Mush

Two meanings seem to apply at this particular moment. A description of my brain as well as the encouragement to go faster, as is a dog team. Final exams make sense form an academic point of view but end up having a far greater consequence then simply assessing a student's learned knowledge. They ensure that you never forget you are in grad school and your last memory of the semester is dull and humbling. Being on a tropical island certainly helps the situation but in some ways it makes the contrast more apparent. I have seen 84 and sunny for eight months and will be going home to winter. I missed spring, summer, and fall. I know that's just the way the ball bounces but my perception of a home to go back to is slowly fading. I've been living in so many different places since high school that I have less and less to go back to. It is no longer a perfect little picture of close memories and friends. The friends have moved to every corner of the globe and the memories are fading.

Food Coma

Thanksgiving is not an actual holiday here on St. Kitts. It hardly feels like a holiday at all because we haven't skipped a beat in school. Classes pushed on as we are all preparing for finals ahead. Next week the beatings commence. Instead of a single day of thanks, we have turned this holiday into a week of feasts. Tuesday was a dinner hosted by Banfield as corporate bribery scheme that was well worth the drive across town. Wednesday I made a point to not restrain my Nutella consumption. And today was an incredible pot luck that could not be beat. I believe my glandular stomach has actually remained fully distended for a total of 72 hours. This is truly a feat only surpassed by my award winning accomplishments on the Appalachian Trail. In fact, that was a favorite part of mine. Having the ability to consume and entire pizza without seriously challenging my cardiac sphincter is really something to be proud of in some social circles.

Oscar the foster pup has been adopted, YAY!! A Ross Grad saw him on the internet and a current student will be flying him to the states for Xmas. He has really become a great kid. I'm sure he will miss his partner in crime (Charlie) but you can't beat a forever home from Santa!

time flies when you're having fun

Life goes on despite no blog updates. Rest assured I have news of my adventures.


Charlie is growing and slowly getting stronger. He weighed in @ 3.03 kg 6 weeks ago. Now he is 5.7kg and still very scrawny. I had very little idea of how old he was but now his adult K9s are coming in so my little dude is 5 months. Looks like he is going to stay pocket sized! I even got a pet for my pet. PAWS is the student rescue group on campus/St. Kitts and I soon became a foster home. Oscar is a Ridgeback mix. At 11 weeks he is almost twice the weight of Charlie and will probably end up being 50 or 60 pounds. They have a grand time chasing and wrestling with each other as puppies do. These pups are up for any adventure and did the volcano expedition this past weekend. The day was nothing less than perfect as there is nothing greater than being in the woods with your pooch!

Every new place has its own little hitch-hikers. My first was a rather benign little fungus called Tinea versicolor. It is a mild skin fungus with tropical preferences that does nothing more than make tanned skin look something like a Dalmatian with reversed light/dark.

My second hitch-hiker was a virus that overstayed its welcome quite a bit. Dengue Fever is transmitted by a particularly sly mosquito that seems to be living in my back yard. Im not normally a fan of mosquitoes thanks to a trip on the Green River but I also tend to live harmoniously with critters as long as they don't reach swarm-like proportions. Someone asked me when and where I got bit and I laughed. How the heck should I know exactly which one was the culprit. Should I ask it before it bites? Anyway, a trip to the Emergency Room in a 3rd world country was not exactly my idea of a fun cultural experience. After my release the fever and pain continued for over a week. In total I missed almost 2 weeks of classes. Ugg. Ross encouraged me to go home and start the semester over in January. In typical Laura fashion I decided I have to at least try and finish out the semester. It is still not clear if I will be able to pull this off. As always, time will tell =-)

Hurricane Omar was a fun change. Every day with 85 and sunny gets a little old. I never quite realized how wonderful changing weather actually is. Perfect sun is great on vacation but in practice it is incredibly dull and boring. So to have a storm in our midst was exciting. Everyone began their day as normal knowing there was a little mischief in the area and by lunch time they announced the hurricane status. By sun down every house was boarded up, gas turned off, and ready for the power and phones to be turned off. Not may hurricanes pass by this little island but it certainly seemed like everyone knew what to do. No frantic rushing to the grocery store, hardware store, or gas station. It was amusing to see it handled better than any hurricane landfall in the US. It never actually hit us but the next morning there were traffic jams all over the island because every car that could be driven was being used to check out the damage. Very funny.

