Since the last post...

Much has happened since I last posted. I hope I can recall them all.

• I had a group report and presentation to participate in. My group initially had 5, then the Costa Rican dude went home leaving four. Then priorities took another member leaving 3. I think we did well enough.
• Two days after I had my first exam. Went well (I suppose an A could count as such)
• I spoke to one of the lecturers for a course and found out that a group failed a group project (which I realised could potentially mean they failed the course). I had a hard time forgetting that bit and only mentioned it to a few people. We decided to not freak anyone out and made a pact to keep it to ourselves. Of course we didn't know which group had failed.
• Had a rather unsuccessful study session on Sat following exam. Weekend was somewhat similar- not focused and could not get much work done.
• Week of studying by myself and with a friend online (which was really helpful and cool)
• Second exam was...ahm...interesting. I found out 2 days before the exam how the structure was going to be and I only found out because I emailed and asked. Apparently it was not on the main agenda to inform students. I should also mention that the response had the whole class in a "What the...?!?!" frame of mind. 8 questions in 3 hours...hmmm. I have no idea how he marks so I really hope and I pray I got another A.
• After 2nd exam, I decided to get my grade for the course where the group had failed (only because a member of my group got an A so I was confident it was not our group). I got an A too... but it was bitter sweet seeing that others passed but failed the course because of the project they failed.
• Third exam was sweet (I hope). I could have done more or less all 6 questions on the paper though I was required to do 3. I ended up doing my 3 questions in 2 hours (exam is supposed to be for 3 hours). For the first time in history I left an exam this early (and I was also the first one to leave) and still felt somewhat confident I passed. I wanted to put some ease to my mind so I went to the lecturer and told him what I did, so I aint worried at all now.
• Went to town with some friends (classmates) and walked with them as they shopped. Got home late, but didn't stay long because I went over to some friends apartment to lyme. Really cool end to the semester.

Bim's Independence Weekend

This has been an eventful weekend for me. And it begins on Thurs, Nov 29...

Thurs: This is the day of our GIS field trip. We went to Farley Hill on the UWI bus, but on the way we stopped and got pizzas; we also bonded with classmates. Being at Farley Hill was really nice- the view and the weather and the company. We ate and took GPS coordinates with our machines (borrowed). We spent a total of about 2-3 hours on the road.

We went back to school to put our data in a format that can be used in GIS. We opted to use Access and import the data to ArcMap. And my group was the first successful group to do it! So as we waited for the other groups to finish so we could combine data, we realise that the earth was shaking. It took a little while for me to figure out what was really happening but when I did, adrenaline kicked in and my heart started to race. It had help from one single fact- I was on the bottom floor with 2 floors above and aint no way I was gonna go under a desk! I grabbed my bag and headed for the emergency exit (which wasn't far thank God). Outside, I had a hard time determing what was earth shaking and me shaking separately.

I decided I aint going back into that building that day, so I told all bye and was gonna walk home. On the way, I had a headache, so opted to take the bus. So happens that there was traffic blocked up at one point so I got off and had to walk a rather long distance. I was not amused but spoke to God and asked him to keep me calm and I walked and listened to some gospel music on my music player thingum.

Home was nice to be. A nice warm shower and a bed will help any bad feelings.

Fri: Today is 41 years of independence for Bim. I woke up and watched a cartoon. Then attempted work. I was invited to a bbq so left home about 4 to go. It was interesting. Started out coughing like crazy because of the smoke. Had to almost run from that area and go elsewhere. Food was good. Entertainment was interesting- it was songs of ole done my youths and then a "fashion show". I was kinda not amused that I was there as long as I was and was feeling VERY anti-social and really just wanted to be home. But I stuck it out (like I had a choice) and got home around 10 pm.

Sat: I woke up early to head to school for 10. Group project time! Got there about 10 min late because it was extremely difficult to get up out of bed. We worked. Idled. Worked. Ate. Worked. Idled. Worked. Left. Then I walked home with 2 friends. Came home and watch The Little Mermaid [sniff]. Nice story. Wanna see it again. I think I did some work after as well. Yeah...I did.

Sun: Set my alarm for 7:30 because my understanding was I was gonna be picked up at 8:30. It seems there was a glitch in communication and church was starting at 8:30, so I saw the text when I got up at 7:30 and had to rush to get ready. Did not get to eat much (I doubt 1 slice of bread is much). Church was longer than I anticipated. I really need to work on my waiting skills.
Got home just in time for dinner. Yay! Real food. I did some work, then slept for about 3 hours (1.5 hours longer than I prob should have). Got up and did work, ate again, did work, downloaded music (legally), and watched tv. Then went back to work.

Weekend over! Tomorrow is our Christmas party at school so looking forward to that. This is gonna be an interesting week since I have group work to finish, exam to study for (for Fri), and group presentation (which I hate...seems I hate giving public anything). Thank God for blessings beyond measure. After all, the weekend could have been WAY worse.

