Late night episode

Last night I was attacked by an island moth.. Lol.. indeed.. I am now scarred for life! So to also scar you (or provide some entertainment I will recount said event). So I was headed home from the library after a dutiful evening of studying. It was about 2 a.m. and I was accompanied by my friend Jed -for those who have seen my facebook pictures, he is in many of them and is sort of my little substantially sized island brother/ party buddy. He was carrying his backpack in front of him. We were almost back to our dorm and were headed down the final long flight of stairs when I noticed a flicker out of the corner of my eye. Thinking it was one of the normal grenadian bugs I didn't really pay attention until I felt a huge furry thing flap around my legs...
I jumped sky high and made a gasping noise. Jed turned to laugh at me and it was at this point that the bird sized (no joke) moth thwapped him straight in the middle of his forehead. Jed promptly screamed like a little girl, the most feminine I've heard in a LONG time. He seriously launched his backback five feet in front of us and when it hit the ground the zipper exploded and coins flew in every direction.
Meanwhile the furry beasty decided to promote panic and confusion by hitting me squarely in the shoulder and circled madly around the both of us for a solid minute. Jed and I were flailing and screaming high pitched yips while dislocating limbs while beating the air with our hands. Eventually panic subsided (I'm sure the moth had been long gone for quite awhile) and we hurriedly picked up like 150$ worth of coins and resumed the trek home. I couldn't sleep for hrs... LOL wish you'd seen it, actually wish i'd seen the whole thing happen too.. pretty intense stuff.
Hope you both are well, missin you tons and excited for yet another long day of studying. MWAH!!
Katie

i love my island

What a great day. Woke up thinking it wasn't going to be that fantastic. Almost overslept and missed a class and met with my advisor to make sure I was on track to get into vet school. As it stands right now, things are ok but of course always room for improvement. What a relief! Spent a couple of hours this afternoon at the beach with Megan trying to destress and refocus (or have fun?). I was shocked when I first pulled up. The waves were HUGE!!! There's a hurricane by San Juan at the moment and we're feeling the effects, I've never seen the waves so big and literally there was no beach. The parking lot was even flooding in places. Went wave surfing for a good half hr -LOVE IT!!! Hope they're the same tomorrow so I can go and play some more. Then back to campus and a quick change before class and micro lab. Things went smoothly and then my favorite thing ever -YOGA CLASS!! I LOVE YOGA!! I've been doing it regularly twice a week and am already seeing improvements in my flexibility. I'm starting to see why mom is so in love with it. I have also found a fantastic new website with online radio stations. I am LOVING the Amy Winehouse channel if y'all want to look it up -good stuff! http://www.last.fm/listen/artist/Amy%2BWinehouse/similarartists . I intend to study micro for a bit in my room with good music, some coffee and a candle going. Should be lovely, and bed early.. G'night :)

just for fun...

Here's some incentive to come down here and visit me!

Exams are finito!

Midterm exams are over! So glad to have them done and out of the way, most of all, it's a good indication or rather wake up call before finals at the end of term. To matriculate into the full veterinary program I need a 3.4 in all the classes i've taken at SGU combined. All the subjects went fairly well, physiology is going to need some work but luckily I have time to bring that mark up. I have a new boyfriend. His name is the library. I intend to spend a lot of time with him in the near future...

My new boyfriend -the library!

Carriacou Trip

At the end of september, I took a trip to one of the neighboring islands with my friend Liz, it was tons of fun! I actually liked the island a bit better then Grenada. It's a lot more rural feeling, people are friendly, everything is well maintained and all the stray dogs are fat and happy. We took a ferry called the Osprey and arrived after about an hour and a half. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Being able to see Grenada's coast from the water was pretty cool. Once arriving on the island, we got settled into our hotel room and got ready for the Hash -the primary reason we were visiting the island in the first place. The Hashes here are really fun. It's basically a gigantic day long adventure race through the bush. Someone will head out in the morning and lay a trail of paper piles and then in the afternoon, we all take off in a pack of people and run from pile to pile along the route. There are code words for finding the trail "on, on" and losing the trail and turning back "on back".

