Brrrr!

Oregon is nice and chilly, it is quite refreshing when you're not shivering.

The plane ride back home was interesting, it really wasn't so bad thinking about it now, especially knowing what others had to put up with. I heard that flights were canceled Saturday and Sunday for a few days due to a volcano blowing ash all over St. Kitts preventing planes from landing or taking off. I'll take my 2-3 hour delays over that any day.

I apologize for my delayed response to the quiz I threw out a few days ago. I've been a bit distracted. My apoloies.

And the answers are in!
1. B (Thoroughbred)
2. A (Standardbred)
3. A (Toggenburg)
4. B (Alpine)

(Horse "C" was a Quarterhorse)

So... this means that my awesome readers Matt, Alanna, and Hummelschnecke all had correct answers! Thank you one and all for your entires.

Back to vet school.... I am very happy with how this term has gone. I got my grades back, all B's, which I am pleased with. Next semester is supposed to be more difficult but I am up for the challenge and am going to try to improve my grades. We'll see how that goes...

For now I am enjoying this break. I am getting used to the cold a little I think... or maybe its just all the layers I"m wearing... or all the tea I'm drinking... or all the time spent sitting next to the wood stove... it has been quite enjoyable thus far regardless.

That's about all. I will be pretty busy these next couple of weeks traveling around to see family and friends, but I'll try to post some pictures of Oregon in the winter and my activities during break as best I can. It'll be much easier now that I have my old camera back that is in MUCH better condition than the one I have had these past four months. Yay! (Thanks Dad!)

Back to my hot chocolate and wood stove time.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I'm not speaking to you right now, LAX

I'm at the airport, but it is not my friend, so therefor I am not speaking to the airport.

Its 3am. No judging allowed. Feels like 7am though. Except for not having actually slept.

I think in the last 3 nights I have had a total of 8 hours of sleep. Anyone who knows my sleeping preferences, this a happy Laura does not make.

No food vendors open until 5 am. Security doesn't open until 5 am. Flight leaves at 6am. Ugh.

And, to complete the trifecta previously mentioned... I'm freezing. Google tells me it is 60 degrees in LA right now. It doesn't help that this lounge I'm sitting in feels to be about 30 degrees. Why have AC on so strong??? WHY???

I am safely on the West Coast though... so that's exciting. Major flight delays today, it was quite the debacle. MIA had major problems. Then again, so did the St. Kitts airport. Delayed flights at the St. Kitts airport isn't so bad though, considering I got 2 beers and an order of fries for $3 US. How's that for airport prices??? You can't buy anything at a US airport for $3... let alone 2 beers and fries. I could really go for a bagel right now though, and some OJ.

P.S. Laura loves ketchup now.

I'll leave you to ponder your shattered world, now knowing that Laura likes ketchup.

PJ

Driving on the left side of the road, shifting with your left hand, and not having any road markings surprisingly isn't as difficult to manage as I had expected.

Why yes, this does mean we now officially have PJ and I drove PJ from port back to campus. And that's all you get for now. More later. Must.... continue.... studying....

Is it Friday yet??

Things that make me wish it were Friday already:

1. Nutrition final. Oof. During the test I kept thinking "I'm failing, oh no, I'm failing". After finishing I read the entire exam start to finish again, only changed one answer, and felt a lot better about it. So... we'll see.

Anyone know how to distinguish between a Thoroughbred and Standardbred horse from a single side view picture alone??? I certainly don't. Let's hope guessing was on my side today...


2. There has been construction just outside my room alllllll week. Its not only the construction noise that is bothersome, actually I can tune that out. Its the workers who are REALLY disruptive to my studying. When they aren't working they're VERY loud, yelling, answering cell phones, playing music... and its VERY noisy. You're probably wondering why I just don't go onto campus to study, right? Well... the library is small, super crowded and ICE COLD.... meaning that I can't study there either as Laura does not function when she is cold.

3. I have no food. I'm tired, and I'm cold more often than I should be considering I live in the Caribbean. Matt calls this my trifecta of.... crabbiness? Those are the 3 things than turn Laura into a very unhappy person.

