Mine and Armando's Fun in the Sun at Turtle Beach

Those are the toes of a man relaxing in St Kitts with his girlfriend....

And those are the toes of the girlfriend who is very appreciative of him coming down...

AWWWWWW..... What a cute couple....

This is Turtle Beach, a cute little beach hidden away from most of the tourists since it takes 2 dirt roads to get there. On the way you pass lots of cows and bulls and goats, all belonging to local farmers. I still cant believe I got my beater of a car there in one piece! The best part of being there was seeing Mondo truly relaxed ( I couldn't, I had had diet coke and was a bit antsy!!)

Above is a quick panoramic of turtle beach. The sounds of the waves are pretty nice too! I really brought the camera to get lots of shots of the monkeys that usually frequent there and steal your drinks, but I think that we can too late in the day to catch them (maybe next time!)

But they dont call it turtle beach for nothing! Leatherback turtles have lain eggs all over St Kitts beaches since the dawn of time and hatchling leatherbacks can often be seen in the waters (laying season and the research teams that follow them are soon coming) The species is of prime importance since they are an endangered species and there is a big drive towards their conservation! This is one of the baby leatherback turtles that someone had caught that day to show the tourists. Dont worry, no turtle was hurt in the making of the blog!!

For more information about leatherback turtles and their endangered status click here.

Mine and Mondo's Marriot Spa Experience!!!

So there is that happy couple!!! But, really is that me with the shiny face??? We had just run 5K before we went in for our luxurious spa treatment, but I really need mondo to teach me how to use the degreaser option on the photo program on my computer (lol)

Anyways, what better way to surprise a man than with a 90 minute couples massage at the Marriot. The facilities there are gorgeous and I choose the two best masseuses that they had and we were truly able to relax for a full hour and a half! I hope that Mondo enjoyed the massage as much as I did!

Mine and Armando's St Kitts Thanksgiving

Poor Mondo, he arrives in St Kitts, has time to visit the pug (barely!) and then I am wisking him off to a house full of strangers to celebrate Thanksgiving! Lots of people for him to meet on day one of seeing mine and the pug's new life, but he was happy to see that I had made lots of new friends and that they were all great people.

Cory and Julia hosted the event with their roommate brooke. It was really great, all the fixings were there from turkey to stuffing to apple pie and the rest. Armando and I brought fudge brownies with peanut butter and green bean casserole.This is Paul, one of our class reps at Ross University carving the turkey! And here is the whole gang that celebrated with us... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

For Julia's take on Thanksgiving Day, check out her side of the story here.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ok, so it is a little late to be wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, but it is only official when I receive my Thanksgiving cards.....

Krista's Top Things that she is Thankful for:
-Great friends and great family who are supportive and understanding
-awesome oppurtunity to be studying where I am studying and following my dream
-My sincere and super-fun best friend, Rockstar, the apple of my eye!
-The best boyfriend a girl could ever ask for (and a hunk of a man as well!)

Rockstar's Top things that he is thankful for!
-Grandma's who give him treats when his mommy is not looking
-Peanut Butter
-Hazel, his girlfriend who promised to wait for him while he was away
-The best mommy and daddy that a pug could ever want!!

Hope that everyone has realized what they are thankful for this season!!!

Love,
Krista and Rockstar the Pug

Thankyou Annie and Colleen!!!!

And with Armando's coming comes a shower of gifts for who? The Pug, of course. Rockstar got some yummy pigs ears from his Grandma (oops, I mean Auntie) Polanco and this super cute t shirt that says "ROCKSTAR" in rhinestones on his back!!!
Look how cute he looks. In this picture he is saying "thank you Colleen and Annie". They are both good friends of mine and Rockstar's and it was so sweet of them to think of Rockstar when they saw this t-shirt.
Now, it is official, he is truly a Rockstar!! His grandparents would be so proud!!
"Thank you Auntie Annie and Auntie Colleen!!! I love my new shirt, now I am going to get all of the ladies!!"

Daddy Is HERE!!!!!

Friday at 3:05 Armando landed in St Kitts airport much to the delight of two happy souls, Krista and Rockstar! So good to see Armando and what a great weekend for him to come and visit, right after our Hell week of 4 exams at school and the weekend of Thanksgiving! We have lots planned to do in 4 short days so there is little time to write as of yet, but I will keep all updated on our little comings and goings during his visit, but I thought that everyone would enjoy seeing Rockstar's reaction to seeing his daddy for the first time since the end of August!!!

"Daddy, where have you been?? Did you bring me treats??"

You can all imagine the howling session that pursued!

Coolest Picture Ever of Anything in St Kitts

If this picture is not amazing, then I do not know what is. My girlfriend Julia took this photo of a water spout. Basically, it is a tornado that forms over the ocean and sucks water into it. I did not see them , but they were occurring right outside of our class room windows and Julia was able to take the most amazing photo of them ever!

Just another example of all of the cool things that I am learning about here in St Kitts!

For more information about water spouts check out this site.

