This term has been so unbelievably busy; but it is going so fast! I can't believe that we are almost to midterms. I also can't believe that at the end of this term I will have been here for a year and a half! Time is flying. It's strange because I drive around and go to school and I don't think that it feels weird anymore. It's not really "home" like being at home is, but I live here and I feel at peace with that. However, it's sometimes surreal when I step back, look around and think, "Wow. I live in Grenada. I don't live in the US. I am going to vet school in the Caribbean." It sometimes doesn't hit my how strange of an experience I'm getting. I was thinking back at some of my first weeks down here and boy was I miserable! But this island has grown on me and I have wonderful friends and experiences to thank for that. Not to mention that Nick and Maverick being down here this term help me be less homesick. Being super busy helps too!
A couple weeks ago we went to Fish Friday again for Mike's birthday. That was the one thing he wanted to do. His wife, Crystal, and I tried to surprise him by lining up the boat to take a big group of us up there. The boat is so much fun and so nice; it makes you feel like a tourist rather than just dreading the next test that we have. Unfortunately the ocean was too choppy for the boat to take us, so I lined up a bus that took us up there. It was a lot of fun. Nick had never been to Fish Friday before and commented that the poverty and unkept streets reminded him of Iraq, except down here it's safer. Thank goodness! We ate a lot of different fish and then came home. It was a nice opportunity to get out of our three mile radius that we're typically in.
We also had Valentine's day last week. It was one the first Valentine's day in a long time that Nick and I actually got to be together. I'm not usually one for the mushy holiday experience, but it was so nice being with him and getting to go to a nice dinner. We went to Dodgy Dock's, which is a restaurant on the water and they had a Valentine's special with a singer and fancy food. I had mahi mahi and it was delicious. Nick got steak and lobster, and while I'm not usually one to really appreciate a steak, this was one of the best steaks I've ever had. It was delicious! The next night we went to sushi with Mike and Crystal and then went to Prickly Bay for a couple drinks. It was a nice way to relax and spend our night out.
Nick is what the school refers to as a "Significant Other," or SO. As an SO he has access to the University Club pool (I don't even have access to that without him!), gets to ride the bus, go onto campus, use the gym, etc. However, he needed his SO ID card to get all these "benefits." We had to apply for it and it had to go through the dean of students to make sure I was in good standing and then through security to make sure he didn't seem suspicious. We applied for it the week we got here and I was told that I would receive and email when he could come take his picture and get his card. After a week I still hadn't heard and so I went to the office and was impatiently explained to that I would receive an email when the application was approved. Four weeks later, I went into her office again. She said she had the approved application and didn't realize she didn't email me. Island time I guess. We finally got to go in and get his ID so that he is officially significant. Luckily we got it because he had to renew his visa with it. When we came into the country a month ago, he was issued a month long visa. However, after obtaining a letter from the school, he was able to extend it three more months. We went down to immigration and it is similar to the DMV. We had to wait in line to get a form. Then Nick had to fill out the form and wait in line again to turn it in. We then had to wait while the immigration officer reviewed it, printed out a receipt and then called us up to give it to us. We had to go out of the building to the next building, pay, get the receipt stamped, and then go back into the first building. After giving the stamped receipt to the immigration officer, they finally stamped his visa and sent us on our way. We really didn't have to wait, but it still took half an hour. I've heard horror stories of other SOs who have had to wait forever to get it done. We were lucky. But now he won't be deported and can stay the rest of the term.
Nick has been doing really well. He spear fishes usually two days a week and has been getting a decent amount of smaller fish, which he then uses as bait for when he fishes with a rod and reel the next day. He also has been doing the hash runs which he's really enjoyed. He's also been playing on the intramural kickball team. Their team is really good and has won the two games they've played so far. I was a little bit worried that he would get bored down here, but so far he's loving it. I'm loving getting my laundry done and breakfast every morning! It's also nice just having him with me finally!!
