly fish! Everywhere I looked there would be more jelly
fish. My instructor then picked up a
jelly fish and I was able to touch it. I
learned that only the jelly fish’s tentacles will sting. I was still very afraid of the jelly fish
even though I touched one.
My clinicals
are going well. I have learned many new
things from my patients and how they view health care, especially with the
election going on. On St. John there is
no hospital only a clinic that works as an urgent care, pharmacy, and many
families primary care resource. After
having clinical in Cleveland and being exposed to so many different hospitals,
it is weird to think that there is no hospital on St. John. If someone needs to go to the hospital they
have to take a ferry to St. Thomas.
I
have learned and experienced so many new things. I am excited for the last four weeks of my adventure
in the Virgin Islands!
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