I < 3 MIT

The essence of MIT spirit: http://alum.mit.edu/holiday2010/

Peek Back at High School

NT and I went back to our high school with some trepidation.  I think it's been five years since I've seen my teachers.  I wasn't expecting any of them to recognize me, but I was pleasantly surprised when my physics teacher looked shocked, remembered my name, and gave me a big hug!  She was definitely one of my favorite teachers, too bad I couldn't say I became an astronaut and joined NASA.  Most of the other teachers all looked confused when they saw us and thought we were looking for someone else.  One asked if we were asking about an SAT prep class - oops!

I guess it was go-back-to-high-school-and-see-your-teacher-day because we kept on running into other students doing the same thing.  Although they were usually one year removed from high school and looked at us with some disbelief when we said we were 05's.  Haha - never felt so old.

We also managed to catch my 11th grade English teacher who was known as an eccentric and someone I found pretty intimidating back in the day.  Although he didn't recognize us - from the hundreds of faces he's seen in his 50+ years of teaching - he still talked to us with such warmth and happiness, and asked if I sat in "that chair" - which I couldn't remember at all.  In fact, we both got embraces from him as well (I feel so honored!).  He also recalled memories that I've completely forgotten, like how in the Glass Menagerie, Laura would sometimes run around in Forest Park, so he showed us pictures of St. Louis and the Arch.  Although I don't remember any of that, hopefully he will recall who we were as he sits eating his dinner and stares off into the distance - at least that's what he says usually happens.

But what amazed me the most was how timeless all the teachers seemed.  It's as if as soon as I stepped out of high school, they stopped changing.  Maybe they just looked young to begin with, and they were actually a lot older than they really looked when I was there.  For example, the eccentric English teacher said he might retire because he's been teaching at that school for 40 years and some of his students were approaching 50 - yet HE looked like he was 50.  And the physics teacher commented that her students looked 40 - but she definitely looked like she was 30.  Maybe being around young people really do keep you young.

We also ran into my 10th grade English teacher as he was walking to his car - which was kind of amazing.  It was not surprising he taught drama for a time.  He also told us some interesting trivia about St. Louis like how T.S. Elliot was born there, and his great-grandfather was one of the founders of WashU - or something like that.  It was also nice to see another physics teacher who both NT and I agreed was kind of pleasantly geeky.  We both told told him to send "hello's" to his wife who also taught us.  It was a pity I couldn't make it to my tennis coach, but hopefully she'll get my message via another prof.  When we were trying to search for her in the gym, there was a basketball game going on, and the ticket people told us we needed to pay if we wanted to stay for the game - we gently declined the offer.  We also heard the very-likely-hyperthyroid English teacher was running around as usual, but unfortunately, he didn't run into us.

Overall, it became a very amusing trip with many warm smiles and fond memories - I guess I'm good at forgetting the bad ones.  NT and I agreed that the teachers probably got a kick out of having some of their old students visit them - and I hope it really did make their holiday season just a little bit brighter.

Money Stats

Some interesting money stats that were quoted in my church's sermon this past week: (from the book, Passing the Plateby Christian Smith.)

• At least 1 out of 5 American Christians (20% of all U.S. Christians) give literally nothing to their church.
• The median American Christian gives only 0.62% of their income to charity.
• In 2005, Americans spent $27.9 billion on candy.
• In 2004, Americans spent $92.9 billion on soda & bottled water, & in 2005 spent $59.4 billion on jewelry & watches.
• Americans spend over $200 billion on entertainment products (TV’s, iPods, video games, etc.) each year.
• Americans spend over $300 billion on pets, toys, and playground equipment for their children each year.
• In 2004, Americans spent $30.5 billion on consumer (not business or government) domestic air travel & $48.3 billion on travel & tourism abroad.
• In 2005, American consumers spent $24.1 billion on DVD’s (not counting VHS rentals and purchases).
• In 2004, Americans spent $29.7 billion in sporting goods stores.
• In 2003, Americans spent $45 billion in state lotteries.
• Americans spend more than $100 billion per year on fast food.
• Between 1978 and 2005, the average square footage of new, single family houses in the United States rose from 1,750 to 2,414 square feet – a 40% increase.
• The average American spends $372 per year on alcohol.
• The average Christian gives $200 per year to charity.
• If committed Christians in the U.S. gave 10% of their after-tax income, an extra $46 billion per year of resources with which to fund needs and priorities would be available. 
• 97% of Christian respondents said they either never, or hardly ever discussed finances with members of their church.

Me Last Year (MNZ)

Haha, I got a good laugh out of this one.  So true! So true!: Me Last Year (MNZ)

Cafe Eau

Speaking of ridiculous society events, today we had brunch at Cafe Eau of the Chase.  The buffet menu will explain it's ridiculousness: egg benedict, omelette to order, cauliflower, potatos, smoked chicken pasta, carved beef, wallnut salade, apple/cranberry/fruit salade, pasta salad, fruit platter, lox/fish bagel, capers/toppings, cold cuts (4+ types), grilled veggies (zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus...), protebello mushroom, shrimp, oyster, crab, croissant, pastries, strawberry smoothie, cheeses + crackers, sweet potato cheesecake, desserts: bailly dome, peanutbutter/chocolate mousse, rice pudding, apple tart, lemon bar, lemon tart, pumpkin pie, caramel tart, pecan pie, gooey butter cake, fig chocolate mousse, cheesecake, red velvet cake, chocolate mouse cup, eclaire, fruit tart, drawer of cookies...and I'm sure I forgot more things.  So stuff...5 hrs later..

Through a Child's Eyes...

Children are so innocent!  Here are some letters they wrote to God... hehehe, so funny/cute! (KP):

Dear God,
I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church, is that okay?
Neil

Dear God,
Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones why don't you just keep the old ones?
Jane

Dear God,
I think the stapler is one of your best inventions.
Ruth M.

Dear God,
In bible times did they really talk that fancy?
Jennifer

Dear God,
I think about you sometimes even when I'm not praying.
Elliot

Dear God,
I am an American, what are you?
Robert

Dear God -if-we-come-back-as-something-please-don't-let-me-be-Jennifer-Horton - I-hate-her.
Denise

Dear God,
I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world There are only 4 people in our family and I can't do it.
Nan

Dear God,
Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter.  There is nothing good there now.
Ginny

Dear God,
If you watch in church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes
Mickey D.

Dear God,
Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each so much if they had their own rooms.  It works with my brother.
Larry

Dear God,
If you give me genie lamp like Alladin I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set.
Raphael

We read Thos. Eddison made light. But in Sun. School they said you did it. So I bet he Stole your Idea. Sincerely, Donna

Dear God,
If you let the dinasor not extinct, we would not have a country. You did the right thing.
Jonathan

Dear God,
Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
Peter

Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy
Joyce

:D

Saturday Neighborhood Health Clinic

How exciting! SNHC got featured: http://wumcrc.com/spotlight-on-saturday-neighborhood-health-clinic/.  It's a student run free health clinic for uninsured patients.

Scleroderma

Today, 12 patients with various skin problems came in for our dermatology class.  We listened to a short presentation by their physician, and then 10 of us got to touch, poke, and prod the patient.  Yes, I did feel kind of weird going up to the person and just touching their blister, nodule, scarring, or tumor, but it was definitely interesting and they said they were ok/used to it because they've done it before.  Anyhow, one of the most interesting cases as to be the patient with scleroderma.  It's a condition where your skin tightens up.  It may sound pretty good because it makes you look young since you don't get wrinkles (kind of like Botox!), but it's actually really life-changing because people lose their range of motion (can't bend joints), and because of loss of pigment, it can be pretty disfiguring.  What surprised me the most was the feeling of the patient's skin.  It was literally like touching marble.  It was that smooth and that hard.  The touch of the patient's hands was like touching a statue.  The scarring gets so bad that she can't move her fingers beyond a few centimeters.

