Family and Studying (Thursday/Friday)

Where did I last leave you? Ah, Wednesday right? It's been a busy week of course, and, on top of it all, I had a test on Friday. A test! So, I assumed it was going to be crazy difficult and studied all the intricacies of the lymphatic, reproductive, and nervous systems during almost all of my free time. I studied so much, it made me late for my exam. Then I took the stupid thing and it was really easy! Although I'm super afraid I over-thought some of my answers. But whatever, that's the end of my nerdy little rant.

On Thursday I met my only family still here! They're my first cousins- one is once removed and the other is second removed. I think that's how you do it. Anyways, they were very nice and interesting! They took me for Smørrebrød, which is this super popular Danish dish that consists of rye bread with various toppings (usually some sort of meat and sauce and lard). I played it safe and got a roast beef one (it had the lard/butter and the meat of course, with pickles and what tasted like cucumber juice, and this interesting, but really good mustard tasting stuff with straight up peeled horseradish on top). I learned that I do not like straight horseradish (never do that to yourself), but the meat was delectable! It was really nicely cured, and I particularly liked the slight cucumber flavor. My newly acquainted family and I then strolled around the area, and they pointed out important buildings and taught me some history. They later treated me to coffee, and we sat outside and enjoyed the unusually warm and sunny day. It was really, really nice. I stayed there with them until I had to go to class. In class, we learned about the nervous system, then had a lab on vision, which isn't really my thing but it was still interesting. Oh! And I also learned about Danish medical school. They apparently go straight from high school to medical school here. Isn't that crazy? It's an eight year program, so it takes just as long as getting a bachelors then going to medical school in the US. Also, general practitioners have the longest residency and get paid the most here (which is the complete opposite of the US. To me, the Danish model for GPs makes more sense because they have to know everything).

On Friday I had to wake up at like 7 to go to a CPR, IV, suture and catheter lab! It was really cool- current Danish medical school students taught us how to do everything then let us try it all out on dummies and things. I think my favorite of the four was the suturing. In a weird way, it was kind of relaxing. After that, we had a couple hours break before our test, in which I studied like a maniac. I really stressed myself out over it all. As you know, I ended up a little late for the exam (I couldn't for the life of me find the building it was in), and as a result had to rush through it to finish on time. Our course assistant came by and gave us Danishes and coffee and tea after the test, which was really sweet of her. I randomly grabbed one and discovered upon taking a bite that it contained a rhubarb filling. I love rhubarb in my desserts, and I've never had one in a Danish! It was good. After the break, we had a two hour lecture on oncology, which was probably one of the top lectures of the week. After class, I decided to wander around to try and get my barrings- I was frustrated after getting lost for the thousandth time. This unfortunately didn't help (I actually got really lost), but I took like two pictures (that's an accomplishment for me!)! Below is one of them.

The picture is of Copenhagen's former stock exchange (Børsen). It was built in the late 16th century, early 17th century. The spire is made of the tails of a few dragons (you can see the rest of them if you get a little closer to the building).