tick n tin

Being here has it's advantages. For one I get to ride by cross bike to school. I even get to dismount once over a drain ditch to keep my cross skills sharp. The dirt road is lined with sugarcane fields of which is becoming extinct. The only thing I have to watch out for is the naked guy running around in the cane field. Other than that I just need to stay clear of the cow pies left behind and the occasional cow grazing. Here's my commute to school.

road to education

the occasional bull I have to negotiate around

The good thing is that I'm able to understand what kittitians are actually saying to me.

Sergio: Am I safe going down this fire road here?

local: Buz boos ka bool, nek mon, doeng ting, tick rite, ya understand mon?

Sergio: uhhhh, yeah mon, sure.

Now I can say with a great degree of confidence that I actually understand atleast half of what they are saying. . . . the ear has acclimitated. Here's an example of ting (thing).

It's we own ting

what happens when you have one too many Tings

sometimes it's just better to blend in

I'm just glad the fireworks are over for now. Exams were tough and I've had to take three weeks off of doing any form of exercising. Finals are around the corner and first semester will be but a memory. They weren't kidding when they said we would learn more in first semester than in all of undergrad combined. This weekend I will go for a ride, it's been well deserved, then maybe a Stag.

Fourth of Schuuly

This next week will be a hectic week. It's sort of like the Fourth of July fireworks grand finale...everyone's going "uhhh, ahhhh", then "wooooahh". Exams will cometh one after the other non-stop until right before finals week. We have so much doggie information that I resort to doing silly things like rapping to Sharie's beat on the keyboard:

Sergio: "Yo, this is the RBC, Yeah you know me!
I hang in the blood and live on energy
glucose please, no ketones for me!"

Sharie: rolling her eyes

Hey whatever works! I'm just glad we brought that keyboard. But don't worry I'll stick to vet school then maybe I'll be a rapper after that.

Hey! This is a milestone in the Iniguez family (drum roll please): my mother emailed me for the first time ever!!! You have to understand my mama doesn't even like using the ATM! Even though itlookedlikethis I had a fun time dechipering her message. We'll have to go over the space bar next time.

My mama at my first triatlon in Palm desert, 2004

Thanks to my mother-in-law we have enough toilet paper to last us for the next two years on the rock! What can I say I had to take a break from studying!

We'll of to my Physio exam this morning. I hope putting Nicole to sleep with the sweet sounds of gluconeogenesis helped.....let the fireworks begin!

Golf course at Frigate Bay (has both an Atlantic and a Caribbean side)

Details, Details

Sometimes the details get me too!

First-year students at Oklahoma State Veterinary School were receiving their first anatomy class, with a real dead cow. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet. The visiting OU Professor started the class by telling them, "In veterinary medicine, it is necessary to have two important qualities as a doctor: The first is not to be disgusted by anything involving the animal's body. The Professor then pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the dead cow's butt, withdrew it, and stuck it in his mouth. "Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students. The students freaked out, hesitating for several minutes; but, eventually, took turns sticking a finger in the dead cow's butt and then sticking it in their mouths. When everyone finished, the visiting OU Professor looked at them and told them, "The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my middle finger and sucked on my index finger. Now learn to pay attention."

Compliments of my classmate Katie.

Goodnite

Shat on my Sheat

From what I've been told Ross can be divided into two era's. The pre and post A/C era's. Folk's used to be kind to each other in the pre era. Then came along the first A/C unit in rm II; 7th semester students claimed they should be lectured in rm II because they'd been there the longest! Professors crossed the line too and claimed tenure status or the like. Apparently students even used to be on time to lectures in the pre era. If you wanted the seat by the door (breeze) then you just had to show up 15 minutes beforehand. Nowadays we walk into our A/C rooms at the last second. Except now we fight for those two sheats that have extra cushioning. The rest of the seats are relatively dilapadated, in desperate need of a make-over Dr. 90210 style. Speaking of sheats here a resident gecko shat on my sheat!

And here's the culprit, the little guy was probably just doing intervals on my bike. If that's the case then I'm alright with it. Otherwise he bettah get outta my sheat!!

Speaking of intervals I did the Nevis Triathlon this weekend and was happy with my tenth place finish. It was my most consistent performance to date.

Here I'm gettin' out of the water almost last, but will soon turn it up to broil on the bike.

Meanwhile back at the ranch Nicole is studying the program intently to make sure papa is goin the right way.

No that's not a rastah braddah, it's me Sergio (just a little suntanned) about to turn up the heat on those that decided to leave me behind on the swim....no mercy!!! I tried so hard to do the 40 k in under and hour but knew here at the end of lap one that 33 minutes just wasn't gonna cut it. Still had the 2nd fastest bike split of the day though.

Nice H2O handoff. My momentum on the second leg of the run was slowed when I figured out I had to do one more lap! Race not over homie! Overall I had some good competition from surrounding islands and a well represented international crowd despite the small turnout. I figured only the strong and dedicated decided to get on a plane and invest the time to travel so far to do this small time race....lot's of top talent there was. At the end of the day I was very happy with my performance, but what made it so special was the fact that Sharie and Nicole were there to see me at the finish. We'll back to the notes on Feeding Dairy Cows....then hit the shack! Goodnite.

