Dissections // Fighting the Vending Machine

Okay, huge apologies for taking so long to post the next part of our trip to North Carolina! Life’s been - busy ;) 

Anyway, onto the post! This time you’ll get a peek into our classes :D 

By the middle of the week, everyone was pretty much exhausted :P But that didn’t stop class one bit. 

For music camp, Mr. Cockman, my music teacher, wanted us to write two songs, record an original song, film a music video, then have a final performance of it later. So on the very first day, we wrote a song. It wasn’t good - but it wasn’t terrible either. We also performed it for the rest of the class, but it went a little off because neither of us were used to the microphones and the sound was coming back delayed, which messed everybody up. BUT, that was just practice for the other song we had to write, so yeah. We worked on our second song on Tuesday and half of Wednesday, recorded on the second half of Wednesday, filmed on Thursday, and did our final performance on Friday in front of the whole camp (over 160 people). Okay, let me slow it down a bit more ;) 

Mr. Cockman’s oldest daughter, Arwen Cockman, was in our band, and is she one talented person! You should hear her play the guitar - it’s AWESOME!! (There are videos of her performing on Youtube, and guys, she can play the fiddle behind her back!!!!) 

She helped us a lot in finding chords for a song, as well as fine-tuning the melody for the song. Writing the lyrics was SO much fun! We had oh, about 8 people in our band, so we got lots of ideas. (The inspiration for the song came from the walls of the back hall . . . but that’s another story ;)) 

After the melody was set for both instruments and vocals, we worked on harmonies. It was quite funny actually that I, who sing harmony about 5% of the time, should be assigned the high harmony part. But that’s how it went. Arwen took harmonies, and the rest of the girls took lead. 

Once that was settled, we got to record. 

But after that was done, we got a ton of free time while the other three bands were recording. So we jammed and sang… Veggie Tales. *sings* If you like to talk to tomatoes; if a squash can make you smile, if you like to waltz with potatoes, up and down the grocery aiiiiiisssle! *crickets chirping* Ahem. Don't judge XD 

Friday was final performance day. We rehearsed getting on and setting up on stage in less than a minute, performing, and then immediately getting off. (we were on a time crunch). 

When performance time rolled around, I’ll admit to feeling very nervous. It was the biggest crowd I had ever sung in front of, and I was so afraid of messing up the harmony, and - yeah, lots of butterflies. But before camp performances started, the entire music camp gathered together and prayed. I found it SO helpful. Peace instantly entered me, and then we got on stage and performed, and - it was GREAT! I enjoyed every minute of it, and I do believe the rest of my band did too! Praise the Lord!!! :D 

Ok, I guess it’s my turn now. Apologies for the lack of pictures, I did take some, but I didn’t really fancy getting guts and blood all over the ipod :D. 

So…...I can’t exactly remember what we did each day, but I will attempt to at least put it in somewhat of an order. 

First, the teacher talked a while about what she did, what her different clients were like, and how different people reacted differently to different things. Oh, so every day that week, we got to watch like an hour long episode about different vets. Like Doctor Pol (The teacher said she didn’t like him very much :P), Something called Rescue Vets, and something else called Zoo vets. And I’m pretty sure there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was called :P I think watching the episodes was one of my favorite parts because I didn’t have to do anything but sit and watch :D

We were also given a project (that we could take as long as we wanted to do it as long as it was finished by the end of the week) which was to cut out like a gazillion parts of a pig(outside and inside) and glue them all together to make a model of a pig, to use kind of as a reference when we dissected the real pig.  It was actually pretty cool when it was finished. I’ll ask Blessing to take a picture of it. :) 

(I tried to take only one picture, but seriously, there are so many layers to this thing, it's impossible to fit it into one shot :P) 

Then…...dissections. We dissected a chicken foot, a pig foot(btw, pig skin is really really really tough. In an hour and a half, my lab partner and I were only able to peel about ¾ of the skin back :P), a baby pig - let me stop right here and say that I thought it was going to be a fetal pig. And there were some. But unlucky me just happened to get a full grown baby pig that had died after birth. It was SOOOOO cute. Only on the outside though………..

Anyway, we also had to dissect a big white rat. And then after we had taken out all of its guts and cut open it’s rib cage(none too neatly I might add).........They told us we had to sew it back together. With all it’s parts somewhat in the right place again. So we very technically scooped it’s insides back in, and then made an attempt to sew it back up again. It actually looked pretty normal other than the fact that it was rather flattened - probably due to having a broken rib cage, and guts that weren’t exactly in tact. I think that was all the dissections that we had to do….

Let’s see, what else did we do…...oh! We gave oranges gatorade injections, but the poor orange had so many injections with 20 people in the class that when the last person injected it, the juice came pouring out one of the holes that had already been made :P We also learned how to suture. The picture is the first stitch I did…..I’m so glad it wasn’t a real person because the fake skin kind of sort of ripped when I tied the knot :/ 

I believe that was all we had to do - for the final performance, about a third of the class (we voted for skits) had to present skits that they had written - there were 2 groups that did it. I’m so glad my group’s skit wasn’t picked because I do NOT like acting. At all. Especially in front of 160 people. 

