Happy Halloween!

After weeks without, I finally got to eat some Mexican food. And boy was it amazing!! The girls and I headed to a place just up the road called Mezz. They have all sorts of "American" food...fajitas, enchiladas, Caesar salads, BLTs!! They have wonderful 2 for 1 deals on food and cocktails! I ate so much food so quickly and loved every minute. I am definitely going back!


I wanted to go out as I haven't been in a while and it was Halloween. Tonight was the Teviot Haunted House at main campus. The EUSA, Edinburgh University Students' Association, is in charge of entertaining all the students. They put on live music, dances, comedy shows etc. Sami decided to join me and we prepared to go out. Due to limited funds and creativity, I pieced together a stereotypical yet wonderful pirate costume compete with eye patch!! On my way to the city center, I saw a group of little kids all dressed up. It was really nice, made it feel a little like home. However, when the UK kids trick-or-treat, they have to do a skit, joke or dance and in return, they do get candy but usually some money. We stood in line for the haunted house for a while before someone told us it was a no-go. Apparently, you had to buy tickets in advance because it sells out every year...wish I would have known about it sooner. Sounded like fun.

We did wander around the city to all of typical vet school stops. Not many were out, being a Sunday night and all, however, a few were dressed up.

A little Double Dutch in the morning

Woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise. A PACKAGE!!! After trying to get it through customs for a week, it finally arrived (mommy, you are fantastic). It had everything I asked for--school papers, cds--and a couple surprises...thermals and the food of Gods, Candy Corn!!

Today, I determined was also a perfect day for brunch. I was bound and determined to eat delicious and ultimately stuffing meal. Googling "breakfast in edinburgh" doesn't work because I wanted an American breakfast--pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, the whole 9 yards. But a full breakfast here consists of porridge, eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, haggis and fried tomatoes. What a silly meal! I hopped off the bus near the main campus. The first place I found was Double Dutch. The breakfast was alright: pancakes were boring, the bacon was back bacon (like Canadian) not streaky (like the states) but the eggs were tasty.

Because my bus pass expired, I decided to walk home. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I stopped in a bunch of local stores. Just a great way to start my day!!

Sami invited me to join her and Elizabeth to watch "Life as We Know It". I loved it!! Katherine Heigl is always amazing.

The cinema was glorious!! It's a 15 minute walk from the flat in a modern, glass-fronted building with giraffes out front. The concessions were normal except for the wall of candy! I didn't get any but there were sour goodies. (The UK doesn't do sour treats). The picture is of my kiddie combo box. In the theatre, there are VIP seats right in the middle rows which is prime viewing territory. For a fee, one can upgrade to these plush seats but us everyday folk stick to the leftovers...huge, comfy seats with tons of leg room! Never in the states have I seen such a thing. Imagine coach seats on an airplane versus first class! Very spiffy.

Toodles for now!

Smashing Pumpkins!

Several in the graduate corner have been contemplating a roadtrip. Next weekend is a long weekend thanks to AVS Sports Weekend. AVS is the Association of Veterinary Students and the sports weekend is a giant pow-wow where all the UK vet schools converge in one city and debauchery ensues. The schools compete against each other in rugby, netball, hockey, football and silly Scottish games. This year, everyone is coming to Edinburgh, it rotates every year. It's reportedly the best weekend of the year. So much so that the university gives us the following Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate. Although I've already bought my ticket, a roadtrip into the depths of Scotland is sooo much better. Gathering in the common room, we dumped out Cristina's bag of brochures. There is a company that does Highland tours and we're thinking of combining several together. I really don't know where any of these places are...but I look forward to joining them!

For lunch, we stopped in a cafe called Beanscene. I got strange looks for ordering a milkshake when it was freezy outside. They had some fantastic Mexican chili. It's nice to try something other than Miller's and start exploring the city's food offerings.

The day got better with a quick rugby practice. Most of the girls had gone home for Halloween weekend. We played a 6-on-6 scrimage with silly rules about tackling. Such as, when you tackle, run back to the sideline or drop to your knees and wait for the turnover. Exhausting!

