Week 1

Hello again my faithful followers. Week one has come and gone and I'll tell ya what, it was overwhelming. Monday and Tuesday we had what they called PAWS. It is basically a get to know your classmates, get to know yourself, and get to know your school summer camp experience. We played name games, teamwork games, share your personal experiences games and even managed to learn a song and dance that all vet students here know. Yes it was extremely cheesy and you could see the eye rolls from some people, but I thought it was a good time. You get to know your classmates and it really emphasized how much of a family and community it is down here. Everyone wants to help you succeed and enjoy your time on the island, something I don;t think I would have gotten if I went to a state school so I'm thankful for it.

The school also put on a welcome back bazaar for the students. There were dozens of tents set up sporting local crafts and merchandise as well as food from the local restaurants. The school gave us "chitz" (essentially monopoly money) to spend and I managed to get some produce, indian food, lambi (conch), hurricane ice cream and some chicken skewers. I was a happy camper. Throughout the event they had local musicians playing including a steel drum band. It is still my goal to learn how to play those while I'm here. They even had an African drum band perform. This was my favorite part of the event, even though me and few other girls got pulled out onto the floor to dance and do the limbo. All of you who know me know I hate being in the spotlight and even more so I hate dancing. It was a good time though. I have some videos but for whatever reason blogger does not want to cooperate with me, a work in progress.

Wednesday brought the first day of classes. Our schedule is kind of all over the place. Some labs we have 3 times a week, others only once. Some classes we have every day some we only have a few times a week. Some classes also don't start for another few weeks. But basically we have a 2 hour lab in the morning and 5 hours of straight lectures mid day/afternoon. After classes we usually eat dinner, maybe exercise (not so much for me but I try) and then hit the books. You really have to review everything everyday or you will fall behind really easily. I like most of the professors thus far, some seem more organized than others but overall they seem very helpful and engaging.

Left: 1st day of class, off to the anatomy lab

Right: After day 1 and already studying anatomy. Too many bones!











Friday night the student chapter of the American veterinary medical association (SCAVMA) hosted a barbeque for vet students and we got the chance to hang out with our classmates and mix with the upper termers. There was an after party at a local bar but I passed on the event because a few of us were going to the market early the next morning. Speaking of the market.....it was great. I could honestly spend a full day down there exploring the various shops and stalls. It's not for the faint of heart however, its very busy and there is alot of commotion. But you get fresh produce, fish, spices and other goods cheaper than the stores. And upper termer showed us all around and we met some of the vendors she frequents. We met Diane who sells fruit, Rhonda who sells spices and a guy she just refers to as the coconut man.
The rest of the weekend will be spent studying. Welcome back to college.

Until next time

Grand Etang

Continuing on from the last post... part of the reason we decided not to go to the Aquarium party is we booked a tour of the Grand Etang rainforest area at 8 am the next morning (today the 18th). Many other students signed up but fell victim to the potent rum punches...as evident by the kid who passed out on the lawn. Anywho, we had 2 local students as guides and they were AWESOME! Not only did they know an incredible amount about Grenada's history, flora and fauna and local hotspots, they gave us "insider" tips on grocery stores, restaurants, where the buses go etc etc.

The ride to the rainforest weaved through the very narrow and very steep hills of the interior of the island. It was early so the fog had not quite lifted and the wind was fairly strong. As we reached the entrance to the trail we stopped at a lookout point where we could see the hillside, harbor and even SGU campus

The trail was extremely muddy do to the recent rain so it was quite comical to watch everyone slipping and sliding. After a short but steep trek to the top of the hill we were greeted with another fabulous view of the surrounding landscape. We headed back down the trail and looped over to the Grand Etang lake.

This lake is was actually formed after the collapse of a volcano. Rumor has it, and until now science as well, that there is no bottom to the lake. There is also no known water source for the lake. Obviously rain collects but being cut off from any rivers or streams the lake remains a mystery to the locals.

As we headed back to the bus our guides point out the various flowers which sport vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and any other color of the rainbow. Many of these flowers are used in the Chelsea competition in London each year (likening to the rose bowl here in the states) where Grenada has won for many years.

