Fun at CIA

I wanted to share a few pictures I got from Reece's teacher. These are some great pics of them carving a pumpkin at school the other day. Enjoy!

It is Halloween...

So Momma had to get her big butt off the couch and be productive today! And you know what, it went ok! I rested all day so that Dave and I could take the kids to the big Spouses Org carnival/pot luck and it seemed to work...the kids had a good time and so did we!

The kids (and even the adults took a turn) played musical chairs, did coloring, made candy necklaces, did a guessing game, and we all shared a yummy pot luck dinner. It was a lot of fun, but the whole time Carter was waiting for his favorite part- the Trunk or treating! He had fun going to everyone's trunk and getting candy, he had waited all day for it! After the party the kids watched a movie on a big screen in one of the lecture halls. They saw Hoodwinked and it was a good end to a fun night!

The good news is, I still feel good. Kind of tired but good! Yay, I must be getting better! THANK GOD! Now Dave is out having some fun with friends which is exactly what he needs after all the studying that guy does! He had another test today...only 3 left and we are DONE!!! Oh yes and you know I'm gonna say it, only 5 weeks left!

The Island's farewell...

Well, is seems that this island is intent on making our last 2 months here very memorable ones. First we have a hurricane and now with only 6 weeks left I come down with a case of dengue fever. This is a virus carried by a certain mosquito down here in the Caribbean.

It came on Friday night after the date night. I woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever. I literally laid in my bed all Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night I passed out in the bathroom and scared Dave half to death. Monday I actually felt better and thought I was on the mend...well that was a quick thought because by 2 in the afternoon the temperature and pain were back, so I spent the rest of Monday, all of Tuesday and Wednesday on the couch. Today I forced myself to get up and go get some supplies for Halloween tomorrow, but once I got home from our 1 hour trip I had to lay down for 3 hours to recoup! So far some of the different things I have experienced with dengue fever are high fever, severe back and neck pain, eye ball pain, loss of complete appetite, headache, fainting, weird scatter brained head feeling, red and sore palms and soles of feet, rash and itching...and every day it seems to manifest itself in a different way. And I guess the worst part has just been the length of time I have been sick, I'm use to getting a sickness that last 24-36 hours and then its gone, not 6+ days of not feeling much better.

So, I'm hoping to feel better soon...or at least well enough to function! This just really stinks! There is some good news here though...Dave passed his comprehensive exam so he has one less thing to worry about! Oh and tomorrow we only have 5 weeks to go! At this point it couldn't come soon enough...and I pray the island doesn't have any more surprises for me!

You know your old when...

You have a date night for the first time in months and you end up at McDonald's...or maybe it isn't old maybe pathetic is more the word! Dave had his last block exams today so we decided to celebrate with a night out together! I thought seeing a movie would be fun because Dave never gets to go and the theater is really nice here and CHEAP! So we headed over to the movie that started at 6:35, we hit traffic so by the time we got there Dave had to jump out of the car to get our tickets while I raced around and parked. I ran in and Dave and I ran to get into the movie before it started...well once we got in there we quickly discovered that the movie was actually not starting until 7:05. The web site and the actual movie times were not the same! I know it was only a 1/2 hour difference but that totally threw off our whole schedule so we ended up only having time for a quick McDonald's stop before going home. I had all kinds of fancy ideas of nice restaurants we haven't tried yet and we ended up at McDonald's! It wasn't a total loss though, I got a premium chicken sandwich which I never get because its always to expensive so I splurged on that. Well anyway...that's a Reimer date night..hmm maybe this is what happens after 8 years??

Have you ever wondered.....

What has Dave been doing for the past 22 months? Today, we're going to shake things up a bit...Dave is going to be doing the blog because who better to tell about the AUC experience than someone who has been living day and night at the school for the last 678 days....did I forget to mention we only have 52 left, ok sorry back on track!

Hello everyone, it's me, Dave - your future doctor. Today was officially my last day of formal class here at AUC forever. I can finally breath, though not relax, and prepare for my comprehensive exams, finals, and subject-specific shelf exams. Almost done! With that in mind, I have decided to show everyone what a typical day looks like through my eyes. Ready? Put on your thinking caps, 'cause here we go...

