Wish He Were Here

I just got a postcard from Catherine! Wait, let me rephrase that... Titan just got a postcard from Catherine. Yes, in addition to having Facebook friends that I don't have, Titan is now getting snail mail from my friends.

A little background on Titan: recently, he has been battling a debilitating case of anorexia. No, seriously. He used to start devouring his food before I even put his bowl down, but now he won't eat if anybody else is in the room, not even when I hand-feed him. The only time he'll eat is if nobody is watching him, and even then, he nibbles slowly and doesn't always finish his meal. Poor Titan... the pressures of being thin in our society have really gotten to him.

Mosquitoes Are My Archnemeses

What happens to mosquitoes in the winter? Do they, like, go into hibernation or something? How do they manage to come back in full force every summer? Is it true that only female mosquitoes bite?

I couldn't stop thinking about mosquitoes today after I got bit on my right upper eyelid this morning.

Coop wants to invent a tiny bug that flies around and bites mosquitoes. That'll show them what it feels like...

I'm Taken

Life has been a lot easier since Kristen moved in with us. She also has a dog, a girl named Marley. This past week, Kristen and I have been taking turns taking Titan and Marley to the dog park, which is basically the best thing that has ever happened to me.

It was my turn this today, and the trip was for the most part uneventful. The dogs were all playing along pretty well when Diesel, a dog that I had never met before, arrived. He seemed pretty friendly and wrestled around a bit with the other dogs. Then, he came up to me and peed on my leg. PEED ON MY LEG. Really, Diesel? Was that necessary? Also, do I look like a street sign or a lamp post to you? For shame, Diesel; for shame.

Gallbladder Cancer

Dr. Truwit: Can anybody tell me what this is?
Randy: A Charizard egg!

Don't be silly, Randy. Everybody knows that there's no such thing as a Charizard egg. A Charmander egg, on the other hand...

Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me

So I should have spent the day studying for my pathology and microbiology quizzes this weekend, but instead I went to the SUGARLAND and KEITH URBAN concert at John Paul Jones Arena! It was my second time seeing Keith Urban live, and thanks to/despite the fact that he entered an alcohol rehabilitation program earlier this year, he still rocked out tonight. It's times like these that I wish I had joined a band instead of going to medical school. Sam, America's first Asian country star... I think it has potential, don't you?

Enuresis

My dog has it. (Link)

The Internet Doesn't Lie

Dear U.Va. student:

Please be aware that we have received reports from the Charlottesville Police Department of a fox acting aggressively in the Lambeth Field, Rugby Road and University Circle areas. Please avoid these areas if possible. Police advise that if you see the fox do not approach the animal but call 911 and give the operator your exact location. Humane traps have been set up to catch the fox and allow for routine tests to check the health of the animal.

Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Lampkin approved distribution of this message.

What Now?

This past week, I've gotten a lot of flak for taking so long to post pictures to Facebook. People kept asking me when I would put all of the photos I had taken at the Orientation events online, because I usually upload them... well... within 24 hours. If not 24 minutes. This time, I'm a little behind because Nosheen and I have been so busy with event planning and coordination.

Well, let there be no more questions. I just uploaded 6 Facebook albums worth of photos. You wanted pictures? You got 'em. My captioning and Nosheen's tagging abilities are, dare I say it, unparalleled in this universe.

Good News

The Good News: SMD13 Orientation is finally over. I had a lot of fun, but I'm gonna enjoy not running errands and planning parties every waking moment of my day. Psst... Nosheen... we did it!

The Better News: Your friendly Barracks Road Kroger now carries six-pack containers of shrimp-flavored Ramen noodles! No more having to grab handfuls of individually-packed Ramen bags when I go to the grocery store.

Supplies!

Brittany and Jim put their summer's worth of military training to use when they kidnapped me with a pillowcase over my head from the Mulholland Lounge last night. After driving me around for half an hour in Colleen's convertible (in plain sight of everyone in Charlottesville, of course), they finally brought me to Ashtree Apartments, where everyone else had gathered to surprise me. Unfortunately for them, I was unable to respond appropriately, since I was too busy hyperventilating from being under a pillowcase for so long.


