My hair smells like embalming fluid...

Yes, everywhere I go the lovely stench of dissected flesh wafts behind me on the breeze. (It happens when you spend 3 hours a day in a cadaver lab...) I finally figured out how to get the smell off my hands by double gloving and washing up to my elbows multiple times after lab- but no amount of shampooing had fully gotten it out of my hair! Yuck.

I have to admit though, its totally worth it! The human body is so amazing- and ten times more so when you get to see every little piece up close and in person. It seems like we should be grossed out every second, but its really not that bad. In fact, its rather fun! The hours fly by and I always get a twinge of disappointment when class is over. (Which is usually right when I have finally cut down to the really interesting stuff!) We are in half of a giant lab full of bodies, (like 30) and the other half of the room is a Head and Neck Surgery class. I keep overhearing the instructions from their professor, and it sounds like what they get to do is way awesome! I could go on in a vividly descriptive manner- but I don't want to gross anyone out. haha

Classes are hard. Not that the information is all that difficult to grasp- most of it so far is pretty familiar. But the VOLUME! It feels like I've gone through a couple of weeks and its only been 3 days. Hours and hours of studying already.... but I really am loving it. :) We've gotten pretty close as a class, and today in anatomy a couple of girls remembered it was my birthday so I had to stand up and everyone sang to me! It was nice. :)

Iowa gets weirder the longer I am here. In addition to freakishly nice people, we had a tornado warning the first week I was here, crazy thunderstorms nearly every night since, and oh- gas is MORE expensive for regular than premium. Something having to do with ethanol content. How weird is that??

Okay, I swear I will post pictures soon!! I took my camera to campus one day, but forgot I had taken the memory card out. :( I guess my brain is slightly occupied!

I have arrived!

Today was orientation to PA school - aka, an opportunity to practice not hyperventilating and passing out in public when given thoroughly overwhelming information! This summer is going to be tough. REALLY TOUGH. Lets just say I'm wishing I had left all my "fun books" at home (since I wont get a chance to even crack them open) and saved the room in my car for something really useful. Like a coffin for my social life. haha.

In all seriousness though, I am really excited! I have my new fancy hospital access card that makes me feel all official, and I cant wait to start learning interesting things that I actually want to keep in my head after the final is over... :)

Iowa is gorgeous. Green and lush and just plain beautiful! I feel like I live in a park. The humidity is obvious to me already, and from what I hear, this is nothing compared to August! I have yet to see the lightening bugs that everyone talks about, but its still too cold I think. I did see two fluffy little bunnies in my backyard though. Right in the middle of the city- crazy! But since the whole place looks more like some type of fairytale forest than skyscraper land, I dont blame the bunnies for getting confused.

The people here are extremely friendly- almost to the point of making me wonder if there is anything funny in the water... I bought my bed from a lady through craigs list, and ten minutes after I met her she said "well now you have a contact in Iowa, feel free to call me if you ever need anything!" And when I got lost on campus and asked a guy for directions, even though he didn't know where my building was, he still helped me out- he pulled out his smart phone, Googled the address, used his GPS to find the best route to the building, and then led me there! Who does that? Apparently super friendly Iowans do. :)

I live super close to the school, and most of the time I can just walk to class. On rainy days, though, get to park at the LDS institute for free! (parking in Iowa City is a monster, so this saves me a ton of cash and hassle) The singles branch seems pretty awesome so far, and they have been extremely helpful in getting me moved in and oriented to the city. Lots of Church history around here, and I'm excited to discover it! I got lost the other day and somehow ended up at a place called Mormon Handcart Park, which I think is one of the major campsites of the pioneers. There is also a Mormon Trek Blvd, which follows their path out of the city. And of course Nauvoo, IL close by.

Well thats about it. Not too much excitement yet- though I have learned a few interesting things in the last few days:

*Do not attempt to curl your hair on a rainy day. Seriously- dont even try. I dont care how many bottles of gel you just put in it. Its pointless. Give up.

*Wyoming was such a boring drive, my car almost fell asleep.

* Do not attempt to disagree with a Hawkeye fan on the subject of University of Iowa's obvious supremacy. You were wrong before you opened your mouth

:)