End of First Exams

I finished up the last exam of my first round last Wednesday and am happy to report that I am currently passing all of my classes and am feeling confident about passing my first semester. Some days it feels like all I do is study, but I know that it is necessary and I keep at it. No exams this coming week, which is nice, but the second rounds of everything starts the next week.

When I opened my bank account here, I used a cashier's check from the bank and learned about a week ago that the money would not be available for use until October 14. Luckily, I had brought down a good amount of cash, which got me through the first part of my time here. On Thursday, my money became available for use, which is really great because I was able to go grocery shopping and buy food.

Food is probably the thing I miss the most. There are a lot of American brands here and are not ridiculously overpriced. The problem is the meat is questionable at best, and anything that is brought in is very expensive. I had been eating a cheeseburger on campus once a week in order to get a little protein and help my meat craving. Last week, after my anatomy exam, I ate my last cheeseburger because I ended up with a case of food poisoning. Unfortunately, I had a physio exam on that Wednesday and I did not end up with the 24 hour food poisoning, instead, I was sick for about four days, which made studying awful and basically nonexistent. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on physio because of this, but I still passed and have some time to improve the grade. I'm just happy not to feel that awful anymore.

I learned that my dislike of llamas could come in handy. For my nutrition exam, we had to learn properties of vitamins and minerals. I learned that llamas are susceptible to copper toxicity, which I remembered by the fact that I hate llamas and can poison them with copper. Fortunately, on the exam, there was a question about llamas and why they were sick, which I instantly got right. I'm glad they are useful for something, but still think they are not necessary.

Next weekend is our midsemester break, which means I get a three day weekend. We are planning an overnight trip to Nevis on the ferry and renting a hotel room overnight then doing some site seeing. I am looking forward to a nice break and I'm excited to see Nevis. I hear there is some good horseback riding there and would definitely like to check that out.

Last week was very rainy and lots of people lost power. Where I live, we very rarely lose power, which is really nice when I don't have to study by candlelight. The rain has let up now and the wonderful Caribbean tropical weather has returned. I enjoy looking at the weather at home online and it being freezing there while I enjoy the warmth.

Tomorrow we are going to try out a cafe for breakfast and then spend some time on the beach without bringing along my books. It will be a nice change. I also have to work on getting Rory a vet appointment so she can have her first check-up. All in all, staying busy and not missing home too much. Back to studying because the minute I stop I will be behind.

Rory sitting on my physio because she didn't want me studying

First Vet School Exam

Last Monday was my first exam of vet school in microanatomy and embryology. This is my least favorite class with my least favorite professor. Last semester, 24 students failed this class, so needless to say, I was worried about passing. Fortunately, I came out of the exam with a B. It was a really nice boost in confidence to start out with, especially as I have two exams this coming week. So far, I've done more studying in the past month than I had in all of undergrad.

On Monday, I have my first gross anatomy exam. It covers the thoracic limb muscles and bones of the dog and the horse and radiology of the limb and palpation of the limb on dog and horse and differences in cattle and cats. It's a lot of information, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. I never thought I would learn every muscle and where they attach to bones and what they do, but I have. Hopefully, I don't lose all the information before Monday. On Wednesday, I have a physio exam. I haven't done much studying yet because anatomy is first, but the physio professor likes to tell us exactly what is on the exam so I'm not worried. I will probably start studying for that tomorrow and cram after anatomy.

It hasn't been all work. Last weekend, we went to the movie theater and saw The Town. The theater here is really nice and movies aren't any more expensive than at home and probably cheaper. I also joined a beach volleyball team that plays a game every Friday. Last night our team won because the other team never showed up. Since I haven't played volleyball since I wrecked my thumb at my cousin Amber's graduation party about three years ago, it will be interesting to see how I do. Hopefully, next weekend we will actually get to play. I have also volunteered to feed at the "zoo". The zoo is some guy that has been collecting animals and keeps them in his backyard. We feed them in order to ensure that the animals are getting the nutrients they need. He has quite the variety including monkeys (which I avoid), ducks, chickens, a mongoose, geese, peahens, turtles, an iguana, and more. In addition, there are many rats and roaches that take advantage of the food we provide. I've done it once, but will be doing it every other week. I plan on wearing closed toed shoes and shorts so as to discourage the possibility of rats climbing up my leg.

For people not on facebook, I have posted pictures on flickr and will try to update them as often as possible, but there is a limit to how many photos can be uploaded in a period of time. http://www.flickr.com/photos/54213937@N04/