Down In The Bayou

Now, officially blogging from the Louisiana Bayou!!

It took us 12 hours for our road trip to LA and I moved into my awesome new place (a very nice upgrade from St Kitts)!

 

I had my orientation on Wednesday and Thursday where we received the run down on what to expect for the next year including our schedules!  I have a variety of rotations so it will make for a sensational year!  I start on Monday with my cardiology rotation.

On Friday, Luannie and I going to travel to New Orleans to tangibly live the culture, and relax before the craziness starts.  This area is unique with its cultural diversity woven into the food, music, and architecture.   It's a sensory experience on all levels and I'm eagerly listening to the story that lurks around every corner.

1st week as a firstie!

Back to school time.  I'm so grateful to everyone for being so flexible with their schedule so I could see everyone over break!  I really do miss everyone already.
I flew back here on Saturday.  I started to unpack all four of my boxes and 6 of my suitcases....  I have way too much stuff.

 A few of us went out to dinner on Saturday night and then to a back to school party at Bamboo.  We were able to meet a few of the incoming first semesters.
On Sunday, I went to breakfast with Alex and her parents and we then did some grocery shopping.  I also helped Taylor move her stuff from storage into her apartment.  I then unpacked and put away the rest of my stuff and got ready for the first day of vet school!  Class schedule
Monday was my first official 1st day of vet school! It was an extremely busy day and the humidity was awful!  I am already feeling behind and overwhelmed.  We had Gross Anatomy Lab, Microanatomy, and Nutrition (yes with Dr. Reich again).  Normally we would also have Physiology, but since we had our white coat ceremony that afternoon, they canceled that class.  The white coat ceremony was nice and the speaker was pretty good and inspirational.  I then started studying until 11pm....already I know!

Tuesday was a shorter day than normal.   We had Gross Anatomy Lecture, Microanatomy, and Intro to Vet Med. Usually class ends around 5pm but since they were just talking about the class, it ended at 2pm today.  I ended up going to the gym, since I don't have my gym routine down yet.  I might try to continue going at 5:30am, but then I have to worry about showering and breakfast before class.  I would go in the afternoon after classes, but that's when the gym is the most full, so it's harder to go then.  I will figure something out after I am more comfortable with my schedule, which I'm sure will end up being at 5:30 again.  Here's to no sleep and bad posture (from leaning over books in extremely uncomfortable chairs) this semester!
Wednesday was another very busy day.   We met with the current vet preppers for lunch to help answer any of their questions.  It was also the first day of market, so I stocked up on my fruits and veggies.  We also had out first Physiology class, which was two hours long.  As a side note, the humidity since we have been back is insane.  I haven't taken a hot shower since being here! We haven't needed to turn our AC on in our apartment yet, but we do leave the windows open all the time and the fans on when we are there.  However, we have only been there in the evening, so we will see how the weekend goes.
We got to experience our first animal and cadaver interaction this semester on Thursday.  We got to work with a horse and then worked on muscles with the dog cadavers.  We also had the club sign up day today as well.  I didn't sign up for any new clubs because I figured I'd try to continue with the ones I was in last semester.
I cannot wait for a must needed break and catch up this weekend.  I don't feel like I'm behind, but I do want to get a little ahead so I can stay on top of everything.  Mr. RUSVM is on Saturday and I am actually meeting with the guy representing first semester later on Friday (today) in order to go over his talent portion of the contest.  The category is multicultural talent and what better thing to do than get a guy in a girl's pink belly dancing costume and have him dance!  Haha I will take a video, it will be too fun!

Apartment Found!

My baby sister turned 21 on Monday!  I wish I could have been there to celebrate with her, but at least we were able to Skype so I could see her open her gifts.  Hope you enjoy mine J (even though I know you can't "play" with it until you get home!
Alex's (my future roommate) parents came into town so we were able to run some errands and look at apartments!  The housing list came out last Friday, so we spent the weekend discussing what we were looking for.  Originally there were going to be three of us, but unfortunately it didn't work out, so it's just Alex and me.  We ended up looking at three different places total (two of the places we looked at two apartments).  The first one we were definitely against; it was too far away from the school, didn't have the best furniture and we weren't thrilled with the location in general, so that one was completely off the list.  We had contacted several people to look at places, but only heard back from three, so we talked to off-campus housing and they assured us that we will find one out of those that contacted us. So on Monday, we were torn between two places and had to sleep on it.  The first place was newer, cheaper, included utilities and generally nicer, but it didn't have a generator, wasn't the most secure, and the dryer was on the outside of the building.  The second place we looked at was bigger, had a generator, is extremely secure, has a large Ross community, a washer and dryer in the individual apartment, but doesn't allow pets, didn't include all utilities, and it much more expensive.  In the end, as much as we tried to justify living at the newer nicer place, the second apartment just made more sense.  We are thrilled that we don't have to worry about an apartment though and we are still happy with the results (well maybe not the no pet part, but I was told we can talk to the landlord if we end up wanting one).  There are currently people living here, so here are some pictures and I will post more when we actually move in:

Tuesday was a busy day.  We were suppose to have a wrap up for our Evidence Based Medicine class, but the teachers got confused with the schedule, so it had to be rescheduled.  We were however given new groups and luckily I am on the same day with my class, so I still have Friday mornings free.  We then had Applications where we worked with the horse, sheep, and dogs again to make sure we understand what we went over last class.  After classes that day, a bunch of us all went out to see The Vow.  The theater was incredibly full and it's almost like you are paying for two shows.  One being the actual movie and the second being people watching.  The locals get very into the movies here and will shout their opinions of the movie and certain characters.  Needless to say, I didn't study at all this day....oops.
Wednesday was another long day where I was on campus from 10:30am until 9pm.  We had a VBMA speaker from 5:30-9 (it was suppose to last until 8:30).  It was a good topic, but just long.  Thursday was uneventful, but there was another VBMA speaker at lunch....only 4 more hours until my certification!
This weekend will consist of nothing but studying and review sessions....Fun!

In honor of tests coming up, I thought everyone might enjoy this because it's so true: