Sunshiny Update!

It's been a busy couple weeks!  Between computer failure, a slew of exams, and the aforementioned centipede attack I am pretty exhausted.  I'm happy to report that I passed all my exams and on top of that I ran unopposed for the position of president for the Student Chapter of AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association).  My term starts next semester, and I am super excited for the opportunity!  In other news as some of you may know I have an addition to my island family.  His name is Alistar and he is a super sweet boy!  The cats have tolerated him surprisingly well and he has proven to be a polite, gentlemanly type dog.  The photo below pretty much sums up how Alistar and I spent the day today.

Giant centipede encounter!!!

So one of the first things they tell you when you come to St. Kitts island is to beware of the local centipedes.  They are extremely large and WILL bite you, causing a very painful reaction that will require medical attention.  So I was dreading the day when I would have to deal with one of these monsters.  A couple weeks ago a very small centipede made its way into my apartment.  I saw Miko batting at something in the corner and originally mistook it for a millipede because it was so small (the millipedes here are harmless).  Then it started racing across the room and I realized it was a miniature centipede.  I quickly dispatched it with a large textbook and hoped that would be my first and only encounter with the species.

If only I could have been so lucky.  I was studying for my anatomy exam the next day and had decided to turn in to get a good night's sleep before the test.  I had just turned off the lights and snuggled into bed when Miko, my cat, suddenly jumped up from his sleeping spot on my bed to stare intently at something on the floor.  I turned on my bedside light to see what he was into when I saw something long and dark scuttle from under the bed to under the desk.  Now, I am not the kind of girl who freaks out over bugs but I am not ashamed to say that I screamed bloody murder and started crying.  While I ran to grab the can of BOP (local bug spray, like RAID but too strong to be sold in the U.S.) and other killing implements, Miko kept on that centipede like a canine pointer-setter.  Thank goodness he was keeping track of it because that thing was FAST.  It was scurrying back and forth across my room at an unbelievable rate!  I gathered my nerve and proceded to dose the thing in insecticide, repeatedly slammed books on it, and finally stomped on it with my workboots, and STILL the thing kept twitching and moving.  Finally, when it was mostly immobilized in a puddle of its own grey-green goo I picked it up with a pair of grilling tongs and disposed of it in the dumpster.

THANK GOD FOR MIKO.  I makes my skin crawl to thing of sleeping soundly in my room while A VENOMOUS GIANT CENTIPEDE was running amok.  Miko, you are the new favorite cat.  For his brave service Miko was awarded a handful of heart-shaped cat treats (aka the Kibble Heart Award).

And now for the nightmare-inducing images I captured:



UPDATE:  I didn't find out until the next morning that Miko had been bitten by the evil centipede creature.  I was on my way out the door when I noticed that Miko's chin was very swollen and painful.  I felt like an awful person for rushing off to my exam so immediately after the test was done I asked one of my veterinarian professors what I should do for him.  She directed me to give Benedryl so I ran home and did so.  I'm happy to report that Miko has recovered well and there have since been no centipede sightings.

Just what I always wanted...

My first test is next Monday, so I'm studying like a fiend.  But enjoy these pictures that I literally took in my own backyard.  It kind of cracks me up.

I don't normally drink beer, but this stuff is good...

Carib beer!  The official beer of paradise!

Downtown

Last Saturday a couple girlfriends and I went to Port Zante for some shopping and girly fun.  I don't have a car, so we braved the bus system for the first time since being on the island.  Now St. Kitts doesn't have an organized commuter system but rather has individual vans that are registered as buses.  Many have interesting paint jobs or detailing that is very flashy, but the only way to determine if it is a bus or not is the "H" designation on the license plate.  To board the bus, simply stand on the side of the road and wave at it as it approaches.  It will stop on a dime to pick you up (be careful if you're driving behind it!).  Then you cram yourself in like and hang on as the bus barrels down the tiny roads to downtown Basseterre.  The ride should have been nerve-wracking, but it was actually pretty fun.  It was also cheap: less than $1 US.

