Primary visual cortex and some good old beer in a tube

Hi! :)
It's been an extremely busy month. November has zoomed by so fast I don't know where on earth it went. The forest has now done its transformation into solid copper, and in today's wind we're getting leaves blowing everywhere. For the past two weeks it's been raining almost constantly with fog and about 8 degrees. From today, however, temperatures are supposed to plummet and we're supposed to get some snow tomorrow!!

After my sisters visited at the beginning of the month, it's been pretty much all school work here. The bad weather hasn't let me do much outside, but that might be a good thing seeing all the studying I have to do. We finished our module on the immune system and infections, and have now moved on to neuroscience, the study of the nervous system (aka BRAIN). It's been really interesting so far-- the anatomy of the head is complicated and complex, but I find it pretty fascinating all the same how evolution has come up with some pretty intricate ways for us to function the way we do. This week it's all focus on the eye and its connection with the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe of the brain. It's quite an impressive system and it's fun to learn, even though I'm getting that fun panicky feeling telling me I (once again) am about a month and a half away from exams (they're in January).

Diagram of the general anatomy of the brain I'm quite proud of :) 

The month's been pretty regular otherwise....
- Every Monday I'm still striving my way through an intense 1h30mins of discofit, which is proving to be an amazing workout-- I'm always completely dead after, but it's great as Mondays are not my favorite day and a bit of physical activity brightens the day significantly.
- My newest food discovery (or obsession) is COTTAGE CHEESE. The stuff is soooo good and I can eat it with almost anything-- just as good on bread as it is in a spinach and salmon pasta sauce.
- I went out for a friends birthday last night and we went to the bar "Les Brasseurs" at Flon, which is great for both food and for their highly recommended beer (We were told by the waiter that the "Ambree" beer had gotten an award at an international beer convention this year... :P ). They serve beer in really big "tubes" put on the table, and you order 3 or 5 litre ones-- and there's plenty to share for everyone. Highly recommended if anyone's ever visiting Lausanne :).
http://www.les-brasseurs.ch/f/lausanne/index.htm 
And fun fact since we're talking about the brain: Which part of the brain gets intoxicated by alcohol consumption? The cerebellum (also called the "little brain") situated at the back of the head. It's involved in coordination of movement and speech. Hence the not walking in a straight line and being unable to pronounce the word acrocephalosyndactyly (early closure of the sutures between the bones of the skull).


It's coming into Christmas and advent season, and I'm starting to get really excited to see my family. You don't really realize you miss them until you've been away for a while- and I'd say 3 months is a good while.

Things I miss most about home right now:
- Food.. and someone else making dinner!
- Dishwasher.
- Access to a washing machine more than once every THREE weeks.
- The Saturday nights in front of the TV with candy and chocolate and the family just chilling around watching some random movie or show.
- My dog <3 I didn't realize I would miss taking her out after studying or her just sleeping next to me and snoring loudly so I can't concentrate when studying.

Christmas lights have come up in town now too, and I'm finally giving in to looking at them (normally I don't accept Christmas arriving before December)-- and there are little stalls serving hot wine popping up and I think December is going to be really nice here. I am proud of myself as I am trying to hold onto some advent traditions from home-- I have bought advent candles and I plan on lighting one every Sunday like we do at home.. otherwise I miss my little Christmas tree that I normally put up in my room.. but I guess I wouldn't really have anywhere to put it here. I'll just have to wait till I get home.

So there's a little update from me, hope everyone's having a good week! I'm going back to studying and some lunch. Hoping for some snow tomorrow- promise I will take pictures if that happens! Bisous x

Photo blog: November- when the forest turns to gold

November: Late fall in the Sauvabelin woods <3 

 

 

 

I guess I couldn't resist doing one last autumn post before winter steps in- hope you liked the pictures :) 

A trip to England, chili con carne, and pumpkin-scones

Lausanne has decided that it wants to skip past the "late autumn" stage, and produced 10cm of SNOW last weekend. It has officially turned freezing as well- I've gotten out all my winter coats and scarves and boots and gloves, because the wind in the morning when I wait for the bus sends shivers to my very core when I'm a little tired and have just gotten out of my warm snuggly duvet.