Grenada from the water

Liz and I on the ferry

Carriacou

Tortoise at our hotel

Yeah! Time for a breather and a bit of a life ;)

and so.. it has been a month and a bit since I last sat down and wrote about my life. Lots has happened :) First of all, I had an addition to my small grenadian family of one. My friend Pearl and I bought fish (hers has since passed away :( ) but I now have a little friend to keep me company. Her name is newt and she's a female siamese fighter fish. Pretty cute... I think it's pretty funny that since I am not allowed to have any other sort of pets on campus, I am so excited about a little fish. Pics included:
Newt (my fish)

Pearl and her former fish, Emo Nemo (he was a bit depressed when we bought him..)

Me with Newt

Tuesday -exam day!

Two exams later and I'm completely exhausted but feel completely satisfied that I put in my best effort. As my mom said, Uncle Brett would be proud of my efforts in Molecular Biology and attempting to understand all the nitty picky details that Dr Martin keeps throwing our way. I have to admit, parts of what we are learning are very interesting and the course should be a good one if I keep up on the notes. Yesterday I went to class in the morning after dashing off a reading reaction to Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream". What a beautiful speech! I wish we'd been given more space, it is impossible to fit all my ideas into a single page. The afternoon, evening and most of the early night I spent studying and as much of a shock to the system as my first set of exams were, it was nice to get back into the regular rhythm of school. Early to bed tonight and then tomorrow night is the Ladybugs first soccer game!! Hope to conscript a friend to take pictures so that I can post them :)

Friday

Today was highly successful! I went to my classes and because it's glorious friday I was done at 11a.m. Came back to my room, made some food and had a nap. All my friends continue to succumb to the nasty disease floating around campus and I refuse to let that happen so I've been sleeping a lot and popping cold fx to ward it off. Studied some molecular biology, there is going to be a lot of studying this week because my first quiz is on Tuesday -bring on the red bull! Last night I went out with Linnea and Jed to bananas. It was really fun, everyone was out and my RA (dorm leader) from last term is back visiting for the week. Too fun! Tomorrow night there is an artist from Trinidad mixing so that might be fun.. have to see how much I get done. Also went for a surprise visit to Christina and Yensin's place. It was really nice to have a visit, I really miss having Christina in my classes. Lastly, my friend Mike had a bunch of us over for a dinner party. He cooked the most amazing Chinese food that I've ever had in my life.. it was fantastic!!! Now back to studying...

Thursday

Lighter day of classes and spent some time trying to get caught up with projects etc. I have two molecular biology tests next week so it's going to be a packed weekend of studying. Spent the evening with Cece and LIz, we went and got groceries and then I studied -exciting life of a student... you know it's bad when going to the grocery store is exciting. It's been particularly bad there lately, seems like the store is out of most things all the time. There have not been any tomatoes since I got here, I MISS TOMATOES! I also had a bit of a heart attack last night because then it appeared that my fridge had stopped working. I had just put everything into my freezer and attempted to find a friend still awake who had fridge space I could borrow when it decided to kick in.. weird! Oh last thing.. had my first soccer practice tonight! It was fantastic -great exercise and boy am I going to be sore tomorrow. It felt weird to be kicking a ball again after like 8 years off but things were definitely coming back to me by the end of practice. Might be playing again Friday evening so looking forward to that.

Wednesday

Had a bit of a difficult day today supporting some really good friends. My friend Christina found out today that her chocolate lab that she's had for 8 years (since he was a puppy) had to be euthanized. My friend Pearl also found out that her cat had passed away yesterday. It's so hard being this far away from home in the first place and it's everyone's worst fear that something will happen to a loved one while we're gone. I am having trouble knowing what to say to them. Hugs to both of them and i'm hoping they will feel better with some time. Spent the entire day in class from 9-5 straight, ick! I'm exhausted and still have homework to tackle so off I go..