When I could finally speak again, the first word out of my mouth was, "CHARIZARD!?" Angie had spent all afternoon working on what may be the best themed birthday cake I have ever seen/eaten in my entire life. We also re-inaugurated Bob's kegerator from college. Needless to say, the rest of the night was a blur. God, I have the best friends in the entire world.

Most Humiliating Moment of Trivia Night

[Abba - Dancing Queen starts to play over the sound system]
Sam: Derek! Remember when those three really flamboyantly gay guys sang this song at karaoke last night?
Derek: YEAH MAN WE ROCKED THAT SONG!
[awkward pause]
Sam: We didn't sing it...
Nosheen: WHO WAS YOUR THIRD??

STFU, everybody.

Psych

I had my first Psychiatry clinical laboratory session, and it was freaking BALLER. Okay, so it was kind of depressing, and I felt terrible for the girl we interviewed and even worse for her family. She had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and recurrent depression. Our mentor did an amazing job of taking her history, and I can't wait to conduct the interview next week!

Now to relax with a round of Trivia at Mellow Mushroom. Never a dull moment in the life of a medical school student!

Bak 2 Skool

ZOMG, it's the first day of school and I'm already pooped. I managed to stay awake during the first class, but I hit struggles during the second pulmonary lecture. I fought off the impending nap attack by doing a crossword puzzle with Jim (wow, some things never change), but when we finished with that, I had nothing left to distract me. I fell asleep right around 11:40am. And I almost made it to noon! Pah.

I think my lack of sleep during Orientation has finally caught up to me. At least tonight's only event is the Movie Night. I can't wait to veg out in front of the projection TV at Mad House and gorge myself on empty carbs.

Resurrection

And there you have it. My brand spanking new camera, courtesy of the Geek Squad Black Tie Protection warranty program. I got a call from Best Buy today informing me that it would cost more than the value of my camera in order to get it fixed (does that mean I totaled my camera?). And, since my original model has been discontinued, I got to upgrade to the Canon Powershot SD 1200 IS. Life is good, folks; life is good.

Fourth Meal

We had 80 beef patties and 24 vegan patties leftover from the cookout last night, and they are currently taking up 1/2 of my freezer space. So obviously, Angie, Jon, and Lee came over to my place to make burgers last night at 1am. We each ate two burgers, and all I want to do this morning is to rip my stomach out.

The other thing I want to do is sleep for twenty years, Rip Van Winkle-style. I decided that while the first years are wine tasting, I'm going to lay out on a blanket and take the angriest nap of my life. Revenge naps: good for the body, good for the soul.

Popularity Contest

Fact: Titan is now Facebook friends with someone he met through Chrissy. That's right, my dog knows people that I don't. I don't know whether to be happy that he has an outgoing personality like his dad or sad that he may become more popular than I am.

Musical Theater

My dream job is to be play piano in the pit orchestra of a West Side Story revival in New York City. Sadly, the show is back on Broadway and for some reason I wasn't hired for the part. I guess I'll have to settle for watching CollegeHumor's production of Web Site Story, which is almost as good as the original.

Jaded

You know you've been Mulholland Social Chairs for too long when you fill your trunk with 77 two-liter bottles of soda from Kroger and it doesn't even faze you anymore. Add 21 handles of alcohol, 22 Sam's Club-sized bags of chips, and 1400 solo cups, and you end up with enough materials for the first week of Orientation. The best part is, Nosheen and I did all of our shopping in less than two hours. We've got this thing down to an art. Forget being doctors, we clearly missed our calling as professional party planners.

We elicited several shocked responses with our grossly overstuffed shopping carts, but my favorite had to be the one from the ABC Liquor Store cashier: "Okay, I have to ask, are you guys having a wedding or a party?"

Itch

I just picked up all of Titan's poop that he left in the yard while I was gone. When I came back in, I realized that I had forgotten to put Off! on my face. Now I have four monstrous mosquito bites adorning my otherwise ruggedly handsome face.

Let the Games Begin

SMD2013 has finally arrived and registered. Honestly, they have no idea what they've signed themselves up for. These next two weeks, Nosheen and I are going to show them that medical school isn't just about hard work; it's also about hard play. I hope they're ready for what's coming!

