No longer a Firstie.

Hello all.  I'm writing you from my bedroom, in AMERICA!  I have finally finished first semester and made it home for Christmas break.  So much as happened in the last few weeks...
We all survived our first round of final exams.  The stress, the long nights, the back to back exams were just as bad as everyone said they would be.  But we all made it through.  The last day of finals, my roommate and I moved to our new apartment, which means I had to remove my wallpaper (which I did so gladly):



























We all learned more information in the last 14 weeks than I feel I have learned in all my years of school combined.  Our professors shoved information into our brain and expected us to regurgitate every detail that was taught.  And we all did it.  My entire group passed first semester and I'm so proud of all of them.

Friday, I got on a plane and got off the rock.  I landed in Miami, chowed down Chili's, and waited for my connecting flight to Baltimore.  The flight was delayed two hours due to mechanical issues.  I was supposed to land in Baltimore at midnight, catch a cab, and stay in a hotel until the next morning.  When I landed at 2am, my parents and sister were there and I was completely shocked.  I had no idea and it was truly the best Christmas present ever.  I wasn't shocked that they were there but because I had absolutely no idea that this was planned, yet everyone else on the planet did.

I got to spend the next morning with Sara, Hunter, Cooper, and Jeff and it was so nice catching up with family.

After going to the fire station and out to lunch, my family and I headed back to the airport.  My parents and sister were on a different flight back to Detroit than I was.  Their flight had no difficulties... mine again was delayed two hours because of the snow in New York.  So I turned on my St. Kitts patience, enjoyed an Arby's sandwich, and parked myself in between two trash cans and surfed the web.  I finally landed in Detroit at 8:30ish and made it home by 10:00 pm.  I got to see my Kodi monster and took a long bubble bath and finally fell asleep in my centipede-less, sand-less bed.  It's so nice being home but it's weird not having to use my brain or stress every minute.  I'm just using this time to prepare myself for next semester.  It's amazing how we just finished finals and three weeks later, we have to start all over again, from week 1.
We all survived first semester, which means we all know what it takes to survive second-tenth.  I'm so happy to be home and thankful for my friends and family who kept me sane.  I'm off to go shopping today for Christmas clothes and last minute Christmas present shopping.   So happy to be home.

Almost There.

Hello,

My mother has informed that I've been neglecting my updates but I promise I have been for good reason.  Veterinary School has hit us all in full force.  We have one more midterm to take (Microanatomy on Monday) and then we're in the final stretch, heading straight for finals.  I have approximately 1,500 powerpoint slides to learn just for my exam on Monday.  The time that I get to sleep is not productive sleep, even after taking my sleeping pills and two Tylenol PM because the stress just keeps you up all night.  I'm becoming the unibomber again with strange writing and charts covering my walls in my bedroom, making up for the lack of wallpaper.
My roommate and I got a new apartment for next semester and we're excited to move in. The puppy is doing well, getting bigger, and is definitely a troublemaker.  But he's really good to study on when he's behaving or sleeping.  Here's him and I in his first time in a pool.

The past few weeks, we got to dissect the thorax and abdomen of our dog, which was incredibly exciting.  Probably more than it should be.  Especially the cracking of the ribs and the sternum...that was my favorite part.  We found out our dog has whipworms today when we cut the cecum open.  I also got to learn how to differentiate heart and lung sounds during small animal palpation today.
During our Introduction to Veterinary Medicine class this week, we had a guest speaker talk to us about how to not be poor, living in student debt for the rest of our lives.  That was encouraging :)
In Microanatomy, our next exam consists of "Blood/Hematopoeisis, Lymphatic System, Respiratory System, Digestive System, and Endocrine System".
In Nutrition, we just finished our midterm, where we had to identify different grass and seeds that farm animals would eat, including how much energy, fiber, protein, etc. is in each.  That was not fun.  Now we're learning about feeding cows, which has no use to me but I'm doing my best to pay attention.
In Physiology, 1/3 of the class failed our last midterm exam.  I somehow passed and have no idea how I did so.  The test was very unfairly written and we're hoping that our final exam will be a lot easier.  We're studying respiratory system.
In other news, today on the St. Kitts radio, they announced how to properly get rid of your waste water and how to return your library books.  Yes, I guess they have a library here.
The weather here is wonderful.  It's about 80 degrees everyday, low humidity, with an awesome breeze.  We're finally out of hurricane season and we're enjoying it.  We spent last Sunday at the beach with the dogs, getting burnt.  Because there was a cruise ship in port that day, we got to talk to a lot of tourist with the most popular question being "Do you LIVE here?!" It was incredibly relaxing and a much needed beach day.  The mudslide and chicken fingers helped too.
Yesterday, we went to see Harry Potter and we got it here about 6 hours before the States.  And the entire movie theater was sold out, all by Ross students.   It was amazing.

