Ski Weekend in Tatranska Lomnica

I've had the best weekend skiing with friends in Tatranska Lomnica, a resort in the Slovak part of the High Tatras mountains.

Four friends from home flew into Košice on Friday, we went for lunch in Napoli and then got the train to the Tatras with six other friends from vet school.

As I'm a student under 26 I get free train travel in Slovakia, the others only had to pay €5 for the ticket, a 120km journey via Poprad.

We booked an apartment called Wili Tatry which was a couple minutes walk from the train station and supermarket, with the ski lift less than a kilometres walk away.

Cable car up to Lomnicky štít

There are 9 lifts and 12 slopes which meet in similar places at the bottom of the mountain meaning people can choose which runs they want to ski and meet the group at the bottom.

I stuck to blue and red trails 1,751m high but Niall and Lena went for the 2,190m high black slope!

Après Ski on the slopes

We went out for food and drinks every night and on Saturday went to Humno Tatry, a club who's main selling point was that they had Madonna's Cadillac suspended from the roof, which ended up being a really good night.
We read online that the locals dubbed it, 'Club Tropicana' 'cos drinks are almost free.

We stayed out until 5am so the planned up and on the slopes by 8:30am became more like 11:30 after I cooked us all scrambled eggs on toast. We still had a good few hours skiing, though Mika and Jasmine only made it down the slopes once on a hangover.

I had a great time and was really nice to have 5 days with friends from home, can't wait for them to visit again and we'll definitely be back skiing next year!

Best day on the slopes yet

We went up to Kavečany at 9am on Saturday to try out our new skis and snowboards.

Best day on the slopes yet.

We've all gotten our confidence back so were flying down the slopes. 

I wouldn't say I flew down the Red slope but I went up and down it a few times at a respectable speed.

Laura bought a snowboard without ever setting foot on one but she did pretty well considering! 

I've just bought a helmet, goggles and a ski bag for the bargain price of €32/£23 which should all be delivered on Thursday ready for our Tatras trip.

Some Ski and Snowboard Shopping

Went to Black Sport in Valaliky, a 20 minute taxi ride away from dorms. The shop owner was really busy serving customers but made time to show us what we were looking for, how to choose skis or a snowboard and answer any questions.

I needed 170cm skis so found four pairs I liked the look of and asked him to recommend which he would choose. 

He said to get the Rossignol of Salomon pair and fitted my boots to the bindings to try them both on.

My skis should have been 79€, ski boots 65€ and poles 10€ and he said he would do the whole lot for €110, equivalent to £85.

Complete ski hire is €28 in the Tatras mountains so as I have a few days skiing planned it will definitely be a good investment for the next 4 years!

Niall got a Burton snowboard with Burton bindings and Burton boots, worth €750 new, for €200!

Sarah also got a Burton board set and Laura got a complete board set.

Heading up the slopes at 9am tomorrow to try them out - can't wait!

Habrok; Goshawk in the snow

Quick photo of Habrok our juvenile male Goshawk perched out in the snow, taken when I was looking after him last weekend.

He's still quite nervous and baity so the girls are planning to man him and work with him much more over the next few weeks, getting him used to being picked up, handled and working for his food.

Do Hamsters Fart?

I've just been asked by a friends 7 year old, Do hamsters fart?

Bob, their hamster, loved Brussels Sprouts which is the reason for the question...

To be honest I have no idea if hamsters fart or not but thinking about it, I guess they do.
Hamsters are monogastric omnivores like humans and dogs and they have a very similar digestive system to us, only much smaller!

I've been using my Bargain Books as a laptop tray but now I can actually use it for reference!

The text is in Slovak and Latin (we learn all our anatomy in Latin here) and you can see hamster have a cecum;
labels 20-21 (29 is the back leg) in the first image and 16-18 in the second image (27 is the back leg).

The cecum is a blind ended sac for microbial fermentation, a bit like a cul-de-sac, in which bacteria help enzymes break down plant matter such as cellulose.

A byproduct of this reaction is gas, which I guess means, Yes... Hamsters do fart!

If anyone reading this has any thoughts, please feel free to comment!

Vet Students Ski Kavečany

Had an awesome day skiing and snowboarding with loads of the first year vet students.

There were 16 of us who went and was really nice to spend time with everyone outside Uni doing something that doesn't involve going for food or drinking!

The ski centre is a 15 minute bus ride from right outside dorms so it's so convenient to get to.

Ski hire was €13 for 4 hours and a 4 hour lift pass was €16, so €29 or £21 in total.

I looked at the Snowdome and it would cost £68 at home!

I still can't get over how amazing the view is from the top of the slopes, you can see for miles.

Made a video of our day:

Animal Hygiene and Welfare; Pig and Poultry Housing

Learning about Temperature and Humidity Stress Index for laying hens and pigs at 8am is too much for my brain.

