What's that sound?? And also the story of the worst/best morning I've ever had

Today while I was getting my fruit smoothie at the Shacks I heard a siren....  At first I thought it was someone's ringtone or something but a few seconds later 2 firetrucks rolled on by with lights flashing and sirens wailing.  And then I realized I hadn't heard a siren since I arrived on the island.  That's crazy right!?  That's something you hear multiple times / day back at home..... I mean, I've seen police trucks (not cars, pick-up trucks) and ambulances (minivans w/ the word ambulance stenciled on the side) driving around down here doing who know's what.  But they've never had their sirens on.  It was kind of weird!
I guess when the population of the entire island is about 76,000 people - and they're all spread out in hundreds of tiny villages and towns there aren't going to be many emergencies to respond to.  As for fires, people start fires outside all the time to burn trash or tree limbs and whatnot. It's so humid here that you won't see a wildfire in a million years.  The dry waste you want to get rid of burns and everything else is too wet to catch.  As for man made things, everything is made out of cinder blocks here so I don't even know what could have been burning in the first place.  It was funny because you could see everyone realizing they hadn't heard a siren in forever all at once.
Also, it got me thinking of what else I haven't seen/heard since I got here.  I came up with air traffic.  No airplanes overhead, or helicopters for that matter.  I used to hear life flight come in and out of UVRMC at least 10 times / day.  Not the case here.  I don't think there's even a single helicopter on the island....

In other news, this was my facebook status this morning:

"That awful feeling you get when class is starting and you realize your laptop - and therefore all your notes - is not in your backpack...... followed by a worse feeling when you realize it's not at your apartment..... or at campus security.....

followed by that wonderful feeling of having it found on the lecture podium at the front of the St. James Classroom TWELVE HOURS after you must have left it there when packing up last night.  #Godmustlovemealot! #worstandbestmorningever! #whatkindofidiotforgetstheirlaptop!?

SERIOUSLY!?!?!

Did that really happen to me? Yes, yes it did. ME! I happen to be proud of the fact that I know pretty much exactly where everything is. I always take a survey of a room whenever I enter to see what's where, after a while you memorize where everything is and can find it quickly - learned that little trick from a sister on my mission.
So here's the scoop. Last night I was packing up after a long evening of studying. I don't think I left it on the table b/c one of my buddies was right next to me and he surely would've noticed. I did however, try to go print something at the print station at the front of the classroom. Saw the printer was jammed so I just left for home. I didn't even open my backpack at home so naturally, I felt no need to check it this morning when I left for class. I got to class and went to pull it out..... no laptop.

WHAT!?

I was SERIOUSLY so confused. Also, I wanted to throw up a little bit. So of course I left class and walked home to look for it - even though I knew I didn't even open my backpack while I was home.... of course it wasn't there so I called campus security. Nope, no sign of it yet.

:-( 

Then I started wondering what could have happened - Did someone sneak up behind me and unbeknownst to me open my backpack and take it while I was walking home?! Not likely, I would've heard them! Plus I was using an umbrella because it was raining - which means the zipper to my backpack was covered. Did someone break into my apartment last night and come ALL THE WAY INTO MY ROOM without me noticing?! Doubt it. I'm not that heavy of a sleeper. Did I sleep walk and leave it somewhere? I guess it's possible.... Or did I really leave it where I studied last??
The St James was closed this morning b/c an upper semester was having an exam in there so all I could do was wait. Naturally, I made breakfast and watched some TV hahaha! Had to wait until the exam was finished to do anything.
Got to the St James right as the students were leaving. Looked around a bit, no laptop. Headed over to the security office. "No laptop, but let me make a quick phone call....-3 minutes later-.... Good news! The cleaning ladies put it on the lecture podium last night. It should be there still. Call us when you find it."

I AM THE LUCKIEST PERSON ALIVE!

I must have either left it on the chair next to me as I was packing up my bag or put it on top of the printing station right before heading for home. I STILL can't believe I did that. The super funny thing is, I was WAY more worried about my lost notes than my laptop. I totally would have thought it would be the other way around. Luckily everything was backed up on Monday (I think) so I only would have lost about a weeks worth of notes. But that's a LOT!

-sigh-

I'm glad no one stole it. I'm glad the cleaning ladies didn't take it either! I'm glad I got it back. You better believe I'll be triple checking my bag to be sure it's in there from now on. I'll also be backing up my notes every day on a little thumb drive. You can't be too careful!