A random act of kindness...

Dear New York,

Thank you for this one.

I was going on my lunch break with my friend at work. The day hadn't started off too great. I was still upset about my meetings at work, I had probably made a mistake throughout the day. I just felt like I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I was telling my friend all about my horrible morning. "It was raining so I went to the subway because I wasn't sure I had enough money on my metrocard for the bus. I get down into the subway and swipe my card and see that I actually did have enough for one ride. Awesome, well I'm down here now so I might as well take it. It's packed, of course. The first train comes by and people rush to get on and there's not enough room so I have to wait for the second one. More people come, there is gross dirty city water everywhere. The second train comes and I'm able to get on it but not without losing some of my dignity and scared that in this process I have somehow managed to cheat on my boyfriend. I get out at the stop but realize the exit I take is two blocks south of where I need to go. I come out of the subway and my umbrella is broken. Now I'm late and wet and am scared to see what's in my inbox."

We get into the Atrium and I tell my friend I'll find us a table while she gets her lunch. Of course its 12:30 so it's packed and there is not a free table. I ask this girl sitting by herself at a table of four if she wouldn't mind if my friend and I sat down too. She say's no problem. I start to get myself sorted when this man comes over, puts his stuff on the table and leans in close to me. I'm thinking he's going to also ask to join us and I'm thinking "No way Jose," but before I can say anything he says, "I noticed you didn't have an umbrella coming in here, I'm trains and planes from this stage on, here you are." Then just walks away. What I'm left with is a pretty industrial style compact umbrella. I'm speechless. I don't even have time to recover from my poor thoughts about this man in time to thank him before he's halfway across the room to the exit. I manage to stammer out a "Thank you!"

Who woulda' thunk. I felt very lucky that day, lucky indeed.

A random act of creepiness...

Dear New York,

This is what you're throwing at me...

It was a Friday, but not like any other Friday. This particular end of the week had left me feeling dejected. Work had gotten the best of me. After being pulled into a meeting with not one, but two of my supervisors, and discussing, what appeared to me as a personal attack on my character, I left work and rushed to pack for a weekend away. I wanted to be happy and excited to be going off on this trip but all I could think about was what other people thought about me. How I could act one way but it be perceived another. How I could be going about my day none the wiser that I could be ruining someone else's. It seems dramatic to think that I actually could be walking around as an oblivious black cloud, taking pleasure in others pain and enjoying causing them more, but that's how I felt when I left that meeting.

So I pack my bag, put on some leggings and switch into my Ugg boots. The weather had just dropped to that specific temperature where you can notice all the young girls in the city sporting similar uniforms. The sweatshirt to keep us warm, the leggings to make us sexy, and the Ugg's to keep us comfy. So I'm rushing to the bus in my particular change of season outfit when this man stops me. "Excuse me, which way is 2nd avenue?" I point in the direction him and assure him he's headed the right way. I smile and plan to keep on walking. But he stops me and looks down at my feet. "Excuse me, uhm, but, what size are your Uggs?" Needless to say this question surprised me. Taken off guard like this I answered the only way I knew how.

"Uhh, I don't know, I guess a 7?"

He seemed mesmerized and perplexed that these Ugg's could be a size 7. I wasn't sure where he was headed with this, maybe he wanted to buy a pair for someone?

"Really?! Wow, I mean...those are some sweet, SWEET Uggs."

Now, in my normal state, this would have been a weird comment. However, given my hyper-sensitive, super aware and extremely insecure state, coupled with the knowledge that Ugg's aren't the most popular fashion statement, I looked him square in the eye, face distorted in disgust and asked him point blank, "Are you making fun of me?" He quickly responded with a "No, no of course not!" But I didn't trust this lost stranger, who, if he did like my Ugg's, was a more discomforting quality than if he didn't. I was shaken for about 30 minutes after the episode. So New York, thank you for thoroughly creeping me out.

Who knew?

There are some things that are my absolute favorite.

Discovering all 1930's Jazz on Pandora.

Snuggling up in my comforter with the help of my AC.

