Up in the air I go...

One more interview, one last trans-America trip, one concluding night in a strange hotel, one final trip exploring a new city.

I am at the airport ridiculously early because I opted for one of those group Shuttle van services to the airport and I guess I'm flying at a not very busy time because I got my own personal town car ride to the airport for fraction of the cost of a cab... and I'm more than two hours early, which is after I cleared security! Less anxiety provoking than leaving my house at this time and taking a cab, two trains and a shuttle bus to arrive in the same spot when boarding is already in process. And I even managed to score one of those comfy SW lounge chairs/charging stations at my gate, so I really cannot complain.

It will be nice to be done with interviews and finished with traveling. Of course the ranking and waiting part is going to be torture but still, it will be nice to have this part behind me. And then I can actually stay in Miami and enjoy it for almost two whole weeks before I am headed back to Cali for the remainder of fourth year.

My Genetics rotation continues to be awesome. If you are at all interested in Medical Genetics or Pediatrics then I recommend this rotation. Miami Children's is wonderful and it is a great place to spend a month. I had to apply for the rotation over 6 months in advance and follow up via emails and phone calls ad-nauseum to ensure I got the elective but it was more than worth it.

I have lots of thinking and ranking and pondering to do, but I'm waiting until this interview is over to really start.... stay tuned!

Interview trail rehash and random updates on my current state of mind

Greetings from the trail! I had my 3rd to final interview yesterday and am staying for the weekend to hang out with friends that just happen to live here. Now that the interview season is almost over it doesn't seem so bad. Tiring, yes. Expensive, absolutely. But sometimes fun (I did get to explore quite a few new cities/areas) and always informative. Places I expected to like and rank highly disappointed me. Places I really didn't have any expectations for turned out to be amazing or have the happiest residents and most involved Program Directors. I have no idea how I'm going to rank places. I know which programs I loved and which ones I would rather not have to deal with but all of the middle is a muddle. And since I am applying for  Child Neuro and each place has one or two spots per year it is like fellowship in that I could realistically match at my #5 or #8 and so that is hard.... I just have to make a list and leave it up to the NMRP computer to do its thing. But until then I am agonizing daily...

62 days until Match. Not that I'm counting. Dr.  Boyfriend's iPhone is though, so I get periodic reminders. He is more anxious  than I am which makes sense because the match going to determine where we end up, where he has to find a job, where we live for the next 5 years. I view this as fun and exciting. He views it as nerve-wracking and scary. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle. (But then again I am the girl that moved 15 times in my first 16 years of life and will have rotated at 9 different hospitals by the time I graduate from medical school, so maybe change is not a huge deal to me.)

In other news, I LOVE genetics. My attending is awesome. The patients are super interesting and I am learning a lot. Clinic is just so much better than a textbook. So far (in my only 2.5 days of patients because I've been away interviewing) I've seen at least one of each diagnosis: Neurofibramotosis, Beckwith-Wiedeman Syndrome, Gaucher's Disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Klinefelter's, Potter's Syndrome in utero, William's Syndrome, Trisomy 21 and cleft palate as well as rule outs for Marfan's and Legius Syndrome. And these are just the confirmed by genetic testing diagnosed patients. There were others that are still being worked up. So interesting, so cool, plus Miami Children's is a great hospital and I love what I'm doing. That's all I've got today. Happy Saturday!

What I am doing

NOW

Reading-
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo, as well as Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Wallace Foster by David Lipsky (The subject of the NYT Book review from which I have previously quoted here)

Starting-
A Genetics Elective at Miami Children's (I arrived in Miami over the weekend and it reminds me of Grenada which is nostalgia inducing, humid, warm, living with roommates again fun.)

Exploring-
My new city as this is my first time in Miami. So far I've found a great diner for breakfast, the grocery store (IGA!!! just like Grenada) a Spanish Restaurant that serves okay Tapas and a friend from the island that is here this month too. I know my life is just so hard.

Traveling-
Today to Cali for an interview and again on Friday to upstate New York for yet another interview. Only four more to go. Now let's just hope I can take off from my elective for all of them.

Learning to Knit-
(I needed a new project for take off and landing time on the plane when I couldn't read my Nook)
It is not going very well, I think I need an initial lesson with a real person, the read and follow directions in 2D is not working for me... Poor Sancho, he is going to get a very ugly sweater indeed, and he's a dog, so he'll have to wear it!

Writing-
This.

Reflecting-
On life.
On love.

Living-
Purposely.

Loving-
My life.

Anticipating-
The Match.

Write here, right now/ right here, write now!

My New Year's resolution?

Simple.

To write. Which I already do. But I want to write more. More deliberately. More frequently. Just more.

And to read. Read more of substance and more of the authors that know how to write.

I think this is a perfect place to start...

New Year's Resolution Reading List: 9 Essential Books on Reading and Writing | Brain Pickings / via @brainpicker

Wishing you a happy, well read and well written 2013!