Deanna, a GEP student and Tyler's roommate, Maria and I attempted to run back to her flat to begin pumpkin carving. Being poor vet students and in a city lacking typcial Halloween things, we were forced to carve pumpkins with steak knives. And just because we will handle a scapel with precision and grace years from now, our hand-eye coordination currently blows. We should not be allowed to use knives for anything other then their intended purpose. Especially when hot chocolate with Bailey's was added to the party. Despite this, nobody bled out and we produced beautiful pieces of art. Ok, Tyler's cow came out a little wonky. But Maria who went to Rutgers where the mascot is a goat carved a wonderful goat! I, of course, did zebra stripes. Wrapped up the night with a viewing of "Young Frankenstein"!

Just Say No to Drugs.

The past couple days have been pretty good:

Apparently, the university figured out by the end of 5 years none of the shiny newly-minted vets they produced could NOT do math! Really, it's simple math with lots of conversion factors. But, twice a year for the next 5 years, I'm expected to rack my brain to calculate silly things like sedative amounts...pssh! I guess it could be pertinent;however, Research Pet & Bird had a drug chart and that was very helpful.

Crissy, Rebecca and I wandered into the depths of Summerhall which may be the most confusing building ever! Crissy was a very good teacher with her whiteboard markers and writing everything out. Now, I have to do them all by myself.

Thankfully, there are US chain stores over here. Namely IKEA!! And it's just as wonderfully cheap! It's part of a huge shopping complex and I spent a good 4 hours exploring every store. Great way to procrastinate, whoop! Everything from a Garden Ridge twin to a sports store.

Vets Go Wild! is a program for vet students (or anybody) to experience African wildlife hands-on. Tonight was a lecture about the course. It is designed to fulfill the EMS requirements(more on these later). Students get to do everything from safari walks to coordinating an animal's capture including tracking, tranquilizing and transport of the Big 5. The Big 5 being elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalo and leopards. Sixteen days of amazing sights, sounds and probably smells. Trip-goers sleep in large safari tents! I've wanted to go for years now! It calls to me. Lots of budgeting and money scraping will be involved to get me there.

Babies, Cows and Mouthguards!

Today, FANTASTIC!!

Lectures have moved from just review to some uncertainty! Embryology is really interesting, everything looks the same when we're that tiny...I'll need to invest good 3-D models.

The practicals are getting more hands-on. All the study groups get split up to tiny groups. There was a mere 7 of us to do "Weighing and Conditioning Scoring". It was awesome!! Because of the stomach flu and several students getting Crypto, we weren't allowed to touch the babies in the calf house. (These are the calves under 8 weeks old). The first set of cows were 6 to 10 months old. Very large babies with no handling. Luckily, they are herd animals and where one animal goes they all follow. We herded them from the pasture and into chutes for weighing. With each calf, we guesstimated the weights based on the average calf gaining 1.5 kilos a day from a birth weight of 40-45 kilos. On top of that, you must gauge the muscle on the bones and add/subtract weight accordingly. The largest baby was 330 and the smallest was 136.

Next were the big girls. The barn is divided into 3 main sections: one for the milking cows, the soon-to-calve cows and lastly the newly calved cows/calves. We took the first set of guinea pigs from the milking lines. They went down a chute to a head vice. Wilson, the cow manager, went over the how-tos. Our first task was hands-off condition scoring. To take a CS, one looks at the cow's transverse processes (half ribs behind the ribs), the spine and tail head. The scale is from 1 to 5, skeletal to obese, depending on the fat covering in those areas. Then, we compared our estimations to a hands-on CS. Dairy cows average around 2.5. Next, we estimated weights which can be roughly determined by a Weigh Tape. The tape goes around the girth of the cow. Despite the fact they look like skin and bones, these girls weigh in at 700 kilos!

My favorite part was working through the locomotion grading. Most of the cows were in good walking condition but a few were lame. Things to look for are a straight back, even dewclaw touching and the back foot stepping where the front left off.

We ran a few more cows through the paces. While herding some 1 to 3 week out girls (weeks from calving that is), I saw a brand new calf stand for the first time. Shortly after that, there was heifer starting to calve. Pretty nifty stuff!

