Supposed to be Studying

Since I'm supposed to be studying for a nutrition exam, I decided that this is the perfect time to update my blog. Lots has been occuring. First semester is more than half over already. After next Wednesday, my second round of midterms will be finished and I can hopefully say that I am still a passing vet student. Up to this point, I am happy to say that I am. The exam on Wednesday does not worry me much since about half of it is about forages, grains, and swine. We spent one class period learning the differences between barrows, boars, sows, and gilts. There was even a point where we learned that "piglet" is the proper name for a baby pig, so as I said, not too concerned. We also learned about raking hay and I realized that is definately one thing I will not miss from home, even though I haven't had to do it in years now.

Two weeks ago we had our mid semester break, so we had a three day weekend. Some friends and I decided to take a trip to the other half of St. Kitts and Nevis and stay in a hotel in Nevis. We did a bunch of touristy things: checked out some ruins, saw the botanical gardens, got lost, normal things. Definately planning a return trip there because it was a lot of fun. I also had my first experience with seasickness on the ferry ride over. Luckily, it's only a 20-ish minute ride from one island to the other.

Last weekend was Halloween, but since we had two big midterms last week, the going out here was limited. The 80 degree weather on the holiday was very nice though and there were some creative costumes. When I got home on Saturday night, Rory didn't come to meet me at the door and I discovered her stuck on top of the curtains for the second time. She has been getting very naughty lately, but I guess that's the kitten in her. My favorite part of Halloween was when the students from the on campus prep school came trick-or-treating to our nutrition class. It reminded me a lot of the costume parades we used to have when I was in grade school at North Cape. The kids were so excited and it made me wish that I could have gone to grade school here.

I bought a car on Monday and unfortunately, it stopped running on Tuesday. After finding some jumper cables and attempting to jump it, I figured out that we were doing it wrong. One of my missions in the next few days is to play mechanic and get it started. It's a light blue 94 Nissan Bluebird. It has its quirks, which is one reason the battery is now dead. You also can't get out the driver's side without opening the window because the handle is missing. I realized I'm becoming very laid back here on the island and learning to deal with things much better. Hopefully this continues when I get home.

Yesterday, we went shopping at the port which is where the cruise ships come in. I went from never seeing a cruise ship in my life to seeing one everyday, sometimes two. I did manage to get all my Christmas shopping done, which is really exciting. It's weird to think that it is November and I am still in shorts while it will be snowing soon at home. Going back is going to be really weird because of the weather and the general pace of life. Everything is so slow here that when we go out to dinner, I tend to "pre-eat" just so I don't get hungry waiting for dinner after ordering.

I'm at school now, so I will update with photos when I get home later tonight.