Here is the good news:
1. Tomorrow at around 2pm I'll be done with my 1st semester of vet school!!!

2. Tomorrow morning we get PJ for good!!! (Our car)

3. Friday at 4pm I will be on a flight to Oregon.

4. Friday morning we're going to the beach for a few hours (weather permitting)

5. We're drinking tomorrow night. 'Nough said. (Con: have to clean my room early Fri morning... so can't stay out too late...)

6. Tanzi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get to see her in t-minus 3 days. Oh, and Matt and the family too :) haha

Yellow Labrador  Retriever named TANZI!!!

Let's see your skills... answers to be posted tomorrow. Leave your answers in the comment section! There will be a PRIZE for the best score!

1. Which horse pictured is a Thoroughbred?

2. Which horse pictured is a Standardbred?

a)

 

b)

 

c)

3. Which goat pictured below is a Toggenburg?

4. Which goat pictured below is an Alpine?

a)

b)

I can't get the picture editor to make all the pictures the same size... its some sort of glitch. Again, another annoying thing... ugh.

Yeah... welcome to my life. Enjoy!

1 more exam... 3 more days until Oregon. Yay!!!

1 down, 3 to go

I can now pack up my Gross Anatomy textbooks, notes, nasty lab coat and dissection tools. Sweeeeeet.

Oh wait? I have 3 more finals... boo.

Happy belated birthday to my dad!!!! Unfortunately he was stuck fixing a water heater all day...

That's really all I have. Back to studying...

This and that...

In just one week from today I'll be on an airplane towards the Pacific ocean!

Today was the last day of "class" for the semester, but instead of class, we had an anatomy midterm. Totally makes sense, right?? I totally rocked that exam though. Except for a few things. I am okay with that though. Very glad I learned those puncta maximas though...

Thinking about it, today was a very exciting day. Last day of class, last gross anatomy midterm (final on Monday though), we transferred the car over to Molly and I, and I got my St. Kitts drivers license! We are sharing the car for the next week such that Vicky (the 7th semester who we bought it from) is still able to get to her finals and whatnot. Still, I am very excited about having PJ (short for "Pajero", the model of the car).

Cost breakdown, in case you were interested.
My/Matt's contribution to the purchase of the vehicle: $3K US
Cost of driver's license (1 yr): $50 US
Cost of insurance for myself for 1 yr: $60 US ----- CRAZY cheap right???? This is all thanks to Molly having had insurance for so long which gave us a 50% discount on our co-policy.
Inland Revenue tax: $25 US

So, besides the purchase price, so far owning a car isn't proving to be too horribly expensive. I won't go into gas prices though...

I should specify about the driver's license. Its a piece of paper. A yellow piece of paper to be specific. Very high tech if you ask me. Keeping things simple too, I suppose. Anyway, here it is:

Also, as it turns out, our mechanic, who goes by "Points" is Uncle Millie's mechanic! All of the sudden I feel a lot better about leaving PJ with Points during the break.

I started packing tonight as I did not want to study and figured I should get a start on it while I have extra time. As I was clearing out my shoe drawer and learned something new about humid climates. Mold grows on shoes. EWWWWWW. That's just disgusting. I had to throw away one of my favorite (but rarely worn) shoes because they were just COVERED in mold. It was horrible. Sigh.

Gum melts in humidity too, by the way. Oh yeah, that's right, gum can melt. I think it is the glycerin that seeps out, then you're left with this stringy pasty mess and its just no fun.

I did happen to remember to take a picture of the "Christmas tree" near my dorm. It's not great, but it gets the job done.

Bed time for sure. Brunch in the morning, then studying like a mad person all weekend for finals.

7 days and counting until I leave for Oregon!!!

Rouuuund

Hokay, so there's the Omasum. Chillin'. Dang, that is a SWEET Omasum you might say. Rouuuuund.

Molly's lovely art hanging proudly on the back of my door

A little tribute to "The End of the World" (see below), and gross anatomy of the rumen. The omasum is the very round part of the rumen (so, one of the "four" stomachs a cow has). Specifically, the omasum is the 3rd or the 4 compartments. It is also nick-named the "butcher's bible" as it looks like a bible when you slice it open. Lots of little thin pages. It is used to grind up food particles. Too much technical information? Sorry.