So I've basically learned how to survive with incredibly high cortisol levels and I'm sure I'll feel the effects of that when I go home in a month.  I've informed my family that I plan on sleeping for 24 hours straight the day I get home.  I live day to day, class to class, studying when I have time, and attempting to sleep when I'm sick of studying.  Tonight, it's Friday night and I'm spending it in my room, studying.  I think I'll figure out a way to get the sand out of my bed and I need to find a store that sells toothbrushes.

All is well.  Miss you all.  Be home in 30 days.

Round Two

Hello all.
It's Saturday, October 23rd.  We are all preparing for our second round of block exams, with our Microanatomy exam on Wednesday, Anatomy and Physiology the week after that, and then Nutrition.  However, we do have our "mid-semester" break this weekend, which means we have Monday off.  But I guess that just means more time to sit around and study.  We're having our "family" dinner on Monday so I get to cook my hamburgers from back home.  I'm excited to eat food that somewhat resembles a normal meal.  Tomorrow, I'm spending a few hours at the beach then back to studying.  I think I may make it to the beach on Monday as well.  I need that Vitamin D.
In other news, my roommate and I found a new apartment for next semester and hopefully for the rest of the time I'm here.  It's brand new, two bedrooms, two and a half bath, with two balconies.  Just if it was over looking the ocean.  But we're excited.
My roommate also adopted a 5-week old puppy.  So I've become an aunt again.  I'm constantly reassuring myself and my family that it is NOT my puppy.  But he's a cutie and he provides some entertainment during the study breaks.

I'm off to bed early tonight, partially because I'm sick of studying and because I want to get up early and head to the beach.  We've had good weather the past few weeks without an tropical storms but I hear that there's a few forming out in the ocean right now.  I guess we'll wait and see.  A hurricane would be rather nice, say on Wednesday this week when I have my Microanatomy exam.  Maybe?

Miss you all.

Midterms.

It's Wednesday, October 6th and I'm sitting in a coffeehouse.  There's basically a hurricane going on outside (I'm exaggerating but there's definitely a tropical depression) and it's been raining for 4 days straight.  Everything is flooding, mudslides have occurred, we don't have internet at the house, the ocean is incredibly angry and spewing sand at everything.  All of us are happy because last year, they built a "by-pass" a.k.a. the only highway on the island that goes from Frigate Bay (my town) to school.  That way, we don't have to drive through the city.  They have roads that turn into giant rivers, usually resulting in cars drifting into the ocean.
It's been a while since I've posted.  We had three midterms so far and one more next Wednesday. I passed my microanatomy exam with a B and I'm rather pleased with that.  We had our three hour anatomy exam this past Monday, which started at 7am.  We get our results back tomorrow and I'm pretty nervous for them. Today, we had our physiology exam.  All of us just crammed for it because we were so busy studying for our anatomy exam.  But I'm pretty sure I got an A on it.   But I don't want to get my hopes up.
Things that I miss from the United States- McDonald's French Fries.  Taco Bell.  Street Lights.  Pandora/Hulu.  Climbing into bed without checking for centipedes.  Washing a load of clothes without the fear that the washer will flood everywhere.  Real home cooked meals instead of microwavable dinners.  Milk that doesn't expire the next day.  Or two days early, the day after you bought it like today.  Not seeing stray dogs on the side of the road.  Not dodging goats/pigs/dogs/cows while driving.  A room not full of sand.

