Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not really a Grenadian holiday. Or at all. The only reason the word is mentioned on this island is because there is a university here and most of the students come from a culture that celebrates Halloween and therefore continue the tradition down here.

Walking around Grenada, you would never know it was October. For one, it is still 85 degrees out every day :). But Grenada also lacks the iconic Halloween decorations that I am used to seeing during this month. Although you buy chunks of cut pumpkin at the grocery store to eat, the only signs that Halloween was coming soon was a few more bags of candy on the shelves of an end of aisle rack, 4 large and un-Halloween pumpkins in the produce section, and Halloween cupcake tins in the baking section. I have yet to find an image online of what these pumpkins resembled, but they were large and highly unattractive, sort of like the white one:

I'm sure that so far it sounds like I don't really care for Halloween, but I actually enjoy it quite a lot. I just happen to prefer the cute kids version with pretty pumpkins, innocent fun, and the candy (duh!). Trust me, my classmates made sure to enjoy Halloween weekend! I'm actually quite impressed with the costumes they made with such limited resources (because not only are there no party shops with costumes, there are very few with clothing, props, or any other creativity items). I refused to cave and buy any candy because although it is name brand and delicious (in the US), I know that here it is absurdly over priced, melted, and likely stale. I will make up for my lack of treats now in December : D.

So Happy Halloween! Just not in Grenada haha. But they've already begun preping for Christmas over the last few weeks (cut them a break though, Thanksgiving was last week and isn't a big holiday here, there are no holidays in November, so the next big thing for this extremely religious island is Christmas). 

Stamps in Grenada

Okay so when this is published, this story will actually be a few weeks old, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I mailed a few postcards to my friends today. All I knew about this process was that I could by stamps at our campus bookstore.

So I wrote my notes and went over to by stamps. Seems simple enough and no different from something I would do in the US. I tell the lady how many stamps I want and she counts them out for me. They look like ordinary stamps just a tad larger (like the collectable ones in the US) and then she hands me a glue stick!! Apparently there is no adhesive on the stamps! I was highly amused. So I glued each stamp to the cards. I wasn't expecting the more sophisticated adhesive stamps where you just peel the backing off, but I was expecting to have to lick my stamps to apply them! Oh Grenada :) Highlight of my day!

Something New Every Day

They say you learn something new every day. So far in my life I have found this statement to be quite accurate. In addition to learning new things all the time, in Grenada, I seem to discover or see new things frequently.

Today's discover was how to get on the 2nd floor of our school library and how to get into the arch between the library and computer/IT building.

The library is on the right of the arch and IT, the computer lab, and offices are on the left. I have wondered for a long time where the staircase is to take you to the second and third floors of the library. When you enter the left side of the building, you immediately see a staircase that takes you up. I have been to the second floor of this building several times to go to the computer lab for class. Before you enter the lab area, there is a set of glass doors leading to the archway, but they are locked and do not permit access to the library. I have also been into the library a few times and have always wondered where the staircase was hiding! To enter the library, there are two sets of double doors. You have to go through the left set to enter, and there is a glass wall that separates the area between the double doors. As soon as you go through the doors into the library, you are in the library. I have never really paid much attention to entering the library before.

Today, my friend and I discovered that the 1st set of doors led to the staircase! If you aren't looking specifically in that spot for it, it's easy to miss. The tricky thing is that the 1st set of doors is locked. In order to get to the staircase, you have to enter the library, and make a U-turn back into the other area to go up the stairs. Once we got to the second floor, the entrance to the archway was apparent and easy to get to. Much to our delight, the space was empty so we sat down to study undisturbed (we left our other spot because we were fed up with the people talking about their ipads next to us-they were loud!).

The only downside to the archway is that it is un-air conditioned (so it's a bit hot and stuffy!). But the views on either side are gorgeous, peaceful and relaxing :).

The other thing I saw today on my way to the Small Animal Clinic was a pair of cows just randomly grazing on the side of the road. Only in Grenada!!

A Veterinary Student Saturday

My Saturday consisted of two things: a volunteer shift at the Small Animal Clinic (which now has a new name but I can't remember who it was dedicated to this week) and lots of studying for my histology exam on Monday. Isn't my life exciting? Haha! This is what veterinary students do folks, we spend all day every day in class or studying (particularly when exams fall 1-2 days after the weekend). The remainder of my semester is packed with boring weekends because every week from here on out I have an exam on Monday or Tuesday and sometimes a second or third later in the week.

