anatomy dissection morgue?

May 28, 2008: My first day of Gross Anatomy. We began the day by taking a pre-test, which will potentially be similar to the eventual final exam. Dr. Smith just wanted to see what we already knew. After this grueling 100 question exam that really made me second guess my decision to go to grad. school, it was off to the Anatomy lab...

I knew going into this thing we were going to dissect cadavers, but I did not know what to expect. As the 150 or so students started making their way down to the lab, it was dead quiet (no pun intended) going down the stair well to the basement. I was simply following the crowd when I looked up and saw a sign "Anatomy Morgue Dissection Lab" pointing straight ahead. Now, did they really have to encompass the word "Morgue" on this sign? If I their was anything calm within me at this point, it was then gone.

I went by the list of what "tank" I would be at and my name was not on the list. The closest thing to my name was Brenda Simpson. After much debate, I decided I would to go to this tank and see if one of my relatives was there. And if not, I would know the teacher had miswritten my name? I waited until the last possible minute, put my latex gloves on and walked into the "morgue."

As I made my way to tank 17, The smell of alcohol and formaldehyde filled my nostrils. The room seemed a bit hazy and was freezing cold. Once again, the room was silent, until Dr. Smith started giving instructions on how to raise the body up from the cow trough like metal tank, without getting splashed. As we opened the top, raised the body, and removed the covering from our cadaver, several students around the room passed out from the sight (my group took it like champs).

Finally, when the initial shock ceased, we took care of some sanitary precautions and learned how to treat our cadaver with the utmost respect. As we were getting ready to leave, our teacher made one final announcement to the class:

"Good luck not having a dream about your cadaver tonight!"

church shopping

I have found myself in another new city, which means finding a new church, friends, and your way around town. It's not hard to find a church in Lubbock, Tx, but to find one to be a part of is. Ever since I have been back from Ct, it has been hard to go back to church, not because central pub was the best, but because we were a group of sinners trying to love Jesus and I felt like everyone was real! I visited a new church this morning. Ironically the pastor of this church plant here in Lubbock discussed the vision of the church. He dreamed of going over seas or to the north somewhere to start this church, but then decided there was plenty of people to reach in Lubbock. The main vision of this church called "Experience Life" is to reach those who have either been hurt by the church or haven't had a good experience in church. They meet at a skating rink because they would rather send money to the homeless than build a church and they do service projects monthly. I really liked the vision they have and the passion of the pastor. I believe this will be a place I will definitely visit again.

Then, Adriene and I visited a more traditional church on the second half of our two-a-days. It was cool too, but definitely different than the first we visited. The people weren't very welcoming (except for the 6 or so Adriene randomly new). But it was a large church and it didn't seem like many people new each other.

I haven't been to a church yet where God split open the sky and said, "you should worship here!" but I will keep looking...it's bound to happen