Maverick has been doing really well. He's turning into quite the character. Nick got a 50 foot long rope and we take him out to the field and let him run around on it. He's been doing good with coming when he's called, but he really can't fetch to save his life! We found the secret beach that people take their dogs to, which you get to by way of climbing down rocks. Once you're down there, there's no one else; it's like a "Lost." That was kind of fun to let him play in the waves.
We've had to work with a little bit of separation anxiety with him since we've been here. It's vary rare that both Nick and I leave the apartment, but when we do we have to secure it so that he can't chew up our things. Our close doors close in the middle, but have no way to lock them. We learned the hard way that we had to keep them closed somehow, so first we tried a rubber band, but he broke that no problem. Next Nick got a little hook and put it on the door and we hooked it closed AND tied it with a shoelace. Not only did he chew through the shoelace but he bent the hook and was able to get in. So now we have a thicker rope that he is unable to chew through in the short times we're gone which we lock the doors with.
We also have to make sure we put absolutely everything out of reach that he could harm. One night we came home and the kitchen light had burned out, but we could tell there was stuff all over the floor. Using a flashlight, we discovered that he had shattered a giant glass mixing bowl into a billion pieces. He also had eaten the cereal, spread pasta on the floor and the napkins (which he always attacks) were strewn about. To top it off, he had chewed up the brand spanking new, never used, dustpan so we couldn't even sweep it all up easily! A couple days ago I made a dumb mistake. There is a guy who comes to campus every Tuesday and sells eggs at a good price, so I get a flat every week for us. I came home and put them on top of the stove and then I had to rush back to school. I should've put them in the fridge, but I didn't have time so I figured they would be alright because they hadn't been refrigerated yet. Nick came home to find the two and a half doesn't eggs all over the floor! Needless to say he was not thrilled with me. Oops! Live and learn.
The absolute worst Maverick offense happened after Nick and I had gone to get his ID. We were only gone for about an hour so we figured everything would be fine. Let me just preface with the fact that Maverick almost never has an accident in the house anymore. He makes it through the night and is pretty good about telling us when he needs to go out. Well, the poor boy must have had to really go because when we came home, Nick unlocked and opened to door to find that that action smeared the poop that was just inside the door! AAAHHH!!! It was a mess! The door has one of those rubber weather strips at the bottom that Nick had to take off and clean and we had to clean under the door. Poor Maverick looked super embarrassed and I know he felt bad, but it was so gross! Oh well. The joys of owning pets. He gives us more happiness than anything else.
Midterms start in a couple of weeks so I will be studying a lot between now and then. Then I have a whole week without tests! I don't even know what to do with myself. Nick's best friend is going to come visit us right after Easter, so we're looking forward to that. It should be a lot of fun. Now back to studying the blood vessels and nerves of the horse leg!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Superbowl Sunday
Well, after a long, busy, but wonderful Christmas break I'm back in Grenada. I have been so busy getting things settled over the last two weeks that I haven't had any time to write about it. So much has happened! My fiance, Nick, got out of the army right before Christmas and he came down here with me, but over the break we were busy planning for the wedding, being with family and running around getting things done to come down here. We also were very busy looking for a dog (we visited eight local animal shelters and were unable to find one!) and finally found one on Craigslist. He is a Siberian Husky named Maverick and he was nine months when we got him the day after Christmas.
One of the stresses was trying to get Maverick ready to fly. He is great in the car, but I wasn't sure how he would do on a long flight! But we got him through security and to our gate just fine. When he got on the plane, he was a little scared, so we had him lay across our laps for about an hour until he settled down. After that, Nick got him to lay on the floor by our feet and he slept quietly for the rest of the flight to Orlando. Then we had to fly from Orlando to Miami, which was only about a 50 minute flight and he did great. When we got to Miami, we found a lot of my classmates with their dogs. I took Maverick out in both Orlando and Miami to try to get him to go potty, but he was just too distracted and couldn't go. Then again, he also wouldn't really eat or drink anything. He wound up holding it until we got to Grenada, which was about 20 hours after we left LA. What a good boy! The flight from Miami to Grenada was almost all students and there were about 20 dogs and 4 cats on the plane. But since all of them belonged to vet students, there wasn't any issue with any of them and they all were mostly quiet for the whole flight. We landed on Friday night and my classmates/neighbors, Mike and Crystal, who I shared a car with last term had already gotten us a car again and picked us up. Luckily they are awesome friends and had already gotten the keys to my apartment and turned on the AC and fans so it was cooling down by the time we got here.
