Lions, and Tigers, and Macropods...Oh my.

So, I am finally returning this blog back to veterinary school, where it's supposed to be. Christmas break was a marvelous and much needed respite, but now that I'm here, I'm really happy to be back. Our first week of second semester went well, and I'm feeling optimistic. I don't think this semester's going to be any easier than the last one, but I feel like I'm coming into this one with a better understanding of what to expect and without having to deal with all the transition stuff that inevitably went along with the first semester. Plus, a lot of the classes this semester just seem more interesting, which is exciting.

Before it gets shoved too far behind more recent events, I wanted to write a little about the exotics conference I went to last weekend. I drove back to Blacksburg a few days early so that 13 of us could leave bright and earlyto drive all the way to Columbia, MO in two mini vans. The conference was held at the veterinary school at the University of Missouri, and covered a wide range of topics about exotic animal veterinary medicine. An exotic animal is basically anything that is not a cat, dog, or common domestic farm animal. So while there were plenty of lectures about the so-called "pocket pets" (hamsters, gerbils, parakeets, and the less threatening of the common reptiles), I was most excited about the wide variety of lectures about wildlife and zoo animal medicine, topics that Virginia-Maryland's vet school curriculum is sorely lacking. Anyway, both the conference itself and getting to and from Missouri were very interesting experiences. Here are a few of the things that I learned over the course of the trip:

• It takes 12 hours (plus extra for meals, pit stops, speeding tickets, and black ice) to drive from Blacksburg, VA to Columbia, MO. The trip takes you into 6 different states, through one time zone change, and through such exotic locales as Louisville, KY and St. Louis, MO.
• While it was entertaining, I do not have particularly good aim with a blow dart gun and probably need a lot more practice before I try to dart anything alive.
• When concentrating to pump up a foot operated air pistol to the appropriate pressure, it's probably a good idea to pay attention to where you are pointing the loaded pistol. If you're swinging it around wildly towards random people in the room (inadvertently, of course), it makes the instructors nervous.
• If I'm interested in having a residency at a zoo pretty soon after I graduate, I probably should have applied about a year before I even knew that I had gotten into vet school.
• It is legal to keep large cats as pets in the United States as long as you have a permit, and it is extremely easy to purchase, say, a cougar kitten off the Internet. I think this is ridiculous and needs to stop, but it also means that these large cats need veterinary care (and thus, interested veterinarians!).
• A macropod is a large-footed marsupial (a wallaby or a kangaroo).
• Female kangaroos have a grand total of 3 vaginas. Yep, 3. And 2 uteri (uteruses? Guess not...spell check says so.). A single female can support three young at one time (one fetus, one very tiny joey that has just been born and entered her pouch, and one older joey that still returns to the pouch to nurse).
• The trend towards obesity that we see in humans and pets is also beginning to be a problem in zoo animals.
• When one of your mini vans (thankfully, not the one I was in) does a complete spin out at night on black ice and stops just off of the highway facing the wrong direction, this causes other drivers to freak out. Then they, in turn, have their own spectacular spin outs off of the highway. This greatly delays your trip, especially when one of your members feels the need to go console the other driver, who is slightly hysterical. Good news is no one was hurt.

Anyway, needless to say, the trip (especially the return trip) was quite an eventful way to start off the semester. I really enjoyed the conference itself. It was interesting to meet people (including members of my own class whom I didn't know very well) that share an interest in exotics. It was also really cool to be around so many actual zoo veterinarians. They are living proof that it's possibly to pursue zoo veterinary medicine as a career. Greater yet, there were doctors who had practices that allowed them to treat both small animals (something I'm also very interested in) and exotics. So probably the greatest thing I learned was that if this is something I really am passionate about, it's not totally impossible. The trick now is figuring out for myself exactly how much I want to make wildlife and/or zoo animal medicine a part of my career.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Disney life for me!

My parents and I returned a couple days ago from our trip to Disney World. I had such a wonderful time, although we started every day early and often fell into bed exhausted at night. Only at Disney World could you find me eagerly hopping out of bed at 6 in the morning on a daily basis.

I've been going to Disney World every couple of years since I was 3. We have videos of several of those trips, and it's really interesting to see how the parks have changed, which has been quite drastic in some instances, but also how some little corners of the parks have essentially remained the same since my first trip in 1989. Even more interesting is how my family's trips and experiences have changed over the years. My family is clearly now out of the key Disney demographic, and although I experience the parks differently, I don't think I enjoy it any less than when I was 7 or 10.

When I was younger, Disney World trips were a rare, nearly mythical occurrence that happened every 3 years (3 years! That's like an eternity when you're 7...). I had vague memories of previous trips, or what I could see of the parks in videos my dad had taken, but the trips were essentially full of the new: seeing places and riding rides that I had never been on before or that only hazily existed in my subconscious.

Ever since my last trip with my family, which happened in the middle of undergrad, I've noticed a small change. I don't know whether its because I'm older or because I've been on who knows how many trips to Disney World now, but the parks have taken on a sense of comfortable familiarity. So, even though it's been three years since I was last there, I find myself surprised at how much I remember about little specific places or certain attractions. The Disney parks are constantly evolving, probably even more so than most theme parks, so there are always plenty of new things to see after 3 years. But now, I was actually surprised to realize, instead of "the new" defining the trip, it's become more about reliving old, now comfortable, experiences. I don't know if it was because my brother wasn't there, or if I was simply more perceptive this time, but there was much reminiscing that happened on this trip. I tend to be a nostalgic person anyway, and at this point in my family's life, Disney just lends itself towards loads of nostalgia. Instead of finding this disappointing, I really enjoyed it. It's what caused me to tear up when watching the Fireworks at Magic Kingdom or the Fantasmic show (a show that hasn't changed, as far as I can tell, since 1998, but is still completely amazing...how is that?) at Hollywood Studios. It's what makes me smile when overhearing a child exulting over one of my favorite rides that he's just ridden for the first time. It's what, probably to my parents chagrin, still makes me what to stand in lines to get my picture taken with people dressed up as my favorite characters (thankfully, I'm not the only person my age who does this, so I'm not completely insane). I also have a feeling that it's what allows us to continue riding "It's a Small World" while maintaining our sanity.

Not to say that there wasn't plenty of "new" on this trip as well. Staying for the first time in the Animal Kingdom Lodge was amazing, and my only regret was that we didn't have more time to spend at the hotel.

There were also plenty of new rides and attractions to see, all of which were as impressive as I have come to expect from Disney. The most interesting experience was seeing the revamp of Spaceship Earth in Epcot. Spaceship Earth, along with the American Adventure show, is my dad's absolute favorite attraction, and one that always had held more nostalgia for him than anything else. It's undergone some little changes over the years, but this one was the biggest change we've seen. I thought it was great...it kept all of the spirit of the old ride while changing it and updating it enough to keep things interesting. Thankfully my dad liked it too (we rode it 3 times...), so the best news was that we didn't have to go home with a heartbroken Dad on our hands.

Another big surprise was getting to see Cinderella's Castle in it's Christmas lights. We were wandering around Main Street USA, waiting for the parade and fireworks to start and enjoying the shops there, when I suddenly turned to the castle again to find it lit up like this:

This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but it was gorgeous. Leave it to Disney to somehow find a way to make the castle even more beautiful.

Anyway, knowing me I could probably go on and on about Disney World longer than anyone wants to listen to. I really, really love the place. If at some point in my life I have a family and kids, I am so excited about getting to share it with them and reliving the new all over again.