Outcast...

Everyone knows the Twins are awesome. There can be no dispute about that. Maybe it sounds like I'm making assumptions, but at least I'm forward about them. Anyway, the Twins are awesome, as evidenced by their spectacular defeat of the Tigers last night. I was going out of my mind from the tension...all the extra innings...and then they pulled through. What a game!

Today, in celebration of their victory, and in anticipation of their upcoming games against the Yankees, I wore my Twins cap -- again. Yesterday I got a few comments; today I felt as though I was the center of attention! I heard all kinds of comments, from the friendly congratulations to the "friendly" banter of the die-hard Yankee-loving Bronxites.

Last night, I e-mailed the entire class of 2013 asking for anyone who would be willing to go to the game with me on Friday, with the stipulation that they would have to put up with sitting with the "enemy" (me), since most of my classmates are certainly not Twins fans. I got several responses from people interested in the game, as well as the following response:

Michelle,

I will disregard most of your blasphemous email (you live in the Bronx now, don't forget that) and serve you fair warning about Friday. I will be there and I....errr, drunken a**holes tend to throw things at opposing fans. Plus you don't wanna see a guy the Yankees wasted 60 million on (Pavano) get slaughtered by a hungry best lineup in baseball. Save your money for Anatomy books, and/or buy Chris Taglia a shot for his birthday.

Go Yanks!

Jon

This was also sent to the entire class, and since we received it during Histology lab, my lab partner Eman (who happens to be the only other Minnesotan in our class) and I swiftly responded:

Dear Jon,

As a fellow Minnesotan, I feel obligated to inform you of the fallacy of your beliefs. Contrary to commonly held viewpoints in NY, money does not buy loyalty, as evidenced by your inability to fill your brand new Yankee stadium. The Metrodome, on the other hand, is already employing a lottery system to fairly distribute the remaining tickets (which also only cost $12 as opposed to your ridiculous $93). Also, may I point out that the Metrodome holds more fans. Besides, Mauer will win over the Yankee ladies (and maybe some of the men) in a flash.

See you Friday night where we....errr, drunken Twins fans/converts will be throwing things back your way.

Cheers,

Ema

*this message is approved by Cat, Adam and Michelle

ps. GO TWINS:) woot.

We have since received another response from our friend:

It was pointed out to me that my first email was perhaps a bit too scathing, and for that Michelle I assure you I meant no harm. It was simply friendly trash-talking in standard a-hole Yankee fan style. Please do go the game and enjoy yourself.

Eman,

Your argument is beautifully stated, save for the fact that last night was the largest attendance ever at the Metrodome, sadly on the possible eve of its destruction, and that the Pohlad family (owner of the Twins) considered folding the team in 2001 cause they were losing 15 million a year. I guess you're right, money doesn't buy loyalty. When your ticket prices skyrocket to 32 dollars next year in your new stadium and they are back to filling 15,000 seats a game, we will see who is looking for revenue sharing.

I do love Mauer, and can't wait for his 2012 debut in pinstripes. Go Yanks!

Hank Steinbrenner

P.S. This was once again friendly banter, no personal offense should be taken, and I love all baseball fans whose home team doesn't end in "oston Red Sox".

Apparently some of my friends had lambasted Jon for his e-mail to me, telling him, "Michelle's so nice! I can't believe you sent that to her!" They don't know how tough I am -- and they don't realize that this friendly banter is my favorite kind of humor. I don't take crap from anyone -- not even Yankees fans. Not even an entire room full of them (as happened today at our ICM workshop), or even when I'm called out in front of the whole class by the Immunology professor. Yes, he used the fact that I was wearing a Twins cap to explain the concept of antigen recognition by T-cells being enhanced by adhesion molecule interactions. Awesome. And now the game is about to start...so I must cheer on my Twins!

Needles

Today I had my first experience at ECHO, the Einstein Community Health Outreach free clinic. It was a long "morning" -- 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for me -- but an incredible experience that I hope to repeat many more times this year. Today, I was the labs assistant. It might not sound all that glamorous, but I actually had one of the most interesting jobs available to first-years, in my opinion. I was responsible for obtaining the samples needed for patients' tests, which meant that I had to learn how to draw blood.

