It’s 5.36AM and I just cannot, cannot go back to sleep. It’s Christmas! And I have been very quiet in these past few weeks. Lots of snow has fallen and I nearly died while sledging… More details will follow
Meanwhile – Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! (or Nadolig Llawen as the Welsh says) – I say it’s ok to scoff all these chocolates because it is time to drink and be merry! 
It’s hard. Getting back into the studying mode. And I don’t mean all these socials at night. I mean the fact that I took 3 gap years between high school and uni. They were well worth every minute. Sure you’ll forget what it was like to be a student. Memories of high school become a bittersweet, distant memory. You focus all your energies into travelling, living your life (and making your parents feel jealous of you ) and do some serious growing up while you’re at it. As the first year became another, I put off the idea of applying to uni. Same thing happened again the following year. You hear whispers that you’ll never go to uni. It’s a waste of time. Its pointless. Time begins to fly by so fast. Tick tock. You realise that your travelling days are dwindling. Not because what you are doing is worthless. But because you realise how important it is to get a degree. Grab the bull by the horns and get your life back on track. Go to uni. Do something. After that, you are free forever to go where you heart wants you to go. Let the determination drive you.
So. Here I am. 2 months into the first semester and I have had some moments where I think – I can’t do this. I’m not academic enough, I’ve itchy feet and an enormous desire to travel. But all these people. New friends that I have made. The course itself is interesting. It was so hard in the beginning. I used to fall asleep within 30 mins of the lecture as it was too much to take in so short a time!
So – DO take the gap year – I seriously recommend it. Secondly, be prepared to doodle on a piece of scrap paper, take a water bottle with you or get some chewing gum – these things will help you stay awake in lectures. Seriously.
DO not miss out the time at uni
Come out to Aberystwyth.
In one of our lectures, we had a talk on horse meat as a part of the equine industry module. Sounds fairly neutral don’t you think? I wasn’t aware (or rather tried to ignore) the stories that in some countries, people do consume horse meat. So, you could imagine my outrage on learning that the Italians are said to have the highest human consumption of hourse meat in the EU, followed by Belgium, France and Germany… Plus a meat from a foal is considered a delicacy in Italy. *shudder* I had to endure the next 50 mins talk on this, witha look of fascinated horror on my face.
Although, may I inform you all why we should consider eating the horse meat – It is an excellent source of protein, low in fat, plenty of glycogen.. need I go on? Plus it would save all these poor horses from enduring long, horrific journeys to the slaughter house. but, but, but… Being such a horse lover, I cannot bring myself to think about eating them. My mother reminds me that in her time, working in Belgium, she remembers how they bought horse meat for their dogs to gobble up on and how the meat, the horse meat smelt sickly sweet. Thanks Mum for that description!
What a day!
We, us 3, decided to actually walk all the way to Llandabadarn Fawr, instead of taking the bus. Very good for our legs I believe. and a great way to start the day. Along the way, we encountered two ‘extremely’ christians who ‘wished’ to share their love for Jesus Christ. I flippantly said to the pair of them, ‘I’ve heard of Him – who hasn’t? Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve lectures to attend!’ (and left their mouth hanging wide open. However, they were very devious by handing out the leaflets, advertising free dvds portraying the last moments of Jesus’ life… (which we shortly disposed of it afterward, in the bins)
Now. I don’t mind people practising their religion. But it’s quite anothering thing, trying to preach you all about Jesus. Let people come up to you if they want to know about Him. Other religions like Muslims keeps themselves to themselves. Enough said.
The first lecture of the day was a tutorial one. Basically, this happens every week and we are fast seeing a rapid decline in the number of students attending. Sometimes it really isn’t that inspiring. The tutorials varies from how to use exel efficiently (yes, I can hear a few groans!) to how to use the internet and which website is a really, reallly good one to use for as references. You get the gist. Boringly useful things.
The practicals that took place soon after the tutorials.That was something else althogether. My nose has been assualted in every way possible – and despite rubbing on vicks rather liberally around our nostrils – it really did not help mask the smell. This practicals was on digestive tract of the horse. It was nauseating stuff, I tell you. Even the lab assistant thought it was the most rankest smell he ever has encountered in his life. That’s putting it mildly.
What we saw of the digestive tract, was nothing like a normal horse. It seems that this horse has died a horrible death. A massive blockage was discovered in the ascending colon. Bot flies was discovered in their millions on the lining of the stomach. Pungent smell of fermented grass spilled out, wafting out to kill our nose cells. Not for the squeamish. Several girls were heard to gag, but a round of applause to everyone for not vomiting at all during the dissection session.
It took a long time before I could work myself to eat! And I’ll never smell things the same way ever again. Thanks digestive tract!
Alexandra Halls are seeing some of the most spectacular waves crashing onto the promenade, soaking several students, who were unfortunate enough to be walking to the lectures that morning! Thought I’d share this picture with you.
The sight of the dirty dishes piling up was more than enough to put me off from ever entering the kitchen again. No-one seems to be doing anything about it. Week after week this happens. Get one thing straight. You WILL need to sort out a kitchen rota or get into a sort of routine. And keep on top of it. There’s no Mummy or a Nanny or a Housekeeper to keep your kitchen in tip top condition.