Tuesday

Events of the day... had one class this morning and the rest of the day off. Got groceries for the week and spent some time with my friend Christina at her place off campus. She has her black labrador with her this term and it is so good to get my dog snuggle in. I also bought some cat food at the grocery for the stray cats around the dorm. Students have been feeding them for years so they're dependent on us.. and I'm really loving the chance to have "pet cats" again. Full day of classes tomorrow and gotta get stuff done so that I can hang out with Liz and Pearl at Stuarts tomorrow night. G'night everyone!

Sunday -Weekend Recap

A pretty good weekend all in all. Went out Friday night with friends to Bananas. Things were uneventful but everyone was out so i got a chance to visit with all my med friends who don't usually have time to get groceries let alone socialize. Saturday I went grocery shopping and to the beach. My car died again.. but it was my fault this time -I left the lights on.. whoops! Got a boost from Louise's car and went out for dinner for DJ's birthday (will post pics of that when I get them off Pearls camera). Dinner was at aquarium which is a restaurant on the beach, it was really fun and a lot of people showed up to celebrate! We had chocolate cake and everything, what a treat. Sunday was very low key, I just hung around the dorm at Pearls place and studied. I was pretty proud of myself for resisting the temptation of the beach and starting to get a handle on school. I just need to get a new planner so that I can get a better idea of what is coming up. Hope everyone enjoyed a fantastic weekend!
HUGS!

Some pics at the beach with Pearl and her boyfriend Shaun...

Friday

Oh dear.. the day started out well, went into St Georges with Pearl this morning to attempt to find some soccer or rather football shoes. I'm officially a member of the ladies Ladybug football team and our first practice will be next week sometime. We had just pulled into down town and I was attempting to park at the side of the busiest main road when my car dies -and to top it off I was blocking a main throughway to a store. Thank goodness for amazing friends! My friend DJ drove all the way into town to rescue us, we tried boosting the car but my battery was DEAD. Luckily the town is small enough that Pearl and I could hoof it accross the street to buy a new battery which DJ installed. The only difficulty was finding a place that took credit card payments -lesson to self, carry lots of cash to buy the car candy! I'm hoping that it was only the battery and not the alternator but only time will tell.. Pearl was so sweet, she was such a good sport about being marooned and bought us smoothies while we waited for DJ. I am starting to get some amazing friends down here...
Highlight of tonight was definitely going up north of the island to Gouyave's Fish Friday. I went up there with Jed, Elise and Amanda, all dorm mates. It was very tasty food and a fun taxi ride there and back.. here are a couple of pics of the occasion.

Our group...
Welcome!
Cheers!

Thursday

Laundry in dorms is in one word FRUSTERATING. I was working out today and noticed that in the full length mirror of the gym my black t-shirt had some pretty impressive white spots where my sportsbra was showing through. Great.. the dryer is putting holes in my clothes because it is off center and clothes are getting stuck in the door while it is spinning. This is after you have to wring the water out of your clothes because the washers don't have a spin cycle. LOL! Guess i'm getting to know the laundry room pretty well, there are 2 out of the 7 washers that work reliably and 4 out of 9 dryers that are functioning and safe. Gotta love dorm life.. On a brighter note, made it to the beach today for a swim. It was amazing as usual, but I am going to try and find a swim cap so that i'm a little bit more visible to people and boats out there :)

Tueday

Classes went really well today. I'm feeling pretty confident with the material. Had my first Molecular lab today and it was pretty cool. We did a lot of things I was familiar with through labs at U of A so it was nice to know what I was doing for once! Need to start buckling down and getting some homework out of the way. Things (including my laundry) seem to be piling up. I'm so excited. First Ladybug practice is going to be on Thursday so I will get to know everyone on the team. I'm hoping to meet some cool people and to play as well as Aunty Chuck. If I do that, maybe we'll actually win some of these soccer games. We're the only female team and we play guys. Should be fun!

Monday

What a LONG day.. non stop classes for 7 hrs.. I'm exhausted.. better post tomorrow I promise!!!