After a cow-filled afternoon, Maria and I quickly changed into rugby gear and sprinted to Peffermill. That's the problem with coming from the farms, the bus doesn't get back until 5:30 and training starts at 5:30. Bleh!!

The lesson for the day was TACKLING!! I finally get to use my mouthguard which is a nifty boil-and-mold. It even has a guarantee for up to $10,000 for any dental work. Anywho, everyone started on the tackle bags. The form is get low, hit with shoulder, wrap arms around and drive diagonally up. Yay!! It's like violent football(soccer). I'm afraid that I'm too small to play a forward. The forwards are the bigger players that play in the rucks(more on this later) and tackle. We worked on this for quite some time before all the old players split off and played full contact scrimmage with drills while the newbies watched and learned.

Gonna be sore tomorrow!

The Death...

I spent the past week attempting to survive...

Everyone has passed around a nasty stomach bug. Last Tuesday, I started to feel under the weather. I barely made it through Wednesday lectures. Unfortunately, I had to go to my Thursday practicals which I nearly passed out from walking up the stairs. Everything was exhausting and I was either starving or nauseous. So, lots of sleeping and watching TV shows.

I was positive that it was simply the stomach flu. However, some facts have been brought to the light...7 days after calf handling, other people profusely throwing up and two being diagnosed with a zoonotic disease and I don't get sick. These have lead me to believe I have been infected with Cryptosporidium. The new baby calves are known to carry crypto which is why we wear waterproofs, wellies and gloves. The average incubation time is 2 to 12 days after exposure. The 7 days after calf handling is perfect timing. Several others have been horribly sick and much worse than I was. The symptoms include fever, stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomtiting. Thankfully, I managed to keep everything down, albiet barely. Finally, two girls were diagnosed by their general practioners with crypto.

Lastly, my immune system is rock solid. The silly flu hasn't gotten to me in years. Even at A&M with all of my roommates infected, I stayed healthy! Also, I feel so much cooler saying I survived a zoonotic disease than the simple flu.

My diet consisted of bananas, oatmeal and trying not to throw up. So, I must catch up on my lack of nutrition. It seems as though I can't eat enough now.

Mary King's Close

The graduate corner of the class joined up for The Real Mary King's Close tour.

Below is the blurb from the website:

"The Real Mary King’s Close consists of a number of closes which were originally narrow streets with houses on either side, stretching up to seven storeys high. In 1753, the Burgh Council decided to develop a new building on this site, the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers). The houses at the top of the closes were knocked down and part of the lower sections were kept and used as the foundations for the Royal Exchange. The remnants of the closes were left beneath the building, dark and ancient dwellings steeped in mystery."

Despite my sickness, I ventured to High Street. Being a Saturday night, lots of people were out partying and groups of tours were going around. Luckily, Crissy found me because I was very confused. The tour is through a creepy tunnel.

It's quite pathetic how quickly the collective age of the group went down. As soon as we started down the stairs to begin the tour, most of us started nervous laughing and avoiding get stuck at the back. The tour was simple enough, a look into the lives of the people who lived there. 12 people cramped into a 15x15 room with disease and starvation afoot.

A close is a narrow street with tall buildings on either side. The closes' buildings got taller and taller going downhill until they reached the loch. Loch North once existed where Princes Park is now. The street is maybe 10 feet wide, imagine how squished the place would be the vendors up and down, staircases and even horse-drawn carriages. The poor lived on the bottom where the sludge and very top where it was cold. The hoity, toity rich lived on the upper middle floors. Twice a day, the toilet, also known as a bucket in the corner, was emptied on the street. The sewage would be ankle-deep and eventually flow into the loch. It explains why the park is VERY green...same with Meadows Park except it is filled with dead people (plague victims).

Because it was the "supernatural" tour, our group got to hear the first ghost story. It went something like shadowed creatures dancing on the walls with a creepy, old voice speaking to the inhabitants. Of course, the guide turned of the lights and squealing/shrieking ensued.

