Light at the end of the tunnel (kind of)

Sorry for my delay in posts lately.. second took over my life. I am pretty sure I have never been more exhausted in my life. March crammed us with exam after exam and as of today we only have only 10 days until our first final. Study time is running out so I wanted to post now before all hell breaks loose. Not only was March crazy busy with one week having 3 exams in it at once but I always find myself volunteering myself for all sorts of things during these time frames. This week me and my 3 friends made 50 lbs of pulled pork for our semester bake sale and in the same day I fed over 150+ people for the Josh Project Cook Off. I literally cooked for 24 straight hours. Each was a success and I even took home the first-runner up spot in the cook-off. I try to balance school work with other things so my brain won't completely crap out on me. I even was elected fundraising chair for next semester so I am super excited to help my class raise tons of money for our 7th semester banquet. For those who don't know what that is, it's a huge party each semester has right before they leave the island. It basically celebrates the end of their time here and we spend all 7 semesters trying to raise money for it by selling shirts and doing bake sales so I am excited to be in that position for my class.

I have been so swept up in this semesters I can't even believe how quickly it has flown by (which I am happy it is). In just 3 weeks, I will be home! Without my pups though :( my friend is pet sitting and I will miss them terribly. But I am kind of glad to go home especially after what happened 2 nights ago. Before coming to St. Kitts I had heard stories about break-ins and robberies and definitely was scared of getting my stuff stolen. I had heard that St. Kitts has an issue with petty theft and people trying to steal stuff just to make a quick buck and most of the time that stuff ends up coming from students. What I have come to realize is that your stuff can all be replaced but your life cannot. Around 8 PM on Thursday our friends who live up the road called us screaming that someone had been shot in front of their house. Now being so close to them I heard a few loud shots go off a little before they called but living so close to the Marriott I just thought it was fireworks because they shoot them off sometimes. What I did not realize at the time is that those were gun shots and not fireworks. Completely panicked my roommate and I locked all windows and doors until we got some more info on what was going on. Living in Manahawkin stuff like this just DOESN'T happen and with a murder taking place right up the road from us I was a little terrified. When my roommate and I were picking an apartment we just wanted to feel safe and I really did feel safe in our area. I would walk outside at night with my dogs and no one ever bothered me; I always felt safe. Now these last two days I feel just an overwhelming sense of panic but do feel a little better with the amount of police and Ross security who are patrolling our entire area. The sad part about this all is that a man lost his life that night and although I only saw him when we stopped by our friends house because he lived next door his kids will no longer grow up with a father and his wife will have to raise their kids alone. The investigation is ongoing right now but as far as I am concerned I won't feel better until someone is caught. Here is the article about the murder:

http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/86457

Mentally exhausted

Yup this semester SUCKS. I was forewarned and it is true. Second is known as the make it or break it semester and your grades literally go from good in first to EH not so hot. You put in double the work and after the first two exams you really question your confidence and ability. The morale of our class has gone down as a whole and you can really see the exhaustion setting in. Our days start everyday at 8 am and go to around 5 or 6 and could even be longer if you have tutoring or TA sessions (which I do). Most of the TA sessions are on Saturdays and Sundays so we are basically in school 7 days a week. My glorious beach life that I portray has completely subsided until further notice. I am doing whatever I can to make it through this semester and move onto third, it is definitely going to be a rough one. To go along with not having a life my family thinks I have completely disappeared off of the face of the earth which is also due to the semester. I feel horrible but it is the price I pay to being here and I have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary. Before I came to Ross I was warned about hell weeks and last week I can say was an absolute hell week. We had a Physiology exam on Monday and a Parasitology exam Wednesday, everyday I was gone for almost 12 hours, and I found out my pups have gotten Coccidia from being here (we have only been here for a month). I am hoping that I don't have anymore hell weeks this semester but I doubt it lol. On the bright side, in about 2 more weeks we will officially be half way through the semester THANK GOD and a little bit closer to being home in April. This month also marks 6 months since I moved here which I cannot believe and almost one year since I got the phone call that I was accepted into school. No matter how hard my days are I can't forget how lucky I am to be here.

Round 2

Welp.. I am back for round 2. My break went ridiculously fast and I wish I really could have enjoyed it more by the time I got home it was time for me to leave again. And for new readers possibly interested in going to Ross..the second time saying goodbye sucks equally as bad as the first time. I always say I won't cry but I do anyway it is just a give in. Well this time it wasn't just me traveling to St. Kitts but my two dogs Peanut and Pebbles also. I think traveling in general is stressful let alone traveling to a different country with two dogs who have never been on a plane before talk about STRESSFUL. St. Kitts has an absurd amount of requirements for allowing pets into their country. The paperwork at times to get them here seemed never ending but after months of working on it I got them here and cleared by the CVO (chief veterinary officer) of St. Kitts. All I can say is thank goodness for my friends who helped me the entire time with my dogs. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without them! They are finally adjusting nicely after a rough first few days. Once we got to the airport in St. Kitts with the pups my roommate Michelle and I went straight to our new apartment. Our landlord greeted us with the keys and made sure everything was all set up for us. That next morning I finally got my car aka minion Stu! He was waiting for me on campus where the former owner left him for me to pick up. I cannot believe my friends and I all finally have cars. Relying on the taxi service here got really old really fast and we can finally go wherever we want whenever we want which is awesome. After getting our boxes out of storage and moving into our apartment it seems pretty much all set it and all I can say is the place is gorgeous. I could live here for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. The area is safe and just beautiful we got seriously lucky finding this place! My roomie and I are having a housewarming party this weekend. As for school, this semester I am taking Anatomy II, Physiology II, Immunology, Parasitology, and a vet skills class. This semester is known for being one of the toughest and a killer so lets hope all goes well I am a little nervous considering our class has gotten smaller from last semester to this semester. Some people drop out and some people have to repeat the semester because they failed a certain class. I refuse to let this semester beat me though I am ready to go at it full force.