Right: Caterpillar hanging out on a branch

Left: One of the local tropical flowers

Right: hibiscus flower

Left: Another caterpillar munchin' on a leaf











Right before we were about to depart we spotted one of the local Mona Monkeys on the island. They typically wait at the bus point hoping to snag food or goods from visitors. We didn't spot any initially but then one came to greet us. At first he seemed very uninterested with us, but as soon as I whipped out a banana from my bag he came right up to me and took it from my hand. I'm sure hoping to get more food he sat next to us and let us pet him and even hold our hands. It was quite the experience....much different than the baboons in South Africa.

Mona monkey w/ the banana I gave him

Back on the bus we traveled to a popular tourist destination, Annandale Falls. This is one of the smaller falls on the island when compared to the 7 sisters waterfall; a chain of 7 falls that are further in the island and apparently quite a hike. On the way down to the falls you pass local merchants selling various goods and fruits. Here they call food/snacks eates. One local was known as the music man because he not only sang to you but compared you to a various celebrity. I was Jennifer Garner. Our guides found some local mangoes along the trail and gave them to us to try. They are a much smaller variety of mango and some of the sweetest I have ever had. Many people at the falls jump off the very top, doing back flips and cannon balls but for us we just watched. Another trip I will attempt the jump

After the falls we traveled back down the island passing through the city of St. George where we saw the meat and fish market, produce market and various other vendors waiting for the cruise ship tourists to come by.

After orientation sessions from 12-2 we ended the day with a trip to Prickly Bay in Lance Aux Epines. This beach sported black and white sand and was much smaller/quieter than Grand Anse.

Tomorrow we have one orientation sessions and then a big Bazaar. The university is having local vendors and restaurants come set up booths and we were given essentially monopoly money to spend. I'm most excited to try the national dish, oildown. Well thats all for now. The rest of my time will be spend preparing for classes on Wednesday.  

First Few Days on Island

Hello again! This post may be a bit long since I haven't posted in a few days...and I have a lot of new pictures to post. The past couple of days have been more of the same, wake up, attend orientation sessions, explore the island a bit, and try not to get overwhelmed by what is coming in a few days. We have heard from financial aid people, study skills instructors, professionalism coaches and many more. They have packed a lot into our first days here. But that's the boring stuff right? We finally managed to make it to the beach  yesterday for the first time. We went to Grand Anse beach, which has won awards for its beauty. Its very popular for students as the bus takes you right there and its pretty close to campus.

Grande Anse Beach

My roommate Danielle enjoying the ocean

It's funny that I am on an island because I consider myself more of a mountain girl...the sand...it gets everywhere. But in such a beautiful place who can complain. Later that day a hallmate and I went on a run around campus. You know how parents say in their day they had to walk uphill both ways to school?? Well I believe them now. The campus sits on a hill and no mater which direction you start running you are bound do meet a formidable slope. That combined with 80 degree weather and my disdain for running made it an interesting experience. Have to stay active though, fitness will definitely be a release for me here. However, we did run to the farthest point on campus and the view was phenomenal.

 That evening the university hosted this big party at a bar/restaurant called Aquarium. It was basically a welcome back event for all of the students. In the interest of saving money a few hallmates and I went over to our friends apartment in Lance Aux Epines to watch a movie and drink a few beers. But don't worry my blog friends, there is a huge after mid term party called Sandblast that we all plan on attending. Gotta get our party on sometime.

I have now decided to split this blog into two sections so it is not one ridiculously long post. Continue with the next post to learn about the last tid bit of fun things I've done and whats coming up in the next few days.

Touchdown

So after a day of traveling I made it to the Island at about 8 local time. I was surprised to find all of my bags made it...although hiking them up the stairs to my room was quite the workout. I'm living in St. Andrews Hall and my floor is primarily other female 1st term veterinary students. Everyone has been really nice and welcoming so far; its a good group of people. It's interesting being back in a dorm and sharing a bedroom with another person but I guess we will be living in the library mostly anyway come next week.