And, as always, for more cool pictures from someone that can really use a camera, check out Cory and Julia's site!

Remembering the Old Days...

This is Cabo, my old job when I lived in New York. It is the coolest place in the town and I was a bartender there for about three years. Although it was time to move on, I was definetely sad to leave. It feels like so long ago that I was there, but Ill be back soon to visit over Christmas break. I guess it is just pretty cool to look back at the last three months and see just how much has changed. I miss alot about that place, seeing my friends every weekend even though I was on the other side of the bar, having money that wasnt supplied by Uncle Sam, hanging out with Nat and always getting yelled at (do I actually miss that??) Who knows, maybe Ill make a guest appearrance this spring for spring break.

Anyways, Cabo is growing and now they have a website, so check it out at caborvc.com and from now on I will link to it from my page.
Before I left Cabo I had to have a big blowout party. Being the girlie girl that I am, I had to have a pink party. The way that I see it, if puffy can have a white party then I can have a pink party. It was fun to have a last night at Cabo and see lots of friends stop by. I even decorated the whole place with pink balloons and streamers even though Nat did not help! Above is me and my friend Li who is really fun and was the life of the party. Obviously she wore pink for the occasion!
This is the embarrassing sign of me that was the poster for my 'surprise' going away party that mondo threw for me on another day. Of course, it was left up for everyone to see for the entire week before I left. Some people came in and got upset... they thought that I had passed away and that that sign was my memorial poster. I hope that everyone would have a better memorial poster for me.. I would like to be remembered a little bit different I think!
This is Li again and Rich (he likes the Red Sox, BOOH!) Check out the pink outfits!!! Rich even had a great pair of pink shoes on ( I have the picture but it wont let me upload it, sorry Rich!!) They were totally rockin' in their outfits and I miss them Lots!!!

So, remembering old times in the wake of new times, but cant spend to much time because I have study time...

See everyone at Cabo around Christmas!!

Silly Song About Suffering Through Anatomy in Vet School...

This song is hilarious, and us girls just about lost it when we heard it. It might lose something in the translation when you have not been in an anatomy lab in vet or med school, but it is just downright hilarious... Enjoy!

Rockstar's First Movie "A Pug on A Balcony"

Happy Birthday To ME!!

Well November 11th is here and I am another year old and definetely another year wiser, I mean how much of a wise ass must I have been to have had my own boyfriend ship me to a desolate Carribbean island, funny.

No really, having a birthday is hard here in St Kitts. First, there are no leaves to alert me that it is November. Second, I am on the other side of the hemisphere from friends and family and it does feel a little strange. But things have turned out great, as you can see I got lots of cards in the mail and lots more via email, even Rockstar conned my mom into buying a card for his mommy from him, lol.

So things are well and I will have more pictures of my birthday escapades tonight after we go eat pizza and be merry and hang out at the Marriot...

Oh, did I mention how relaxed I was from my pampered massage that I recieved at the Marriott today?? Thankyou Mondo for the very thoughtful gift, I feel like a million bucks...

Happy Veterans Day!!!

"Mommy tell everyone to please send a soldier a thankyou card"

Found this great website and service from xerox that allows you to send an electronic thankyou to United States servicemen all over the world. Just a little way to say "thankyou" today on Veteran's Day and everyday. If you ever want to find the link again, it will always be on my site under KRISTA'S LINKS.

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

"Mommy how come the link isnt under my link section???"

He'll Do Anything for Treats...

A Pug loves his treats. No other Comment Needed...

Breakfast the Morning After the Marriott (Pugs Invited)

So before we went to the Marriot we decided that in the morning we were going to have a nice, girls only breakfast (Rockstar and Soto were of course invited!) Here are the girls enjoying pancakes, eggs, toast and Starbucks coffee (julia got some shipped to her!!) But where are Krista and Rockstar?Obviously, I am still in bed from the night before, with my handsome pug by my side. He stayed with me for most of the morning, pugs may not be the smartest breed, but they know when you are not feeling so hot. Somebody has to take care of me when I have one of those mixing rum and vodka nights! (why do I never learn!)

Finally, when I got up I was starving!! And it looks like Rockstar was too! This is a pretty normal occurence for me and the pug; I eat and he hovers over me, waiting for a morsel of a crumb to come tumbling his way. But I have been so good since I have been here in not feeding Rockstar any human food, and he has been looking so good, with a nice coat and he's lost weight, so I let him stand there, but I dont give him any.....Until I am all done eating of course, and then Rockstar gets to lick my plate clean!!!

Last Week at the Marriott (without the pug!!)

Last week at the marriott we went for drinks and we had no idea that there was a huge poker tournament going on. I have no idea who the big poker heads are in the industry, but Teresa recognized this one guy, Freddy Deebs from TV. Below are the girls and Freddy, from the left: Kheli, Teresa, Freddy, me and Julia.