In case you want to watch the original "The End of the World"




I keep having interesting thoughts during class that I try to remember to blog about, but alas, they disappear as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard.

Studying for finals is going well. I'm starting to feel more confident and less of the "I have no idea what I'm doing, how will I ever pass my finals?!?!" feeling.

We have a free dinner tonight! Woot! They sent us the menu and it is supposed to be a full holiday dinner... mmmm..... I heart food.

Speaking of food, I have had the most ginormous appetite ever since I recovered from being ill. I think my stomach is trying to make up for lost time. I don't blame it, food is delicious, so why not?

I'll try to remember to post a picture of the tree they decorated as a Christmas tree in the center grassy area at the dorms. It's cute, and helps to remind us that in fact, this is December, and not just a reaaaaaally long July. Sure feels like July.... still 80+ degrees here, and sunny, and gorgeous, and raining.

What's up with Oregon, by the way??? 8 degrees today?!?!?!?! It had better warm up by the 18th... I'm not sure I can handle that kind of temperature change. Laura might just freeze into a solid block stepping off the plane, then no one would be happy, especially me.

I have another card to add to my collection because Gina is so awesome and sent me an adorable Thanksgiving card. Thank you Gina!

More random pictures....

The rest of the back of my door. It started with a few pictures and has morphed into this collage...

Being bored in Microanatomy on Thanksgiving Day led to this artistic creation by Molly and I. 

Highlighters on Recycled Printer Paper. (Super fancy, I know)

Also, please note Jackie's super awesome "Save the date" magnet in the upper L corner. Super awesome. :)

 

St. Kitts stamps. AIDS is a problem. Cool idea, right?

Downtown there is also one of the "red ribbons"  as a ginormous sculpture that was made out of  recycled water bottles pained red. Another good idea in my opinion. Double whammy - recycle and don't get AIDS. 

Lastly, I'd like to share with you a video we watched in our last day of Nutrition lecture while talking about obesity in pets.

Dogs are easy to exercise, you throw a ball, they go get it. Cats on the other hand... not so willing to entertain the idea of "exercise". Except these cats... they seem to be quite happy...

On that note, I am going to go back to studying gross anatomy as I have not 100% learned all of the little tiny structures of the heart and lungs and GI tract and vessels and nerves and so on, of which, I'll probably hardly ever use in clinics. I mean really, how often am I going to do rectal palpations on horses and try to count the bands on the cecum to make sure its the cecum?? Really?? Psh. I'll know it anyway....

Taxi? Need a taxi? Tour? Taxi? Picture with my monkey?? Taxi?!?

Questions asked of the insanely white girl walking around Port when there are 2 cruise ships docked...

This week's lessons from Uncle Millie (our cab driver)
- When in town, create a boundary and stick to it, or else they'll think you're afraid and take advantage.
- If someone says hello, say hello back, but no more. If they try to talk more, just say no thank you and keep walking. They'll know you aren't afraid. It's not rude to keep walking. Saying hello is cordial enough.
- Being punctual gets you on Uncle Millie's good side. This makes him very grateful and more likely to help you out in the future when you need to get from Point A to Point B and back again.
- Use back roads. They're more confusing, and narrow, and sketch... but its WAY faster when there are 2 cruise ships at port.

These lessons were given after some drunken local starting bothering Molly and I in town today while waiting for Uncle Millie to pick us up... we were VERY glad to see his van coming our way at that point! Oh, and this occurred at noon, on a Saturday.

Please don't worry for our safety. The man in question was just trying to get us to use him as our mechanic and wanting us to put his phone number in our cell phones. We opted to memorize his phone number instead of admitting we had cell phones. He was not trying to harm us in any way.