My Dreams

I've decided I should record my dreams - who knows, it might be interesting to read through in the future...
Here's a blog that talks about dream interpretation: http://ahalifedesign.com/2010/11/07/another-dream-analysis-martha-beck-style/

• 12.08.11: I was reading a book that was so vivid that I was actually in the stories.  Half the time I was watching the main character, the other half I was actually doing things. I don't remember much of the book.  But in one section, we were walking out into the open, and there were enormous billboard signs that seemed to have signs for us, giving us directions or warnings - not sure which.  In another scene, I had climbed up some enormous tree onto a high cliff where MW was.  I had asked where we were going, and she had said we were heading East.  And knowing we were in Illinois, I kept on asking shouldn't we be going North if we were trying to get to the waters (I think we were looking for the ocean)?  Then one of other medical school friends climbed up from the tree, but it seemed like nobody really knew where or how we were going to the ocean.  I think we were trying to go to the ocean to escape this world somehow.  ...at some point, the tree branch or cliff we were on collapsed, and we all fell down onto a boat that was passing by, and so we just all sat there as it carried us down the river.  Soon we saw enormous boats in a port, and I was so excited that we got to the ocean.  Then I saw the drivers of the boat smooching, and the lady turned out to be a vampire biting the man.  After that, I was told to go back to read an earlier portion of the book.  And that's when read/saw the main character girl (maybe the hunger games character?) swings across the room, past an evil character, and kicks open a door in order to kill some other evil character.  And when she came back into the room, she killed the other evil character.  I think they were vampires. It thought it was interesting that the book required me to go back and read other parts, because I realized that there were parts of it that I understood much better the second time around. I think that part of the dream might be related to me, yesterday, looking at a poster that a hand surgeon had given me earlier about median nerve entrapment.  Back then, I just knew it was some kind of nerve affecting some muscles, but  only now do I realize what it really meant.  Meanwhile, there was a high school student shadowing radiologist when I was there, and I kept on wondering how much he actually understood considering these CT's are still much of a mystery to me now, and how they were really just random lines when I first saw them.  I really wish I remembered the other snippets of the book/dream.  
• 10.11.? I was operating on AS.  While the top of her body was normal, she didn't have legs - instead, it was this one long intestine that I was trying to "telescope" aka, cause intussusception.
• I was in the country side, just wandering about. I needed money, and I could only get it from an old guy vault.  It was really strange, he opened his brain and there was a maze within his skull.
• I was a bridesmaid.  I was wearing a white dress and my mom was there too.  We were at some waterfall that came down a rocky structure on an island.  HL was also a bridesmaid and HL's friend was getting married.  I had no idea who that friend was.
• There was a patient being presented.  But during the presentation, the patient was really sick...and he got sicker and sicker.  I was so worried he was going to die during the presentation.
• I was studying - but I needed to go to different levels of hotels and different places to study.
• 2015: I was in a class, but it turned out to be more of an art auction.  One of the paintings I was looking at was miro's painting.  It was on sale for $135k, but I didn't buy it because I didn't have the money, but I kept on wondering if I should have.  I then went to a section of the place with all the paintings that were not bought.  There I also saw some Snoopy paintings.  No Miro.  I then went to computer class and went on a website to get information, but I couldn't find the specific webpage because it was saved on my computer.  I then was worried that I didn't read a book for a class.  
• There was a princess, and there were girls fighting.  Something about doing something successfully (get to the princess?) and you win ...like a nation?  Then there was SW Africa but it was shaped such that there was a zigzag line down it, and on the right was water and left was land (or other way around). And certain places above the land/water would cause you to float, but other parts you would just fall down and die (I think this was influenced by watching Journey to the Center of the Earth).  Anyhow, we were all on a floating boat, and there was the opposing team? enemy? person?  Anyhow, I got to the princess quickly, but when I grabbed her, her head came off. So then the enemy/opposing person said I lost because the princess' head is off. But then I realized something wasn't quite right, and saw her at a distant island.  I knew I couldn't risk it by jumping off the boat in case I was in an area that had gravity, so I launched myself off like from a gigantic sling shot, and went toward her.  I think I won? I don't know, I woke up.
• Oct: My watch was wrong. I need to help JS with something.  I had a meeting with JS at 10.  Then I was in a room with some people.  A mannequin came to the door and said she was hungry and needed help.  My brother had a girlfriend (what???).  Then in another part of the dream, I saw alan, and there was a bible study gathering at the first apartment I lived in Bellevue.  I couldn't wait to have some alone time with Alan.  But then I needed to go take a shower.  But before that, I needed to pee.  But then I realized I was getting urine all over the place and found I hadn't even removed my underwear. And then I was frantically trying to clean up the mess. Yikes. Later I was on a coach, and I saw LS and her husband and her son.  But it wasn't a son. It was a girl and she was way older...like 3.
• Nov: kid was seizing, and gave anti-epileptic medicine, but then child seized again and this time thought maybe due to hypoglycemia.  Then another scene: someone was on a surgical table, and then I was being scrubbed in by someone.  I asked why do I have to scrub in when I'm not doing surgery, but they still scrubbed me in.  Then I got lifted by mini crane above surgical table, and then my arm/hand was used as a stand so the surgeon can do surgery on the patient.  

2016:

• Jan: AB and I went to a reunion. It was a boring town and nobody showed up because we went a year earlier to a reunion.  My parents went too. And then we were by a river  and we biked to a mall and in it too.  We had to play this game that when a guy pointed at you, you had to say a word that started with "A." And it got down to 4 people. Sometimes they would point at you and make you say 2 words. And then when it got down to the final 4, they made you sing the words that start with "A."  I'm not sure who won, but I would mess up and they didn't notice. The mall was very big and had a nice water front. My parents bought some cruise because it was a good deal but they shouldn't have because they wouldn't want to come back to this boring city. I slept and almost missed the flight back.
• I had a strange dream that my mom gave me choices of shows to go to, and I liked this one traditional ballet so we bought tickets for that.  The ballerina started dancing at an area next to the seats, which was strange because normally there were seats, but at that time, the seats were folded or something so it was flat. I was seated in a seat higher up, and I wanted to adjust my seat to get a better look, and I fell to a lower seat right next to the ballerina. Since I wanted to give her space to dance, I kept on scooting to the right, and soon I was sitting on another audience member. The show involved the ballerina taking a fish and covering it with something, and then stabbing it a bunch of times. There were other parts, but I can't remember.  She then left that audience area and I left too... For the next part of the dream, I was in a really beautiful grand hotel. I was worried about my period starting, but luckily the hotel had all kinds of beauty/toiletry/hygiene supplies.  There was one cabinet full of tampons, but all of them had broken packaging, and I was getting frantic. The end.
• I was complaining my clothing had holes or didn't fit, and JS (Baylor Lesotho Dr) said to go to the storage that had different clothing I can pick out. The storage space had other people's stuff and my old stuff all together - decorations, mini clay animals, even mini sauces like those from McDonalds. People used the sauces for dipping and there were used ones all over.  In another part of the dream I had issues with my sports bra - it was too small and didn't provide adequate coverage no matter what I did. In another part of the dream I needed to pay for something, I think it was education, and I needed more than $2k. LW (Baylor resident abroad) pulled out some money and another person pulled out money and it was enough. We went through a sketchy place and felt weird carrying so much money. And then it turned out we were supposed to give that money to a boy from a wealthy family in exchange for teaching him.
• Met my brother's teacher who commented on how we are so different. I said, yes, it's because he doesn't drink milk so that's why I'm so tall. But then she asked if I knew that my teenage brother had a child in the ICU O_o.  
• 3/4/16: We had to go to this show where I had to dress up as mulan and play basketball against AB (fiance). I had a really hard time getting the hair part down. It was this clip that had multiple pieces and I kept on losing a piece or other among all the other hair stuff. AB would be goofing off like squirting something in his nose and having it come out the other side. 
• 4/10/16: Dreamed that AB and my family and I went to Semongkong to do abseiling. But then when we got there, realized it was the weekend before the week we had planned for, and I had planned to go with CY. Ooops! So I asked if we can do abseiling the following weekend, but it was a holiday and it sounded like there weren't gonna be any guides then. But after some time, they came back and said it was okay.  So instead of abseiling, we played mini golf while riding on horses. 
• 1/28/17: 
• Asked Brother if he believed in God. He said no. Then all these large rocks started flying at us and had to dodge them. Then pause and asked again. He said no.  
• 
  