Sunday

Yesterday was my friend Ivonne's birthday, she is officially 30 years old now and as of today, officially in the med school program -CONGRATULATIONS IVONNE! We all went out for supper last night to celebrate and afterward briefly attended the ninja's vs pirates party at Bananas. It was fun to dress up but not many people came out so that was a bit disappointing. Tomorrow being sunday will most likely be quiet.. I could get caught up on some homework I suppose...

At the pirate party

Friday

>
Busy day of classes yesterday and today is errand day. I lucked out being in prevet in that I have the whole afternoon off to get things done. Kidnapped my friend Rodney and we went in to town to run some errands. He had to pick up a package from the port which takes hours so I ended up visiting Klint. He was so much brighter today and pretty cuddly. I think he's really enjoying all the attention he's been getting lately. His leg is all bandaged up and he seems to be putting some weight on it. Peggy, the lady that owns the GSPCA, is really pleased with his progress and is saying that he may be in shape for a bath soon. Also toured around to look at some places for mom and dad and grandma and grandpa to stay in in January. I SO CANNOT WAIT!! The med/vet schools just had their white coat ceremonies and it's going to be amazing to be initiated into the profession. Bought lots of groceries on the way back and linnea is supposed to be throwing a party tonight so that should be fun.

Aug 20/08 (Wednesday)

Interesting day today... Started out at 9 a.m. with a physiology class, then English. On the way out from the lecture hall I noticed a new dog on campus, he was limping and had a pretty decent sized wound on his left hind leg. After being here for a term, you see local dogs or "pothounds" running around most places and most of them are not in the best shape with ravaging mange or super skinny. Something about this one though.. I couldn't just leave him.. could be because he started doing the cute puppy crying noise. Hits you right in the heart! So I skipped out on my micro class and social science and medicine to take him with my friend Beth to the GSPCA in town (equivalent to the humane society.) The system here is weird though.. the GSPCA is run by a lady who devotes all her time to the cause. She runs the clinic and personally decides which cases to take in.. I had to work pretty hard to sell her on my new furry friend and convince her that he was a worthy cause. Klint as we call him did his part though and was super friendly and well behaved even though he's probably never been in a car in his life and his leg was in bad enough shape it was probably pretty painful. In the end he was safely admitted and in return Beth (who is a really talented vet tech before coming down here to vet school) changed the fluids in the x-ray developer so that if Klint required an x-ray later on it was available. Extra bonus is that I got to learn how to clean the developer at the same time. Feeling pretty pleased with myself that Clint gets to sleep inside with a/c tonight and is getting some food and water!

Klint

Aug 19/08 (Tuesday)

Wow.. i'm getting pretty regular with the updating.. going to keep it coming, it's actually pretty relaxing to sit here and think about what happened today. Today was a weird day actually. As the second day of official classes I've now attended almost all the classes I'll take this term. We started off with a class at 8 o'clock which meant waking up way earlier. I haven't actually been up this early since I was working earlier this summer so it was really tough to pry my eyes open. I guess I was helped out by the girl accross the hall who beat my alarm with a rousing rendition of "Hallelujah, Hallelujah..e tc..." playing a very loud gospel choir on her laptop. Not a nice way to wake up... Better than last night when the girl down the hall was singing loudly in the wrong key to Britney Spears :) I am liking living in the dorm so far though.. lots of nice girls and so nice to have people around to keep me company.
So molecular biology was the first class this morning. It's going to be complex and boring. I got to purchase a scintillating book on genomes! Yeah.. ;) Luckily it's taught by one of my favorite profs so far, he is a really excellent public speaker and tries to make the class interesting with jokes and stories. I had a molec lab intro after that which was uneventful and short.

I woke up feeling really bad, thinking it was just an early morning but it got worst during classes so I went back to my room for a really long nap. That helped a bit but i'm definitely fighting something off -I think everyone I know is, the guy behind me in class this morning was coughing a lung up which was quite gross.

Tonight I went to my friend Meg (second term vet)'s new apartment to check things out and she cooked me a delicious supper. So nice to have some home cooked food after nothing but junk and travelling stuff since arriving a week ago. Porkchops, veggies and rice.. mmm! Spent the rest of the evening with Amanda and Elise, my neighbors and classmates from this term and last term. They're both from Trinidad and are so much fun. But now it's time for bed.. gotta be paying attention in class tomorrow...

