Days gone by...

So tonight is one of those rare nights where I got home and just literally did nothing. Didn't clean. Didn't go out. Didn't ponder things I shouldn't be doing. Ate a Hershey's bar. And then I started checking out everyone's blogs and I realized I get irritated when other people don't update.

Which is funny, because I never feel like updating but I expect other people to entertain me.

And so then for some reason I remembered my Spain/Egypt blog and went and checked it. And ended up reading all the entries AND comments. It was weird, I was drawn in by how different and bubbly I sounded. Granted I was on vacation but I was often amusing and interesting. Now I am SO BORING. Even this paragraph is boring. Even that last sentence about being boring was boring.

Today I say goodbye to VA consult, which I can't say I am sorry about. My attending was like, are you sure you don't want to stay another month? And I responded, sure if you start rounding earlier we can negotiate. I have no shame. Really, talking to an attending like that.
hehe.

Actually, the month ended on a high note...granted we only had one new consult and I still left the hospital at seven, but we spent two hours on this patient and not because we were confused (which is why we usually spend a long time on a pt) but because we were exploring the pt's presentation and really doing a biopsychosocial formulation. It was awesome. I mean at quarter to seven we left the pt's rooms and were talking about the pt's inability to mentalize and how this contributed to his prognosis and it was just so great. I had this moment walking down the long dark VA hallway where I was like this is cool. On no other service would I get to do anything this cool.

On a more prosaic note, I picked up my fixed vacuum today. It was blowing out dust instead of sucking it in. It's been like that for two months. So naturally, being me, I would turn it off, put it in the closet. And then as if it had self-healed, I would take it out and try it again. Nope, still blowing out air. Then I would put it back. Then out again, am I sure I didn't imagine it? Nope.
Finally, I gave it and took it to a vacuum fixer shop. It was a first for me this whole vacuum fixing business. Does this make me an official grown-up?

here's to more frequent blogging, here, here
rally troops. Fellow interns, heads up. Backs straight. March forward!
(ok the VA has rattled my brain)
:)
Frieda

Bittersweet

The sweet: my caramel macchiato
The bitter: I am the VA

I kind of thought that I should at least try a title that sounded like it could be deep (Gigi, I just can't seem to do it!)

Hmmm...what is new? So yesterday I went to the Renaissance festival with Doha and a friend and a bunch of people I did not know. I rode an elephant for two seconds, saw some thing that they called jousting, and my personal highlight of the day, got to see a bagpipe performance.

I decided I am going to have to have bagpipes at my wedding. I just love them so much. Too bad I am not Scottish and this could somehow tie into my roots. Actually, someone told me once that bagpipes actually originated in the middle east and that there is still an instrument today very similar to it in the Gulf region. Ok, see that was my lame attempt to claim bagpipes as part of my cultural heritage.

It was my first time to the festival and at first I was super excited, and it definitely was fun mainly because of the beautiful weather. But basically it seemed kind of tacky. I told Doha if any of the famous figures from the Renaissance could see this, I have no doubt they would be horrified. I hate to say it, but it had that over the top superficial American pseudo history tackiness. Having said that, it was interesting and nice to be doing something outdoors and festive. And I did get really good funnel cake. So as ya'll know, I was happy over all.

ok, off to do some work....
frieda

Toto, I don't think we are in Galveston anymore

Ahhh, the sound of beach waves crashing in the backround. The smell of fresh? air wafting in through the window. The sight of my little sister drooling on the pillow next to me.

All classic Frieda and family galveston adventure experiences.

This weekend I got to add a new experience. One that is making me still giggle while I write this.

My family decided we were going to go out to eat at a restaurant at the other end of the island, near the strand. As we are driving over (giggles commencing) we begin to observe the bizarre number of motorcyclists on the island. The closer we drive to the strand the more we observe that it's our acura SUV surrounded by motorcycles.

Hmmmm. A memory began to surface for me. I suddenly flashed back to my galveston residency interview, when a fellow resident was telling me about the highlights of living in Galveston. I think someone said something like, 'and one of the coolest things that happens on the island is the biker rally.'

Hehehehe. I decided not to enlighten my parents at that exact moment.

So we go to park near the strand and there are THOUSANDS of people wearing leather jackets (many of them leather pants. many many people wearing leather pants who in my humble opinion shouldn't have been wearing leather pants.)

You have to have met my parents to truly to appreciate this scenario. Doha is leaning out the window going 'wow cool!' while I knew enough to be glancing apprehensively at my mother.

My mother who at this moment was rapidly mumbling to herself, 'what is this? who are these people? We are going to get kidnapped.' And my personal favorite: 'why are they all dressed in black? what's wrong with more cheerful colors like red and blue?'

With coaxing we got my mom out of the car and walking towards the restaurant. Then we hit the strand which was blocked off for the biker rally. There were people lining the street as motorcycles rushed by. It was fascinating. My mom was pulling her coat tighter. It kind of reminded me of the fresh prince episode when carlton goes to the ghetto, except in this case it was egyptian parents find themselves at biker rally.

So we do make it to the restaurant...my mom still grumbling, my dad pulling out his 'cultured man of the world persona' and making comments out loud like 'how interesting' and 'it's a different culture entirely'.

We get seated and to my further enjoyment (funny how the things that used to mortify me about my parents as a teenager now are a cause of great entertainment!) my mom asks the waiter tentatively (he at least was clean cut with no signs of tatoos or head scarves in sight) (my favorite ironic comment of the night: my mom's ,'what's wrong with these people? why do they all have scarves tied around their heads.' hmmm. viewers I leave it to you to decipher that further.

ok now i have digressed too much and I can't go back and fix the previous' paragraph's sentence structure. see how i just put an apostrophe on previous. my brain is rotting. all this before my morning coffee.

So my mom asks the nice waiter, 'umm..what is going on with the motorcycle....festivities??' I nearly choked on my water with the way my mom said festivities. doha and I were both biting our lips down. The waiter then echoes 'festivities?......oh! you mean the biker rally?' It was great. Then the waiter looked down at my parents faces and felt a need to reassure them. 'Don't worry. This is a good crowd really. Really it is. This isn't a rowdy crowd.'

Hahaha. This was awesome. That is all. It was worth coming to galveston just to watch my parents walk through the biker rally. Which btw i found out was one of the top five in the nation.

makes me wonder if i should have done my residency here.
:)
frieda