• You like a girl and another girl pretended your girl killed her by chasing her to drown (did something to you). Your girl guilty. Showed up again to try kill your girl. Screw into skin. Train going somewhere...use to hide.
• 
  
• Coming back to relativee home in China after doing some touristy stuff and going up the stairs. Person from of me going slowly and wobbled and Stairs collapsed and she fell down, down, down. I held on to railing really tight, tried not to put body weight on as I went up stairs. 
• 
  
• Going to MIT, didn't finish yet, went back to high school, asked what I should do of I didn't finish high school but going to college? They said to pay a lot of money and finish high school. So I do that, line up to go to the bus, on the bus there is a handicapped kid and his mom. My mom is looking at a plant with interesting flowers.  Skips to back home, mom says I shouldn't have to go back to high school if I'm in college already, so I go back to get my money back and look for a job. Maybe coach tennis team. But I see they have a coach already. I go to tennis courts and all the kids start running towards a bus. So many of them they line up outside. Then I ask the coach if I can help, realize she is my old coach, but she ignores me and attends to kids. Then another bus comes and rest of kids get on that. Then. I'm walking away from school and I see a small alley lined with cute small Chinese restaurants and stores, very touristy (like he fang jie in Hangzhou). I feel like my brother has been there before (since this is his school). Parents telling me time to go home, I keep on going. Come to a plateau, I go up and see a famous man-made humongous mtn with huge chinese writing on it. Keep going, taking a video of the trail I'm on. Goes over a hill and then into double doors. Dad told me time to go, but I wanted to explore. Found all these twisted multiple path stairs and cement wall leading down. Go through different rooms (other strangers going through it too), including one with a large hanging organ in it. Get to one room with a glass, see a man going through the water in a little under water but open on top vessel so his upper body sticks out and lots of metal things, sculptures, clothing around. He touches one and a voice says if you touch any thing, you become that material. The few people around me and I start running out of there.  Metallic people in chain mill start coming from the entrance, have to find alternative routes to get out. Ran out of the room, wondered what would have happened if rode that under water vessel all the way. 
• I had this dream that the 301 group was on a cruise ship and Mary Ann and I have to be surrogates. And I delivered and it wasn't too terrible and I think in the dream I had already delivered in the past before so that's why it went quickly. The weird part was that the umbilical cord was connected to my umbilical cord and every time I had a baby the scar will go up my umbilicus. I just have to show you. I think the sperm donor was someone I had known in the past. 
• I had another dream where I'm not sure where I was but a place similar to the first apartment we lived in in the US and I think I was dating the main character from The Mummy but I felt kind of bad cuz I didn't really like him very much anyhow I woke up and I was kind of out of it so he was carrying me and then I was okay so I started walking around but then I needed to go to the bathroom and there was only this one bathroom which was really strange because all I had was a curtain to separate from the other people waiting and then I couldn't figure out how to use it for a while so people started lining up and I realized you just had to like go on the floor and there's a little drain and then there's a little shower on top that would Wash It Away into the drain but then slipped and fell and kind of exposed myself cuz there was only a shower curtain that wasn't nearly long enough anyways I couldn't go to the bathroom and I woke up.
• There was another dream where I had to obtain ants in this particular format. We were traveling in Europe somewhere and crossed a river and what I had to do was put my arm on the area where the ants were walking so that the ants will crawl up my arm and then also my feet. And then usually there weren't that many ants but once I did that there were tons of ants that came and then the ants would pair off and become one gigantic bubble ant and then we needed to obtain these ants when they were in the two little ant formation which was really difficult cuz they became bubbles and there were so many of them and then they started popping when we tried to grab them.

Dreams. 

Asked Brother if he believed in God. He said no. Then all these large rocks started flying at us and had to dodge them. Then pause and asked again. He said no.  

You like a girl and another girl pretended your girl killed her by chasing her to drown (did something to you). Your girl guilty. Showed up again to try kill your girl. Screw into skin. Train going somewhere...use to hide.

Coming back to relativee home in China after doing some touristy stuff and going up the stairs. Person from of me going slowly and wobbled and Stairs collapsed and she fell down, down, down. I held on to railing really tight, tried not to put body weight on as I went up stairs. 

Going to MIT, didn't finish yet, went back to high school, asked what I should do of I didn't finish high school but going to college? They said to pay a lot of money and finish high school. So I do that, line up to go to the bus, on the bus there is a handicapped kid and his mom. My mom is looking at a plant with interesting flowers.  Skips to back home, mom says I shouldn't have to go back to high school if I'm in college already, so I go back to get my money back and look for a job. Maybe coach tennis team. But I see they have a coach already. I go to tennis courts and all the kids start running towards a bus. So many of them they line up outside. Then I ask the coach if I can help, realize she is my old coach, but she ignores me and attends to kids. Then another bus comes and rest of kids get on that. Then. I'm walking away from school and I see a small alley lined with cute small Chinese restaurants and stores, very touristy (like he fang jie in Hangzhou). I feel like my brother has been there before (since this is his school). Parents telling me time to go home, I keep on going. Come to a plateau, I go up and see a famous man-made humongous mtn with huge chinese writing on it. Keep going, taking a video of the trail I'm on. Goes over a hill and then into double doors. Dad told me time to go, but I wanted to explore. Found all these twisted multiple path stairs and cement wall leading down. Go through different rooms (other strangers going through it too), including one with a large hanging organ in it. Get to one room with a glass, see a man going through the water in a little under water but open on top vessel so his upper body sticks out and lots of metal things, sculptures, clothing around. He touches one and a voice says if you touch any thing, you become that material. The few people around me and I start running out of there.  Metallic people in chain mill start coming from the entrance, have to find alternative routes to get out. Ran out of the room, wondered what would have happened if rode that under water vessel all the way. 

2021.10.07

Dream of a dystopian world: Everyone is normal in the normal world. But the elite bad people, let's call them the elite mafia, like people actually rule the world in a super advanced alternate reality and they control everything.  In the alternate reality, it's super advanced, techy.  There was technology like levitation boards that people traveled on, advanced weaponry, etc.  The Elite Mafria are able to control the alternate reality because there's a vote of who keeps power and since the Elite Mafia make sure no normal people get in or stay in, they always win the vote.  Normally everyone goes about their daily lives normally, but there are a few "normal people" who have the awareness of an alternate reality and also have the ability to go to the alternate reality, including me. And someone was teaching me how it works. There are certain rooms with doorways that you can walk through if you have the special power. But the rest of the people can't. And there are certain rooms that makes it obvious that you are coming out to the alternate reality as a regular person, and others that help you blend into the elite mafia. All the elite mafia people have a special number or item they have that helps distinguish themselves. There are the regular elite mafia people who go about their daily lives, and then there are the senior adults who make sure things run properly and keep the regular people out of the alternate reality world. At one point I was in it with a mentor who was showing me how to vote so I didn't get detected. And then showed me some pretty advanced technology such as the weapons and transportation. In this world, you can make certain things appear.  I was trying to get the hang of gliding a on the levitation pad thing. Then another time, I tried to enter the world myself, and found there was a senior elite person asking people for their numbers. I quickly stuck my hand in someone's cubby, grabbed their lipstick that had a number on there, and the elite person believed me. Phew. And then later I was on a train, and as I was getting off, there was a lot of shooting. I think that's also another way they get rid of "normal" people. When the train was about to stop, I laid on the ground and pretended to be dead. I also had something important that I believe the Elite Mafia people were looking for, so I let go of it and let it be on the ground. When the Elite Mafia people came to kill people, they found the important item, and stopped killing people. Also they really thought I was dead (not sure why b/c I had no wounds). Then I got together with MZ and  she told me she entered through the portal that allowed her to blend in, and I was thinking, "of course, I should have done that."  

