Soooo...guess what?

I SUCK at keeping up with a blog.  Also, make sure that you check out the post right before this one.  I started it on my last day in St. Kitts, and it had been sitting in my drafts box ever since.

Hey.  I never said that I was going to be good at this.  That draft I started and just uploaded was 6 months ago!

6 months...wow.  It honestly doesn't feel like I left the island that long ago.  It feels like it was just yesterday.  I remember how badly I wanted to get off that island.  That plane ride home was seriously one of the best days of my life.  Forget the fact that the St. Kitts airport staff almost didn't let me take home my cat, Reggae (I seriously hate those people), and that when I got to San Juan I found out that I had to buy a new carrying case for him because they only allow soft cases on Air Tran (and, very conveniently, they sold them at a store around the corner for 80 bucks), seriously, forget all that.  I was going back to the STATES!  I had a one-way ticket home!  I was about to feel like an American citizen again!

It was everything that I had hoped for and more.  It still  is.  I would never want to go back to living on an island again.  In fact, for the first 3 or 4 months I insisted that I did not miss one thing about that island, and I meant it when I said it.  Now thinking about that time and looking back at pictures...I do feel a little sad, I feel myself wishing just a little bit that I could go back there and be with all my friends (for like, a week.  TOPS.  Ha ha).  Just to live it up again.  When will there ever be days like that again in my life?  Where I could wake up to the sound of the ocean everyday, meet my friends at the beach bar down the street, go horseback riding in the ocean (never mind the hardware in my arm).  The thing I miss the most are all the great friends I made there, and seeing them every day.  We all still keep in touch and I think that we always will.  And for the time being I do have the company of a few St. Kitts folk here in my new (temporary) residence in Colorado.

And now I find myself wishing I were back in Michigan!  After all that talk about how I was SO excited to go to Colorado and I may never want to leave.  Ok yes it's beautiful and all, but it's not Michigan.  It's not home. I'm beginning to realize that I am a true Michigander and it's yet to be seen if I could be happy anywhere else. I love Michigan.  I'm sure that my family and loved ones have a lot to do with that too.  But Michigan is beautiful and it has a lot to offer.  I love it.  That's all.

Ok so I just wasted a lot of time doing this accent challenge thing and now I am going to waste your time too by putting it up here.  This is all I feel like blogging for now cause I am anxious to get the rest of my work done.  More about life in Colorado, pictures, school, and clinicals later.  I'll post all the stuff that goes along with the accent challenge below.

Peace and blessings to all!  Don't make fun of me for being so lame and making a 10 minute video :D

http://blipsnip.it/v/32unwzzg

^^So that's where you can find the video.  I made it with my iphone and it was too long to email or anything, so I uploaded it to an iphone app called blip snips.  The beginning part got cut off.  Basically it starts off with me explaining why my cat's bed was on my bed since the video caught a little glimpse of it.  I'm silly and crazy.  Anyone who knows me, knows that already though!



The Accent Challenge

• Your name and username
• Where you're from
• Pronounce the following words: Aunt, roof, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, avenue, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, pajamas, court, naturally, aluminum, GIF, doorknob, envelope, drawing, tomato, possum, dog, February, syrup, leisure, about, process, status, organization, orange, talk mobile, idea, dynasty, renaissance, patronise, breakfast, draw, horror, herbs.
• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is a bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What's the bug, that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• Be a wizard or a vampire?
• How old are you?
• Is it cold where you are?
• What is your favorite color?
• What color are your eyes?
• Do you have freckles?
• When is your birthday?
• What was the last thing you drank?
• Would you rather: Have a million dollars or a million friends?  Eat a taco or a quesadilla?  Be a shark or an elephant?
• Do you speak a second language?  Say something in it.
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What is the thing that you change the TV channel with?
• Choose a book and read a passage from it.
• Do you think you have an accent?
• End audio post by saying any three words that you want.

