It's already over...

Well, I haven't taken the time to put in a final post for this blog...so I think it is time that a few last words be said...

We studied, and studied, and studied some more on Saturday, all through the afternoon, evening, and into the wee hours of the morning. We sat for a few hours in the Tim Hortons then thankfully left...Laura had been proposed marriage by the counter boy with promisses to buy her a nice shiny truck...and then the shift changed and the new counter boys voice was so irratating I was ready to jump the counter.

Back at the residence we hit the books, barely coming up for air. Sunday morning, the tension was high...notes were being reviewed, questions asked, lips being bitten...Laura said, "Let's go have a dance party!"

So we went up, put on some Back Street Boys and danced away while we packed our backs for the last half hour before the exam. It was wonderful - a moment I will always remember :) Laura...I am missing you already!

The exam went well...oh! And just before we began, we had the delight of watching a little deer walk past the classroom and look in, then wonder down the path :) Afterwards, a couple of us went in to town to buy Dr. Hood and Stephanie (the TA) a bottle of wine...figured it would help with the marking (LOL!) and headed back to have our last meal all together.

I was teased incesently that I was talking in my sleep saying, "I wanna go home!!" and, I must say, I beleive them :) As much as it was a great experience, and the group was great, I was more than ready to be back in my home, in the nice big city!

We wished each other well with promisses to stay in touch and off we went our own ways. Barb & Peter were fabulous - they generously accepted to bring Semyon to the airport as well. They gave us a tour of St. John (downtown), the University of NB campus, the reversing falls, a beautiful walking park, then brought us to their home for a nice snack and cool drink - I am very lucky to have had them graciously bring me there and take me back - it made the begining and the ending of my trip just perfect!

The flight was great, wasn't randomly selected for a frisk (thank God) and slept with my mouth open the whole way.

Finally home, I slept like a baby in my love's arms in my own bed and dreamt of whales. I will miss the smell of the ocean the most, the cold, the bugs and the sharing of my space at all times the least.

Thank you to all who shared my trip with me!
Sending you all love and kisses :)
xxxx
A

Day 13 - A Mirage...

Woke up at 5:00 a.m...my God was that painful..showered and reread my oral until 7:00 - I was falling asleep, so I napped then woke back up at 8:00 - practiced until 8:30 and ran off to the lecture hall...I was number 3!!!

Well, it went fabulous! I hardly looked at my notes and got a nice hearty round of applause after.

My topic was on Marine Pollution and its effects on Marine Mammals. My favorite lines being "a false sensation of satiation..." (say that 10 times fast)...and then "we claim to be an empathetic and responsible species, then it is time we start showing it by taking action against our past regressions and cleaning up our aquatic environments..." and on and on...I was very happy with myself and am glad I worked hard to pull off a fab oral :)

But, all that hard work has made me sleepy and grumpy for the rest of the day...listening to all the other orals was like pulling teeth...my eyes were heavy, I was thirsty, hungry, figitty...

We decided to go have a pizza supper down by the lab at the picnic tables all together - what a terrible idea! The mosqitoes, black flies and fire ants were everywhere! I was ready to scream!! Help me! I want to go home! Haven't these people heard of insecticides!

LOL! As I just finished preaching on how terrible organic pollutants were and how they invaded our waters and slowly killed off marine mammals...

Well, after running back to the residence, I am prepared for a night of review...the exam is on Sunday and I haven't even begun to review.

Oh yes, the picture above is a mirage that we saw last night on the boat, the fog was so dense around the trees on some little islands that the trees were reflecting off the fog...how cool is that!

xxx

A

Day 12 - Still late on posting...preparing for my Oral took precendence...

Well, yesterday was a study day for a good part of the day. I stumbled out of bed, thankful to be feeling like I was on land yet again - my blood decided that it was no longer rolling around to the tune of the ocean in my body.

We all basically finished off our essays and worked on our presentations. I went down to the computer lab to save some lectures and print some reference notes. On my way back I stopped in to see Quinn (the baby seal) and he was barking away - it was quite cute.