One room had a creepy pile of stuffed animals left for the spirit of a little girl. Often, psychics will stay in the rooms, record emf and voices and get feelings. One psychic stated there was a strong sad presence and a little girl spoke to her. She had been locked away from her family because she caught the plague. Her only comfortt was a doll that she held on to. So, the psychic brought her a tartan doll that stays in the room. Other visitors bring toys, stuffed animals etc for the girl when enough have collected the lot is taken to the Children's Hospital.

The last person that lived on Mary King's Close left in 1879. He had a pretty swanky set-up with multiple rooms. When he left, he took everything: the door knocker, knobs, handles. Sticking to the man.

Cute little gift shop at the end. I would love to go on an outdoor tour of the city soon.

Wasically Wabbits!!

Finally, vet school has started. We got to dissect rabbits today!!

The specimens were wild, nuisance rabbits that were shot or caught using ferretry. Ferreting is a legal hunting practice in which ferrets/polecats are sent down burrows to chase the rabbits out the other side where they are caught in nets. My rabbit was shot as were many of young rabbits.

The dissection room is very big and open (much better than A&Ms). The main desk has cameras and TVs are all around the room for viewing. The began with an overview of the tools and how to incise the bunny. The upside of taking the best anatomy at A&M is I knew everything before she said it.

Prof: "You need to make an incision on the..."
ME: "ventral midline."
Prof: "Once you peel back the skin, you will see the..."
ME: "Cutaneous trunci."

The dissection wasn't a guided but we did have pictures to follow along. A typical ventral midline incision and skinning half the rabbit. For most of the class, this was their first dissection and I didn't get to see any of their reactions. Because of my cutting prowess, I quickly, carefully and efficiently skinned my half of the carcass. The next table over loving referred to me as god. We looked at the nerves of armpit and carpal vs hip joints.

We had to make two windows into the side--one in the thorax/chest and one in the abdomen. Because the rabbits aren't preserved and just frozen, the opening the muscles in the abdomen was nasty. The worst smell in lab ever...worse than formaldehyde. I even had to step away to breathe fresh air. Melissa and I identified all the basic organs and answered some quick questions.

It felt great to do some vet-like stuff instead of basic cell biology!

The picture is my rabbit's deskinned foot. Pretty nifty, you can see all the tendons. What's weird is rabbits don't have paw pads...

Psy-tudying

I would personally like to thank James Roday and Dule Hill for being my study buddies.














We formed a little group called "Psy-tudying". Sounds awesome! Well, it is. I watch them act brilliantly and attempt to be productive! And guess what? It works! In the past week, I have seen every episode of the five seasons. Because it's a comedy, I can concentrate on the notes. I don't know what will happen when there is no more Psych...

RUGBY!!

Since I missed Freshers Week, I've been out of the loop for club meetings and intramural sports. But, thanks to my own willpower and Maria's prodding, I finally made it to a rugby practice.

The University Girls' Rugby Team holds open practice on Tuesday and Friday evenings at Peffermill Playing Fields. The fields are university-owned and phenomenal: well-lit, easy access and huge. Chris and I headed down to the fields as he is going to be coaching on Fridays. However, we followed my amazing directions which meant getting off at the wrong bus stop. We had to walk 20 minutes back the way we came...

The practice itself was trial by fire. A quick warm-up and run (which I missed because we were late) then a game of touch rugby. I hadn't run that in a long time.
There were several new players including myself getting yelled at, constructively of course, to hold defensive lines, fall back, go left, go right. The girls are really helpful and not all high-and-mighty. Eventually, we separated into forwards and backs. Forwards are the players who defend the ball while the backs are the passers and offensive. Don't quote me on that. I think I did pretty well considering my minuscule rugby knowledge.

All the players are awesome! I'm not sure I'll play in the game on Sunday but I'll be there to watch and learn. Maria and I walked back to her dorm stopping for the most delicious Chinese take-out in Edinburgh.

I'm looking forward to continuing practice. And more on this in the future.

Moo Cows!

Unlike US vet schools, the UK doesn't believe in "tracking". Tracking usually involves one of two options: large or small animal. The final year clinical rotations are based on the track selected during enrollment. Most of the husbandry/medical classes also entail small OR large.

