aychamo
05-29-2004, 05:39 PM
So, since I was accepted to the Jan05 class, (I'm still waiting on my MCATs, hoping they are good so I can stay in states) I decided I needed to go see the school.
My family had a trip to the carribean, and I added a stop in Saba. First, for getting there, we flew from Houston to San Juan (Peurto Rico), then spent a few days there. Then we went to St. Maarten for a few days (this is where American University of the Carribean is). Then I went to Saba for a few days.
First, for St. Maarten, this is a very neat place. They have beautiful beaches, and a lot of duty free shops. There aren't too many roads, and they tend to get crowded at times. The island has flat and hilly regions. There is one beach on the Dutch side of the island that is RIGHT next to the end of a runway, so you can sit there and watch airplanes take-off and land DIRECTLY over your head. It's a really neat experience. I went and saw AUC. I didn't tour it, I just saw the campus. It is nice looking. Really well taken care of, and it is right next to a nice part of St. Maarten. There is a huge hotel and casino right by the school. If I saw the dorms, and I think I did, they did look a little bad, but I only think it was the dorms. The school was big, and looked nice. If you travel to or go through St. Maarten, there is a lot of places to stay. We stayed at a place called Mary's Boon. It is beautiful. It was on probably the best looking beach on the island (and it's a private beach, a three mile strip of it). The rooms were awesome, and the food was great. However, when you see the advertisment for Marys Boon, it says how close it is to the airport so it's easy to travel to and from. However, they failed to say that the only thing that separates you from the airport is a chain-link fence. Yes, that is it. While you are driving down the road to the hotel, you are parallel to the runway. This means you have incredibly loud 727s landing and taking off *all* *day* *long*. I heard some as late as thirty minutes past midnight. I'd be sitting on the most beautiful beach I'd ever seen, chilling with my girlfriend, and be talking and then I couldn't hear for like a minute because a plane would be landing. That kind of sucked.
For Saba.. Wow, the plane ride *is* all it is cracked up to be. When on the plane, as they say, sit on the right hand side, and sit up front. When the pilots are landing, you can stand up and see the runway coming at you. It looks VERY short from that point of view.
We stayed here at a place called Queens Garden. Everywhere I read ranked Willards better, but I disagree. Queens Garden had absolutely beautiful rooms, all with hottubs. You could sit in the heated hottub and watch TV. It was ****** :) The hotel had great food, for all the meals.
The island, the entire island is on hills. There are no flat roads. It can be a bit nauseating being driven around on the hills. The taxi drivers are good drivers, but they drive really fast and can scare the shit out of you! The people there are very nice. I didn't see a single rude person when I was there. They are always willing to talk, and it really seems like everyone knew everyone.
And the school. The school is really simple. It's a big three story building, for the most part. I toured it with my family and girlfriend (did any student that reads this happen to see us?) The school has a cafeteria in it where you can get food, and they have a lot of sitting room. I didn't see in the classrooms, as I went on a black Monday. I did see the anatomy lab, and it looked really nice. They had the TVs to see what is being done, and they had 8 or 9 cadavers, which is great. The school seems very up-to-date, modern, and a good place to learn.
I don't see any problems with learning medicine at Saba School of Medicine. However, to live on the island would be a bit rough, and take some getting used to. For instance, it's a bit hard to find food on a Sunday. My girlfriend and I ventured into town to find food, at the Family Deli/Bakery. Then we had to hike back to the hotel, which was rough. The food on the island is great, I had the greatest pizza I've ever had down there (I think at The Galaxy Disco). But, you do wait a while for your food. Service is slow, food is kinda expensive, but it is good food. The stores aren't too cheap, but it's good to have food :) Our hotel did not have airconditioner, and it was hard to sleep at night with just a fan. But, I did see a lot of buildings with AC. The school had AC. I always felt like I was sweating when I was down there, so that was weird.
Anyways. To me, after seeing the place, I think it would be MUCH easier to live on St. Maarten and goto AUC, but it seems like studying medicine in Saba would be very quiet and peaceful. So I geuss it is what you like. If Saba is your *ONLY* option, then do not hesitate to go. But if you have your choice among the Carribean schools, defeinitly go and tour the schools. You learn a lot like that.