I have been the ‘Madam’ of this flat. Each week, I have been the one cracking the whip, rousing others to do their bit; be it some hoovering, doing the bathroom details and doing the washing up and drying up. You get the idea. It can be extremely social and fun. Al (one of the flatmates) – his face lights up when he sees bubbles being created by the Fairy dishwashing liquid – crowing ‘Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, buuuuubbbbbbbbbbbbbllllesssssss!’ while someone has bought in their laptop into the kitchen with its music blaring out, causing a few to dance away on the kitchen floor.
Whatever. As long as it keeps them all happy and it gets the job done. However what gets my nuts is that this happens ONCE a week, and after that, the dirty dishes starts to sneak in again, left on the sink, hoping that no one notices. The bin bag overflows with garbage and yet no one takes the initiative to take the bin out before it overflows. HELLO?! Is everyone practically blind here….!?
Plus – do you know how much garbage we go through in a DAY? ONE massive bag a day that’s what. How sickening is that?
Be very very prepared to roll up your sleeves, polish up your diplomatic skills and stay ‘friends’ with your flatmates – you are after all, living with them for a year…
It’s now 10.21 pm, the waves are crashing onto the walls of the promenade. Blood-splattered book is beside me. Blood of the horse… eyes of newt… tongue of dog….I am trying to handle this contaminated book as less as possible.
Reading through the splotchy patches, as I type up the notes on the dissection lab we had on Tuesday. For a first dissection lab, it wasn’t bad. No-one threw up at any rate. Still it was somewhat nauseating physically putting the sharp scapula down the leg. (yes, we’re talking about dead horse’s leg which we christened Arthur). For the first half-hour, we four fiddled about, handling Arthur’s leg delicately until the curiosity got the better of us. Ligaments, tendons, bones were identified along with the main blood vessels. It was indeed very fascinating. And very time-consuming.
All too quickly, we have bits of hair stuck to our gloves and aprons. This included the waterproof camera of Hannah’s. Hygiene was quickly forgotten as we immersed ourselves in the world of blood and gore.
Enough said. You get the general idea. The trickiest part is writing up the lab report. And I’m still at it! Poring through somewhat grisly pictures has jogged my memory. That was suspensory ligament. This was the 3rd metacarpal bone… but how to convey all this new-found knowledge onto piece of paper. It would be much simpler if we could just use pictures, draw arrows, identifying the parts of the legs and be done with it. But no, we had to analyse what we had just discovered. Observation plays the key part here. Any bruising? Oh yes – the tissue is all purpley there… This however, does not sound like a scientific lab report does it? Would it sound better if we had said ‘the tissue surrounding the distal part of cannon bone looks damaged due to the change in colour, from normal healthy pink to purple?..’ – I am struggling with the words here. That is what is so time consuming about the lab report… ho hum…
Went into the sea today – very very invigorating. Mind you. It’s OCTOBER. And let me remind you again. It’s Wales. She doesn’t do sun. Just wind and rain with an occasional peek from the sun. Today, the clouds is looking very overcast miserable. Hannah and I were going to do a nice sweaty run, followed by a very adventurous dip in the sea. It is certainly cold, especially when it gets to nether regions (for boys) and the chest region (for girls), it can be quite a breathless experience. However once you get over the shock, it is actually very nice. Positively tropical.
I now issue you all a dare to swim in the sea, before winter officially arrives (although if you ask me – the winter has never really left here!)
Fire alarms. Don’t you just love them?! We have our weekly fire drill – which supposed to happen only on THURSDAY. And once a week (why can’t it be once every 2 weeks, so that we don’t get used to the noise?) Anyhow, this week alone, we (residents of Alex Halls) saw a new record of THREE fire alarms in the space of a week. Beauty sleep disrupted, several people in just dressing gowns (who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the shower when this happened). I have to say, I have never seen numerous variety of PJ in one place.
Men trying to be manly, standing just in boxers, goose pimples could actually be seen with naked eye. A phrase from my past kept on repeating inside my head ‘goose pimply like a pimply goose!’ – courtesy of my sister. A cold breeze comes in from the sea, making me shudder. While we are waiting, a thought comes to me – here we are freezing to death, where are the blankets to prevent the potential risk of hypothermia?
Hannah, one of the few who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the shower when the alarm sounded!
Ah the joys of being a foreign student! I hang out lots with them and I’ve come to realise that the benefits of having international friends are huge. Literally saving me pennies. One night, there was a Bulgarian, Polish, American and wannabe African (me). We decided to hail a taxi – to avoid walking up that infamous hill, in order to get to the Union. Along came this taxi driver and all Kerry (an American) had to do was open her mouth, letting a stream of words in American accent (to be precise a Georgian accent) envelope and charm the taxi driver. Result? Free taxi rides!
It seems that this phenomenon happens only to international students. I may have to cultivate a Bulgarian accent – for Nelly, with her accent alone – it got her free meal, free rides, a job should she need it anytime. Jealous? So am I. Needless to say, I was very happy for Nelly as it helped her settle in much quicker.
Nelly and I on halfway point on the Consitution Hill