The Gay-Lympic Games

http://saskiavet.blogspot.com/2008/10/gaylick-lympic-games-hasheese-for.html

do enjoy. I'd like to point out that the video at the end of Sas' entry is me kicking butt in the Noodle (aka Caber) Toss. The palm tree blocks your view of my exceptional form and balance but you can simply imagine my unparalleled grace. I have the blue noodle and am dressed in the rainbow kilt and sash.

Charlie

This is Charlie. A four legged heap of scabs, fleas, worms, and dirt. We spotted him on the side of the road far from anywhere. (Normally I use any excuse not to pick up strays because otherwise I'd have a hundred dogs by now.) He was so emaciated, dehydrated, and anemic that he could only crawl in fear. He collapsed on the floor of my jeep and hardly looked at us the whole way home. Considering how loud and bumpy the ride was we actually checked to see if he was still breathing. He makes for a great palpation subject for anatomy, every bony prominence is readily visible from afar and any doubt of the elusive "floating rib" is gone.

We are still doing the "looking for an owner" routine and are not exactly hopeful. By the rules we have to give the owner 2 weeks to find the dog. But, in a case of extreme neglect, could anyone actually just give the dog back? Here there are no cruelty laws and the cultural attitude toward dogs is a far cry from what we are used to in the U.S. Thankfully, with Ross' presence this is slowly changing. Free spay/neuter surgery is preventing many unwanted litters and it is noticeably decreasing the number of dogs hit on the road.

Charlie is turning out to be an OK kid. I'm hoping the student rescue group will be able to find him a foster home. With his energy slowly returning more puppy antics are cropping up each day. I make a lousy playmate for a 3 kg pup so I hope we can find someone his own size soon =-)

Daily good karma

your good deed for the day is to click on this link and help my favoritest animal shelter win $10,000. I spent 7 months of my life walking in the woods to raise that much moola and all you've got to do is click, whoa!

http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/70787/?refer=15053.03.1222449388.6282

good karma!
~pooch

Studying: (stud-ee-ing) n. student and dying put together

No rest for the weary here. My nose has been to the grindstone for so long I think it has fully calloused over and now looks a bit like the big toe of a gorilla. I am glad to report that I have successfully navigated the learning requirements of my first semester here on Paradise Island. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for one of my closer friends. I drove her to the airport last Wednesday and it was more of a reality check than I would have asked for. Now at the end of week 3 things are settling down into the normal swing and it is good to see. Second semester is well known as the most difficult semester of the entire Ross University program. It looks like I have my work cut out for me. My surf board has not been in the water since break back in august.

Speaking of august... My dad was lucky enough to have a small break to visit during my time off between semesters!!! From Alaska to the Carribean was quite a change for him. I stayed on island the entire break and took care of some dogs for others going state side. The house I (we) got to stay in was absolutely wonderful. It was way up in the mountains at 900 feet at the very end of a dirt road that twisted through farms and cane fields. The cool mountain air was a pleasant change from the hottest part of the year down below. Our view of the sunrise (and moonrise) over the Atlantic was peaceful from our quite veranda. The dogs had a grand time of it racing through the bush and barking at monkeys. I also had a chance to play tourist for a few days as we explored the rain forest trails, reefs, fortress, plantations, and museums. We completed the most difficult trail on the island up the the summit of Mt. Liamuiga @ 3,800ft. The dogs came too and they positively rocked. A GSH named Hokie and island pup named Piper might be some of the first canines to scale the ropes to the top. (fyi, I believe Piper is still looking for a forever home ;-) Another excellent hike is the Crater Trail that we were lucky enough to get a fantastic view of the crater rim and actually go down into the caldera of the (dormant) volcano. Woohoo!

This weekend marks St. Kitts & Nevis' 25 years of independence. This is the smallest country in the western hemisphere. Really when it gets down to the serious stuff, the relationship with the mother country is much like Canada's relationship with England. Technically there is still a bit of influence and support but they are on their own for the fun bits... the British Royal Navy still gets to visit and brew up at the bars!

