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!

A New Chapter, and the US of A!

I'll guess I will start with my blog name, "Transit umbra, lux permanet.".  It means, "Shadow passes, light remains." in Latin, and I have it tattooed on my upper right back.  I guess for me it's a way of living.  I am an optimistic, happy person, but like anyone there are things that come around in my life that get me down.  There are times when I have found myself to be unsure of my life or myself, or stuck in a rut.  This way of thinking helps.  To me, it means that no matter what happens to you in life there is always a brighter day, and good will come to you.  When the shadows have passed, light will remain.

So, why am I starting a blog?  I'm really not sure.  Maybe it's partly because I have been looking into the future a lot lately.  I'm starting to picture my life after school (because there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel).  I have a facebook, but eventually I am going to want to get rid of it.  Literally, the only reason I still have it is to keep in touch with family and friends.  But when I have my own home, and a family of my own, I think that I may chose to go back to the good old days of communication, you know.  And use this weird thing called a telephone to catch up with my loved ones.  This blog will help those that care about me, and likewise me about them, keep up with the happenings once my life starts finally moving forward.  No more facebook creepers.  Is putting it all out on a blog any better...heck, I don't know.  I haven't thought about that too much.  I know this is something that I have always wanted to do.  Maybe this seems like a better thing for a family, or more mature than facebook, or maybe I'm just tired of facebook all together!

So for the last year and 3 months, I have been living on a Caribbean island.  I know, sounds like paradise, right?  Well, sometimes it is.  And I could never ever get sick of hearing the living, rolling ocean outside my window.  But as sadly and perhaps spoiled as this sounds, the novelty wears off and you begin wishing you were home again.  I miss my family, my friends, and my wonderful boyfriend.  I miss the conveniences of the U.S.!  I miss the snow, and no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  I miss the snow!  Independence day here just wasn't the same.  Last Thanksgiving was the first Thanksgiving where I did not get to spend it with my family.  Crime has gone up on my little island, the people are unhappy and my school is starting to get on my nerves.  I know that a year from now part of me may wish I could come back here and do it all again.  But for now; a year and 3 months in, stuck on a little island, sweating my butt off everyday, with limited communication, paying double the price for groceries, largely in debt...I want to go home.

As for nursing on this island -- one of the best experiences I could ever ask for, and I know that the time I spent here nursing will absolutely be an asset for me in the future.  The thought that comes to mind when you see this hospital, and the way that some people live here is: Third World.  Lets pretend that there were a scale from 1-10 to determine how "Third World" a country actually is, 1 being the least severely "Third World", and 10 being the most severe.  My island would be placed between 3-5 probably.  Basically what I am saying is that it's not as bad as some places.  But it is a third world country.  With that being said, the skills I am picking up and experiences I have had, have been phenomenal.  I have had to think critically and creatively with every single patient I have ever had.  The hospital will run out of supplies daily whether it's sheets, tape, IV lines, or catheter bags and we have to work around it.  We have to work around the flies, the roaches, the fire ants, the broken beds, and the lack of AC.  And not only that, but I know that I have helped so many people, and even touched lives in some cases.  I would never give up the experiences that I have had here.

But it is all coming to an end soon.  This is my last semester (hip hip, HOORAY!), and I have my one-way ticket back to the states in 23 days (not like I am counting or anything).  4 long semesters, a year and 3 months, 100's of patients seen, a number of incredible friendships made that I know will last forever...numerous fire ant bites, cockroaches killed, and even one poisonous centipede killed in my apartment as well (see picture below), and it all ends soon in just over 3 weeks.  I'll admit, it's bittersweet.  But I am exploding with excitement to feel like an American citizen again!!

The Culprit:

Oh, and my sweet sweet cat Reggae is reminding me (by sitting on my keyboard) that I adopted him here too.  One of the lucky of thousands of stray cats here.  He's USA-bound as well :) Anyone who knows me, knows that it is very unlikely that I come home from living in a place with thousands of stray animals, not having adopted one myself.

Until next time, peace and blessings to all!