La Llibertat de les Llagostes: Freedom for Lobsters

The semester is quickly winding to a close.  Yesterday marked the last full week of classes and now we only have two or three classes next week with exams the following week.  In exactly two weeks I will be back in the States.  Exams seemed to pop up out of nowhere!  However, having all of next week to study will really help.  We have been trying to make studying fun and had a blast during our anatomy lab review yesterday making up pneumonic devices and dancing around,  I'm pretty sure all the other groups thought we were crazy, but it worked for us.

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving.  We still had classes and review sessions, so we are having Thanksgiving today.  However, the wonderful ladies in the Ref decorated with American flags and turkeys and we had a wonderful thanksgiving lunch with turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pie!  Today's Thanksgiving should be awesome.  I think approximately 25 people will be coming over to celebrate pot-luck style!!

Last weekend I went to Barcelona, Spain to visit a friend.  It was so beautiful and is definitely one of my most favourite cities.  We saw La Sagrada Familia, a church that was originally started in the 1800s and has not yet been completed.  Designed by Gaudi, the church is full of colour and so intricate.  Highly recommended.

One of the stations of the cross on the facade. 

Cubo magico - all directions add up to 33

The grey portions have already been completed, while the white still has to be constructed.

Ceiling

We also went and saw El Palau de la Musica Catalan - a concert hall for every type of music you could think of.

The ceiling - beautiful with natural light

The Foyer

 Park Guell - also designed by Gaudi - was also amazing.

I loved using my Spanish and was even able to whip out my Portuguese to speak to some Brazilians we met at a club :)  In Barcelona, the main language spoken is Catalan - which I don't speak (a mixture of Spanish and French).  However, in the city anyone that speaks Catalan also speaks Spanish so we were fine.  The title of this post comes from our map from our hostel that had random phrases in Catalan  - including Freedom for Lobsters.

The one where we play Guess Who at a brewery. . .

This week we learned how to do equine nerve blocks.  These are useful in determining the cause of lameness and pinpoint where exactly on the leg the pain is coming from.  There are three different ones each done going higher (more proximal) up the leg if the previous block does not solve the lameness.  We got to practice this on horse legs (detached from the horse).  We also learned how to remove a horseshoe and how to ultrasound the tendons (superficial digital flexor, deep digital flexor, suspensory) on a horse forelimb as well.

We have also had several suturing labs (wet labs) these past couple weeks.  I have sutured different wounds on cats and dogs (albeit dead).  We also had a pathology wet lab where I got to perform a postmortem on an otter!  I determined the cause of death to be severe trauma (likely hit by car or boat) due to macerated liver lobes, haemorrhage on the lungs, diaphragmatic hernia, a fractured left femur and fractured pelvis.

Not really sure what an otter was doing in the middle of the road. . .

We have finished up the horse forelimb and are now moving on to the pelvic limb (which I like so much better) and have also started histology.  Histology is essentially micro-anatomy where we look at tissues under microscopes.

CBC differentials -- my favourite!

We recently had cat/dog/reptile handling class.  I missed hanging out with animals so much!  It was great to work with a real dog.  I helped demonstrate some basic handling techniques.  In the reptile portion we got to hold a bunch of different kinds of snakes and an iguana!

This past week a friend from elementary/middle school came to visit.  We had a great time and I was even able to bring her to the Vet School Halloween party at the Walkabout Bar - which was a blast.  Vet students truly know how to have a good time.  We also went to a pub called Brew Dog which only serves locally made brews.  I recommend the Punk IPA (a bit of a fruitier beer) but not the Trashy Blonde (a bit too bitter for my taste).  The bar was neat and had a bunch of board games.  We played Guess Who and Jenga.  We also met some interesting guys from Aberdeen who introduced us to the "awkward snail".  Which as the name suggests, is super awkward.  But overall a great night.

Brew Dog

I think I am officially assimilating into British culture.   I know spell things -re instead or -er or with and 's' instead of a 'z' without even thinking about it!  Scary.

Exams are coming fast - 1 more month!  I will be states bound in just over  4 weeks :)

But before then, I will be visiting my friend from undergrad in Barcelona, Spain!  Can't wait!!!