Seattle Trip!

Its been a while!! School has taken over my life!

I am finally going into 6th semester, which means (as long as all goes well...) I have only 7 more months to go!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!! People ask me how I could possibly ever want to leave a Caribbean island... trust me.. its going to be glorious. Supermarkets with non-spoiled milk, fresh vegetables, TRAINED mechanics, cars that run, good plumbing, reliable electricity... I could go on, but you get the idea.

I am currently working on getting a few more photos from the island up, so more to come soon. If you don't see anything new in the next few weeks, drop me an e-mail and remind me! My scattered brain tends to forget...

In April, I finally got to go back to Seattle to visit my brother and a whole bunch of friends. It was my first time back in 5 years, and while much had changed, I was surprised by how much had stayed the same. After so long away, it was wonderful to see friends, friends children, and of course family! It was good to be home :)

I finally got to see Ian's apartment and place of work, one of the most prized bakeries in Seattle, Bakery Nouveau. If you EVER have the chance to check this place out, GO!! You won't be disappointed... (I strongly recommend the twice baked almond croissant...)

Ian, hard at work :)
Good God... look at those pastries....
Ian and I outside his apartment. SOOOOO good to spend time with my brother :)

Ian and Aleah took me to a little tucked away beach on Puget Sound, overlooking the Olympic Mountains. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so the mountains were clear and beautiful.

Pikes Place Market... after two years on an island with no fresh produce, Pikes Place has become my heaven.

Ian and I got to have dinner one night with Tante Janet. It was so nice to catch up and see each other!

Ian and his girlfriend, Aleah.

West Seattle Farmers Market

Turtles in Green Lake

Ian and Aleah at the beach on a BEAUTIFUL Seattle day!

Ian

Kate and I at Green Lake. I stayed with Kate at her fabulous condo in Fremont. It was wonderful catching up and her and spending time together. Flashbacks to our days at Middlebury...

The REI crew!! I got to see Trine and Sara for lunch, good times with good friends :)

Holiday break and the start of 5th semester

After a wonderful holiday break, I grudgingly return to the vet school grind.

Despite being on break, the holidays were ridiculously busy! WIDECAST (the wider Caribbean sea turtle network) held its annual meeting at Ross, so I was busy running around helping run the programs and make sure everyone was happy. 30 countries were represented, and it was an incredible opportunity to meet all of the people I have heard about and spoken to over e-mail! It was three days of sea turtles, festivities, and good learning :)

(baby green sea turtle that hatched out on a beach near my house)

These are the Moko Jumbies. Traditionally they perform at Carnival, but they came to the WIDECAST meeting and performed for us.

Crazy Kittitians on stilts!

These guys really are insane.

I was also lucky enough to have my mom and brother visit me down here in St. Kitts! We spent a week together enjoying the sun, exploring the island, and catching up. I don't get to see either of them enough, so it was great just spending time together.

(Ian trying his hand at snorkeling.
Despite being in the Caribbean, the water is colder than it looks! I think its around 70 these winter days...)

My mom and I, enjoying some sun :)

Yes... that is a pig... a very large pig named Wilbur

Me and my boys :) Ian (FINALLY with some tan) and Jay, my island family.

Cruising the island in style with my little Kittitian classic.

It may not have power steering, it may not have power breaks...

it may not even have side mirrors or a functional drivers side window.

But it RUNS, and I love it :)

After a week in the sun with the family, we all headed north back to New York to spend the rest of the holidays in the frigid cold. Despite the ungodly chilly temperatures, it was wonderful to see friends and spend more time with my mom and brother. I made a super quick trip up to Boston to visit friends from my teaching days and play with Rachel's new ADORABLE little retriever puppy, and then headed back to NYC to participate in a low key New Years reunion with my nearest and dearest from Middlebury, and finally attend a fabulous bachelorette party for my favorite bride-to-be, Jenelle. Coming home is always a reminder of all of the wonderful people in my life, and how far away from them I am at school. I'm really looking forward to getting back State-side!

Our bride-to-be dancing away the night at her Bachelorette Party!

Sushi dinner before a night of salsa dancing!

I am currently starting my 5th semester (3rd year) in vet school, which means I am FINALLY getting to work with live animals! We had our first hands on palpation lab last week, and they threw us in head (or arm) first! This lab involved palpation of the reproductive system of a cow, which basically means your arm is placed somewhere unpleasant, and you feel around the cow from the inside. It was actually pretty cool, as a lot of the cows were pregnant and you could feel the calves, the cow's left kidney, the rumen, several arteries, and the entire pelvic girdle.

We also have classes right now in Diagnostic Imaging (radiographs, ultrasound, etc), Anesthesia, Toxicology, and Small Animal Medicine. Side labs include suturing and surgical skills, as well as catheter placement and other basics. I'm finally starting to feel kinda doctor-y!

Otherwise, not much else is going on! The dogs are enjoying my schedule much more this semester, as my classes are mostly done by noon, and they are getting out for lots of walks and attention compared to last semester. Tavi continues to be a total freakshow, but is at least entertaining. Leatherback nesting season picks up in two months, which means night walks and monitoring will begin again soon! I will do my best to keep up here...

Here are some more pictures from the past few months!

One of the green vervet monkeys at Shipwrecks. These guys eat better than most people!

Angry mongoose... Also at Shipwreck.

The view of St. Maarten from St. Kitts. It seems so close!

