A car for every purse and purpose

Hello lovely people of the internet!

It's GlitterThoughtz coming to you from the beautiful island of st.kitts.

I wanted to take today and talk about something that I wish I would have been more informed about when I first came to Ross. Now there will be a coming post later at the end of March/ beginning of April that will cover more of the packing details of coming to St.Kitts but, for now, I will just focus on one thing.....Vehicles!

Now I had some idea that the vehicles down here were a little....how can I say this nicely? They are well loved and quirky!

Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing and it has not discouraged me and it shouldn't worry you at all!
I just want you to be prepared and well-informed.

So let's start with the basics. There are cars and then there are SUVs.
Now the cars can be cheaper and have better miles per gallon, which is a great thing since gas here is going to be a bit more pricey than back in the states. With the SUVs , you will have to spend more money (normally) and have lower mpg but you can get around on the rougher streets and off-road on some of the dirt roads and beaches. For every person there is their own opinion, so just make a choice that works best for you.

I will say that you should be aware of the fact that a lot of cars will scrape the road on some hills or turns because of the angles on the street but it's nothing too major. I personally wanted an SUV because it was off the ground, could get places and was bigger so if I got in an accident I would be safer.

I went ahead and put together some listing from the Ross Student Page of students selling their vehicles. I want you to get a better understanding of the cost and the look of the island cars. Please know that there are vehicles that have "island quirks". Island quirks could be anything from the windows don't roll down to you have to crawl through the back seat into the trunk to open the trunk!

OOOOhhh, I almost forgot....it is common for the vehicle to have a name that everyone knows the vehicle by. For example, Big Orange, Golden Goddess, Big Dip, Black Cat and Marshmellow!


So take a look, I hope this helps give you a good idea of what stuff is listed for.

So this is just a taste of some of the vehicles but keep in mind that most students buy from other students but there are students that buy from locals or one of the few dealerships on the island. 

DO NOT FEEL RUSHED!!!

There are tons of cars and SUVs so don't make anyone rush you into buying a car within in the first week of being here. Also, you can go into purchasing a vehicle with another student but be careful before you do and make sure you have really put some thought into it. You need to make sure you both have similar plans for classes, studying and such.

I'm going to purchase an SUV with Maryland. We both can only spend $3,000 a piece so we can afford a nicer car if we go into one together.  These are all things to think about. 

As always please feel free to message me if you have any questions!

Follow me on Instagram: Sam_Vetstudent

Shhh....be very, very quite. We're hunting apartments

Well with any student who comes into Ross, you have to stay the first semester in the dorms on campus.

Here's a video of my lovely dorm when I first moved into the dorms. I was originally put into the dorm building called "Cleghorn" but about four days later, I moved to the dorm building "Douglas". So that is why the two videos show two different rooms.
So this is a tour of my Cleghorn room, the day I landed in St.Kitts!

This is a video of my dorm after I finished unpacking and decorating in the dorm building "Douglas". It turned out rather nicely. 

I took that video this morning since my older video from January wasn't loading properly.  

But of course, after your very first semester on campus, you are required to find housing elsewhere. Now, this can be a bit tricky. There is housing across the campus but it is very competitive because everyone wants to live there. I had originally wanted to live on my own but after speaking with other students I changed my mind and decided to be roommates with Maryland! She and I began looking for a two bedroom/ two bathroom apartment. We wanted to say about $1,000 dollars or less (of course) but the main thing for both of us was safety. 

I changed my mind about a roommate for multiple reasons:

1.) Maryland is a super awesome friend

2.) safer in pairs ( in case you lock yourself out,etc)

3.) having a buddy

4.) able to rent a more expensive place and split the cost

5.) study group

6.) can go in on the purchasing of a vehicle  

We went and looked at a few different places and even put down offers for apartments but we kept missing out it seemed. But then we found Silver Reef Apartment Complex. It all kinda came together and we were able to sign a lease. Here are a few pictures of a double unit (2bed/2 bath).

Now I know what you are thinking....Sam where are the videos? You always posted videos! Okay, okay, here is a video of a single room.... that's the best I can do for you at this time but don't fret when Maryland and I move in, in May, I'll take a better video of our apartment. Sorry, I know that I took this video a little too quickly through the apartment but thank you for bearing with me.

A single unit is $1,300 a month and then the double unit is $1,900 a month. Now, this a bit more on the expensive side but not terrible prices for down here. Maryland and I had a talk about rent and the two bedrooms. Maryland wanted the larger upstairs room with the private bathroom and walk-in closet and I was totes fine with the downstairs bedroom and large full hallway bathroom. So we spilt the rent $1,000 and $900. Maryland pays $100 more to be on the top floor with the bigger room.

