You know you're a 2nd year medical student when....

you are robbed late on a Saturday night while studying at a 24 hr Starbucks, and, once the initial upset wears off, you realize how thankful you are that at least the perpetrator did not take your notes or board review books.

Courtney enjoying her dinner
and my tasty caldos

Last night I headed to Xoco for a Mexican meal in celebration of my older sister's (Courtney) birthday.   The Seafood Caldos I ordered for dinner was wonderful as was the Aztec hot chocolate (they roast their own coco beans in the shop) I enjoyed for dessert, plus free fresh churros.  Despite my attendance at baseball games every summer and my love of towny fairs, I had never had a churro until last night.  All around a lovely evening with some of the 3rd year medicine Rush girls.  Interestingly enough during dinner conversation turned to everyone's experiences with muggings and thefts they've experienced throughout the past several years.  Just this past Monday a 3rd year Rush Medical student was shot in the leg during a burglary on the street outside Courtney's apartment in the West Loop.  Talla has been robbed twice since moving to Chicago, once the thief even tried to run off with her dog who happened to be in her purse.  Lexi's fiance was mugged just this past December as a part of a gang initiation.  Basically the initiation task was for these 15-yr-old boys to attack a man who most people would not want to mess with, ie tall, strong, confident.  He ended up fairly ok and walked away with a large bump and cut on the back of his head from being hit with a screw driver.  Mind you he was walking down Division St in Wicker Park in the middle of the day on a Saturday when this happened and had just stepped out of a clothing store.

After dinner, I, like the good 2nd year medical student I have been trying to be the past few days, head to go study at a 24 hour coffee shop instead of frolicking through the city like the average 24-yr-old who is dressed in stiletto heals, a pretty blouse, a blazer, and with curled hairs should do.  I settle in at my table in Starbucks with a green tea, headphones, and Gipsy Kings Pandora going strong.  After concentrating solidly for 4 hours on Hepatitis, HIV, GI pathology, and some pharmacology I decide I'm tired and it seems like a good time to head home and get some sleep.  I pack up and look for my keys to walk to my car.  I always walk with my keys in hand just in case, yes, I took one of the self-defense for women classes.  Unfortunately, no keys; then I realize, no wallet.....  I call my credit card company and sure enough in the past two hours someone had purchased gas and bought their friends a round of drinks at a bar.  Cheers! Card cancelled.  But with no keys I'm stranded, and its 12:30 AM.  Though I am very thankful my car was still parked on the street

There I stand, on the corner of North and Wells about to cry and feeling pathetic and helpless, entirely out of character.  I make it a habit to do everything I can to take care of everything for myself, I hate asking for any help.  But this was one case where I realized I needed to suck up my pride and rely on others.  Those working in the Starbucks and cops outside were no help, not so much as an "I'm sorry that happened."  I began calling some friends and my sister.  Fortunately my best friend Kate answered and was just leaving a friend's apartment about 15 minutes north of where I was.  She is a blessing in my life, truly and angel in disguise.  She came and sat with me until my parents were able to bring a spare key.  I hated even more that I had to call them.  I was really really at a loss.  So that situation ends and I get in my car and drive back to Kate's where I spend the night on the couch courtesy of my apartment keys also being taken.   All in all I lost a new Coach wristlet leopard print, about $25 cash, the value on a Barnes and Noble gift card, a Caribou gift card, and a Panera gift card, as well as a car key costing $250 to replace (I miss my Jetta), my credit card, my license, and a dance studio punch card with 6 classes remaining on it.  Tally it up to about $500.

