POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