It was absolutely crazy. Before this morning, I had never drawn blood in my life. One of the third-years gave me a quick tutorial and let me try drawing from him once. Since it went well, apparently I was then qualified to draw from patients. Luckily, there was one nurse there who supervised me (in addition to administering vaccinations), but by the end of the morning I had drawn blood from seven patients! Amazing. It's incredible the amount of respect the white coat gains for the wearer. No one even questioned my place; they all seemed to assume I knew what I was doing. By the end I did. I'm liking this whole medicine thing...

For Patriot Dream

Since we had no classes on Monday (yay for going to a Jewish school that gives us Jewish holidays off!), I decided to go to Washington, D.C. for the weekend to visit Caitlin. Since she's relatively new to the city as well, we allowed ourselves to be tourists for the weekend and do all the typical D.C. things. (When I say "all," I of course realize that we didn't even get close to seeing all the city has to offer. No way.)

Getting there in the first place, however, was more eventful than I counted on. I had chosen to take a bus there. Out of my four options, it seemed the best. Riding the train would have been great, but it costs an arm and a leg. Flying, in fact, would have been cheaper than taking the train, but it's still relatively expensive and a hassle. Driving my own car would have been all right, but I wasn't sure I felt ready to take on the East Coast tollways just yet. Plus, I figured that the 4+ hours on a bus each way would give me a chance to do some studying and really take advantage of my limited time for schoolwork over the weekend. The best part? It only costs $20 to catch a bus from New York to D.C. (and vice versa), and it only makes one other stop on the way.

I had not reserved a ticket because I was unsure what time I would be able to get my things together and leave the Bronx. Good thing -- the BxM10 express bus to Manhattan got caught up in rush-hour traffic, and I would have certainly missed the 5:00 bus that I had been eying. So I stood in the standby line at the Megabus station. The 5:30 bus was completely booked, as was the 6:00, but luckily some of the ticketholders were no-shows. I boarded the bus, and we were on our way by 6:15. The rest of the ride was uneventful, but I was damn lucky I got a spot on the 6:00. All the other buses that evening were totally booked as well.

When I arrived in downtown D.C., I found my way to a Metro station. When I arrived at the Medical Center stop (at the NIH, where Caitlin works, and near where she lives), I faced the most impressive escalator I've ever seen. It was actually vertigo-inducing. Caitlin picked me up at the station, and we spent the rest of the night catching up about our adventures since graduation.

Escalators: Both awe-inspiring and terror-inducing

On Saturday, our adventure began. It happened to be the day of the National Book Fair on the Mall, which was filled with tents and lines of people hoping to hear their favorite authors speak and sign books. We did not wait in any lines for authors (they were all hours long), but we did get to meet a friend from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Mr. McFeely, a.k.a. the Speedy Delivery man, posed for photos and autographed pictures for all of his fans.

"Speedy Delivery!"

We walked to one end of the Mall to take a look at the Capitol. To avoid the typical "Hey-look-at-me-standing-in-front-of-the-building-and-smiling" pictures, we tried to get some unique poses. For example, Caitlin took photos of me while I did cartwheels with the building as a backdrop. Unfortunately, I do not have copies of these pictures (yet!), so for now, a stately, patriotic-looking photo will have to do.

Looming and impressive amidst the clouds

The other highlight of the day was our visit to the National Air and Space Museum. No, I lied. It was not simply a highlight of the day. It was a highlight of a lifetime. The Air and Space Museum ranks up there with Cape Canaveral in my favorite, most-inspiring places to go. I'm not kidding. If only I could find some way to work around air and spacecraft in my future career...oh wait! I'm in the Air Force. (Could we have perhaps hit on an underlying motive?) Anyway, the museum was great. There were the capsules from Friendship 7, Gemini VI, and Apollo 11; a lunar module, a full-scale Hubble replica, exhibits on the moon missions, aviation during the world wars (which I had some knowledge of because of COT), and a spectacular exhibit of Alan Bean's paintings. We also saw an IMAX film called "Fighter Pilot," which had many little details that brought back memories from COT. I could have spent several more hours there. Unfortunately, the museum closed at 5:30, so we had to brave the rain and go home.

I was excited about the Hubble model (this little one was at the foot of the larger, life-size model), as well as everything else.

