So much fun for the holiday weekend!

Sometimes I think that I have a little too much fun. Then I realize that I am in graduate school, and fun is a luxury that will probably be few and far between for a little while. Nonetheless, I still find ways of enjoying myself. So much has happened since the last post, so I will try to fill everyone in on the "excitement".

I'll start last week, during the 25 hour period when I could not sleep. It was weird, but I am fine now. Beth agreed to join me for some midnight munchin' at Jou Jou Cafe. I was so happy because it was a 2 for 1 special for the sandwiches. I got two gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches for the price of one. They are soooooo goooooooooood. Yummy.



Following that insane week of school, a group of us were invited to Jayme's house in Da Bronx for some food and a flick. Not just any flick, it was Monty Pyton and the Search for The Holy Grail. A classic british comedy film. Very funny, and certainly not politically correct by any standards. Jayme (and the guy she married) have a really nice apartment in the Bronx. Oh, by the way, Jayme made fresh pizza AND really good chocolate chip cookies. The food was AWESOME!
A little side note is important at this point in the post. our program is very tiring and requires quite a bit of our time. Actually, it requires all of our waking time. This is why James sleeps through EVERYTHING, even class. Most of us think he is just tired, but I believe that he is really living a double life and goes somewhere every night to "work" or do something. In any case I felt it necessary to take a picture of "Sleeping Beauty" to show all of you what James looks like during class. I hope his mother isn't reading this....



On a lighter note, I was out the other day having lunch between classes at the 116th campus at this nice little diner. I was simply amazed and very confused by the number of people stopping and posing outside the diner (directly in front of me) to have their photo taken. I just could not figure it out. Rami later informed me that the diner I was at was the outside shot of the diner used in Seinfeld. I felt rather ignorant, but relieved that I was not being displayed as some kind of carnival/zoo freak for tourists. The other night, while out to dinner with my friend Ileana, I had my picture taken in front of the diner. I guess I had to be like the rest of the tourists...



Well, the next time I was able to get out and about was this past weekend, for the Turkey Holiday. It's a great time to spend with friends and family. I did both and had a great time. Here are a few pictures of friends and family:

My brother and father:



The LARGE turkey that we barely dented at dinner. I think it weighed a metric ton or something close to it!



A group shot of everyone at dinner. I had to super glue my mother to her chair to get her to sit down for 5 minutes and enjoy the marvelous meal she had spent all day preparing. It was sooooooo good!



My brother and his wonderful wife! These kids are something else. I am surprised that he does not get into trouble more often, but I am sure she holds her own! They are very cute together, and he is VERY lucky to have her.



After consuming several pounds of Turkey and subsequently sleeping it off until 11AM the next morning, it was time to return to school for more studying and a friendly social gathering in Asia (actually it was Queens). Renee, Nicole and I joined Jamie and Yaritza at Imee's place in Queens. It took so long to get there we thought we were actually going to Asia. What a crazy commute for her to make EVERY day! Yikes! Anyway, Imee is a long time vegetarian and I was expecting some great food at her place. I was not let down at all. The food was spectacular and there was a lot of it! What I did find hilarious was that she had an entire chicken cooked and had no idea how to carve it. I believe she said "Just get a knife a slice it right up the middle. Just like we do in Anatomy Lab." Well needless to say, the chicken was not touched all night. It's all good though, the rest of the food was plentiful and great tasting. Here is Imee with all of the food she and her family prepared for the guests:



Imee invited a bunch of her friends from Rutgers (her undergrad school) as well as other walks in life. Here she is with her Rutgers girls. One of them is drinking two cups at once (?!?) and the other is recovering from devouring the rest of the guacamole dip single-handed. In any case these girls were really cool and very smart. I wish them luck with the job thing. My classmates and I are not dealing with that issue right now, we are just trying to keep our heads above water.



Everyone was having a great time. Jamie and Nicole were enjoying the wine



while Yaritza and Renee were enjoying the food and the wine as well.