Bim's Big Buses

Today was the first class for my GIS course. It started late (without an apology but hey). It also went WAY over time (also without an apology) and of course people didn't bank on class ending so late so hunger was in the air. I had stabbing headaches while attempting to listen and follow (not sure what's with these frequent-ish headaches but they better stop!).

Class ended and I ate. Then wondered what to do. I had some business to take of in town so I called to find out what I needed and decided to venture there. I found the place easy enough and the transaction was a lot quicker and easier than I anticipated. Then I went to buy milk, but on the way I realised I needed a surge protector so I stopped and got that as well as AAA batteries that I need for my music thingy.

I got what I needed then ventured to catch the UWI bus to go back to campus. I was one person too late. So I decided today is the day to catch the BBB that I see on the roads but never travelled in. My Goodness!

First off, the signs didn't quite appear for me to read easily to know which bus parks where. I asked people standing there. Eventually (about 10 minutes of waiting) I asked one of the drivers for another bus, who showed me who to ask. Somehow that person disappeared when I was heading to him. Someone showed me who else to ask. That person sent me to someone else. This someone else told me should be there anytime now. Anytime now was 20 minutes later. Needless to say I was the first person on the bus.

The bus drove off about 5 minutes later, and lots of people came on along the way. One in particular was an old lady who came and sat beside me. (Forgive me Lord) I was hoping she didn't sit beside me, but alas! The was leaning over on me and telling me to put by bag on the ground. Say what?! Ok, I ignore and move on. Few minutes later an elderly man came on (walking with a cane) and the seats were all gone, so I was getting up to offer him my seat. Lady beside me stopped just short of cussing me! Oh no she didn't! I turned to her and asked her with as much respect as I could if she had a problem with me offering my seat to the man. The man of course refused because he said he was getting off shortly. Other persons (mostly elders for the record) turned to me and told me to ignore her. Good advice. I was kinda pissed. I said a prayer to ask God to take away whatever it was that causing me to feel this way, and she came off the bus shortly after. Sigh. Lots of work to do.

The good thing about the bus is it drops me relatively close to home. So after an hour of being on the road trying to get home I finally reach. Had a slight headache (again) so chatted a bit then tried sleeping. I think I dozed. Not too sure.

MARPOL 73/78 Annex V on Freewinds

Background: MARPOL 73/78 is an international agreement and is the short name for the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships. The convention was adopted in 1973 and it's protocol in 1978 (hence the digits).

On Wednesday and Thurday of this week, I had the privelidge of attending a seminar on the MARPOL 73/78 convention, specifically dealing with Annex V which speaks to marine pollution by garbage. To say I learnt a lot may be an understatement. It opened my eyes to a lot of things ranging from governance issues to stupidity of governments (my words) to the complicated nature of life on the seas.

Day 1 had three presentations. Initially I was wondering if this would go well because the first set of introdutory speakers were somewhat nervous and resulted in less-than-perfect speeches. But it picked up and I was attentive and making notes on what was being presented. Lunch was rather good on the Freewinds- pasta with cheese, fish, beef (ground), vegetables, and all that jazz, plus dessert.

Day 2 (where a group of us decided to go back on our own) was perhaps just as or more informative than the previous day. I actually asked a question (and sounded slightly intellegent...I hope). I also introduced myself to one of the speakers who happens to work at the UNEP/CEP office in Jamaica where I was thinking of applying earlier this year. I got his card and an open invitation to visit. I'm improving! Lunch was also good...maybe even better than the day before, but can't really tell for sure.

It also happened that the Queen Mary 2 was docked at the Port. We were all amazed by it- even took pictures in front of it...well from a distance but still. Being on the Freewinds and seeing all the ships on the Port as well as knowing now what I do about the organised and clean nature of how ships operate, I have a greater desire to go on a cruise. It's on the list of things I want to do before God calls me from this earth and I do hope I get the chance. Maybe this chance will come when I work very hard and get a distinction for my Masters degree. (Hint, hint)

MIA

Since I've been here last, a few things have happened. In no particular order, there they are.

• Had a meeting with a lecturer which was somewhat heated. I was tactful for the record.
• Went on a tour of the island with some new friends, and picked up sea shells on one of the breaches and had passion fruit ice-cream.
• Went to a funeral of a friend's mom.
• Got frustrated to tears.
• Spoke to my Godson :-)
• Had hopes of a friendship renewed.
• Felt closer to some of my classmates (may even go to Trinidad for a week next semester).
• Continued getting decent grades
• Watched 4 Disney cartoon movies (Aladdin series and Monsters Inc) and the promise of more to come.
• Cremed (permed) my hair and had a new respect for my temporary hairdresser (who dropped me home after)
• Bought shoes to replace the other pair that fell apart and got it at a very good deal (most comfortable high heeled shoes yet).

