Thursday's diversion = a cappella fun with Montgomery HS's all-girls jazz choir, Conroe HS's Finally Friday, and Raleigh's Almost Recess. The final act, an all-men a cappella quartet, turned the auditorium into a bit of a rock concert. It's been a while since I've heard that many teenage girls' high-pitched screams. Check out the clip above.Friday's entertainment break involved a brief trip to the House of Blues to see Mat Kearney. I won a pair of free tickets on Twitter (shhh... don't tell anyone I have an account). The highlight was probably when he jumped off the stage and wandered through the crowd while singing. Pretty darn cool.My final study distraction was carving this pumpkin during a group lunch meeting with my mentor. (Happy Halloween!) Other than that, I have been studying. Sometimes I eat. Sometimes I sleep. Mostly, I study.
My restaurant-reviewing friend Sarah invited me to be her "plus one" for a restaurant opening at Hotel Derek near the Galleria. We rolled up to Valentino in style, handed the keys to the valet, and started mingling with the pretty people. I came hungry and tried every bite-sized morsel that passed within 15 feet of me. We also sipped the swanky drinks like specialty martinis (l-r): smoked prosciutto, cucumber, and chocolate raspberry. It seemed like every person we chatted up either owned the restaurant or the hotel or had some fancy schmantzy claim to fame. Someone with a hotsy totsy role at the restaurant made some raspberry oyster shooters for us (and other members of the press). All in all, it was a pretty posh affair.On Saturday morning, I had another special session to practice clinical exam skills. This particular session on the male genitourinary exam was really well run. Over the course of just two hours, we watched a film, practiced on plastic models, received instruction from urology residents, and then tried out our skills on a standardized patient. I was a little nervous standing in a line to perform a DRE and the "turn-your-head-and-cough" hernia exam, but the practice was very helpful.The Rice/Baylor Scholars got together on Sunday night for a western-themed dinner at the Dean of Admissions house. Afterward, Brandi, Peter, and I went to Jones Hall downtown for our second show of the Houston Pops season. The Symphony performed songs from Evita and Carmen, "Sobre Las Olas" by Rosas, and and another song I'm blanking on. In the second half featured Brian Stokes Mitchell who was AWESOME. His voice was beautiful and powerful, yet effortless. He sang some Gershwin tunes, Broadway hits, and even a couple fun ones like "It's Not Easy Being Green." Seeing him live brought back fond memories of the NYC trip for Mom and Dad's 25th anniversary when he stole the show in Man of La Mancha.
Block 8 has gotten off to a very busy start. In addition to spending the mornings in lectures on hard/soft tissues and the GI system, I've been spending afternoons doing lots of miscellaneous med-related sessions. On Tuesday I had my readings in international health class; on Wednesday I practiced the neonatal exam on a teeny tiny <1 day-old baby at Ben Taub; on Thursday I went over the pediatric exam with a couple patients at Texas Children's. By Thursday evening, I was carpooling my way to San Antonio for an Ob/Gyn conference. The conference was very interesting and extremely helpful for networking purposes. I soaked in the stories of three other Baylor med students with a hankering for Ob/Gyn: Stina, Claudette, and Lauren (l-r above).On Friday we had lectures on the past, present, and future of the field for students, residents, physicians, and patients. Over lunch the junior fellows had a Q&A for students and put on a rousing game of Family Feud. Among other interesting tidbits, I learned that "vajamma" is a common euphemism for vagina. The Baylor crew went out for a filling Mexican dinner and then crashed. Saturday brought more lectures in the morning and a residency fair and interview advice session in the afternoon. I spent a lot of time at various procedure simulation booths doing tasks like inserting an IUD into a plastic model, performing an ultrasound-guided amniocentesis on a water balloon in Jell-O, expertly manipulating the laparoscopic tools to cut a circle out of gauze, and ablating a rubber uterus. That night we went to the gala and enjoyed some serious betting (with not-so-serious money) at the blackjack table. As you can see from the picture above, dancing was also involved.After the last round of lectures on Sunday morning, we made it back to Houston late in the afternoon. I freshened up, reconnected with Wentworth, and headed downtown to the Hobby Center for a Free Night of Theater. We had a small troop of Baylor second-years for the closing night of Meet Me in St. Louis including Tiffany, Jenn, Ann, Yetunde, and Eleanor (l-r above). Brandi and Peter also joined us while simultaneously celebrating their sixth anniversary of togetherness. The costumes and choreography were the highlights of this fun and cheeky musical.