On the way back up the hill I started practicing my oral out loud only to have to stop muttering to myself as cars went by :)

Back at Anderson, there was a small boat trip planned for those who wanted to get out one last time and after much internal debate as to whether I should stay and study or go out - I decided to go out. I mean, when am I going to be whale watching any time in the future...

It was gorgeous - the Pasamaquoody was calm, the sun was shinning and there was just a light breeze. We saw a beautiful Fin Back Whale and were all thoroughly satisfied of our last boat trip for the class. There was only 8 of us and we all felt fantastic.

We headed home, slowing down to watch some seals, and to give a few of us a turn at the helm - driving a big boat is a lot more complicated than it seems - lots of screens to watch! Then, to make us all happy, the captain tooted the horn as we all waved to the chairman of the board of Hunstman as he sat on his balcony :) It is the little things in life that make us the happiest.

Well, it was sunset, and again we watched the beauty of the horizon as we pulled in to dock. Time for ice cream! At the "Hungry Whale Cafe" we all stopped in for a treat before heading back to work most of the evening.

I recited my oral until midnight - deperately trying to memorize all of the information...

More tonight, when I write about my day today.

Loving and missing you all

xxx

A

Day 11 - Better late than never...The majestic North Atlantic Right Whale

Well, I was so exhausted last night that I simply showered and dropped into bed...so, here is our day from yesterday...

Again, we woke up bright and early to be out of the house for 7:30 a.m. - this time, the sun was shinning, there was a cool breeze in the air, and NO fog! It was promise for a beautiful day.

Off we went for an hour bus ride down to Black's harbour to catch a ferry. The building for the ferry was ultra stinky - and we all decided to wait outside instead.

The ferry was HUGE! And pretty amazing on how they load all the cars and trucks onto that one boat. We were having a dedicated marine mammals watched, and were therefore outside on the upper deck in the freezing wind...we saw the blow of a Fin Back from very far and a couple porpoises over the hour and a half ferry ride and had all put on all of our clothing layers that we had brought.

Voila! We were now on Grand Manan. Where they get the Grand, I am not sure...it is a cute little fishing village and a blue run down school bus was waiting to pick us up to drive us the remainder of the way to the next warf for our trip into the Bay of Fundy.

We visited a museum/reseach center in the way - very cute - It was very small and mostly full of bones with a little shop in the front selling all sorts of marine life dust collectors...After that we went to a whale cememtery where there is a North Atlantic Right Whale and a Fin Back Whale decomposing behind bars. Both were strandings that occured either on or near the shores of Grand Manan and they are letting them decompose in the sun so that they can then use their bones in a museum.

Well the bus finally let us of at the warf where we were to take the 'Day's Catch' to see the whales. We had lunch on the beech and I think we all enjoyed that very much - it was warm and sunny, and we got to take off our shoes and dip our feet in the ice cold ocean water. It was amazing!

Finally, on the boat to see the whales. Well, I have never been sea sick before, but this was something else, so a good part of the going and then coming back nausea was aflicting a lot of the class - so we desperately hung on the sides and dedicatedly watched the horizon to keep the nausea down. We were out for nearly two hours, freezing, tired, and getting deperate, so Jen and I decided we would try to call the whales. Well, much to the amusement of our fellow classmates as well as the tourists that were with us, we talked in the language of the Right Whale and Humpback to come and play with us...well, believe it or not, 10 minutes later, we spotted the first blow. The passengers were amazed!! It is our new calling! We will be the futur whale callers and will travel world wide with fleets of ships calling the whales...LOL!

The North Atlantic Right whale is an endangered species and there are only 300-350 of them left in the world. We have been learning about them for the past week and a half and yesterday, we got to meet them. They are beautiful. We must have seen about 10. They were coming up, and some were having a coutship ritual, they were lobtailing, and showing of their tail flukes. Simply magnificent.

