Post-Boards Recap

So the Step 1 exam obviously came and went. The scores came out and I passed. And that's all we'll ever speak of the dreaded test again. My post-test trip to NYC with my dad and sister was lovely. Though I didn't even come close to completing my list, I saw many good friends and had really relaxing days with family for about a week. Then the day I got home, I went up north to a friend's cabin to spend the last days before my orientations started. It was the perfect 10-day summer vacation. Here are some pictures!

Mid-Tuesday in Bryant Park. Does anyone work here?

Debbie and her dogs Toby and Lucy. So cute!

The sweetest details at Debbie and Chris' Harlem apartment

My cousin's apartment building rooftop terrace

Tiffany, Big Brother Connor and my aunt

Tiffany holding cute and wriggling things: Lucy on the left, Baby Landon on the right

Sunset view of New Jersey from the Battery Park Boardwalk a block away from my cousin's building

Korean seafood hotpot. The lobster was moving!

After...

Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake at sunset

Daddy harvesting some peas

Hard at work

Splendor in the Grass

Since all this, I've spent the month of July on my first clinical rotation in Neurology at the Detroit VA. It deserves another post, but for now, suffice to say, I loved it. Mostly because of the doctors, residents, and patients I've worked with. But more on that next time.

Mid-Board Exam Studying Break

It's been a while. And I shouldn't even be doing this. But because of my 1 faithful reader (and how much I love her) I will post in the midst of STEP 1 studying. Today marks my halfway point with my exam on the 17th. EEK!

But of course, I'm already planning for the fun that's coming after it. I think with all this oppressed living my classmates and I are going through (ie. sitting at a desk for 12-13 hours all day everyday... I didn't even realize it was Memorial Day this past weekend), all I want to do is let loose and go wild. Ok, so by "go wild," I really just mean decadent foods and endless shopping... Come on, what else?

I have plans to go to NYC for the 10 or so days I have left before I begin my orientations for 3rd year. Obviously, we go a lot, but this time, I want to be an ambitious tourist! These are the tentative plans I have. I probably won't get to them all, but I really plan on living it up while I'm there! Daybee, you're joining me!

1. My old Verameat ring that I loved so much broke a few months ago! So I'm looking to replace it. This Steven Alan one is the top contender and I want to go look at it in person. I would also be unopposed to going to Catbird in Brooklyn too.
   
2. Also in Brooklyn, I want to stop by Four and Twenty Blackbirds for a slice of their famous key lime pie, Dough for a crazy(awesome)-sounding donuts, fancy cocktails at the Ides, and a walk along the Brooklyn Heights promenade. I used to take lessons just a couple blocks away from a violinist who, decades ago, sold a violin that made enough money for his brownstone.
3. Obviously the Rain Room at the MoMa that everyone keeps raving about. Or the Cloisters, the Met Rooftop... frankly, any museum would do too.
4. Cookies from Levain and Momofuku's Milk Bar.
5. This may be a stretch, but go see Wicked. I think I'm the only person left on earth who hasn't seen this yet. My sister better come if I go...
6. If not Broadway, I'd be totally down for Swan Lake at Lincoln Center!
7. Over the weekend, check out the Chelsea Flea Market or the Brooklyn Flea Markets.
8. Restaurants, restaurants, more restaurants. And don't even get me started on the Asian foods (and the bubble teas and ice cream that we've been enjoying since childhood).
9. I won't have a bicycle, but doesn't this Cup of Jo Bikeride Guide sound so awesome? Maybe I could walk bits of it...
10. Just walking through Central Park, Battery Park (my cousins live right by it!), so many pretty neighborhoods...

Yowza, this is ambitious. I definitely won't be getting to all of these, but even if I just get half, I'd be thrilled. I better pack my comfiest walking shoes! Daydreaming of post-board exam life... But now, back to work.