23. Stepping Out

Here I am in the Madrid airport again, although only for nine hours this time instead of 15 hours like last time. Still, there was no way I could stay in the terminal for the entire day; duty-free stores can only entertain me for so long.

Once again, I decided to visit the city with what time I had, while the girls stayed at the airport and worked on their various projects and assignments. I asked one of the airport employees what I should do with such little time, and they suggested that I check out the area around Plaza de Espana. It turns out that's where the old city is, and the first thing I did was tour the palace. It was just as extravagant and beautiful as I had expected, but unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside. Negative cool points.

Afterwards, I found a nice little cafe in the middle of the Plaza de Mayor, where I had a nice brunch and a nice cup of coffee. I finished up just in time to catch an hour-and-a-half "Essential Madrid" walking tour with the city's tourism agency, which only cost three euros! Sadly, I had to run back to the airport immediately after it ended, but I wrote down all the interesting places around town that I want to visit when I come back for an extended amount of time, which I plan to do as soon as possible.

Okay, time to board the plane for the last leg of my trip. Hard to imagine that less than 24 hours ago, I was in Africa; now, I'm in Europe; and less than 12 hours from now, I'll be back in America. Home, sweet home!

22. Flying Home

Well, we made it back to Maseru, and in a matter of hours, we’ll be on a plane flying out of the Kingdom in the Sky. I’m pretty excited about getting back to the part of the world where it’s summer right now, but I know I’m going to miss this place a lot. Since I already made a list of things I miss about home, here are some of the things I will miss about Lesotho when I’m back in Virginia.

1. Cheap food. We could cook enough food for all four of us on less than $10 at each meal. Boy, did the American dollar come through for us when we needed it the most.

2. Being dirty. I liked showering once every two or three days, and I loved wearing the same two hoodies for an entire month. Ah, the easy life.

3. Walking everywhere. It's going to be hard enough adjusting to cars on the right side of the road, let alone driving itself. Back to gas-guzzling America I go!

4. Constant attention. In the States, I'm just another Asian kid. In Lesotho, I'm a freaking celebrity. People stare at us Mahuas (white people) everywhere we go. That's right, I'm kind of a big deal.

5. Our new friends. We worked with some pretty awesome people at GROW, like Ntate Mphoso, Thakane, M'e Kefoue, Teko, Latsika, and of course our GROW puppy, Tsina. I'm gonna miss them the most of all. The night before we left, they even gave us all Basotho names. Mine is "Thabo," which means "happiness" in Sesotho. Apparently my guffawing laugh is just as inappropriate in Lesotho as it is in the States.

In spite of all this, I'm looking forward to returning home. Next up: Mary Virginia's wedding, followed by SMD2013 Orientation. Real world, here I come!

21. Freaking Out, Part Deux

The past few days have been eventful to say the least. The cold front that came in this weekend brought with it a snowstorm, the likes of which have not been seen for years. Although Mokhotlong only got a light grazing of snow, the storm was able to block the mountain passes that connect Mokhotlong to the capital city of Maseru and cut off all internet access in the highlands. The roads were to be closed for the entire week, preventing us from getting back to Maseru in time for our flight home on Thursday. As soon as we learned about this, we frantically ran across town to the “airport” (really just a bar sitting next to a field), where we arranged for a helicopter to come pick us up. To be safe, we also spoke to Flying Doctors to see if they could airlift us out of the mountains in case the helicopter didn’t work out.

Luckily for us, the weather took a turn for the warmer, and both the roads and the internet were in working condition again last night. By this point, we had already been trapped in Mokhotlong for three days, and we were all developing a slight case of cabin fever. We decided to relieve it by going horseback riding yesterday afternoon, renting the horses from M’e Kefoue’s family in Thabong. One of the drivers at GROW came along to be our guide, and in addition to showing us some of the nearby villages, he took us to the top of a peak where we had an amazing view of the mountain range we’ve been living in. To add icing to the cake, I found out later that the horse I was riding belonged to the chief. I wish I had known that before I dubbed him “Dustin.” What a plebian name for such a regal creature!