Every morning, Reece and I get ready for our school and head out without waking Ashley - aren't I a good husband? Since his school (Caribbean International Academy) is on the way, we walk together and complain about how hot it is as our shirts soak with sweat before we even get there. We depart, I say 'good morning' to the school guard, then head toward mine. This is the first view I get as I approach AUC...
Entering the school grounds, I cross the courtyard and make my way to Lecture Hall #4 - the room on ground-level on the right side of the picture.

Fact: There are 5 lecture halls for the 550 students attending lecture every day, each lecture hall designated to 1 of 5 different semesters.
Additional fact: the vast majority of the students are American; the remainder being Canadian, Russian, and various other countries.

Into class we go. And there they are. Slowly, but surely, the classroom is filling and soon class will begin. The topics have ranged through the semesters from anatomy and molecular-cellular-biochemistry to pathology and pharmacology (and much more in between). Classes are typically from 8:30 AM to 12:00.
Fact: Most of our professors have extensively taught in American medical schools and some have graduated from Harvard Medical School as well as completing residencies at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. There's no shortage of medical knowledge here!
Whew! You survived class with me so far, but remember, the day has just begun. Now it's time to study!! After class, I run home for a quick bite of lunch. At this time, Ashley is just getting up to start her day -- okay, maybe it's not that bad. A bagel with some cream cheese, salami, and swiss cheese - not to mention any other snack item I can jam into my gut within an hour - then it's back to school. First we must stop off at my locker and grab some books...just a few.

Fact: there's an awful lot of studying we have to do.
Okay, got some books? Now it's time to head up to the library and study, study, then study some more. It may not look like much, but every medical book you need is right there at your fingertips. All you need to do is pick it up and memorize...uh, I mean learn it all.
I'm getting a little tired, time for a study break. Walking out of the library, you can stop and look down onto the rotunda. People-watching is a good way to take your mind off of medicine. Oh, look, people are lining up to buy a cup of coffee - they must be just as tired as me. Perhaps I should join them, but first we need to go outside and get a breath of fresh air.
Ah yes, the sights of the island. Always relaxing, not to mention very helpful with clearing the mind. Why study in America when you can study with this as your background?
Hey, we're taking too much time for a "short" break. Back to the books! I study, or sometimes stare at the books and hope the information will mystically jump into my brain, until 6:00 PM. Eat the dinner that Ashley has slaved away at, kiss everyone goodnight, then go back to study until 11:00 PM. Next day, same thing. Over and over, for the past 22 months, that has been our daily routine way out here in paradise.

My time here has been very intense, especially if you include all the hurricanes, tropical storms, and earthquakes. It's been non-stop studying since day 1. As I said, today was my last day of lectures, and soon I will have to take the USMLE Step 1 (my board exam). I am looking forward to starting my clinical rotations, yet it's worrisome at the same time. There's just so much knowledge I have to retain. With the help of Ashley, our boys, and our families, these next few years will be exciting.

Thanks for tagging along with me on our brief journey in a day in the life of David.

I love electricity!

We finally had a good nights sleep! The electricity was on ALL night so we cranked the air and slept like babies! It was so nice! It is still going on and off today but as long as it works at night I'm happy! I'm pretty sure at this point I will be throwing most of the food away because I can't figure out what is still good and what isn't and I'm not really interested in getting food poisoning if I'm wrong! Luckily, we didn't have much at all in the freeze so I won't be out much. The water has been mostly on, so that has been nice.

So we made it through our first and probably only hurricane. Many things that our on the coast were demolished. A family from AUC lost everything they own and were trapped in their apartment. Bliss and the Sunset Beach Bar (where you watch the planes come in) are completely gone. But the only damage to the areas away from the coast is mainly tree damage.

So here are some pictures of the wrath of Omar. Here is what we saw when we walked out the first time. Just a lot of limbs and leaves everywhere.