Looking Back

****Started this post just around 6 months ago....posting it now :)

I know I said that the next post was going to be about my mom's visit, but I can't upload those pictures until I get home and this is my last day on this island, so I felt the needed to post in honor of my time here.

So, I feel like all I have done this semester is complain.  Complain to friends and family and classmates, about how much I just wanted to be done and get out of here.  Well, they always say to be careful what you wish for; I am 1 day away from leaving, and part of me wants to stay (I knew this was gonna happen!).  I have had an AMAZING experience here, and I have made some AMAZING friends.  It's honestly hard for me to even think of what is the right thing to say.

1 year and 3 months ago, April 28, 2011, I got off a plane that had landed on this island for the first time.  A very special person was on that plane with me, one of my now best friends, Chenille.  We met straight off that plane, both in a new place, not knowing what was ahead of us, not knowing anyone at all, and we remained good friends during her whole time here.  My life would not be the same without her, and she's one of those friends that you know you'll have forever.

Very first day of classes that very first semester, I knew no one (except Chenille now).  This school is so small, but it felt so big that day.  Then after one of my classes, when everyone was walking out, I recognized someone!  And I'll explain how: before I got to the island, I joined the school's facebook group and left a message on the wall -- asking something... I don't even remember what now.  But there was one very nice girl who answered me.  She had been on the island going to school for a semester already, and her and I chatted quite a bit on facebook (mostly her giving me info).  And of course she told me that if I ever wanted to hang out or anything when I got to the island to give her a shout.  Well, that is the girl that I saw in my class, and I walked up to her and said, "Hey, are you Rachel?"  And the rest was history.

So eventually, Chenille, Rachel and I, all became best friends.  We lived together for the next 2 semesters, and it got to the point where everyone knew that we would always be together.  We had the same class schedule, the same clinical schedule too, and all that with living together -- it was basically inevitable that we would become best friends.  Because I chose a different partner school to transfer to in the states than them (the way my school works is confusing and I will spare you the details), they left 1 semester before me.  Due to this, I have received a never-ending flow of concerns and remarks from people at this school, wondering if I am doing OK without them.  Even on this last day here, I can remember just last week an instance where I was asked if I missed them and still talk to them... well DUH!

Well, the three of us eventually hooked up with the forth member of our wolfpack, Kelly.  We had a class or two with her, and to be completely honest, I don't even remember when it was that we became such good friends with her...it was just one of those things that just happened!  I do remember though (before we became good friends with her, my first semester) I forgot a writing utensil in my statistics class, and she lent me a pen.  And mind you, this was a pretty good quality pen.  Well, I forgot to give it back to her right away, but hung on to it and MADE SURE that I eventually got it to her.  Once we became friends, she appreciated my earnest attempt at returning her pen to her :)  

Well, the four of us started calling ourselves the Wolfpack (after The Hangover, one of our favorite movies), and everyone soon called us that too.  We of course went on to have a lot of inside jokes, like sitting on the toilet sideways (you wouldn't get it, inside joke :D), but basically, these three girls will definitely be my friends for life.

Kelly's surprise bday party at the Blue Martini

Now you all know Heather from my previous post, we don't need to say goodbye though cause we are going to the same partner school in Colorado and living together (with a few other previous friends from here), and another friend from St. Kitts that will be starting at the same time as us is Jean, my whooleehooo, who I cannot WAIT to see again and take classes with!

Now, I can't neglect all my other friends too, cause I have met some really amazing people.

Amy, Me, Rachel, Sarah

Kim, Chenille, Acia, Kelly, Allie, and Heather

I have been friends with Acia since I first got here, and for as long as I have been here, she has been here even longer!  Heather and I got closer with her this semester, seeing as though it was just the three of us in Maternity this semester.  In fact, that is where we are headed for some drinks and swimming and stuff later on today :)

Marisol, Kelly, Chenille, Me, Allie, Kim, Jacqi and Rachel

With some of my girls, getting ready for a beach day

Me with some of my buddies my first semester before a game of Bar Golf.  Fun game :)

On a Catamaran.  Cat trips were ALWAYS a great time.

