Birthday partayyy!

I took a break from med school life today to celebrate my sweet Nana's 82nd birthday.

I made a cake this weekend for her, knowing that we would go to dinner tonight.  We went to Ruby Tuesday's, and mama commented that maybe they wouldn't let us bring in a cake.  I quickly decided that I would guilt whoever I needed to by asking if they were really going to deny a 82 year old woman her birthday cake.  And then I would cry on the spot.  Thankfully, no crying ensued.

The cake in question:

She would probably die if she knew I was putting her picture on the internet for the whole world to see, so no one tell her! :)

Sorry for the crappy phone pictures, it was all I could manage at the time!
And finally, me with the birthday lady:

 Also, my sweet grandparents:

All of us in a picture, all smiling, no one talking, everyone posed perfectly is almost an impossible feat. Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get, right?

I'm so thankful that I have been blessed to have many grandparents still alive and kicking.  They are so full of life and I think of them often when med school has me discouraged. Hopefully we will celebrate many, many more birthdays!

It's been awhile....

My first semester of medical school taught me one thing: med school is a marathon, but you sprint the whole way. It was overwhelming.  Now that the pace has returned to a semi-manageable, nice jogging pace, I have full intentions to get back to blogging. 

I quickly learned that you can't study ALL of the time. It's not healthy--that's how you become the crazy doctor that can't relate to people and is awkward in all social situations.  Since I can already be awkward, I'm avoiding that at all costs! 

That being said, now that we are (finally) having nicer, warmer days I'm spending more time outdoors--usually with notes in my hand.  I am enjoying the semblance of a semi-normal life.  Instead of wandering into Target and being shocked at how people are going about their normal lives, I am embracing a normal life this semester.  Med school should be a large part of my life, not my whole entire life.

I miss blogging, and while my content has certainly changed from the times I was (legally) hopping the border on what seemed like a regular basis, I am excited to dust off the ol' blog and get back into the swing of things!

Update on Life!

I know, I got everyone's hopes up. I promised I would blog...and then I didn't. Typical.

My sweet friend and former Pico Duarte guide, Moises, reminded me that it's kind of difficult to read a blog that doesn't have anything written.

Seems like it's probably true.

Because I start school on Monday (!) and my brother is marrying the love of his life this weekend, I have a few short days to get everything up and running so that all of my friends can stalk my life, since I am boycotting Facebook. :)

Here's hoping!

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, I had a blog! And I had people that read my blog!

And then, I quit blogging because I had nothing to talk about.  No one wanted to read about my boring life!

However, I just closed one chapter in the book of my life (graduating college), and I am on to the next chapter--medical school (and moving out of my parents' house!)

I hope to start blogging again as many changes start coming my way!

An Ode to My Forgotten Blog

Oh, my insanely forgotten about, neglected, left-out-in-the-cold blog. I've forgotten you, I've left you in the dust. We were doing so well--I would update you for all those people to read, and then I came home to the world of college and the papers and tests and projects and exams took over my life. And there you were, on the back burner.

I have no more adventurous stories to tell, no language mishaps, no moments where I'm challenged extremely beyond my comfort zone. I have many things to share, but the mundaneness of what I'm doing next weekend or how much I hate my Spanish class isn't what it used to be.

I guess I should just come out and say it like it is: I forgot all about you.

So for now, I will bid you adeiu (I know dear blog, I should stick to Spanish). Before we part, I will tell you this: I have no forgotten about the Dominican Republic--it's engrained in me and it's a part of me. I even went back over Spring Break (I know, I forgot to tell you that too!). And get this blog, I'm going back again in three weeks. In the end, know this: next spring, you will be written in much, much more. (Hint, hint).

Pico Duarte Recap

Because my dear friend (and PD guide), Moises, has been reminding me about this post, I finally decided to do it...

My experience at Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain in the Carribean, was something I would equate to the volcano in Chile: I don't know how I got to the top, but I didn't die. Chris and I decided to climb Pico Duarte with a group called Camping Tours, who basically take care of all of the details so that you get to enjoy (as much as you can in that situation) your trip. I was extremely pleased with the guides and if you're deciding to climb Pico I would totally recommend them.

We left on Thursday morning of Semana Santa (April 1) at like, crack-o-dawn thirty. I think it was 3:30 AM, but early will suffice. If you know me, you know I don't do early.

We drove from Santiago to La Ciénaga and started with this route:

The goal was simple: get to the top, and get back down. And do it in four days.

We set off, and y'all--it was STEEP. It was never a straight up kind of path. It was up this mountain, down this one, around a curb, up again, slight down, etc. And for me, that was a huge mental block. To not be able to see where you're going, but to walk, and walk, and walk is disheartening.

We stopped Thursday night in Compartición at a little house looking thing.