Coffee was definitely needed this morning!

Did you know?
If a chickens core temperature rises above 42oC they pant more, producing large amounts of CO2 which increases excretion of calcium causing a deficit of electrolytes and in turn, soft shelled eggs!
Just goes to show the importance of ventilation in poultry housing, especially in summer...

Gary Foster Cat Update

Gizmo the foster kitten I was only looking after for a few weeks is still here and he's not going anywhere...

He still gets called all sorts; Gizmo, Giz, Gaz, Gary and my brother calls him Myra...

I had him castrated, vaccinated and wormed before Christmas, all for the bargain price of €30 and he stayed with a local family while I was at home.
He's picked up ear mites from their cat so I've got some Otodex to sort that out which seems to have worked.

I'm planning on taking him home for summer and bringing him back next year so just need to get him microchipped and passported.

Finished Semester One of Vet School

I passed my Anatomy Final exam today which means the end of semester one of Vet School!

I can't believe I've been here exactly six months, to the day.
So much has happened and I've really settled in but on the other hand it only seems like we're been here a few months and still getting to know the place.

December was a tough month with lots of credit exams to get done before the end of semester and since then we've had Finals but I'm glad it's all over and that we're starting lectures again; it'll be good to get back into a routine and be busy again!

I didn't pass Genetics on my first attempt so will have to resit that exam in summer but my other grades were:
Milk Hygiene - A, Slovak - A, Latin - C, Anatomy - D

We have to get 50% to pass and we are given grades according to our percentage.
A 91-100%, B 81-90%, C 71-80%, D 61-70%, E 51-60%

In comparison with the UK, a pass is 40% and a 2:1 is 60-70%.

Frantiska the Harris Hawk splashing in the snow

Frantiska, forgetting she's a Harris Hawk and not a duck...

Skiing in Slovakia

My coursemates and I took a break from revision today to go skiing.

Kavečany is a 10 minute bus ride from vet school dormitories so we decided to go and spend an afternoon there.

We hired our ski's, boots, poles and helmets for €13 and spent €19 on ski lift passes for 4 hours and off we went...

The view from the top of the slopes was amazing; you can see the whole of Košice in the background, on the right hand side.

There are nine ski lifts there, so nine slopes, though only three were open today.

I haven't been skiing for over 10 years after going to Courmayeur for a week with school but surprisingly I remembered how to ski and was off!

A couple of the guys hadn't been before so they had a lesson last Friday and were still learning but we tried to look after them. Ryan forgot how to stop at one point, ended up flying straight down the slope, over one fence at the bottom and through the fence behind it!

Luckily we had helmets so everyone was fine, just took a few minutes to stop laughing.

Had an amazing time and can't wait to go back again soon!

Exemption Requests

You may remember I applied for a few exemptions back in first week of winter semester where, if we've done the subject before we can apply to be exempt from it by submitting our previous University transcripts along with module descriptions.

For Winter semester I was exempt from Immunology and a partial exemption from Physiology, I only have to cover three topics which means my Final exam will be down from 120 questions to less than 20.

This semester I've applied for exemptions from Nutrition and Dietetics; Biomedical Statistics and Informatics; and Animal Hygiene and Welfare.

Nazgul the Harris Hawk

Chilita, of the girls from Falconry, took some photos of the birds perched out earlier today.

I absolutely love this photo of Nazgul the young Harris Hawk out in the snow...

Harris Hawks are desert birds so typically don't do very well with the cold so he's kept indoors overnight and perched out for a few hours in the afternoon.

Anatomy Final Revision

We spent this afternoon round at Linda's apartment revising for our Anatomy 1 Final tomorrow.

I'm really not feeling prepared but have gone over everything once, now just need to learn it and not go blank under pressure!

I predict a long night ahead...

Winter is coming

New Wizz Air base in Kosice, Slovakia

I've just seen the news that WizzAir have announced their new base will be in Kosice!

They're starting flights from Kosice to Doncaster Sheffield and Milan from September which is awesome news. At the moment there is only one flight to Luton each day at 11am but it looks like the Sheffield flight will depart at 18:40 so we'll be able to fly home after Uni on a Wednesday evening and back on Sunday evening for a long weekend at home.

Flights to Milan also leave at 18:40 on a Friday, returning on a Monday evening which will be perfect for Bank Holiday weekends etc where we have Monday off Uni!

The article here states:
"With the new Kosice services Wizz Air is now offering 11 weekly flights on 3 routes from Kosice, representing over 50% capacity growth year on year (October 2015). The airline believes its expansion in Slovakia, where it flies to two airports, will also benefit the local job market in aviation and tourism sectors as consumers will have access to more low cost services. Seats on the new Kosice routes are already on sale from just EUR 19.99 and can be booked on wizzair.com."

