A Test-Less Week…

… doesn’t come very often in my life at CVM. But here I am in the middle of one of the rare moments where I don’t have an exam at all during the week. And it’s pretty nice to know I can relax and just chill for a bit and not worry too much about any impending exams.

Lots of things are going on right now. About to really get started with my thesis work (which is the characterization of the heart anatomy of two native Philippine turtles by ultrasound and electrocardiogram) by trying to get people to sign up for my thesis panel. Continuing junior clinics with swine this week. Ended up winning 2nd place in CVM’s Rodeo Club Philippines Round-up quiz con last night with my friends Jae and Casey. Spending the weekends in Fort Bonifacio and Makati in Manila since I’m apartment sitting for my friend Isabelle. Got to do my first dehorning (cornuectomy) and am now preparing to be assistant surgeon for our next surgery for our ovariohysterectomy in a goat. Was approved as the first Filipino DJ on WGSpectacle to broadcast for all Asian listeners. And of course studying every now and then.

It’s just nice to breathe every once in awhile you know?

While I wind down for tonight, I’ll leave you with this picture of me performing the cornuectomy on our goat. (Don’t worry–nothing too gruesome… just a little taste).

Gonna go grab some dinner and maybe even watch a movie! I love nights alone at home. :)

Busy Week!

I’m extremely tired right now.

This week has been extremely taxing, and I have three exams this week. Two of which I’ve already taken in both Large Animal Surgery and Zoonoses. Today was basically my “day off” with no exam, but I still have to finish studying for my final exam this week for Ruminant Medicine tomorrow.

Yesterday we just extremely tiring. I got up at 6am and didn’t get home until 8pm which pretty much made my day about 14 hours. Not to mention I still had to finish up some readings, edit some papers and also then had to finish my surgery protocol for my first ruminant surgery this upcoming week. I don’t think I went to bed until around 2am this morning, and then I had to get up at 6am to get started with the day.

I was basically almost falling asleep in class due to the lack of rest I’ve gotten these last few days. When I came home this afternoon from my classes, I literally dropped my bags and fell into bed for a short 3 hour nap.

Now I have to finish studying.

But I will leave you with a picture and a video from my wildlife rotation this past weekend at the Protected Areas & Wildlife Bureau in Manila. Enjoy!

Back From The Dead!

Lots of snow which translates to lots of shoveling!

Okay, so not really, but it HAS been awhile since I’ve blogged and I thought that now would be a good time to update you all on what I’ve been up to.

Of course, the last time I put up a blog it was to say that it was almost Christmas time and I was about to fly back to NY. Well now I’m back in the Philippines getting back to the grind. But I thought I should summarize what I did this past break, such as:

Visiting my good ol’ high school friends.

Seeing my girlfriend.

Getting to see my brother’s show at Radio City Music Hall (he works with the Rockettes during their annual Christmas Spectacular Show).

Eating at exotic places in the city. (This picture was taken at Momofuku, known for their pork buns)

Hanging out with my cousins from Chicago (who flew in the same day I did coincidentally).

Having some much needed family time.

Celebrating New Year’s with all the people I love!

I realized that I don’t post much while I’m in New York. When I’m back there at home with my family, friends and girlfriend I tend to go out a lot and be extremely busy. And not the kind of busy that I go through here in at school at UPLB. No, it’s the kind of busy that is fun, relaxing and I guess just helps me unwind. When I’m at home I typically don’t do things that I do here in the Philippines. I was definitely not on the computer or my iTouch much at all this holiday season and I went a lot and reconnected with people I haven’t been in touch with for awhile. When I’m at school, I’m usually just focused on studying (or sometimes procrastinating) and while I do have outlets to have fun here, it’s not the same as when I’m in NY. I guess it’s the environment. The cold weather. The good food and enormous portions (which I’m not used to anymore). The people I’ve known for so long that I left about 2 1/2 years ago to start school here. Everything I’ve grown up with is in NYC, and so no matter how long I stay here in the Philippines, when I go back, I just feel… home. Subtle things happen to me that I don’t notice until I get back. Things like my face clearing up (probably due to less stress), me getting healthier, and me being happier in general.

Not that I don’t like it in the Philippines, I mean I do. There’s just something about being at home that livens me up a bit, you know? I guess it’s due to a combination of things that I mentioned above. It’s just something I’ve noticed.

Well, on another note, as I said I’m back from NYC. It’s nice to be back here. The weather isn’t so hot and it’s quite rainy nowadays. I like it. I think I like the cold weather more than I do the warm weather. I guess I’d prefer to sweat shoveling snow than sweat just walking around… haha.

Had a slew of exams this week and it will end Thursday. Just took a Diagnostic Imaging (i.e. ultrasound and radiographs) exam yesterday and today. Seeing different structures in the dog is somewhat difficult when you’re just starting. We had a practical today with only 5 minutes to identify as many organs and structures as possible. I realized that 5 minutes really isn’t a lot of time when you think about it and I was only able to identify the spleen, urinary bladder, colon, left kidney, heart, liver and such during the exam. There were definitely things I missed and next time I’ll be sure to keep on practicing since it’ll be pretty important when I start practicing. Finding the correct acoustic window isn’t hard, but it’s the manipulating of the transducer that I had trouble with.

The next part of the class will focus on radiographic imaging and I bet it will also be quite difficult. My teachers keep saying that the course requires a bit of “imagination” and I think they’re right. Just got to brush up on the orientation and anatomy of the different organs for this next part of the course.

I’ve got another exam in Large Animal Surgery this Thursday so I’m going to go hit the books now and read up a bit.

I’d like to hear what you’ve been up to this holiday break. Let me know! I’m interested in seeing how you guys spent your time.

I’ll catch you guys next time!

–JoN

P.S. — Just recently updated my desktop workstation today. Check it out!