BFF til June

Here I sit on chilly overcast Sunday afternoon trying to memorize about 75 drugs for tomorrow.  I don't want to drive anywhere as I have no license and had no desire to go to the CPD office last night at 1:30 to file a report.  Basically if I get pulled over, I'm straight up SOL.  And with the DMV closed tomorrow and full week of scheduled activities from 8am-8pm most days I'm not sure when I'm going to get a new copy.  On the plus side... I'll get to take a new picture and will hopefully not look like a blonde Asian who just walked in from a rain storm.  I mean, that old picture was baaaaaad.  As I continue to reflect on my past 15 hours I know things could be far worse.  A friend of mine from college, Julie, is unsure of her entire immediate family's situation.  Her mother, father, and sister are all living in Cairo and last time she talked to them they were not feeling at all feeling positively about what was going on outside their own apartment in the streets.  Some her friends back home had furniture pushed up against doors and were planning on guarding their houses with guns.  In the past year and half my friend Kait has been robbed, had her house broken into, and her car regularly broken into while she was profiled by a Baltimore gang.  She moved there for the Teach For America program, I believe, truly hoping to have a positive impact.  Kait is the last individual in this world who deserves any harassment.  And throughout my evening of studying I saw countless ambulances driving by rushing to the hospital, even one girl carried out of the theater next door on a gurney sputtering and coughing up blood.  I have my health, I have family and friend support (more aware of this and thankful than usual), I'm home in my heated apartment, I'm in the process of accomplishing an excellent education, I'll have a new credit card by Tuesday, and I still have in my possession all of my Microbiolgy / Pathology / and Pharmacology notes not to mention First Aid for the USMLE.  With no real ability to go anywhere, I may even up my test averages on these tests in the upcoming days.  But for now to boost my mood I've cooked a nice dinner for one of baked kale and whole wheat pasta with shrimp, calamari, scallops, olive oil, and fresh tomato, spinach, basil, and garlic.  Plus, my polka dot dishes always brighten my day :)

Dinner :)

Shout out to the CPD!  Thanks a-holes for the condescending comments asking if I was lost or if my boyfriend got mad at me, took my things, and left me.

10 things on a Thursday

In the past when I have felt down I would think about all of the recent things in life I'm thankful for.  Today is not one of those days.  I have actually recently taken to making lists a few times a week, sometimes written sometimes mental, of at least 5 things that were wonderful about my day.  Today was a wonderful day all around.  I'm going to sleep with a smile on my face after another couple hours of pharm studying.   Why so lovely you may ask?  Well here are 10 reasons

1.  My day started with a 6 mile run with 3 ½ miles of intervals in the middle of it.  All in under 52 min.  So great to be feeling well again.  I woke up with so much energy and just had to run!  I'm normally not the speediest runner, something I'm working on, but I'm so happy with an average 8.66 min / mile pace today after a few ill days

2.  I have an appetite again and got to start my day with my favorite protein shake.  This is the first real protein I’ve had in about three and a half days.  With all those carbs from saltines/applejuice/and Gatorade no wonder I had so much energy for that run.  (Regarding that protein shake:  Choco whey protein powder, ground flax seed, lite soy milk (choco, vanilla, or original) frozen banana, ice cubes, 2 shots espresso… it is even better if you add some peanut butter, like a frozen reese’s.  But I usually reserve that for long training run days)

3. POM lab was wonderful for the second week in a row.  Last week we had a lab on newborns, this week it was adolescent cases.  Lab has been run by a practicing pediatrician from the area instead of the pregnant family practice doc that barely manages to put a lab together.  Most weeks I leave lab and say a prayer that she goes into labor before the following Thursday.  I attribute any clinical skills I have to my Thursday nights at CHC.  Also, we had no lecture portion of lab today so it was only an hour and a half instead of three!

The "Meditation Room"
This pic is actually from the Chicago Mag.
The calm feeling is a little lost with the lighting they added

4.  Due to lab being short I took the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the Art Institute free day for an adventure with a friend.  To add to this I am so excited the Chagall Windows are back!  If you are in Chicago and haven't seen them, they are a must.  So beautiful.  And I'm always happy to just walk through the meditation room and I love even more getting to share it with any company I bring with me. For those wondering what the meditation room is, if you are familiar with the AIC it is the dark room all the way in the back of the Asian Art Section.  There are about 4 rows of wooden pillars at the entrance and all the art has lights on it in a glass case.  They regularly change this exhibit, currently it is beautiful clay vases.   My all-time favorite exhibit has been Japanese screens  

5.  I won a $10 starbucks giftcard in a raffle = guilt free soy chai lattes!

6.  Great conversation with a relatively new medschool friend all afternoon and so much of it not resolving around school.  I truly valued the opportunity to learn new things about an interesting individual, and so happy he was willing to come along on my afternoon escape and skip our regular spin workout.  Thanks so much for coming Gayan!

A gram stain of mine from my college years,
gotta love micro, but really, kind of cool

7.  I did decently (at least I think, though maybe not excellently) on the micro lab quizzes (plural...) today despite not being aware of one of them and not studying for the other. 

