OMG! 55 days until I'm back in the US of A. I haven't been home in almost five months, the longest I've been out of the US since I lived in Trinidad as a child. And while I have adapted here, I'm ready to get back. You win, Sun. You win. I can hardly bear the heat anymore, and what's worst is that I wear long pants and sleep under cover to protect my already-scarred body from mosquitoes. You win, mosquitoes. You win!

I'm mentally preparing myself to get back. I planned to have a "thank you and see you later" ice cream and cake party at UWI for the faculty and staff. Turns out, today wasn't such a good day. No problem. Tomorrow will actually work out better. In the morning, I'll set up tubes for extractions and read some slides, have some cake and ice cream around lunch time, then maybe do some birding at Mt. St. Benedict. 12 birds to go! Can't forget.

I have a fun and productive week planned. Wednesday, TTSPCA for my second-to-last collection, farm in Santa Cruz on Thursday (I hope), and DNA extractions all day Friday. Saturday is an Animal Cruelty Awareness Workshop at Gulf City Mall in San Fernando and Sunday, Dad and I are taking a trip down to southern Trinidad with his former co-workers. I should schedule Zara and Sparky's rabies vaccines this week and buy my plane ticket. The three of us are 55 days away from being stateside! WOOT!

I started working on my first paper for publication today! Dioctophyme renale is back. I'm excited about it. There are a scant number of articles about it, and none published in Trinidad. I'm also learning about the different hosts that have been infected: horses, cattle, capuchin monkeys, pigs, harbor seals... harbor seals? I guess it makes sense since a major player in the life cycle is a fish/frog. Page one is done; 4 pages to go!

I'm going to snuggle up with my latest book, Life List, do today's NYTimes crossword, and continue writing. That is, unless I fall asleep!


Good, hungry pups