Island Birthday

Hey Everyone,

So this is a new one, celebrating my birthday on a beach. Being October, I usually celebrate surrounded by the fall colors and sometimes even snow. Not this year, living it up big on this sunny island! Although I was thankful for great weather, it was definitely unusual. However, I did my best to make it count here. It was tough because Kyle has exams on Monday so he really needed to study this weekend. However, we did go out to lunch with a friend of mine and her fiance to a fancier restaurant. I have only been to Golden Rock once before, for a hike, but never to eat. Kyle has been there to eat and he said the burgers are amazing, and he was right! Awesome food, decently priced-only 12 US for a burger and fries. The view was spectacular and the conversation was awesome :)

I was able to capture a hummingbird in this pic. 

Delicious!! 

This guy decided to stop by for some lunch. 

I do wish I could have been with friends and family from home, but this is my life now. Sandy beaches and palm trees, surrounded by picturesque ocean waters. After lunch, Kyle went back to the apartment to study and I went to the beach. I haven't been in awhile and it was nice and relaxing. I then went to my friends house where they made homemade pesto pasta and Kyle came by for some dessert and brought cheesecake. I must say, it was definitely not the worst birthday ever!!! I am just trying to make the best of it here and I think I am doing pretty well. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I definitely felt the love on this rock!

Things are also looking up at work. Since I am no longer working one to one with the child who was causing me some problems because of the race thing, I am able to focus on a group therapy program focusing on problem solving. I may also be starting to do more work in the community actually doing therapy that I am trained in. There is a child who has Down's Syndrome and autism at a preschool and could definitely benefit from more intensive one to one therapy. She was getting speech therapy from my friend, but if things work out, we could be teaming up and providing more behavioral therapy. The principal thinks it would be a much better use of my skill set pending the proper paper work. So I am pretty pumped for that to work out!

After Kyle has exams on Monday we might go out to celebrate, there may be some cake involved, so we will see what happens tomorrow.

I have also started doing some work out sessions with a trainer. There is a local guy who comes to the Med School 3 times a week in the evenings, and he charges only 10 EC (which is about 5 Canadian). I started going with a couple of Kyle's classmates and it has been really good so far! I hope I can keep it up, I feel productive and it's motivating.

Anyway, just a quick update for now. Hope everyone is surviving the cold! I heard there was snow this weekend :)

Caribbean Thanksgiving

Hey Everyone,

Yet another holiday has come and gone here on Nevis. My Facebook and Instagram feeds have been flooded with fall pictures, pumpkin spiced anything and turkey. On my end, I'm trying not sweat through my clothes and not think about how much I miss my family. Kyle is studying like crazy and we are just trying to make the best of it during this holiday. 
I think we managed alright though. Luckily, a lot of Kyle's friends from school are from Canada so we gathered at one of the student's houses and had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner, which did include butter chicken. That was a new one for me, but Kyle enjoyed it a lot. It was nice that we could all gather together, and there wasn't even that much med school talk! 
Tonight, I Facetimed with my family a little bit and although it was a little chaotic over there, I still got to see my nephew for a bit, who by the way is huge! Haha, and he is only a month and half old! But he is extremely adorable, and I am a very proud Auntie!

The after effects of a great meal :) 

In other news, I celebrated World Teachers Day on this fine island. That was an interesting experience. All of the teachers gathered in one place and there were some presentations and then we had a school meeting. At the end of the week, some of the parents came to the school and brought us gifts which was so kind! The presentations took place at an actual theatre with AC! It was pretty fancy I thought! The only unfortunate part was that special education was unaware of the events for the day, we were left in the dark as per usual. That's a whole other issue on this island. 

The nice theatre with awesome AC! I had goosebumps by the end of the morning! 