Today, I was standing in line for lunch and the girl behind me was complaining about how cold it is.  Today, the high temperature was 86 degrees.  I get that it's raining but don't be a drama queen.  We're all really excited to watch the Michigan State/Michigan football game this weekend.  That's after our Nutrition review 10-12 and Nutrition Mock exam 12-2.

I have to get back to studying.  I hope everything's good with everyone back home.  Love you all.

Histology/Embryology

It's Saturday night, September 25th (My half birthday!), 8:30ish pm.  I've survived officially a month on St. Kitts and it feels like I've barely been here a few days.  Not much has changed.  We all live day to day in order to keep up with classes, studying, and the stress that comes with both.  I'm starting to find time for breaks and fun time, like watching Glee and Grey's Anatomy this week with my friends, heading to the movie theater on Friday night to see "The Town" and taking a two hour study break tomorrow to head to the beach in the morning.  I realized that Vet School, besides the studying, is really a six-day a week job.  On Saturday's, I'm basically on campus reviewing and going to tutoring sessions from 10:30am-3pm.  Thursday's during the week are my worst days, arriving on campus at about 7:30am and leaving at 7:00pm.  But as long as I take it day by day, I'm okay.  I've never appreciated weekends more than I do now.  If it's not the catch up days, then it's the break days.
I hear that it's starting to get cold back home.  It was 88 degrees today.  As it was yesterday.  And I'm sure it will be the same tomorrow.  It's always "hot, hot, hot" as the weatherman says.
We had our first PAWS adoption day today and I fought the urge to adopt a dog, although I know it will happen sometime next semester.  But I bought Kodi his Christmas present... a "My mom is a Ross Vet" collar and leash.  I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
On Monday, I have my first Veterinary School midterm, Histology/Embryology and we all feel really good about it.  I guess we'll see what grade I actually get to see how I'm holding on.  A week after that on October 4th is our first anatomy exam.  That's the big one that everyone stresses about.  Wednesday, October 6th is our first physiology exam.  And a week after that is our first Nutrition exam.  Nutrition is the class that people have the most trouble passing so we'll see how I do.
On Friday, my group of friends and I found a path in the woods on the edge of campus.  We went down there and found this.  This is a picture of my lunch break on campus.  It's not so bad :)

I hope you're all enjoying the last week of September.  I'm sure I'll spend it studying.  Talk to you all soon.  Love you all and miss you.

My Saturday Night

Flexor Carpi Radialis Supinator Pronator Teres Pronator Quadratus Abductor Pollicus Longus Common Digital Extensor Lateral Digital Extensor Ulnaris Lateralis Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Superficial Digital Flexor Deep Digital Flexor Extensor Carpi Radialis Biceps Branchii Long Head of the Triceps Branchii Lateral Head of the Triceps Branchii Accessary Head of the Triceps Branchii Medial Head of the Triceps Branchii Fascia Tensor Antebrachii Coracobrachialis Sternocephalicus Superficial Pectoral Muscle Deep Pectoral Muscle Latissimus Dorsi Cutaneus Trunci Cleidocephalicus Cleidobrachialis Bracialis Trapezius Deltoideus Omotransversarius Teres Major Teres Minor Infraspinatus Supraspinatus Subscapularis Serratus Ventralis Rhombodieus Anconeus


This is my Saturday night.


It's Saturday, September 18th.  This morning, I went to Rams (the grocery store) and TDC (the home improvement store), did a load of laundry, went to the Anatomy Lab from 1-2pm to study our dog limb, which I cut off of the actual dog a few days ago, Microanatomy Tutor from 2-3pm and then the beach!  Hurricane Igor has passed us but left behind some enormous waves that have overtaken the beaches.  Today, we decided we were going to head to Shipwreck beach but once we got there, we saw that there was no beach left.  The tide was so high that the beach was covered so we drove on to Reggae Beach.  Reggae Beach is a bit better because it's a cove on the Caribbean Sea side of the island.  But the waves had brought up all the seashells and seaweed so it was a lot more difficult to go swimming.  But I'm not complaining about spending the day on the beach.  It's been thunderstorming all day but it's neat to watch from my apartment because you can see the clouds roll in, especially from the Atlantic Ocean.  I'm off to study the night away.  We have a three day weekend with Monday being St. Kitts Independence Day so we're all thankful that we have an extra studying day... or an extra beach day, depending on who you ask.  
Miss you all.  Talk soon.