I, however, missed the snow-- all I got was the patches that were still left on Monday. I went to Bath in England last Wednesday and stayed for five days visiting my boyfriend and seeing one of my very awesome old high school girlfriends. Here is some of what I got around to and some fun observations I made, not about the Swiss this time, but about the English ;)

- The English drive on the left (wrong) side of the road, which is really scary when in an airport bus driving super fast through the winding roads leading into Bristol city (I flew in to Bristol international), where I had to find a train. Roundabouts are especially nerve-racking, I had no idea where cars were supposed to be coming from or going to or which way round we were going and I was at the edge of my seat for the entirety of the 30 minutes I was on the bus, terrified we were going to hit oncoming traffic as we were on the wrong side of the road.

- There are really funny "walk left" signs on the staircases at the train stations-- all the stairs are divided in the middle and people are encouraged to walk on the "correct"-- but again wrong -- side of the staircase. I didn't notice the first time and was promptly almost trampled by an oncoming horde of business-clad people on their way to work.

- I had a HUGE Harry Potter inspired moment on the train to Bath. Behind me sat about six school children, all dressed in uniforms (very Harry Potter, just no robes..), and then came the "Trolley lady", with a big trolley rolling down the aisle asking if anyone wanted tea or biscuits which were for sale. When a girl asked for a "strawberry pasty", I couldn't help but smile. Anyone who has seen or read  "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" will know what I am talking about.

- Thursday night I went with my boyfriend to the Spa (Bath is famous for its hot springs and the Roman baths that are there). It was a really cold night, and the rooftop pool in the dark with lights from the city was really beautiful, especially when enjoyed from really nice warm water! We had a dinner package included and had a fabulous time eating great food in our white bathrobes in the Spa restaurant.

-  Friday I spent with my friend from school as my boyfriend had classes. We went a little nuts in all the stores, and she knew exactly where to take me-- including where to eat. We had coffee at cafe Nero, hot-dogs at the "sausage factory" stand, and incredibly English afternoon tea at "Sally Lunn's" which is famous for its special bun. We also went to a fudge shop. I don't think I have to say more about that. I mean fudge- everywhere. yum. At night we went for dinner at "Brown's"- really good restaurant with great food, before we went out to a bar and nightclub for the night with some of my boyfriend's friends- definitely a good night!

As always I'm having difficulties placing the pictures- but yes, it was a fabulous day.

- Saturday the weather was beautiful (but cold), and so we went and played mini-golf! Very fun- and combined with "Shakeaway" milkshakes containing Daim chocolate and Maltesers, the day was pretty much complete.

- Sunday was rainy and so we stayed in and baked cinnamon rolls. Also yum.

I really didn't want to leave on Monday.. but reality calls and I remember that I am studying medicine and that I have a ton of reading and studying to do, as well as having missed a couple of classes that I needed to catch up-- but oh so worth it to take an autumn trip to clear my head! New motivation found!

This week has therefore been a lot of catching up and studying, as well as curing a rather insistent cold. The cold weather is inspiring though- and I have put some effort into cooking this week- autumn food in the spirit of Halloween :)

1. Chili con carne
http://southernfood.about.com/od/groundbeefchili/r/bl50812k.htm

This recipe was absolutely delicious, and I made the whole recipe which meant I had food for pretty much an entire week ;) Here served with sour cream and cheese with boiled potatoes. I also had it with fresh bread-- the dish is great because it goes with about anything and tastes great on a cold rainy night.

2. My pasta-tuna-pesto dish (from my little "student recipes" book):

- 400g pasta

- 1 glass of pesto

- 1 tomato

- 100g grated cheese

- 1 box of canned tuna

Boil the pasta, and mix tuna, chopped up tomato, a bit of the cheese and pesto in a heat-resistant pan. When the pasta's done, mix it in with the "sauce", and spread the rest of the cheese on top. Put the oven on grill and leave the dish in until the cheese has a nice golden color. Voila! So good-- I've made this several times, it's great because it makes me two dinners and a lunch when I make it.

3. Halloween = pumpkins, so I made pumpkin scones!

http://www.dinmat.no/Finn-oppskrifter/Oppskrifter/Br%C3%B8d,-bakst-og-kaker/Bakst/Bakst-uten-gj%C3%A6r/Gresskarscones (for Norwegian-speakers.. or copy and paste into google translate ;) ) 

So happy November everybody, I've been in Switzerland for 8 weeks, and next weekend my sisters are coming down for a visit- can't wait! It's been a while without my family around now- 7 weeks until Christmas! 

Bisous xx Therese

ps. please comment if you try the scones and you get them to be less.. flat... mine were a little pancake-y (at least the first batch-- the second I added more flower), so I'll probably use less milk than the recipe says next time ;)