On Sunday, we tackled the National Museum of American History. My favorite exhibits were about the U.S. military throughout the nation's history (complete with uniforms from every era), First Ladies' gowns, musical instruments (where Caitlin got to impress me with her incredible knowledge about the Stradivari strings), and the Star Spangled Banner -- the Star Spangled Banner, the 15-striped, 15-starred behemoth of a flag whose rising inspired Francis Scott Key to compose our national anthem.

I also enjoyed seeing C-3PO and Archie Bunker's chair.

Before heading back to Caitlin's house, we walked over to the White House. No, we didn't see anyone important, a.k.a. the President. I did discover, however, that all those years of watching West Wing have prepared me to know what the White House looks like.

Yep, just as I imagined it

Caitlin had to work on Monday, so I spent the morning exploring the monuments on my own. Some highlights:

The Washington Monument: In perfect symmetry, with the flags blowing proudly in the wind

One of the reliefs at the World War II Memorial. Someday I may get to serve as these soldiers did, carrying and caring for their wounded in war.

Lincoln, for whom I have great respect after my Ethics of War class at St. Olaf: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right"

The statue of the Three Servicemen at the Vietnam War Memorial

For some reason, I was captured by this statue at the Korean War Memorial: The soldier somehow looked so real to me, and it made me stop and think about the amazing sacrifices that have been made year after year for our country.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see the Iwo Jima Memorial, which I remember being a defining moment of my visit to D.C. 11 years ago. Back then, even though I was so young, I was struck by the valor of the men raising the flag. It was not just a statue to me. It represented brave people doing brave things for our country, to which I had only recently begun to feel my obligation. Even though I was so young, I was patriotic. I felt the call to my country, and I was beginning to become aware of what that might mean. Now, 11 years later, I feel that I have finally begun to act on that patriotism. I am a proud officer of the United States Air Force, and my only wish is that I could be a functional part of that organization even sooner than my medical training will allow. I feel blessed that this weekend, I was given the privilege to revel in the beauty of my country and its capital.

God bless America.

Missing the President

Both exams are done -- excellent news. I passed both -- outstanding news! So there we go. To celebrate being done with our first set of medical school exams, many of the students in my class went into the city on Tuesday evening. I went a bit earlier with 4 of my friends, since we could see no compelling reason to stay on campus all afternoon when we could go exploring instead. After ambling through Central Park for a while, we walked a long way down 5th Ave. On the way, we were halted at a barricaded road; all traffic, both motorized and pedestrian, was blocked off. President Obama had just given a speech at the U.N. and was supposed to come down that road, so we awaited the appearance of the motorcade with anticipation.

Will we get to see the President?

Unfortunately, it was a no-go. After a good 20-30 minutes of waiting, the barricades were removed, and everyone went on their way. We continued on our jolly way and eventually made it to 23rd St, where I experienced for the first time the amazing eatery known as the Shake Shack, in Madison Square. The burgers were absolutely dripping with juices, and the red velvet custard was divine. After our meal, we headed to the "After-Histo Party Venue," Pranna, a fancy/modern bar and lounge. There were only a few of us there for much of the time, but I enjoyed chatting within our smaller group and relaxing after a weekend full of anxiety about the test. Today we started our next unit of MCFM, Immunology, and if it's as simple as Dr. Goldstein says ("Kill the pathogen, and don't harm the host -- the rest is just details"), then we should all be fine.

Of course, it's always about the details.

Blahhhh

So this is medical school. Today was a "study day" -- we had no classes to facilitate our cramming for our Histology midterm tomorrow. I have been in my room for the majority of the day. I've been trying to be good about taking breaks, and believe me, I love my breaks. (The hard part is not taking too many of them...) At 7:00 this evening, I realized that the only time I had been outside was in the 1 minute it took me to walk to the gym for an exercise break around lunchtime. So, I took a walk. A 20-minute walk. It was glorious. And then it was back to the books.

What motivates me? 2 cups of coffee and 4 cups of tea into the day, I'll let the picture do the talking:

My motivation for the day -- chocolate, Earl Grey, my Air Force mug, and the solitary speck of tea leaf that absolutely refused to sink

Feeling the Drag

Hooray for beautiful summer days! (Yes...it's still summer until Tuesday.)

So green and wonderful

Boo for being stuck inside studying.

I'm not going to say how many cups of coffee I've had today. It's somewhat embarrassing.

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!