However, here at the Uni, all animals are created equal(mostly)! The four main categories are small (dog & cats), large (sheep, cows, goats, pigs), horses and exotics (pocket pets, birds, zoo animals). Everything except the exotics get an equal amount of handling, husbandry and medical stuff.

Right now, it's all about the cows!! Last week, we started with virtual farm. The virtual farm is an online portal to all things sheep/cow related. It has information on the Langhill Dairy Farm and the Easter Bush Sheep-ery including running the farm, production numbers, husbandry and baby animals. That's "my" cow. I have to determine her milk yield etc.

Today was FANTASTIC!! Baby cows! In the past few years, the University has cracked down on biosecurity, health and safety. This means waterproofs and steel-toed wellies! Woohoo!!

The group was led through the baby cow processing (not slaughtering but how they're cared for). After the information section was over, we headed to the calf pens where the babies are kept while being weaned. In there, we got to capture and release the newest babies. Maria (she's awesome!) and I wrangled calves and restrained them in positions for dehorning and castrating. Luckily, the waterproofs are true to their name. I got peed on by a silly boy calf. Very awesome! Finally, got to handle a fuzzy. It's been frustrating to be stuck in a classroom especially when the Uni claimed animal handling from day one, gah!

Cleaning off is an involved process! Rinse off the waterproofs, scrub the boots, brush down everything with iodine, stand around for 10 minutes, rinse off the iodine then it's on to hands...which must be done 5 times. Rinse hands, apply soap, scrub palms together, fingers interlaces, fist together, thumbs, under fingernails then finally wrists. Rinse off, turn tap off with elbow and dry thoroughly. The only reason I tell you because I will be tested over it. If I don't get it in the right order, I will fail!! Whoop!

Mummies & Daddies!!

Warning: This blog entry is about a true college night!



"Mummies & Daddies" is a optional part of university. The 2nd years organize everything. They are supposed to be our mentors if we need help with classes/practicals or questions in general. Not sure that will work out well. The parents are always 2nd years but strangely enough, both my parents are younger than me. Sigh.


Tuesday night was our meeting/induction. The point of the night was to get the freshers as uninhibited as possible. All the freshers had to be dressed as farm animals while the 2nd years were in full-on farmer costumes. I quite liked my handmade cow shirt! Elizabeth made her and Sami pig ears and noses. The girls and I were the first freshers there. It was a pretty big flat. Good thing too! There ended up being nearly 40 people crammed in. Anywho, we were told to sit down and pretty much didn't move the entire night. We made some delicous bucket punch! And our dad kept refilling our tiny cups (sadly, no typical red Solo cups). There was really cheap yet delicious pizza and I got Fun Dip!! I love the tasty white sticks that are used to eat the flavors. Lots of well done costumes! My favorite was a swan. The girl had attached orange rubber gloves to her shoes and had a feather tutu! There was a rousing game of Never-Have-I-Ever...bleh. All of a sudden, we were herded outside to the waiting taxi caravan.

The taxis took everyone to The Three Sisters. The whole 2nd floor had been rented out just for the vet students. We made only in to use the bathroom. Elizabeth needed to go home but I wanted to stay out. However, my mum ushered both of us into a cab. Probably for the best...it took me a good 5 minutes to pay the taxi driver. All the while, Elizabeth screaming at me to give him a good tip! She managed to unlock the building door but the flat door was a little harder. Chris had to let us and reassure me that it was only 10 o'clock as I was certain it was 2 in the morning. It was quite a sight to see. He had to help me off the floor at one point. I did manage to stay awake for another hour to help E-beth then I was out. Sami made it home sometime later but not without Chris's help. Apparently, she had trouble with the stairs...poor Chris has to be the best flatmate ever!!

I did see some great pictures from The Three Sisters. Lots of fun dancing, the occasional person being kicked out.

I'm sad that I missed out on the dancing. However, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed if I had stayed out any later. Not only that but I had a practical as well. It was funny to see who wasn't in lecture and watch everyone nap during break. I swear half the class was asleep!

I don't know how much more debauchery will happen with the 2nd years. It was a lot of fun!

