Yes, My Husband is in Medical School

It is officially busy season in the Caribbean, which of course includes our beloved St. Kitts Marriott.  Students have been getting 'kicked out' (asked to leave) on numerous occasions, even though students contribute tons of money every day buying food and drinks galore!  However, there is an upside to busy season - there are steel drums every weekend in the afternoon, and Zenway Blvd (our street) is just overall a more exciting place!  Also, Andee and and I have befriended the Marriott workers and have been deemed "Regulars" by our favorite Towel Hut worker, who scores us Marriott towels so that we blend right in with the tourists.  By the way, I did indeed 10-second timer this picture.

Andee and I also discovered that the Marriott is home to many cute cats that mostly come out at night due to the incredibly hot sun during the day (jealous?).  They are used to people feeding them on a regular basis, and so are very friendly and affectionate.

Puurrrrrrfect

Andee and I also took a trip to Port Zante and Downtown Basseterre, which is currently full of lots of cruise ships and tourists.  Isn't it great having a car!?  Now if we could only get the headlights working and drive it at night...

"Canada House"

Mountains

Cruise Ship

The desperate housewives have established "girls nights" on Tuesdays, as well as "trivia nights" on Thursdays.  This week we saw a movie, and next week we are playing a dancing video game with Wii at Janae's house.  Looking forward to an embarrassing and hilarious time!

This weekend we celebrated a couple birthdays of fellow students which led to a night out, some Euchre (Canadian Style), and a Beach Party!  Of course we killed it with Euchre (haha), and had a great time hanging out with friends and definitely not studying!  P.S. Have you noticed all the pictures of Andee this time around?  I think he has finally given in to the fact that good pictures make for a good blog!  And that everyone loves to see pictures of my future MD having fun in the Caribbean....even while in Medical School!

Birthday Girl

 Bamboo Lounge and Beach Party

 Girls

Canadians

 

Ocean Fun

Today (Monday) has been on and off raining all day, and so Andee and I got out our umbrellas and took a few pictures by the ocean!  A "wintery" day in St. Kitts!  Fortunately, we got back just in time, as it is currently pouring!  I suppose I really can't complain, it is still well above 20°C in the good ol' Caribbean!

Block exams are coming up fairly soon for Andee, in about 2 weeks, and so I will soon start having to entertain myself!  With lots of great neighbors, great weather, worship team, Bible study, girls nights, 10-second timer, photo shoots, making yummy food, and of course, blogging, I should be able to keep myself busy!  And Andee is still able to make lots of time for me despite his busy school schedule, which I am grateful for!

We are also preparing for the arrival of my parents in less then 3 weeks!  I am so excited to see them and to show them around the Island and what we do for fun!  And I'm sure that they will be even more excited to be leaving the current -20C Canada weather and entering into Tropical Paradise! (Ok, so I am exaggerating a little for dramatic effect)  We have lots of fun things planned for them, as well as lots of beach time and relaxing!  Get out the sunscreen!!

On a final note....

Only in St. Kitts

Back to the Ol' St. Kitts Grindstone....

Oh St. Kitts, always full of adventures!

With our car not working for a few days and the fact that we had yet to make it to the grocery store, we wound up eating quite a bit of the goodies we packed in our suitcase (Mr. Noodles, Kraft Dinner, Stovetop, Candy, etc).  It was great!  Good ol' Canadian food products that we missed so much!  We did get a little creative, with random food we had in our apartment leftover from last semester (and the help of the Rams Express mini grocery store down the street!)

Pita Pizza - pita, diced tomatoes, green pepper, peperoni sticks, and cheese!

After a few days of jump starts and dead batteries, our amazing neighbors helped us to get our car 'Jamal' up and running for the shockingly low cost of 35 EC!  Amazing!  Our little island car is super helpful for Andee this semester, as the school bus schedule doesn't line up with his classes as well as last semester.  Now he is home nice and early in the afternoon most days, which allows for maximum pool and beach time amidst the studying!  Expect a tanned, full, and healthy Andee when we return in April!