At one point, AB and I were staying in a hotel and trying to feed the baby. There was a window with its curtain blowing in. And then at one point of the feeding, a giant insect landed on AB and he nearly lost hold of the baby. I got a tissue paper, and AB managed to gently pick it up and kill it. In part of my dream, my mom came back to help feed the baby. I think I even asked AB if my mom was truly back. 

2021.10.08

I woke up early and was trying to find some breakfast/food to eat. There were plates displayed of different types of food, but I thought it was too expensive? And then I walked around, and saw someone making crepes. Took me a while to decide which type; options were: strawberry + strawberry sauce, chocolate, strawberry, and something else. I chose strawberry, but the person making it said she was really busy and to come back in 30 minutes to order. I didn't want to come back, so decided I just won't get anything, but then I saw a bagel shop and wanted something there. 

I was in some non-American building. I think it was some kind of stand-off between this non-American building and an American building. Perhaps this building had Nazis, or communists, or Muslims? I'm not sure. There was this guy who was walking around the building, and one of his superiors told him to do something. After some time, he didn't, and then the superior told him again (in a scary/demanding manner?), and so then this guy grabs someone and goes to a window. There was a large crowd so I didn't see what happened, but a lot of shouting. Turns out he had tortured that guy (stuck something in his nose?), and killed him as a demonstration to the Americans. And then there was a little boy who was running around too. He was very agile, able to go from swinging to monkey bars, etc. At one point the Americans said something like we have less than some number of people (to show how many people they have), and this non-american guy said, we have more than 47,000 people. I think it was supposed to be large number? 

51 marathons in 2 yrs?! With a broken hip?! On crutches?!

Alumna runs ran marathons in all 50 states + Washington D.C. and set the record for being the youngest to do that.  When I read that, I thought, she must be 40, or something...maybe a few a year? But I couldn't believe she was an 09 MIT graduate b/c she looked so young in the pictures.  After some research, she turns out to be 22 - running marathons since senior year nearly every weekend! She didn't even start long distance running until senior year of college!  How crazy is that?  More crazy facts:

• She broke her hip at one point and had to run marathons on crutches for 2 weeks
• What she eats before races: pizza and beer
• Typical training: "Saturday and/or Sunday I would run a marathon" + weekdays 3-6 mile/day training + evening training
• Record was an "accident" - didn't realize there was a record until she was half way done
• "I try to make my life as normal as possible aside from the fact that I run marathons every weekend."
• She averaged 3rd place before her hip injury

Here's the interview with her: Morgan Cummings
Here's another article about her: New Record Set

Engagement Decoy!

I got to participate in the proposal of two of my good friends!  My job was to go to the park near our school, pretend I got a flat tire while on my way to string my racket (b/c it's happened quite a lot), and have my friend (the girlfriend) "pick me up."  Of course, I didn't have my bike there b/c I didn't actually feel like riding all the way to the proposal place.  Anyhow, my other friend (the boyfriend/now fiance - so weird!), was hiding behind a ramp near this huge pond in front of the art museum with many beautifully lit fountains against the moonlight.  I then had to make her park, and get her to walk towards the water.  The boyfriend popped out with a guitar, and started singing a song from Copeland while the rest of us spectators waved glowsticks.  Then he said some mushy stuff and popped the question! - lots of popping! 

It was so cute! Hehe!  Funny thing was, when my friend was driving to the park, she actually got lost at first, and called me to get directions.  Meanwhile, another set of friends were supposed to call us when she ACTUALLY left the apartment by stalking her car.  However, they called me saying she never left the parking lot right after my friend called to say she was lost in the park.  Apparently, they were stalking the wrong car!  Oops!  

Anyhow, it was super adorable!

Practicing Racism in Medicine

Normally you're not supposed to judge a person by their skin color - but this blog indicates it's a necessity on the boards. Okay, maybe not necessity, but serious, this is hilarious: http://www.agraphia.net/zac-fact-10-bigot-your-way-to-success/

Dancing Baby!

Hehehe: - Music calms the baby beast!  This kid's gonna be one heck of a dancer when he grows up!

Male Restroom Etiquette

In case you need a refresher - or you're curious about what happens in the other gender's fortress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1mCAVyMw (AS).  Failure to follow these rules will "...place the very fabric of our civilization in peril."

Or...if you think you already know everything, test your knowledge here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1mCAVyMw (YC)

Stiff Person Syndrome

I ran into this youtube video about this girl who was healthy, beautiful, and about to get married, but then became destroyed by a suspected autoimmune disorder.  Initially I thought this was a scam, but it turns out it's legit and on ABC news: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8277314. Here is the ABC 20/20 article: Steadfast Fiance Provides Lifeline for Woman With Rare Mystery Illness
Can you imagine thinking you'll be living out your fairytale story, then your body starts to deteriorate to the point where you're paralyzed? I guess that happens with a lot of illnesses, but it's just sobering to remember that we're so human.

Here's the original youtube video: 3 Weeks to Live

Quince

Have you ever heard of the fruit, Quince? - mixture between pear and apple.  I've never heard of it before!  You can make Honey Poached Quince Pie.

Doctors Without Borders

On Monday, Dr. Richard Heinzl, the founder of the Canadian Doctors Without Borders (MSF) came and spoke! It was so exciting! Just reading about his stories abroad (Uganda, Cambodia, Turkey...) is inspirational and awe-inspiring!  Before, I had been very interested in doing MSF, but after his talk, I'm almost certain this is something I would like to do once I'm out of medical school.  Granted, I'll have to worry about debt, taking time off, safety, and perhaps even family...but those are problems for me to figure out later.  For now, I just need to get through second year...

Belly Up!

My favorite e-card of all times! :D
http://www.hallmark.com/ECardDisplay/ECardDisplay/nfg2155_DK?FacetList=ecards%3EBirthday
In memory of KP and her special day!

Ridiculous Foreign Body

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous foreign bodies found!  How in the world did it get in there?

Parenting the Biblical Way

Today's pre-chili-cook-off sermon was about parenting.  Darin placed emphasis on the importance of having honor run the family and the society.  He emphasized the importance of father's participation in parenting, the myths, and the reasons and ways of honoring imperfect parents:

• Statistically, children benefit from a father's involvement in parenting: better academically, emotional/social health is better
• Everyone grew up in dysfunctional families (even the ones that look perfect) because parents are imperfect
• The center of the family is not the child because children will leave.  God is the center.
• "A family is a covenant community where worship and learning happens in the context of unconditional love."
• Different growth:
• Spouse: grow to be interdependent
• Parenting: how to be independent or codependent
• Old school:
• Center of the family is the dad - chauvinistic
• Family is an emotional support only
• Child is like a slave - parents live through kids vicariously
• Parents are just friends
• Ephesians 6:1: Children obey your parents...honor your father and mother...
• Growing up: obey parents
• As adults: honor parents (there's a difference)
• NOT obey b/c parents are imperfect
• Why honor?
• parents represent authority in our life
• authority: when God puts fallible people to discipline, protect, and teach us.
• we don't like authority, but we need it 
• teach us authority - when give God authority, we give him glory & us joy
• What honor looks like
• Take them seriously
• The Hebrew word for honor is "weighty" - so treat them like they matter, they have weight
• Find common ground with them
• Ask them for advice (Parents shouldn't expect grown children to obey, but should influence them)
• Listen to their struggles, esp. health - let them finish well
• Share your joy with them (they see themselves in you)
• Big one: forgive them.
• Even when parents die, they will still have bearing on you if you don't forgive them.
• Ephesian 4:31: ...as God forgave you.

Pandas are so cute! :)

This panda really wants to get to the top!: Panda Climb
Awww, this is a great definition of friendship: Friendship
And here's a panda clinging onto a worker after an earthquake:


The rest of this dude's pictures are really cool as well! Ah...pretty pictures and funny chinglish!

Does He Have Bones?