My handsome boy, doing his best to look adorable so I will take him to the beach.
Syd LOVES her beach! She even finds turtle tracks for me (look just off to her left...)

The main power source for the island blew up this past semester (yes, it REALLY blew up), so while they worked diligently to fix it, we had rolling blackouts throughout the semester. We all had to master the art of studying by candlelight. While annoying at times (blackouts were random and unpredictable, and could last for days), it was also kind of relaxing. And now, if I'm ever in surgery and the power goes out, it will be no big deal. "No power? No problem! Pass me the headlamp..."

My lovely Tavi... I swear she isn't ALL evil... maybe only half...

Turtles, Tests, and Hurricanes: HALF WAY DONE!!

All is well in sunny St. Kitts! Hurricane Omar passed with some damage, and several hours of winds, rain, and excitement. Officially, it was a Category 3 storm, by in all honesty the windstorms of western Washington far surpassed this wee hurricane. While it wasn't nearly as big and exciting as I had hoped, beaches have changed shape entirely and many of the Caribbean side businesses were hit hard by the brunt of the winds. Nonetheless, businesses and beach bars were open hours after the rains stopped, despite upturned tables, ponds in parking areas, and waist-deep sand inside the buildings. NOTHING keeps the Kittitian bars down!


Below are pictures from the past several months. I'm halfway through fourth semester, so officially halfway through my time in St. Kitts!! Time flies!

Wee little Green sea turtle hatchling!! They make all of the work and lack-of-sleep worth it :)

These three photos are from this years Agriculture Days. Agriculture Days is an annual celebration of St. Kitts' Independence. This year was the 25th Anniversary of St. Kitts' independence, and the SKSTMN was given a booth on one of the main stages. For 3 days, we taught children, spoke to parents, and gave presentations on sea turtle conservation. We developed quite the following of children :)
Agriculture Days: This is Inches. Inches is in the Junior Military and was our booth's "enforcer." He made sure everyone behaved themselves, and kept us entertained in the process!
Agriculture Days: Sea turtles are clearly the COOLEST things EVER. Ask these kiddos!
One of our tagged hawksbills. This one taunted us during in-water. Since he was already tagged, we didn't need to catch him, and he knew it. He decided to pose for a photo.

In-water tagging! This hawksbill does not look pleased with me...

One of the perks of working on the Sea Turtle project is getting to visit some of the most remote, beautiful beaches on St. Kitts! This was sunset on one such beach, where a total of 7 turtles had nested recently. He's so handsome :)
Break time! Good food, good friends :)
Ok, seriously. These guys look RIDICULOUS when shaved!
Cody's mohawk. He did not approve.

Photos from Omar and of the new car- soon to come!

Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Hi All!

Well, one more semester over and passed! I am currently on my two week break inbetween semesters, and am spending it as a veterinary extern at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, located on Jekyll Island, GA. Since I am settling in for the evening and waiting out the effects of hurricane Faye, I thought I would write a little update...

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC)is one of very few programs in the US that is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles. GSTC takes turtles that have stranded or have been found injured along the entirety of the East coast, and does everything they can to heal, rehabilitate, and release the individuals in their care. They also work with a variety of tortoises and terrapins.

My externship is focused on learning as much as I can in a short amount of time about the husbandry and medical care of the critters at the Center. Its an incredible place with tons of amazing animals, each with their unique personalities and stories. Below are a few photos of some of the critters I've had the priviledge to work with.

Charlotte, a green sea turtle at the center who wanted to eat the camera...

Wee little terrapin hatchling. Don't let this photo fool you... he's only about the size of a quarter!

Griffin, a loggerhead sea turtle at the Center.

Two dolphins out in the marshes of the Georgia Coast. I got to go out with a group of dolphin researchers for a day to watch them do skin biopsies and photo cataloging of the individual dolphins of the Golden Isles. We saw between 75 and 100 individuals during the 12 hours we were out on the water. The Georgia coast is BEAUTIFUL!!

Time flies!

I'm not sure how to even begin talking about the last few crazy months, so I'm just going to plug in a bunch of photos and explain! School is going well, I have finals next week for the completion of my third semester, and then I am off to an internship at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for two weeks.

In my previous posts I mention that I have become a Research Assistant for the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network. Nesting season is over for the leatherbacks (ended in July), which means I'm getting a bit more sleep! Now, however, the hatchlings are starting to emerge! The picture here was taken by Fran Pope (a volunteer with the program) and is of a leatherback hatchling. These tiny little kiddos get to be over 1000lbs!

We recently also put on Sea Turtle Camp for the children on the island. This is a picture taken by Sara Ramirez of Dr. Stewart going over turtle anatomy with a juvenile hawksbill that another volunteer and I caught just a few minutes earlier. This turtle was tagged, measured, and released after the kids got a chance to see their first "real turtle! "

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting on a few people for more photos from the leatherback season! So, for now, I'm just going to include some new pretty pictures of the island. Overall, everything down here is going well. I'm definitely missing home a lot, and am really looking forward to this break in Georgia (with two nights in Brooklyn with my mom!!) and then December, when I'll be back for almost 2 full weeks! Its hard to believe I've been living here for a year already! 1 1/2 more years to go...

Sydney LOVES her beach!

Green Vervet monkey taking a snack break by the side of the road.

This lovely little snowy egret was hit by a car. It came to stay with me for a little bit, and then was released.

This cow must have done something very good in past life...

Baby season on the Peninsula continues!!