Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Christmas break update

I've realized for quite some time now that I really haven't updated you guys at all really..
I am almost half way through my semester already and time this semester has just been flying by
But I'll start at the beginning, so here we go

I arrived in Amsterdam on the 10th after probably the most horrible flight of my life; Right before I got on the plane I found out that my neighbor and friend Ravi had drowned here on the island! So yeah that info sucked, but my welcome back was very warm. Every single person that came to pick me up had brought me sweaters, hats, scarves and blankets! But I was still cold... :-) Being cold lasted for quite a while and I would say I never really got used to it or probably never will...:-)
So after a week in Amsterdam of running around and shopping!! I went to Artemis and spent a full week in the woods celebrating Christmas etc. that was quite relaxing and I actually got quite a lot of studying done. After that time just flew by, there were still a lot of things I had to get done before I left again, I got company from overseas plus I got my wallet stolen!! oops (first time in my life btw)

So on the 8th I flew back, in tears I may add, I was so not ready to leave my great life back home and all the amazing people in it behind again but I love studying and I do wanna become a doctor so....
But from the moment my plane landed on St. Maarten it all started to look a lot brighter again, Mauriel was actually waiting for me at the gate and as soon as we hit the departure hall we ran into half of our school. I was actually quite surprised at how nice it was to see everyone again. Until then I had mainly focused on what I had back home that I don't have here and then I am mainly talking about the people in my life. I mean I like the Americans but they are just not Dutch and I miss the main Dutch aspects in people here. So then we got to the departure gate for winair and obviously that was about 2 hours delayed...:-) So waiting at gate number 9 were these 2 very tall very blond guys so I figured they must be Dutch! Then I thought what the **** are these 2 going to do on this itsy bitsy little island? So I asked ... They are here on an internship from the University of the Twente about finding out if building a golf course is a good plan!! hihihi
yep that'll happen (in the next 30 years) hihihihi
But then it turned out that the person who made up their assignment is actually my landlord and then arriving on Statia we found out that we were going to be neighbors, they were going to stay at the unfortunate opened up apartment and that took one of my worries away. Next day Evert (the 1 other dutchie that I already hung out with last term) came knocking and that made us an instant group of 4 dutchies And we immediately clicked, pretty cool actually. Now the boys just walk in and out and Friday nights we eat, drink and dance at Smoke Alley. One week later Marijn arrived on Satia as a volunteer for animal welfare and that made 5 dutchies! (me being dutchie # 1 obviously..*G*)

I started writing this last week but didn't finish cause I had to get back to class, i'll wrap this up and I'll promise I will keep more regular updates from now.

School is good, I already had my first set of exams and am happy to report that the results were good :-).
They do do one stupid thing here though if you get the highest score they write your name and score on the board for the entire class to see!! Cant imaging them doing that back home can we? My class this term counts 28-30 students and that is an excellent size. I have 5 classes and labs everyday. Mon, wed and fri we have anatomy lab which unfortunately does get a little crowded cause we only have 2 bodies... so we have to split up in groups and take turns My group does have the better body, an 60 year old professor who died of lung cancer. He fortunately for us was a little overweight which preserved his muscles. He also had a triple bypass which is very interesting to see!!
Having anatomy lab three times a week means I don't have to think about what to wear three times a week *G* > scrubs > I just have to pick a color; blue, purple, green or Pink! which gave me my nickname, of last term back, of "Pinky" hihihihi
This time for the first time I actually have a course I wrestle with Histology!!! Its just not my thing cells and esp. looking thru two holes at cells and them having to DRAW them!! me and drawing not the best match

Last week I got my first real visitors (Dad and Karen settled me in when I first got here last term but this was a real visit) here and we had such a good time, I was so happy that they enjoyed themselves. Right now they are in St. Maarten and tomorrow my "reading break" (long weekend halve way thru the term) starts and I will join them there for two days and then Saturday we fly to Saba, I will spent two nights there and then fly back here!! Isn't that coool?? I actually get to leave this tiny island for 4 days!!

OK and then the latest update: I am not coming home during my next break in April :-( cause........ I am going to New Zealand!!!! :-)
(sorry guys but I gotta go see about a boy...*G*) and I will keep you guys up to date on the details of my up and coming trip
However I will most likely come back on my break after that, so mark August 19th and gather your flags and balloons to come greet me then :-)

OK I gotta go now I will talk to you all soon!! Thanks for all your updates and please keep them coming; I love them!!
Lots of kisses

p.s remember I have a new phonenumber here now (and I can receive smses on them) +599 318 1760