Wow, this guy "is not normal"....so cool!  It's really like he's rubber...or something:



And I'm pretty sure this one's fake. It is right? Somehow modified?...it has to be...
Funny Face Dance

RWIM: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis and Esophagogastroduodenoscopy

Ridiculous Words In Medicine: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)- rare lung cancer that involves proliferation of disorderly smooth muscle cell in premenopausal women.

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) - scope for esophagus, stomach, and duodenum

Wow! Architecture is so Amazing!

I have to visit these places some day...
http://www.noupe.com/photography/50-beautiful-examples-of-architecture-photography.html
Example:

So bizarre!

Checkout this awesome space-saving bathroom idea: http://dornob.com/7-functions-1-fixture-modular-metal-bathroom-design-idea/

Haha, really love working? Now you can take your whole desk/chair/everything with you: http://dornob.com/mobile-foam-office-compact-computer-desk-2-chair-set/

Or here: http://dornob.com/modular-office-furniture-wood-box-storage-desk-chair/

This just looks claustrophobic: http://dornob.com/office-in-a-box-wall-furniture-unit-desk-shelves-system/

Ooo..nifty desks that I want when I'm a billionaire...: Triangular Multilevel Desk and

Space-saving desk/storage

Eat and Sleep at the Same Time XD

Oh my gosh!  This has got to be one of the cutest videos ever! hehehe! Poor little girl - must be studying too hard at night! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150104738109392 (KL)

YouKU - not YouTUBE + Chickens are So Cool!

Haha...checkout the chinese version of youtube: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzg0NDg1Njg=.html And the amazing VOR (vestibulo-ocular reflex) capabilities of chickens!  Okay, it's not actually VOR - maybe it's some insane head version of VOR...but anyhow, check it out. This gave me a new appreciation for chickens.  (video from TT)

OMG, Everyone's Getting Engaged!

"Marriage shouldn't be a picture of two people looking into each other's eyes, but of two people standing next to each other and looking out into the distance." There was a VERY interesting sermon at my church today about dating/marriage.  Highly recommend watching it (whether you're single or not)! http://journeyon.net/media/you-yours/loving-god-single-person  (Start at 4:50).  E.g. did you know dating was an euphemism for paying for sex?  Strange...But for the lazy yet curious, here are some highlights:

• Best way to find out if you really actually like someone is by hanging out with other people and seeing how they interact with other people.
• People tend to trick themselves into thinking they like someone ...but in reality, it's because they don't hang out with anyone else. (so true in the case of med school...)
• Seeing his/her interaction with other people will reveal their true self... (haha, this is something my dad told me)
• Your spouse shouldn't be a puzzle to be solved, but a mystery to be explored.  If you think you know everything about them, don't marry them.
• The purpose of marriage isn't happiness, but holiness.
• For many people, marriage is a consumerism reenactment: they look for someone who's attractive, smart, whatever to make themselves feel better.  But when you look for a partner, you don't look for a statue, you look for a marble tablet; not a perfect outcome, but a project.
• Many people also try to get more than what they put in - which in combination with above causes them to see something better and go after that instead.
• Don't be obsessed with perfection, participate in the process of making them perfect.
• Don't focus on who they are, but what they will be.  A vow is a future appointment to meet each other's needs.
• For others, marriage is a movie reenactment:
• Casual sex tries to separate the delights of sex from the responsibilities/covenant
• It damages one's ability to commit and weakens the future covenant to your partner
• C. S. Lewis wrote a book about the four kinds of love. Biblically, it should be in this order when you go through a relationship: 
• Philos: friend
• Storge: affection
• Agape: commitment to serve them
• Eros: sex
• ...But the current mainstream love is this way: Eros, Storge, Philos, Agape
• Things to look for in a partner:
• Christian
• Understands the Gospel
• Doesn't take shortcuts - do the not fun things, willing to do hard things
• And...a no brainer: be attracted to them
• Make you want to be more like Jesus
• Give you a vision for the future
• In the end, he also said people should address their social strangeness.  When I heard this, I thought, ok, maybe I should join a convent.  Haha...yes, I have that many social strangenesses.  

When No One's Looking

While we mostly think hunger, lack of food, and lack of water are restricted to developing countries, runaway children, whether it's due to abuse at home, economic issues, or what not are forced to live on the minimum right here in the states.  http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/25/us/1247465360380/when-no-ones-looking.html
For example, one girl's father had triple bypass surgery, which led to an accumulation of hospital bills that forced the family to a trailer park.  In order to finish high school, the girl squatted in the foreclosed house and had to survive without running water, gas, or electricity (and I thought it was bad in Sierra Leone).
"While the kids are street savvy and petulant, they are still kids." (MX)

Pretty Rings!

MNZ's pretty ring site: Catbird NYC

My favorites:

Yayoi Forest Twist Band

Yayoi Forest Knot Ring

Breakaway Pants

Today is the day to commemorate the time when renal professor tore off his breakaway pants! Hahaha.  So random.  He was just talking about some renal stuff, how much he watches TV, and how real life is not like the Old Spice guy...then whoosh! Off goes his pants! (Thankfully it wasn't a Full Monty - he had shorts underneath). hahaha

And leading up to that....well...my friend says it best:

What I learned in med school today:
1. Scrubs is true to life.

2. Grey's Anatomy has way more prettier people than [real hospitals].

3. House is a fraud.

4. Steven's not the Old Spice guy.

Do I get an Honors??

Hahaha...so awesome :D

Nicholas Kristof on Half The Sky

Today I listened to the most awful talk ever.  Who am I kidding, he was an awesome speaker!  I listened to Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist, talk about girls in China, female trafficking in Cambodia, goats changing lives, and fistulas ruining lives.  It was awesome!!!  It was about his book, Half the Sky.  A little bird told me he's a great speaker - and sure is she right!  It was a very moving talk with some detailed accounts of people and events he's encountered centered around women inequality issues.

He started off talking about how the 19th century was about slavery, then was totalitarianism, and now, it's women oppression.  The first experience he described was his trip to China (forgot where) where he met this brilliant girl who could no longer attend school because she didn't have any money.  He told a story of how a many donated $10k, which was used to allow all girls to attend school in this tiny rural province in China.  However, he found out there was a wiring issue and the man only donated $100.  Unfortunately, he had already told the school principal and the students about the $10k, so he had to obtain that money, which he was fortunate enough to be able to do via another donor.  (I was a little out of it during this talk, so I might not have the facts straight).

He then continued to talk about female trafficking in Cambodia.  He showed various pictures of brothels with girls around the age of 15 with a few ironically smiling.  He discussed about how he unorthodoxically bought two girls.  He had heard about one teenage girl who had been sold by her step-father and another one sold by a neighbor.  The mother of one of the girls had been desperately searching for her daughter, and instinctively found her in the red-light district.  There was a great reunion, but the daughter didn't go home with the mom.  When asked why not, the daughter explained that the brothel owner had paid a large sum for her, and her mom didn't have the money to buy her back.  As a result, Kristof had bought one girl for about $400 and the other for $250.  Compared to the worth of black slaves in the 19th century, they were worth dirt.

There was also a story of a goat.  Kristof showed a picture of an African girl holding water above her head and a baby sister on her back.  He then told the story of how she couldn't go to school, but another organization via the Heffer Organization bought goats and used the money from the milk to get her through school.  She excelled, became first in her class, and the next picture was a picture of her graduating from Cornell.  She said "I am the luckiest girl alive, all because of a goat."  How cool is that?

I felt great injustice during the fistula story, but it also left me in awe at the strength of some women.  Kristof showed a picture of another African women sitting peacefully.  Unbeknownst to anyone, she had married young, became pregnant when she was 14, and had labor in the depth of a forest.  Due to her underdeveloped pelvis, she was left with a dead fetus, incontinence, and nerve damage that left her unable to walk.  Her village thought she was possessed, and left her to the mercy of hyenas at the edge of the village.  She fended off the hyenas with a stick, and despite her inability to walk, she attempted to crawl to the nearest help she could find - some missionaries 30 miles away.  The first night she had to crawl up some tree to keep away from the hyenas, and the next days he continued on.  She did eventually reach the missionaries, which took her to a fistula hospital that fixed her up for free.  And now she works as a nurse at the hospital.

