Day 26 - Test

So today wasn't that bad, the only things I have to complain about are the test and the train situation for tomorrow. Let me start from the beginning. I started out class with physiology and figuring out the mechanisms of breathing and what's required to actually make the whole gas exchange thing happen. It was pretty cool, and though we didn't do the experiment about breathing out as much as we can, then even more, our professor brought in a blood pressure cuff for us to play with since we were just learning about how blood pressure works and what the numbers even mean. In actuality, the blood pressure that we record is not the pressure of the heart. It would be too low because the ventricles go down to about 5 mmHg after they empty out the blood. If our vessels went down that low, the blood would just be sucked backwards because there's not enough pressure to push the blood through the entire body. Luckily the Aorta is sorta elastic and when the valve closes and blocks blood from going back into the ventricle, the Aorta squeezes the blood forward so the pressure doesn't get too low. And that's how we get the lower number of our blood pressure reading. Anyway, we all tried it out, and there was one who just kept getting more stressed and pushing her BP up because her BP was too high. So she got more stressed and tried again, which pushed up her BP, and that kept happening until we gently pulled her away from the device. By the time she stopped, she was practically hyperventilating because her BP was almost at "alert someone" level because she was just so stressed out.

After Physiology, we had a free period where most of us frantically studied for our test in the following period. I did that too, but then I sat back and drank mint tea while listening to my new musical obsession (music from the musical Jekyll and Hyde) and doodled to calm myself down before the test. Just before the test, we found out that our plan to get group tickets for a cheaper price had fallen through. The train company didn't email us after their initial email about a week ago and when we emailed them asking about the tickets, they sent back that it's not possible. Unfortunately that means that we're getting tickets at an even higher price than they would have been if we had bought them a week ago. That's not going to stop us from going to Amsterdam though, so tomorrow I will be in the Netherlands, experiencing another culture. Then came the test. Our teacher brought us gummy bears for us to eat during the test and handed it out. I'm glad I studied as much as I did because although I knew everything that was on the test and I am very confident with my performance, I know that most of it was because it was really fresh. At the end of the test, we all talked about it like the students we are and the more people talked, the more secure I became. Needless to say, I'm not concerned about that class anymore.

We went out to lunch, and though we were craving pasta, we couldn't find the cheap but good Italian place our teacher had recommended, so we settled for sushi. When we got back, we had a talk with one of Wasser's good friends about the ethics of our profession, focusing in on embryonic stem cell research when he needed examples. What he was saying was really interesting, but the lights were out and his voice was so monotone that when I looked around, everyone was fighting to stay awake. Every once in a while, people fidgeted to try and stay awake, but it was hard going. Personally, I resorted to playing with my hair, putting it up into a bun held up by pencils or trying to braid my hair starting on my forehead at one side and swooping around my neck to end on the opposite shoulder. What he was saying was really interesting though, mostly talking about the hard choice of doing nothing and letting a lot of people die, or choosing to do something and having less people die because of that action, but saving all the others.

Just when we were all stretching after the talk was over, our TA got up and started preparing for his review over physiology. I started to make tea so I could pay attention better, and while I was in our kitchenette, two or three people came up and thanked me for playing with my hair because it allowed them to focus on something and stay awake. Considering I was in the front, I'm glad to know that I wasn't a distraction and helped people to focus in on the lecture. Anyway, our review started and we went over the cardiovascular system and the most important info was drilled into our heads again. Finally, we were done with school so we all sat down and started in on the homework due Monday. Hey, no one wants to do stuff on Amsterdam weekend!

 Johanna loves her tulips

 Doing selfie's old school...with a camera. I'm amazed this came out so well.

Just hanging out after all our lectures

Soon after I went home and worked on...you guessed it, more homework! It's amazing how much time is devoted to doing our schoolwork while I'm here in Germany, but I guess it is still school and we need to learn stuff. Unfortunately, I've decided not to bring my computer to Amsterdam, so there will either be no updates until Sunday/Monday (depending on how tired I am after the trip home) or I will upload from my phone and not have any pictures. Since I like working from the computer better, I'd bet on the former option. Now off to finish some more homework due Monday so I don't stress over the weekend.

'Till next time,
Erin Z