My shift was very quiet again today. I'm beginning to think that I'm just cursed (or blessed in the clinicians' eyes). I've seen on emergency come in during my shift since I started back in August. I guess I'm not complaining too much though because I haven't had any overnight calls (PLEASE don't let that change tomorrow night!!!!!) and I have had a lot of time to study, relax, and get to know other SGU students.

Our histology exam on Monday covers the entire digestive tract, the urinary system, and the male and female reproductive systems for both mammals and birds. Curse birds for having to be unique :-p. I won't bore you with any further details other than I really don't care what type of cells and glands can be found in each part of all of these haha.

Grenadian Rainbow!

I finally saw a rainbow today!!! I was very excited and it was good positive reinforcement for getting up and going to lab at 8a instead of skipping my section and going to the later class at 10a.

As often as it rains here spontaneously when it is sunny out, I am surprised that it took 2.5 months for me to see my first rainbow here. I must just not have been looking in the right direction the other times? Who knows! There was a very faint second one arching over the first too :)

A Post About Classes

I don't think I've really talked about my actual classes much lately other than to complain about exams or how much they annoy and stress me out from time to time haha.

Today I had 5 classes (but animal nutrition went for 2 hours so it was technically 6). We started the day off with radiology lab. It only took more than half the semester, but we are finally actually learning relevant material that is interesting (the history and how it works was interesting for about the first 10 minutes, but 3 hours was a bit much-particularly when he told us he wasn't really going to test us on it). Today's lab covered the thorax (chest). We get an online presentation in our computer lab and go through and identify various structures in radiographs (x-ray images) and a CT series. I actually learned something today! I know most of the basics from spending so much time in hospitals and with boarded radiologists, but occasionally I do learn something new!

Next up was Introduction to Research. I tend to call it "class where I study for other things because attendance is mandatory but paying attention isn't." We've had a few more interesting speakers lately, but a lot of the time they make you want to fall back asleep. Attendance is 20% of our grade though, so skipping isn't really an option. Today's lecturer was a researcher who studies all things fish. He had a bunch of rather gruesome pictures in his presentation, but I was busy studying for my histology exam which is Monday, so I'm not really sure what the presentation was really about. To be fair, most of my classmates either nap or study too though haha.

After lunch was histology. We finished off covering the material that is on our upcoming exam and answered some questions. This exam covers the whole digestive tract, the urinary system, male and female reproductive organs, and those four topics in terms of avians (silly birds having to be all different from everyone else). 

Our current topic in nutrition is equine nutrition. We had out last two equine lectures this afternoon covering feeding horses of all ages. It has been a really interesting unit and I have learned A LOT about horses. I can't believe that I know how to appropriately create an equine diet now. Next up is an exam and then we will start small animal nutrition. 

The last class of the day was Animal Welfare and Behavior. Even though we're in week two, I'm really not sure what to think of this class yet. We have a different professor each week-one who lives here and two from UC Davis. I have learned a bunch of little random facts so far. Today's was what type of cat breed I want to own someday based on this professor's research study that asked veterinarians to rate the breeds based on a variety of categories. I'll post them when we get the notes packet for the class because I don't remember them all off the top of my head. Anyhow, I would like a ragdoll cat. They sound like a cat that is basically a dog haha.   

Another AVMA Celebration

This morning after lab, the SVM students returned home to find an invitation to attend an accreditation celebration. All the the invite was a little bit last minute, a few of my classmates and I went out of curiosity (and the promise of free food!).

The Chancellor of SGU was not in Grenada at the time of the AVMA accreditation announcement because the feedback from the AVMA was quick and unexpected, so this was his way of congratulating all of the students, faculty, and staff on the our new status. There was lots of food and socialization and a couple of brief speeches by the Chancellor and Dean Sis (the Dean of the SVM).

