Block 2 is over!

We have officially survived Block 2 of exams! Everyone has been posting pictures of their Halloween online so I decided it was only fair for me to do the same. I wanted to give you the whole experience. Ya see sometimes I like to study inside at my rickety table, for those of you keen observers you'll notice the stacks of notecards I have under one of the table legs to keep it from rocking. But sometimes, when it's a nice evening (which is most evenings) I move my stuff out to the balcony and enjoy the fresh air. Just wanted to let people know that my fun beach pictures, unfortunately, only make up about 5% of my island life.

So while people were enjoying the splendiferous holiday that is Halloween we were here cramming for our exams. This round felt much more stressful than the first because there seemed to be much more material and the difficulty level is increasing exponentially. The friends I have made here are beginning to feel like a second family; we study together, eat together, stress together, and on several occasions have cried together. There is no "going home" for the weekend to be with your family or escape school life. As fantastic as living in the Caribbean sounds, it isn't what you see in the travel brochures! This experience teaches me new lessons everyday, about life and about myself. We have all been pushed out, or better yet shoved, out of our comfort zone and it's only going to make us stronger people for it.

Enough of that talk. Now for the real story. I want everyone to brace themselves, sit down if you happen to be standing. Swallow whatever you are drinking or eating, I don't want anyone choking on my account. Sunday night I was at the brink of mental exhaustion. I had stayed up all weekend studying for the exams and was struggling to keep my eyes open while I tried to get a little more reading in. I finally allowed myself to shut my eyes around 2 am. I woke up at 6, feeling miserable and looking even worse. I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, put my hair in a pony and attempted to make coffee. As I am standing near my bed putting my books together I see a GIANT COCKROACH ON MY BED. If your mouth hasn't dropped open in horror maybe you didn't hear me. I said a GIANT COCKROACH IN MY BED. It had the longest feelers ever and they were wiggling around feeling my sheets and blankets. It took my mind a second to process and then I did the only logical thing I could think of. I screamed at the top of my lungs. He stopped and we stared at each other for about 10 seconds. I threw a book at him, missed by a foot, and watched him scurry under my blankets. I was mortified. Any other morning this would have been disgusting but I probably could have handled it. But not this morning, not in the mental state I was in. I called Tom in hysterics and scared him because it was 6 am and I'm pretty sure he thought I was being attacked. He was so good and calmed me down, "deep breaths," and "bigger things to worry about" were about all I remember from that convo. Next I called my mother, scaring her half to death as well. Then I just left the cockroach in my bed and got on the bus. So thats my story. I raised hell at the front desk and am getting my room fumigated tomorrow. Washed all my sheets, took a nap, and have regained whatever sanity I have left at this point.

Hope all is well and bug free back in the states. We'll see once my grades come back but I think I have mentioned previously, ya know what they say about cockroaches....they bring good luck...or disease...can't seem to remember which...