Week 3 of Semester 2, Round 2--Murder and Mayhem

Wow… weekends are almost more work than the weekdays now—it takes a while to catch up on sleep after Fridays/Saturdays.

We had our first Anatomy II quiz on reproductive and avian anatomy on Monday.  Lucky for those of us repeating, the quiz was INCREDIBLY similar to the one from last semester.  (I got an A on it, actually.  Booyah!  :P) 

Tuesday was the first sign language class over lunch.  We learned the alphabet and counting to 10.  Then, after running through the alphabet a few times, we practiced spelling words to each other and the teacher then showed us the sign for each word we spelled.  It’s a bit tough for me, but it’s going to be an incredibly marketable skill if I can communicate with basic skill in a clinic.

The rest of the week was relatively quiet—got my car fixed (again!) but luckily it was a cheap fix this time.  The check engine light was on, but it was only an ignition coil… and it runs a LOT better after that was addressed.  I missed volleyball this week due to picking up the car and just simply running out of time, but we didn’t win from what I was told.  I’ve won the responsibility of ordering the team’s shirts… so we’re going to be like a “real team,” as some of them are saying. 

Sea turtle patrol on Friday was pretty interesting—ended up patrolling the South end (the longer of the two) twice rather than getting to go to the North end at all.  We were going to end up calling it quits, but as I woke up from that break, a large female came up to nest.  She was one of the largest ones that our team lead had seen—her carapace was 160cm (almost 5 ½ feet in length).  I got to attempt to draw blood from her hind flipper, but it was pretty difficult (due to her thick skin and the depth of the vessels) and neither Jeremy nor I were able to get a decent sample.  It definitely made staying out till 4:00am worth it, though!

Saturday was another demanding one—the P.A.W.S. adoption day was one of the hectic ones that I’ve seen since I’ve been involved with the group.  We had 13 adoptions at the day itself and have already hit 19 this semester in total!  I didn’t even get to update the website until today, because I was so busy helping Kristi get her paperwork in order and keep adoptions rolling. We saw a pretty cool waterspout as well. 

Got a bit of a nap in and then was off to a Murder Mystery Dinner—it was a BLAST!  It took me a little bit of time to settle into the role I was assigned, but once I did, it was so much fun.  The basic premise was:

It is an era where the power of the aristocracy is waning. Industrialization and the newfangled gadgets that come with it have created a new class of "aristocracy" based largely upon money. The old gentry find themselves with land but no money to support it, and they are increasingly forced to marry their blue-blooded sons and daughters to the new money in order to regain some of the money and power they have lost.

The world is rapidly changing, but in a small Barony near Shufflemore Woods, out of the way of the bustling cities, the changes have been slower. Feudalism still lingers in these backwater pockets, and although the Baron has watched his resources and income dwindle over his lifetime, his people still look to him for aid. Into this place, dark nights have fallen. Wolves - perhaps a single wolf, perhaps a pack - have been prowling at night, howling, killing livestock, and lurking just out of sight. Now, a peasant girl has gone missing, and her parents are certain that the wolves got her!

Tonight, as a storm brews overhead, several residents of the Barony have come together to ask for aid, including the parents of the missing girl. Joining them is the Baron, his sister, and their household staff; a famed huntress who has come to the Barony to offer her aid in killing the wolves; and travelers who are seeking shelter from the storm, including a trio of gypsies.

So, I played Luella, the maid of the household.  She was a cheerful young woman who longed to travel and see the world.  I was intrigued by the gypsies and the seer (Ashley) “read” my tarot cards and foretold my death.  Sure enough, I was the first victim of the night—I died by vampire attack and then spent the rest of the night attacking the party as a vampire.  It was funny—nobody picked up on the fact that the gypsies were the vampire lords even though I didn’t attack any of them and Paul (the storyteller) even patted me on the head saying “good minion” at one point.  I even got an attack in on the werewolf (Richard/the Baron).  We had to do paper/rock/scissors to decide who won each hit in a battle.  Pretty funny to look at a “battle” with this going on.  I look forward to attending another one someday. 

Well, I’m going to get some renal physiology reading in since we have our first Physiology II exam tomorrow.  Plus, I have some firsties wanting to be quizzed on microanatomy.  So, as always—until next week.

Week 2 of Semester 2, Round 2--Leatherbacks!

So, trying to integrate into this class is rather… interesting.  A lot of them seem to look down on us repeaters, but there are some really nice ones (like those in my anatomy group and my parasitology lab partner) that are very welcoming. 

Lots of club general meetings this week.  I gave the presentation for the AAFP, and was rather disappointed with the way I spoke (I thought I was too fast), but Steven and Lexi said it was fine.  We have a LOT of events planned, but it’s sad that we’re all stepping down this semester.  I also announced that I’d be stepping down from my position in P.A.W.S. a semester early.  (If I decide to stay here next semester, I don’t want to be AS involved anymore, so that I don’t have to worry about failing another class as much.)  In a sense, it was kind of sad…

Friday and Saturday were kind of a mess due to my sleeping pattern.  Friday was The Unknown’s first volleyball game of the season (the preseason one), but the team we were scheduled to play against never showed up.  Another random team wanted the practice, so we just played back and forth for a bit—don’t know who won, but it was fun. 