Unfortunately, Silver Reef is not pet-friendly so I will have to wait to bring Gryffindor down but he is doing just fine stateside. I will close with a picture of him that was sent to me from W this morning.

Orientation Week for Vet Prep

Friday, Dec 29th,2017- Landed in St.Kitts!!

     Alright, things are getting serious, people! Landed in st.kitts and our plane stopped on the tarmac. As the fellow passengers and I exited the plane, we walked across the tarmac to the airport building. It felt like a scene from a movie. The sky was so blue and the air was cooling with the warm Caribbean sun shining down. First thing first was customs, I had to fill out customs paperwork and show my passport. The lady also asks to see a copy of my acceptance letter, after I informed her I was on the island for vet school. I informed her that I didn’t have the physical paper on me but I tried to show her my email acceptance letter I had on my iPhone. She was less than thrilled about that but she ushered me on through. 

Once passed customs I went downstairs to collect my checked luggage. I was one the last few down to the luggage area and I immediately found my luggage. It looked absolutely fine, aside from a large crack across the corner of my pink roller suitcase. But that suitcase had a fabric liner inside of it and that lining had held any the items in the bag. I found the Ross University Rep outside and I checked in with her. As we loaded the bus to take us to Ross I met two new friends, “Georgia” and “Maryland”. Georgia is a first-semester student and Maryland is a fellow Vet Prep student.  At the dorms, I met “Ohio”  who is a 1st semester and “San Antonio” who is a vet prepper.  Later that night I also met “Pennsylvania” who another vet prepper. 

                        

Saturday, Dec 30,2017- Island Exploring

Ohio, Maryland, Georgia and I went to meet up my sister J, at the Marriott and take in the beach. We walked over to the strip, which includes Shiggy Shak (a local bar/restaurant). We caught a taxi into the capital, Basseterre. We were lucky enough to be able to be in St.Kitts during Carnival. The costumes were bright and colorful and the music was upbeat but very loud. They even played “shape of you” as an island remix. It was quite interesting. If you were there, you may have gotten the impression that the island was hard of hearing because the music was so loud, one could feel their eardrums wanting to break. Once we got back to campus, we went to a local grocery store called Best Buy. Please understand that this is not the big electronic store that we know and love in the States! But they had tons of name brands and I found lots of things I eat at home.

Shopping Purchases included; Frosted Flakes, popcorn, peanut butter crackers, Campbell's soup, red baron pizza,  Jif peanut butter, and milk. As Maryland continues to tell each of us, as we find more familiar snacks, "we are going to be alright"! 
 

Sunday, Dec 31,2017- New Years Eve

New years eve arrived and we took time to explore and tour the camps with our orientation groups. The campus is just large enough to get a little confused. Each group has an OL, an orientation leader, who is an upper semester student. They show you around and answer your questions. We also got to go to the student union building and get our ID cards. These picture IDs will give you access to your classrooms, the gym, and the dorms. You also need your ID to get back to campus so always take it will you. That afternoon we brought all of our electronic devices and had a "security slime" put on it. SO bring everything; laptops, ipads, apple pencils, cameras, phones and such. For dinner, Georgia, San Antonio, Maryland, Penns, and Ohio ordered pizza for a delivery service called (869-To-Go). We invited a few more students to our group and played "heads up". I highly recommend that you branch out and meet as many people as you possibly can during your first week. Don't stay with the same two people and not branch out. This is your time! Everyone is new and everyone is nervous and excited! Be bold, go say hello and start a conversation! that evening we can a bonfire on the beach to ring in the new year. I went with some people and just went from group to group saying hello. Meet the OL's, the first semester students and the vet preppers.

Monday, Jan 1,2018- Shipwreck Beach

So Monday was a pretty relaxed day. There was an option of going to Carnival or to the beach. I picked the beach because I wanted a relaxing day without a lot of noise and stress ( I was sure to get plenty of that in the future).We went to Shipwreck beach which is south of the Marriott and over the big hill ( that's how you navigate on the island, by landmarks of some kind). I will say that I reapplied sunscreen every hour but still got brunt so maybe do every 30 mins if you are as pale as I am. On shipwreck beach there are monkeys. Word to the wise, do NOT feed the monkeys! They will hassle you for food if you feed them and they can get violent. Also, watch your drinks because monkeys can and will come sip on your drink. Nobody wants a drunken monkey. After the beach, the OL's set up a movie night for us in two of the classrooms. They showed Jurassic World and Moana. It was a fun way to just relax and meet your fellow students in a low-key setting.