The parents bringing the teachers some nice gifts! I got cake :)

Aside from that, the work I have been doing with one particular client has been put on the back burner temporarily due to some racial comments. I am unsure of how to discuss this because it has been something that I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced in my life thus far. Even when we first moved here, everyone has been so welcoming and we haven't had any negative experiences that have really disrupted our transition here. However, this past week I experienced something I never would have thought. Now call me naive, and I'm not blind to the fact that in our world racism is a big problem, I just never expected it from a 10 year old. I originally thought the child has not been around white people before, so this, as for most of the children here is something new to them. I have also been the one to make the child do work and not get away with escaping. But then I found out that in the child's home he has been around a lot of different white people and has had no other issues before. It's heart breaking to be surrounded by this, especially since my whole goal since starting work is that I really just want to help these kids. I love what I do, and I want to keep doing it, I just have been so overwhelmed by this issue it truly has taken me by surprise. Maybe because I grew up in such a diverse culture, that race has never been an issue for me, but I guess it is for some people.  It's an uncomfortable subject for most, but I think it does need to be addressed. The guidance counselor of the school put together a presentation for the class to address some of the issues. I thought it was well done and it opened up the conversation. I was hoping to get a lot of questions but I think the children are still processing everything. I imagine it's even more difficult for children with special needs. However, one little boy asked me if my sisters were also white. He seemed surprised when I said yes. It was kinda funny. Anyway, I have learned this week, that I am not going to give up. I want to work through this, and continue to build relationships with these kids. I am so thankful to have been able to find a job here (even though I have yet to see a pay cheque) and I will take these experiences with me for the rest of my life. 
I hope you all have something to be thankful for this year. It's definitely been a roller coaster of a so called Fall season here on Nevis. Apparently the weather is supposed to be getting cooler towards the end of the month. Kyle and I have actually had our AC on all night now when we sleep!! Shocking! Even set at 28 we still notice a huge difference. 

Anyway, we miss everyone from back home! Flights have been booked for December 9th! Less than 2 months :) Enjoy the day off tomorrow friends! 


Here are some more random pics from the past couple weeks:

I got stuck in a rain storm without my umbrella. I came out of the grocery store to this. My car is the green one across the way.

The rain calmed down as I drove to the next store, but as soon as I was about to get out, the down pour hit. So I waited.

I pulled up to a gas station and found this guy just taking a drink from a bucket.

View from my school

I went to a different beach with some friends called Paradise Beach

It's fun to see the different angles of St.Kitts

New Motto: Take it One Day at a Time!

Hi friends,

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! It's been awhile since I have been able to blog. When I started working, things were pretty much the same as usual. However within the last week, there has been a lot of activity. 

I apologize in advance for the next section, but I have recently come to terms with the fact that the medical system on this island truly sucks. There is a little girl who attends the school who has been very sick for the past year. She has been diagnosed with autism, and is non-verbal. However, she also has some major vomiting issues, where she can't keep any food down, or even water. She has been in and out of the hospital the last year and the doctors don't know what to do. Well, the principal and I went to visit her at her house because the mom requested we go there. When we pulled up, I had this sinking feeling in my gut, and we weren't even at the house yet. We had to walk behind another house, through some bushes and stumbled upon a large shack. Broken windows, grass and vines growing up the side of the house. I felt really disturbed by the whole thing. The mother brings the child outside, and she can't even stand up. I tried giving her some water, but she couldn't even keep that down! She was so dehydrated, I told the mother she needs to be in the hospital. 
I left that house in tears.
I have never seen anything like that in my life. I realize that there is some poverty on this island, but I felt like I had walked into a taping for a World Vision commercial. I really was not prepared for that. Even my principal who has lived here for 10 years had never seen anything like that before. That scene will live with me forever. It truly wrecked me. 