We're living at Grand View Inn again, but this time I have a one bedroom instead of a two bedroom apartment. It's not very big, but it serves its purpose and we enjoy it. This term we got a 1996 Honda CRV as our car. It's nicer than our Escudo in that all the doors and windows are functional, the air conditioner works, the radio works, and it has power steering. However, it's really a give and take because our car has already had to go to the mechanic, whereas our car last term never did. This car has already overheated once and it doesn't turn over every time it's started. Often you have to pump the gas a lot while you crank it to get it to start. One time, thank goodness we were only going about five miles an hour, I was driving it and tried to break, but the car wouldn't stop! I pulled the emergency brake and pumped the brakes a bit and tried them again and it still didn't work! I turned the car off and back on and they wound up being fine. Mike was in the car with me and we drove away laughing saying "TIG," but then we decided that we shouldn't be laughing at what potentially could have been a life-and-death situation but then again... TIG. Nick learned about the pot holes yesterday while driving here for the first time. He was driving us back to our apartment and hit one and learned that they are so bad they will bend your rim. Then we learned that the cars don't come with jacks big enough to jack up the car. Luckily we were able to get one that almost went high enough, plus a block of wood to add those extra couple of inches. We also learned that while on the side of the road changing a tire, every local who drives by will ask you if you are "Getting through." We weren't really sure how to respond, although I'm pretty sure we got through.
Nick has been learning ropes down here and has learned a few things through trial and error. He plugged our toaster directly into the wall and, while that is the fastest way to produce a piece of toast, it also turns converts the toaster into a one time use one and produces a lovely fireworks. He also just learned (just, as in he just came back while I was writing this and told me) that you can't leave your running shoes on the beach to go run in the sand, or Grenadians will steal them. Shiesty Grenadians. But Nick has also made a couple of friends with other husbands who live in the complex. He went on a run with the Grenada Hash House Harriers, which is a running club that is all over the world. There was a cruise ship in port that had a bunch of people who were part of their hash club, so they went on a run and Nick joined them. After the run, they all go to a local bar and get lunch and some beers. The club's motto is "Drinkers with a Running Problem." Nick had a lot of fun doing that and has taken Maverick on the route he went on a couple times. Other than that, Nick has been an amazing house fiancé; he does the laundry, cooks for me, takes care of our doggy, plays Xbox, watches movies, reads books. He's also been spear fishing, and although he's been able to hit some fish, none of them have been big enough to eat yet. He needs to find a better place to go with bigger fish.
He took me snorkeling on Sunday and he brought his spear. We had to climb down a cliff to the spot where he wanted to go. I was very scared, but he helped guide me down. The place he found is a beautiful coral reef where there are lots of fish and cool coral to see. It was really amazing to see. He called me over and pointed out this cool looking fish, which we later found out was a smooth trunk fish, and so I was swimming over it and enjoying it for a while. All of a sudden, BOOM! He shot it! I was sad because I liked that fish, but he needed to practice with his spear and the fishy was slow. We also saw a really cool eel and some other fish that was blue with even brighter blue spots. The snorkeling down here really is nice.
Maverick has been a good boy, but he has taken some patience on our ends to get him adjusted to being down here. He is a crazy Husky, so he doesn't really know how to come when called yet. We have been working with him and Nick successfully took him to the laundry room the other day without a leash, but when he tried it again Maverick got distracted and started running. He doesn't run away so much as just wanting to play, but he's very difficult to catch. Luckily Nick was able to catch him and everything worked out fine.
