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.