The child made it to the hospital the next day, but I just found out she only spent 3 days there and then they sent her home. The excuse this time was that the principal didn't come to the hospital and explain what was wrong with her...ummm excuse me? I didn't realize she was also a doctor! Hello, that's why the child is there? To see the doctor!!!!!!! I could not believe my ears!!!!! They think because the child has special needs, that they cannot help her, and that this vomiting is just a symptom of her special needs! Never in my life have I heard this, or read anything about this! The child can't even keep water down!!!! 
I literally came home that day and cried my eyes out. I feel so helpless for this poor little girl. No one is fighting for her. The few that are, don't have any power. This child needs some real doctors looking after her, and figuring out what is going on. Otherwise she just keeps going through this cycle of being in and out of the hospital. Social services is involved, but they have said no one will take the child because she has special needs. That just breaks my heart even more. It disturbs me so much, to be living in this environment, when I know something needs to be done but I just don't have the means to do it. I so badly wish I could...unfortunately for this little one, I feel as though my prayers for her, just aren't enough. 


Anyway, thanks for letting me rant. It's just something I think about every single day. 

Moving on, there were a couple holidays last week on Nevis. National Heroes Day and Independence Day. I was able to go to the beach and have some relaxation time. It was awesome. For Independence Day, it seemed as though the island goes all out. Even Kyle's school library was closed. There was a big beach party at the main beach, and all the schools had their own program to celebrate. The children at my school got to wear the colors of the flag, and each class did a presentation on what all the colors mean. Last minute I found out all the teachers had to sing a song! Well that was an experience, especially since I am not a singer. The presentations were very cute though, and I learned a lot about Nevis :) 

This was the holiday, I couldn't believe how busy the beach was ;)

I Never get tired of these beach views :)

Happy 32nd Anniversary Nevis!

This was at the main beach. My local buddy told me they were setting up for a huge party last Friday night.

This is the little kids class. They taught us what the stars in the flag mean. Hope and Liberty.

This is the class that I teach. They all looked so thrilled to be up there! Haha. 

Don't worry I have permission to post these photos. 

So I had started teaching my own class at the school because we have been so short staffed. However there has been one particular child who has had such severe behaviors, the principal doesn't want him in class with other children. So now he has been assigned to me. Yay! I spent all last week with him, and I have some bruises to show for it. However, we had a break through today!!! This child had no behaviors at all today!!!! I am so thrilled! He actually listened to me, and didn't attempt to run away at all! There were a few opportunities where he could have followed the other children but he didn't! Even if for the rest of this year, his behaviors are bad, I will always remember this one day! Ha! I actually came home with a smile on my face! It was a much needed reminder of why I do what I do. I love these kids, but when I hear quotes like " teacher, you ain't gunna give me no licks, so I don't have to listen to you" "you ain't got nuttin on me teacher" "Whatcha gunna do teacher? You can't do nuttin!" (Say it in an island accent, and it will make more sense.) Also licks mean a spanking in North American terms. So when today I heard phrases like "My mom is going to be so proud of me!" That just warms my heart :) 

Today is Kyle's Birthday! To celebrate, I made him a cake, and we went to a friends house and had some of his classmates over. It was nice that we are still able to do something here. This past weekend, we met up with my friend that I work with and her fiancee at the Four Seasons Restuarant. What an amazing view!! We had never been there before. It's called Mangoes, and it was great! My friend's fiancee works for the Four Seasons, so he got a discount ;) 

Sweet views from Mangoes Restaurant. 

The cake turned out pretty well. The trick is to ice it, right before you eat it! 

Anyway, my new motto here is "take it one day at a time." At this point, with it being so hot, my job the way it is, managing my own school work, that's all I can do. I am still thankful I have a job, but I think I am allowed to vent about it every now and then. 

Hope you guys are all doing well! We miss you lots! 

Here are a few other pics from the last couple weeks. 

A real traffic jam on Nevis!!! I was almost late for work. Turns out, the Police were stopping people. Not sure what they were looking for though. 

Pretty big thunderstorm here. Crazy lightening and a ton of rain! This is the view from one of my classrooms at the school. 

Some of you may have seen this guy posted already. Kyle went to open the blinds in our bedroom and he was just chilling on the window sill. I'm actually surprised I was not more freaked out! The first thing I did was grab my camera :P Maybe because I have expected something like this to happen here. 

This huge cow was just beside the road. He has pretty big horns! It's hard to see in this picture, but it was crazy! 

That's all for now! Enjoy!