Yesterday we went to St. George's to go to the fish market, which is a pretty gross place to begin with. We went there last week to look for fish but they didn't really have anything. Across the street is the meat market and the day before, next door to the meat market, I had seen some cows and pigs in this building and I stopped and looked at them for a few minutes. The next day we were back in St. George's trying to set up our Internet and I told Brandi and Kim, "Oh, coming up after the meat market we're going to get to see some cows and pigs!" We got to the building and there weren't any animals. I said, "That's weird, they were here yesterday," and before any of us could put two and two together a Grenadian man walked out and said, "We keeeeled dem." Brandi said, " Oh! Well that's not very nice," and we walked away kind of in shock. It makes sense that the slaughter house is right next to the meat market, but it's just not something we expected to see in the city, I suppose. The fish market is a big warehouse with rolled up doors and locals sitting behind counters with their catches. Depending on the day, they may have a lot or they may have nothing. Yesterday all they had was shark, so we didn't get anything. They use a big machete to cut the fish into pieces and then take a big stick that's crudely carved into a club and hit the machete to make it cut through the fish. Then they take that same machete and fillet the fish. The precision they have with a machete is pretty impressive.
On the way out of St. George's, you have to drive up a huge hill before you can drive back down into the Carenage and exit. We have been having problems with our car overheating, but the guy we rent from took it to the mechanic the other day and brought it back, saying he installed a new fan. Crystal was driving and our car was slowly crawling up the hill, but before we made it to the top, the car stopped. It was still on and in drive, but we were rolling backwards. Nick got out of the car and tried pushing it to give it the last little bit of power, but it just wasn't enough. She had to put it in reverse and back down the hill to take a side street. We started driving to find a less steep route out, but all of a sudden as we were climbing a less steep hill, the car just turned off and died. It had over heated once again. We were able to get it to the side of the road, which luckily wasn't busy and popped the hood. Just then, it started to rain pretty hard and the water was flash boiling off the engine. We just sat there unsure of what to do. Crystal tried calling our renter to tell him, but he didn't pick up and we weren't even sure how to tell him where we were. An old Grenadian man walked out into his yard and told Nick to take the radiator cap off and add water, at least we think that's what he said; his local accent was very thick and we really couldn't understand him. When Nick told him it was still too hot, he disappeared and returned with a thick leather glove and removed the cap for us. No steam came out because the radiator was bone dry! Luckily, the nicest Grenadian ever pulled over and had a five liter jug of water in his car that was half full. He poured it in and it immediately boiled off. The old man took it inside and filled it and the car took the entire thing. We were finally able to start it after it had cooled down and water was added. The guy who pulled over lived here, but is training in England to become a professional boxer. He was extremely buff and very nice and asked us about living here as students. We were very thankful for him. We got home and got a hold of the owner of our car, who came to pick it up, and we're still waiting to hear when we're going to get it back.
Today is Superbowl Sunday and the weather is beautiful. There is a sailboat race happening in the Grand Anse Bay below us and we've been watching it a bit. It's funny to watch because the sail boats have to be home made and while some of them do pretty well, a lot of them tip over and the water has to be bailed out. It's pretty entertaining. Unfortunately I have a quiz tomorrow so I will be spending most of the day studying. We will watch the game in a little bit when it starts, though. It surprised me that it won't be starting here until 7:30PM because at home I'm used to the game being early afternoon, but I guess I am four hours ahead than normal.
This week will be full of classes and quizzes and studying. But I'm sure something interesting will occur and I'll blog about it next week, until then, go 49ers!