I think a little natural history is in order for this entry. St. Kitts used to have agoutis and iguanas much like most other islands in the West Indies. St. John for example is practically over run with iguanas. Here, however, both have been hunted to their demise for food. The mongoose had been introduced to put a damper on the snake population. They did their job a bit too well as there is not a single snake on the entire island. That may sound rather pleasant to the average hiking visitor but now there are lots of mongoose and no snakes so they prey upon many other things such as amphibians, insects, and birds. The West African Green Vervet Monkey was introduced and also tends to do a number on the avian populations. The end result is a rain forest that is quiet, too quiet. The hummingbirds, cattle egrets, and frigate birds have managed to do OK but that is just about it. When you stop on the trail and sit to listen to the sounds of the forest there is generally a rustling above of the monkeys but no squawking birds or buzzing insects. It is a bit bizarre for a rain forest that is supposedly one of the few that are expanding on earth. I suppose it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with biodiversity. The colorful birds I find in my West Indies Birds book are sadly no-where to be found.

Oddly, the wild populations of Green Vervet Monkeys in West Africa are doing poorly if not near extinct (according to local sources). So, the population here is actually being studied and protected to prevent the species from going extinct. They exist on a small number of other islands but cannot be eradicated/managed to protect indigenous species because of dwindling populations elsewhere.

The tropical mischief going on down here is actually quite nice. 84 and sunny every day was getting a little boring. A rainy day is quite refreshing and a windy day with thunderstorms is just plain fun to watch from inside with a cup of coffee and popcorn.

On a different note, I am now part of a band =-) Not that studying doesn't take up enough of our time but it has been an amazing opportunity to bring music back into my life. So far we just play at open mic night at Ziggy's every Wednesday but tonight we actually have a our first gig @ a BBQ held by Windsor Med School. They could just be desperate... but we are excited to have a change of scenery. There is still some debate as to what our name might be. Our first thought is the "Naked Quartet" but upon further contemplation I am leaning toward "Plan B".

According to John.....
there are now two american bands on island.
1. all girls ( bi - les - horny - straight )
2. all guys ( hilliebillie beer belly )
interesting to see which one will top the "ross chart" by end of the semester.
let battle commence!

Between the four of us we have 2 singers, 2 guitars (electric and acoustic), drums, and a violin. When the guys play with us we have more guitars, a base, and even an electric mandolin! Soon we will also have a bowdron (Irish drum), bongos, our own base guitar, I'm pushing for a harmonica, and maybe one day even a tambourine! we are working on posting some of our musical stylings.

As always, more pictures are posted @ www.fuzzpault.com for your viewing and daydreaming pleasure.

Happy Trails
~Pooch

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem, Mon!

That's what the sign says at the Shiggidy Shack, I noticed last night. The stars were out, and I realized that the stars look familiar from my time sailing on the equator. I'll have to start studying my star books again. Everything looks different from home down here.

Food and music are two very important features of any time spent out and about here on St. Kitts. I imagine this is the case most anywhere but it is refreshing to be so easily amused and occupied without the comforts of our American entertainment. Frigate Bay has a beach with a string of 8 or 10 beach bars all snuggled right up next to each other. Of course each one has its own DJ and tries to out blast their neighbor. At Shiggidy Shack, they are at the end of the commotion and often has either Karaoke (in the most classic and wonderful sense) or a One-Man-Band who plays decoupage songs made up of unrecognizable bits and pieces played off his iPod.

On this particular night at Shiggity, we were enjoying our Guiness-enduced bliss when the singer introduced Fire Man: a fire-eating, fire-bathing, fire-breathing man who performs every Thursday for about 10 minutes. He was really good. What was really great about it, though, was the one-man band dude - he played an accompanying Fire song to the tune of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved," with fantastic lyrics like, "He loves to eat fire, he bathes in the fire, he even drinks fire! How does he do it? He is the Fire Man!" The performance was great, but I was partial to the accompaniment.

There is one movie theatre on the island. It is in the middle of town, costs 5ec ($2) and the rats really do scurry over your toes when the lights go down. They change the film every week basically alternating between Jackie Chan and Kung Fu. They sometimes advertise that they will have a new film recently released but opening night comes and goes without the film arriving on the cargo ship. So they just show yet another Jackie Chan classic to all the excited kiddies who arrive hoping for The Incredible Hulk. Interestingly, some guy who doesn’t live here but has a bit of money decided to build a 7 screen theatre complex right outside of town. Can you believe it? People aren’t willing to pay 5ec to eat popcorn in a dark room with their sweetheart so I doubt they will be able to fill 7 screens. Construction is about half done but the latest story goes that there will be 6 different bars and one screen showing Kung Fu.