Chase a Chicken

Dr. Reich is hands down the best instructor I've had. He's the witty instructor teeterin and tottering between brilliancy and lunacy. I can already see it, he'll show up some day naked to class with a blank stare and a physio text book in one hand prophesizing the last days. I actually look forward to learning physiolology! Did I just say that? In my book if you can make something as boring as physiology interesting then you da man!!

Today we talked about glycolysis, the TCA cycle and mitochondria. In meat (or as we call it "tissue") mitochondria produces a distinctive brown color. Chickens have delicous white meat precisely because they lack enough mitochondria to produce a brownish color. Ducks on the other hand have greasy brownish meat because they have many of these little mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the body and when it's time to get away from Hector hunter ducks have the juice! So it makes sense that a chicken will futily fly 20 feet to escape my grip around its neck! A duck will if necessary escape to Argentina to avoid the dinner plate. So in conclusion: "Don't chase a duck, chase a chicken"! otherwise you'll go hungry....I'll always remember that!

Or you can get smart and spray em' down with this AR-15 Sharie is sporting and not have to to worry about running or mitochondria period.

This next weekend is the BIG race here on the island. It's the annual olympic distance triathlon and bunches come from surrounding islands. Since the Eddy Merck Alu Cross spins out I will hammer on Chadwicks TT bike and hopefully turn it up to broil with the 53 tooth ring. Here's the poster boy for Nevis, local star and full-time triathlete Reggie Dougles.

During the next break I will be working as a orientation leader. This involves welcoming the new students to their new life for the next 2.4 years! We aren't planning on returning to the states until Christmas vacation. Here's a list of the things I miss from the states:

Tuesday's Hogi Yogi pain with the boyz
Thursday winter night rides and being chased by the old crazy italian guy
Moss Rose bakery in Oakdale
Wilm's road east of Oakdale
Green Hill road in the Sierra Nevada foothills
Santa Ana Mtn bike trail and the Carina Boyz
Barbecues at Lomas Verdes in Redlands
Hangin' out at Cycletek and giving Ben (el pelon apestoso) a hard time
Mochi pounding at Rancheria
Wildflower & my dog

I better stop there before I start cryin' like a baby. What is frustrating now is that when I don't feel sleepy I blog, then go to bed and think of anatomy terms over and over in bed. Sergio's brain while trying to sleep: "caudal mesenteric artery, cranial mesenteric artery, caudal mesenteric artery, cranial mesenteric artery......" I'm going CRAZY!! Goodnight!

C is for Continue

It's hard when we fall short of our expectations. It happens everyday. Here in vet school it's not a matter of "if" but of "when" we will fall short. Apparently 1st semester is one of the toughest, weeding process I imagine. I was consistently doing B's then I slipped to a C. I won't deny it, it makes me nervous to be on the edge like that. Especially when I work my toosh off for a C! But here at Ross a "C" is for Continue, because D's aren't considered passing here. They purposefully raise the bar higher to make sure 2nd rate students aren't produced.

The word on the street is that Ross students hit the ground running when we join our US counterparts for semesters 7-10. Rossies' have maintained this reputation for the last 20 years! To such an extent that our current dean came here from Michigan State University where he was assistant dean of the vet school. He wanted to know what makes the Rossies' tick. The student body consist of approximately 650 students and I imagine about another 150-200 stateside doing their clinicals at one of 22 affiliated schools. Here at Ross we get alot of hands on experience.

And from what I've heard if you can pass Dr. Yaphe's and Dr. Reich's classes then you will easily pass the entrance and boarding exams. Dr. Wallace also told us today that we just had a 100% pass rate for board examinations (the pinnacle of vet med) while other schools have a 50% pass rate. We're just a different breed. Willing to risk so much, travel so far, and get in such hugh debt!

As promised here's a picture of Dr. Kainer our oldest faculty member. As Dr. Smith put it (standing next to him) we will never learn as much as Dr. Kainer will forget! Dr. Kainer is early 80's and still going strong! Back in the day I heard he was the highest placed in his class and in the 97th percentile for the national boards examinations....a bright mind!

here's our most overqualified faculty member Dr. Harowitz (on right) consulting with my adopted grandfather Dr. Berg in the background. Dr. Harowitz probably just got out of school with these degrees: DVM, PhD, JD!!!

We'll I'm glad I got an A on my last exam so now the average is a B in Histology. Well I better get to continuing. Goodnight!

Human mode

I often have to remember that I'm dealing with animals and not humans. It's hard to shake off ten years of human care. But that's exactly what I don't want to do because it's valuable experience that I got that last decade. You see as humans we often get ourselves into health problems by making poor decisions (diet, habits, stress). Animals on the other hand are more often victims of nature's anomalies, or poor human care....just plain bad luck. In lecture I find myself trying to troubleshoot my professor's question from a human perspective and that doesn't work half the time. Doggonit, I knew someone was going to try to prove me wrong!!

Well booger is a famous cat. Dr Smith has us send him pics of our pets and as you can see below booger made it on the front page of todays lecture.

Other famous pets includes Jerry who has been here at Ross for ages.

And some 7th semester students getting ready to snip snip the donkeys

here's Jerry in real life

Well I better get ready for school! Have a great day!