BANQUET!

Last night was Green semester's banquet. It was an amazing night out at Spice Mill on the very tip of the peninsula with amazing views of Nevis and the stars over the ocean. We were all decked out in our finest. Most of the girls had their hair and nails done at the Pink Daisy salon over cocktails and gossip earlier that day. Seriously, it was like Steel Magnolias up in there. I did three of my friend's make up for them before doing my own. I wish my eyeshadow had come out better in pictures. It was a seriously gorgeous, intense, green smokey eye, and I received a bunch of compliments on it all night long.

I danced, I had a few cocktails, and I had a great time with amazing friends. We had a slide show of our baby pictures. Superlatives were awarded, and I received, "Most likely to be arrested for a hate crime against a holistic vet." Not gonna lie, I'll own that one. There was a fireworks display, which if you've never seen fireworks in a place with virtually no light pollution, it's a spectacle. I got teary-eyed standing there among my classmates, so close to never seeing most of them ever again, all of us staring up at the sky. It was one of those moments where I realize that I don't care how expensive it was, or how much time it took away from being with my husband, I would not trade this experience for anything.

Oh, and my dress was fabulous.

Me and Jeananne

Angie, Jess, Elly and me.

The Rossie crew headed to University of Illinois for clinics!

Too bad this photo came out blurry. My SOAPing group this semester.

Me and Michelle! By this point in the evening my hair was sweaty from dancing.

Courtney and me.

Tricia, Laura, Jess, Mia, Vanessa and me.

This one's kind of hilarious. I was telling Angie not to take my picture.

Final four.

Tomorrow kicks off my last four weeks on island. I'm having mixed emotions. I'm glad to be going home - to my husband, my family, the convenience of American living. But I am going to miss this place, my apartment that's become home, and most importantly the people that I've grown incredibly close to in such a short time. Our class is planning a number of one-last-hurrahs in the days following finals; catamaran trips, rum runs, days at the beach, dinners. We're kind of having trouble letting go.

I sold my car the other day to a first semester. I'll leave the keys with Student Services and she'll get them when she gets back from semester break and sends me the rest of the money.

I neutered a dog on Thursday. Neuters are the fastest, easiest surgeries ever. I can do like five in the time it takes me to do one spay. The neuter was for my small animal surgery rotation. A board certified surgeon watches everything you do and evaluates your skills. Dr. Betance told me that my technical skills (cutting, ligating, suturing) "exceed expectations" and that I have "excellent knots." I'm pretty happy with that. The thing is, as 7th semester Rossies, by this point between the ROSSie exam in 6th and all of the surgery labs that we have in 7th, the expectation is that we are, at the very least, proficient surgeons. If Dr. Betance (a known perfectionist) thinks that my skills exceed that expectation, that's pretty awesome.

Today I'm going to the Marriott spa with three of my best girl friends to have a day of relaxation that we all desperately need. Surgeries and exams are over for the semester until finals. We need to recoup and unwind a bit.

Like a Sir-geon.

My ceiliotomy and typhlotomy surgery was Tuesday. We made an incision in our sheep, Carl's, right flank and did an exploratory within his abdomen. I stuck my whole hand into his abdominal cavity and swept it around, feeling his liver, gall bladder, right kidney, small intestine, spiral colon, cecum, and urinary bladder. Then we exteriorized the cecum, made a hole, closed it with double inverting suture patterns, and closed the abdomen.

It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was exhausted by the end, it was a 3+ hour long surgery, standing on my feet in a sweaty surgery gown, cap, mask and gloves. But yesterday when I went to check on Carl he was bright-eyed, calling out to greet us when we walked by the sheep pen, eating grass and accepting treats from us, and it was just so damn cool. I cut this animal wide open the day before, played around with his insides, and then sewed him back up and he is perfectly fine. Moments like that are so rewarding.

Clincal year schedule.

I just received my clinical year schedule! I got both of the electives that I requested - Exotic and Wildlife Medicine & Surgery, and Laboratory Animal Medicine.

I have 12 weeks open to schedule externships. I already have three in mind, and I'm working on organizing letters of recommendation, transcripts, and letters of intent. One of them is with Dr. Goodwin in Texas, which I know I'm pretty much going to get from email contact with him. The other two I actually might be denied, as they're pretty fancy. One of them  is at a very prestigious school and only 14 people have completed it in 10 years. I don't wanna jinx myself by talking about it too much, but getting it would be a capital letters Big Deal.

Last days.

Yesterday was the last barbecue at the villa. It was bittersweet. I don't know how, but somehow this semesterly tradition of mine has become something special to us all. A day of relaxation, good food, drinks and good company where we can all forget the stress of school for a few hours. So much so, that I had a dozen people show up last semester, even though the barbecue fell smack dab in the middle of a hurricane. And as if the St. Kitts gods knew that yesterday was special, the day was among the most gorgeous I've seen since I got here.

Pictures!

Group shot! From top to bottom, left to right: Courtney, Angelica, Vanessa, Bridget, Elly, Mirissa, Laura, Sarah and me!

Elly, Vanessa and me. And Beau!

Mirissa and me.

Beau! And my gorgeous view.

Elly, Bridget and me.

Megan, Sarah, Elly and Mirissa.

Me and Bridget.

Mirissa takes the most artisitc photos.

My first attempt at vegan baking. Coconut cupcakes with chocolate frosting and toasted coconut garnish.

Foodie fun.

Something that you probably wouldn't get from reading this blog, is that I'm a major foodie. Not in the trendy new use of the term where everyone who watches Top Chef and knows what foie gras is can now call themselves a foodie. In the real sense of the term. As in, I love to cook and eat and learn about food. I'll eat pretty much anything. I've had blood sausage (tasty, but the texture was unpleasant), frog legs, snail, beef heart, foie gras, and sweetbreads (calf thymus).

My biggest dream on a personal hobby level is to attend a Food and Wine Festival someday.

But apart from tasting yummy and interesting new foods, I love, love, LOVE to cook. And take photos of the things that I cook. If vet school hadn't of worked out, I was considering culinary school. Anyway, have some photos.

Want chocolate-dipped strawberries without the annoyance of the chocolate always breaking off? Solution = chocolate-FILLED strawberries!

Bread pudding with raisins and dried cranberries.

This is my favorite way to prepare brussels sprouts.

Homemade alfredo sauce is actually really easy and 1,000x more delicious than the crap from a jar.

If you're from the Midwest, you'll recognize this! Sugar cream pie.

Coffee cake I made for a morning study session.

Apple dumplings with vanilla bean ice cream.

Candied orange peel I made to garnish Earl Grey-scented chocolate mousse.

Snickerdoodles! Before and after. This was the very first thing I ever learned to bake standing on a chair in my grandma's kitchen so I could see over the counter.