 

 

Tuesday, Jan 2,2018- First Offical Day of Orientation

So the day arrived and it was the first day of orientation.  This was the day we learned the term "Island time". They had told us that we would get ipads, laundry cards, and island cell phones. None of these things have arrived. We learned the term "Rush Slowly". When you get to St.Kitts, you understand this statement on a spiritual level. In the morning, breakfast served and it was free to all students. You have to promise me right now that you need to try, at least just once, the zucchini bread.  It will mend your weary heart and prep you for the first day of orientation week. The orientation talks will, of course, begin with many speakers. Now, take a deep breath! Some of the things you are told may be overwhelming but don't worry. You have your entire class and your OL's to help guide you. When you walk into the room and you have a sudden flood of emotions, don't worry every single person is having their own mental breakdown too. So we are all in this together! You were picked out of tons of student and you deserve to be here and you can become the DVM you have always dreamed about!
So after the emotion hurricane, that is the first day of orientation, is over, you can breath a little. Take the afternoon to go explore with your fellow students. I went with Maryland's OL group to Port Zante. Port Zante is where all the cruise ships dock. If you go when there aren't any cruise ships docked, most of the shops won't be open. So you will want to go when a cruise ship docks, to get the full experience of  Port Zante. Bring your student ID with you and wear it around your neck when you go out, most of the locals that are trying to sell things will leave you alone if you have your Ross ID on. This is not a hard rule because I had a girl in my group, who just simply sat down to get some ice cream and a random local came up and started rubbing her leg with an aloe plant. It was quite a shock to her and she sweetly told him to stop but he just kept going. Our OL came to our rescue and told the gentleman that she didn't need it and that she had no money to tip him. Our OL explained to us that the local men needed to be very firmly told No. You can't softly tell them no because they won't get it. Also, go with a group and have a plan for getting back to Ross. I highly recommend calling Mr.Rogers to take you when you and your group travel about.  He charges (normally) 20 EC  (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) for a round trip. That's about 8 US dollars and don't worry, you will get use to the EC to Dollar conversion very quickly (it takes about a week).

Wednesday, Jan 3,2018-Second Day of Orientation

The second of orientation talks where pretty general. They held a lot of knowledge that will be beneficial to do your best to pay close attention. this was also the day I got approved to move from Cleghorn basement to Douglas hall main floor. The thing about the dorms is that is your room number is in the 100's then it is in the basement. 200's are the main floor and of course, 300's being top floor. That evening we went to Sprat Net, a local bar/restaurant, I encourage everyone to try new things when you go to new places. As my mom and dad always say, try everything at least once.

Thursday, Jan 4,2018- Third Day of Orientation

The third day of orientation was a bit longer but we got done by 3pm which left plenty of time to clean and decorate my new dorm room. Went and did another shopping at best buy for a few things. I must caution you to always check the dates on things, especially milk. You do not want to buy a gallon of milk that expires tomorrow. That evening there was a game night at the student union building. We even had a scavenger hunt around campus. I know I keep harping on this but go do activities and things that are organized for you because you don't have any homework yet.

Friday, Jan 5, 2018- Fourth Day of Orientation & Radio Tower Hike

After the fourth and last day of orientation, I went on a guided hike up to the radio tower. My hike was lead by an OL who had done the hike many times before. Word to the wise, take a full bottle of water, wear good shoes (tennis shoes or something you can hike and climb in) and bring a buddy. The hike is roughly 1hour and 20 mins uphill and it is very steep in most places. Don't be ashamed to stop for breaks! take your phone to take pictures as proof of your great trek up the mountain. That evening the OL took our group on a taxi tour of the island's capital. 

 

Saturday, Jan 6, 2018- Catamaran

Okay this was a great day! The Catamaran trip was awesome! 1st semester and vet prep all got mixed up and put on one of two catamarans. Even though there was rain, it was Caribbean rain. It means that the rain only lasted for 15 mins max! We were told that we would get laundry card to operate the washers and dryers in each of the dorm rooms. But with the laundry cards nowhere to be found, Ross had to come up with a different idea. They made it so we could use one washer in Wood's Dorm, one washer in Columbus' Dorm and one dryer in Tegerman Dorm. Imagine 100 plus students with only two washers and only one dryer. This just goes to show that Rossies are adaptive and overcome issues that arise. That evening, San Antonio, Maryland and I had an adult dinner party. We made chicken fried rice, using chicken nuggets (cut into tiny pieces). 

 

It was a busy but fun-filled week!