Cat Trip

__________________________________________________________________________________

Well, this is where I pick up this post from when I started it the day before I left the island.  I won't upload anymore pictures because it would be a never-ending process.  I have more pictures than I could ever count from my time on St. Kitts.  It was a good ride :)

Peace and blessings to all!

A [Friend's] Birthday on Nevis, and 6 DAYS.

So, on July 20th, it was my friend Heather's birthday and since we have Tuesday's off we thought we'd celebrate a day early, and went to Nevis.  It was tonsa fun!  First thing, we went to a beach bar and grill called "Sunshines" (I take everyone here when going to Nevis...if you can't already tell, ha ha), home of the alleged Killer Bee; a drink that stings.  We had a couple of those and some delicious lobster-themed lunches.

Leaving the port in St. Kitts; on the ferry

Bye bye St. Kitts

Us + St. Kitts

Hellooo Nevis

'

At Sunshines; all smiles with the Killer Bee

Sunshines + Killer Bees 

Then, we went and crashed the Four Seasons; only the most amazing resort we had ever laid eyes on.  We went swimming in one of their infinity edge pools, and then set off to find the spa.  A guest at the resort had told us about a pool at the spa called, "The Plunge"; an ice cold pool.  What else could you ask for on a steaming hot day?

With some yummy pina coladas

The amazing 4 seasons.  Not just vacation worthy, but honeymoon worthy.

We finally make our way to the spa, hoping that we can just, slip right on through to The Plunge, when asked, "How can I help you today?"  Um... "We aren't guests here but want to take advantage of this really cold pool that we heard you had".  That's not going to work, so we just said simply that we were looking for The Plunge.  Her next question, "Do you have a service with us?"  What, you mean a $265 facial (literally)?  Nnnno.  So then she says, "Let me take you on a tour of the spa".  Off we go, drooling over the magnificently elegant quiet room, the individual massage rooms, then, The Plunge.  We get to the steps leading up to it, and our incredibly awesome spa tour guide says, "I'll just wait here while you check it out."  It was the absolute best and most refreshing 5 second dip in a pool of my whole life.

After that, she takes us into the women's change room, points out the Eucalyptus steam rooms to us, and then says, "I'll leave you here to dry off while I go back to the front desk..."  Is this girl for real?!  So, guess what?  We went into that Eucalyptus steam room, and we enjoyed every second of it!  We exited feeling as though we had just spent a day at the spa, and our unusually kind tour guide smiles and waves goodbye, giving us a look that said, "I can keep a secret if you can keep a secret".  We were grinning from ear to ear.

So following our lovely day at the spa, we went down to the beach and swam for a bit until it was time to catch a bus back to ferry, a task we were dreading.  Not because it's difficult, or expensive, or timely, but because we DID NOT want to go back to St. Kitts!  We pondered excuses we could make to our professors for missing the ferry back, where we would sleep if we didn't go back to St. Kitts (we decided on the cabanas at the pool), and basically just did endless complaining in vain about how we wished we could stay on Nevis.  We did, however, eventually find ourselves back on the ferry to St. Kitts.

Where to sleep in the event we decided to not go back to St. Kitts

Beach on Nevis

Starfish

We found mini Lambruscos in a store by the ferry

Yum!

Now, on the ferry ride to Nevis in the beginning of the day, Heather exclaimed, "I really hope that the Dolphins come to visit me this year!" and then she goes on to explain that every year on her birthday, she see's dolphins (shes from Florida, and has traveled to the Bahamas and to the keys for her birthday in the past).  Well, I was honestly thinking that this was unlikely.  I have been on numerous catamarans and ferries to Nevis, and I have never seen a dolphin on the way.  Not once.  So we are on the way back to St. Kitts now and I go downstairs to use the bathroom, and I hear all this excited yelling and talking from the deck while I am in there, and I get back upstairs to find out that there WERE dolphins, and I missed them!  But then...a gentleman from the lower deck starts hailing to us and yelling, "They're down here!"  We run down, and sure enough, there they are; swimming along with the ferry, gliding in and out of the water.  So, true to form, the dolphins visited Heather on her birthday, and that marked the end of a great day at Nevis.