A Heron, a strange man and a map

Yesterday was a very interesting day...

I had an early day with only lectures. So, I decided to wander aimlessly. With my route mapped out, I planned (key word here) to head first to King George's Park then onward to Warriston Park. KG Park is a small but very pretty place--has a playscape, nice trees and is just a great place to chill.

Unbeknownst to me, Edinburgh has a labyrinth of walking/biking trials. I shortly realized I was no longer in the park. Not a problem though, I brought only my trusty, yet very touristy, laminated map. My plan was to end up near Leith Walk and turn head back to the flat. Didn't work out so well. The pretty trees, flowers. I enjoyed it and would love to walk the trails again, with the exception of the old man

After walking on the street for a bit, I headed back onto the path. I ran into an old man. He was really sweet and proceeded to show me the sights along the walk. There's a heron that fishes by the waterfall. However, it went downhill very quickly. Creepy, old man...The entire time, he was trying to flirt with me. He told me I made him wish he was 27 again so he could take me on a date. I'm not sure whether it was creepy or complimentary. Also, that I was warm and cozy. I didn't want to seem rude, trying to do my good deed for the month. I mean he's an old man! It was so bizarrely weird, it took me awhile to finally leave him and continue on my adventure alone.

On the plus side, I saw the other side of Canonmills. A bunch of cute shops and eateries. There's also a clock tower...

Hot Water!!

Last week was fairly eventful. It was EU Vet Week. The motto is "animal + human= one health". It's educating people/vet students about careers related to public/food health. There were some cool lectures and free stuff!

First, Chris turned on the boiler!! We now have hot water coming out of the taps! It's quite exciting...however, I have no idea how to work the radiator. Freezie toes.

Finally, I bought some bedsheets which means no more sleeping on a nakie bed! And a spiffy phone. It's a red HTC Wildfire, the phone came with the plan! Very pretty, free Skype on it too. I can talk with all my American peoples on-the-go!

AVS, Association of Veterinary Students, holds an annual Sports Weekend. All of the UK vet schools duke it out on the field! Apparently, it's the most epic weekend ever...in fact, we get 2 days off school to recover! Brilliant! And this year Edinburgh is hosting it. That means cheaper tickets (I already got mine!) and sleeping in my own bed. We will be having some of Chris's University of Liverpool buddies staying in the lounge. It will be cramped but AWESOME!!



Friday night was fantastic!! One of the girls, Crissy, celebrated her birthday on Thursday. We headed to At World's End for dinner and drinks. FYI, it's down on the Royal Mile about a block down from the red phone booth above. Apparently, EVERY restaurant in Edinburgh is tiny...we were barely able to fit all eleven of us in the waiting area. We watched some Germans (my people!) play table football/soccer with coins. After learning the rules and having some drinks, Crissy decided she could take on the Germans and WON!! The stewards kept rejecting our attempts to sit down to eat. They said there wasn't enough room and had couples waiting (we were there first!). Eventually, we did sit down to a very enjoyable meal. My American-style hamburger was delicious and everyone else enjoyed their silly fish and chips. And finally, I was able to get my beloved White Russian! Seems every drink I enjoy, the Scots don't understand how to make them...

After a wonderful time, we all headed out to hit some pubs. We walked along the street above the underground city, aka Old Town. Saw the site of the last public hanging. Several of us went off to the Library, it is the student bar/lounge on main campus. Pretty happening! I headed home shortly after that. I'm such a sad university student but on the way back, I got free hot chocolate and cookies!

My flat!!

I would tell you where I live but who knows what undesirables are reading this. My flat building is on the northeast side of Edinburgh. There aren't a lot shops and restaurants around but Tesco (Edinburgh's HEB) is 2 blocks down the road.

I love my blue door, reminds me of the TARDIS. It's a fair-sized 4 bedroom flat with a kitchen/lounge room. Three of the bedrooms are on the left side and my room, the bathroom and kitchen are on the right.
