Another week

I haven't updated this in a while so I thought this would be a good form of procrastination.  It's Wednesday, September 15th (Happy birthday dad!) at it's 9:00pm exactly.  My life has consisted of class and sleep, with a few hours of studying in between and about 5 minutes for meals.  It's a lot of time in class but I feel prepared all of the information we're talking about now I learned in undergrad at Michigan State.  In Physiology, we're learning about action potentials and neurotransmitters, which I learned in Neurobiology at MSU.  In Histology/Embryology, we're learning about gametogenesis and fertilization, which I learned in Developmental Biology at MSU.  And in anatomy, we're learning about bones, muscles, and joints, which I went over in Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates at MSU.  So far, I'm not overwhelmed by the topics we're learning about, just the amount of time that I'm actually on campus.  The last two days, we didn't get a lunch break.  We had to eat during our lectures.  This Monday is St. Kitts Independence Day so we don't have class.  But the school forgot this and scheduled lectures for this time.  So we have to make up all the lectures that we miss.  So my schedule tomorrow:
Anatomy 8-10
Histology 10-12
Lunch!! 12-1
Nutrition 1-2
Physiology 2-3
Nutrition Make up Lecture 4-5
Dinner!! 5-6
Nutrition Tutor 6-7
And maybe I'll make it home by 8 for bedtime at 9.  It's an overwhelming amount of time in a classroom but I have to say that the people here make it all okay.  We're all new at this and we've all moved down here by ourselves, living outside the US for the first time.  And all of us have the same passion for animals so we all have something in common.  Everyday, we have the same classes together, at the same time, with the same amount of information needing to be learned, and the same amount of time to learn it.  So we all stick together and drag each other through the mud.
It's been incredibly hot the past few days with little wind.  But we're all thankful that Hurricane Igor missed us.  We're expecting thunderstorms all night because of him but none of us had to be evacuated.
I'm off to study the muscles of the canine thoracic limb.  I'm having a hard time keeping these muscles apart...I think you'll understand why:
Extensor Carpi Radialis
Flexor Carpi Radialis
Pronator Teres
Pronator Quadratus
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris
Lateral Digital Extensor
Common Digital Extensor
Ulnaris Lateralis
Abductor Pollicus Longus
Deep Digital Flexor
Superficial Digital Flexor

Back to studying.  Miss you all

Stress

Hello.  It's FRIDAY, September 10th.  It's about 8:30 am and I'm writing this sitting in the Student Union.  I just finished my bagel and cream cheese and an iced caramel latte for breakfast.  My anatomy laboratory is split into groups and I don't have anatomy lab this morning.
The last few days have been the most stressed I've ever been, Wednesday being the worst.  All of us first semesters are stressing worse because we don't have anything to grade ourselves on.  Or we aren't sure how much information we need to know because we haven't taken our first exams yet.  We leave class and study all night, usually resulting in a few mental breakdowns or books being thrown across the room.  Procrastination just isn't an option here.  You can't chose to put your studies off.  In Undergrad, I found myself watching TV or napping instead of studying.  Here, we study as soon as we're done with class, we barely have time to make dinner, and we go to bed at 9:30 so we can get up at 6am and do it all over again.  Everyone says that Vet School will be the hardest four years of your entire life and I totally believe them.  I appreciate the little time that I have to do nothing.  And I definitely learned to appreciate the weekends.  Vet School is like working a 70 hour week.  We never get a break.  But I guess it's worth it.  I've found that studying for Anatomy is the hardest.  It's memorization and everyday, it's a completely new set of bones or muscles.  So if you don't know 100% of the information assigned the night before, then you're behind.  This is what my wall looked like three days ago.  I've added a few more things up there.  But this is the amount of information we're required to learn in one night.