As my classmates and I struggle to get through these last 6 weeks packed full of exams, it served as a good reminder as to what we are ultimately working for and what we have spent many years trying to achieve. Although it is nearly the end of October, some days it feels like the next month and a half are going to take forever. I think most of us are just ready for a break from the stress of exams and being stuck together all day every day. Tonigh also renewed my sense of school spirit, although I'm not sure SGU will ever beat out VT in my heart haha.

Happy Grenadian Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving in Grenada! Grenadian Thanksgiving is a bit different from US Thanksgiving though. It's probably more like Memorial Day or Veteran's Day in the US.

We had our first day off of school today, which was awesome. I spent some time at the beach and then went to a mysterious Thanksgiving Ceremony held on campus. It was mysterious because we had NO clue what to expect, where it was located on campus, or even what it was for. It turns out that today commemorates the anniversary of the US invasion/intervention in Grenada to restore stability to the country.

The medical students at the university at the time were evacuated, and the university now honors the 19 soldiers who lost their lives in order to safely return the students to the US. There is a memorial on campus where a beautiful wreath of tropical flowers is laid at the end of the memorial ceremony.

 

It was a very pretty ceremony and my friends and I enjoyed learning a little bit about the holiday we were celebrating.

Delinquency

Well today continued to be a rainy day in Grenada. When my alarm went off this morning, I heard rain beating against my window. I grumpily rolled back over at the thought of not only having to walk to class in the pouring rain, but also having to first walk to the Small Animal Clinic to return the on call phone before class. This would have meant arriving to lab quite soggy. Thankfully by the time I did decide to get up, the rain had changed back to sprinkling, and when I left to return the phone and go to class, it had stopped completely.

Unfortunately the rain didn't end there. Lots of raining during anatomy lab. Have I mentioned lately how completely fed up and done I am with anatomy lab? Even the prospect of only having to sit through 15 more lab classes doesn't cheer me up anymore. I am simply tired of dealing with the same stuff day in and day out. I wish we changed groups when we changed animals throughout the semester to give a chance to work with other people in our class. I feel like this would facilitate us learning to work with a variety of types of people and give us the opportunity to stray away from people we don't work well with.

After a terrible anatomy lab, I went home to take my ritual nap. Despite the humidity being at 370% with all of the rain, it still felt amazing to crawl into bed and snuggle down under blankets. It sort of feels like fall in my room with the AC constantly blasting. Chilly fingers, nose, toes...all characteristics of a cool fall day just without the football and color changes.

When I woke up to go to histology, I was so warm and comfy that I weighed the pros and cons of skipping class in favor of sleeping a little longer. Cons: skipping class, 1/100th of a chance of missing an important phrase; Pros: warmth, snuggly blankets, more sleep, using time more productively, did I mention warmth?? Guess which activity won haha.

At my next scheduled wake up time, I was again very warm and cozy. Skipping more classes in favor of studying in bed sounded like a genius idea. Again, a pros and cons list was made and this time I added actually learning material instead of staring off into space periodically to my pros list. So I stayed home and studied anatomy and physiology in my bed. Turns out I covered more physiology material then they did in class so I guess I won that round!

I did have to go to animal welfare and behavior because attendance is mandatory, but it's a pretty laid back and interesting 1 credit class so I didn't really mind. It had also finally stopped raining, so I no longer faced the soggy journey from my room to the VSL where classes are held (this is a huge joke, it's a short 2 minute walk : D).

So I was naughty and skipped 3 classes today, but I did study all the material that was covered in class on my own. I also achieved mental peace and zen after an obnoxious morning, and avoided getting wet! (because we all know that people can melt in the rain under the right conditions).

Tomorrow is Grenadian Thanksgiving so I don't have any classes! I am extremely excited about this day off!!!

Grenadian Rain

There are two types of rain in Grenada: lightly sprinkling so you barely notice and flat out down pour where no amount of rain gear will save you from being soaked. We don't really seem to have a drizzly state here. You're either completely soaked or you aren't. It will also just spontaneously begin one of these two states. It can be beautiful and sunny out and you can still find yourself getting wet. I have yet to see a rainbow here, but I've heard they can be seen all over (makes me feel like perhaps I'm just not special enough!).