So! I believe that’s all for Pre-Veterinary Medicince week! Overall, I really did enjoy the class, but I could have done with a little less dissecting :P 

Oh, one more thing - that picture on the chalkboard was the teacher showing us how pigs’ ears were notched :D

And here are a few pics from the week. Not exactly random, just part of the free time or activities that we did :D 

We tie-dyed for the first time ever. It was such a nice vibrant colour when it was dyed - 

And then they washed it and the color kind of bled everywhere and turned a pastel color instead :D It was still pretty though. :) 

But the colour also stayed on our hands, don’t forget that. For a couple days, there were quite a few people with pink, bluish, greenish hands. 

No, it washed out by the end of the day - unless you didn’t wash your hands at all that day…...

Ahem! I did too wash my hands! Maybe my hands soaked in the dye then, cause the colour was there for at least another day :P 

AND, the whole camp was brought out to this awesome ice cream shop. (Don’t you just love the smell of an ice cream store? It’s so - good! :D) 

At the ice cream shop!

Previous campers that I had met had already warned me that one scoop was gi-nourmous, so when it was my turn to order, I asked for “one scoop please” 

Actually, they asked if you wanted 1 dip or 2 dips. :D

Well, I know, but I didn’t know what a dip was and was scared it was something gigantic, so I just wanted to clarify that I wanted a small scoop. A small single scoop. The waiter nodded and proceeded to scoop out a small bit of ice cream. I smiled, thinking eveything was going just right and I would get my small scoop of ice cream. (Seriously, who ever really wants a small scoop of ice cream?????) I reached for my cup - but then he  bent down and got another scoop. I opened my mouth to protest -

And he got another, third, scoop, before finally handing me the cup. So much for one small scoop XD

When I got mine, he just put an enormous scoop in the cup. And then another one on top of it. And I was very happy and ate it and didn’t complain about how huge it was :P 

I’m not complaining! I’m just - er - elaborating on what happened so that the readers will be prepared if they ever go to that ice cream shop. (unless all American ice cream shops are like that?!) 

I never said you were complaining. :P 

DANCE NIGHT!! (yes, I’m changing the subject XD) 

Dance night was the same night as ice cream night :D So everyone was hyper. Just kidding. Sort of. 

We’ve never danced before. I mean like, actually dancing. Not hopping up and down in crazy circles(Cause that’s how we normally dance XD), if you know what I mean :P 

There were quite a few dances taught, like the Virginia Reel, and SWING DANCE, and the wagon wheel, and the electric slide, and the macarena, and the cupid shuffle, and others that I don’t remember the names of. 

There was footloose. Which I couldn’t do, by the way. Oh, and that dance that we did to Undefeated. 

Oh right! I really liked that one! We were able to master the hand things only after we left camp. 

And the other one where I accidentally kicked a lot of people in the back of the legs. 

Dancing mishaps. Like forgetting which way to turn and finding out that you’re facing everyone else when you’re not supposed to, and so you quickly hop back into the right direction. Or losing your shoe and watching it fly across the room. *blushes* 

I  lost one of my shoes(well crocs :D) while doing the Virginia Reel - it went into the line next to us. So I grabbed it and took of my other one and chucked it really hard at a wall. Corner. Actually, I think it was just a place where there was no people. And then I found out that for some really weird reason, when you’re not wearing shoes, people tend to step on your feet more. I also learned that I didn’t know my left from my right. Not when I needed to anyway. 

I think my favourite dance was swing. It’s so much fun! Tiger Lily and I partnered up and she did the boy’s part. ‘Cause I didn’t know how to. (But after we got home, I learned the boy’s part, so we can now change places while dancing if we have to ;)) (By the ‘have to’, she means when I try to dip her and drop her because I think I’m stronger than I am. :P)

Yeah, we learned to have pillows on the floor while practicing. It hurts when you don’t. . . 

Random photo I took during pizza lunch

\

Oh, vending machines. Okay, I didn’t know I was such a country mouse until I found a vending machine, wanted to get something, and realized I didn’t know how to use it at all. It was SO embarrassing just standing in front of it and trying to figure out how to use it. 

But seriously! Vending machines are so much fun!!! You beep the button, it eats your money and then it spits out something delicious. And I knew how to use it cause I’m smart :D 

Hey, well, I figured it out later. And the way you described it is slightly disturbing. . . 

But yeah. We snacked on M&M’s a lot. And Starbucks coffee!!!! SO GOOD! Ahhh….

I didn’t drink the starbucks coffee by the way. You should have seen the collection of bottles on the top of our dresser. And they were ALL from Blessing. I was a good girl and only drank an occasional pop :P Which, believe it or not, was less sweet than whatever kind of coffee was in that bottle. 

Hehe. . . 

Oh, and on Sunday morning, my counsellor went to a cafe nearby and brought Blessing and I muffins THAT WERE STILL WARM. and they were CHOCOLATE too!!!!  

And I think that about wraps up this post! What interested you the most? Classes, dance nights, or all that sugar? ;P