In addition, back by popular demand, The Desperate Housewives of St. Kitts!  What shenanigans will we get ourselves into this semester?  Many more beach and pool days, lunch dates, girls nights, trivia evenings, and Blue Martini-ing!  More pictures to come!  And just for you Nick,  "We are married females, that just want to have fun!"

Our New Friend

Andee and I also made it out to Bamboo Lounge, an outdoor bar down the street.  Having so many fun things to do within walking distance from our apartment really comes in handy!  And another thing about going out in the Caribbean....no coat checks, no freezing girls in dresses and heels, and no lines!  Just wonderful!  Great friends and great fun!

This semester Andee gets home quite early in the afternoon, around 1:30-2:30 every day!  Contrast this to the 7AM departure and 6PM return 3 days a week last semester.  Hooray for Med 2!  Andee has promised that this semester he will spend more time at the beach with me, since he has a little more time on his hands.  We both realized that studying medicine on a Tropical Island is quite an experience and a blessing, and so he needs to enjoy the beauty of the Island!  Here is just a taste of the Fun-in-the-Sun to be had by Andee and I this semester!

So there you have it - St. Kitts Round Two!  Now that we have successfully transitioned into our new Marriage, new Country, new Home, and completely new Life, we are well on our way to following God's perfect plan for us.  I'm so excited and confidently expectant to find out what he has in store for us next!

"Canada...Cool Country Eh?"

For those of you who did not see my Dad on Christmas, the title phrase of this blog was proudly displayed on his hoodie, complete with a polar bear wearing sunglasses...perfect.

Although we tend to be the brunt of American media jokes, I can proudly say that to me, Canada is the best country in the world!  Why do you say?  Here is an example!  When arriving home to Canada, I obliviously walked right into a middle aged man, who quickly turned around and apologized.  That's right.  I walked into him, and he apologized to me.  We could use a few more Canadians in St. Kitts!

And now, a play by play of Diana and Andee's Canadian Visit!

On December 8th, I left the warm but sketchy land of St. Kitts to start my month long "vacation" back to Canada!  The problem: I had to leave Andee to fend for himself for a whole week during Final Exams.  It did not go over well.  He ended up losing 10 pounds and was also very stressed and sick.  Turns out he really does need me in St. Kitts!

Upon my arrival into the Toronto Airport, I was greeted by some very impressively dressed family members that were very excited to see me!  And boy was I excited to see them!  Probably because I knew that the next stop was MCDONALDS!! (Just kidding...but seriously...we got McDonalds)  A very exciting and delicious first night back!

 Next, the original Aldridge Family traveled to Niagara Falls for a mini holiday!  It was so wonderful to spend time with the Fam Jam, even though the weather was a shocking -21C (-6F).  However, not even this terrible, cold weather could prevent us from taking one great picture with the falls!

 Thank goodness everything else in Niagara Falls is available indoors!  Indoor Waterpark, Great Canadian Midway, Museums, Mini-Golf, Skywheel, and much more!  And don't worry - we took tons of pictures!

 Our Canadian Christmas Celebrations were also a success, filled with lots of Family, Friends, and Food!  Andee and I were very happy to be able to spend Christmas back in Canada with loved ones, as well as enjoying all the Canadian Winter related activities such as wearing my winter coat and mittens indoors.  Oh Canada!

The remainder of our time was spent working (for me) relaxing (for both Andee and I) hanging out with family and friends, and eating way, way, way too much fast food!

And to finish off our All Canadian Blog Post....please enjoy!

Only in Canada (or North America) can you take a picture of a McDonalds from within a McDonalds...yeah, that's right.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we did indeed make our connecting flight from Toronto to Miami, despite an hour and fifteen minute delay to "de-ice".  Our luggage greeted us there one day later, and Andee has successfully registered and attended his first day of class as a Med 2!  We celebrated with some quality beach time with just the two of us.  Semester 2, St. Kitts, here we come!!