Aug 19/08 (Tuesday)

First Day of Classes

Had a really awesome day today. Started the day bright and early with a nine o'clock Physiology class. I think i'm really going to enjoy it, the topics all seem really interesting and I'm hoping that my Physiology class from U of A will come in handy. The class which was created and is still taught by the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University, focuses on systems in the body rather then just what happens at a cellular level -awesome. The prof is a very opinionated older American gentleman with a lot of personality and it seems like he knows what he's doing.

Next on the schedule was Microbiology, this class is going to be a ton of work but again sounds similar to the class I took at U of A so hopefully shouldn't be unmanageable. There is a lengthy lab involved but sounds like it will be interesting and somewhat fun.

English -Reading Comprehension? Why do I have to take this? Spent the first class doing a diagnostic read a story and answer questions. I'm hoping for easy marks but you never know.. if I don't do well on the diagnostic I'll know why I'm taking it ;)

Social Science and Medicine -a course on sociology. What is sociology? Hmm.. i'll answer that after wednesdays class I suppose. Sounds interesting but involved a ton of paper writing. I guess its kind of a blessing in disguise because if it weren't for this class I would not be writing anything this term and all my creative word work from last term would be lost.

Took some time off in the evening and drove over to the beach for a swim. I got to try out my amazing new ipod adapter which allows me to swim laps while listening to music. I'm not going to lie... best invention EVER!! It was pretty fun to swim, listen to music and watch the starfish on the bottom while I swim past.. A quick trip to the grocery store all covered in sand and water was next, where I couldn't find lettuce, tomatoes, eggs or chicken which is what I had on my grocery list. I'll have to check back tomorrow -gotta love first week of classes, when all the students clean out the grocery and do nothing but eat and socialize/study.

Sunday

Classes start tomorrow -I can't believe summer is over... Went out with friends last night and had a school barbeque this evening. I am so excited to see all my classmates tomorrow and see how everyone's summer went and where they travelled to. Early start tomorrow so I am off to bed. Nine o'clock Physiology...

Saturday -Cruise day!

So now that all the heavy lifting and unpacking is out of the way, I had a chance to explore the island a bit and visit with friends. Met a new friend through my friend Linnea who I met last term. Both are from Sweden, both are named Linnea and both are super fun. So went with Linnea on the Rum Runner Orientation Cruise. Here are some pictures of the tour...
Walking the plank off the boat..
Steel drum band -amazing!
Really neat boat
Really cool boat
pretty flowers
Linnea and I on the bus
Friends from class
the Rum Runner
sailboats in the bay
the water is SO CLEAR!

Friday

OOOoo.. I have my room all set up. Here's a tour:

Thursday

Wow.. it has been a whirlwind of activity since arriving. First of all I cannot believe how hot it is here -so much warmer than last term, you can't do anything without dripping in sweat. Spent the majority of last night moving into the room and transporting all my boxes of debris from friend Melanie's apt to campus. Luckily the car works still -I was really concerned the last couple of weeks that it would. Thanks to Dad and Grandpa for all the advice on what fluid levels to check and where before starting it! So now I have to unpack and find some groceries and find out who else is here already! Miss you guys tons!

Wednesday, Aug 14/08 AM

MMM breakfast was delicious.. eggs and sausage, a muffin and orange juice. I took the shuttle back to the airport with no difficulty and the driver took me straight to the terminal which was a treat. I'd booked this leg of the trip with Air Jamaica and was worried it might be pretty sketchy when I first arrived. The terminal was a madhouse and in true carribean style very slow with EVERYTHING.. checkin, security and loading took forever. The plane left an hour late but I think that was probably due to huge airport traffic. That is where things got really good though, I got to take both pieces of luggage without having to pay extra and apparently if you have a first class ticket you are allowed unlimited luggage. One of the kids had 9 bags to himself -WOW! Best part was that I recognized some of the kids at the airport and ran into my friend Josh. Made some new aquaintances too.. the plane from NY to Grenada

new friends...