He was talking about how many times people don't want to be involved in international work, or of the sorts because it makes them feel depressed/hopeless, but he talks about seeing some of the best people in these situations.  He talks of a warlord dessimating people and lives, but out of it all, was a nun who helped all the orphans she could find and kept the warlords at bay.

When asked about whether he had concerns or how he dealt with security, he told another story about him in the Congos.  He traveled there in a plane, and soon after he got off the plane, it was destroyed.  He decided to travel away from the area via a road that the rebels had built, but soon ran into a warlord who was massacring people.  Kristof, in an almost lighthearted manner, talked about how the warlord asked who he was, and he just lied and said he was sent by the warlord's commander.  Somehow, he was allowed to leave, but the warlord soon got in contact with the commander, who said there was no such guy as Kristof, which then ensued a long chase of armies after him.  All the while, he told the story as if it was just another day in his life.  Crazy.

Love Means Nothing To Me

Of all my loves in life, I can't believe I haven't had one blog entry about tennis!!!  That has got to change.  I couldn't help loving some of these t-shirts! hehe
http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/tennis
Some of my favorites:


One of my fav's: http://www.cafepress.com/+god_loves_tennis_white_tshirt,378410167
http://images4.cpcache.com/product/410562034v-1_240x240_Front_Color-White.jpg

Dreams are so Strange

Yesterday I had a dream with two of my renal professors in it.  It was so strange.  They both really, really liked Shakespeare for some reason, and even held selectives where people can go read Shakespeare.  You had to climb up this really rickety staircase to the highest part of the building.  It was so unstable, but had a gorgeous view.  Anyhow, that's where the readings were.  One of the professors (SM), the older professor, really liked to dress up in Shakespeare outfits.
There was another segment where there was a concert being held at the bottom of this one building, that ended up being at least 5 floors down from ground level.  It was more of a cave than an actual room.  There were these people performing country music, of all things (I don't even particularly like country music).  I remember following friends down there, and listening to the concert and thinking about the great acoustics in the cave and how my country-music loving friend (LL) should've been there.  It was very strange also because I felt like I had tried to go to this concert in a previous dream, but couldn't find the location because I thought it was just one floor down - not realizing the building continued down several floors.

Diagnosis Wenckebach

After learning about some heart conditions in Cardiology yesterday, this is what go passed around my class:
Diagnosis Wenckebach
"Hilarious and Educational!"
For my non-med school friends, it's a problem with the electrical conduction of the heart.  It's a second degree AV block - block between atria and ventricles.

List of Interesting Articles/Sites from Friends

• 12.08.19 The voice that comes out of this guy is incredible: cover of Sexy and I Know It (MNZ)
• I like: http://i.imgur.com/NXcvK.jpg (thanks kp!)
• 
• 11.03.13 This clearly shows the destructive nature of the earthquake/tsunamic in Japan: Before and After. (LW)
• 11.03.11 UP! in real life.  :D (MNZ)
• 11.02.16 Cool Illusion on a Building: http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/joke/381687.html (Dad)
• 11.01.24 OMG! I love this lady gaga parody!!!  BUT, before you watch the parody, you need to watch the original lady gaga video. warning - it is....strange, to say the least.
  hahahaha! i love the outfits, the old chinese researchers dancing, and the chinese characters on the tube!
• 11.01.24 Average Asian Aging Process (AS) - so true!
• 11.01.08 Baby animals are so cute! :D Baby Monkey Riding on a Pig  (AL) and Nom Nom Nom (JS)
• 10.12.10 Interesting Sleeping Patterns - Need to sleep less?
• 10.12.07 Cool nerdy talent: PVC Instrument (JW)
• 10.12.05 SNOWTORO! (MNZ)
• 10.12.03 A Father Who Creatively Captures His Kids (KP)
• 10.12.02 Cute video about a boy who has a "condition": Michael Donovan: A True Story (LD)
• 10.11.29 Yay!  Watched Harry Potter 7!  It was a lot of fun, though the ending was very disappointing - darn - they should've just made an uber long one.  Anyhow, this literal trailer is hilarious: Literal Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer Parody (KL)
• 10.11.29 Dear First Lady Michele: students write to the first lady.  So cute!  Here's an example, "I think that you should shut down cigarette and liquor companies and try to keep drugs off the streets. Robots may be able to help you." 9 & 10 yr olds (MNZ)
• 10.11.21 Funky Hand Dance - We No Speak Americano (MNZ)
• 10.10.24 How To Be Alone - pretty funny and interesting video/poem (LD)
• 10.10.14 Physician Revives a Dying Art: The Physical (KP)
• 10.10.10 Questionaire shows that most religious people are less informed about religion than atheists (MNZ)
• 10.10.05 Hahaha!  This is so hilarious! PHD version of Most Beautiful Girl in the Room from Flight of the Conchords. (HZ).
• 10.09.30 Never married young adults now surpass married.  It has a quote form a pastor at my church that says 1/3 of people who went to premarital counseling at my church are already living together.  Would've thought church-goers were different...
• Afghan girls dressed up as boys because boys are valued more and have more freedom. (MNZ)
• A hunter _(fill in blank)____ a bear  Such a clever idea!!!  So funny!  When you get sick of adding things...try these words: tickle, eat, hug, soccer, dance, erase, study, watch, drink, dream, hunt, meet, chicken, feeds, sings, call, make, picks, high fives, takes a picture of, fishes with, plays with, and -oh dear - win...ya, wasted a lot of time here... (SD)
• Today we just went over some hyperkalemia question, and a classmate sent out this article about hyperkalemia (high potassium).  After I read it, I exclaimed to my roommate, "Oh my gosh!!  I understand this article!"  And my roommate replied, "So nerdy..." (JP)

Reminder When Things Don't Go as Planned

It's not " 'For I know the plans YOU have for you,' declares the Lord." Instead: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future."


Thanks KP!

Perspective Pictures and Cute Video of Old Couple

Here's a cute video of an old New York couple (Annie and Danny) that I saw on Cup of Jo blog:
http://vimeo.com/12562270
It's talks about their 27 years of love and ends with Danny's terminal cancer.

Here are some really cool Forced Perspective Photos!  (Thanks LW!)

Branchial Cysts and First 2nd yr exam

Ah! Just got done with first exam of 2nd year...and here's something I should be studying instead of blogging about...branchial cysts!  Can you believe people come into the office and say it's been in the family for a long time? That their father, grandfather, or uncle had it?...

Branchial Arch Cyst*

Luckily it's just an embryonic malformation and there's really nothing wrong with it except it looks strange.  It can be easily resected surgically!

Look how translucent it is and how cleanly it comes out!*

*Really wanted to site the pics, but can't remember where they came from

"Fainting" Goats! So funny!

Hahaha! These goats are ridiculous (yes, part of med school experience - YouTube).  
"Very important disease that plagues goats.  It's called myotonia congenita and targets the Cl channels causing sudden paralysis." -MNZ
So funny :D
"Fainting" Goats

Plumpy Nut - Patent or No Patent?

This article makes me so angry at those American companies who don't know anything about Plumpy Nut!!! - which was the therapeutic food for malnutrition produced by the organization I worked for this summer (Project Peanut Butter, run by Dr. Manary): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05Plumpy-t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp It gives a pretty good background about it.

