moved to NYC~!!

hello pplz~!  after all my years of wanting to live in the city, it's finally hapPEneD~!!  =)  but oddly enough, it doesn't feel that much different from living in jersey.  *gasp*  maybe cause i'm living in the upper east side?  it is more residential and quiet.  it's most likely because having a car around makes a big difference.  also, there are plenty of taxis galore for my high-heeled shoes.

but it's the little things that give city life its flavor.  it's quite convenient to have the fruits and vegetables stand at the corner in front of my building--now i really have no excuse for not shopping for some fresh food.  i love being able to walk out the door and being able to order all kinds of food within 5 min of my door-when will i ever learn to cook~!  i finally joined a gym 3 weeks ago and i'm actually going at least once a week...since it's only 1 block away from me.  i like being able to pick up the newspaper at my doorstep every morning.  and the best part?  just walking across the street to go to work~!  sometimes i sneak home to take a quick nap or take in a tv show.

so life as a rehab resident is very manageable at cornell/columbia as you can see.  i have about 9-10hr days and my calls are pretty light.  so i actually have a life during residency unlike most residents.  it's great cause my bf has a really light schedule too so we're always able to date often.  well, more like daily~!  i couldn't ask for a better dating scenario.  and for the last 6 weeks, we pretty much had 4 days off a week to play and just chill together.  unfortunately, i'm heading back towards my inpatient rotation starting sunday for 7 weeks.  but i know we'll still find the time to date-we definitely maximized our time through my medicine intern year.

and maybe i'll start to update my blog a bit more frequently...!

Finished my LAST exam in med school!!

so i fiinished my last rotation and last exam in med school FINALLY this past thursday.  while other classmates finished MONTHS ago (i.e. Feb), i had other circumstances that had me working to the bitter end.  but i think the rewards are much more satisfying.  by finishing up with my senior surgery rotation,  i actually feel that i'm graduating; it gives more meaning to the ceremony when just a few days ago, i was getting up at 5am daily.  and i went to pick up my cap, gown, and hood right after the exam which was exciting too!  i called some of you to capitalize on the moment--thanx for sharing that time with me!

this weekend was fun, full of good times with graduation and non-graduation parties.  i have three more days of "graduation ceremonies" at my school and then i'm FREE!!  i'm so looking forward to our family's week long vacation in puerto rico right before beginning intern year (last week of June).  thank you sue for pushing me to travel to san juan.  i'm interested in other carefree times before i'm committed to the working force of america.  so if you're free, bored, doing something exciting, or any of the above combined, let me know and let's have fun under the upcoming forecasted sunny days!!

crazy weekend

to all the hopkins ppl, i'm sorry that i wasn't there for homecoming/reunion weekend!!  i totally suck!  haha.  really wish i was there partying it up with u guys but i was on-call (i told you guys on friendster!!!).  thanx for having that drink for me josiah.  but it turned out there was a mini hopkins reunion of our own at john's b-day party in the city sat nite newyz, so i still felt that connection across 200 miles.  and i can't believe you found me online peter...scary...uh...?!

so 4 hours of sleep later, sunday, i have this wonderful awesome God inspiring day at church.  omigosh...girls, you know who you are--i need to add sunday, may 8th to my timeline too!!  wat an amazing time of sharing and vulnerability and encouragement.  gosh i sound so funny.  my thoughts and heart continued to steadily escalate until the wee hours of the morning when i had an epiphany/surreal moment of exhilaration.  and clarity.  more to share on this when i digest it better on my own first.  sounds like i dropped...haha...it was even better than that...

so now 2 hours of sleep later, monday now.  i'm just dying at work/rounds/watnot.  i'm sleeping with my eyes open and while i'm standing, i kid you not.  i'm surviving and somehow seeing some patients.  i saw my first spanish speaking patient since i've learned the language in honduras (you can actually speak spanish after 40 hours of quasi-lessons!!).  i was so pumped up for the encounter and i actually got a pretty decent H&P (history & physical).  i couldn't believe i was actually communicating at an elementary level--she had a small epigastric hernia elicited with laughing and wanted it repaired along with her chronic pelvic pain exploratory laparotomy scheduled in 2 wks.  so now i want to take an hour nap...but.....

CODE 40!!  i'm on trauma service...and we get this hot 25 y/o chick who's been in a horrific MVA without any bumps or bruises!  but we still go thru the trauma protocol, albeit it seems more slow than i've seen in the past (is it my fried overworked body or hers?!  haha).  so she's lying there naked and distractingly sexy enough that there are suspiciously too many ppl (cough, men) in the room.  she needs a foley, which is a tube that we insert into your urethra to collect urine (located right in front of the vagina).  i'm the lucky med student assigned to perform the rectal exam and to place the foley.  while i'm trying to spread her legs and keep her sterile for the procedure, the patient flips out and actually half gets up to see what i'm doing to her--her spine wasn't even cleared yet!  and so i explain what i'm doing to her again and ask her not to get up again.  she freaks out about the foley getting put in (rightly so) but is more agitated than the usual patient.  then i see this BRIGHT BRIGHT ORANGE thing coming out of her vagina...i'm like, is it just me or doesn't everyone see this?!!  i dunno what to do...i'm trying to avoid looking at the ORANGE  thing like everyone else while looking for the urethra...too many labial folds....shoot....wa duh heck is that ORANGE thing?!!  it's like no one can see the elephant in the room?!!  the senior resident is yelling at me to hurry up with the foley, and i finally ask for help...WHAT IS THAT ORANGE THING IN HER VAGINA?!  HELP!!  the intern pulls at it and....she almost pricks herself with a needlestick.  i couldn't believe it.  we pulled out a needle syringe from her vagina, along with her plastic heroin bag.  and the stench...i was right on it...she obviously was used to storing lots of foreign things there.  she was soooo pissed off and upset since she was trying to hide all that from the police...conflicting story (hallucinating??) since she says that she was trying to hide her stash inside of her, while wearing jeans, while speeding down the highway, running away from the police.  girls, possible or not, u tell me.  last high was 5am this morning.  very sad case.  trying to commit suicide (i.e. crazy pix of her MVA, heroin) but coming out physically healthy and getting admitted to inpatient psych.  very sad story.  you can't even commit suicide when God doesn't think it's your time yet.  don't even want to start on my next code 40 trauma patient....