My daily schedule (which is exactly the same almost everyday):

6:30am- Wake up

7:15am- Leave for School

8:00am-10:00am- Anatomy Lab

10:00am-12:00pm- Histology/Embryology

12:00pm-1:00pm- LUNCH

1:00pm-2:00pm- Nutrition

2:00pm-4:00pm- Physiology

4:15pm- Arrive at home

4:30pm-6:00pm- Study

6:00pm-6:05pm- Eat dinner, usually microwavable meals

6:05pm-9:00pm- Study

9:30pm- Sleep

It's the same routine everyday.  And I'm sure that as we get more information, our sleep time will be moved back.  Most students go to sleep around midnight and wake up at 6am.  

It's tough work.  But it's all I do and all I think about.  We don't have time for jobs... and sometimes I'm thankful that I have time for a shower.  I think living in St. Kitts is one of the best things I've done.  All the students here are in the same boat.  If I were at MSU, I would have the distractions that I had in Undergraduate.  All the students, the restaurants, etc.  Everything here closes at exactly 4pm.  So nothing's really open in order to distract you.  Today is Friday and I've never been more thankful for this day.

Classes

Hello.  It's Tuesday, September 7th.  We got out of our anatomy lecture an hour early.  I'm sitting my the picnic tables waiting for my Histology lecture to start.
Yesterday was our first day of classes.  We had anatomy lab from 8-10am, where we just went over the syllabus.  I think my comparative anatomy and physiology of vertebrates class in college is going to come in handy for this class. After that, we have Histology/Embryology lecture from 10-noon.  The professor is from Serbia, so no one can understand him.  And he's incredibly boring.  So we were all just looking forward to lunch.  After lunch, we had Nutrition, which is supposed to be the hardest class of the semester. The professor was completely opposite of the Histology professor.  He was hilarious and entertaining.  Hopefully because he's entertaining, we'll all be more willing to learn and study for that class.  After class, we had our white coat ceremony.

Today, we had anatomy lecture from 8-9, Histology lecture from 10-noon, and Intro to Vet Med from 1pm-2pm.  After class, I have to make my way to the Basseterre Post Office to pick up the package I sent myself two weeks ago.  I'm not sure where that is but I'm hoping for the best.

Talk soon.

First week video.

St. Kitts Video

Where do I begin?

It's Sunday, September 5th.  Today is our day to relax.  I haven't posted anything for the last few days because I've been so busy.
Friday night, we went down to Port Zante for a party.  After all of us drinking far too much, we headed over to Ziggy's which is a bar on the beach, right next to the ocean.  We all had a whole lot of fun and some people paid the price that night and even into the next day. But we all had lots of fun.
On Saturday, we woke up at 9am and went to Harpers, the school supplies store, IGD, the home improvement store, and the grocery store.  We all came back home and took about an hour nap and got ready for the catamaran.  We had an amazing and relaxing time on the trip and it was incredible.

After the catamaran, I went over to my classmates' house, Rachel and Kristen.  We had a few of my orientation group members there where we watched The Hangover and ate Dominoes pizza.  It remarkably tasted about the same as American pizza.  This morning, we all woke up on our own time and met at Rituals, the coffee house for Brunch at 11am.  I think Rituals is the most American place on the island and I had scrambled eggs, pancakes, and an iced caramel latte.  Now we're all back in our apartments, getting ready to start school tomorrow.  They don't really give us a lot of information so I think we're all just going to show up and hope for the best.

Talk soon.

Shipwreck Beach and Brimstone Hill

Hello.  I'm sitting in my living room currently watching Big Brother.  Today, I woke up at 6:15am and headed off to orientation.  We spent the day sitting in one of our lecture hall, getting talked to about life on the island, security, etc.  I learned that drunk driving is only frowned upon here and you'll only get a ticket for it if you hit somebody.  Although, they highly recommend against it.  I also learned that all Kittitans think that American girls are promiscuous and that AIDS is rampant here.  There's signs along the road addressing the issue.  Because the island gets American TV, they think that all Americans are rich and crazy, getting their opinions from shows like Gossip Girl and Soap Operas.  We got our financial aid check, which means we're all rich again.  At least for the moment.  I came home to find a monkey standing at my front door.  That was a new one.  After orientation, my orientation group went to Brimstone Hill and the beach.  Brimstone Hill is the fort on the island and it's on the top of the hill, which means amazing views.

