Things That Made This Week Interesting

All throughout the week, I kept having experiences that made me think, wow, that was really cool/interesting/different. Being a busy little medical student, I didn't have a chance to write about any of them at the time, but here is a list of the things that I've done or the things that have happened that contributed toward this week being a good one:

- Interviewing my first "patient": Okay, the patient was an actor, but it was still an exciting challenge. On my turn, he decided to be irritated that I was just a student, rather than the real doctor; he was incredibly curt and sarcastic, but everyone told me I handled the situation well. I was able to get the information that I needed without getting flustered or frustrated, myself. Awesome!

- Einstein photo op: After a long class session, my friend Cat and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon and go take pictures of the campus. We're really lucky to have such a beautiful haven here in the middle of the Bronx.

Maybe later I'll post more pictures, but this is a taste of our surprisingly green, spacious campus.

- A successful case conference: Each week, we break into smaller groups to discuss a particular disease or case that relates to what we've learned in our Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine (MCFM) course. This week, I felt really confident about my understanding of the interferon-gamma receptor and its relation to unusual sickness from mycobacteria. I even was complimented on my explanation of restriction digest results to the rest of the group -- score 1 for my summers at Mayo preparing me to understand the basic science of medical research!

- Making apple crisp: After a trip to the farmer's market during lunch hour, I was armed with some tasty Cortlands for my first apple crisp of the fall. New York has some decent apples, but I have to say I prefer Minnesota's selection. My roommates had never even heard of baking apples like Wealthy and Harralson before. Also, the Honeycrisps just aren't as flavorful out here. There's something to be said about the cold Minnesota winters and our spectacular apples.

Mmmm...combined with the banana bread from earlier, this apple crisp has solidified my reputation among my roommates and friends as the one who bakes -- and shares.

- First medical school final: Yes, final. We have officially finished the Genetics unit of MCFM. Next up: Immunology. But first, there's still the Histology midterm coming up this week.

- Playing the piano for the first time since leaving home over a month ago. I've missed it so much. It was a little weird playing the grand piano in Robbins Auditorium all by myself, but I got over it and stayed for an hour and a half.

- Preparing peaches for more crisp: The peaches that I had bought at the farmer's market were getting ripe, so I cut them up. They are now in the freezer awaiting their turn to bake. Something that is so beautiful about peaches is that not only is the skin colored, but underneath is also multi-toned.

So juicy, so ripe, and so pretty, even without the skin -- I love peaches.

- A tale of two Little Italies: Last night, my friends and I went to the famed Little Italy of the Bronx. We ate at Emilia's, a fantastic little restaurant on Arthur Avenue. It was across the street from Mario's, the restaurant where the famous scene with the gun-behind-the-toilet-with-the-chain-thing in The Godfather takes place. Then, today, I made my way back to the Little Italy of Manhattan for the San Gennaro procession. Since it was a perfectly warm and sunny fall day, the streets were packed with people. It was worth it for the zeppole and cannoli.

The statue of San Gennaro was brought through the streets, stopping at each stall so a blessing could be said.

As I mentioned earlier, the Histology midterm exam is coming up. I have not allowed that to stop me from taking my day off. Today has been filled with such excitement as making French toast for breakfast, shopping/browsing in Manhattan, meeting Andrea for the San Gennaro festival, going to Mass at the Most Precious Blood Church again, and watching some quality Arrested Development. I'm determined that tomorrow and Monday will be full of productive studying!