That sums up most of it I think. More to come with time.

Drama Week

So after an exciting weekend, I had an interesting week at school.

The course we're doing now is Measurement and Analysis. So this week was dedicated to Statistics...great! (hope you smell the sarcasm). Our teacher is not a trained statistician and it was evident, but she's a nice-enough person so initially we were ok with. But then things got to a point where she was unsure about stuff and that confused the class more...but we still hanging in. One incident was a matter of who's right/who's wrong and the class was not overly happy- she said something in class that skewed our thinking along a certain line, but then on a graded assignment, she marked us down for our alleged misunderstanding.

On top of that, we got back our papers for another assignment in the same course and the grades were atrocious! The worse part is the feedback was lacking substance, and included areas that we thought were irrelevant. My paper, for eg, contained comments that x is available from a particular website, but as luck would have it, said site has been down for weeks! I aint sure how exactly I'm supposed to access info from such sites... or that it was overly important. On top of that, some people who went to him were told they could extend their paper beyond the stipulated 3 pages (but in the context of them not being able to fit all they thought they need to on the 3 pages), yet some of us were not privy to that info since it wasn't communicated to the entire class by the lecturer. So, with my suggestion, the majority of the class went to the programme coordinator and voiced our concern. So, on Monday of next week, we'll be meeting with the person responsible and sort things out.

To add to all that, a friend's/classmate's mom died on Thursday night. She's coping well so far. She's even opted to remain in the programme without much time-off. But I do hope to be there for her when she needs me.

A new friend (through a friend) had offered to take me on a tour of the island today. I postponed it, so hopefully we can go in two weeks. I thought that was really nice of him. He's a fellow J'can as well. Hopefully I can get to meet his gf as well because she did the same master's programme few years ago (dif. specialisation though).

Hopefully this weekend and the week coming will be good- great even.

Weekend of advenures!

The weekend started on Friday. I went to school way earlier than I wanted, but I met with a classmate and we went to town. I needed a calculator and a dictionary, and she needed a dress and groceries. It rained earlier in the morning, but we decided we would chance going. Fortunately it held up. I got my calculator and dictionary and ad hoc stuff. Had chinese food for the first time as well (simply edible...not spectacular).

In the evening, our class (most of us) went to lyme with some students from a foreign university (McGill I think). It turned out to be a "working" lyme, because we split in groups and discussed different topics. The topic of my group was water resource management. It was cool though.

A small group of us left there and went to a play put on by JaSAC (J'can Student Association at Cave Hill). It was in true J'can style- started about two hours late with an intermission that was supposed to be 10 min but turned into 30 min. and music that was not censured some of the times. Apart from that, it was was not overly bad. One may say it was enjoyable since we laughed a lot. I had to play translator to two of my Trini friends who couldn't understand some of the "bun" or "suss" or "autaclasp" language. It was rather odd for me but amusing at the same time.

I got home about 1 a.m.

I woke up way to early again because today is our "stress buster" and said a few prayers for God to hold the rain... and He did! I went to school to meet my ride, and we went to Pricemart to get food and stuff. We bought a cake and pizza to take to the beach for the 8 of us to share. We kayaked first, which was really cool and lot's of fun. I did the doubles first because I wasn't sure how strong I'd be to manage on my own. There were 3 singles though, and a canoe. We had informal races and all. After that, we got our snorkelling gear and went to do just that! It was wonderful...not quite the experience of the first time I went snorkelling in Portland by Navy Island with the colourful reefs and fishes, but good none-the-less. We saw "shipwrecks" and fishes and a small amount of developing corals. I, of course, wore a life jacket because I aint so confident a swimmer and once I don't have it I know I'll panic. I started out with flippers but they were rather uncomfortable and restrictive and heavy, so I took them off. Oh, and I got to be the captain of the boat to the "snorkel site".

After a while, we decide we should head back. It was cold too so I didn't have much problems with that. It was rather dif. to go into the boat, and on my way in I injured my right big toe- the nail broke and cut me. But no horrors. We headed back, had more pizza, had a really nice chocolate cake, and chilled a bit. Then some of us left. Went home, washed my hair and bathed, did school work (odd, but oh well), and then slept with my hair slightly wet (since I didn't blow-dry it- lost to much hair last time I combed through wet). I went to sleep way early; I think it was about 9 or so.

I woke up for church. Went to Salters COG. Service was ok. Went to Sunday sch after. Then afterwards I was invited to the Pastor's home for lunch (which turned out to be dinner). Spent a long time there but it was cool. I started to fall asleep after eating so I assumed they used that as the hint I should be home in my bed. But they are realy cool people.

I had a very good weekend! I hope to have more in the future and I'll definately make them part of my "adventures in Bim".