[Class edition]

It’s almost exam time again! 

-Stress level sky-rocketing-
{good luck ♥ to everyone else with exams too!}

I can’t wait for Winter Break to come; honestly, this semester has probably been my most exhausting semester yet.  Sadly, I was hoping to plan my next semester to be very light, but some how more and more classes piled up and now I’m probably having my heaviest semester yet, as far as credits are concerned.  I’m just really excited to finish up this semester though.  Which means I should probably be studying soon.

I’ve been taking biochemistry this semester, the class I’ve been dreading for so long, but turns out, the class is absolutely fascinating, though definitely challenging.  One thing I appreciate about it is how it substantiates our reasons for learning some things.  (For example, I always hated glycolysis for all its intricate steps and details I felt were fairly unnecessary, but I neglected to realize things like how it can be useful in cancer detection because of the higher rates of glycolysis/glucose consumption prior to angiogenesis in cancer cells due to the lack of oxygen/lower efficiency…[I'm probably oversimplifying it :] but now I don’t feel like learning glycolysis is a waste of time!  Though it is still kind of grueling…).

I’m also taking a biophysics-y class, which is interesting but not as exciting as I was expecting…it probably would have been a nice class to take prior to my MCAT since it pretty much has been reviewing all those physics concepts; but I think my main issue with it is how simplified our models end up being.  So it seems like physics under the disguise of life-applications (like walking or falling), and not actually biophysics.  Maybe I’m being nit-picky.  But I guess it is hard not to oversimplify things…otherwise we might need computers to calculate everything for us.  o____o. 
An interesting thing that one of our models suggested was that bugs/fairly small organisms can fall from any height and survive the fall!!  I might elaborate on this later.  =)

One of my for-fun classes this semester has been Greek mythology…which has been quite interesting, albeit much more sexual than I was expecting.

{Quote from my professor regarding Odysseus & Circe: “He threatened her with his sword…and then threatened her with his other sword“…–> awkward laughter in class.  I’m not used to having older women talk about raunchy things, which are rampant in mythology, or perhaps I’m too conservative/awkward in mindset?  }

Definitely am enjoying it though.  In class we started watching The Road Warrior, today…it is so strange.  Somehow we’re supposed to relate it to a specific myth.  Its weirdness is hard to look past though. O_O (!)

As a side note, I’m going to be in Europe this winter! I’m going to start off in Madrid with my sister (3 days) and then later Lyon (3 days also).  The other days we will be with the rest of our family in Switzerland briefly and then Italy.  I’m pretty excited about that.  (Any recommendations??)

I’m hoping to be there also during the summer…I’m trying to figure out what to do for the study abroad program.  I’m leaning towards Greece or Italy, though I’ll be in Italy this winter, and I have already been to Greece.  But those places are so rich that I honestly think it would be great to stay there longer.

I am really excited about my classes this semester!  I have:

• Latin I (which I am taking for fun!)
• Organic Chem I (which sounds like it might be manageable; if I get over an 81% then I’ll have an A!)
• Physiology!!
• Some class about Australia
• Labs (boo! ) for the two science courses

I used to think I’d like labs because they are hands on, as opposed to
classes where everything is more abstract/theoretical.  But labs here
are such a pain in the ass because of the reports we have to write
afterward.  So tedious.  Not to mention the writers of the lab manuals
are often vague & unclear.  (complain complain)

(Brother + pizza)

Pizza in Peru was pretty good.  The cheese there is a lot fresher than it is here in the States.  I feel like our cheese here often tastes over processed and kind of artificial/rubbery (at pizza places anyways).  But cheese is cheese, and is generally fantastic. 

The pizza in Peru for the most part seemed to be baked over the wooden plates in ovens too.  A lot of restaurants would even have the oven right in view!  Food there as a whole seemed pretty fresh and made from scratch–not pre-prepared & just heated like food here is.  Hence, a lot of times it took forever for food to come out.

&

Ruins near Pisac; family walking–as a general rule I am slow and walk last .  Yay, action shot.  It was our first stop at some ruins+terraces.  However, it started raining on us on our way back, and the rain was FREEZING.  Only Mom was smart enough to bring her rain jacket on that excursion, so everyone else was soaked by the time we returned to our van.  Our van driver was named Nacho.  Teehee.  He was really nice, but spoke very little English, so it was pretty much up to me and my sister to communicate with him. 

One thing I found interesting about Peru, versus other countries I’ve visited that have a lot of tourists, was that many of the people even in high-tourists areas didn’t speak English.  I think that is good, because it really is more respectful for a visitor to try to understand the customs and ways of the host.  & it is their responsibilty since they are the ones traveling anyways.  It is kind of pompous to expect others to know another language for ones own convenience.  But it was also fun trying to make use of the Spanish I learned in high school.  Sadly because of the time that has elapsed since HS, I’ve forgotten a lot of my Spanish (though I suspect my Spanish is stronger than my Chinese, in writing and reading anyways, though listening comprehension I think Chinese still wins).

Ruins @ Ollantaytambo; we lived at Ollantaytambo first because it had a slightly lower elevation than Cusco (help us adjust to the high altitude).  It was also nice because Ollantaytambo was slightly less touristy than Cusco.  Sure, it had a lot of vendors, but it was more in the countryside.  Our first night there, there was no electricity.  At first, Dad thought that the people were just that thrifty with power, or something.  But then we noticed on our way in that someone had hit a powerline, hence the lack of electricity.  That left the town extremely dark, expect a few candles glowing from windows and rooms. 

But the night sky, it was so brilliant!  I had never seen so many stars in the sky before, not even when we went camping in Yosemite & were literally stuck in the wilderness.  The beauty of the night sky was almost enough to make me want to forget the US and just stay there forever. 

However, electricity was back the next day (though I can’t complain because then there was less risk of tripping everywhere in the dark!).

It was nice in Ollantaytambo.  I got to watch mobs of school children in tidy uniforms (young men were even wearing ties!) file on towards class.  My mom liked watching them buy candies before class (even ones that were tardy ).  So cute!

Flowers floating @ hostal in Cusco

---

More later; I’ve been feeling unwell lately, so I’ve been drinking and resting a lot!  I might try to get ahead with my school work.

Psh! !