So in response to my favorite picture in the Times-Picayune, a writer submitted this blog post.

On another note, I'm two for two on trips home where someone has seen me in my school sweatshirt and said, "hey, I went to <insert name of rival medical school here>."

I just thought I'd share this Sunday afternoon email I received from my roommate:

Merry Christmas

I, like many of you, have nothing better to do than sit around home and riffle through old things while sequestered under the pretense of "family time" OR maybe that's just me... In an endearing bonding moment between my father and I, he presented me with an old book titled "Mrs. Byren's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words."

Since I know you all check your e-mail I decided to spread some Christmas cheer by means of strange vocabulary.

Xenomancy (zen-o-man"se) n. fortunetelling by studying the first stranger that appears.
Onolatry (o-nol e-tre) n. ass-worship
Flapdragon (flap'drag"en) n. a game of catching candy from burning brandy (we should try this)
Randle (ran'del) w. a nonsensical poem recited by Irish schoolboys as an apology for farting at a friend.
Vinification (vin"i-fi-ka'shen) n. the conversion of fruit juice into alcohol by fermentation (we could try this, but it might turn out poorly)
Wiskerino (hwisk-er-en'o) n. a beard-growing contest (done and done)
Zumbooruk (zum-boo'ruk) n. a small cannon fired from the back of a camel. (why didn't I think of that)


Ciao,
Karen

Thursday was all set to be a study day at school - how convenient that half the roads to school were closed to block off a riot happening next door, in front of city hall. I sympathized from library while reading online that the protestors of the demolition of public housing were being tasered and pepper sprayed until I found this fun picture & caption:

Histology exam went fine Friday morning.  Cardiac muscle was on the practical portion, which threw most people for a loop (including me) since that was a block 1 subject.  Oh well.

Friday afternoon travel was a nightmare.  I rarely have travel troubles, but somehow my United flight to Los Angeles was delayed by four hours, so I would have missed my layover back to the Bay Area.  Every United flight was delayed and the line at the ticket counter was a mess, so I called the customer service line to get my flight changed.  Fortunately, the agent told me I could get on a 7pm flight to LAX and take a later flight into SFO and be home by midnight.  Unfortunately, 10 minutes later, I got a call from my dad because my flight had actually been rescheduled for Saturday night.  I ended up taking a couple of laps around MSY getting my flight rescheduled yet again   My original flight to LA was oversold so I couldn't get back on the plane, yet my baggage was checked for that flight.  I ended up getting a flight on another airline that actually got me home late Friday night. (Continental Airlines - left on time, flight wasn't even full.)  Note to self: no more traveling on United.  Poor Jenna's flight was canceled and she went back to her apartment and didn't fly out until Saturday.  Karen's flight to LA (same flight I was originally on) landed at the same time I arrived back in the bay.

On the bright side, streetcars are coming to my neighborhood!  Oh wait, that means my car will probably be hit by one.

Had a slow early morning for Histology review today - had to go home and nap afterward.  I ended up going to run an errand before going back to school for the afternoon.  My sister wanted a Christmas gift for her boss, who likes Tabasco sauce on everything.  Go figure that Tabasco is made in Avery Island, LA, and you can get almost everything Tabasco at the Tabasco Country Store in the French Quarter. 

I made sure to googlemap everything before I left so I could get there and to school and back to studying in the most efficient way possible, but somehow I still missed the turn after getting off I-10.  It wouldn't have been so bad, but I kept driving straight, looking for the Esplanade so I could make a right turn and driving straight off this particular exit takes you right into the Ninth Ward.  If that wasn't bad enough, I didn't realize where I was and crossed the bridge over the canal into the Lower Ninth Ward.  It's not actually as devastated-looking as I expected; just pretty deserted, but it was a sunny day and everything seems to look better in the sunshine.

I made a quick stop at the Tabasco Country Store before running over to Cafe du Monde for beignets, which I haven't had in awhile, before driving back into downtown and studying the Ear.  Fun fun.  I just have Eye, Lymph, and Respiratory system left to do before Friday.

So many ups and downs this block - there was the idiopathic chest pain aggravated by confronting some random sketchy man jogging in front of my house with his package hanging out, a trip to the ER that probably ended in a misdiagnosis, two chest x-rays and a lot of doctor visits - but I also made it home for Thanksgiving (first time in 7 years!) and I've been having fun staying busy ever since I got back.  I spent yesterday afternoon in a nursing home with a nontraditional population of mainly high-risk middle aged men who've beaten their bodies up with drugs and alcohol and motorcycle accidents without helmets; and today, I performed my first real intubation on the first try.  It's a busy two weeks for me before exams - tomorrow I'm going on a trip to the jail; Saturday I'm working at the free clinic, and Monday I will be giving PPDs.