grades

so here is the official screenshot of my final grades. not too shabby, but next term i'm going to work on getting fewer Bs.

Hash 6 photos

finals are done!

Woohoo! I did it. I can't believe how fast this term has flown by. I am really happy because I ended up getting a 93% on my physiology exam which gives me a nice B+ in the class. I also ended up getting an A as a final grade in anatomy. So things are coming up Dayna right now. I am still waiting on my Radiology grade but I don't think it went badly at all.

Now, I am going to relax and enjoy the weekend. Tonight is going to be a fun night of celebrating with my classmates, and then tomorrow I get to go HASHING! It's been 3 weeks so I can't wait.

Hope everybody else is having a fantastic start to their weekend. xox

nutritious

I got an A on my nutrition final and an A overall in the course. One more exam to go, then I am done Term 1. :D

exam update

- still waiting for my radiology exam to be returned. i am hoping for a good grade. it felt like it went pretty well.

- today was the anatomy double-header. i got an A on the lab part, and I think i did well on the lecture part too but i have to wait for that grade. I think there is a very good chance of me coming out with an A in the course. that is good.

- tomorrow is my nutrition final. it is all about equine nutrition (bleh). I still have to review my flashcards in the morning.

- friday is physiology. I like physiology so hopefully I can end the week with an A.

- friday night is a celebration at a bar on the beach with my class. Saturday is a hash (yay!). sunday = beach. monday: packing and moving my things to my new apartment for storage. tuesday = airplane to canada! I can't believe the term has flown by so fast. i'll be an actual vet before i know it. :D

histo

so I scored an 83% on my histology final. It is a good score, but I was trying for an 85 so I could pull my grade into the B+ range. B is still good though. no complaints. I am going to go for a snorkel as a reward. They put in a dock right beside my dorm a few weeks ago - it is nice to go sit in the sun and swim without having to go all the way to the beach on the bus.

After a bit of sun, it will be time to study radiology for the exam tomorrow. In this class the final is worth 100% of our grade. eek.

exam week

so exam week is here. in less than 1 hour I will write my first (and scariest) exam - histology. I have studied hard, and I am hoping to do well. Wish me luck!

horseface

so we found some fun things in the anatomy lab today. took a little break to take silly photos.
2 more days until exam-hell begins. I think i am getting stupider the more i study. each new piece of info I learn pushes something old out of my brain.

It is likely that I will forget how to walk soon.... but at least I know my cranial nerves.

finals

starting to feel the panic creeping in.
My first final is tomorrow and then I have one every day next week (and 2 on wednesday). I am sitting with great grades right now and hopefully I can score well on the exams and finish off where I want to be in all of my classes.

After exams, I have a few days before I come home to relax, and deal with moving my things to my new apartment off campus for next term. I also am thinking about purchasing a car, but I don't know how feasible that is yet.

I need to have a nap before the study marathon begins.
zzz

fail

i know, i know. i am failing at blogging.
well, its nearly time for finals and i have been crazy busy. i don't even know if i will be able to hash this saturday. :(

i will try to do a better update tomorrow, but for now it's bedtime. i went to class from 9 - 5 and then studied from 6 - midnight. i'm worn out.

in exactly 2 weeks i will be back in canada. crazy!

Clinical Orientation Final

I just wrote the final exam for my Clinical Orientation class. I got an A (90%) which means I have an A in the class as my final grade. It feels good!

We have the rest of the morning off, so I am going to go to the gym, then have a little nap. Then we have 3 hours of boring lectures this afternoon, followed by writing a research proposal tonight. fun fun.

Final exams start in less than 2 weeks. I can't wait for it to be over with.

hash 5 pics

Here are my photos from Hash #5.
I hope my foot heals in time for the next one.

7 sisters photos

The foot is still very swollen. I have some "nutmeg spray" that the locals use for sprains, as well as a tensor bandage. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon.

Today, I did some grocery shopping, had lunch with 2 of my friends, and then cleaned my room. Up next - studying and working on my resume. fun fun.

Here are the photos from 7 Sisters. A few of them were taken by one of my classmates with a really good eye for photography. (thank you Sweet Louisiana!) Hope you enjoy them all.

Sunday update

I had a really good day yesterday. The whale watching was awesome. We didn't see any whales, but we saw a group of about 100 dolphins. They swam along side the boat for a long time and were showing off for us by doing all kinds of jumps n stuff. The weather was great, and the waves were small. It was awesome.

