This is how we Roll...

Studying in the Caribbean.

Studying Anatomy in the sun. We have to air out in between formaldehyde shots.

Hard to see the furrowed brow of concentration with the sunglasses on...

This is one of my favorite pics yet. My orientation boys. The one on the left will be our valedictorian - you just watch.

College night party. Notice my and Mandy's lack of college pride. But that doesn't mean we can have a drink to undergrad!!

Night Cat Trip

The night cat trip was some serious fun. It was our first night out (myself, Cristin, and Kristin) since orientation - that's one and half months of straight studying. We didn't even shower. Just kidding. Sort of.
In any case, keep in mind as you view these pics that it had been a while since we had some true non-anatomy, non-histology, non-nutrition, non-physiology fun. The pics were too many to insert individually, so I put together a slide show that I hope all of you will be able to view. As always, comments included.

Anal Hairs.

THAT got your attention.

Cristin and I were enjoying a lovely morning in histology viewing various slides of epithelium under the scope when we were rudely jolted out of our ambling journey by ANAL HAIRS!

Oh come on kids, stop snickering. It's just a word - a body part - like leg or arm or foot. Just because Beevis and Butthead found it amusing, doesn't mean we all have to. (Hee Hee)

Yes, our slide of a dog's rectoanal junction showed hairs. Creepy.

I took a pic, because naturally I needed to share with you all.

Look at the brownish long things the glowing pointer is pointing at...you know you're jealous of my photography skills.

Not that I ever thought the anal area was a particularly bald area, but I just didn't expect to find anal hairs while perusing a slide for glands and epithelium!

What a wonderful career I've chosen.

I know, I know. It's been a while.

Knowing that I had been incredibly lax in communicating/updating during the mad study time last week, I took a moment to document some of the goings-on around me. Sorry it's taken me so long to update.

This is one of two construction sites on campus. I think a new auditorium will be going up here.

This is the site of the new prep school for Ross U children of students/staff.

Our donkeys out for some fun.



This little guy enjoying munching on my book bag. Seriously cute.



These little birds are serious about their food. Shortly after this was shot this little guy picked up this bread (which is at least 1/2 his size) and flew off....rather at an odd angle, but he got some lift nonetheless.



This is the little teenage momma cat who screams at us for food. I'm not joking. She is trained by the students. Her diet includes grilled chicken strips, hamburger, french fries, and pop tarts. Yes, we're vet students. I think it's because we're so starved for a pet we over-compensate by over-feeding her crap. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.



All of my notes for Physio. Crazy amount of trees dying for that course.



Nice chart of receptors/neurotransmitters. It's so much fun I had to make the chart colorful just to keep my attention.



I sort of build a little nest around me when I study. Here is my telecommunications center. Notice the jamming to iTunes.



This is my bookshelf/media center.



Dr. Long: please note I am now officially allergic to latex. Nice little bumps and blisters when I wear latex gloves to anatomy. I think I caught it from you. ;)



And this was my dinner that night. Yup, I'm rockin the Stove Top Stuffing.



This is what happens when an interior designer decides to go to medical school.



And of course, when the room gets too stifling and tiny, I head out to the patio and study here. I'm at vet school in the Caribbean man. Awesome.

Scuba Lesson #2 & 3

Today we had a combined scuba lesson, completing all of our pool work in one session. Basically, that's 6 hours in a pool swimming around in circles. My fingers we swollen little prunes when we finally got out!
Now what, do you ask, attracts me to scuba? Is it the pretty fish, or the possibility of seeing shark in their natural habitat? Or maybe exploring sunken ships and seeing a bit of history lost in time? No no, my friends...it's all about the cool new accessories and outfits for me!

Never mind that I have no neck....how slimming is this suit?!

My Buddy, My Buddy, wherever I go, she's gonna go.....

After gearing up, hooking up our air, and getting into the pool it was time to do some serious pool scuba. We saw many species of boogers, dead plant material, and particulate matter that I did not want to identify. Our instructor was firm and determined to complete our material at least an hour ahead of schedule. Some of the tasks we learned included:

• how to clear our masks of water while underwater, should a shark remove it from our heads while diving
• how to clear our regulator underwater, should it get pulled from our mouths by our buddy while diving
• how to take off all of our scuba gear underwater and then put it all back on again underwater (in case we should ever be so inclined to show off that skill)
• how to properly buoyant ourselves in the water so that we don't sink to the bottom nor stay at the surface
• how to breathe from our buddy's regulator and then go swimming off into the sunset arm in arm
• how to swim in a circle with our masks off, find our masks at the bottom with chlorine-blinded eyes, and put them back on underwater

Once we had completed these tasks and more to our instructors liking, we were officially dubbed Junior Divers and given the okay to leave the pool. Next comes that dreadful word...the academic portion of our diving journey. After academics we take written test and they set us free in the ocean! Scary thought, huh? I mean, Drivers Ed was like a 3 month course. Crazy.

Scuba Sas.

Please note how My Buddy is in the background LAUGHING as I am swallowed whole.

Please excuse my crude graphics in the above photo. I couldn't find my copy of Photoshop before I left home and thus was forced to use the archaic Paint program. Ick.