a classroom conversation

I really need to write more of these conversations down, but here's a great first grade moment.
I know it's probably silly, but I changed the names of my students anyway.

Me: What continent is this? (Looking at google maps)
Sue with her hand waving frantically: ...I forgot
Me: Would you like to ask a friend for help?
Sue: Yes, May
May: um... I don't know
Me: Would you like to ask a friend for help?
May looks around at a class full of raised hands: Sue?
Sue: long pause I forgot.

Oh first grade!

Grays & Torreys

It had been two years since we did our last 14er together. That changed yesterday when we knocked off Grays and Torreys peaks. Also along for the fun were Amy's co-teacher Nicole, her husband Eric, and four other friends. We started hiking at 6:40am, arriving back at the car around 2:00pm. At 8.25 and 3600 respectively, the mileage and elevation gain weren't as impressive as some of our previous 14ers, but any time you have to summit, drop 600 feet, then summit again it carries with it a nice sense of accomplishment. It was a good thing we left as early as we did, as by the time we got to the top of Torreys an ominous looking cloud bank was moving it. We noticed some lightning on the way down, but by then we were off the more exposed parts of the route. All in all a beautiful double-whammy of a climb.

Grays summit

Our group on Grays

L-R: Sarah, Nicole, Amy, Jenny

Grays summit looking across traverse to Torreys

Torreys summit

Torreys from the descent - see cloud comment above

lesson 2

I read somewhere that Sierra Leone is considered the poorest country in the world.

Stop and think about that.

The poorest country in the world.


Then think about the US.

We have so much.

And what do we do with it? Does it make us happier, better, closer to God?

So then, what do we do with that?

Starting to Process

There's no easy way to summarize my time in Sierra Leone. The easy thing to say would be that I had a great time and the food was great. That doesn't even begin to describe my time their.

Especially in the last several years I have been a quiet, shy person that never knew quite what to do in social situations. The whole culture in Sierra Leone is very interpersonal. I think the one of the lessons I learned is that I need to work on being more relational. I don't quite know how to interact with friends much less people I have just met, but I shouldn't let that stop me.

car trouble

First of all, I'm home safe and sound. I'll write more about Sierra Leone. I need more time to arrange my thoughts on that particular topic before I write about it.

Having said that... my car...

I wanted to drive down to Cortez to visit Jules, which is a 7 hour drive from Denver. About 2 hours into the drive I stop at a gas station in Pueblo. When I'm walking back to my car I notice a ton of coolant on the ground around my car. My car has a history of overheating and I have to add coolant occasionally just because the car is a beast. I decide that it must have been from another car because my car hadn't been that hot when I pulled in and there were no other signs that I had overheated.

About 2 miles down the road, my temperature gauge is ALL the way up.

A tow and 6 hours later, it turns out I blew a hose and now I'm all patched up. Ok, I'm back on my way.

I stop at the Wallmart in Alamosa because I forgot to return a Redbox movie I have in my purse. I notice coolant dripping out of the bottom of my car. I look under the hood and a cap in the system hadn't been tightened properly, so I tighten it and add some duct tape for good measure.

Sweet reunion with the husband in Cortez.

On Saturday we decide to go visit Mesa Verde.



On the way back at an intersection at the entrance to town I hear profanities from the driver seat. We are overheating. We made it off the road. Jules starts taking my car apart with his leatherman. We're not quite sure what happened. We're tightening everything up when we hear an aweful gurgulling sound in the system. I blew another hose!

We pulled it out and walked to the parts store, got a new hose and installed it.

I hope that's the end of my car troubles for a long time.

Clerkships and Sierra Leone

Given that the title of this blog is plural and that the wife is currently on the other side of the Atlantic, I thought now would be an appropriate time to throw the husband hat of opinion/perspective/news into the ring.

Today I finished my first eight-week clerkship of third year. The subject was general surgery, the location St. Joe's hospital here in town. My daily schedule began on arrival at 5:30am for patient rounds, after which I would spend most of the day in the OR, and generally ended around 5-6pm. Throw in at least one call night at the hospital every week, and additional weekend call (i.e. come in Saturday morning, leave Sunday afternoon) and you get the picture. In any case, I enjoyed the rotation considerably more than I had anticipated I would, and depending on my final grades for the block will consider doing a general surgery sub-internship next year (much to Amy's chagrin, - a general surgery residency is two years longer and demonstrably more intense than one in family medicine).

Monday I leave for Cortez, CO (7+ hr drive away from Denver) to begin my family practice clerkship. The first four weeks are rural, the last four here in the Denver area. Should be quite the change from what I've been doing the last eight weeks, but I'm looking forward to it. The caveat to that last point is that when Amy gets back in a week and a half I probably won't see her for a few more days after that. Hopefully she'll be able to drive out to Cortez and we can do some camping etc. over the weekends that I should for the most part have free.

Speaking of the wife, I managed to reach her today via choppy, delayed, but viable phone connection. She and the group are doing fine and in good health, and their teacher in-service sessions have for the most part been well recieved. Tomorrow they will hike three miles to a neighboring village, something that appears to be a recurring theme as their appearances are apparently quite popular and everyone wants to meet our Denver contigent. Word has it that the woman who prepares their meals there does a stupendous job with both American and African cuisine. I'm hoping to reap the osmotic effects of the latter on the wife's return.

Well, that's about it for this spousal report. I'm going to enjoy the next two days with no obligations other than to get the house back to looking respectable (reversion back to bachelor habits has been alarmingly swift). Going to hit up a Rockies game Sunday with a friend coming up from Alamosa. After that, back to the third year med student grind, albeit hopefully a tamer and less abrasive one when compared to the previous eight weeks. I'll leave you with a quote I came across recently that seemed appropriate in regard to the obsessively heirarchical and goal-focused nature of Western medical education:

"Since most of us would rather be admired for what we do, rather than for what we are, we are normally willing to sacrifice character for conduct, and intergrity for achievement."

Please kick me if I ever give that impression.

tick tock

I leave for Sierra Leone tomorrow afternoon. It doesn't quite seem real. Probably because the night before a trip I am just starting to think about what I am going to pack, and this time I'm already packed. Very, very impressive for me. I usually finish packing at 3 in the morning for my 7 o'clock flight.

I can't believe it, but I'm kinda bored. I am rereading a favorite book to pass the time while Jules studies.

I also took my first dose of Doxy this morning which got me thinking. I am so thankful that we have the access to health care that we do. I am in general not a fan of our system, but when I stopped to think that I can get Doxy at little cost from my local pharmacy to keep me from getting malaria (hopefully), I realized how wonderful that is. I actually don't know much about the health care in Sierra Leone, but I can't imagine they have the same access to drugs, doctors etc that we do.

tick tock, tick tock...

Auction

So the team I'm going with to Sierra Leone is holding an auction on our blog. We're still trying to raise the money we need. Take a look, there are some fun gift cards and art. It's a win win situation. You get something and we get your support.

Thanks!

Score

Julian got his score!!!! 216

The avg. for people applying to family medicine residencies is 210 and the overall national avg. is 222.

I'm so happy for him. This is a big weight lifted off his sholders. To celebrate he will be working 30 hours striaght this weekend. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Boards Step 1

Jules is taking the 1st step of the boards on Friday. He is now is super-cram, freak out mode. Actually is dealing with the stress pretty well. Prayers would be great though!

Newest Member of the Family

On Sunday (I think) Julian's family got just a little larger. Julian's brother and wife had their first child, Jaqueline Kathleen. They sent us pictures and she is adorable! We are so happy for them. What a blessing!