Off in the distance we were even able to see a couple of humpbacks breaching! Would have loved to seen it closer, but even from a distance they were spectacular.

Well, after all that travel, nausea, and being frozen to the bone, we met the Right and the Humpback. Amazing!

So, now that we had seen them and had travelled so far (we were close to Nova Scotia), we headed back. The nausea on the way back was worse, so I took a nap leaning on Amanda's shoulder.

Our little blue run down bus was waiting for us and we all just sort of threw ourselves on the bus, exhausted and anxious to be back. We had supper on the ferry and watched the sunset off the deck. When we arrived back at Black's Harbour, our last bus had broken down, so we needed to wait for another one...after 45 minutes, then an hour bus ride home, we still felt like we were on the boat.

Our trip of bus, boat, bus, boat, bus, boat, bus had exhausted us all.

Today is a study day and we are going out for another boat ride tonight.

I'm off to finish my presentation.

Love you and miss you all

xxx

A

Day 10 - I'm ready to come home

Well, we were all up by 6 and ready to go by 7:30 a.m. only to be told that the fog was too thick and we weren't going on the Grand Manane Boat Trip - I think we all had droopy shoulders and frowns on our very disappointed faces.

So - the trip is on for tomorrow. Hopefully! And today we filled our day with the rest of the lectures. The half that did not go on the first boat trip went today and the rest of us went to study in the computer lab.

Huntsman was holding an event in the Anderson house and they didn't want us students hanging around while they were trying to dig into some wealthy purses for more funding...so us lowly students had to stear clear of our temperary home for the day - which was very inconvenient and completely rude in my opinion.

Well, we were supposed to be seen only for 9:30 p.m. but I couldn't take it anymore and snuck back in at 9:00 :)

We had a BBQ down near the computer labs this evening and we were served beer with burgers - I guess to placate us from having to stay away from the residence. And then, Jerrica, Briane and I were walking back up to the lecture hall and we hitched a ride in the back of a pick up truck! LMAO! It was so cool - never having done that and only seeing it in the movies was quite a thrill - felt like a real hill billy :)

We had a guest lecturer, Dr. Jack Turhune, who gave us a presentation on Pinniped Vocalizations (Seal Calls), it was okay, can't say he was the best lecturer, just okay.

Well, my essay is done :) Off to Tanya for editing and I am desperately trying to work on the oral presentation to try and finish it tonight. We have a free day (until 5:30) on thursday, but I was hoping to use that for studying for the final exam...I think it should be okay... I guess we'll see :)

Missing home very much, my room, both of my loves, my shower (very much) and most of all just getting back to my little routine.

Love you all and miss you tons

xxx

A

P.S. - Picture is of a seal that was starved to death afer playing with a plasic ring that was discarded into the ocean. Marine pollution is a major issue and all marine mammals are suffering - we must come together global to stop marine pollution.

Picture taken from: http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/images/CCC%20entangled%20seal.gif

Day 9 - Meet the Minkie

Finally! A great picture of the Minkie whale! Just before going on the boat my camera batterie showed up low and I had just put in batteries - I thought I was going to cry!!! But, I shut the view off and I was able to conserve battery power and get some great shots. Thank God! More later on...

This morning we had a guest lecturer from DFO that is doing research on the Critically Endangered Species List, the North American Right Whale. He was quite a good speaker and was very knowledgeable. It is nice to hear people working in the fields that we are studying and be so passionate about their work.

After that we had about an hour off, so I reviewed my paper (3 paragraphs) - which is in it's first editing stages. Amanda and I went to go have lunch in town and I had Reese Ice cream - very good - mmmm. Then we all met up on the warf to go for an afternoon whale watching trip on the Quoody Express. We were with tourists this time, but we all pretty much stayed on the lower deck and it was just beautiful!

We went out for a little while before we spotted anything then we finally saw a Minkie whale. We followed it for about an hour. The whale would appear on one side of the boat, and then switch to the other like as if it was playing with us as we all scrambled from left to right to get the best views and pictures. After a little while, we spotted another Minkie further off. We decided to leave that trail and head back to check out some Gray Seals and Harbour Seals who were basking in the sun on some rocks or playing in the water.

