2 Themed Parties, 1 Night

On Friday night, Cory and I had two different themed parties to attend. One was set up by our friend Brooke, and was a "Hollywood Nights Prom", complete with dinner, dancing and couples photos, just like in high school! The other was the Ross End of Semester Party, which was a fundraiser for Cory's class, and held at the Pink Elephant with the theme of "Heaven and Hell". So we put together some sweet costumes, and made it to both!

For Prom, there was no set theme, you just had to wear clothes you would wear to a dance. So we decided it would be funny to be a little cheesy, and went with an 80's theme. Here we are outside our apartment, ready to go!


Once we got there, Brooke had a photo spot set up that was so cute, and looked just like a high school dance. So we all took a bunch of pictures before the professional photographer arrived.


Cory and my coworker Treg




Treg and Brooke, the one who planned the whole thing!




Then the professional came, and the pictures ended up looking a lot better than the ones we were taking! These pictures are courtesy of Dan Honovich (www.danhonovich.com)




Justin and Anna


Jon and Leigh


Ramon and Melissa


The boys





We had an amazing buffet dinner, and then dancing ensued...











After prom, it was time to head over to the other party of the night, the "Heaven and Hell" end of semester party at the Pink Elephant. We arrived in our prom clothes, and ran into a few friends before we had the chance to change.

Jessica was a pretty scary devil or demon of some kind (and those are real horns on her head!)


And Marshall's costume was awesome! He was Hellboy


So we went inside to change, and emerged ready for the new theme....as Adam & Eve!


The devil is tempting me with the forbidden fruit




Adam tried to stop me, but I couldn't resist


The two devils with their horns locked in battle


Cory worked at the bar from midnight to 2am, and going along with the theme, there were flaming shots available, so he made a few for us...they were so good!




What a fun night!

Turtle Tracks

I have been volunteering to help the Sea Turtle Monitoring Network here on St. Kitts, so every Thursday morning, I walk one of the beaches at 6am looking for struggling baby turtles that may have hatched the night before and haven't made it to the water. So far, no baby turtles to assist yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get to see at least one before nesting season is over.

Here are a few pictures I have taken on those Thursday mornings:

Sunrise





Tracks from a turtle coming on shore the night before to make a nest and lay her eggs







And a cute little speckled egg, which belongs to the seabirds that nest on that beach

4th of July BBQ at the Pink Elephant

The Pink Elephant is one of the larger houses for rent on the island, and is considered one of the party houses (where semester fundraisers are typically held). And it just so happens that all of our friends (and their many pets) are now living there. Bill and Scott live on one side (with Winnie, Lui and Abigail) , and Justin and Jon are on the other side (with Otis and Nyxxie). They had a big 4th of July BBQ at their house to hang out and talk about the theme for the end of semester party that their semester (6th) is in charge of organizing.

Jen J. brought along her new puppy Annabelle...here is Jen D. introducing her to the crew



Me and Krista inside getting some yummy drinks


The group discussed possible themes for the party...but with such a big group of people wanting to input their ideas, they decided that whoever held the pink elephant could speak. Here is Bill taking his turn...


And here is Jessica, enforcing the rule...she looks pretty serious about it! :-)


.....and the theme is.....Heaven and Hell! Since the house is split into identical halves, with the backyard split in two with a small fence as well, one side will be for the angels, and the other side for the devils! Can't wait!

And then it was time for flip cup



After the BBQ, everyone headed over to De Lime bar to watch fireworks and hang out at the 4th of July party. Bill was going to ride along with me and Cory, and we were the last ones to leave the house. We were about to leave when I accidentally locked the wrong lock on Bill's front door....the one lock that they don't have a key for....so basically I locked him out of his house. It is a long story, and it took about an hour of reaching in through windows with long tree branches and angry midnight voicemail messages to his landlord by Cory about why Bill wasn't given that key before we were able to eventually break in. Thank goodness!

The party at De Lime was alright...by the time we got there we had missed the fireworks anyway. And the night ended as typical nights do at the beach...helping someone get their car out of the sand...


Happy belated 4th of July!

Cory's classes for 6th Semester

These are the classes that Cory has been taking this semester...only one more month of classes left, and he will be in 7th semester!

Small Animal Surgery - (6 Credits)
An introduction to surgery of the dog and cat, with emphasis on basic principles of asepsis, tissue handling, and surgical skills. In the laboratory, students perform surgical procedures which are common in small animal practice.

Small Animal Medicine 2 - (5 Credits)
The study of diseases of the urinary system, followed by common diseases of the eye, skin, endocrine and gastrointestinal systems in dogs and cats. Etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and therapy are emphasized.

Large Animal Medicine 1 - (5 Credits)
The course focuses on the examination of and diagnosis of diseases of relevance to the horse. The etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, clinical pathology, diagnosis, therapy, and control of diseases of horses are discussed.

Practice Management & Jurisprudence - (2 Credits)
The course introduces ethics and law, with emphasis on government regulations and business management relating to veterinary practice. Also covered are resume preparation, interviewing, evaluating and selecting a first position, and public corporate career opportunities.

Night Dive

Last night, we went on a night dive with our friends Jen & Vince, Justin & Anna, Rob and Vajai. We met everyone at the port at 6:30pm, just as it was starting to get dark outside.






We went out to a wreck called Talata, and enjoyed the sunset until it was dark enough to jump in the water.










Once the sun had completely gone down and it was pitch black outside, we jumped in the water with our flashlights. It was so cool being down there surrounded by dark water, with objects and animals appearing only when you shined your light on them. I tried taking some pictures, which I'll include on here, but videos ended up working a lot better.




Vajai explained to us ahead of time that the hawksbill turtles around here will wedge themselves around the wreck at night to keep from moving around while they sleep. We ended up seeing lots of turtles, and we got to touch their shells. It was so cool...










We also saw a few crabs and lobsters, some small shrimp, a pretty big barracuda, and a huge puffer fish!





Here is Vajai's hand above the puffer, so you can see how big he was



At one point, we all formed a circle on the sandy bottom and turned off our flashlights. As we waved our arms around in front of us, it caused bioluminescence of the plankton around us. As Wikipedia.org describes it, bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence. Definitely check out this website, it has a great picture of bioluminescence in the waves in Carlsbad, CA). So as we waved our arms around, the plankton around us glowed a flourescent blue color. It couldn't be captured on video or camera, but it was beautiful in person!

Can't wait to go on another night dive sometime soon...it was awesome!