We rolled out our sleeping bags on the cold, hard concrete floor, and drifted off into dreamland. There were complaints the next morning about bad sleep...I, however, slept like a baby. I was so tired from the day before that I would have slept just about anywhere. I opted for a mule to get to the top of the peak. It was 4 AM, and my knees were on their way out.

As we started to climb towards the peak, I saw the sunrise, and we were literally above the clouds. It was an amazing way to spend Good Friday.

Seeing the sunrise made waking up at 4AM totally worth it. Finally, we made it to the top! From the "Pico Duarte that way" sign, it's about another 45 minutes to an hour to the bust of Juan Pablo Duarte, the official top of the mountain. The views are breathtaking. Although we couldn't figure out which way to look, you can see Haiti from the top of the peak. I've also heard that you can see the lights of Puerto Rico if it's dark (but I would NOT want to be climbing that in the dark!).

Me with the man, Juan Pablo Duarte.

Reppin' Wofford College. I try y'all.

Day two was by far the hardest (even on mule). From the peak, we headed back toward Compartición where we had slept the night before to gather our stuff and head for Aguita Fria (I think?--The details are fuzzy at this point). Everyone was exhausted, and everyone had knee issues. The path down to Aguita Fria was basically straight down. (By the way, straight down on mule = NOT FUN.)

If you look really close in this picture--we're headed for the little red speck on the left cornerish. We spent the night in tents in Aguita Fria in a nice grassy field.

Day three, Saturday, was our play day. We relaxed in Aguita Fria and then went to the river--where I completely understood the term "Cold little water". Our guides and the mule owners had roasted a pig all day and it was dinner Saturday night. (The jury's still out on where the pig came from). We had campfire time and went to bed, ready to wake up and do it all again the next morning.

Drying off, iguana style.

Happy Easter! Day four, Sunday, we woke up, took down the tents, and headed off for Santiago. Once we reached Los Tablones, we knew we were close. Everyone was exhausted. I ended up going to the hospital right when we got back in Santiago for my knee (I wanted to experience the health care system, but this was not my idea of doing it!)

Me and my mulo.

Llegamos por fin! We made it!

I was really surprised by the weather during the trip. I knew it was going to be cold, but I had no idea. I'm the kind of person that thinks 100F (38 C) is hot, 90F (32 C) is comfortable, and 80F (27C) is reason to break out the parka. I hate being cold. Well since I was packing for the country with the eternal summer without giving thought to cold weather, I was extremely unprepared. I basically begged people for warm clothes before going (which is why you may look at pictures and be like.."You don't go to Kenyon College", or "Who's hat is that?" or "Who's pants are those?!")..but even then, it was extremely chilly. Camping Tours recommended a scarf and gloves, and I thought that they were just exaggerating how cold it would be--I was so wrong. If you climb Pico, take some gloves! All weekend we rocked the socks and flip flops trend during down time.

I can't exactly remember what we ate during the trip, but it was good. Camping Tours definitely took care of us. They had guides and guys that cooked and it was phenomenal. No one went hungry!

I was really surprised at the vegetation in the area as well...In 2003, there was a forest fire that took out a lot of the trees in the area. So you get to a point where everything is burned and not exceptionally pretty. A little disappointing, but beautiful all the same.

The group dynamic amazed me during the whole trip.

Going in to it, I knew Chris. There were 5 other gringas, all English teachers in Santiago. There was also the Tres Locos, or three crazies. One lives in Connecticut, Amaury in Santo Domingo, and one in Azua (near Santo Domingo). There was also two doctors, one works for Camping Tours, both from Santiago. We also had the tres amigas..three young girls from Santiago. And get this--one of them had her dad, and her SEVENTY SOMETHING YEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER with her. Seventy something people!! Holy Cow! I hope when I'm in my seventies I can make it up Pico. There were two men from Spain and also two other women. Plus our three guides. I think that's everyone--so so sorry if I forgot you!! It was amazing. I definitely had a great time with the other American girls and it was nice to spend some time with new people! After our trip, we had a "Pico Duarte Reunion" and Chris and I went to see Amaury afterwards as well.

During my time in the DR, but especially during the Pico Duarte trip, I realized that I am stronger than I think I am. I can also always push myself further than I think and do more than I'm willing to admit. Funny how you find that out in a completely different atmosphere.

All in all, it was an amazing trip. Will I do it again? Probably not. Should you do it?

DEFINITELY.

Running Around

So since I'm still unemployed (do you know of anyone hiring??) and have very little no life, I've started something new.

If you know me in real life, you know that I jump around. Not literally--I do that too sometimes--but figuratively. I jump from hobby to hobby to hobby like it's my (unpaid) job. If you know my dad, you know that I inherited it. It runs in the family.

SO. Without further ado, my new "thing": a mini-triathlon.

300 meters swimming, 20 K bike, 5 K run.

Sounds horrible, no?

The worst part (or maybe the best?) I'm stuck with it. A friend and I are planning on doing it mid-September through the YMCA. I'm excited.

If I can stick with it for that long.