Kayaking fun!!!

I went Kayaking on Thursday. I have not been kayaking in a very long time so I was excited about it! Fortunately the weather was perfect! Some of you may wonder- where did Stacy get a kayak... well, the family of a woman that works at the clinic owns a camp ground, a really nice one at that- and they have kayaks for their campers. She was kind enough to let me take one out for free. I spent two hours paddling around Somes Sound- boy were my arms tired by the end. I really want to get some pictures but I was a little afraid to take my camera just in case I some how ended up in the water. In the end, I decided to risk it. I set my camera on the dock while I got in the boat (a likely overboard movement) and then I tied it around my neck- I was off! This particular picture took me about 20 tries to get, it really is a miracle that I didn't drop the camera in. This Jelly fish was bigger than my head (by gross approximation, I did NOT measure for real). I was a little afraid it would some how manage to jump into my boat to sting me but it didn't... Nice Jelly fish! Any I had a really great time, I just wish I wasn't leaving the island in a week. Here is the whole album of my kayaking adventure!!!

Kayaking on Somes Sound

Nova Scotia

So I went to Nova Scotia on Monday and I think it was pretty... Let me tell you what I saw... FOG... fog... and more fog!!! Apparently one year they had 86 straight days of fog! I had a good time but I must say that the majority of the fun was had on the boat over. A girl fainted pretty much in my lap from sea sickness/dizziness- the boat goes really fast and rocks A LOT! Then I won 42 dollars at the casino on the ship. That was pretty much the high point. When we got to Nova Scotia after the 3 hour ride- it took almost an hour to get through the customs line because, even thought it is written EVERYWHERE and all over the news, people still do not know what they need to bring when traveling into Canada. I was getting ready to scream when finally it was my turn. With my passport in hand I had no trouble at all. Then it was on to the bus for the tour! We drove up to the light house- no that impressive since I have spent the last year touring the light houses of the coast of Maine but I was an apple core style one so that was different. Then we went around on the bus and saw a lot of sea captain homes and things like that. I think the tour guide was trying to convert everyone to Canadian wannabes because she spent the entire two hours praising the virtues of the Canadian government. Needless to say- It got old. But have no fear, after the two hour tour- it was back to the boat! And I was on my way home again... I could only afford to do the day trip because it is unearthly expensive to try and stay out there for the weekend- just the boat cost (if not same day return) is almost 300 dollars!!! Anyway, in all it was a good adventure and not one that I am sorry about! Just for future- if any of you are thinking of making the trip from Bar Harbor Maine to Nova Scotia- make it a weekend trip and be prepared for fog! Here are the few pictures I was able to take through all the fog.

Nova Scotia

What comes next...

Well I am still in Bar Harbor at the Womens Health Center. I FINALLY found out where I am going next... Augusta, Maine (the capital). I will be at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center there. I am going from all women to mostly all old men- should be interesting. I will be doing internal medicine, starting at a clinic for spinal cord injuries; I will also be spending time in the Cardiology clinic as well as Urology.
I am really excited because tomorrow I am going to Nova Scotia for the day. I am taking the CAT over- its a super fast ferry type thing. I am not sure what to expect but I figure I had better take advantage of the opportunity to go while I am still here.
In other happy news- my sister had her baby!!! Thats right she gave birth to my third Nephew on the 1st of this month, I am so proud of her and her husband! I can't wait to meet him- I will have to wait until like November-sad... but I do love to hear him make noise when I talk to them on the phone (I think she pinches him- just to make me happy =p). It sounds like the older two boys are being very good, loving brothers!
Well, I should really get back to studying... oh on second though, I think I will do some online shopping!!! (Neighbor- thats for you!)

Dermatology clinic

So my preceptor does not work on Mondays- she is technically only part time right now. We are suppose to be working full time as students so I needed to find a place to go on Mondays. As it turns out, another student that was at my site last year spent time with a Dermatologist in Ellsworth, about a half an hour away. So I thought to myself- "well I suppose everyone that I will ever see will have skin- and they will very likely have some 'thing' on their skin, it would be nice if I was able to tell what it was"... So I opted to spend Monday at the Derm clinic.
Originally I thought I would be there all day- apparently the Doctor didn't get that memo, more specifically- I did not get the memo that he would only be in after lunch. So I got up all early and headed out to Ellsworth only to find out that there was nothing to do until 1. Fortunately there is a library in Ellsworth so I spent some time there studying up on the different types of skin conditions we might see that day (one of the Medical Assistant had told me what was on the patient list for the day so that I could study). The medical assistant was like "its a lot of rashes today! Hope you don't mind looking at the same thing all day" I said "thats ok, I am in a womens clinic normally so I pretty much spend my time looking at one "thing" all day anyway..." She got a laugh out of that.
After lunch it was off to the races... this Doc is the only Dermatologist in Maine that accepts a particular type of insurance so he is always really busy. In just 3 and a half hours we saw 11 patients and that included 4 procedures which take longer, to say the least- we were running around! I also found out that we had some cancellations so we could have been even more booked up! In the end, I thought the day was awesome- Dermatology is pretty cool (I know it doesn't sound cool, but it is). I plan to spend the next few Mondays with him and I look forward to seeing more cool stuff.