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