Returning to Island Life

Hey Everyone!

Well summer is over, (or for Kyle and I, it's beginning again:the weather that is). We have returned back to Nevis and classes have resumed and I have started work again. It is super hot here!!! Summer in Canada the weather wasn't all that great, in the low 20's for most of my time up north, so coming back here where it's mid 40's has been an adjustment. Especially since our A.C is broken. Even Kyle, who has air conditioning in his classroom is struggling. There are over 100 new students in his class so space is tight for them. Plus he has to dress up for his class for the first few weeks, so wearing a tie and dress clothes and trying not to sweat has been an adjustment for him. 

We arrived on the island by having to take one of those tiny airplanes from the island of St. Maarten. That was an interesting experience! You don't have to worry about hearing those boring airplane safety speeches. Nope, you don't even need to wear a seat belt. They tell you that if there is a crash, to watch out for sharks... yep. It was also risky in terms of our luggage. Since the plane is so small it's not guaranteed that your luggage will make it. Ours had tags on it that said "standby". So we were watching them load everything on, and praying that our stuff made it. We have heard way to many stories where some folks have lost their luggage in St.Kitts or St. Maarten. Thankfully it made the cut! 
I was also nervous about being allowed back into Nevis because of how my work permit visa ended up. It expired in July so I was worried about what the immigration people were going to say. However, they gave me a stamp with expiration in February! Maybe it was because it was late at night, or that the officer was new, but I am very glad it all worked out. Our car was even waiting for us at the airport! 

So, you would think, things are back to normal around here. However, there is just something different about being back. I don't really know what it is, but it is definitely harder than when we first moved here. Maybe because back then, everything was so new, or the fact that I have been away for 3 months. Needless to say, I remember writing about how I was almost sad to leave Nevis, and I thought I would be excited to return here, but so far, I haven't really felt much excitement. Back to this place where the bugs are everywhere, our broken A.C (who knows when it will get fixed), and now our T.V is broken. Kyle has managed to fix it temporarily, but things are different. 

I went back to the school I was working at, and found out I was not on their staff list. I had to do all that running around again to get a work permit. I do have one, but now I have to wait and see if I actually get paid. There have been a lot of staffing issues at the school to the point where there is no teacher for the class I was helping out in. I am not a teacher. I don't do lesson plans, or following a curriculum or anything like that. I don't even know what the curriculum is for Nevis. I tried to make that clear to my supervisor. I just hope that when the kids come back to school tomorrow, that I am not suddenly thrown into their class and expected to teach a math lesson. 

So maybe all of these reasons and the heat factor is why I have hard time adjusting back to this island life. I need to get back into working out again, and I have also started my classes online again. There has been a lot of change this week and we have been quite busy unpacking and getting settled. Oh and yes back to cooking, and doing dishes everyday. I need to get back to my positive thinking I suppose. Summer at home was amazing, and I guess I was hoping it could last longer. I was very fortunate to be able to spend time with family and friends, and even meet my nephew! I think it's different because our time here seems so much longer than when we came in January. Kyle is just starting med school. Our friends we met in January are starting Med 3. Kyle has worked very hard to get to this point, but there is still a long road ahead, and it's starting to sink in. Good news is, we are here until December. Only 3 months. I am hoping after this first month, time will start to go by quicker. I keep trying to tell myself that. I mean we have already been back for one week right??

Anyway that's the update for now. I thought I would be sharing about how my summer went in Canada, however who wants to hear about that! ;)  FYI it was cold and rainy with some weddings and a baby shower :P I hope everyone enjoyed their summer also. Back to reality I guess! 

Here is Kyle from his White Coat Ceremony. All the Med 1 Students are presented with their white coat to officially begin Med school. I am very proud of him, and the coat suits him quite well ;)

My Summer Sabbatical

Hi Friends,

I cannot believe that I am packing up a suitcase to come home! It has been almost 6 months of island living, and although I have been settling in here and finding my way, I am totally pumped for home! 