Harbour Porpoise were plentiful and we saw them racing along in the waters beside the boat. Two other spottings of Minkie's were made and after that we had a small intro on sea life other than mammals and got to hold some starfish, sea cucumbers, crabs, scallops, and sea urchins.

We headed back, did some groceries (cookies and snacks were on the low) and made the treck back to the campus. That walk is a killer! Tons of hills!

Tonight we are once again working on our essays and we need to go to bed early because we are going out to Grand Manane (not sure of spelling) for an all day trip - hopefully to see some Humpback and Right whales!!! I am SO excited!

Oh yes - I forgot! I have made a promise to never complain about Concordia labs again - so if I ever do - you can all call me on it and say, "It could be worse, you could have Huntsman Equipement!" LOL

Well, I am off!

Kisses to all - missing you all very much

xxxx

A

Day 8 - The Sunset

Worked till about 1:30 a.m. on my project last night and did not attain my goal of finishing it - it seems to be a little more intense than I had anticipated and quickly realized that I need to revise my goals. Well, this morning consisted of another power session from 9 am until 1:30 p.m. with lunch in there somewhere of working on the project, and still then, I had not finished. I must say that at that time, I was completely devastated.

We had lectures until super, mostly on effecs of fisheries on marine mammals, then sat in bug infested grass to listen to the explanation of our lab for the evening - not my idea of fun...I mean who decided that sitting in the itchy grass with bugs crawling all over you and buzzing in your ear, while you try to balance your notebook and shade our eyes from the sun was fun in any size, shape or form?

After super we walked down to the lab, did an age determination on Harbour Porpoises using their teeth - went to the computer lab, did some work. Then we took a break at sunset, and a couple of us walked down the path to the beach. It was beautful! We played in the intertidal zone for a while and then walked back to the residence to continue working on our projects.

So, I've got the 10 needed pages down - but SERIOUS editing needs to be done :) Everytime I read a sentence though I seem to loose concentration and have to start over - so I think I will start the editing process tomorrow.

Kisses to all :)

xxx

A

Day 7: Boat Ride Cancelled - Lectures and Study Day

Well, I must say that after a day like today I was definitely ready to go home :) It was raining all morning (thank God we didn't go out on the boat today!) So we met at 10 instead of 9 for our lectures, had lunch, watched a movie that Dr. Hood herself was in - a beached whale - it was amazing! The intestines came shooting out of the abdominal cavity! Cause of death was a plastic bottle - humans - we are such a destructive species...

After that we listened to more lectures and had the balance of the afternoon off to work on our presentations and essays. So, I have been reading and researching and writing since 3:30 p.m. it is 11: 06 p.m. now. My eyes aren't the slightest bit grainy yet and my goal is to finish my paper tonight...so I'll keep working :)

Oh yes - last night we had our first "Dorm" party thing with the residence next door. There is another course going on in Marine Life with the University of Guelph and they invited us to join them - so we went to their fishy, damp smelling basement and drank beer. Laura gave me a beer and I shared it with Mel. It was great - lots of fun.

But - the Guelph students commented on how boring we were (which we are) so unfortunately I think most of the students in my class took it to heart, and decided to prove them wrong. Trips to the SAQ (English version) were made and they are all playing a drinking game in the kitchen. They are kind of cute to watch...all the guys are trying to be very macho while the girls are trying to prove that they can drink just as much...

So, much to their amusement, I am sticking to my goal of writing my paper tonight. I have retreated (from the noise) to the sun room. I have almost finished my first topic...anyone interested in editing?

Missing you all very much :)

xxxx

A

P.S. The photo is a male Gray Seal that we saw yesterday on the boat :)

Day 6 - My first Boat ride :)

Hi everyone! Well, this picture is our path to get to the Tim Hortons...yes, I know...not exactly the well lit path is it...electricity and pavement are sparsely used here in St. Andrews...