Feeling the need to divulge this information to an anonymous and indeterminate amount of people via the internet.

Just keep feeding it.

I got a little food poisoning when I got back from South America and I've been sick all week, my mom thinks I might have a parasite. But I don't have health insurance and I don't start my new job til the 21st, so what the heck, I can wait a little? My mom took me to a walk-in clinic in case we should get it checked out but then decided I could wait, she didn't need to pay for it. As we were leaving the nurse said, "Well just keep feeding it!"

Nice.

Salinas

This is the first little boy I had to help insert an IV in. He was so cute, and the nurses told us we had to really hold him down, better make him cry now then have to stick him 20 times. But he was a good little trooper and so cute too! He was having his palate reconstructed. Previously he had his cleft lip fixed, then they wanted to give him time to heal before they closed up his palate. Chris was one of the many plastics cases that was our main reason for making sure we got to Salinas. My favorite part of working in pre-op was using my spanish to talk to the patients and reassure them before their surgery.



Here is my little sister scrubbed in on a hysterectomy, girl was able to hold a giant uterus in her hands!





After surgery all the patients were given a mattress and had to stay overnight. In the beginning of the day all the mattresses were stacked up in the hallway, and by the end people were everywhere, lining rooms wall to wall with mattresses. It just shows how grateful they were to be able to have the surgery.

Life on an island.

I really loved living on an island last summer. It was one of those novel summers, where your concerns for the day are a walk to the library for a beach read, a dvd for night, and a walk to the supermarket for snacks for the day. Appropriate clothes consist of a bathing suit, a cover, and sandals. Those are my favorite memories of summer.

"Kelly, Laura??"

In the summer of 2007 I did Semester at Sea and to say it was a life-changing experience would be an understatement. After 62 days of traveling to 8 different countries in Central and South America I knew that all I wanted to do from then on was travel, meet people, experience different cultures, and have adventures. I got back from my trip to Ecuador last night and it was a really great trip. It was fun to be back in Guayaquil, a city I really only was in for a day, and not much longer this time. When I first went there I thought it was a very dirty city with little to offer, but this second time I wish I had more time there to really explore. However, staying in a 5 star hotel this time around wasn't too shabby. But, that was where my trip ended, and it took a long time for it to begin!

At the second attempt at the airport to try and fly down to Ecuador, we were all told to go home, the trip was completely cancelled. Most of us left, a few stayed behind. At the urging of the plastic surgeon, a "mini-mission" was starting to take form. From our original 60+ group, about 25 remained at the airport and had the good luck to find open space on an Aerogal flight. On top of just finding a flight, we had ready 60 bins of medical equipment to bring down to the hospital. The group now had to go through the bins and select what they needed and put it into only enough bins so that each person could check one into luggage. This was Sunday night. On Monday night, about 8 of us drove once more to JFK and this time were able to take the next step by getting on a plane.

We left JFK at 12 am, landed in Guayaquil at 6 am (7 am their time), got in a bus and drove 2 hours to Salinas, a small city along the coast. From there we dropped our bags, ate some food, grabbed our scrubs and drove to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, people were everywhere. Ecuadorians were in the street, sitting on the floor, lining the hallways, taking up every bit of space in the hope that they would be able to have a surgery done. About 8 of us walked in to a round of applause. I almost started crying then and there but knew I had to get to work right away in order to earn that applause.

3rd times a charm?

First attempt at boarding a plane to Ecuador was unsuccessful. We went home for the night, I got a little beach time in, waited to hear anything, had a fun night with some friends. The next day we found out that the whole group was meeting at the airport at 6 pm to hopefully board an 11:55 pm flight. We got to the airport so early so that we could go over all introductions and logistics and scheduling so that we could hit the ground running. Around 11:00 we found out our flight had been cancelled and there was no way we were going to be able to go down before Wednesday or Thursday. Dissapointed? Terribly. There was no way we could accept going down Wednesday or Thursday, it virtually cancelled our trip to Salinas where we would be working in the hospital. The terrible thing was that it no longer had to do with the volcano holding us up, it was the airline. Backed up since the day before, we started begging people to give up their seats so that we could go down there to perform surgeries that these people would otherwise not have. Through simple good will about 25 people were willing to give up their seats. However the airline made it impossible with cancellatioin fees and rebooking fees, we were told there was nothing more we could do and my dad, sister and I reluctantly made our way back to long term parking and made the 2 hour drive back home.