Dave had to get out his machete and cut down a bunch of broken limbs and I swept the area.
When we walked out to our parking spot we found this roof on the car we have been using.
Luckily, the only damage was a cracked windshield and a few minor scratches.

This is the jeep of one of Dave's professors. The tree fell right on it.
This is damage on the golf course.
The road was completely flooded.
This is the only road in or out of our town.
This is the golf course....the swells were so large they brought sand the whole way over the golf course. It was insane to see all that sand so far from the beach.
A view of an uprooted tree and the flooded road.
Just how deep the water was.
Many people felt like they had places to go...this man's van died in the middle of the water.
Some thought driving on the golf course would be a better idea...those people spent the next hour digging their cars out of the sand!

Here's Reece enjoying his new personal lake!

Here is the Sunset Beach Bar...hmmm no watching the planes now!
And here is the parking lot of a place called Bliss...Bliss is now out in the parking lot.
Wow, sure glad we got one more thing to check off on our experiences in St Maarten. Hmmm I don't want anymore like this though!

Quick update

We are all doing well after Hurricane Omar. It came in around 2:00 am Thursday morning. When it finally hit St Maarten it had reached category 3 as opposed to being a category 2 like it was first forcasted to be.

I just wanted to do a quick update to let everyone know that we are okay. Power is off and on and they aren't sure when it will be back up more permanently but when it is I will update with pictures of the destruction. The only real problems we had were down trees and a roof on our car that broke the windshield. We're luck and others weren't so luck and we hope they are doing ok!

Thanks everyone for thinking of us and I'll update when I get a chance!

Happy Birthday Cayley!

(Due to our current weather situation I am posting this now, her b-day is tomorrow, power is being turned off at 10 pm...who knows when it will return!)

Happy Birthday Cayley, we hope you have a great day! I can't believe you are 9 already! We'll have to get together for a Chuck E Cheese trip when we get back so you, Cullen and the boys can hang out! Hope your day is wonderful! Know that the Reimers' are thinking of you and wishing you a VERY HAPPY DAY!

Have you ever wondered.....

What St Maarten does when there is going to be a hurricane? I really didn't want to find this one out and with only 56 days left I thought I was in the clear....but NO! Tonight, Hurricane Omar is suppose to hit close to us so all of St Maarten is getting ready. Today, I went into Cole Bay to get some supplies, which was hard because I really didn't want to buy very much in case nothing happens but didn't want to not have anything in case it did. So I'm probably under prepared but of course I'm about the most optimistic under worrier you ever met so its pretty typical of me! Right now, Omar is looking like it will hit tomorrow early morning and will be about 87 miles off of St Maarten and we will experience winds of around 105 mph.

Tons of people were filling up with gas (yep me too!)
So many people were at the grocery store that people were parked up on the curbs.
The lines were forever long..I haven't seen them this bad since Christmas!
All stores and banks were closing early and no schools (even Dave's) were in session today.
Stores are putting down hurricane shutters and boarding up all windows.

Even the ATM machines are closed and protected.
The traffic is backed up with everyone trying to get into Phillipsburg and Cole Bay.
The golf course road...our only way into town is already starting to flood and the worst hasn't even begun yet.
All boats are moved into the lagoon to help protect them the best they can. Notice the water..right now it just feels like the calm before the storm. There is NO wind what so ever and besides the fact that we haven't seen the sun in 5 days and the rain, everything seems perfectly normal.
So that's what it is like in St Maarten before a hurricane...I'll keep you updated once we actually know what is happening and how bad it actually was....IF I have internet...and electricity!

A hurricane day???

So when I was growing up we prayed all winter for a snow day, well Reece doesn't have school for a hurricane day! Yes, as odd as that sounds Tropical Storm Omar is upon us and as a precaution all schools are canceled for tomorrow, not sure at this point if that includes Dave or not. But I went and got some hurricane supplies tonight and we're ready if something was to happen. Keep us in your thoughts for the next few days....Thursday is suppose to be the worst day for us I think. I'll keep you updated!