8.  I received 2 new emails in a chain that goes around my college girlfriends, one email from Kristie in La Jolla and the other from Kait in Baltimore.  These emails always make everyone seem just a little bit closer.  Girls, if you read this,  I want you to know your emails bring happiness to my day every time I receive one.  

Saba Khan :)

9.  Anticipation for new blonde colors in my hair and brunch with my mama tomorrow.  Mmmmm baked fluffy egg-white omelets.     I am a natural blonde, just throwing that out there, but we can all use some sunlights added to our hair here and there especially when the sun doesn't seem like it wants to shine in Chicago.

10.  Such great memories of jazz and pilates class with Saba last night, not to mention sharing that gelato

and 11. Just because the radio is currently playing recordings of Zack Brown Band live and the current song is about a gypsy.  

~~~~~~~Sweet dreams all ~~~~~~~

Artsing up a Macbook camera shot I just took.  Call it influence from the AIC Modern Wing

"Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be"

As many of my friends know, one of my favorite authors is the late Kurt Vonnegut.  I began reading his works senior year of high school starting with Cat's Cradle shortly followed by the Sirens of Titan.  Admittedly, at age 17 I did not fully understand his witty twist of words describing modern day society.  If I'm being honest, perhaps I still don't.  However, over the years I've grown to have a greater appreciation for the wisdom behind his humor as well as for the eloquently simple way words roll off his pen.  Since his death in 2007 he has remained a strong literary voice for freedom and peace.  Despite the change in times, politics, and technology since his early works, I find they still parallel American society in a very real though often understated way; likely just the way he intended.  As a starter Vonnegut novel I recommend Slaughterhouse-Five.  I think much of the literary world would also agree this is a good place to get a taste of Vonnegut.  The book seems a bit piecy as you start reading it but after a short bit the flow comes together and you may even get a good laugh.

Late last night I came across a link containing this letter that Vonnegut wrote years ago to a John Carey.

I especially appreciate his closing, "Guard yourself at all times.  A lot of people believe that beauty is some kind of conspiracy -- along with friendly laughter and peace."  Too true, Kurt, too true.

--So it goes

Healthy Hummus Recipe

I recently spent some time back in Memphis, TN with my college roommates.  We've had a tendency to to end up doing something fun each New Years and I was blessed to have the opportunity to be in the same place as them again this year.  While I was down there I stayed with Maria in the new townhouse she's renting.  First of all, it was beautiful and a very modern design with three floors.  Each of the girls had their own large room with walk in closets and they had a lounge room on the third floor with a balcony revealing a beautiful view.  All this I still pay more rent for my little studio apartment outside Chicago.

One day while there we cooked a couple meals and made a few snacks, one being a hummus recipe of Maria's I've never tried before.  It was delicious, and she knows I'm just somewhat of a health freak so assured me it was kosher with my diet.  So as I sit in the cold cold cold Chicago today not wanting to go outside and needing a break from studying I've decided to recreate it and now I'll share it with you.

1 can chick peas (if you can find salt free all the better)
Plain non-fat greek yogurt (to taste, I like mine tangy so used about 1/2 a cup)
Juice from 1/2 a lemon or so
3 good size cloves of fresh garlic.
(you can add salt or a little olive oil to your preference of course, I don't really think its needed though)

Put these all in a food processor or blender and blend 'til smooth.  Keep it refrigerated.  So simple, so tasty :)

You can try other additions too, sun-dried tomatoes are delicious!  I'm bummed I didn't have any but running to the grocery in 7 degree weather even if the sun is out is not a pleasant thought in my world.

As an aside, I think Greek yogurt is wonderful.  An all-time favorite foods

1/2 marathon March 27

Woo hoo!  Game on, I just logged into a 12 week (that I'm consolidating into 9 week) 1/2 marathon training plan, yet another 13.1 here I come :)  I've never done a race like that that won't have thousands of people running, I just hope I don't finish last.  Please pray it doesn't snow!

Here's a glance at my nike+ training log for the event, I'm about to hit the treadmill for that 5 miler thats listed for Thursday.  What can I say, I'm a bit overzealous.

The race is in Libertyville, here's the link if anyone cares to join!

http://www.allcommunityevents.com/chi_town_half_marathon/chi_town_half_mar_home.html

If not, Shamrock Shuffle through Chicago with me 2 weeks later on April 10th

fwd: its good to be a woman