The first night I spent unpacking....mostly... and trying to get settled in. My roommate unfortunately had multiple delayed/cancelled flights so she didn't get in the same night. Day 1 was spent going through the registration process...picking up a mailbox, getting my student ID, converting some cash, making a trip to the grocery store (expensive!) and attending various orientation sessions. At the last session the orientation guides performed a song and dance, it was quite comical. After the last session a group of us went to a restaurant/bar called Umbrellas. Its located right on the Grand Anse beach and had some pretty good food. Among our dishes were, barracuda sandwich, falafal pita, foccacia melt, bleu cheese burger and of course a round of vodka sours and 1 carib beer (bet most of you can guess which dink was mine). Tomorrow is a jam packed day with multiple orientation/information sessions running from 9:30 to 6 pm. Sessions continue throughout the week/weekend but I'm hoping to find some time to squeeze in a beach trip. I'll be sure to post more as the days go on. Hope everyone has enjoyed reading thus far! I definitely miss everyone back in the states, skype has been very helpful.

If you want to reach me by mail I have a small mailbox (if you want to send a box let me know first as you have to go to town to pick them up and they are subject to customs) and my address is,

Caitlin Flint, 2537

St. George's University

P.O. Box 7

University Centre

St. George's

Grenada, West Indies  

(Make sure to write air mail on the envelope! Expect 2 weeks or so to send/receive mail)

Farewell with Friends

Yesterday was a whirlwind of goodbyes and most of all packing. My parents will be relocating in the near future so not only did I have to pack for school but also everything else for my parents big move. (I must admit my mom did most of my school packing....it was too overwhelming for me *shout out to mama Flint). My biggest tips for packing

1) DON'T procrastinate... do as I say not as I do, don't wait till a few days before you leave to start getting it done
2) Learn to be a minimalist... yes I wanted to pack all my favorite flannel shirts, but be realistic and minimal
3) Make a list!... it helps to see everything you need and then simply check it off

I was lucky enough to have the help of one of my best friends while packing up all the leftover items. Space bags were my friend. Later that evening 2 of my other fabulous friends from high school kidnapped me and took me to Baked and Wired, a cupcake place in DC where the 3 of us shared 5 of the most decadent cupcakes. Sure we looked like we had just broken up with boyfriends and were eating our sorrows away (we got many sideways glances) but hey who cares. When we got home I walked into my house and was completely surprised to see a group of about 15 of my friends all gathered in my living room. They had sneakily organized a farewell gathering and I did not see it coming. It's a great feeling to realize what a solid group of friends you have and how much they care about you.

Hello! A Brief Introduction

Welcome to this amateur bloggers site. I must say I do not profess to be a phenomenal writer or a quick witted jokester; just a 20 something veterinary student looking for a way to share my experiences with family, friends and the occasional stranger who stumbles upon this site.None the less I hope you all enjoy the stories to come over the next 4 years of this great adventure I'm about to embark upon.

Like I said, most of you viewing this blog probably already know me...but I'll give a little background anyway. I was born in Georgia but shortly after moved to McLean Virginia (NoVa as the slang suggests) where I have lived for the past 17 years. I am a huge sports fan and of course an animal lover. I went to undergraduate at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) where I studied Animal and Poultry Sciences. I also played club soccer for the women's team, helped coach the local high school soccer team, and joined a service fraternity. As many of my fellow alumni can attest to, I absolutely fell in love with Blacksburg and the VT community. My wardrobe sports more maroon and orange (a color combination you might no think works...but it does) than any other colors.

Now I am on the precipice of a huge new endeavor, veterinary school. I was accepted to St. George's School of Veterinary Medicine located on the island of Grenada. While 4 years and a quarter million in loans seems insane to undertake, I am ready for the challenge....although I guess my first challenge is packing my life into 3 bags (Good thing I'm pretty minimalist).

Hope you enjoy reading this blog and sharing in my journey. I will do my best to update as frequently as possible but ya know, the whole school thing might get in the way a little.

Enjoy!