The past few weeks have been super busy with my job. I went on a day trip St.Kitts with some teachers from the school to see some of the differences in the education system. I found it interesting considering St.Kitts and Nevis are one country, but they really act separate from each other. I went to a different part of the island of St.Kitts, so here are some pics of that. 

This is a smoothie bar on St.Kitts that I have seen advertised so much, I was so excited to try one! So delicious!

When we got off the car ferry, this small lake was in front of us and it looked pink!

I have also been dealing with some work permit issues. Although I have been getting paid, apparently my work permit was non existent. I got all my paper work in a couple weeks ago and I told them I was leaving the island, and that this needed to be sorted before I left. Well this past Friday, my last day of work I spent 3.5 hours running around town trying to get it all sorted. It was like the Amazing Race again, but work permit edition. I'll keep it brief but here is how my day played out:

1. Went to the treasury department to see if I could sign off my next pay cheque to Kyle because I wasn't going to be here.
2. They told me to go to the Ministry of Education
3. Ministry of Education told me to fill out a form then go to Premier's Ministry
4. Pay 25EC at Premier's Ministry, and get more paperwork
5. Go to Immigration to get stamp in passport. (Finally!)
6. Go to Social Secuirty office and get a SSN
7. Go back to treasury and pick up cheque (which they didn't have earlier)
8. Go to the bank and open an account

That was the process, and after all the running around I did, my work permit stamp I have in my passport is only until the end of school year for this year (July). Which means I am going to have to do this all over again in September when I come back. Great! Good news was that I was finally able to open a bank account, and deposit the cheques I had. Bad news is that since this process chewed through my whole day, I didn't get to see the kids at the school before they left :(

This week there was also another parade on the island. All the preschools and primary schools marched downtown. It was pretty fun, it was also funny listening to the teachers complain that it never starts on time. We were supposed to start at 9 but it didn't start until 10.  Apparently this happens every year. Then the poor kids are having to wait a long time, plus it's really hot for them. We had one little girl throw up at the end of the parade! (At least she made it all the way). 

I have also been noticing a lot more puppies around the island. One of my students brought a little puppy to school that she rescued, so cute! I want to take one home with me. I seriously considered it and even visited the animal shelter here on the island. However Kyle and I discussed it and it just wouldn't work right now, but I really hope before we leave the island for good I can bring one home. The amount of abuse these dogs face on a daily basis breaks my heart. So many awful stories, and there is only one vet clinic on the island who apparently doesn't treat the dogs nicely here and the shelter is at capacity. I am realizing that I can't change everything on this island, I really should just focus on one thing and make it the best. Which I am hoping I can do that with the school. A lot of changes are going to be happening so I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out in the fall. 

This is the student's pup! So Cute!!!!

This little guy is from the shelter I visited

These little guys live next door to us.

In the 6 months I have been here, I have learned so much about myself. I feel like I have gained even more patience! It's funny when the odd times Kyle and I are in the car together and he gets so mad with the way people drive around here, and I just laugh and say it's really not going to change. It is what it is here. I guess I am used to it, and I can really just go with the flow here. I feel like I have become a much more positive person since being here. My anxiety levels have dropped, and I just feel happier. Maybe it's the constant sun on my face which I can never get enough of. I love being outside all day. I am also impressed with myself that I have been cooking almost everyday. I have become pretty independent and my confidence has grown. Now maybe this says a lot about who I used to be 6 months ago, I am still shy and some things still stress me out. But I am getting over it faster, and not holding a grudge. Life is to short, I have been given this amazing opportunity so I am making the most of it. 

I am so proud of Kyle and what he has achieved thus far. These next couple months will be hard on both of us, but I am confident in our relationship that we can handle being apart. Kyle will be busy focusing on his studies and I need to go to the mall and Mcdonalds a lot ;) haha. 

So this will be my last post until September. I have enjoyed blogging, and I hope I can keep it up once I come back to the island. I will be continuing my school studies online and working. I hope everyone enjoys their summer! I hope that I will bring the hot weather with me! Thank you everyone for being so supportive of us! We love you and can't wait to see you!