23rd Birthday :)

Just a quick little post to let everyone know that my birthday was a success! Unfortunately Wednesday is our longest day of class so we didn't get out until 5, two hours of every class is exhausting! Went home to take a little nap and then it was time to get dressed and head out!

We went to dinner at Buddie's, a restaurant on the strip, and had a great turn out of 15 people. I got an amazing dinner of BBQ ribs, always a treat when I get a good meal around here. Two mojitos and a full belly later we headed over to Bobsy's which has karaoke every Wednesday night. Spent the rest of the night there enjoying the singing and was even serenaded by Lara and Dorothy with a great rendition of "The Thong Song" (picture included).

Birthdays spent without loved ones back home are just another sacrifice we make living here. Made me sad to spend it away from family and friends but made me SO grateful for the amazing people I have met here. My friends here really have become my second family and they made sure I felt loved on my special day :) don't know what I would do without these guys!

I'm officially a Med 3!

It has been a while and a lot has happened since you heard from me last! I survived final exams and was rewarded with an amazing two week break from class. It began with Lindsay, Shannon and Alyssa arriving in St Kitts. I was so lucky to have 3 friends from home visit and I was ecstatic to share my home with them!! So exciting to pick them up from the airport and FINALLY have them be here, I felt as if their visit would never come. We rented a car for the two weeks so we were able to go all around the island. I developed a whole new appreciation for St Kitts while being here over break.

I'll hit the high lights of the break because I could go on and on if I mentioned everything. I showed the girl the bar that the students hang out at called Bamboo. We know the owner, a younger guy from Canada, so we do our best to support his business and he in return hooks students up with good deals and great music. We did A LOT of hanging at my favorite beaches on the island, Shipwreck which I have mentioned in previous posts, and at Reggae beach in Cockleshell Bay. Reggae beach is located on the far south tip of the island in the Caribbean Sea and is a great spot. There was a cruise ship that docked that day so there were quite a few tourists around and we started up a great game of volleyball. Alyssa turned 23 during the vacation so we took her down to "the strip," a string of bars on the ocean. There was a bonfire on the beach that night and Alyssa turned 23 with her feet in the Atlantic Ocean! The next day we organized a catamaran trip of 27 people who all stuck around over break. It was one of the most amazing things I've done since I've lived here. The group was so much fun and for $45 per person the boat takes the group out for 4 hours. We get to snorkle, open bar, lunch, and swimming in the ocean. I was fortunate that all of my really close friends that I have made at UMHS decided to stick around this break so the girls got to meet them.

Their week was up before we knew it and then my parents arrived! An emotional greeting at the airport and so thrilled to show my parents where all their money is being spent (kidding....kinda...) It always fascinates me to see St Kitts through the eyes of someone new, it has become routine for me and I forget sometimes how beautiful this place really is. My parents kept saying "It's so hot here!" I think it was a nice change from the Wisconsin weather which was still very chilly at the time! I will get the pictures from Mom from their portion of the trip and post them on here. Mom and Dad are my best friends and we always have so much fun whenever we spend time together. Took them down to "the strip" to get the authentic St Kitts feel and we had food and ordered some drinks. They got the Caribbean not so welcome - welcome, not the friendliest folks around here but guess I'm used to it by now. See if I can remember all that we did because that feels like a very long time ago now that I'm 3 weeks into the semester. Took them to my favorite beaches of course, and spent a few days doing that and Dad and I rented a jet ski. Took a drive around the entire island which was my first time as well. Took us about half the day and we saw Brimstone Hill (pictures to come) which is probably one of the coolest things on the island. Built by the British military and is an incredible fortress that is hundreds of years old, probably the best view you can get! We also visited an old sugar cane plantation and had an authentic Caribbean meal.Took the parents to see campus and I think they were very impressed with what they saw! And you know that after the epic time I had on the catamaran trip with the girls I HAD to take my parents on one. This time we did the full day deal which included snorkeling, lunch, open bar and a trip to Nevis (St Kitts sister island). It's such a great experience to see the beauty of the caribbean from the ocean. Spent our last few days RELAXING at the Marriott and probably my favorite memory of our trip was when we sat in the whirlpool at the hotel in the pouring rain drinking wine and eating pretzels. To top off the night we ordered room service, well I ordered room service for us...about $80 worth of room service and awesome junk food!

And that ended my magical break with the friends and parents. Mom and Dad left on Sunday and for the first time in 16 days I was ALONE and I didn't like it! Was already missing my visitors and class was to begin the next day. So here I am 3 weeks into the semester and having my first chance to write in the blog. Med 3 is the most difficult semester they say and and so far it proves to be true. Class every day from 9 am to 5 pm is exhausting and then I attempt to go home at night and study more. Our classes this semester are Neuroscience, Microbiology, Immunology, Pathology I, and Behavioral Science. It's exhausting just listing them out!

Tomorrow I turn 23 and looks like my St Kitts family has planned a little get together for me so I'll be sure to take pictures! Missing everyone back home and wishing I could celebrate my birthday with you. Just another one of the sacrifices we all make to be here! Love and Miss everyone <3

Second Semester Draws to a Close

Hello out there! With final exams only a week away, I cannot believe that I am about to wrap up my second semester of medical school. Very hard to believe that I have lived in St. Kitts for 8 months now, survived 2 semesters of medical school, and so grateful for all of the amazing new people I have met. Included a picture of Brittany (my room mate) and I enjoying our one beach day we allot ourselves after every set of exams we take. The island is as beautiful as ever and I can definitely feel the summer heat coming on as the days get progressively hotter. Hoping my Wisconsin skin can survive the summer sun!