And here we are later that night, three girls enjoying our martini's (and Kheli with her cigar!!!) The night was fun, we had started at Teresa's house for a BBQ (thats the night that I had fish!!) and then we had a couple of drinks at the Marriott (and met freddy deebs!!) and then we went to a little party where Teresa stole a bag of chips and Kheli stole a really good Cohiba (cuban) cigar!!! Hilarious!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA"

If Rockstar could stay awake for long enough he would call him Grandma Giacullo and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, but he of course, is a sleepy but and could not be awoken.

Hope that you like your bracelet mom. Miss you and Happy Birthday!!

Another Beautiful Sunset, and Then Rockstar Says...

In between my feverish studying (finals are five weeks away, yikes!!) I looked out my window and caught a glimpse of this. It truly was a beautiful site, and so Rockstar and I were taking the shot out on the balcony when he ruins the moment and chimes in....
"Mom... I am frickin dying out here, cant you see my tongue hanging out of my mouth???" It, of course is not even that hot, but my spoiled pug is used to the ac and a specific body temperature. Yes, he has a short face (in veterinary medicine we call that brachycephalic!!!) but short face plus spoiled is what Rockstar is...

"Lemme back in the ac, you stay out here with the stupid sunset"

Ok, Rocks, back to studying we go...

My Two Hot Dates Tonight...

Watch out Mondo, Ive got two dates this Friday night!!! Rockstar and Soto are at my house and if you want to get technical there is this one physiology textbook that I have been spending alot of time with as well...

Lol, so with finals five weeks out, I have been increasing the study time each night and really trying to focus on why I am here. Of course that is hard for two main reasons.
1) Rockstar - he likes to do anything for attention. If I am not playing with him he finds ways
make me get up and chase him... His favorite attempt is the dirty laundry sneek. He'll
sort his way through the laundry very quietly and just when I am on the verge of a
breakthrough in understanding the difference between the hypogastric nerves and the
pelvic nerves, he'll jump up with a sock and of course the chase is on....
2) Mondo - well it is not exactly his fault, but he is so darn cute and I get to see him in three
weeks and that is often all that I can think about.

Well back to my "date"...

Rainbows Over St Kitts

Never seen anything like this rainbow before. I wont lie, we are spoiled with rainbows everyday here since it rains so much, but never have I seen such a full rainbow. The pictures do it no justice... It was truly amazing.

Sketchy Movie Theatre in St Kitts

These are pictures of the movie theatre in downtown Basseterre. Yes, it looks sketchy, but I was dying to see JACKASS 2 and we had just finished a test and wanted to go down and relax and have a good laugh. Everyone said to where closed toed shoes since there were lots of rats and creepy critters, but I didnt see anything at all (perhaps thank goodness for the cover of darkness). All in all, it was a very good deal; 10$ EC for the movie and 5.5$ EC for the coconut candybar and a bottled water. Thats less than 10$ US!!! You can also get beer at the concession stand, but that is no big surprise here in St Kitts.

The architecture of the place is pretty cool. It looks like it used to be an old theatre. We sat in the balcony section and the screen was situated where the stage was. They were pretty good seats and the place was even air conditioned!!! Alas, it wasnt so bad.. And dont worry everyone, I was there with a crowd, as cool as it was it is in a sketchy part of town, especially after dark. Me and Anne-marie went with Cory and Julia and Justin plus another couple that I have never met. All was safe!!

Just a View of a Pugs Life

I am not quite sure what is funnier, the fact that Rockstar is sleeping in just about every picture or that I sleep with my textbooks (thats right they stay on my bed while I sleep). I guess that makes him lazy and makes me a study-a-holic.

Make New Friends But Keep the Old...

If there is one thing that being totally isolated alone on an island can do, it is that it will make you think of all of the things that you took for granted. On this list there are a multitude of things including nice restaturants, malls and shopping centers, reputable medical and dental care, but most importantly it includes those few people in your life that you consider quite close that you miss the most. Kelly, Ida, and Selena are my New York best friends, they taught me how to 'be' New York, everything from what to wear, to where to eat and I miss them dearly.
Me, Ida, and Selena the night that Ida got engaged last Valentines Day to her future hubby, Eric aka "errrr".From left: Ida, Me, Nadine, and Selena on my "last supper" with the girls to celebrate my going away and Ida's Birthday! Seems like so long ago!

Me and Kelly trying to decide which cheesecake to eat first... I miss cheesecake, and my girls!!!

Ross University of Veterinary Medicine

This is a great shot of my school from the air. The plane is over the ocean and is looking inland. As you can see, the view of the mountains is pretty sweet, but what is really nice is the view of the water. The large building to right is the newest building on the campus (auditorium) and since my class is so big (120 students) most of our classes are there. Of course it looks straight out onto the water and is a bit distracting during lecture.
This is one of our lecture halls at school. As you can see, although we live in an unindustrialized country, we have alot of technological luxuries at school. Look at all of the televisions, these display the powerpoint slide shows of the professor (other lecture halls have flat screens!!) All of the halls also have an awesome sound system with microphone and full airconditioning. We are actually usually cold on campus!!