The hash yesterday was also good. We travelled all the way up to a rum distillery at the very northern tip of the island. It was SO beautiful up there. About 2 minutes into the hash though, I fell and twisted my ankle quite badly. I didn't want to be a wimp, so I walked off the pain until I felt strong enough to run on it. I pushed myself as hard as I could, and felt pretty proud for being a trooper and running as long as I did. Part of the hash was through a river... and walking on the round rocks was tough. After that, I had to limp the rest of the way back (about 45 more mins). I felt dumb for falling, and didn't let the others know i was hurt, but they were watching out for me and brought me some water and some ice for my leg. It was a lot of fun, even with an injury. This morning, the ankle was sooo swollen that I couldn't put weight on it. However, earlier this week I had signed up for a shift at the small animal hospital. I talked to the coordinator and told her about the predicament I was in, and she told me that because it was such short notice, if I didn't find somebody to cover for me, she would have to work the shift herself. She was recently hospitalized for having a stroke (she is in her twenties) so there was NO way I was going to let her work for me. Instead, I had a hot shower, and spent 45 minutes walking slowly to the clinic (normally a 5 minute walk). I did stop for breakfast and coffee at a restaurant along the way though. By the time I made it to the clinic, my ankle had loosened up a lot. I was able to stand on it for the whole 5 hour shift with minimal pain (but still lots of limping). Now I am back at my dorm and I am going to go celebrate being a trooper with some sushi and maybe an alcoholic beverage. I'll post the dolphin video and some hash pics soon!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate that kind of thing!
that's it for now!
Dayna

7 Sisters

So today was a fantastic day! About 20 of my classmates and I met up at 11am, and had 2 vans pick us up and take us to the "7 Sisters" waterfalls for the afternoon. It's called 7 Sisters because it has a series of 7 waterfalls all in a row - and pools for swimming at the bottom. They are near the Grand Etang National Park... about a 30 minute drive away, up in the mountainy part of the island.

When we got to the site, there was a half hour hike to get to the falls. First, we walked through some beautiful farmland and then down a huge muddy hill through the trees. It was very steep, and very lush, and very fun. everybody was super excited and having a great time. When we got to the falls, a bunch of us sat around for a while near the bottom of the largest waterfall and watched some other students who we didn't know jump off. It looked to be at least 2 stories high. Pretty scary stuff.

A couple of my friends got so excited to jump that they raced up the little path to the top of the falls. I was left behind because I was too slow, so I decided to wait at the bottom and get some videos of them jumping when they came down. I waited around, chatted with the girls in the sun, and just took in the amazing scenery. After everybody had jumped and swam back to shore (I got some great HD video with my sweet camera), we learned that the hike to the top of the falls was steep and windy, and once you decided to jump the falls, you couldn't change your mind because the rocky walls of the river were way too steep to get back to the path down. This made it extra scary, since the final waterfall was really really high. No chickening out at the last minute.

Two of the first group of jumpers had so much fun that they wanted to go again... and even though it looked scary, I knew I would be angry with myself if I didn't do it. It total, 6 of us decided to make the climb to the top that second time: my favorite friend - a fearless Texan, a hilarious girl from New Jersey, a young and sweet British girl, a wicked British guy who I really enjoy talking to, and a guy from South Africa who tells great stories. I really like all of them and couldn't have asked for a better bunch of people to make such a cool memory with.

Before we made the climb, we had to strip down to our swimming suits and bare feet. Then we had to hike up a tiny muddy path to the top of the falls. On parts of the path, we were literally climbing up rocks and holding on to roots to keep from falling, on other parts, the mud came up to our shins and squished between our toes as we walked. We laughed and joked and had a great time. When we got to the top of the hill, we were really hot and the water looked sooo refreshing.

There were 5 falls that we jumped in total. To get to the first one, we had to climb on a bunch of rocks and shimmy across a little ledge to get to the "safe" jumping spot. This sounds pretty scary, but we had a local guide who was making the jumps with us. He told us exactly where to step and what to hold on to so that we didn't slip, he also called us his "soldiers" while he gave us instructions. hehe.

This first waterfall was the scariest one for me. After getting to the safe spot, we had to crawl over a fallen log, and then jump off of a small cliff, probably about 10 feet up. The guide informed us that the trick to doing this jump safely was to jump "out" from the ledge in order to miss the rocks near the bottom. We also had to tuck our feet in because it wasn't that deep. After watching three others jump, it was my turn. I remembered to do what the guide said, and I made a perfect jump! I felt the biggest rush and couldn't wait for more. After the first jump, the falls became a series of pools and rivers, with high rocky walls on either side. It was beautiful and I wish I could have brought my camera without destroying it.