After Brimstone Hill, we went to Shipwreck Beach, where we swam while the sun went down.  We all felt cold for once and realized that the ocean felt like bath water. 

 We're all having an amazing time.  Tomorrow's a really long day, with orientation in the morning, a trip to the bank to deposit our financial check, then to the movie theater for a free movie, and out to dinner at Ziggy's.  On Saturday, we get to go out on the catamaran trip and Sunday, we have off to prepare for school.  Although, I think we're heading to the Marriott that day to play a little bingo.  I'm almost done with my YouTube video and I'm hoping to upload it on Sunday.

Day From Hell

Not sure where to start with this one because so much has happened in the last twenty four hours.  Last night, we went to Rituals, the coffee shop and it was amazing.  Great food.  My orientation group was there and we all just watched our favorite YouTube videos and laughed the whole time.  It was great.  Then I got home and my roommate was washing towels and taking a shower.  I opened my door and was standing in half an inch of water.  Everything had flooded.  So we spent most of the night, until about 1am using towels to soak up the water.  The worst part was ringing out the towels and trying to keep the stray cat out of the house while we were going in and out.  Eventually, we went to bed and woke up early this morning for the plumber.  We were both exhausted.  The plumber managed to flood the apartment three more times and after 3 1/2 hours, told us that the drain was in the wall instead of outside and there was nothing he could do about it.  So the landlord stopped by and now we're waiting for a guy named Carl to come so he can try and fix it all.  The showers are fixed but we don't have a washing machine.  Oh well.  The internet guy came today so we finally have internet inside the apartment.  As I was taking the trash out, I ran into this little guy.

Aren't you glad I showed you that?  We're all going to the grocery store to buy machetes so we can kill these little buggers.  They're poisonous... and aggressive.  Oh the joys.  Tomorrow, we have our second day, which is supposed to be our fourth day, of orientation.  Hurricane Fiona hit today, which consisted of a 2 1/2 minute drizzle.  Everything was cancelled just for that.  I have to wake up at about 6:15am tomorrow and we're supposed to be going all day.  Here's the view from campus.  Love.

Orientation Day 1

Today was our first day of orientation.  I had to wake up at 6:15am.  I didn't sleep well all night.  I couldn't get the air conditioning set at the right temperature and they have bugs here that make clinking noises all night.  The centipedes are out in full force...and they're poisonous. If you step on them, they'll turn around and bite you and you get an awful allergic reaction.  They're quite disgusting.  We had orientation, where we ate breakfast, got our very official, looks like an index card, St. Kitts driver's license. We figured out cable and internet, banking, Student visas, banking account, ID pictures, and e-mail addresses, as well as taking a campus tour.  Overall, the day was incredibly hot.  We spent most the time looking for air conditioning as we had to walk from building to building in the heat.
Hurricane Fiona is rolling in so they cancelled orientation for tomorrow.  It's not like in the US.  If there's any sign of a storm, even if it's a small one, everything closes and everything's cancelled.  Fiona is just supposed to be a rain storm, without much wind, but we have to stay in our apartments all day anyway.  After orientation, we headed to the grocery store where I picked up the essentials: water, toilet paper, and coke.  We also were given a free case of Ting, which is amazing fizzy grapefruit juice.  Sounds gross but it's everybody's favorite thing.  I realized today that I have the best orientation group.  Orientation groups are put together by where you live and all of us just get along fantastically.  We were all sitting in the bank meeting and we were all laughing hysterically at stupid things.  We're all heading out to Rituals tonight, which is basically a Starbucks/Panera here.  It's the most American thing here and it has free wireless internet.
I'm surprisingly getting very accustomed to island life, besides all the bugs.  I took the fastest in the grocery store today and seem very low maintenance compared to the others here, which is amazing to me.