The kitchen came equipped with a dorm fridge on steroids. It's a tiny fridge on top and freezer on the bottom. Neither hold enough food for 4 people. The most ridiculous appliance is the washer/dryer combo! Luckily, there's a hidden dishwasher so my lazy butt doesn't have to do any washing.


The building has a garden in the back for line-drying and chilling. Unfortunately, it's on the 3rd and final floor. Making my room and the bathroom extremely cold.









My lovely room!! Yes, I love zebra stripes that much. It's the smallest of the four because the water heater closet is in the corner. The view out my window isn't much to look at, just the street and a gas station. And, I'm stuck with noise from the street and kitchen.


SQUIRREL!!

It's the weather vane on the neighboring flat. Pretty nifty.

Getting in the Groove

Well, it's been a week and a half. I'm starting to get in the swing of things despite the randomness of the schedule. Here's a typical day: I get up at 7:30, board the bus at 8:10 and arrive at school around 8:40. Bus 8!! It stops 2 blocks from the flat and Summerhall. Lecture usually runs from 9 to 10:50 with a small break. Practicals/tutorials are in the afternoon, usually no more than 3 times a week. It's a pretty light schedule considering this is vet school.

Foodwise, it's been mostly sandwiches and pasta which is getting boring. i ate all of snacks from the plane ride over...no more beef jerky and peppered baked lays. I need to organize the fridgie thing to fit in ready-made meals (yes, I am lazy). Restaurant choices are limited as well, the nearest Mexican food being a 15 minute walk away. Meat is a prized commodity as it keeps me full and happy. Carbs, not so much. Although, Tesco makes the BEST pancakes!!! They are specifically "American Style" with slightly sweet taste. Eventually, I will learn how to cook. Steaks and cajun chicken strips are on the menu next week!

Because I'm in private accommodations, bills have to get paid SO no heat yet. My room sits on the top corner of the building and gets down to 59 F...lots of socks and layers to bed. Also, the cold doesn't make getting up any fun. I would turn it on but nobody has told me how to use the radiator.

I haven't had a lot of free time yet. Most of it is taken up shopping from school stuff, food and flat stuff. Of course, when I'm supposed to be studying, I indulge in some Psych watching.

Sleepy time now!

A beautiful day!!

Today was gorgeous. A little cloudy in the morning but it cleared up to a nice sunny but chilly. My kind of weather! I know it won't last for long. In winter, the temperature drops to 2 Celsius. That's a mere 35 Fahrenheit for you American folks.

A wonderful lady named Erin provided much needed information on the UK Pet Passport Scheme. I sent an e-mail to Cunard Cruises, DEFRA (the UK's USDA) and Research Pet & Bird. No replies yet but fingers crossed, everything gets answered and goes smoothly.

Several people walked Arthur's Seat while I planned on studying. Instead, I had a most wonderful lunch with classmates. Talked dogs, birds and future flatmates at the amazing Miller's Sandwich Bar!! Got free Scottish Bars which are like pralines without the pecans and coconut. Scotland is big on bread stuffed with deliciousness to-go. Paninis, baguettes, toasties or rolls--you name it they have it down pat.

If tomorrow is anything like today, I will be at Meadows Park on the swing set!!

Day 7 on the island

No, really, I'm on an island...

It's been a bit of a whirlwind of a week. Moving to a different continent, starting a new lifestyle...phew, it's exhausting.

But another official step to becoming a UKer...I'm officially a UK banker!! Managed to walk there by ALL myself. Free check book and no overdraft fees!



Since my roommates have been studying like crazy, I caught up to their 20+ hours, racking up an amazing 5 hours! It extremely hard to study lesson plans that I've learned 4 times before. Sigh, the downside of working beside youngins.

Fun times on the Island

As for Wednesday, easy school day ever!! I had a Director of Studies meeting. A DoS acts as my liaison/counselor/confidant. I really enjoyed her chat with my group and seems like she wants to help. It helped that I could sleep in and it only took half an hour. I spent the rest of the day shopping with the flatmates. You gotta love Doctor Who!! Half the store was dedicated to one of the best shows ever!

The roommates invited me along to an American-themed party at Pollock halls (the University residences). It was lots of walking but interesting to see what the islands thought of our primitive ways. Yay, beer pong! Went to a club/pub place called Bongo, a little different than I'm used to. Lots of techno music.

