Carlson's Caribbean Adventure

For Christmas break, Luke and I were able to visit my side of the family in New Hampshire. We had a wonderful time! We were even able to spend some time with family and friend that we hadn't seen since our wedding day, July 9, 2016. Sadly, our break came to an end all too soon. It was an odd feeling realizing that this was the last time we would have to fly back to St. Vincent. We would like to come back and visit our friends here in the future and hopefully provide medical assistance. Our flight was scheduled to leave Boston early on a Saturday morning and after catching a few connections, arrive in St. Vincent late that evening. The Thursday before we left, was the "bomb cyclone" that caused many cancellations for flights out of Boston. My sister lives near Boston and kept asking me about our flight status. We kept an eye on it, but everything was on time. My parents brought us to my sister's apartment the night before our flight...

Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it isn't celebrated in St. Vincent. We don't get any time off, but we still do our best to celebrate. This year, like last year, Luke had an exam the day after Thanksgiving, but since it was a more simple exam, we didn't have to rush right home after eating to study. This island life isn't always ideal, but we have so much to be grateful for. We have our health, our home, food, friends, a wonderful church, and beautiful weather. During the holidays spent on the island, I'm always especially thankful for technology that allows me to talk to my family in the states. If anything, moving to St. Vincent has taught me to not take as much for granted and to be grateful for all of the little things. T his year for Thanksgiving, a missionary couple graciously invited us to join them for a meal, but with Luke's school schedule and our lack of transportation, we had to decline. Our friends Thomas & Natalie who live right...

I love how many opportunities we have here to get involved and have new experiences. This past Saturday, November 11, was one of those new experiences for Luke and I. In the morning, we joined a club from school to assist at the VSPCA Clinic. The VSPCA is the Vincentian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. On this particular Saturday, they were hosting a vet clinic where people could bring their animals to be spayed or neutered or just to see the vets in general. When we arrived to help set up, there were already people waiting with their pets. When registration opened, people registered their pets and received a tag with a number. This way the surgeries could be completed in an orderly fashion. I had been asked to take pictures during the clinic, but I was still able to interact with the animals and help with the surgeries a little bit. Luke was able to assist quite a bit with the surgeries. He wanted to try suturing, but since there were so many animals, the v...