Finally Have my Computer Back

Sorry for long time between posts. The day before school started here, my two week old computer decided to stop working. Needless to say, shipping it back to be fixed was a hassle, made even more so trying to get a computer back. I now have my undergrad computer here which is nice and I can return to full connection with the world, and just in time. I have my first vet school exam on Monday in Microanatomy, the one class I despise. But now that my computer has arrived, I can actually study. It's been a lot of work so far and I'm amazed by how much I've already learned. Today, my books also came in, which will definitely be helpful in my classes. For the first time, I got to work with live animals, dogs. We were learning to palpate and it was nice to not be working with a cold smelly cadaver dog.

Speaking of live animals, I also got a kitten. Her name is Rory and she is so cute. The second night home, she ate one of my earring backs. Unfortunately, she tore it off my ear while I was asleep. I've been searching for it to come out the other end, but as yet no such luck.

It hasn't been all work and no play. We go out on the weekends and study at the beach. We went ziplining and snorkeling and on a catamaran tour. More plans are in the works. Updates to come.

Unfortunately, this will be a short post as I have lots that I want to do with my computer. I promise more updates soon!

Orietation and Sad Days

Orientation will be over tomorrow. It was supposed to be a free day, but we had to rearrange due to the potential arrival of Fiona, who never saw land here. We are expecting Gaston to make landfall as a category 2 or greater hurricane sometime next week, so we'll see if the first week of class includes a few hurricane days. For an island that rarely sees hurricanes (nearly 10 years since the last one), there suddenly are a lot of them.

My mom left me on Wednesday, which was sad. She was glad to be out of here though and get back to everything at home. Fortunately, Fiona held off and she was able to fly out as scheduled. I'm not quite homesick yet, but that may be because this feels so much like a vacation right now. When Mom left, I called my dad and found out that my grandma was at the emergency room and not doing well. Unfortunately, not long after my mom got home, my grandma passed away. I'm not going to make it home for the funeral, but I know Grandma won't have any more of the pain she's had the past few months. It's just hard being so far away and being without any family to deal with this, but I'm managing.

It has been helpful that we've been busy. Orientation has been going on this week and today we had a tour of the island, including a few hours at the Brimstone Hill fortress, stopping at Thomas Jefferson's ancestors' estate where they now do batik demos, and seeing the lava rocks in the ocean. I have lots of pictures, but still little time to post them.

Tomorrow, I will hopefully be test driving a car and hopefully liking it enough to buy it. It's going to be weird to have my first left side of the road driving experience, but I already have my driver's license for the island. Tomorrow also ends orientation, besides our catamaran boat trip and snorkeling on Saturday. Classes start Monday, so I have some preparing to do for that. Maybe then this will feel less like a vacation.