The second jump was a piece of cake after the first one. We had to climb over a big round rock with water rushing over it, and then leap right into the middle of the pool below. We all cheered for each other as we jumped, and then swam around in the pool below.

After the second jump, we had to make our way down a narrow rocky passage with the water rushing through. The trick for this part was to keep a hand on each side of the rock wall, and step very carefully. The rocks weren't slippery at all, but as soon as I picked up a foot, the current of the rushing water (which was only about shin deep) would try to pull it. The guide made sure that we were all using proper footing, and at the bottom of the rocky passage we had another fall to jump. For this one, we had to jump in a sort of seated position because the water was only 4 feet deep. The jump was only about 4 feet though, so it was a piece of cake.

After that came the big jump. This one wasn't too scary because the water below was so deep, there was NO way you could hit the bottom. As long as you took a big leap off the top, you were golden. The scary part was looking down. It looked sooo much higher from the top. I was the third person to go, and instead of looking down and hesitating, I just decided to go quickly and get it over with. I leaped out, and it felt like I was falling forever! I splashed into the water, and everybody cheered for me. Then, after fixing the largest wedgie of my life, I swam to the edge and watched the others. Here is a photo that a friend took right before I jumped. :) After the big jump, there was one more tiny jump into the large swimming hole at the bottom. We leaped into the water, swam for a bit, and then had some snacks while we dried off.

I had so much fun and am SO glad I decided to go. My classmates and I made a pact to come back to the falls once each semester. I can't wait to go again.

After the jumping, we hung out in the sun for a while and then made the hike back up to the busses. I nearly fell asleep on the drive home, I was so tired from all the adventures of the day.

Tomorrow should bring more fun. At 8am I am meeting up with some girls in my class to go whale watching. The Exotics and Wildlife Club is hosting the event. I REALLY hope we get to see whales and dolphins. If we do, I will be able to cross one thing off my "things to do before I die" list. So, keep your fingers crossed for me. After the whale watch, there is a hash. I will photograph it all.

On Sunday, I am working a shift at the small animal hospital on campus. It is my first shift and I always have jitters on the first day at a new "job" but it is a great opportunity to learn and practice my clinical skills. I hope it goes well.

Anyway, that's all for now. i'll post 7 Sisters photos in the next couple days.
goodnight!

Hash 4

So I got an A on my physiology test today. Apparently I understand the kidney. woo! To celebrate, I decided to get a ticket for Unity Ball. I'm going to get all dressed up, look pretty, and have some wine with my friends. Nothing crazy though - we have a big day of hiking and waterfall jumping tomorrow.

Here are the photos from last Saturday's hash. It was a fantastic hash, but walking through dense hilly jungle does not make for great photos. Anyway, hope you enjoy the ones I did take.

anatomy fun

we had a super fun anatomy lab today! We just started on the final section, "the head". Today involved sawing off our dog's head (at the neck) with a hacksaw, and then sawing the severed head in half along the midline so you can see the brain and all the cool parts inside. We all posed for photos holding our severed dog's head and made jokes about leaving it in somebody's bed like in The Godfather.

After that, I got to take one half of the head and peel all the skin off without ruining the superficial muscles underneath. Skinning a dog's face is a lot harder than one would think! That skin is really thick! I had to change my scalpel blade twice just to get the job done. Anyway, the sawing and the skinning took up pretty much all of the lab period. Tomorrow we will get to find all of the facial nerves and glands (not quite as fun).

In other news, there was a dead roach on my kitchen floor this morning. Thankfully it was dead, and not running around under the sink or something. I know that this is a tropical country, and cockroaches are inevitable... but I associate roaches and uncleanliness so I hope I don't see any more inside my room. (In Monkeyschool there were a couple of times where roaches crawled on me while I was lying in bed, so really... this isn't so bad). Here is a picture of the nasty corpse before I kicked it out the door and then stomped on it for good measure.

have a great day everybody!

sunday update

- Hashing was fantastic! It was the most difficult one yet with huge hills to climb, lots of forest paths to run, and rocky riverbeds to walk along. I had a great time and slept for 12 hours last night because I was so tired out. I will post the photos tomorrow.

- The entirety of today has been spent studying for a histology quiz tomorrow. This is the last histology quiz before the final exam, and I can honestly say that I will be happy to never have to take a histology course again in my entire life. This week also has a physiology exam on Thursday (the date got bumped back), and an after school lecture about helping clients deal with grief (something I need to learn a great deal about).