Tomorrow, we're stuck inside for the day.  I'm going to try and finish my video and put that on YouTube.  Hopefully we get internet set up in our house tonight so we'll be able to chat tomorrow during the storm.  I took video of campus today so you'll be able to see what it's like.  This is a picture I took today while eating lunch. Enjoy!  Miss you.

The Aftermath

Hello, It's Monday, August 30th.  It's 7:04pm and it's already pitch dark here.  I'm standing at the end of my porch, stealing internet from the coffee shop down the street.  I survived my first hurricane.  The hurricane picked up about bedtime last night and it was bad.  I definitely didn't know what to expect but I go some of it on video and will be uploading it to YouTube at the end of the week.  We were all okay with the hurricane until it brought the internet and cable down.  All the stores and restaurants are closed so we're all suffering from island and cabin fever.  So basically, I did nothing today.  But I couldn't really do anything if I wanted to.  The wind is still really strong but it's not raining anymore.  I'm not sure what the damage is to the rest of the island but we were told that Earl is the biggest hurricane to hit the island in nine years.  I'm just so lucky to have experienced it :).  There's a stray cat that keeps rubbing against my leg as I'm typing this.  I'm doing my best to ignore it, knowing that if I give it attention, it'll just stick around.  Tomorrow is our first officially day of orientation, which means we get our student visas figured out.   I can see the volcano from where I'm standing and there's one road on it that cars and go up and down it on.  From my point of view, at night, it looks like airplanes are coming in to land, but it's just the headlights of the cars as they head down.  The hardest part of the island so far is having no addresses, for anything.  Last night, I stayed at my classmates house, which is the pink house next to Sugar and Bobsys.  Make sense?  Yeah I didn't get it either.  We attempted to go out to eat tonight but nothing's open.  And they don't seem to be in any hurry to open anything either. Instead I had Lean Cuisine's  BBQ Chicken Pizza, just like at home, for dinner.  The clouds are still ahead so there's no stars tonight.  One thing I did notice is that there's not any birds on this island.  There's a few seagulls here and there but none that sit in your trees or on your railing. Maybe because it's an island?  I'm not sure but the excess of bugs makes up for the lack of birds.  I've only seen two wild monkeys running around and none near my apartment.  We're all trying to find baby monkeys that we can raise while we're here.  I'm not sure if that's legal or a good idea but we can all dream.  It's hard being here and not being able to connect with the outside world.  There's not really a weather channel here or a website that we can use to get any information so we're all just learning to relax and go with the flow.  The bugs sound really loud tonight, probably because there's standing water everywhere.  I also learned today that either you get a warm shower or you get a shower with strong water pressure. You don't get both.  I feel lucky to get the warm shower, even if it takes me longer than usual.  We all have to be ready to be out the door by 7am tomorrow so I'll have to wake up early.  I miss you all but I think I'm going to learn to like it here.  It's an experience that will teach me patience, understanding, and compassion that I think every American should learn.  Miss you.  Love you.

Surviving a Hurricane

It's Sunday, August 29th and it's my first whole day in St. Kitts.  I decided to start this blog to keep all my family and friends up to date with what's going on in my life, as well as what it's like to live on an island like this.  Yesterday composed mostly of flying and it seemed like it went on forever.  I had about a half hour layover in Miami before I had to load the next plane. The plane to St. Kitts was completely full and incredibly hot.  Because I got a sinus infection the day before I left, my ears wouldn't adjust to the pressure changes so I was in pain the entire time.  Eventually, my left ear drum popped, which was actually a relief but resulted in a worse hearing loss than I already have. As we flew in, I immediately recognized the island, as well as it's sister island, Nevis.  We had to make a giant turn to get around the volcano and came in pretty fast, crossing over the highway before landing.  We then realized that there's no such thing as "airport gates" here and we enjoyed exiting the plane on rollaway stairs.  I made my way through customs without a problem and then I had my first experience with "island time".  The airport had no air conditioning and only had one person pulling luggage off the plane.  I waited about forty-five minutes for my luggage, which made it safely and without exploding. I found out how much the island appreciates the American students that come in because we went through customs, without anyone opening our bags or even questioning what we had.  My awesome orientation leader greeted me outside, drove me to my apartment, where I saw our building's pet chickens and stray cats.  After we got to the apartment, I unpacked my suitcases, which basically means I laid on my bed, trying to stay awake.  My apartment is a decent apartment, with just enough amenities that I need but the best part is the view.

