3 Years!!!

Forgot to post this July 9th...it was posted on the old site

3 YEARS in the land DOWNUNDER

Its that time again, I have been here three years as of this week and I am out in the middle of absolutely nowhere in the Australian country side on yet another two week vet prac, more on that prac later, but first....

"Always time for a cuppa"
A talk about "tea" and just how important it is to Australians. "Tea" can be the actual tea, or coffee, or any other hot drink, and it is usually accompanied by some sort of cake like item. "tea time" Is very very important, and to this day I still think it is extraordinary that all Australians take time for it. You may have read in my Esperance blogs about how I was riding through the Australian country side full speed on horse back with some rough tough farmers mustering cattle. We would be throwing calves in the mud and castrating them, but half way through, it was tea time. They pulled a table from nowhere and out came coffee, tea, and of course cake in the field as far away from civilization as you could be. These filthy men, and yes filthy me would sit there with our tea "taking the piss" out of each other (that means joking and making fun of)..and gossiping and telling stories. For 30 minutes to an hour, and then back to work. The man I was staying with would make his wife tea every morning and bring it to her in bed. He never forgot. At every vet clinic I have worked at or done prac at, there has been tea time. Someone would walk around and ask who wanted a cup ? Coffee? tea? How do you like it? They would make one for everyone and they would all stand around for just 30 minutes after the morning rush. Smile and chat, and then back to work. Even my own wonderful boyfriend asks every evening "would you like a hot drink?" I love this tradition.

Toasties!! I bet lots of money every single Australian household and so far, vet clinic, will have a sandwich toaster or the equivalent. The toastie is a big thing here and quite good, I just had one tonight Someone has brought a ham and cheese or some type of meat and cheese thing...could be a wrap, but whatever it is, it needs toasted into melty goodness before eating.

Ugg boots!!! Yes, they are tradition here. Male or female, everyone wears them. If you are camping the guys and girls will all have them on. My boyfriend and all his guy friends have them. They are the best invention ever. I do have to say even after being here for three years I have not owned a pair.... until today. Yes, that is right, as a celebration of being in Australia for 3 years I bought myself a pair in this tiny country town and my feet are smiling and have never been so warm. i figured I should go for it when every member of this house hold had a pair and I had freezing feet. Paris Hilton, eat your heart out and the boots are not a fashion statement here, they are practical. I dont think a guy could wear them in the US, but as soon as that guy steps foot on Australian soil he can wear them and nobody would look twice.

And now, on to the news....
Andrew has been accepted into Murdoch nursing school with the plan of going into med school right after. I am so excited to be picking him up from the airport less than three weeks from now. I think he will love it and finally be able to follow his dream. He will be living with me which will be great since my boyfriend Steve has gone back to work on the oil rigs, one month on and one month off at a time. Andrew already has many job opportunities lined up.

Speaking of job opportunities, I have been offered a new job at a vet clinic as head nurse with potential to have a position as a vet when I graduate. For those of you asking the question of am I staying here after I graduate, the answer is yes!!! I love it here, the life style, the time for a life etc. It just means that all of you will have a place to holiday in beautiful Perth Western Australia whenever you feel like visiting.

I just finished the hardest semester of my life. Next semester will be the second hardest and then it is all downhill easypeasy from there until graduation. FINALLY!!! Speaking of graduation, I have had quite a few tell me they would like to visit in 2009 for my graduation so I would like to ask, what would be the best time for everyone??? After Thanksgiving, Before during or after Christmas or New Years? Do remember the seasons are different here, it will be the beautiful summer at these times. Or is March or April better for people? It will start cooling down then. I am asking this so I can plan a graduation party, since it has taken 11 years to accomplish this, it will be a party to remember with family and friends. Let me know if you are interested and what months work and I can start to figure it out.

On to what I am doing now. I always knew and have recently enforced the fact that working on "little white fluffies" was not going to be the veterinary practice for me. I wanted to do wildlife, but you really cant live off providing charity services for the local fauna. I have worked with horses and cows and even though it is interesting, they are huge and hard for me to handle and my arm really cannot reach as far into a horse's or cow's ass as it needs to be for me to actually preg test. I know because I have done it multiple times. So what to do what to do??? I think, I found my calling...it is the lovely alpacas and llamas. I wont go into too much detail but I have come very very far into the country to a rural vet practice for 2 weeks to learn from the best alpaca vet I have ever met, and one of the only serious ones around. This prac has been great with multiple alpaca surgeries and treatments. I have been kicked and I am not dead and nothing is broken, the same could probably not be said if I was kicked by a horse or cow.

A monumental event occured the day before yesterday, I did my first spey of a stray cat. After searching 10 minutes for her uterus and ovaries inside I could not find them, I felt incompetent and the attending vet put on gloves and had a look, she could not find it, then another attending put on gloves and had a look around and he could not find it. This stray had already been speyed long ago. The vets laughed and said that never happened before. So my first spey, there were no parts to actually remove, but my stitch up looked great

Mixed practice is the way to go. And semi rural is even better ...why? You could either give routine vaccines day in day out, check ups etc of small fluffies, or.....a day of mixed practice.

After speying a female dog a call comes in for you to go out and AI some cows. Your colleague goes to check on a lame horse. You come back, share your stories over "tea" and do another fluffy surgery. Next, you need to go outside and round up some alpacas for treatment, and look a new born is on the ground ...how exciting, check it is feeding ok and everything is good. Back inside for some more small fluffies and then someone pulls up outside with a goat that lacerated itself on a fence. It is your neighbors friends uncle and you share more stories together. Later, your local supermarket owner brings in a pup that ate rat bait and its dad who was gored by a pig while hunting. Your colleague is busy stitching up two dogs with horrible wounds caused by a kangaroo. You might be leaving at 7:30 or 8 but it is a satisfying day. The day just flies by and is always interesting and challenging.

What happens after....for me, the family I am staying with has left for the snow for 3 days. I have been driving their massive Hilux through the countryside. It takes 35 minutes to get to and from the clinic. leave at 7am and get back at 6 or 7 pm. It is freezing in this massive country house so I wander around outside with a flashlight (called a torch) pick up some kindling and wood and come in and make a fire in the fire place. Make myself a toastie, let the farm cat and two labradors in to curl up by the fire and read or watch a movie or study the notes from my day some time with a glass of wine. The life of a country vet is not so bad. I like the idea of living on a bit of property. This nine bedroom house is old but has so much character, and three alpacas out back ha ha ha.

So whats next??? I graduate!!!! I turn 30!!!! Scary thought. Andrew will be here for school!!! I get a job at a mixed practice and hopefully do some alpaca work. I continue living the Australian lifestyle and hope to have "no worries mate"

There have been struggles...Keaton has been sick, but is hopefully getting better. He is just getting old but I refuse to face that fact. My financial aid is once again a wreck and I really dont know where the next tuition payment of $16,000 for this semester is going to come from, but you know what, that is how it always has been and it will work itself out somehow.
I just try and stay positive and focus on the good parts.

Hope to hear from everyone and if you are interested in a vacation in 2009 let me know.