Once we got downtown we wandered around port for awhile.  It's mostly for tourists from the cruise ships, but they had lots of cool stuff.  The best part: DUTY FREE! (as long as you let them think you're a tourist)

We sashayed over into downtown Basseterre and visited the pharmacy where I was very interested to see that they sold, among other things, high proof grain alcohol.  Geez, and I thought Wisconsin was bad.  This doesn't look shady at all...

A good lunch was had at Ballyhoo restaurant which overlooks the main square in town, called the circus.  Had a delicious mango smoothie.  Since I moved here I'm now addicted to mangoes, by the way.  All in all a fun outing with the girls (thanks Beth'l and Jocelyn!).  Also, using the bus and figuring out where stuff is downtown should prove useful.

Goodbye Orientation, Hello Learning!

I'm hitting the books hard today.  I assume that after this posts will be few and far between.  In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my anatomy study buddy!

First Day of Classes

After a week of fun and settling in, today I started what I came here to do: study to be a veterinarian.  I had my first classes in Gross Anatomy, Microscopic Anatomy (Histology), and Nutrition.  It was a lot of introductions and syllabus information, and now I can't wait to dive into the subjects.  Our last class of the day, Physiology, was cancelled so we could get ready for the white coat ceremony.  If it hadn't already hit home that I'm going to be a doctor, donning that white coat made it real in a big significant way.  Unlike previous ceremonies I've been to, I hung on the words of the keynote speaker and was deeply moved by the proceedings.  Well, I've got to go tackle my first reading assignments.  Enjoy the pictures!  I will be obtaining a DVD of the ceremony if anyone would like to see it in the future.

Some of the gals from my orientation group and our orientation leader, Scott.

As you can tell from this picture, Scott's a fun guy who made orientation interesting and enjoyable.

This is Mitch who hails from Eau Claire, WI.  He's a high school classmate and good friend of my cousin, Jacob.
Small world!

Around the Island

During Orientation I got the opportunity to take two tours of the island: one by land and one by sea.  On Wednesday we drove around the island and stopped at various points of interest.  On the way to the first stop our driver pointed out a rather macabre historical site called Bloody Point.  This is where the English and French colonists massacred over 2,000 of the native islanders and tossed them in the river, which ran red with blood for weeks.

First stop, Caribelle Batik.  This is where they make beautiful batik cloth by applying wax in various designs to a fabric and then dying it.  The dye does not penetrate the wax so you end up with dyed and undyed parts of the fabric in the desired pattern.  They can also do multiple steps of this process to create layers of different colors and white areas.  The work they do is beautiful.

The gardens around Caribelle Batik showcase the gorgeous island flora.

Another interesting sight was this decorated tree in Sandy Hill.  Our driver said some of the locals drink all day long and when they finish a bottle, they hang it in this tree.

One of the most popular attractions on the island is Brimstone Hill.  It is the site of the English fort built in the 18th century when the English and French stopped sharing the island as well as they used to.  It has some amazing old stonework and a fantastic view of the island.

I thought it was a pretty big drive/hike all the way to the top of Brimstone Hill, but this little cat seems to have thought it worthwhile to hang out in the old fortress

As we continued around the northernmost point of the island to the Atlantic side we stopped to see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea.  There were some pretty amazing wave patterns as the two bodies of water collided, unfortunately they didn't show up well on film.  An interesting stop on the other side of the island was Black Rock Point, which had some pretty cool volcanic rock formations.  It also had some small little stands set up by the locals, such as the "Coconut Pub" below.

On Saturday we had our Catamaran trip around the island.  We sailed past Port Zante and the peninsula and over to spend some time on the beach at Nevis.  We had a great time on the boat listening to music and eating lunch served by the energetic crew.  I was especially amused at how the captain drove the boat.

Catamarans

Where the cruise ships dock.