You gotta love IKEA!! I did some serious adventuring Thursday. Even bought a day pass for the bus. I figured out that you can either have a helpful or evil bus driver. Mine today was very helpful, even told me when to get off for IKEA. I'm pretty excited about my Daim candies to munch on while studying!

Of course, I noticed Google Maps kindly showed a Pets To Home nearby. And everyone knows "pet store + Kaitlyn= happy". I nearly got killed on the walk through the parking lot. I have yet to learn to look the right way for traffic. But, I made it in one piece. Pets To Home is the UK's version of PetsMart except it's better! They have raw food freezers down one aisle and no prong, choke or shock collars down the other! Woohoo! At least some countries know how do treat their animals right.

On Friday, to top off a fantastic couple of days, I got to pick up my loan check!! Nice chunk of change there! Carrying it around made me suspicious of people near my backpack. It rained on the way to my first graded practical. I ended up spending 3 hours soaking wet in the lab.

On the plus side, the girls and I had a wonderful Girls' night. Some great Chinese take-out and a movie makes a nice end to the week.

The first few days

I arrived at the flat and was greeted my slightly crazy flatmates, Sami and Elizabeth. I wanted to avoid jetlag since I had to start university (NOT school, here school means elementary, middle and high school not degree-seeking) on Monday. Fit in a little shopping and wandering all the while slowly fading. It didn't help that I went from 80 to 35 degrees and 6 hours ahead. Thankfully, I managed to stay up until 8 before passing out.

Monday was nice and easy. Chris, the fourth and final flatmate, was kind enough to get me where I needed to be. I meet the wonderful ladies at the VTO and was handed my notes and given a brief lowdown on everything. After the two lectures, I stuck near campus as to avoid getting lost. It was a little awkward having to follow people like a lost puppy. Thankfully, Sami helped me track down my matriculation card. Not an easy task! Went to 3 different places, each telling me it was at the other. It ended up being at the Main Library which is next to a gorgeous park! I ran into that day's practical instructor, Mr Pettigrew. He introduced himself and answered all my questions during the practical.

Unfortunately, Tuesday didn't turn out so well. I attempted, key word here, to ride the bus by myself. It failed...I managed to find where to get on but couldn't tell where to get out. I was going to get off the second time around but I would've walked into class late and that's just awkward. And, I didn't exactly know where the school is. I headed back to the flat which thankfully has a giant Yoga sign that can't be missed. The afternoon had a nice turn around though. I had a "practical" which is the same as a lab. Half the class headed to the university's Langhill Dairy Farm and Easter Bush sheep center. I loved it! Just learned the basics about sheep and dairy operations. The picture is of the wonderful protective booties.


For the most part, the timetable (aka schedule) is fairly light. One to two lectures in the morning and practicals or tutorials up to 3 days a week. Leaves lots of time for studying and wandering about the city.

Starting Off

Across the pond, a degree in veterinary medicine is considered an undergraduate degree. Certified veterinarians don't even have the title of "Dr". One main reason I'll practice over in the states. After all that work, I want to be Dr Kaitlyn Heideman (nice ring to it).

There are two main programs at the University's veterinary school: Graduate Entry Program and 5 year program. First, the GEP is for students with appropriate undergrad degrees. It takes four years and has an accelerated first year where they cram 2 into 1. They created for American students since that is the norm in the states. However, I'm just 10 hours shy of my BS in Biomedical Science at A&M so they wouldn't let me in. It's a little frustrating because it would've of saved me a year of time and a whole lot of money. Not to mention, my 3 years at A&M were somewhat null-and-void. Finally, the 5 year program is the normal veterinary course over in the UK. That's what Sami, Elizabeth and myself are in. I am in the same course as UK students just graduated from secondary(or high) school. This means a lot of review in order for everyone to be on the same level. However, the extra year allows for a slower pace and more time to learn the hard stuff.

In the end, I will end up with a BVM&S, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Science. The program is AVMA-certified so I don't have to take a foreign equivalency test to practice in the states!