My family had a trip to the carribean, and I added a stop in Saba. First, for getting there, we flew from Houston to San Juan (Peurto Rico), then spent a few days there. Then we went to St. Maarten for a few days (this is where American University of the Carribean is). Then I went to Saba for a few days.
First, for St. Maarten, this is a very neat place. They have beautiful beaches, and a lot of duty free shops. There aren't too many roads, and they tend to get crowded at times. The island has flat and hilly regions. There is one beach on the Dutch side of the island that is RIGHT next to the end of a runway, so you can sit there and watch airplanes take-off and land DIRECTLY over your head. It's a really neat experience. I went and saw AUC. I didn't tour it, I just saw the campus. It is nice looking. Really well taken care of, and it is right next to a nice part of St. Maarten. There is a huge hotel and casino right by the school. If I saw the dorms, and I think I did, they did look a little bad, but I only think it was the dorms. The school was big, and looked nice. If you travel to or go through St. Maarten, there is a lot of places to stay. We stayed at a place called Mary's Boon. It is beautiful. It was on probably the best looking beach on the island (and it's a private beach, a three mile strip of it). The rooms were awesome, and the food was great. However, when you see the advertisment for Marys Boon, it says how close it is to the airport so it's easy to travel to and from. However, they failed to say that the only thing that separates you from the airport is a chain-link fence. Yes, that is it. While you are driving down the road to the hotel, you are parallel to the runway. This means you have incredibly loud 727s landing and taking off *all* *day* *long*. I heard some as late as thirty minutes past midnight. I'd be sitting on the most beautiful beach I'd ever seen, chilling with my girlfriend, and be talking and then I couldn't hear for like a minute because a plane would be landing. That kind of sucked.
For Saba.. Wow, the plane ride *is* all it is cracked up to be. When on the plane, as they say, sit on the right hand side, and sit up front. When the pilots are landing, you can stand up and see the runway coming at you. It looks VERY short from that point of view.
We stayed here at a place called Queens Garden. Everywhere I read ranked Willards better, but I disagree. Queens Garden had absolutely beautiful rooms, all with hottubs. You could sit in the heated hottub and watch TV. It was ****** :) The hotel had great food, for all the meals.
The island, the entire island is on hills. There are no flat roads. It can be a bit nauseating being driven around on the hills. The taxi drivers are good drivers, but they drive really fast and can scare the shit out of you! The people there are very nice. I didn't see a single rude person when I was there. They are always willing to talk, and it really seems like everyone knew everyone.
And the school. The school is really simple. It's a big three story building, for the most part. I toured it with my family and girlfriend (did any student that reads this happen to see us?) The school has a cafeteria in it where you can get food, and they have a lot of sitting room. I didn't see in the classrooms, as I went on a black Monday. I did see the anatomy lab, and it looked really nice. They had the TVs to see what is being done, and they had 8 or 9 cadavers, which is great. The school seems very up-to-date, modern, and a good place to learn.
I don't see any problems with learning medicine at Saba School of Medicine. However, to live on the island would be a bit rough, and take some getting used to. For instance, it's a bit hard to find food on a Sunday. My girlfriend and I ventured into town to find food, at the Family Deli/Bakery. Then we had to hike back to the hotel, which was rough. The food on the island is great, I had the greatest pizza I've ever had down there (I think at The Galaxy Disco). But, you do wait a while for your food. Service is slow, food is kinda expensive, but it is good food. The stores aren't too cheap, but it's good to have food :) Our hotel did not have airconditioner, and it was hard to sleep at night with just a fan. But, I did see a lot of buildings with AC. The school had AC. I always felt like I was sweating when I was down there, so that was weird.
Anyways. To me, after seeing the place, I think it would be MUCH easier to live on St. Maarten and goto AUC, but it seems like studying medicine in Saba would be very quiet and peaceful. So I geuss it is what you like. If Saba is your *ONLY* option, then do not hesitate to go. But if you have your choice among the Carribean schools, defeinitly go and tour the schools. You learn a lot like that.