One Giant Leap

Happy 40th Anniversary of the first ever moon walk!
I spent the weekend exploring Houston sites. It seemed like a fitting weekend to go to the Houston Space Center. While there, we learned all about how astronauts live in space (sponge baths for 6 mths, etc), saw historic mission control, and found out how much we would weigh on several different planets.
This is a picture of historic mission control which they used until 1996! We couldn't see the current one since a mission is ongoing right now...


Other weekend highlights included a free outdoor concert which was packed with people. It was in Herman Park which is a really nice park in the city and they even have a miniature Washington monument!On Sunday a group of us explored the Menil Collection. It is a museum created by the deMenils (a wealthy couple in Houston who collected a lot of art). They also commissioned two chapels to be built! One is The Rothko Chapel which houses several large painting by Mark Rothko. Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and others have spoken at the chapel. It was quite a diverse collection of art; everything from figurines from 500 BCE to abstract art from today. There were even a few outdoor sculptures.

We then found the best restaurant so far in Houston, Ruggles Green! It is Houston's first certified green restaurant and it was delicious with lots of veggie options. All in all a great weekend!

Time for knitting

Well it may be hot in Houston, but that doesn't mean you can't knit! I think everyone who is reading this blog knows that I like to knit. (That may be a bit of an understatement ;) Some of my fellow PAC (Pediatric AIDS Corps) doctors asked if I was bringing knitting to Botswana! Of course I am; the question is how much! (They will learn soon...)

So obviously I am going to take advantage of two weeks of classes to work on some fun projects. I began a baby surprise jacket on the first day of orientation and in 4 days it was finished! It is called "baby surprise" because when you are knitting it looks nothing like a sweater. When it's finished, you sew up two quick seams and tada you have a sweater! It's amazing what you can accomplish when you can knit all day and still learn all about HIV, TB, diarrhea, etc!
Here's a photo.
It still needs a crocheted neck and some buttons, but they will come in time.

In other news, I hear that people who have signed up to "follow" the blog are not getting emails when I post. I read more about blogging today and I have added a "button" on the side panel which will allow you to subscribe to the blog. If you enter your email in the subscription line, and follow the instructions, you will get an email confirmation. Click on the link in the email and you will be subscribed. Let me know if it works or not, so I can try to figure something else out if it doesn't.

Hot As Heck Houston

Hello from Houston.
It is hot as heck here for sure (98 degrees, but with the humidity it feels like well over 100). Each day we walk a mile from the hotel to the training at the medical center and back. (Well some people take the shuttle, but it is good to get exercise, right mom?) Outside I feel like I'm walking through really thick air, and it is definitely harder to breath. I guess it is good practice for Africa, though there it is not nearly as humid, and right now it is 70 degrees in Botswana!

This is a view from the room where we have our trainings. The medical center is massive (the biggest in the country I think). All the hospitals are clustered in the medical center and they are building all the time (the picture only captures a small portion of it).


My fellow Pediatric AIDS Corps doctors are all really great. Baylor put our pictures online today, so you can read all about them and see pictures here:
http://bayloraids.org/corps/bios2009.php

Each day we have lectures on topics that will be pertinent to our jobs in Africa. The professors so far have been great speakers. Yesterday Dr. Kline (the founder of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative and now also the Dean of Pediatrics at Baylor) gave a truly inspirational talk about the founding of the program. Basically a lot of people said a program like this would never work and he just persevered. Many said that parents in Africa would not bring their children to an "AIDS Center" because the stigma was too high. But the opposite has been true - everyone comes, even if their child does not have HIV. We are all inspired and even more excited to begin!

Bye Philly

So I left St. Chris for the last time one week ago :( It was bittersweet. I'm not going to miss the crazy hours, but I already miss all the people.
I managed to sell all of my larger things and pack all my possessions into my car. If the pediatrics thing ever fails I could always be a truck driver. As evidenced by the fact that I was pretty good at driving the 2 hours back to NJ without a rear view mirror ;)Now I just have to organize, pack, and store everything. Oh and sell my car, get my finances in order, get a NJ driver's license, say good bye to family and friends, and start STUDYING for the BOARDS :(