Dénouement

It's been such a chaotic week with crazy highs and crazy lows - I'm sure you know what kind of week I'm talking about. Anyway, there have been some scary things going on with a good friend and I've been having a really hard time with some extra-curriculars at school that will be culminating in 2 big concerts within the next 4 days. And then exams in 3 days after that. And then my week-long medical trip to Nicaragua in 2 days after that (oh, I never told you guys about that? Oops.) It felt like I had to single-handedly shoulder a lot of the burdens. Especially earlier in the week, I was feeling quite lonely, overwhelmed, and helpless. Tonight when I left school at 10pm, I was still feeling weak and sorry for myself.

The thing is, life stops for no one. The light drizzle became heavy rain during my drive home. The holiday radio station that usually provides familiarity and comfort was overbearing in its cheer. Sometimes, people and things that you want to count on will disappoint you. And somehow, through all the confusion and hurt, there is a fittingly gentle yet undeniably clear sign that things have changed. For good. I have answers. No more wondering. No more feeling sorry. No more looking back with such longing. Life moves on and I need to too.

Anyway, I got home and was cleaning out some old emails, all mopey and sad (do any of you also feel the compulsive need to purge and expunge yourself of distracting clutter after a really terrible day? That feeling that you need to seriously clean up and re-examine your life?). But then I came across some old emails that I sent out and replies that I received while I was in Peru for a month in 2008. Emails to and from some of my closest friends. Reading them made me so delightfully happy! I've actually just agreed to blog for my school during my Nicaragua trip and so these emails were found in perfect timing too. There are so many happy, thoughtful, sentimental, and true moments in those emails. And some really special discoveries that really pulled me towards the road I now travel.

In dramatic art forms like drama and film, the good story lines will always follow what pedagogues call "the dramatic arc": exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/dénouement. But real life doesn't always follow such a convenient pattern, does it? I guess that's the whole beauty of experience. It's just extra encouraging when life does that funny thing of giving you exactly what you need to help you to get by during those sad moments, you know? I hope you're coming across some of these similarly perfect findings amidst your own chaos (if you're having any) too.

(top photo of pensive me in Puno by the JJB, 2nd photo of a boat ride to the floating Uros islands, last photo of Cusco's central square)

Glacier National Park and Banff

Back from vacation! Everything was as gorgeous as I had hoped. Apparently the aqua blue water is a defining characteristic of glacial waters. Here was the first gorgeous lake we saw: Bow Lake on the way to Jasper National Park in Canada.

Gorgeous Horseshoe Lake

Hiking in Jasper National Park

gondola ride in Banff

downtown Banff from the Cascade Gardens

frozen glacial lake in a snowstorm

waterfall to Johnston Canyon

waterfalls in Glacier National Park

Our last hike to Hidden Lake, my favorite.

(as in my last vacation summary, all photos unedited and taken with my iPhone)

Vacation 2012 Anticipation

I'm really looking forward to getting away this Friday. Perhaps in a way that goes beyond typical pre-vacation excitement. It's been a while since I've felt such a desire and need to just escape. Cut myself off from my daily life, immerse myself in something different, but still remain within the familiar comfort of my family. Here are a couple pretty pictures of where we are headed.

(photos: 1, 2)

Amazing Paths

Back from Spring Break (more on this later!) and I'm feeling wanderlusty already. These pictures are from an email my sister sent me. Gorgeousness.

(we drove through roads like this when we were driving to Yellowstone!)

In The Past Two Weeks, I...

...presented some work and hung out with my sister and cousin at a posh hotel in Phoenix.

...saw snow, geysers, and baby bears in Yellowstone National Park.

...reconsidered my opinion of Montana: it is gorgeous and I wouldn't be the only Michigan fan in the state.

...witnessed the beauty of the Grand Tetons. Everything looks better with a background of mountains.

...toured Salt Lake City and now am kind of in love with the city in the spring.

...hiked in the almost unimaginably structured but strikingly beautiful canyons and mountains of Zion National Park.

...admired the maze of hoodoos in Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands National Park.

...attested to the perfection of nature at Arches National Park.

Six states later, I'm back to being busy but I'm grateful for the opportunity to take this trip with my family. My dad especially has always wanted to make this tour and we are all glad we finally did. Also, twelve hours upon our return, I played violin as a friend married a goofy man who I remember meeting the night of their relationship's inception. Surely, a fulfilling past couple weeks.

(Photos all unedited and taken with my iPhone!)