Just had a quick look for the cheapest dates and there are €30 return flights to Milan and €30 return to Sheffield with the Discount Club!

Sunshine in Slovakia

I'd not left dorms for three days and needed to get out the house earlier, it looked sunny outside so decided to take the scenic route and walk to Tesco. 

It's not too far (25minute walk) but I was out for a good few hours!

Headphones in, world out.

New Veterinary Hospital at University of Veterinary Medicine in Kosice

A friend posted a link to an article here in Korzar about a new Veterinary Hospital being built at UVM.

The article, roughly translated into English says:
"Pet owners have reason to Rejoice; the campus of the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy (UVLF) is to build the first hospital for animals.

The University has already handed over the construction site with a [multi storey] hospital, which according to the contract should be completed by October.

With a floor area of ​​2,296 square meters, it will include a Department of Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Infectious, CT clinic with MRI magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray and operating areas, as well as an accident and emergency.

Small Animals can be hospitalized if necessary as in a classical hospital.
The Veterinary Hospital [specifically for small animals] was approved in the long-term plan of the University in 2012.

"With it provides quality of Veterinary continuous care in the category of small animals and also a more attractive workplace clinics for students, educators, scientists, as well as patients and owners" says newly elected Rector UVLF John Mojžišová."

The hospital is part of MEDIPARK (Biomedical University science park in Kosice; an international center for applied research in the field of Biomedicine) and the total investment amounts to 2.64 million euros.
It constitutes an 85 grant from EU structural funds, 10 per cent funding from the state budget and the remaining 5 percent, which is 132,000 euros, paid university from its own resources."

It's fantastic news that there's so much investment coming into the Uni from multiple sources and it will only increase the number of international students to bring in even more money and of course improve the reputation of the school.

Link to original article: http://kosice.korzar.sme.sk/c/7610743/v-kosiciach-vyrastie-nemocnica-pre-zvierata.html
All photos: MARS PRO

Three Legged Jack Russell

Someone just shared this on Facebook...

Genetics

So this morning I failed my Genetics Final...

It's an oral exam where we're given 3 questions from a list of 80, given 30 minutes to write our answers and then we present them to the lecturer. My topics were Meiosis; Blood Groups; and GMO's and Health Care.

I started with my weakest question, Meiosis and after 10 minutes of trying to explain the different phases and stages of Prophase, he stopped me and basically stopped me and said I wasn't ready for the exam and to come back and try again.
He's not the nicest lecturer I've met but to be fair to him he put me at ease and was really nice about it, so I think it was fair enough.

I'm glad I tried the exam because at least now I know I underestimated how much work I should have put in and the amount of detail required for the questions, so I'll be more prepared come the summer.

I was meant to be doing my Anatomy Final on Monday (in 3 days time) but after today I decided that's not long enough to revise and so have cancelled that and applied to do it the following Monday - I guess that's one benefit of having oral exams, that we can choose when to sit them!

Revision Fuel

Potra the supermarket over the road from dorms had some half-decent looking ready meals in the fridge.

I picked one up and tried to translate what it was...

...safe to say I left it and got a chicken tortilla wrap instead.

Oh, Slovakia.

Winter Finals

I'm going back to Uni this weekend and can't say I'm looking forward to it!

I've had a great time at home and loved being back.
We had a big family wedding just before Christmas, amazing Christmas with all the family then went to London for a week and had a quiet-ish New Year with friends at the pub.
Then I spent 5 days in Dublin with my brother and two friends which was really nice, though expensive, so feel like I've done loads in just under a month that I had off.

Now I'm back I have to get back into revision ready for Finals; I have Genetics on Wednesday which I'm dreading, Anatomy the following Monday and I need to book in Milk Hygiene.
All our exams are oral which means we are given a choice of dates and can pick when we do our exams, most subjects have a couple of slots per week with 5-7 people examined per day.

I'm really struggling to revise and don't know where to start. I don't think it helps that my room is a tip 'cos I need to unpack my case and cleaning it seems like procrastination.

RIP Clarence

Sadly Clarence my little Kestrel died over the Christmas break.

I'm not sure of the details because he was being looked after the Vet Technicians but safe to say the little man taught me lots about Falconry and will be missed.

Anatomy Final Revision

Semester 1 of Vet School

I survived Semester 1 of Vet School!

I've finally passed all my Credit tests meaning I can start Spring Semester, just need to take the Finals but that can be done any time up until August.
I've already done the Slovak Final and got 97%, though it was really easy and she checked our papers before we handed them in, and am planning on taking a few this week; Latin, Anatomy and Milk Hygiene & Technology.