Child being fed Plumpy Nut in Sierra Leone

It talks about Nutriset, the company that has a patent on Plumpy Nut.  In order to make Plumpy Nut, other charity organizations have to first get a license from them.  There was mention that it was unethical because Nutriset was essentially "starving children" by preventing some large corporations from making their own Plumpy Nut and donating it.  Initially, I held the same point of view, but after working for PPB, I think differently.  There were some points that the article failed to mention:

• Some of the companies suing Nutriset's patent on Plumpy Nut claim that it's essentially like peanut butter and people have been making it for years.  However, it's not true.  It's actually only 25% peanut butter.  The rest of it is a mixture of sugar, soya oil, palm oil, milk powder, emulsifiers, and micronutrients.  The suing companies claim that anybody could have made it, but if so, why hadn't they done that before?  Patenting doesn't always mean it's a new product (which in this case, it actually is), but it can also be using an old product for something different.  
• Plumpy Nut was not a product that just came out of one days work - it's a product that's been under research, evaluation, and remodeling for at least 10 years, which also equates to millions of dollars in research.  Although it's not technically a drug, it is half way between a drug and food.  While people are unhappy that drugs cost so much money and say that pharmaceutical companies are always out for profit, people are also not aware that it costs about $800 million dollars to create just one drug.  Of course, I'm not advocating for pharmaceuticals, and I'm sure they do want to make profit, but I'm just saying that Plumpy Nut did not come free.  One of the purposes of patents is to guarantee that those who do put in the huge amount of money can actually regain that investment back.  Without these patents, people would not be investing in research for drugs, foods, technologies, anything because anybody else can just take that new idea and make profit off of it without having to invest in research money.
• Something that's wasn't at all mentioned is that although these U.S. companies have good intentions to make and give out Plumpy Nut, I don't think they really have any idea what's the main issue.  The problem isn't so much the production of Plumpy Nut, but the DISTRIBUTION of it.  It's just so difficult to actually transport Plumpy Nut to the distance corners of districts in Africa where there is no paved road, electricity, running water, or other "essential" services. 
• Furthermore, even if distribution were easier, Plumpy Nut is meant for children 1-5 who are malnourished.  But if you just distribute it without screening, documentation, and education, people won't understand how to use it, and will in fact sell them rather than treat their kids - it's already a problem in Sierra Leone.  
• The last point that the article did touch on is that having U.S. corporations making Plumpy Nut will actually take profit away from local producers.  In fact, Nutriset has considered taking the patent off developing countries like those in Africa.  

I have to say, I'm easily swayed to think one way or another.  But while I put out all these arguments for Nutriset, I'm not completely advocating for them.  It's just providing the other point of view.  

1 Billion for drugs; 2 Billion for military...per day

In class, we just learned that it costs about $800 billion for a pharmaceutical company to make a new drug...which led me to look up the U.S. military spending.

So the U.S. spends $2 billion per day on military, which is $711 billion per year.  

That consists of 47% of the world's spending on military, which is almost how much the rest of the world spends on military COMBINED.   Pie Chart of World Military Spendings

Everyone Should Donate Blood

Just finished watching an episode of BostonMed where a patient took up several pints of blood because he had fallen 15 ft from a ladder and nearly bled to death.  The massive usage of blood donations reminded of an outpatient case in Sierra Leone:

A patient came in while I was shadowing an outpatient doctor.  It turned out she had been to the hospital before because of vaginal bleeding while pregnant, but she had "ran off" - according to the nurse.  The situation was unclear, and depending on who I talked to, I gathered different information.  One source said she was just uncompliant and went home even though she was placed in inpatient care to be looked after.  Another source said she had no one with her, and because in Sierra Leone, in order to get transfusions, you had to have a relative donate blood, she went home to get someone.  In any case, she came back with a relative, but her condition had progressed to a much worse state (perhaps infection?).  

In any case, for all you capable blood donors out there - GO DONATE BLOOD!!!! It's a really great service we have in the States.  Can you imagine how difficult it would be to have to always take a relative with you when you have to go into surgery, and not even knowing if their blood will match yours? And then to be turned away if you didn't have an eligible donor?  So please, if you are more than 110lbs, haven't traveled to a malaria infested country (among other activities that could get you sick), have enough iron - scratch that - even if you don't have enough iron just eat more spinach - GO DONATE BLOOD!

Mothers at the malnutrition clinic in Kwama

Post-SL Trip: Things I'm Thankful for

Count your blessings! - I know, I know - it's such an overused phrase, but it's so true.  There are just so many comforts of the U.S. that people forget about, and I guess this is just a list to remind me of all the things that I missed.

• Electricity! - I can't imagine how many times we'd be working in the factory and the electricity would just go off and someone would have to go and turn on the generator.  At the house we only had the electricity for 3 hours from 7-10pm from a generator, so there were many times when I'd be doing something where having the lights go off was VERY inconvenient. Or just doing things by candlelight was difficult:
• showering
• brushing teeth
• reading a book
• watching a scary movie - not fun...but the computer ran out of battery too, so didn't get to see the ending --still need to do that...
• vomiting my guts out
• baking
• entering data
• ...
• Internet - especially fast internet! Occasionally there's be internet at a decent speed, but just having internet was a blessing!  But in general, internet was useful mainly to stay in contact with my boss.
• Safe drinking water.  Yes, there were times when I had to conserve drinking water because I forgot to buy enough for upcountry.
• Milk!  Oh my goodness, I can't believe how awesome cold milk is until I came back. mmmmm! There was only powdered milk, which I was okay with.
• Orderliness/organization.  It's amazing how organized America is.  You can just step out on to the road and expect cars to follow the rules, or how you can just go to a store and expect to see the price on the product, and that would be the reasonable price to pay and not have to barter for every single thing.  You can just plan your day and that's generally how it'll go.  There's no saying what the day will bring in SL.  
• Factories/industries: So nice to be able to know that if you want something, you can just find a store for it and buy it.  I just wanted to find spatulas one time and I couldn't find them.  
• Hot showers! Oh man, every time I got into the shower I would think about how nice a hot shower would be.  
• Running water.  Yes, there was mostly running water, but upcountry there wasn't - and I felt kind of guilty that people had to carry buckets of water for us to the guesthouse.
• Food: So many people who didn't have that luxury. :(  There was a girl I talked to who I befriended upcountry.  One night she visited me, I asked what she had to eat during the day and she said she hadn't eaten all day (same as her brother).  When I asked her why, she said her dad had went to the city and didn't leave them any money.  When I asked why he went, she said to visit his other wife. 
• Anesthetics: Watching mothers give birth with no anesthetics has almost made me reconsider having children.
• Having reliable doctors/medicine.
• Blood banks
• ...

But overall, I gotta say that I had it good.  I was in a really nice compound that was fenced, and I got to live with some expatriots who were really amazing people!

Geek Ego Booster

Haha...for all you geeks/nerds out there...
http://sfbayarea.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/66795671.html

SL Tid bits

Interesting Sierra Leone Facts:
* Seattle gets 3 ft of rain each year.  Sierra Leone gets 16 ft/year - all during the rainy season (June - October)

Typical Rain Day (Note the massive amount of water overflowing everywhere)

* The record LOW temperature is 68 degrees F (19 C), which is the lowest record high of any other african country.
* The average number of children per woman is 6.3.
* Largest export is diamonds, but mostly unpolished, which are of significant less worth than polished diamonds.
* There are no peanut butter or peanut manufacturing companies in the country (sucks for our NGO, Project Peanut Butter)

What to do if you hit someone with your car:
1) Very few people around: take the person to the hospital.
2) Lots of people around, don't even bother getting out and drive away quickly or else you might get killed.
Sierra Leoneons are very nice and friendly, but people forget that they've been through a war.  So when something happens, they fuel each other on, and it can get ugly.  They're really tough because that's how they got through the war.  As someone said, "It's like a switch."  One moment they are the friendliest people, and the next, they're beating someone to death.  Someone I met talked about how they were heading to church when rocks started being hurled around.  Turned out something had caused the people to turned on the police, and the police were retreating.  It's kind of unnerving to know that the police have no control other than creating traffic.

Language fun:
* Bus means cat
* In Krio: e sounds like "a", i sounds like "e", ay sounds like "i"...
* I "flash" you means calling someone briefly to give them your number

First Poda Poda Experience!