Port Zante

Nevis

One of the other catamarans off the coast of Nevis

My little slice of paradise

Today I thought I'd tell you about my apartment that I was lucky enough to procure. It is directly across the street from campus just a short walk away from all the major buildings. In fact, I'm closer to some of our classes than the people in the residence halls. Not being smug or anything, just saying. The building was either built fairly recently or was recently remodeled, because everything seems modern and comfortably appointed. The ceilings are high, giving the place a very airy appearance. It came fully furnished with furniture, TV, and kitchenware. All of the wall outlets are 110v, which means all my electronics and appliances from the US can be plugged in safely (thank goodness!). The only things that have thrown me so far are some of the wall switches. The light switch for the bathroom is on the wall OUTSIDE of the bathroom. I figured it out pretty quickly. However, if I wake up to use the facilities in the middle of the night I have to paw at the wall for a little while before my sleepy brain remembers where the switch is. Also, there are walls switches for the electric stove and the hot water heater. The stove switch is labeled, but the hot water switch is just an unlabeled RED switch in the middle of the wall. So not only was I afraid to turn it on, but I was also confused why there was no hot water. Not that the cold water comes out of the tap very cold, it's kind of lukecold in my opinion. I think I'll keep my drinking water in the fridge. If only my Brita pitcher could have fit in my luggage…oh well. Life is tough. In any case, enjoy the pictures of my place!

Home sweet home!

These pretty curtains came with the place!  I would have picked these out myself from a store!

The shower curtain, bath mat, and of course the cat came with me from home.

Update: I got my internet hooked up today! Basic cable is included in my rent, but I had to sign up with the cable company to get internet service. They told me someone would come to hook it up "sometime next week" which is a pretty good example of how "island time" works around here. But I was pleasantly surprised to see the cable guy show up today. He even made sure my router worked before he left, even though he only had to set up the modem. Special thanks to The Cable company (that's their name!) for excellent customer service. Now I can enjoy the net in the comfort of my own apartment without having to trek over to the library or bug my next door neighbor to get wireless service.

The Beach!

So much has happened in the last week that I am going to have to back up and blog about things topically. So for this post I give you my first experience of one of the beaches on St. Kitts. 


So, brief geography lesson: The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has been described as looking like a baseball bat and baseball. St. Kitts is the bat (albeit short and stubby) and Nevis is the ball. The main part of the island is the top of the bat and the peninsula is the handle. The Northwestern shore is along the Atlantic Ocean and the Southeastern shore along the Caribbean Sea. The ocean and sea meet at each end of the island (it's a pretty spectacular pattern of waves, but I'll talk about that later). The most popular beaches are on the peninsula even though it's out of the way and harder to get to. 

 On Sunday we went to a place called Shipwreck beach. It's one of the first beaches you come to as you go down the peninsula on the Caribbean side. The beaches on the Atlantic side are not as good for swimming because they have bigger waves. In fact there is one beach that has warning signs posted due to the vicious undercurrent that has claimed several lives. In any case, the two main Atlantic beaches are off-limits right now due to sea turtle nesting season. The sea turtle project monitors the beaches so the sea turtles can come and lay their eggs without being scared off. So the beach we went to on the Caribbean side was GORGEOUS. It of course had vibrant turquoise waters and a stunning view down the coast. 

 There was a beachside bar and grill to enjoy and shades made out of palm fronds. As you came in to the beach there was an amusing sign welcoming you to Shipwreck beach and showing the distance to various cities. I was especially tickled to see that one of the cities that made the sign was Green Bay, Wisconsin, only 2604 miles away. It was directly above the arrows claiming that monkeys and mongoose were 20 feet and 25 feet away, respectively.  

I found the sign very accurate for, indeed, about 20 feet away were some monkeys and mongoose eating scraps left out from the bar. I was disappointed to see that the monkeys were not guzzling alcoholic drinks as I had heard about but were eating (rather stereotypically) bananas. I had not heard about the mongoose on the island and they were pretty cute despite being a bit shifty-eyed.

 After checking out the furry beach residents I thoroughly enjoyed the sun and warm waters of the beach. After getting back home, though, I realized I will need to be more careful about applying my sunscreen. I don't burn very easily, so I usually slap some sunscreen on and if I miss any areas it's not a big deal. I was dismayed to find that my hastily-applied spray-on sunscreen did not cut it for sun protection and I now had irregular sunburn patches on the unprotected spots on my body. And they HURT. I really got FRIED. So now I look like a human version of a Red Holstein. Lesson learned: 1/32 Native American blood ≠ immune to Caribbean sun.