(The pic to the left is from our trip to the botanical gardens on Nevis. It has nothing to do with anything but I like Al's pose)Our second semester down here is coming to an end. Alex has one more week of classes followed by 4 exams in 4 days the following week. Alex has worked really hard and it shows in her grades. It's a real testament to her brains and will power considering all of the vet students who are disappearing from the roster due to withdrawing or failing. It will be odd to turn around and be back in classes in a few weeks since normally at this point we would have a summer off to recharge. The upside is to keep yourself in the zone of academia so as not to lose your motivation.
One of the unique aspects of the school I work at is that there's a constant turn over of students. Because our student population comes from the children of vet students and professors we are in a state of fluctuation all the time. When we come back from the break I will have no more 9th grade science class to teach. The lone student who comprises that class will be moving with his family back to the states so his mother can do her clinical year in Alabama. At the same time I will be picking up some new students in the lower grades for my PE classes. As of now, I think that's the only new students I will have, but this may change with very short notice.
With the time off we have in a few weeks Al and I are hoping to take a trip to St Maarten, an island about a 45 minute flight from St Kitts. The island is about half the size of St Kitts but has double the population (about 75,000, compared to St Kitts' 35,000). St Maarten is part Dutch and part French, with two distinct styles in the respective parts. We really don't know what we are going to do when we get there but it will be nice to explore somewhere new.
When we come back from the break I will be teaching for about 7 more weeks. After that the prep school academic year comes to and end. At this point, if I were in the states, I would have a few months off for summer vacation; that's not the deal here. I will be working at the prep school since we run a summer camp for the students. Since Ross Vet runs year round the prep school needs to offer its services to the children. It'll be nice to take a break from the lessons and classes, but it will be a challenge babysitting the older students day in and day out. I'm hoping to get them out of the school as much as possible as I don't think that most of the students do much when they are not in school. Most of the parents are preoccupied with vet school and don't have the time, energy, or other resources to help their kids as much as they'd like to. Hopefully I can increase their opportunities while they are down here.
Another big change will be in place for Alex when we get back for the summer semester. Up until now she has been in classes from 8 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon. The schedule of the 3rd semester finishes most days at noon, allowing Alex much more opportunity to go exploring the island and taking advantage of some of the activities unique to where we are. Hopefully she will be able to participate in a SCUBA course that is run by a club on campus. They offer reduced course prices and schedule various dives through out the semester. It would be great for Al to have some fun things to look forward to throughout the semester.
That's it for now. If anyone who reads this has any questions about how we roll down here or what life is like, please feel free to ask and I will see if Alex and I can piece together an answer for you.