LOL! Just kiding, this is the path that we take so that we don't have to go up this hill - it is a major killer - I mean it takes 5 minutes just to catch my breath after that hill...so we have found a slightly longer...but less strenuous path :)

Today was amazing! The morning started off with lectures about social behaviours, sounds, and feeding techniques, then had lunch (chicken wings) and then watched a National Geographic movie on Dolphin behaviour - very cool - pretty aggressive little beasts.

After..da.da.da.dum... we went on the "Fundy Spray" for our first outting. OMG was it cold :) I mean freeze your fingertips cold...but really amazing...check out the pictures on http://angelarosespictures.shuterfly.com let me know if it doesn't work.

We saw a crazy amount of porpoise, tons of Harbor Seals, some gray seals, a Fin Back Whale and a Minke Whale - it was amazing! The pictures of the whales are porpoise aren't great - they move so fast - it was almost impossible to get them - but a girl here got some great pictures, so I'll try to get some of her pictures from her to show everyone.

My lips are burning from the salty air and I have just warmed up my body from the cold afternoon and evening after a nice long hot shower. Unfortunately our trip for tomorrow to Grand Manan is cancelled due to high wind and storm announcements...we are all very disappointed, but we get to sleep in and start lectures at 10 instead of 9 - so we have a little extra time to start on our research for our projects.

Well, I am off - miss you you and very much.

Hugs and kisses

xxx

A

Day 5 - Lectures and Oral Presentations

There is a very high slug population here...I have started to name them. Today, unfortunately Bob has died in a stampede to the class...

Well, after 3 hours of lectures on evolution and senory systems, we had lunch (very good chili - I must say the food is good), then had some more info on sensory systems - echolocation is very cool. Then we had to listen to presentations, all afternoon and untill 8 p.m. in the evening - VERY long! There was a 5 min. time limit and so many people went over it was crazy! I mean time your presentations people!!!! I wanted to scream "TIME" but I figured that wouldn't get me any bonus points with the TA or PROF...oh well...can you imagine what it will be like for our 15 minute presentations???

I think that we should be able to give presentations privately, then not have to listen to the others...but that would lessen our learning from fellow students...so I guess I will have to live through them.

Dorm life is not fabulous...the whole shower situation, bunk beds, and no privacy issues are making me a little home sick, okay, maybe a lot, but I am still appreciating the whole experience.

Tim Hortons has become our Home Sick Spot, whenever any of us are feeling like we need home, we walk over to Tim Hortons...it is nice that they all look the same...feels like home...that should be their new slogan.

Well, I was off to study a bit, but I think I'll watch another Blue Planet Movie - they are fabulous!

Missing you and loving you all

xxx

A

Day 4 - Lectures and Study Time

Well, on the way to class this morning we saw this cute little rabbit that was just munching at the grass nice and quietly. He wasn't scared of us at all! Very cute. We had two lectures this morning; one about the mammals in humans lives, like stories, myths, art...etc...

There was a really cool story about "Sedona" an Inuit legend of a woman that falls in love with a man, but he wasn't really a nice man, so her father came to rescue her and take her away. But, the husband was furious and chased after them to get his wife back. The father was so frightened he threw Sedona over board in an attempt to save himself, and when Sedona grabbed on to the side of the boat to save herself, her father cut off her fingers. Each finger that fell to the water became a dolphin, and that was the begining of Marine Wild Life, as told in this Inuit culture.

Then we had a little break and met a cute little slug, very adorable. There are tons of them here, so I took a picture, of course, much to the amusement of my fellow class mates.

After break we learnt about Marine Mammal adaptions, which was a little longer and more intense than the first lecture. Then it was time for lunch, and we watched a movie on Sperm whales after lunch.

It suddenly became a beautiful sunny day, and we all wanted to take advantage. Some students went to the beach, others into town, but being the good student that I am, along with a couple of others, we decided to compromise and take a walk to the computer lab to work there - so at least we got some outside walking time and study time.