Then I had to run home, get some food, pack up my bag, and head off to North Friars Beach for my leatherback patrol.  Dr. Stewart had a little hatchling from the night before that was too weak to get to the ocean, so she gave it to Jeremy and myself to release if he wanted to go.  They’re so tiny—it’s  just amazing how big they get… from ounces and just a few inches to hundreds of pounds and almost 5 feet long.  He didn’t seem to want to go to the ocean on the first attempt, so on our second sweep of the patrol, we figured we’d give it a shot after a quick nap.  However, we woke up to a light drizzle, which quickly turned into a steady rain, and then into a monsoon… and we were stuck on the far end of the beach.  Had to quickly break out the windbreakers, curl up over our backpacks to keep our stuff dry, and just hope it passed sooner rather than later.  After about 20 minutes, it did, and we made a run for my car.  Another half hour later, the rain hadn’t let up and Dr. Stewart called it quits for our nightly patrol around 1:00am.  (Woo-hoo!  More sleep time!)  Apparently, we have a photographer and author coming down next week to work on a children’s book about our project… kinda like the one when I went to the marine biology summer camp in Maine when I was 13.

Saturday morning was Beachfest put on by the scuba club.  Steven, Lexi, and I played on another volleyball team (The Cremasters) in the tournament and lost pretty miserably on our first game, but it was a good one.  I think I’m getting better at this game.  ;P

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4 with some of the firsties, but I had a HORRIBLE headache (probably dehydration despite downing gallons of water over the weekend), so I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the 3D of it.  But, from what I recall, it wasn’t as good as 1, 2, or 3 were.

Sunday was a recovery/cleaning day.  While making breakfast, I saved Gibbs from launching off of the cabinets at a piece of dust hanging from the ceiling.  In the process, however, I caught my toe on the edge of the fridge.  I was joking that if I had gotten an adamantium skeleton years ago, this wouldn’t have happened.  (Good ol’ X-Men joke)  Despite the injury, I cleaned out the interior of the car with the hopes of getting it in the shop again tomorrow.  (Hooray for Ross-mobiles!)

I guess that’s about it for the week.  See you all at the end of the next one.

Week 1 of Semester 2, Round 2--Disappointment and Elation

Well, what a break and first week that has been.  I’m sorry I disappeared again from the blogging, but I had a huge blow to the ego at the start of the break.  Originally, I had failed out of the university from failing 2 classes—Anatomy II and immunology.  I spent most of the break trying to change flights, enjoy time with my friends, and making sure it was a legitimate grade.  Long story short, there were some variations in the manner of grade calculation, and I ultimately ended up with a passing grade in Anatomy II.  This allowed me to repeat second semester.  I’m still not sure what to do after this point, but I DO know for sure that it’s better to leave the school passing the semester, so I opted to stay at Ross at least for another three months.  Let’s just say it was the biggest emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on since arriving here a little over a year ago (wow… a year… dear god…).

So, I re-start as a “greenie,” and it’s interesting being in another class yet again… feeling even more like an outsider with this class than I did with the black class.  We’ll see—they might just be very reserved.  At least I have Amy (who had repeated her first term) and Emily in this class.  “My” firsties seemed pretty excited to still have me around… but I’m pretty upset that Natasha didn’t win her appeal on basis of a personal issue with an instructor.

As was the case with last semester, I still joined some clubs, but I’m not getting AS involved as I had been in the past.

• ·         AAFP (my last term as vice-president)
• ·         P.A.W.S. (webdesigner)
• ·         Scuba Club (member)

I figured I can STILL attend any interesting lectures from other clubs… much better for me.  Plus, I’m still in charge of the volunteer schedule for the campus tortoises and am staying on the leatherback monitoring network, having seen two nesting females now.  It was pretty damn amazing—they’re HUGE.  Definitely made hiking 50 hours up and down a beach worth it.

Mr. RUSVM was Saturday.  It was… interesting, to say the least.  It started off really strong—I was impressed with everything until the second topic was over, and then it was all downhill from there.  I’m sorry, but a man with fake boobs smashing beer cans is not a talent, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, he won overall… and third (the black class) won second place.  Russell, the orange class (sixth), was dancing for the “viral YouTube video” portion, stepped wrong, and ended up with an oblique fracture through his fibula and tibia.  Ouch.  The look of pure shock on the guy’s face was just horrible.  Keep him in your thoughts for a speedy recovery—he’s definitely out for a semester, as it’s hard to do field work and surgery on crutches.  I’m glad that the judges gave him the win for that round—it was great sportsmanship. 

Well, I suppose I should head off to bed again—I have to get ready for a full week of classes again.  Hope everyone was well in my absence, and I’ll see you all next week.