Tuesday August 12/2008 -PM

Just arrived in New York and have settled into a hotel for the night. Pretty excited to be in the big city even though I won't have much time to check out the sights. All my luggage has made it so far and I found the hotel shuttle after taking the sky train around the massive airport -I cannot believe how huge it is!! So I'm feeling uber spoiled having my own room, a comfy bed, shower and my last dose of american tv shows before the island tomorrow. Everyone I've met so far have really obvious accents, very long and drawn out words FUN! I also met a really cool girl on the plane, she's a makeup artist for MAC cosmetics (my favorite!) and is on her way to New York for a course. This hotel even has breakfast in the morning and I'm getting excited to reconnect with friends. G'night and sleep tight!

Tuesday August 12/2008

Hello everyone… and so here we go again. Round two or SGU adventures. Surprisingly, it was a lot harder to leave this time. I had such a great summer and really tried to take advantage of the chance to reconnect with family and some really good friends. For those of you who remember my summer list, I got through most of it, with a couple that I hope to finish at Christmas –Cheryl and Anna I really hope we can go riding together and to all my camping buddies, I am booking at least two solid weekends for that next year, looks like you guys had such a great time. I know those memories are going to get me through any down times this term so thanks to all of you again for spending time.
So I’m feeling a little emotionally fragile at the moment –weird!! I suppose the first time, I was so excited about challenging the unknown and proving that I could move half way across the world. Most of all, I wanted to prove Saskatoon that they were wrong in telling me to pursue a different career. This time, as I just mentioned is different. I know roughly what to expect, I have made some good friends that it will be awesome to see and the beach is calling. However, I have barely left and I am getting homesick and missing Mom, Dad, Brett and Tom, Gromit, Fig and Chester.
Quick recap of the day so far.. Woke up early after a fantastic night last night. All my friends in Sherwood Park came over for a marshmallow roast and it meant a lot to me to see them all. Spent a couple of minutes around seen to see Melissa’s precious babies, 14 Great Dane puppies that are less then a week old! Next a few frantic last minute bag changes (How am I supposed to fit 4 months of stuff in two 50 lb bags? Ack!) A quick and difficult good bye to pets and Dad and a visit to Mrs Crowley and I was on my way. Luckily I had time for a cup of coffee with mom before having to go to the gate. The flights have been uneventful, had a bit of a runaround in the Vancouver airport trying to find my luggage to take it through customs but hopefully the rest of the trip will go smoothly. Right now, Saskatchewan is looking pretty good… and I’m looking forward to Christmas. Cant wait to get to New York so that I can get internet and get a little communication home.

Congratulations Mom and Dad on your 25th Wedding Anniversary

Pictures from dinner at the Hotel MacDonald with Mom, Dad, Brett, Tom and Lauren.

So I guess that sums it up

So sorry about the long string of new posts all at once.. I will try and be better at updating this term (it's a goal!) As for the present, I've been doing the waitress thing at Montana's Restaurant. I decided the summer was too short to work at the clinic and expect to make the money I need to afford school next term. I'm hoping that next year I may be able to do both clinic work and serving. I'll be done my job on wednesday which will give me a chance to catch up on the four online classes I've been working on this summer and hopefully get a chance to spend some time with family and friends before jetting off again. Hope y'all are enjoying your summer break!

Little Brother all grown up..

Tom graduated this year -hard to believe that my little baby bro is all grown up. Here are some photo ops from the big event..

Jessica was in town for a whole month and we took advantage of that fact and started our own little running group. We'd join up in the evenings and pick a destination, run for a bit and catch up. I LOVED it! I'm definitely going to have to find some running friends at school.. it is so much fun going with other people rather then just by yourself. Jess is unbelievably motivated and having her company kept me honest (no slacking off and walking!) Gromit came on the runs too and did a great job of pulling me up all the hills as well as over to any interesting smells...

At the start of a run at the Science Park

Jess grooving it up on the trail

Gromit, my running buddy on our way home