- This week, the AVMA will also be on campus doing their final site visit for vet school accreditation. We all need to be on our best behaviour and prove to the officials that our school deserves to be accredited. If they decide to give it to us, I will have one less exam to write before I can practice as a vet in Canada (or the USA). Also, did I mention that this exam is 5 days long and costs $6000 to write? I really hope that we get accredited. We will find out in September. *fingers crossed*

- Next Thursday, the Student's Union is having their "Unity Ball" to celebrate the end of term that is drawing near. It is a formal even that is held in the city of St. George's at a club called Karma. Its a pretty nice venue, but I haven't decided if I will attend or not yet. We'll see.

- Next Friday is a holiday from school. A bunch of my friends are planning a trip to this mountain waterfall called "7 Sisters" for a guy in my class' birthday. It is supposed to be a pretty intense hike, with 7 waterfalls for jumping and swimming. Apparently there are wild mona monkeys there too. Obviously I will be going to that. I can't wait.

- Saturday the Exotics and Wildlife Society is having a wale watching boat event. It is from 9am-1pm and it costs $60 dollars. I have never seen wild wales or dolphins before so I am strongly considering going to that. Next Saturday's hash is also at a really cool rum factory on the northern tip of the island so I obviously want to do that too. I hope the timing works out so I can do both. We'll see.

- After all the fun on the weekend, Sunday will mark the beginning of the end. Time to start studying like crazy and preparing for final exams. Then, before I know it, May 17th will be here and i'll be on my way back to Canada! Can't wait! that's it for now. Back to histology.

T-shirt Karma

This week, many T-shirts have come my way. I bought a cool shirt from the AAHA (American Animal Hospital ASsociation) Vet club. My anatomy prof did the graphics - in addition to being a vet, he has a masters in anatomical illustration. He wrote and illustrated all of our dissection guides for this term and next term. The shirt great because it has the "localize the lesion" image on the front - which is an image we have all learned to draw in class. It is a schematic that we use to determine whether a limb injury is associated with upper or lower motor nerve damage. The back has a whole bunch of vertebral cross sections running down it - it just looks cool.

In addition to that one, on wednesday this week I went out to play bingo at one of the local bars. I know what you're thinking. Bingo? Really? But it's super fun. A lot of vet students go and the big jackpot is usually between $500 and $1000EC! I ended up getting a bingo on the "X", and won a bingo t-shirt and a case of beer. The bingo shirts feature one of the bingo numbers and a slogan that the bingo caller "Kevin" always uses. This time, the "O,69: Dinner for 2" shirt was up for grabs. One of my classmates wanted the shirt so bad that when I won it, I just had to give it to her. She was soooo happy. Also, since I would rather drink parvo tainted puppy diarrhea than drink beer (that's how much I hate beer!) I gave the entire case to my table. My classmates seemed to appreciate it. When I got home from bingo that night, there was another T-shirt lying on my bed. It seems that my closest friend got a whole bunch of free left over "Sand blast" shirts and dropped one off in my room as a surprise! Its a really nice green colour and coming home to that surprise made my night even more than winning at bingo. It seems that t-shirt karma was working for me. I gave a shirt away, and I got one in return.

I also have a Herpetology club shirt on order that I should get soon. (These t-shirts are like $10 canadian dollars btw so i'm not spending a ton of money on them. don't worry). The herp shirt is dark green and has a bunch of cool reptiles on it in yellow. I usually don't wear a lot of t-shirts, but here it is nice to have them for working out and hashing, and general summery weather type clothing. Anyway, that's it for t-shirts for now.

Today is another hash. It is Brooklyn in the St. John parish (the west side of the island, a little over half way up). It's supposed to be in a really beautiful area on the island. I can't wait. Obviously i'll post photos of that. Next term, there is a special hash to celebrate the 700th hash of the Grenada Hash House Harriers Club. Its on the smaller Grenadian island of Carriacou and it is a 2-day weekend hash! I cannot wait.

Cow Lab!

So here are some photos from our Clinical Skills lab at the farm today. Surprisingly the cows have been my favorite animals to work on so far. Click the image to see the full-size. :D

Our class had 6 cows to work on. Here they are all lined up. the one closest to the camera is super little and cute. Her name is "Little Tiger" because of her brindle colouring. The one next to her is "Bottle Girl". She was bottle fed when she was wee.

Bottle Girl, nomming some feed.

Here I am, measuring Little Tiger's pulse in the large vein on the bottom side of her tail. I also had to feel her vulva and take her temperature. No "full-arm up the bum" rectal exams yet. That's in 5th term.