I'm leaving Genetics until after Christmas and really not looking forward to that, he's not a very nice man so people are scared of him and you really have to know your stuff or he'll fail you straight away - sometimes even if you know what you're saying, if its not in his words or if he doesn't understand you because of the language barrier he will fail you. There are 3 people in our class who have had to do 'Compensation tests' to prove they have grasped Genetics before he'll even let them sit the Credit test. I'm planning on coming back a days before my exam in January to revise, sit the exam and then depending on the date I'll go back home for a few weeks or go skiing and visit Budapest or Bratislava.

It was by 23rd Birthday on Thursday but because I had exams on Thursday and Friday I didn't do anything and celebrated on Friday instead.

The 12 of us in our half of the year group went out for food at Burekas an Israeli restaurant then for drinks at Smelly Cat and Piano; we had a good night and was really nice to spend time with the group outside Uni.
People have been stressed for the last few weeks and realised we need to let our hair down and spend time with each other, which hopefully we'll do more now.

We've had 4 exams a week for the last 3 or 4 weeks so all I want to do is sleep and I cannot wait to get home for Christmas and spend time with the family!

Frantiska the Harris Hawk

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Love this photo of Frantiska the Harris Hawk in the snow.

One of the girls took it when it was snowing last week, Frantiska is really cheeky and was free flying around campus when she landed on his head.

She also landed one one of the horses the week before, luckily he didn't seem it mind!

Overwhelmed

I am SO ready for Christmas; 13 sleeps until I jump on that plane.

Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of exams we have this week and then it happens all again for Finals before Christmas. Other people seem so organised and on top of the subjects, I've tried revising for the last few hours but just ended up staring at a screen not actually taking any information in so now even more behind.

Genetics seems impossible just from the way it's taught (or not taught) and the fact that the final is an oral exam means your grade can depend on how he's feeling on the day.

There are stories going round that he will fail you before Christmas on the principle that you've not had enough time to revise, that he always fails 1/3 of the class on principle, that he'll grill you for an hour and a half and still fail you by 1%, that he'll fail you if he's had a bad day. 

13 sleeps.

Physiology of Birds

We've just had a class on the Physiology of Birds, starting with a lecture on their anatomy and physiology followed by a practical.

First we took blood, either from the Brachial or Ulnar vein of the wing or the Medial Metatarsal vein which runs on the inner leg just above the hock.

They hold the birds differently over here than we do in the UK, by also restraining wings which I wasn't overly comfortable with but that's how we had to do it - Antonia and I put a tube down her esophagus and syringed a starch solution directly into the chickens crop:

After 20 minutes she was humanely euthanised by the vet technicians and we carried out a full dissection to look at the anatomy and physiology.

Samples were taken from each part of the digestive tract from the esophagus, grop, gizzard all the way through the small intestines to the cloaca; these were put into test tubes and incubated with a solution which changes colour depending on the presence of starch. The same was done with a solution which reacts with glucose so we were able to see exactly where starch is digested and were glucose is present in the digestive system.

I did the dissection and I found it really interesting as I've eviscerated lots of birds before and known what the major organs etc were but I'd not realised where the pancreas was before (in the duodenal loop) or seen the proventriculus just above the gizzard; I also learnt the yellow lining of the gizzard has a name, the koilin.

Cytogenetics; Mouse Bone Marrow

We had a Genetics practical today in which we undertook chromosomal analysis, or Cytogenetics.

During Metaphase the chromosomes can be seen under the microscope and the number, shape and size of chromosomes  is different for each species.

The sides we were looking at were those we prepared earlier in the semester, using bone marrow samples we extracted ourselves from the femur of a mouse.

Under the microscope the chromosomes can clearly be seen in metaphase:

Pretty cool...

We counted the number of chromosomes in each set and looked for breakage in the arms. In 'real life' they do it to map genes, look for mutations in genes, inherited diseases and tumours. 

It took us about half an hour to find and count 5 sets but the veterinary genetics technicians said they can get though 500 sets from one animal per day!

Busy couple of weeks

It's been a bit hectic here and was really grumpy and bogged down last week.
We had 3 credit tests last week, 4 this week, 3 or 4 next week and then it's the end of term so have Final Exams to start before Christmas!

Last week was Anatomy, Latin and Histology 2 this week we have Histology 3, Slovak, Anatomy and Physiology - next week is the massive Genetics test, Anatomy and then probably retakes of Histology 3 and Latin.

The weekend before last I didn't leave the house all weekend apart from going to feed Clarence and was bored out of my brains being stuck in dorms so I was grumpy last week but then we had
Matriculation Ball on Friday which was really good; this weekend we just went into town, went to Tesco and hung out with people so felt like we actually did something with the weekend.

The Christmas light switch on is this Friday so I think we're all going to that, followed by a Christmas jumper party which should be good.

One decent thing we had was a Milk Hygiene practical testing loads of different types of cheeses.

Next week is milk powders, condensed milk and ice cream!