And now for a bit of Hydrogeology! Here in the Caribbean, an island’s adequate supply of drinking water is entirely dependant on having a pointy bit with enough elevation. Here, 3,800 feet gathers more than enough water for the island’s 35,000 people. A quite elaborate (and old) network of pipes, reservoirs, and holding tanks has been keeping up with development, so far. Gravity does a nice job of distribution since everyone lives on the skirt of the mountain near the shore. The bottled water phenomenon has hit here too. Thankfully, all of the water is bottled right here on the island via reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, ultra violet treatment, and ozonization. (not really sure why all 4 methods are necessary) I haven’t actually visited the treatment plant yet but I don’t know if the source is fresh or salt. And, all the hot water in houses comes from solar heaters on the roof if they can afford them, otherwise no hot water. Pretty cool, eh?

So far I have learned much more than the local dialect of English (that should be considered a separate language) and the names of 15 different mangoes. I’ve also learned how to make bush tea, play the guitar, and to use a flyswatter with jungle cat-like reflexes.

Time to wrap this up. Tests are a chronic phenomenon that require constant attention. Send smart vibes my way!

Feel free to clog up my email…I love to hear news of your corner of the world!

Happy Trails!

~laura

A month goes by

Good Day to ALL!!!! I hope this finds you where you want to be.

It has been a month since my arrival here on St. Kitts. The sun always shines here. From that first week of fun in the sun we have now totally made the transition to feeling like I am, in fact, at grad school. We eat, sleep, and breathe academics. Gone are the days of cramming for a test the night before. This is material that we will be using and integrating for the rest of our lives. All of us are desperately trying to start off on the right foot. We've all crammed for tests before but have to now change our game plan.

My class is 101 students. By 7^th semester we will be down to 70, tops. Ross goes out on a limb and gives a chance to the non-traditional students who would not normally get a chance to try their hand at vet school. It's nice to see people from all backgrounds have a common goal and support each other as best they can.

Weekend activities have gone from hikes, swimming, and dinner at the beach to studying and ordering pizza. We've taken to snorkeling out in front of campus after class because it takes too much time to head all the way over to Shipwreck for the good snorkeling. Grocery shopping is not longer a priority. Many of us groan at the thought of going out for the evening because all we can think about is all the work we'll have to catch up on. My hope is this will change soon once we all learn to manage our time and figure out how to learn again. Many have been out of academia for years. My neighbor is 34 and graduated undergrad 10 years ago. He only took a couple summer courses before coming here.

Something that I have found and really enjoyed is called HASHING. It is essentially a "running club with a drinking problem". The Hash House Harriers is a global (and historic) phenomenon. Google it, you wont be disappointed! Essentially, a "trail is set" and marked off. Then the group follows this "trail" and must figure out which direction it goes. This cross country run/hike goes on for over an hour and can be quite strenuous. These are not folks who like to sit around. A different location every time ensures new and interesting scenery. Here it gives a great opportunity to explore the island. Needless to say, at the end is food, beer, songs, antics, and a jolly good time in fabulous company. Hashing is found all over the world and in every state in the US. These boys are showing off their pretty side at the Red Dress Run...ON ON!!!

As far as living in a different culture, the adventure continues. Gradually, many of us are buying cars. Drive on the left. Wheel is on the right. Most are manual transmission. This makes for fun times when you're not quite sure of where you are going, how to make the car go, or what the traffic circles are all about. Stop signs come out of nowhere and many intersections don't even have them. Turn signals are never used and don't really work anyhow. You're never certain if you are getting honked at the say HI or Get out of the way. The streets in town are 1 ½ cars wide and people park anywhere they want. Sometimes we look around in amazement when we arrive at our intended destination. A miracle!! So far it has been a team effort, lol. It's been fun learning to drive all over again =-)

There is certainly more to tell but if I leave nothing to the imagination there would be no reason to visit!!! More pictures have been posted at fuzzpault.com. Enjoy!

Happy Trails

~Laura

First Days in Paradise

Our plane from San Juan had holes in the floor. I could see the water below us as the prop engines droned. Curiously, 3 other Ross students were in my row so we busied ourselves with the usual conversation. The landing approach gives a fantastic view of Ross, the volcano, and Basseterre (the capitol) on the left side of the plane, I was on the right. The airport is small. A huge sugar cane field is at the end of the very short runway. Ross’ name is everywhere on the advertisement boards, right next to Carib (the local cane brew), Kay Jewelers, and of course Coca-Cola. The drive to campus includes a central tour of the capitol, on the wrong side of the road, with lots of honking and swerving, potholes, narrow streets, people and cows in the road, dogs on the side, and waves of all kinds from the locals. The Ross campus is 5 minutes outside of the city on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean Ocean. From my window I can see Basseterre, the ocean, a huge sugar cane field, and the sister island of Nevis. Just out of view is the pasture of donkeys that wake me up in the morning. Not bad.