Day 2.0 of Traveling: Dec 29th,2017

DALLAS to MIAMI

      So I woke up at the Quality Inn and made my way downstairs to check out and board the shuttle to the airport. I can easily say that hands down the shuttle ride from the hotel to the Dallas Airport was the scariest part of my travels. My diver was a sweet guy but I was not prepared for "the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" style of driving that this gentleman had up his sleeve. There was only one other passenger in the shuttle. The whole ride I became more and more happy that I had opted to wait to eat breakfast at the airport. The entire ride me and the other passenger just held on to the "oh shit" handle and said a silent prayer. The shuttle dropped me off first and as I jumped out I turned back and told the other passenger to have a safe and smooth flight. He told me that I should also have a safe flight but after that shuttle ride, that everything else would be smoother in comparison.

   Okay so my parents got my TSA PreCheck  (it's $85 US dollars for a 5-year membership) and I highly recommend to get if you flight often! I walked into Dallas airport and from the time I walked through the door until I got to my airport terminal, took me 10-12 minutes!! Now, I need to express that if I had gone through the normal line, it would have easily been 50mins. There were tons of people at 04:30.

Once I got to my gate I decided it was time to scout out some breakfast. I saw a small little shop and I went in to investigate what kind of goodie they might have. I was in shock when I saw that a single (kind of on the smaller size) banana was $2 US dollars. Umm, I don't need potasimum that badly! geez

I got something for breakfast (not their pricey bananas) and headed back to my terminal. As I eat my breakfast the flight desk stated that you could check your carry-on bag and it would arrive with you at your final destination. Since I was planned to reach St.kitts by that afternoon, I thought it was a good idea. Plus, there was that issue I ran into on my Wichita to Dallas flight, of it not fitting in the overhead bin. So I decided to go ahead and check it. So I just had my huge backpack and boarded the flight.

  So as I boarded the flight and one of my zippers on my smaller pockets on my backpack caught on the dividing curtain, you know that tissue paper thin that separates the first class from the common folk. When it pulled my zipper open, all my 50 fruit roll-ups shattered all over the aisle of the plane. My first thought was "maybe no one noticed" and as I turned around I realized that was completely incorrect! I actually had a thought like "just keep going and they won't know those are your 50 fruit roll-ups". I was embarrassed but leave no man or fruit roll-up behind so, with the help of some other kind passengers I picked them and shoved them into my empty see-through waterbottle. I clipped my water bottle to my backpack and tried to just get to my seat without giving anyone else another funny show!

I got to my seat, which was the middle seat ( the universal favorite seat on airplanes, right?), between. an older couple. I spent the flight to Miami chatting with the couple. They were going to the Bahamas to go sailing on their sailboat for two weeks together. I asked if they would like to switch seats so they could sit together and the wife told me "we have been sitting next to each other for the past 37 years, we enjoy the change" and then she gave me a warm smile. The rest of the flight was very calm and went a lot smoother than the shuttle ride.

Once I got to Miami I only had to walk 5 gates to the south of where my plane had docked. Once I got to the gate area, I began looking around thinking that some of these passengers are going to be my future study buddies and such! I met a family that was traveling with their daughter to Ross for Vet School. The girl's mother was slightly concerned that I didn't have anyone traveling with me but I assured her that it didn't bother me at all.

   As I boarded the final leg of my journey to RUSVM (Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine) and found my seat, I had a clear moment of utter panic! What am I doing? This is craziness! I'm leaving all my friends, family and pets and going off on my own to ANOTHER COUNTRY!?!?  But I had to remind myself that it was going to be okay and all the love and support from the people at home. Remembering how much they believed in me and supported me, calmed me down just as fast as I had freaked out.

   This was not going to be easy but I was not going for easy. I was going for those three letters after my name, DVM, and to reach something I had been dreaming about since I was a little girl. About that time the girl who had the seat next to me sat down. Thinking that she may be one of my new classmates, I asked her if she was excited and followed it up with asking if she was in Ross. She looked at me like I had just suggested we fly to St.Kitts on a pegasus! She informed me that she was with her family, on vacation. But we kept chatting through the flight.

Our plane finally landed and I had butterflies in my stomach and was so nervous and excited! I got off the plane and had to walk across the tarmac to get to the airport, kinda felt like an old-time movie. After making it through customs without any real problems, I went downstairs and got my luggage. All three of my bags were there but my pink suitcase had huge cracks all over on the corners but the fabric liner had kept everything inside. So there was a silver lining.

Well, this is a good place to stop, for now, I promise that I will get you all catch up to speed with my travels and Vet School Adventure.