Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been up to my sternocleidomastoid (cranial region) in presentations and dissections and reading and coloring. Yes, coloring in my fabulous copy of "Dog Anatomy: A Coloring Atlas". Sometime this weekend, I will catch up on all my emails and write a post about dissection lab (with pictures!).

To tide you over, I took this picture (Jazzy, it was especially for you):

So this is the first week of the real semester. I am immersed in urology, anatomy, and parasitology. I now have two books and a dissection kit.

I am exhausted and in dire need of a margarita or six.


In other news, check out the new pictures from our trip to Portobello!

Yesterday, 16 people in our program organized ourselves a trip to the Caledonian Livestock Market in Stirling. We had a good time, watched a lot of sheep, and were treated kindly by some very confused farmers. "Eh, wha' a' ye gihls all doin heah a' tha meirket?" Here, in pictures, is an abbreviated tour to the Livestock Market:



This was about half the Market crew, bright-eyed and ready for our adventures.



The sheep (about 2000 of them) were kept in pens like this...



...Or this.



The fat lambs (the technical term for all lambs going to slaughter, not just the fat ones) were weighed in groups on this scale.



Then, they were sold in the auction ring, where the auctioneer was easier to understand than most American auctioneers.



They were then loaded onto a lorry (trailer), then taken to slaughter a happy meadow to frolic and play (better, Bianca?).



Check out this quadruple-decker lorry!



We also saw some big ol' bulls (casting or culled, to those who care) loaded into a double decker lorry.



After a long day at the Market, we got on the train back to Edinburgh. Mmm... digestives biscuits...


The only sour note in the whole day was this gross abrasion/ blister thing I got (click on link for picture). Ouch!

Definitely a fun day.

I was going to write an awesome, photos-filled post about my trip today to the livestock market, but my technological know-how failed me, so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, Fresher's Week has been happening here in Edinburgh. This is an entire week devoted to giving the freshman free drinks, free shirts, free food, and then watching them make idiots of themselves. I have yet to go on any pub crawls or beerfest nights, but I did go to The Southsider (a popular Dick Vet pub) to pick up my Fresher's t-shirt. Here she is (I am) in all her (my) glory:



Here's a close-up:



(click to enlarge)

I think it's a pretty fun shirt. The logo is modelled after this one. Also, the back of the shirt is an ad for The Southsider, which explains why they subsidized the shirts.

Yay, promoting drunkenness and commercialism!

Edited to add: I am going to try and keep this post updated with all the people we interact with regularly. If they give consent, their names will be used. If not, they won't.
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Alright, since Matt has so reasonably and intelligently asserted that I need to properly introduce the pseudonymous people to whom I will refer on this blog, and I cannot do so in a clever "mid-sentence" thought, here are a list of characters you may hear talk of in our posts.

First are some friends I've made in class. "Merv the Lab-Lovin' Texan" is so named because she claims this is her preferred nickname. She has two wonderful labs, Jake and Duke. I miss having dogs. Hopefully hers will be adequate surrogates. She is also a cool person who I am excited to get to know better. She also makes really delicious southern food, as she proved night before last by making me chicken and dumplings!

Another class friend is "Nell", whose name comes from, well, an anagram of sorts. She’s from Alabama and has done some cool research with snakes. Nell lives in a flat oh-so-far away from us with two other awesome girls, Curly Girl and Chocolate Lover. Collectively, they call themselves the Blue Door Girls.

On my doggie-dissection team is also "Chillinsworth", a New Jersey girl that sounds like a New Mexican. She claims that all people from Southern Jersey speak like her. Also, she is one of the least easily disgusted people I've met. On this blog, I'll usually refer to her as "Chill".

The first couple we met upon our arrival was another 1/2-vet couple, Goth Boy and Girl. They are, actually, self-proclaimed "neo-goth", but I don't see where the neo fits in, so that's that.


Now, let's move on to the neighbours. Mr. and Mrs. "Strangely Coincident" have a weird amount of things in common with us, not the least of which is that Mrs. SC grew up in the Valley and Mr. SC has Spokane connections. They have a cute little boy, Baby SC, who is fair and shy and very sweet. They've had us over for dinner and many conversations.

Above them used to live Mr. and Mrs. "Science Again", since they are both scientists and living here for the second year in a row. They lived in this flat before we did, so they are sympathetic to its size and awkwardness. They have a little girl, "Baby SA", who is gorgeous and quite well mannered. The three of them are Scandinavian, which means cool accents and an interesting take on UK and the world at large. However, they moved to a newer, less ghetto building, so we only see them when they come to get their mail. Now, a new couple lives there with whom we have not yet become acquainted.

Above them live Rob and Emma, who live on the top floor in our walk-up building. This means that they have to climb 3 flights of stairs while shepherding two toddlers, Little Emma and Isaiah, and a new infant, Micaiah. Wow, they are so hardcore. They are awesome people, with whom we have spent the most time so far. They like playing games and hanging out. Even more improbably, they seem to like us.

As you can tell, I am really bad at pseudonymizing people. These may change as Matt thinks of more clever ones.

This is the last day of our GEP program, which essentially was a compressed 1st year program. I have learned a lot, felt overwhelmed, had some fun, and made friends. Now I have an 11-day break (including weekends) to do some organizing, have some fun (another zoo trip, a meat market), and sleep 15 hours a day.

Alright, so maybe I should have been studying. But my mood has elevated significantly, so I stick my tongue out at my naysayers.

Yay, herbs!

Housekeeping Note: We decided that anyone we meet here in Scotland will be pseudonymed on the blog. Just, you know, since not everyone wants to be world famous like we are.

Miranda's care package came to us this week, resplendant with Kraft Mac (Yes!) balloons, highlighter pens, fun toys, and refridgerator magnets. In short, everything fabulous that only Miranda would think to give us.

In addition, we went to the Edinburgh Farmer's Market this Saturday. We bought strawberry wine, garlic pork sausage, lemongrass and berry jam, fresh (bright red) potatoes, and scottish strawberries. Yum!

As if that weren't enough, we heard rumour of a game store down by Summerhall, so we went to check it out. We found Fluxx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Add as many other exclamation marks you need to convey a proper sense of awe.) We also found Settlers of Catan, which Matt has been wanting to teach me. We promptly went home and played several rounds of each.

To round out our weekend, our neighbors had us over for dinner Saturday night. It was wonderful and quite fancy (candles! background music!) and we got to know them a bit better. They are a sweet and funny couple with an adorable kid. In addition, they are Scandinavian and therefore fun to compare and contrast upbringings with.

Tonight, we are going to check out a new church, then probably go up to our upstairs neighbors for some rounds of Settlers. Yay!

I have finished 4 weeks as a vet student here. In that four weeks, I have taken notes for and learned a wide variety of lecture topics, met and befriended a few students, learned how to restrain and handle pigs, sheep, cattle, small mammals, and horses, and studied 26 different types of farm animal feed. In addition, we've had some adventures outside the classroom, including hiking up to St. Anthony's Chapel, meeting and getting to know some of our neighbors, visiting the Edinburgh Zoo, sharing an anniversary dinner at Est Est Est, an Italian restaurant we both enjoyed, and learning how to navigate the supermarkets around here.

I have estimated that I am now 1/36 of the way done with vet school. It costs approxiamtely $.25 (or £.13) per lecture minute to attend school here.


I'm loving every quarter.