Lesson's from vet school
- Vessels and nerves suck. Muscles are WAAAAAY easier to learn and identify. I suppose this is an obvious statement considering the size difference between the two categories... but it doesn't make my lesson any less important. Vessels and nerves suck to learn. Statement rather than a lesson? Maybe, but too bad. It's a week before finals, that's my excuse.
- Being the best physiology course Dr. Heyliger has taught his entire time here has its benefits... and its drawbacks. He wants to put questions on our final exam that in previous years have caused problems... i.e. more than 50% of the class got wrong. Its a compliment in that he thinks we'll handle the questions better... but it also means we have to study even harder for our very last final. Boooooo
- Shingles blows. Our beloved microanatomy professor (the one with the awesome Slovakian (??) accent) came down with it and is unable to teach the rest of the course, and is very bummed about it. He came in to do an exam review for the course after not being in class all week and was SOOOO excited to teach. He loves teaching. I hope he has a speedy recovery.
- Guinea pigs and horses have VERY similar GI tracts. Just.. different sizes....
- Guinea pigs have 4 1/2 winds/twists in their cochlea. Does this mean they hear better? Or hear a larger range of sounds? I have no idea. This is just the microanatomy side of things, so that's all I have on that... for now.
- Having awesome friends and family makes living 4000 miles away from said friends and family a bit more tolerable. See below for evidence of their awesomeness...

On another note...
Christmas shopping is done! Woot! Only took me 2 trips into town... oh yeah.

I nearly forgot! St. Kitts-isms of the week:
- Scheduled water outages. Oh yeah, that's right. No water for 8 hours of the day and overnight? That's what I call awesome. It was only 2 days though.
- Tortilla chips are back on the island!!! Nom nom nom, chips and salsa, nom nom nom!

Oregon is now only 14 days and 5 exams away.... and so is freezing my bum off. It's so worth it though. :)

17 days...

T-minus 17 days and I'll be back in Oregon for 2.5 weeks. Very exciting.

Tomorrow is the last day of Physiology, then we just have review sessions until the final (which of course is the last final scheduled). I suppose that means I'll have plenty of time to prepare... or extra time to focus on anatomy... or both?

It's a random thoughts sort of day... nothing in particular to tell.

We had a few power outages today, for no particular reason that I can see. Its all just part of island life I suppose. I'm very glad my alarm clock is on batteries though or else I highly doubt I'd make it to my first class of the day.

I have yet another reason to be thankful for my nearly year of work as a tech at Ark. In our nutrition lab we learned about body condition scoring (BCS) dogs and cats to determine if they're underweight, ideal weight, or overweight. I was one of 3-4 students who have ever done this, or known about it. I was very surprised to learn this. At Ark, they BCS every pet that walks in the door, no matter if it is healthy, ill, there for surgery, boarding... all of them. And its awesome. Anyway, so that was good. I'm not so much a fan of this dude teaching our small animal nutrition... but you can't like 'em all, right? At least he is just a visiting professor and I won't have to see him again. Unless I run into him in Corvallis or Eugene sometime considering he is from Oregon... eh. He's never met me, no biggie.

We get PJ sometime very soon! That's our car, by the way. AND, we get to move our stuff into the new house before we leave, even better! SOOOOO excited for a house. A real kitchen (with an OVEN!), a bedroom that I don't cook, sleep, eat, and study in, a REAL couch, and a TV. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. Oh, and it has an ocean view from its gorgeous wrap around porch.

I bought 3 DVD's this last weekend from the guy on the street selling DVD's out of a box. Oh yeah, that's right. 3 DVD's for $25... EC that is. (Oh, about $2 or $3 US per movie) And they're pretty good quality for being pirated.

Tonight I washed my lab coat (the one that I wear nearly ever day in gross anatomy lab to dissect various animal cadavers) for the first time all semester. To my surprise, it came out nice and sparkling white! Now I don't want to go get it all nasty again tomorrow. It'll take all of 2 seconds considering we're using nasty buckets of donkey and sheep viscera to learn abdominal anatomy of ruminants and equine.

Too much reality? Sorry. Vet school can be gross sometimes.

I'm trying to eat all the food left in my cupboards. I have lots of pasta, and rice... but not much else... hmm...

Cereal it is!

Alright, that's all I've got. Very boring today. Please forgive... it's all I've got.
Goodnight.