Independence Day

Happy 4th to everyone! Here on the island the displaced Americans are celebrating! Well, the ones that aren't studying for exams anyway. Ericka has an Anatomy exam on Monday (starting at 7:00 in the morning!) and a Physio exam on Wednesday. So she has been coming home smelling like formalin every night from hours spent in the lab, or should I say DAYS spent in the lab. I can't wait until she gets to spend more time with live animals!
We are both settling into our new apartment and our roommates. One of which is fostering a dog, so that brings both joys and challenges.

The white coat ceremony at the beginning of the semester marked Ericka's official entry into Veterinary Medicine. Doesn't she look official! Well you should see that nice white lab coat now, ha! It has spent many hours in the lab - still white, but a little stinky even after washings.
I have completed my first MBA on-line course, came out with an unexpected A-. Yeah me! From here on, I will take 2 classes for each 8 week session, breaking only during the holiday season.
Ericka's next break is approaching quickly and will begin on August 20. We are happy/sad to be staying on the island over break. It will be nice for her to be able to enjoy the island for a change - I of course will still be doing my coursework, but my load is much lighter than hers so we hope to spend some quality time exploring the island together.
Little red riding hood has some new brake pads and a fixed window (well, 2 work well now). She continues to remind Daisy that living here is different than at home. I guess giving up some "luxuries" is a small price to pay for being able to go to the beach on a daily basis. Not that I go every day, but I could :-)

Back on the Rock!

Well, Ericka and I made it safely to the states and back. What a whirlwind tour that was! We landed in Indiana, but spent time in both Michigan and Virginia (and the states in-between). It was wonderful to see friends and family. We both wish we could have spent more time with those we did see and see the ones we didn't get a chance too, but I guess there is always next time.
We flew back to the island with our suitcases loaded with goodies (a couple were close to the weight limit!). We are now settled into our new apartment with our new roommates. We have a lovely 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment in the area of the island called Frigate Bay. Our apartment complex is called Golf View. Here is the link if you'd like to look at a few pics. Just remember these pictures were taken before a million students took over the place!
http://stkittsrealestate.tripod.com/stkittsrentalimages.html
We had a wonderful visit yesterday with David and Becky Waas. They were traveling on the Semester at Sea ship and lucky for us, St. Kitts was one of their stops!
Our little red riding hood continues to have typical "Rossmobile" issues, but for the most part gets us where we need, and occasionally want to go.
Thanks to a birthday gift from Mom, graciously delivered by the Waas', we now have a local phone number (local to all our stateside friends that is). So feel free to call us: 260.246.5716
Ericka had the first exam of the semester this morning - she is actually taking it as I type! My first on-line class is nearly over (working toward an MBA). So overall, things are good with us.
More fun to come!
Let us know when you plan to visit! You know you want to!
Daisy for Ericka, too!

Hello from the tropics!

Hello to all of you just joining my blog! Don't worry, you haven't missed much because I have been lazy in getting all the details posted!
Good News
We decided to adopt our foster car! She is truly a Rossmobile. She is a little red Nissan Sunny. Here is our car criteria:
Mandatory
Starts - check
Runs - check
Stops - check
Lights - check
Optional
Windows work - 2 back passenger windows work manually (I mean manually, as in use your hands, passenger window, yes but squeaks, driver window, most of the time
Manual transmission - yes! they are the ones that last the longest down here
Idles/stays running - well, most of the time
Makes it up the big hills to the beach - heck yeah!
Doors lock - well usually, but see windows above (does it really make sense to lock the doors when you can open the windows with your hands?)
Luxury
Air conditioning - yeah, if you count the 3.5 windows and the sunroof
Radio - who are you kidding, that is just craziness!
Doors open and close - well, 3 of them do
Hatch opens and closes - yes, but you have to use a long wooden pole to keep it open.

Better News
We are all set to move into our new apartment. We will be sharing a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment with 2 other students. I am really looking forward to having an oven and a kitchen with counter space. The apartment complex is called Golf View (can you guess the view from our window?). We will be living on the second floor.
Great News
We are coming HOME OVER BREAK!!!!!
We are leavin' on a jet plane on Tuesday April 20th and will arrive in Fort Wayne late afternoon on Wednesday. We are hoping to be able to see many people while we are home, so make sure you let us know your schedules so we can pencil you in :-)