Most exciting of all is that I have many visitors to look forward to in the near future! Lindsay, Alyssa, and Shannon arrive in two weeks followed by my parents arriving the first week in May. Unfortunately there will be no chance for me to come home to the States over this break but having visitors makes it much easier to accept and I plan on showing them the beauty of St. Kitts while they are here. No visitors from home this semester yet and not having seen any family or friends since early January has made this semester harder than the first. I found these last 3 months to be very emotionally taxing and I look forward to my visitors and a break from school more than you can imagine!

My living situation has been great and Brittany and I are excited to begin next semester in our same apartment and to avoid the hassle of moving. Brittany has her boyfriend and also her parents visiting over break so it should be a great break surrounded by people we love. I will be sure to take lots of pictures over break to share with everyone.

I will begin third semester the second week of May and we go year-round here so there will be no summer break for me with the exception of these two weeks coming up and our next break will come late August. Trying to maintain study motivation as its hard with the excitement of my visitors soon to arrive. Missing everyone from back home like mad, hoping you all are well and in good spirits as winter comes to a close. I have realized that some people have trouble commenting on my blog so for those of you who aren't on Facebook and would like to message me my email is agaravet@gmail.com
I can't promise how quick my response will be with these crazy next few weeks but I will get back to you as soon as I can and hearing from people back home always brings a big smile to my face!

Love you guys and am missing all of you!!!

Finally included some photos of the new place. Took me 2 days to restore it to this kind of cleanliness but here they finally are! Photos are of my room and bathroom and then one of our kitchen as well. Was giving me a hard time today so I had to post the text and pictures separate for some reason. To see the pictures you can click on "older posts" at the bottom of the screen.

Finished genetics yesterday so one more class under my belt and we begin Embryology on Monday. Still chipping away at Physiology and Biochem as well. A little bit more laid back weekend to catch up on sleep after the rough past two weeks, team has a volleyball game on Friday and football on Sunday.

May drink a green beer or two tonight to celebrate the old irish heritage. Thinking especially about Grandma Mary today and everything she meant to me and our family.

"May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand."

A great day to be Irish...Happy St Patrick's Day <3

Pictures of the place!!

For Annie and Aunt Cathy :)

This entry is dedicated to Aunt Cathy and Annie! I know its been a while, but as usual my life has had little to no free time available for such pleasantries as blog entries. Survived the first block of exams and included a few photos from our kitchen and what it looks like during exam time; filthy and full of junk food.

Also included two photos from a new beach that Brittany and I discovered after our last exam when we finally allowed ourself some enjoyment. It's called Shipwreck Beach and its about a 15 min drive to the other side of the mountains. Very secluded, on the Caribbean Ocean, and tucked in a little cove. Looks straight out of a Corona commercial and just might be our new spot for those rare occasions that we relax. Anyone who visits must spend a day at this beach. Shannon, Alyssa, and Lindsay in April and Mom and Dad in May are next up on the agenda. I cannot wait for them to get here so that I can show off my island and my new apartment. As for my new housing situation....AMAZING. I am so happy in the new place that I live. They are brand new places; clean, safe, and as bug free as you can get on a caribbean island! I want to include pictures but will only do so when this place is cleaned up. The dishes are piled up in the kitchen and we need to do a little cleaning up before I take pictures to post on here. Never thought I would care about that kind of thing...I really am turning into my mother. (Not that it's a bad thing Mom!) Brittany also has a car this semester so we drive to and from school giving me a glorious extra 30 minutes to sleep in the morning. The car has made our lives so much easier when it comes to running errands, grocery shopping, and making the rare beach trip. Only one incident where the battery died on us and we were stranded. Guess I'm used to living in Wisconsin where every person keeps at least two sets of jumper cables in their trunk. We had to flag down about 50 people before someone finally knew someone who's brother knew someone with jumper cables.

Now allow me to explain the first picture, which I'm sure most of you saw and have failed to comprehend any of which I've already typed because you're still reeling from that photo. That picture, thank God, is not from my apartment. That photo is courtesy of three classmates, Royal, Eddie, and Rob, whom so bravely murdered that creature as we was scurrying across their kitchen floor. The photo doesn't do that beast justice. He is about 8 inches long and those legs you see sticking out are only a fraction of them, the rest being tucked neatly underneath. Those are the guys that require medical attention once they sting you, yea I said STING you. I know several people who have been stung by one and they were both out of commission for a few days after the incident. Both of them were stung while they were sleeping in bed....

Are you horrified yet because I have chills just writing about it. One guy was stung on the neck and the centipede was crawling across his pillow....

New topic. Still playing intramural football on Sundays and you're darn right I caught the only touchdown pass our team had last weekend. Trying to represent those SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS from Green Bay. Also joined a volleyball league on Friday's. Both a great way to get out and have a nice study break.

That is all I have for now. Time to get back to studying of course. Love and Miss everyone. Those of you hankering for a break from the cold and snow; it's always 80 and sunny in St Kitts and I love visitors :)

GO PACK GOOOOOOO!

I had to include a quick post to say LET'S GO PACKERS!!!! Been studying my butt off for the last two weeks so that I could watch the game tonight. Exams are tomorrow morning so wish me luck! I need this win tonight to keep my spirits up! Can't believe the Packers are at the Super Bowl and I'm not in the U.S. to be a part of this momentous celebration. Myself, along with the two other Packer fans at school, will be cheering our hearts out!

GO PACK GO!