New Year, Big Changes

It's 2013! And with the new year comes change. I found out that a few friends are moving away, my very good friend Anthony and his wife just moved to Los Angeles, and my very good friend Jessica is heading back to Australia, where she grew up. I'm happy for all of them, but also it does sadden me because I'll miss them. But it sounds like they are going to be happy, which is great. I myself got myself a new job, which I hope brings me peace in my professional life. It's a good hospital with great medicine and management. As a result I'm scaling back at my current job so I can be part time in both places. Marcus and I went to Aruba before Christmas and had an incredible time. Aruba---perfect weather, friendly people, good times! I would go back in a heartbeat. We enjoyed the beach, our hotel, great food, and we got to go to the Donkey Sanctuary! I got to assist a local veterinarian, Dr. Ricardo Contreras, with a donkey neuter and talk shop with him. It's always fun to meet veterinarians in other countries and talk about how they practice. When I travel I love to try to connect with fellow veterinarians. As for the Donkey Sanctuary, if you ever go to Aruba, it's totally worth it to visit! We spent hours there, and we met the volunteers and the owner and you can tell the donkeys are well cared for and happy. Such funny animals. As for the hotel we stayed at, we stayed at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts, and oh my God---what a great place. Relaxed, quiet, considerate and customer service oriented without being over bearing, and adults only. We loved it there. As for the many places we ate, one was crazy---deep fried goodness taken to a new level. It's a local spot called Zeerover's Fish Bar ("pirate" in Dutch) in Savaneta...you get there, you pick how many pounds of freshly caught fish you'd like, and then you take a seat in an open air restaurant by the water, and wait for crazy, almost sickening amounts of deep fried fish. I don't think I could do it again, but we were glad we went. Augh---I wish we were back in Aruba...aahh Aruba...anyway today I just finished watching a very interesting movie---called "Skin". It's based on the true story of a woman named Sandra Laing, who is the daughter of two Caucasian Afrikaner parents, but herself appears to be of African descent. Her parents fought to have her classified as White, and they swore she was their biological child. It follows the complicated and painful upbringing she had....worthwhile to watch.