So the reason that I mentioned the rain today is because I did indeed encounter both of these types of rain today. The first was when I was on my way to the beach today. It stopped shortly after my friends and I arrived and continued to be a beautiful Grenadian beach today. Unfortunately the fish were scarce so I had no fun sightings (I saw three the entire time I was in the water). I attribute this to the unusually rough seas. The waves were a lot of fun to float on though and swim within so I entertained myself that way. Just so you know, a wave at Grand Anse beach is the most teeny tiny wave you can think of. This just happens to be different from the usual light gentle lapping of the water. At the end of our beach stay, it began to downpour so we got soaked (or rather, the sunbathers got soaked, the other girl and I simply washed a little salt off haha).

 These are the left and right views of the beach from our swimming spot just before it began raining.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, below is the adorable kitten I got to play with during my SVECCS shift tonight at the Small Animal Clinic.

You Haven't Truly Experienced Grenada Unless...

...You have been threatened to be arrested for trying to catch a bus on the other side of the road by bus terminal security.

But there is a lot more to tell you first! Today I went to the city of St. George! There are 6 parishes in Grenada, and St. George is the largest. It also happens to be where I live and where the school is located. The capital of the country is also located in St. George, and that's where we went today.

To get to the city, you can either take a taxi (more expensive) or you can take the university bus to Grand Anse and catch a #1 reggae bus. The university buses are free and the reggae buses are $2.50EC each way (just under $1US). This is a really good deal because Grand Anse is at least 15 minutes from the city.

When you get to the city, you arrive and start your exploring at the bus terminal. You can wander the street shops, go to the mall, visit the market, or hike up to the fort. This trip we did everything except go to the fort.

We started by walking a little ways to the mall. It's not a mall like what you would see in the US, instead it is lined with touristy stores full of trinkets, spices, apparel, alcohol, and jewelry. We wandered around for awhile and found a few gifts for people back home.

After we left the mall, we headed over to the outdoor market. It is lined with little booths and stalls selling every spice and tropical fruit you could ever dream of! Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, curry, saffron, chili powder, and at least a dozen more I can't remember. Some of the fruits included oranges, bananas, pumpkins, watermelons, peppers, tomatoes, coconuts, water nuts, sea grapes, mangoes, and much more. We enjoyed wandering through and it smelled delicious!

When we finished with the market, we walked around the streets on our way back to the bus terminal. We went into a few shops. Lots of places selling shoes, clothes, and other assorted household items in addition to the restaurants and bars.

 

When we got back to the bus terminal, we hunted for a #1 bus to take us back to Grand Anse. There are a bunch of them lined up along the terminal and there are people hanging out everywhere trying to get you to go with them (this is not as sketchy as it sounds!!!). We found one but it was full so the guy behind him tried to snag us. A couple of my group members felt uncomfortable with the driver and his friends because the bus was run-down looking, and his friends reeked of alcohol. We started to cross the lane to get in with another bus (they are everywhere and always trying to get business) when this lady with the terminal security came up, grabbed my friend by the arm and started yelling at us. She threatened to call the police because apparently crossing out of the parking lane to get into a bus is illegal. She forcefully pushed us into the other bus. We were very surprised but unwilling to find out if she was going to follow through on her threat. While we waited for the bus to fill with other people, we watched her chat with the driver a bunch. I don't think it's illegal to get into another bus across the street. I think she used her authority to take advantage of a bunch of young people to give her friend business. Thankfully this was the only crummy encounter we had today. I really expected to be harassed far more, but the people were very friendly and generally let us go about our ways.

We made it back to Grand Anse fine and even managed to catch a university bus right away! We even managed to avoid getting rained on the whole time (there was a large looming black cloud in the sky the whole day), just a few sprinkles. I really look forward to taking my friend to the city next semester when she starts school because I think she will love it! Overall, a really neat experience!

Longest Birthday Ever!

The celebration of this year's birthday has been the longest ever! In addition to my actual birthday, and then our dinner festivities last weekend, I received birthday cards this week and cookies from my family today!

 

So how do cookies taste after they have been in the mail for a solid two weeks? Pretty darn stale haha. BUT. I am a starving vet student with no money and no snacks, so they are still edible and will be eaten! Probably with copious amounts of leftover chocolate frosting : D. 

My youngest brother also made me some Halloween decoration for my room. I decided to share them with my hallmates so I hung them on my door! Aren't kids cute (sometimes)?