Sunset on the way back to St. Kitts

After this picture is taken, Me: "I'm going to go use the bathroom"

Meanwhile... 

Heather's attempt at catching the dolphin.  Me = :(

And then....(some really awful attempts at catching the dolphins swimming next to the ferry) 

Like I said, awful.

Back to St. Kitts.

But what proper birthday celebration would be complete without dinner with some good friends?

Left to Right: Payal, Heather, and Leticia (me behind the camera).  Dinner at Ciaos.

And now, here I am, less than a week away from being able to go back to the states for good.  I am more excited than not.  I have had a wonderful time here, and there are so many things that I am going to miss, and down the line I am going to wish that I didn't take certain things for granted, but for now, I want to go home.  Correction:  I NEED to go home.  "Home" in this sense means America.  That is my home, and I'm ready to live there again.  6 days can't go by fast enough.  It's not that I don't know how lucky I have been, but like I have said, it's just that time!

Next post: Mama Delizia's vacation in St. Kitts!

Peace and blessings to all!

Clinical, and My Recent Visitor!

I love being on call for maternity!  Without breaking any HIPPA laws here, I'll just say it was a really smooth and easy delivery, with a really happy mommy and daddy, with a really beautiful and healthy baby girl.  I was able to hold her a couple times to help out the nurse during the newborn assessment, and she was truly gorgeous and so calm and sleepy :)  This was one of the best ones that we saw.  The first 2 deliveries we saw were painful and difficult, and the C-section that we saw was just plain scary.  But nonetheless, I came into nursing school being in love with cardiology (and I still am), and now I am falling in love with obstetrics.  I especially love neonatal and postpartum care.  Seeing new mommies with their babies is extremely heartwarming -- as corny as that sounds.  I think that it is a really great time to be a part of someones life, and care for them.  I just had a permanent goofy smile on my face the whole time.  But, only time will tell where I'll end up.

So, one of my most favorite people in the world just came to visit me and he just left last week.  We had a full 10 days of awesomeness.   I'll share some of my favorite pictures from our adventure.

This is when we went to Spice Mill at Cockelshell Bay in the peninsula.  I had to have him drive the car back cause I am no good at maneuvering around all the potholes, ha ha.  It was a fun day.  We had a pretty amazing storm pass over us while we were there; we had to take shelter under a little hut. 

 He took advantage of the strong wind that was blowing...

The storm passing

I used a setting on my camera called, "Nostalgia"  Still at Spice Mill

Hoisting the sails on the catamaran trip that we went on.   A full day trip, from 9:30am - 4:00pm.  It goes from St. Kitts, to Nevis, stops on the way for snorkeling, and lunch waiting for us when we get to Nevis.

On the catamaran

At Sunshines, a famous bar and restaurant in Nevis.  They are especially known for their "Killerbees", a special drink that they make there.  That look of joy on his face is thanks to the Killerbee :)

The next 3 pictures are from a little local-ish rustic restaurant called Spratnet.  Best lobster on the island (if you are asking me).

 Lobster and ribs!

 Happy with full bellies

We were early...

The next 4 photos are from The Beach House; best restaurant on the island.  We had to go twice during his trip cause it was so good.

Next to our table, with Nevis in the background.

The view from our table.

The view + my cocktail of choice.

Us <3

And here is just an awesome view of the peninsula that I took when we were on our way out to Cockelshell Bay.

So there it is, wrapped up in a few pictures.  We went to many other places that I didn't get on camera (either because I was slacking in the battery-charging department, or we were swimming or something and I didnt take it out).  But I don't think that either of us will forget it.

Well, that's all for now.  Peace and blessings to all!