I've survived so far...

I have offically made it through my first month here on St Kitts. In honor of not failing out, I'm going to post some nifty pictures for everyone :) (you have to click them to see the whole thing)


Our hike in Nevis



I swear they were trying to kill us





But when we got to the "source" it was all worth it



Me and Mike busting a move on NYE




This may be my favorite picture from NYE... Me and Eli



Chilling at shipwreck








My buds





At Blackrock



I do live in paradise



I know it doesnt look like it, but I swear I study... a ton more then I would like sometimes!! But hey, everyone needs some down time ;)

I will try to get some more pics up soon!!

Because formalin makes me feel sexy

1/17/08

It is near the end of my second week here, and already the anatomy lab is becoming a second home. I was there until about 9pm last night, and today till almost 8. Lets backtrack a bit... I've been skinning a dog for the last two days. Well no, it took me all of 20 minutes to "skin" the dog, but it has taken me the last day and a half to clean off most of the fat and fascia. It's terribly painstaking, because every time you think you have made substantial progress someone comes around and lets you know you are no where near close.

The stench when you walk into the humongoid freezer is a bit overwhelming at first, but your only in there long enough to grab your specimen from a rack of other dogs, a few sheep and a goat. After leaving the freezer, the lab isnt so bad. It's always worse when there are more bodies around, but that doesnt matter much after you have been hunched over a frozen formalin filled carcass, only inches from its muscle, slowly peeling back and cutting away layers of fat and fascia for a few hours. By the time you leave you can barely be bothered to think about the smell, as youve already singed all your nose hairs... that is, until you get home.

I have showered, washed my hands, hair, and other important places; but I still have eau de death lingering. It's a good thing I used an entire seasoning packet in my dinner. Scooping in each bite isnt so bad when all you can smell is artificial beef seasoning... hey, it's better than the hanging chemical scent.

Best part of vet schol? My ramen skills are vastly improved. I even cut up some scallions for tonights masterpiece. All of the noodley goodness is pretty tasty, though I'm sure it's screwing up my sodium levels lol

I'm chugging along pretty uneventfully in Histo, Math, Vet Term, and Micro. Physio is pretty interesting so far, but its a lot of volume for a teeny amount of time. After I finish my noodles, I'm going to crack the textbook and do some studying before bed. Tomorrow is Anatomy lab (the actual learning lab class and not just clean the dead dog session) and Histo lab. After that beach volleyball starts down on Timothy beach. i'll probably sit it out seeing as I have a hike on Nevis Saturday morning. I'm pretty excited for the hike... there have been some very cool plants in these rainforests. Plus it gets me out of my room and away from my books for a few hours. (nevermind the fact that I'm getting off the island completely for the day) I'll try to grab some pics from some other people and post them up here :) Well I'm going to cut this here, so that I can study a bit before I nod off

Another sunset another day...

School is moving along... it's almost the end of the first week and I am up on my info and hopefully i can maintain this trend. I'm trying to form some good study habits by re-enforcing my class notes, by going over them immediately. Today after class I studied for a few hours then made dinner. Speaking of dinner, I made my first REAL meal. I cooked chicken fajitas (sans tortillas, but I used lime tostitos instead, being the resourceful student I am) with tomato, avocado, as well as peppers and onions. I fed my "roomies" down the hall, and apparently knocked their socks off. One even went as far as to say that he's never had a meal like that, and he would never get one like that in Wisconsin. Kudos to mom for showing me the ease of chicken fajitas. now if only I could figure out something else without burning my apartment down.

Tomorrow starts the "Class Olympics". Each semester competes against the other in football, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball. The semester that wins get a free catamaran trip for the entire class. needless to say some of the upperclassmen are getting very into the competitive spirit. They picked colors, and assigned us (the first semesters) pink. I think that's fine, because then they can wave at our pink butts as we sail away on our catamaran cruise ;)

Well, back to anatomy the maybe a nightcap with my roomies.

day one

Classes have officially started and so far so good. Today I had Histology, Anatomy, and Microbiology. not too bad. The volume is a big large, but overall, not too terrible. It definetly helps that I have such a strong background. Getting that degree in Veterinary science and becoming an LVT is proving very useful. Granted I know I have a ton to learn, I'm glad I've got a little boost behind me. Tomorrow is more Histology, Physiology, and Math.

Tomorrow is also the club fair. I was nominated to become our class rep, and was going to accept it, but there was a more enthusiastic girl that wanted it, so i told her to take the position. I told her I would be her back up if she needs help, or has to miss a meeting. I think they have an emergency medicine club (it's kind of wierd to me to have a medicine club, but I guess thats what vet school is for) and I dig emergency and critical care medicine so I may check them out.

I found out today that we have "block exams" which basically is when you take all of your exams from all of your classes on one day. Block exams from 8am-1pm on pre-sheduled mondays.... can't wait lol


Well, I think I'm going to start organizing my notes so that I'm all set up for class tomorrow. No need to be disorganized when I have the time to put my things together :)