Oh yes! I received my personal project topic today. I will be preparing a 15 minute presentation as well as a 10 page report on the Effects of Pollution on Marine Mammals. So, since I have finished my Diversity Project, I think I will slowly begin to work on that ASAP so that I don't get stressed and overwhelmed.

Off to read up on pollution!

Kisses to all

Angie

xxx

Day 3 - Introduction and Assignment of Diversity Projects - Meet the Baikal Seal

Hi! It is Day 2 of the course and it was a gross rainy day for most of the morning. Our first stop was the DFO Library, which was closed due to a death in the librarians family. Then we headed of to a boring 45 minutes at the computer lab, waiting for the aquarium to open.

We visited the aquarium (same as yesterday) and got a guided tour, along with watching of the seals being fed. They are fed dead fish, so it wasn't to exciting.

Then we had lunch (tacos) with the afternoon filled with lectures. I think I will start studying tonight...right after I finish my Diversity project. Oh yes, we were assigned random marine mammals that we need to do our personal Diversity project on...meet the Baikal Seal (picture above)...I will know everything about this seal by tomorrow. Our presentations are Thursday evenings, so basically I want to get it all down ASAP, so that I can practice for the oral.

So, tomorrow is a day filled with lectures, and the following as well, and then we get to go on a field trip - which I am looking forward to. Mmmm...girl just asked to switch topics...I disagreed...too risky...oh well, too bad for her.

Well, more later. Missing you all with all my heart!

xxx

Still Day 2 - Meet Quinn

Hi again, I uploaded my pics and just wanted to put one up of Quinn, the baby Harbor seal that I have fallen in love with. Isn't he adorable? We get to visit him with the class again tomorrow.

We had our information session and we are now all set and ready to go.

A couple of girls and I walked over to Tim Hortons to feel a little less far from home, and then thankfully one of the girls had brought a flash light to get back! No street lamps here :)

Well, I am off to bed - to be up and ready to learn for tomorrow morning.

Missing you all.

xxx

Day 2 - First Official Day of the Course

Well, this is my view from the room...amazing, I know!

I finally convinced myself to go and take a shower in the basement last night - I figured the pros of sleeping nice and refreshed outweighed my multiple fears and wild imagination - but I did have my phone beside me at all times with 911 on speed dial...not realizing that even if I could call 911 in the case of a boogeyman, by the time they got to this crazy place millions of miles away I would have been properly butchered and in the freezer.... but alas, I am alive and well.

I fell asleep surprisingly quickly..and woke at 7:30 a.m. just missing smashing my head on the above bunk by milimeters. I wondered around and ate some muffins I had packed. It was an over cast day and on the chiller side. I went down and took a refreshing shower, much more courageous than last night. Got ready, and off I went - ready to explore.

I had met Dr. Hood quickly last night, and she had informed me that feeding time for the seals was at 11 a.m. and students had free access to the aquarium - so that was my first stop of the day. As I was walking down the road, I met up with a fellow student, and first friend on this adventure, Amanda, and invited her along. Amanda is from N.S. and is working at the Atlantic Research Center for the summer, which is right around the corner, so she is familiar with the area.

We walked over to the Aquarium, were a bit early, so we walked around and did a bit of exploring, and then went in. I must say that I was very impressed, they had sharkes, and skates, and sturgeon the size of a bicylce! They also had a touch pool where you can pick up sea cucumbers, crabs, clams, star fish, and touch anemones and barnacles. Most amazing! And then they had a family of seals, with the baby seal, "Quinn", who utterly adorable! He is so cute! You just want to pick him up and squeeze him :)

After our aquarium adventure, we walked into town, which wasn't as bad as I thought - it was a good half hour walk, and Amanda walks darn fast, so I was working up a good sweat and wishing I could have a good 50 lbs just suddenly disappear :) We checked out the hardware store, where I splurged on a better rain jacket and pants, but not boots, I haven't given it to buying the rain boots yet...