Orientation is a time for us to do the tourist thing, to explore the island and the amazing culture. It is a time for us to learn where all the good food is, where the bad food is, where the good swimming and snorkeling spots are, how to survive the streets, and feel like this is home before we dive into the books. In a sense, we are cramming a bit more than a simple vacation into 7 days. It is tiring and incredible.

The island’s history is a little rocky. You can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Kitts_and_Nevisevis. St. Kitts has a long history steeped in the sugar cane culture of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, in 2005 all government subsidized sugar production ceased. There new economy will be rooted in tourism. They just built the second largest cruise ship dock in the West Indies. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this yet but economy has to be driven by something and sugar cane just wasn’t working.

The food is nearly everything I could have hoped. The local fruits and veggies are quite wonderful and incredibly tasty. Pineapples melt in your mouth. The carrots have a spice to them. The mangos will be ripe in a week or so. Rice and beans are a staple in the diet. All the bread you can find is baked fresh by 2 bakeries in town. Guava jellies and bananas are on every corner stand. Even much of the meat is local. As wonderful as this all is, there is not enough to go around. The island is not self sufficient with the fresh food and it is very costly to ship it here. The first grocery store we explored had grapefruits from Florida and pineapples from Brazil. All the coffee is Folgers unless you find a tourist gift shop. Expiration dates are considered a suggestion because they would rather sell the food than throw it away. I almost bought cheese that expired over a week before (looked fine to me), dairy is not popular because it goes bad so quickly. As a result, the cost of food is easily twice that of the states. A scrawny cheese burger is $9 at the cheapest bar, fries are extra. A local lobster will run you $50 to $100 at a restaurant and all you eat if the tail. Any imported beer starts at $5 a bottle. You can find Guinness but expect to have $9 less to your name. Thankfully, the local brews are $2 but no quality control makes it interesting.

The locals don’t eat out for obvious reasons and it is mostly the rich visitors and upper class that can afford to shop at the store. Saturday mornings there is a market that cannot be beat. Most students never see it with their own eyes because all the excitement happens at 6 in the morning. All the farmers come with their goodies and at 6 sharp the gates open. Sweet fruits of every shape and color, many of which I haven’t a clue what they are and could never hope to pronounce their name. Meats killed that morning . Some are still whole while others are sectioned to more reasonable sizes. Fish caught the day before. Nuts from the rainforest. Bulk rice, beans, and spices. Tomatoes are in season all year round. And of course, everything that you can fit into a fryer is offered as well. (I didn’t see fried cheesecake but I half expected to find it.) Within an hour the entire market is scraps and leftovers. The flies start coming and the sun is getting high. By 8 there is nothing left but garbage set on the curb to be picked up. Incredible.

To round out our orientation we all hopped on a catamaran bound for Nevis. With icy drinks in our hand and the wind in our hair, thoughts of studying and classes on Monday melted away. A cloudy day gave our scorched skin relief from the sun while we snorkeled in a reef that had colors only of the imagination. Teeming with fishes of so many shapes and sizes; short and fat, long and skinny, spotted, stripped, and spiny. We even got caught in the middle of a school of big bright blue fish that totally surrounded us. Sailing felt great to do again.

This place is magical and I wake up every morning to disbelief that I am living here for almost 2 ½ years. Talk about the best vacation ever.

Happy Trails to ALL!

~Laura

Pictures can be found at: http://fuzzpault.com/ Click on Photos and Laura’s Album

Letters (coming through the Post Office)

Laura Talaga

Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine

P.O. Box 334

Basseterre, St. Kitts

West Indies

Packages send through USPS (sometimes listed as St. Christopher), FedEx, DHL, or UPS. Flat Rates Box will be cheapest. Do not put in anything that looks new or expensive! I have to pay 65% tax on whatever is in the box that looks like I can sell. I will soon have an address of a student’s spouse that lives in Allentown and is coming down every 1-2 months.

Laura Talaga

Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine

Island Main Road

West Farm, St. Kitts

West Indies

Phone

869.668.3486 – this is my island cell phone. This IS an international call but it is possible the phone will be on my person.