^ i wasnt able to embed the news clip video, so click on the link above! i am toward the end of the clip, but the beginning shows how badly the island flooded from the rain.
we drove by the shelter in the morning before the shelter was able to send emails out or facebook notifications, the water was almost up to my knees. we took some animals out, we walked them, moved them to higher ground, cleaned some pens, and then had to head back to school. that is when the news crew was there and asked me to say a few words! by the time we came back to the shelter  around 5pm the same day to see if they needed more animals to be taken from the rain (my classmate was going to foster for this event bc she lives off campus), almost all of the animals had already been taken out which was awesome. the flooding lasted about 2 days, and it rained on and off during the week. the good news was the animals that were being fostered for the flood got to stay in their foster homes for much longer than expected, but most of them were brought back to the shelter by the end of the month. this is the same shelter i do the beach training with, and i am going to try and regularly go by on saturday mornings to walk the dogs.
since i dont have a kitchen (or rather i dont use the community kitchen) i thought id post some meals i eat with just having a fridge and a microwave. this is quinoa, spinach, and cucumbers with some dressing
defrosted cooked shrimp, with defrosted frozen veggies and black beans
camana bay watch tower
skyping with the goddaughter, chloe!
joshy’s flight arrived!
hello!
dinner at camana bay on thursday night.
rum point water
grand cayman’s national bird
peacock at pirates caves animal sanctuary
before walking into the caves
pirates caves takes all donations to help support their animal sanctuary
Caribbean ocean, so niiiiice
3 birdies on me at pirates caves
3 birdies on joshy!
banana orchid, very rare and we got to see it in bloom
peacock showing us his stuff
the bats flew right by us down there!
josh is jogging under water…
im still figuring out wordpress, and i had captions for all of the pictures, then when i uploaded them half of the captions disappeared! so since i cant figure out how to update it properly with the new captions, leave comments on any questions or thoughts 🙂 next post i should have this figured out…
pic 3. im on the bus all alone!
pic 4. this a typical cayman bus. not what americans are used to, its more like a van. they can be pretty inconvenient to get on and off of since there are no isles and if you are at a window seat you may have to wait for 4 people to get off before you get off. the plus side is there are no traditional bus stops. the bus will stop wherever you are standing on the sidewalk.
pic 5. michelle’s bistro and her dog mitsu. our school has no cafeteria, just this stand to grab drinks and snacks in the middle of campus, and to take a break and pet the dog!
pic 6. 2 classmates, sifti and rachael. we had dinner at guy harvey’s in georgetown a few weeks back
pic 7. school uniform, red polo and khakis!
pic 8. liz (another classmate) me, sifti
pic 10. skyping the padre and dixie!
pic 11. rum point, a stop on our jetski tour, pic 12 is our jetskis parked among many at rum point.
pic 14. i only took the sea star out for 5 second for this picture, dont worry
sting ray city adventure:
interacting with these beautiful and majestic creatures was really amazing! i cant wait to go back! the day my dad an i went was kind of windy and a little rainy that weekend so the ocean isnt as clear blue as usual, but as you can see the sting rays were happy to see us since they know that is where their meal is. i used my iphone to take the videos. i bet youre wondering how? with this awesome case that i bought on island where i got my computer fixed. the case is called lifeproof, it is waterproof and shock proof and i love it. the sting rays are so soft underneath and rugged on top. as soon as we jumped in the water to the sand bar where they hang, they swarmed us and rubbed against our legs. it was shocking at first because we did not expect them to be that big or come so close!
for josh’s birthday weekend he came to visit! we stopped into some places to see how he can get a work permit to move down here hopefully by august. we cruised the entire island, snorkeled, swam, relaxed in the sun, ate delicious food, and went to the movies! i had not been to the movie theatre yet, and it is a very nice theatre. we saw snow white and the huntsman. i was mesmerized by charlize theron and all the effects and costumes she had. needless to say, i did like the movie a lot. but as my dad often has said to me “what movie dont you love?” (rhetorically), i have tailored my movie taste just a bit since i was 12.
after josh left it was back to studying! i welcome my 7th week of school!