One of the stresses was trying to get Maverick ready to fly. He is great in the car, but I wasn't sure how he would do on a long flight! But we got him through security and to our gate just fine. When he got on the plane, he was a little scared, so we had him lay across our laps for about an hour until he settled down. After that, Nick got him to lay on the floor by our feet and he slept quietly for the rest of the flight to Orlando. Then we had to fly from Orlando to Miami, which was only about a 50 minute flight and he did great. When we got to Miami, we found a lot of my classmates with their dogs. I took Maverick out in both Orlando and Miami to try to get him to go potty, but he was just too distracted and couldn't go. Then again, he also wouldn't really eat or drink anything. He wound up holding it until we got to Grenada, which was about 20 hours after we left LA. What a good boy! The flight from Miami to Grenada was almost all students and there were about 20 dogs and 4 cats on the plane. But since all of them belonged to vet students, there wasn't any issue with any of them and they all were mostly quiet for the whole flight. We landed on Friday night and my classmates/neighbors, Mike and Crystal, who I shared a car with last term had already gotten us a car again and picked us up. Luckily they are awesome friends and had already gotten the keys to my apartment and turned on the AC and fans so it was cooling down by the time we got here.
We're living at Grand View Inn again, but this time I have a one bedroom instead of a two bedroom apartment. It's not very big, but it serves its purpose and we enjoy it. This term we got a 1996 Honda CRV as our car. It's nicer than our Escudo in that all the doors and windows are functional, the air conditioner works, the radio works, and it has power steering. However, it's really a give and take because our car has already had to go to the mechanic, whereas our car last term never did. This car has already overheated once and it doesn't turn over every time it's started. Often you have to pump the gas a lot while you crank it to get it to start. One time, thank goodness we were only going about five miles an hour, I was driving it and tried to break, but the car wouldn't stop! I pulled the emergency brake and pumped the brakes a bit and tried them again and it still didn't work! I turned the car off and back on and they wound up being fine. Mike was in the car with me and we drove away laughing saying "TIG," but then we decided that we shouldn't be laughing at what potentially could have been a life-and-death situation but then again... TIG. Nick learned about the pot holes yesterday while driving here for the first time. He was driving us back to our apartment and hit one and learned that they are so bad they will bend your rim. Then we learned that the cars don't come with jacks big enough to jack up the car. Luckily we were able to get one that almost went high enough, plus a block of wood to add those extra couple of inches. We also learned that while on the side of the road changing a tire, every local who drives by will ask you if you are "Getting through." We weren't really sure how to respond, although I'm pretty sure we got through.
Nick has been learning ropes down here and has learned a few things through trial and error. He plugged our toaster directly into the wall and, while that is the fastest way to produce a piece of toast, it also turns converts the toaster into a one time use one and produces a lovely fireworks. He also just learned (just, as in he just came back while I was writing this and told me) that you can't leave your running shoes on the beach to go run in the sand, or Grenadians will steal them. Shiesty Grenadians. But Nick has also made a couple of friends with other husbands who live in the complex. He went on a run with the Grenada Hash House Harriers, which is a running club that is all over the world. There was a cruise ship in port that had a bunch of people who were part of their hash club, so they went on a run and Nick joined them. After the run, they all go to a local bar and get lunch and some beers. The club's motto is "Drinkers with a Running Problem." Nick had a lot of fun doing that and has taken Maverick on the route he went on a couple times. Other than that, Nick has been an amazing house fiancé; he does the laundry, cooks for me, takes care of our doggy, plays Xbox, watches movies, reads books. He's also been spear fishing, and although he's been able to hit some fish, none of them have been big enough to eat yet. He needs to find a better place to go with bigger fish.
He took me snorkeling on Sunday and he brought his spear. We had to climb down a cliff to the spot where he wanted to go. I was very scared, but he helped guide me down. The place he found is a beautiful coral reef where there are lots of fish and cool coral to see. It was really amazing to see. He called me over and pointed out this cool looking fish, which we later found out was a smooth trunk fish, and so I was swimming over it and enjoying it for a while. All of a sudden, BOOM! He shot it! I was sad because I liked that fish, but he needed to practice with his spear and the fishy was slow. We also saw a really cool eel and some other fish that was blue with even brighter blue spots. The snorkeling down here really is nice.