very tired now.  on-call after 2 hours of sleep is like banging a hammer on your head...and feet...only 3.5 hours of sleep tonight...crap!

so i guess i'm back?  haven't decided yet 'cause no matter what you call it, xanga's still a commitment.  and i'm sick of commitmentS!  i like having no responsibilities for once....finishing up the last 2 weeks of med school and looking forward to another vacation is quite motivating.

not looking forward to the first day of intern year, but that's so long away...july 1st.  at least it feels like a long time away, but who am i kidding?  i just hope i don't have to call any codes the first day.  wonder how many ppl i'll (almost) kill before i get the hang of it...enuff thinking about that first day...let me live in my delusion of vacation...

so i'm waiting here waiting for the girl i'm supposed to live with next year....and where is she?!  aigoo.  sue...this isn't the way to start off...haha.  jk!  but seriously, i woke up at 2:30pm just for you!  took a shower and am sitting here with wet hair, drops dribbling down my neck.  otherwise i was planning on getting up even later.  11 hours of sleep just doesn't cut it anymore.

looking forward to john's b-day party 2nite.  always good to see hopkins ppl again.  everyone's doing so well, makes me happy.  just can't wait to make that final move to the city next summer.  then i'll be out of control.  someone keep me in check!

ok...time to give this girl a call...it's already 4pm...

These silly quizzes and residency applications!!

how silly fun these quizzes are...they tell me things that were supposed to be secret to everyone but now that someone's figured me all out, i have to share the evil side of me...oh dear.  ppl beware.

anyways, i'm really strung out inside today although looking at me you wouldn't think otherwise.  tomorrow is the first day residency programs can start looking at my profile/application....agh!!  that's so scary.  i always get so nervous when ppl begin the weeding out process and set applicants in their three piles: we want you, we're not sure about you yet, we wouldn't take you even if you paid us and did a belly jiggling dance!  don't we all just want a little love?

i recently realized though that they feel the same way.  will this applicant like my school?  are we competitive enough?  is our faculty strong and dedicated?  are we located in an awesome city (i.e. nyc)?  do we have a high accreditation status and board pass rate?  so....i'm evaluating you just as you're evaluating me.

but how come it still feels like i'm the one dancing around trying not to get burned as the director keeps reflecting sunlight through the magnifying glass?!

eXpressive: 9/10
Practical: 6/10
Physical: 8/10
Giver: 2/10

You are a XPYT--Expressive Practical Physical Taker. This makes you a Player.

You are clever, sexy and sexually oriented. You know what you want and how to get it. You command attention in a room of strangers, as your charisma, your personality and your spending habits are all oriented toward making an impression on your target sex. You pay attention to details.

You reel people in easily, but have a harder time keeping them around since you are just as demanding in a long term relationship as you are on a night out. Combine your demanding nature with the fact that you're hard to keep up with and easily bored, and you get a recipe for problems with fidelity.

In a conflict, you're brutal -- you know how to unleash one cutting remark that turns a normal fight into a brawl or a breakup. Your general attitude is you just don't have time for fighting -- if you feel like your current partner doesn't understand you, you know you can find another one.

You may see yourself in a parent and dislike his/her choices, so you want to avoid them for yourself. You feel confined by social pressures, both to pair up and stay paired. It will (and should) take you years to settle (and for you, it may really feel like you're settling).

Please use a condom.

Of the 33163 people who have taken this quiz, 6.9 % are this type.

Wackiness: 8/100
Rationality: 40/100
Constructiveness: 44/100
Leadership: 60/100

You are a SEDL--Sober Emotional Destructive Leader. This makes you a Dictator.

You prefer to control situations, and lack of control makes you physically sick. You feel have responsibility for everyone's welfare, and that you will be blamed when things go wrong. Things do go wrong, and you take it harder than you should.

You rely on the validation and support of others, but you have a secret distrust for people and distaste for their habits and weaknesses that make you keep your distance from them. This makes you very difficult to be with romantically. Still, a level-headed peacemaker can keep you balanced.

Despite your fierce temper and general hot-bloodedness, you have a soft spot for animals and a surprising passion for the arts. Sometimes you would almost rather live by your wits in the wilderness somewhere, if you could bring your books and your sketchbook.

You also have a strange, undeniable sexiness to you. You may go insane.

Of the 11471 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 5.7 % are this type.