My beautiful mother sent me an forwarded email this morning.  While I really don't usually care for chain messages there was a portion or it i thought was entertaining.  That is, except number 5... I grew up as swimmer and, on a case to case basis, don't mind the speedo at all ;)


It  is good to be a woman:  

1.  We got off the Titanic first.
2. We can  scare male bosses with mysterious  gynecological disorder excuses.
3. Taxis  stop for us.
4. We don 't look like a frog in  a blender when dancing.
5. No fashion faux  pas we make could ever rival the Speedo.
6.  We don 't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
7. If we forget to shave, no one has to
know.
8. We can congratulate our teammate  without ever touching her rear end.
9. We  never have to reach down every so often to make  sure our privates are still there.
10. We  have the ability to dress ourselves.
11.   We can talk to the opposite sex without  having to picture them naked.
12.  If  we marry someone 20 years younger, we are aware  that we will look like an idiot.
13. We will  never regret piercing our ears.
14. There  are times when chocolate really can solve all  your problems.
15. We can make comments  about how silly men are in their presence  because they aren't listening anyway.

My new ride

This past weekend I had a little bit of down time, heard about a good sale or two, and decided to spend the money I've saving since mid July  (thanks for that piggy bank Kate and Maria).  This is the result :)

Fugi Rouboaix 7.2, 52 cm

I won't bore you with the specifics.   Besides, I really only understand what it means regarding frame and fork materials, brakes, and derailleur quality.  To keep it simple, I'm happy.  Great bike for a great price.  Don't worry, I fluffed and got an extra 10% off!  Really though my hairs needed it, I had a helmet on for some test rides.  Sorry to leave you behind Trek, you were just too pricey this time skimped on the few things...I'm happy to get by without your carbon frame

I can't wait for good riding weather, really I'll take anything over 40 degrees.  Although perhaps it's good the temperature is low and snow is on the ground currently.  I'm new to clipless pedal riding and am looking forward to trying out my shoes (also pictures above, nothing too fancy) with the pedals on spin bikes or getting used to them on a trainer.  I'd much rather struggle now then on the road leading to a fall and feeling the pavement hard.  I know it's bound to happen eventually, but later rather than sooner would be my preference.  Especially considering all the small children running here there and everywhere on the lake front trail... I definitely plan to figure out clipping in / out before I traverse that obstacle course.

Oh, and she needed a name, but I don't think I can officially name her til I put in a good 20+ mile first road ride on her.  I wanted to go with "Little Red" affectionately named after a childhood My Little Pony of mine but courtesy of medical school I now know that "little red" translates to "Rubella"  I can't name my bike after a disease, that would be wrong, very wrong.

Start of a New Year

The past year of my life has been full of its ups and downs but mostly full of new adventures.  I finished my first year of medical school, made some of the best friends of my life (sorry for sounding so cliche, but this occurrence couldn't be more true), learned more than I thought I could, traveled a good bit, began regularly volunteering and helping to run a free clinic, and learning to value and use my free time wisely.  I also learned the value of sleep for the first time in my academic career.  Throughout the year I've grown up in a number of ways and become more comfortable with myself and the direction I'm heading.  I no longer question why I'm in medical school, I know, without a doubt, I have chosen the right path.  This was a thought that was on my mind quite frequently last year.  As wonderful as I think it can be to reflect back, I feel more that with a new blog and a (relatively) new year it's time to look forward so I will preface my blog with some brief goals I have for the upcoming year and from there see where the year and life will take me.  It's all in God's hands  :)

Study hard for Board exams (June 7!) and do better than "average"... 600 club?  I'll throw it out there!
Try something new at least ever other week
Another endurance event or two --> marathon and/or 1/2 ironman
Learn to play the guitar
Improve my espanol
Take more dance classes
Advance to lead climbing
Challenge myself as extensively as possible in rotations --> learn!
Read
Stay up on the news
Continue to grow in faith
Make time for friends, family, and self

I'm worried that the next six months of my life... actually to the day... may be the most challenging I have yet to encounter.  If I start to use this blog as an outlet for that, I apologize in advance; that is not it's purpose.  Please simply ignore any such rants.  Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to June 7, 2011

Happy New Year!