^at the 7 mile public beach aka public beach for the “welcome back smu vet students bbq”
^ it was gorgeous out, but just down the way it looked like storm clouds were going to roll in!
^ there are 2 areas we go to learn. there is the smu campus which is 2.3 miles from where i live and we have a separate uniform ( i will post later) and there is the clinical teaching facility which is on the east end of the island, a 35 minute car ride. this is where anatomy and anatomy lab are held, and also where the large animals are that belong to the university. the uniform required is ceil blue scrubs. the school has arranged for a bus to take us out to the teaching facility for the first semester and possibly the second because cabs are expensive and the public transportation system does not go to the ‘countryside’.
1. a huge advantage of going to SMU Vet school is the faculty to student ratio. my class is composed of 8 students which means we have a lot of access to and time with our professors. that is another thing that was emphasized upon us, all the resources available to us students to be great in vet school and to succeed, which will hopefully equate to being great vets!
2. our first day of orientation was with the med students as well. the residence halls (and suites which is a different building) have both vet and med students living together. for this incoming med class they had about 40 students. i have made some friends in med as well which is awesome.
3. thus far everyone on the island, locals and foreigners alike, are very, very friendly. some of the students at orientation have transferred from other carribean schools such as ross (st. kitt’s), and st. george’s (grenada). they have shared stories of how not nice the other islands are especially in comparison to grand cayman. they are mostly referring to the local community, and the feeling of safety.
4. today at SMOLE, we were able to interact with other semester students and free to ask them everything and anything. they are so open and willing to help. before i came here i heard that this school was like a big family, and after today i can really see what they mean! i am really happy to be a part of this group!
5. another really cool thing we learned today at SMOLE again was the importance of balance. time management, and balance are so essential to making the best of our time here. i wasn’t sure if i expected the faculty and other students to stress how important it is to study ONLY(which they did on monday), but i don’t think i expected them to dedicate a time to express to us the key to being successful and happy during this journey is balance. i have been striving to be balanced for a long time now, and i was really happy to hear that coming from my new family!
Kirk’s grocery store… a 10 min walk from the residence halls. its very nice and carries everything i can find in the states. the prices are a little more than american standards, but not too, too bad.
saturday lunch at calico jacks on 7 mile beach! i had a local dish and it was delicious
my view from calico jacks. it rained all day saturday, but it was still nice and warm
today (sunday) i explored the island some more. i took lots of beach pics, but i posted this one bc it had the nicest angle.
a tree on the side of the road on my way to bodden town. lots of shoes!
Starting this new adventure, i miss a lot of things, but i especially think about Haley. Â i miss her very much, when i close my eyes before bed i envision her smiling, laying, giving me kisses, her bark, her growl, her groans, and her helicopter wagging tail! sometimes when i get really down about having lost her, and im hard to be comforted, i like to read this poem by an unknown author. haley has inspired me in so many ways, and i like to think she is with me and also waiting for us to reunite…
“i think i’ll miss you forever, like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies”
after an emotional goodbye to my friends, and my dad and josh and honey, i had a short flight to grand cayman! the airport was much smaller than i thought it would be, and the weather is very similar to south florida’s. now i’ll be unpacking and getting ready to do some more exploring tomorrow!
my dear friend diana ( i call her dizzy), just adopted an 8 month old boxer mix from Peggy Adams Rescue League and i was privileged to be part of the process! Lily is the newest addition to our dog crew, and her mom has so much love to give her! unfortunately, lily broke her toe while at the shelter… most likely by getting it caught in her kennel. dizzy tried nursing her back to health but that wild pup kept escaping her splint somehow! now lily will be kept in treatment at Peggy Adams for the next couple of weeks for her own safe healing for her toe, and diana will hopefully be picking her up within in the next few weeks. she’s such a sweet pup, i took a few pics during our restrained outside time. next time i see her, i will have completed my first semester of vet school, and she’ll probably be 15 lbs bigger!
be here now 