After Wednesday's respiratory and PPS exam followed by Friday's renal exam and practical, I was pooped... so pooped, in fact, that I squeezed in a visit to Brandi's lab in Rice's fancy Biosciences Research Center and then crashed at home. I set an alarm but either turned it off or slept right through it. Next thing I knew, Brandi was calling to see where I was for our ballet date. Yikes! I scrambled around my messy room (it tends to get that way around test time) and threw on something suitable. Darling Peter chauffeured us to the Wortham Center, delivering his wife and me to the entrance only a few minutes late.Without Boundaries started off with a contemporary piece from The Netherlands that I found quite interesting with the provocative movements and rhythmic beats. The second piece was a premiere by Houston Ballet's own artistic director Stanton Welch. Booooooring. Only after reading a review in the Chronicle did I realize this vanilla piece was about the four elements. However, the final piece was absolutely fantastic. Twyla Tharp's The Upper Room was one of the best dances I've seen in a long time (including jazzy performances on So You Think You Can Dance!). From the music to the costumes to the incredibly original and amazing choreography I found myself wanting to shout, "Encore!" to see it all over again (see a clip for yourself, above).After the ballet, Brandi, Peter, and I went to Berripop for some fro-yo (above). I indulged in the blueberry and raspberry pomegranate swirl in a waffle cone. Yum! Just when I thought I was going to get some shuteye, I rallied and made an appearance at the end-of-block party at Open City in midtown. It was fun to see classmates without the look of terror in their eyes or the tension of test-induced stress in their shoulders. As you can see, Tiffany and I were VERY excited to be done with Block 7. According to Peter, we only have the worst block left. Oh, joy.Saturday morning was surprisingly eventful with Race from the Cure bright and early. I perfected my walk-jog skills during the 5k and enjoyed some bananas, Yoplait yogurt, and bottled water afterward. Though it was quite overcast during the race, the rain held off and the weather was perfect for a run (errr... walk-jog). Several Baylor students were there for race day, so it was fun to see them out to support the cause.I jetted home after the race, rinsed off, brushed Wentworth, and headed to church. Now, why on earth would I go to church on a Saturday, you ask? And, why would I bring my favorite feline friend? Well, Christ the King held a special service for the Blessing of the Animals in celebration of St. Francis of Assisi. There was prayer, scripture, and an individualized blessing for each of the 20+ pets gathered in the church courtyard. Wentworth was a bit terrified at first to be out in public, but he was a trooper. He put up with people remarking on his extraordinarily large size and made friends with some of the people/pets. Needless to say, the event wore him out to the point where he was panting like a dog on the way home. At least he's extra pure and holy now!I spent the rest of the weekend napping, watching a couple movies, shopping a bit, catching up on emails (sort of), doing laundry, and tidying up half of my room. :) Block 8 already started today, so I am gearing up for a few weeks of GI and hard/soft tissues.
Friday's entertainment break involved a brief trip to the House of Blues to see Mat Kearney. I won a pair of free tickets on Twitter (shhh... don't tell anyone I have an account). The highlight was probably when he jumped off the stage and wandered through the crowd while singing. Pretty darn cool.
My final study distraction was carving this pumpkin during a group lunch meeting with my mentor. (Happy Halloween!) Other than that, I have been studying. Sometimes I eat. Sometimes I sleep. Mostly, I study.