Maverick has been a good boy, but he has taken some patience on our ends to get him adjusted to being down here. He is a crazy Husky, so he doesn't really know how to come when called yet. We have been working with him and Nick successfully took him to the laundry room the other day without a leash, but when he tried it again Maverick got distracted and started running. He doesn't run away so much as just wanting to play, but he's very difficult to catch. Luckily Nick was able to catch him and everything worked out fine.
Yesterday we went to St. George's to go to the fish market, which is a pretty gross place to begin with. We went there last week to look for fish but they didn't really have anything. Across the street is the meat market and the day before, next door to the meat market, I had seen some cows and pigs in this building and I stopped and looked at them for a few minutes. The next day we were back in St. George's trying to set up our Internet and I told Brandi and Kim, "Oh, coming up after the meat market we're going to get to see some cows and pigs!" We got to the building and there weren't any animals. I said, "That's weird, they were here yesterday," and before any of us could put two and two together a Grenadian man walked out and said, "We keeeeled dem." Brandi said, " Oh! Well that's not very nice," and we walked away kind of in shock. It makes sense that the slaughter house is right next to the meat market, but it's just not something we expected to see in the city, I suppose. The fish market is a big warehouse with rolled up doors and locals sitting behind counters with their catches. Depending on the day, they may have a lot or they may have nothing. Yesterday all they had was shark, so we didn't get anything. They use a big machete to cut the fish into pieces and then take a big stick that's crudely carved into a club and hit the machete to make it cut through the fish. Then they take that same machete and fillet the fish. The precision they have with a machete is pretty impressive.
On the way out of St. George's, you have to drive up a huge hill before you can drive back down into the Carenage and exit. We have been having problems with our car overheating, but the guy we rent from took it to the mechanic the other day and brought it back, saying he installed a new fan. Crystal was driving and our car was slowly crawling up the hill, but before we made it to the top, the car stopped. It was still on and in drive, but we were rolling backwards. Nick got out of the car and tried pushing it to give it the last little bit of power, but it just wasn't enough. She had to put it in reverse and back down the hill to take a side street. We started driving to find a less steep route out, but all of a sudden as we were climbing a less steep hill, the car just turned off and died. It had over heated once again. We were able to get it to the side of the road, which luckily wasn't busy and popped the hood. Just then, it started to rain pretty hard and the water was flash boiling off the engine. We just sat there unsure of what to do. Crystal tried calling our renter to tell him, but he didn't pick up and we weren't even sure how to tell him where we were. An old Grenadian man walked out into his yard and told Nick to take the radiator cap off and add water, at least we think that's what he said; his local accent was very thick and we really couldn't understand him. When Nick told him it was still too hot, he disappeared and returned with a thick leather glove and removed the cap for us. No steam came out because the radiator was bone dry! Luckily, the nicest Grenadian ever pulled over and had a five liter jug of water in his car that was half full. He poured it in and it immediately boiled off. The old man took it inside and filled it and the car took the entire thing. We were finally able to start it after it had cooled down and water was added. The guy who pulled over lived here, but is training in England to become a professional boxer. He was extremely buff and very nice and asked us about living here as students. We were very thankful for him. We got home and got a hold of the owner of our car, who came to pick it up, and we're still waiting to hear when we're going to get it back.
Today is Superbowl Sunday and the weather is beautiful. There is a sailboat race happening in the Grand Anse Bay below us and we've been watching it a bit. It's funny to watch because the sail boats have to be home made and while some of them do pretty well, a lot of them tip over and the water has to be bailed out. It's pretty entertaining. Unfortunately I have a quiz tomorrow so I will be spending most of the day studying. We will watch the game in a little bit when it starts, though. It surprised me that it won't be starting here until 7:30PM because at home I'm used to the game being early afternoon, but I guess I am four hours ahead than normal.
This week will be full of classes and quizzes and studying. But I'm sure something interesting will occur and I'll blog about it next week, until then, go 49ers!
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