The tide was out so we got to walk along the lower peer and saw tons of barnacles, crabs, starfish, clams (millions of them), and more and more sea life. It was beautiful.

By the time we got back in, around 3:00 p.m. more students were trickling in and we started doing an informal meet and greet, with the basic interogation being, "Hi, my name is Angie, where are you from, what school are you going to, what are you studying..." It was cool. I am definately the oldest here and was afraid to feel completely out of place, but I seem to be riding the wave just as well as my fellow classmates, so I feel a little less nervous than yesterday. We have an information session in about 15 minutes, and I am anxious to finally hear what we will be doing.

Oh! Guess what, the Anderson House is HAUNTED! Yes, I am telling the truth - the story is going around today - boy was I estatic that I didn't know that yesterday!

Well, I am off to the information session and might have time to get in a few more words later tonight.

I miss you all, Ayla and Gerry most of all and more than imaginable :)

Love you all,

Angie xxx

Day 1 - The Adventure of Arriving

Well, after a restless night of tossing and turning, I awoke at 5:30 a.m. to get up and ready for my trip to St. Andews, N.B.

Gerry's Mom came to pick us up and drop me off at the airport, aleady I had butterflies in my stomach. Can you imagine that this is the first time in 10 years that I go off on my own somewhere? Well, let me tell you, I was a little bit out of sorts.

My baggage ended up costing me $100.00 extra because it was overweight! OMG! I was on a super tight budget as it is having aleady spent over $2000,00 out of my own pocket for this trip as it is! Anyway, what was I to do - I needed everything that I brought - it wasn't like I was going to start unpacking at the check-in!

The flight was uneventful, a little bit of turbulence, but nothing dramatic. Arriving safe and sound in Saint-John, Barb & Peter were waiting for me just inside the doors with beautiful welcoming smiles! Peter lugged my suitcase for me chuckling as he asked, "Did you bring the kitchen sink with you?" LOL.

Well, off we went though beautiful St. John (did I mention how many trees there are - it is amazing!). Barb and Peter first brought me through a tour of the Microbiology lab that Barb works at and I got to see all the culture plates as well as the very tiny parasitology division at the St. John Hospital. It was great...it made me dream of the day when I will eventually have my own lab...eventually.

Then we had a quick bite to eat and were off on our road trip to St. Andrews. The scenery was simply amazing! And the fog got so thick at certain points that you could hardly make out any details. We stopped at various places for some pictures, the first a little site seeing off the Saint John lake where the paper mill is. There was a large flow of water through some rapids / falls and it was a famous place where the water reverses directions when the tides come in. I got some lovely shots of some huge Cormorant birds - they were spectacular.

Our next stop was an Atlantic Samon fishery where we were able to walk 2 beautiful trails and see some Salmon up close and personal. They are huge! There was some neat facts posted up about they life cycles as well as their changing morphologies from birth to adult. Did you know Salmon can see in color?!

After that nice stop we continued on to Saint Andrews were we drove down the main street, Water Drive, and checked out all the neat shops and cafes. The homes are simply amazing down here, all huge old mansions where you can invision the horse-drawn carriages and the ladies with the large pouffy dresses with umbrellas walking down the road. We walked along the main road, visited the beach, took some pictures and Barb and Peter treated me to a lovely pizza dinner, with left overs for my lunch tomorrow :)

Tonight, I am all alone in the huge Huntsman Center and I must say that I am a little wary. It is a huge home converted into dorm style rooms, and the showers are downstairs in the basement...I think I might wait to shower tomorrow morning...

I will try to find a site where I can post all my pictures. I am anxious to show everyone! There seems to be so much more I can write and it is only the first day! I haven't even begun my course! LOL.

Well, I must say that I am missing Gerry and Ayla so much! Especially being all alone in this big house. They say that you always appreciate things more when you are away from them - and being alone here on this new adventure makes me miss my loves all the more.

Wishing you were here with me and loving you both with all my heart.

Angie

xxx