More about the island

There are so many things to tell you about the island.
The Language
The people here speak English - well that is what they call it anyway. I have yet to understand much of it. They are taught "proper English' in school, but most only speak that when they choose to - I am convinced that some have forgotten what they learned after years of being out of school. It has really been a struggle for me to communicate with any of the local folks. For the most part they know we are just passing through, so why bother.
The People
On a brighter note, the people here are actually quite interesting. To read about the history of the island is amazing. Most of the people here were brought in as slaves from West Africa. They worked on the sugar cane plantations. The sugar can production actually just stopped here a few years ago. They are an amazing people that have fought very hard for the freedoms they now have. The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis were once a colony of Great Britain, but now is a sovereign nation. Much like Australia or many other countries throughout the world. At least, I think I have my history and understanding of all of that are correct.
The School
Ross University is a beautiful location to study Veterinary Medicine. We are currently living in the residential buildings (dorms, if you will), but will be moving off campus, as required in May. If you would like to see more visit www.rossu.edu and select the veterinary school link.
The Island
It truly is beautiful here. Here are some pics from our early days. You can watch our tans grow as I post more pics :-)

Getting settled in

So, shortly after we arrived, our crippled suitcase arrived. Fortunately the taping job we did in Miami worked like a charm!
We got settled in our new apartment. The space is actually quite nice.
Ericka's classes started on the following Monday and I started getting acquainted with the other spouses (or VIPs as they are called here).
 Getting used to living here is definitely an adjustment. Ericka getting used to the school and me getting used to time to myself. I think I am going to like this!
Here are some pics of our new place:

An apology from afar

Well, here goes, my first attempt at a blog.....

Many of you have been curious about our lives here on the island, so I thought I would take this opportunity to catch you all up.

Here is the first entry in our journal (an email that I sent out when we first arrived on the island). Future posts will be my attempt at getting everyone up to speed, so to speak.

Enjoy!

On December 25, we packed up what remained of our life in Fort Wayne Indiana and headed for Williamston Michigan to spend the holidays with my folks. Upon our arrival we had a lovely holiday celebration, complete with gifts and warmth. The next morning we hoisted (with some help from my father and my brother-in-law) nearly all of our boxes up into the attic over the garage. A few were reserved for repacking and storage in a more temperature controlled environment.
As luck would have it, my sister Abby was moving out all of her things into her new home and that left some room for ours! Much to my father's chagrin.
A week of preparation, relaxation and anxiety ensued. But finally on Saturday, January 2, April drove us to the airport. A true testimony to both the cargo room of a Subaru Forrester and the packing abilities of the Schmidt family. We had 4 large suitcases (2 overweight), 2 carryons, 2 backpacks and 3 humans.
Our flight from Detroit to Miami was uneventful (and for those that are wondering, yes, the medication helped a great deal!). Our layover in Miami was many hours and we had prearranged a hotel stay. Little did we know that we would have to claim all of our baggage, take it to the hotel and recheck it in the morning. Life has a way of working things out though, because one of our suitcases had started to rip. Left to the baggage handlers, all of our belongings may not have made it. So from the hotel, we walked to a gas station to see about purchasing some duct tape (It fixes everything, right?!) Well, the best they could do was packaging tape, so we settled for that. The next half hour or so was spent taping every single inch of the lower portion of the suitcase.
Our flight from Miami to St. Kitts was another uneventful one, for which we are grateful. The University staff and students that met us at the airport are very helpful and friendly. They loaded us up in vans, minus one of our suitcases. You guessed it, the unlucky one! It somehow got left in Miami!
We barely got settled in last night in time to go with the group to a local restaurant for supper and I got to try Ting for the first time - thanks Mike for the suggestion, it is GREAT! The rest of you will just have to come and experience it for yourselves. We made sure we had clean clothes laid out for the morning and crashed!
This morning started bright and early at 7:30 am with breakfast and then many logistical things for Ericka to do, i.e. student visa, medical information, drivers license (I got one too - and no there isn't a separate one for motorcycles!), banking, etc. We also took a tour of the campus and got our ID cards. Who knew there could be so many hills and stairs on such a little campus on such a little island! We are gonna be in great shape - maybe even before the week is out!
We took a trip to the grocery and returned around 6pm. Just the essentials for now, but you can imagine 12 people shopping and then piling back into one large Toyota "bus". We just got the groceries unloaded and Ericka decided to go out with some of her new classmate friends, so I thought I would take this opportunity to jot down a few things.
I don't want to bore you will ALL of the details, but YES it is beautiful, YES it is warm, YES we are in paradise, blah blah blah :-)
We love you all and wanted to send you a little update. I hope to keep these going over the next couple of years while we are here. Might even include some pictures.