After I unpacked, my orientation group went to the grocery store to pick up food items, which went over better than I expected.  They basically have everything, including Lucky Charms, Life, and Eggos.  We had dinner that night with about fifteen people at the Shiggity Shack.  This was the moment that I realized my life had changed.  We sat there, for about an hour, had to re-order our meal a few times, before I finally got my bottle of water and a cheeseburger.  Most people in America would have walked out of the restaurant at this point but we had to learn to relax and roll with the punches.  The cheeseburger ended up being fantastic.  When you order your meal here, they don't make separate checks.  So you have two options when eating with a big group: 1. You split the check up yourself or 2. You go up to the cashier, tell them what you ordered, and then pay.  It's all very much based on trust.  I went back to the apartment, found an internet connection, talked to Mom and Dad on Skype, ate a fruit or vegetables that my classmate gave me (I'm still not sure what it is but it wasn't very good), learned how to climb the tree at the end of our driveway to get the coconuts, and played with the stray cat.  I went to bed and woke up early this morning and headed to the beach!  We played with the 1,000 pound pig that lays there and the monkeys.  I don't think I'll ever get used to the monkeys, or the goats/cows/pigs that roam the streets.  Hitting pigs here is like hitting deer at home.  The beach was incredible, exactly what you think a beach should be in St. Kitts.  It wasn't very busy and all the Ross students bring their dogs, which makes all of us Vet Students very happy.  We enjoyed the warm ocean water, swam out to the random raft, drank some Carib beer, and laid out in the sun.

  We all had lunch on the beach which for me included a mudslide and chicken fingers. They were more like chicken fries, with some french fries, kidney beans, and some kind of salad, cabbage mixture?  It was really good though!  We then went back to my orientation leaders house.  She lives right next door to the St. Kitts Olympic Gold Metal Track runner, who is basically the most important person on the island.  The country gave him a house and an escalade, which has the steering wheel on the wrong side so he can't drive it.  She has a total of five roommates and eight dogs, three of which are puppies.  Everyone here usually has more dogs than roommates.  PAWS works through the Vet School so the students foster young puppies and raise them, usually adopting them out in the United States as they get older.  We then went to Best Buy (It's not what you think).  It's a grocery store on the island but because we were expecting a hurricane, every person on the island was there, buying water and flashlights.  Everyone's getting used to paying $15.00 for water, then realizing that everything here is in Eastern Caribbean Dollars, which is 2.7 times the USD.  My roommate's family is staying at the Marriott so she decided to stay there for the night and I bunkered down with a classmate of mine in her apartment.  We filled the bathtub with water, just in case, hit the TV a few times and managed to get cable television.  We thought that we were going to be letdown by this "hurricane" talk and then the storm actually hit.  I have pictures and videos of this and will upload it as soon as the storm passes.  Orientation is cancelled tomorrow, everything is closed, and we are forced to stay in our apartments until we receive the all clear.  We keep hoping that the power lasts and the apartment doesn't flood.  It's not as windy as I expected a hurricane to be but there's definitely rain and lightning.  We got a hurricane manual earlier in the day and the first two rules were 1. DON'T GO SURFING! in capital letters.  We assumed this was capitalized because someone did this before and 2. If your roof blows off your apartment or house, don't panic!  I'm not sure what else you would do if you had no roof in a hurricane but they never did tell us what we should actually do if this occurred.  So we're basically hoping for the best, riding out the storm, and that's where I am now as I'm writing this.  Drinking rum, watching the Emmys like most of you are in America, and hoping to get some sleep tonight, even through a hurricane.  I love you all.  And I'll upload video when I have my camera cord and I'm not bunkering down hiding from Hurricane Earl.  Love you!