Poda Podas are the equivalent to buses, but they are the size of a minivan, and generally hold 20 people excluding the driver.  It was very squished, and you can generally find one guy hanging out the door of the car, watching out for potential passengers.  Along with flowery, colorful designs, they also have interesting phrases on the back like "City Boy," "Madonna," and/or "Jesus is Great."  Yes, they can all be on the same poda poda.  Unfortunately, poda podas are the root of all traffic (well, okay, and police officers).  They just randomly stop in the middle of the road as people jump on and off.  On my poda poda experience, there was a rather large lady who tried to get on, but just as she sat down, she got up and left.  Turned out all the other passengers complained that she was taking too much room, and drove her off the poda poda.  Man, talk about democracy.    Anyhow, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  In fact, I think I might incorporate poda podas into my nonexistent repertoire of public transportation.

Practicing Chinese in Sierra Leone

Who would've thought knowing Chinese would've been useful in Sierra Leone.  Even more curious is who would've thought the only sugar factory in all of Sierra Leone is operated by a Chinese family.  Anyhow, after looking up some business jargon on Google Translate and mentally rehearsing some of the things I might say, I think I managed to undergo a small business conversation in Chinese.  And to top it off, I got a free sprite.  We'll see if he really understood what I said after I see the result next week.


Also, before I would get really annoyed when people said "Ni Hao" or "Ching Chung" to me in the streets, and I would pretend I didn't speak Chinese, but then I realized sometimes it's a lot better to pretend I didn't speak English so that people would stop bothering me.  So then when people kept on bother me, I would just break into Chinese.  It really works!

Ah Bunge Di Squirrel

We were driving along the highway from Moyamba to Bo when all of a sudden, my driver cried out, "Ah Bunge Di Squirrel!"  He quickly pulled the car to the side of the road.  We asked, "What?!!" but he kept on repeating the same phrase.  He ran out the car, and by this time, we figured out that he had hit a squirrel.  He must have ran at least a few hundred yards back to check out the squirrel.  As he left the car, I yelled that he didn't have to worry about it and he can just leave it there.  Little did I expect him to return to the car proudly holding the squirrel by its tail.  He laughed as he told us how everyone from the nearby village was begging to have his dead squirrel.  Before we could say anything, he threw it in the car on the floor of the driver's seat.  We yelled at him to get it out of the car, but he said he was taking it to his brother so he can eat it.  How kind of him.  We decided it'd be okay, so we drove with this squirrel corpse and made him take a picture with it.

Watching the Miracle of Life

First time seeing a childbirth and a caesarian section!  It was such a crazy experience watching a baby come out of a person.  A whole freakin baby!  When I got there, the midwives told me I was receiving the baby.  I said I didn't know how, but they still gave me gloves and an apron.  It was crazy watching the whole process.  The midwives kept on saying "Push!!" as the mother exerted as much effort as possible in agony while a little tuft of hair protruded from her.  Initially, I wasn't sure what was protruding from the mother's vagina because it looked like it was so soft and deformable.  After a couple of pushes and many painful screams, it was clear the baby's head was way too big for the mother's opening, so the midwife took a pair of scissors and snipped the opening at 7 o'clock.  The mother didn't even flinch.  I can only deduce that the pain of childbirth already exceeded the minor pain of being snipped by scissors. 

Anyhow, the scissor trick appeared to work, and a head popped out.  A whole head with a pale, bluish face and plenty of hair.  I couldn't believe the size of the head compared to the opening I had seen earlier.  The midwife reported that the baby had an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but thankfully it was loose, so they just had to wait for the child to rotate naturally to the right or left.  The midwife demanded one last push, and with some quick maneuver, the shoulders came out, and the rest of the body just slid out like a fish out of someone's hands.  The midwife quickly grabbed the baby's feet and hung him upside down as the cord was removed from his neck.  The mother was told to hyperventilate to deliver more oxygen to the baby.

The baby looked so fake.  He was bluish and slimy and looked like a doll that had some manufacturing difficulties.  Man, babies are so gross when they first come out.  The umbilical cord also looked unreal.  It was so organized and smooth that it looked like a man-made plastic tube with a twist to it.  Anyhow, the cord was clamped and cut, and the baby gave out one tiny but purposeful cry to tell the world that he's ready to do some damage (well, he's already done plenty of damage). 

The mother's ordeal continues.  We waited for the placenta to detach as we watched for elongation of the umbilical.  That did not happen, so the midwife had to manually push down on the uterus to contract it while pulling on the cord.  Each time the midwife pulled on the cord, the mother cringed with pain.  Soon, a bag of blood vessels and lobes came out - the placenta.  The midwife checked to make sure there were no clots and the whole thing was intact before putting it in a bag so the mother can take it home and bury it in a special ritual.

To finish up this whole process, the opening's cut had to be sutured.  The midwife haphazardly stabbed the mother in various places near the cut to put in local anesthetics.  Then she continued to suture the cut.  I don't know if it's because the anesthetic wasn't enough or failed to take effect, but each stitch caused the mother to writhe in massive pain.  It seemed like it was done so roughly.  The needle sometimes got stuck at the outer skin level and the midwife had to really jerk it to get it through the skin.  I don't know how the mother would ever want another kid after this ordeal. After 5 sutures, she was finally allowed to rest. 

This whole process took place in a tiny room the size of a small bathroom.  The mother laid completely exposed on top of a cushioned bed that was simply layered with a plastic wrap.  The sutures were the wrong kind, so it had to be doubled up.  The mother didn't bring a lapa (fabric), so the child was wrapped up in her t-shirt.  But a real kicker was that to soak up the endless flow of blood, they used pads.  Yup, the same ones women use for periods.  A box of them was sitting on the empty bed next to the patient.  I guess if you think about it, they're probably the best at sucking up blood.  But still... there was one patient who had post-partum hemorrhage, and the doctor gave her some oxytocin shots, rubbed her uterus and breasts, and stuffed several pads up her vagina to stop the bleeding.  It was quite disturbing. 

Caesarian:
That was a lot of fun to watch.  The doctor went through layers and layers of various bodily material.  Then all of a sudden, there was a massive flow of fluid all over the place as the doctor entered the uterus.  The baby was extracted and hung upside down as in natural childbirth (do they always hang babies upside-down?).  Then the WHOLE uterus was pulled out of the tiny slit they cut in the abdomen to be sewn together.  The doctor was so smooth with his suturing that he was done in a couple of minutes.  After that, he just left - with the whole uterus still outside the mother's body - and had the medical officer (I'm guessing it's the term they use for doctor in training) finish up the suturing.  Oh man, it was a pain watching him suture.  Not only was he slow, the suture got caught up in clamps, the suture came out of the needle, he left too little suture at the end so he wasn't able to tie a knot, and many other little things that I'll probably do when I start rotations.  Ultimately, he finished, squished the uterus back into the abdomen, and sutured the rest of the layers together.  Mission accomplished.  Baby delivered. 

17 Year Old Mother:
I knew the mother was young, but I didn't realize she was only 17 years old!  She was just starting high school, and she had not married yet.  As she labored, I harbored a slight prejudice against her and kept on wondering if she had regrets. 

Anyhow, the birth continued with no complications, rips, or necessary scissor snips.  A tiny girl came out, but to everyone's surprise, her stomach was still distended.  She had twins!  Many people in Sierra Leone still don't have any prenatal care, so it wasn't a surprise that she didn't know she had twins.  The midwives suspected twins because of the large distension, but other than that, I think they were just as surprised. 

After the birth, I got to talk to the girl, and her story is a sad one.  Her father had died during the civil war, and her mother died unexpectedly when she was in elementary school.  She has several aunts, one of whom is very wealthy and have children living in London and America; however, the aunt abandoned her because of some strife with the girl's mother.  The cousins in U.S. or America would send money or gifts to the 17 yr old girl, but the aunt confiscated everything and made sure they never met. 

The teachers saw she was a smart girl, so paid for her education.  Then this boy near where she lived started to like her.  The boy's family got to know her and like her as well, so eventually she was living with them and they provided for her education.  At first I suspected some foul play, but when I asked if the boy and family were kind to her, she said they were like a blessing.  I wish her the best in her aspirations to be a bank manager. 

She had quite a lot of postpartum bleeding.  Please let her be okay.