The next day we found out that about 20 people ended up staying later at the airport, and through another airline, managed to get down to Ecuador! We were so hurt and upset that if we had only stayed a little longer, we could be down there also. However, our next mission was to try to find another way to get down to Ecuador in order to make our trip to the Galapagos that we would have to leave from Guayaquil on Thursday for. My dad spent hours back and forth between different people and travel agents and airlines and managed to find us a flight leaving tonight at 1 am for Guayaquil. I was so happy that at least I'd still be able to have a little adventure and get to see the islands I've so desperately been wanting to go to. Plus, the icing on the cake, my dad called about an hour ago and said that we would make it in time to put in at least one day's work at the hospital. I'm so happy and excited and just hoping that when we drive into JFK tonight, we are able to get on a plane and leave New York.

Volcanic eruptions are everyone's problem...

Well today is the day I am supposed to leave for Ecuador. Unfortunately, a volcanic eruption has not only reaked havoc on Central and South America, it also cancelled our flight today. Now we're one day behind schedule, hopefully getting a flight out tomorrow night. Then we're going to have to set up all our equipment quick and hopefully perform as many surgeries as we had previously hoped to complete.

The group we are going down with is about 65 people strong, filled with surgeons, nurses, and volunteers. Just being in the airport for about an hour and a half I was introduced to some really great people who were excited and anxious to get down there and start helping. For some it's their second or third trip and they were welcoming the newbies (like my sister and myself) with open arms. It was very dissapointing to have to leave the airport but I'm just hoping that tomorrow things go a bit smoother.

One fun part, the night before, my dad, sister and I went to my brother's for a feast of seafood. My brother had a 4 pound lobster which we had to tell my nephew was "sick", so that's why we had to eat it. Clams, shrimp and salmon, does not get any better than that!

Why not take another crack at it...

Hello it's a gorgeous, sunny day on Long Island and I just went out for a very long walk through town and along the water. It always amazes me how beautiful the town I live in is and I'm so lucky that I can call this place home. I stopped at the library and picked up some books and then got an ice coffee from 7-11. It's been a great day so far!

So why start up this blog again? Why not, is what I say! I always like reading what other people are up to in their lives, and truthfully I get kinda bored on the internet waiting for my BF to come online so here's a little something for me to do.

It's been one year since graduating college. Was in China for 2 months, Ireland for 4 months, came back to New York, interviewed, got a job, and have been waiting ever since for it to start. June 21 is the big day and I've been home since April 1st. However, living at home and knowing you have a job really takes the pressure off and I've seriously been enjoying just exercising, reading books, tanning, and playing homemaker to my Mom.

Thankfully I have had some adventure thrown in. Being out here in this secluded little nook of Long Island can definitely get boring and I've been fortunate enough to have little distractions from myself when living at home becomes, well, living at home. Last weekend I bartended at a wedding which was very fun and made a little getting around cash as well. A couple of weeks ago I went down to Florida for my brother's graduation from Law School. It was more family time than necessary but it was a fun change of pace nonetheless. Now for my big finale of my 2 months of unemployment and worry free lifestyle, a medical mission trip to Ecuador! I leave tomorrow afternoon and head down south to provide free healthcare through the organization Blanca's House. After our stint in Salinas, we're heading to the Galapagos. Something I feel so incredibly happy to be doing since I missed out on it the first time I went to Ecuador (just the simple fact that this is my 2nd time to South America is humbling enough). I'm excited and nervous and not sure what to expect, but happy that I'm headed out on a new and different adventure.

So it seems pretty silly to start a blog and then leave it for a week but it's a little introduction to what my next post will be!

xx

Laura