Imee jumped in for a Columbia DPT picture.



Imee even went as far as eating a piece of Turkey leg in celebration of the Holiday. It must have been tough for her, but I give her props for giving it a shot.



Here is a perfectly good example of why you should not drink too much wine and then pose for candid shots. Renee usually looks like this in the morning classes we have. Despite this look, she is very popular with guys who stare from a distance and don't talk to her at all. In any case, we still love her. I think there is some kind of surgical procedure that can fix this look anyway. (I hope her mother sees this, because it is funny...)



Finally we headed out on the #7 train back to Manhattan. And, just like we usually do, broke out the studying for the subway trip. It's not easy, but we need to study at any chance we get. Blah! Here Jamie is supposed to be studying, but is inspecting her new shoes. Renee and Nicole are participating in the studying, although we were all very tired.



Finally, Renee and I went downtown to scout a few places to study today and enjoy the sites and smells of NYC. Bad idea on my part. My bad. The badness is me. I am the bad. It was a zoo and packed with tourists who were just walking into each other, and us. Ugh! I did however find the best sale sign I have ever seen. I am not sure if this is a marketing skill that people learn in business school, but it might actually work.



Eventually we ended up at our usual Starbucks on 103rd and Broadway for a few hours of solid studying. Renee loves coffee, and spent most of her time getting the coffee and drinking it before absorbing obscene amounts of information from her books.



One final note. A good friend of mine from New Mexico is coming to visit over the Christmas break. This picture is a perfect example of how my friends treat me. What she does not know is that she is sleeping on the street, especially after sending me this photo. She will certainly stick out like a tourist in the Big Apple.



Well, this is a really long post, so I need to get to bed. I have a 15K road race tomorrow in the Bronx! See you next post...

Some days are better than others...

It's been a rough semester for all of us. We are all very tired and very overworked from all the studying. In fact ( and this is true ), I have been up since 3AM this morning. I don't know why I got up at that time, but I am not tired. It's weird, but at least I can get stuff done, like laundry, a basketball game and a little studying.
I have a bunch of pictures, that come with stories that I would like to share with all of you. As I mentioned in my first introduction and posting, everything you read here is how it is. I am not making this stuff up.

Well, I will begin by telling you what it is like in Medical School at 3AM. It's the same as it is at any other time. Sirens in the background and people studying in the lounge. Hey, I never said it would be pretty. In fact to prove it's really ugly, here is what I look like at 4 AM on a school day. Oh, I just want to mention that I live at 169th and Haven. so this is pretty close to home for me.



Class today was very long. I had a lab which started my day at 10AM and another lab which ended my day at a little after 6PM. I love school and I am having a great time. My classmates are a blast too. here were are trying to measure Eyal's nose. (Shut up Jamie!) I was convinced it was 8 inches long, but it was only 3 inches.



Then I came back to my residence hall and found this notice published next to the elevator. Brace yourselves, it's not pretty. I will most likely get in trouble for this, but it's important to show everything about school. Not just the glamour and bright lights!



I know this is short, but I really do need to study. I have a final next week already! Ugh! Here is the end of my day. Our basketball team, Big Fossas (don't ask) won our first game tonight!! I was so excited that I had someone take a picture!
Here we are:

Julie, Rami and Renee in the front from R to L
Beth, James, Karen (the asian anomaly) and Eyal in the next row, same direction
And me in the back (duh!)



Until next time...

Another fun day of school...

Well, we made it through another week of school (almost), and it was full of laughs and late night study sessions. I took a bunch of pics to show all of you more people in my class and in my life at school.
First I would like to say that all of my professors are great and very intelligent. I would also like to say that each and every one of them is "unique" in their own special way. Today was a super example of a truly "nutty" professor teaching a great class. This morning was our Examination and Evaluation laboratory session. It is here where we learn to measure joint motions and test the strength of skeletal muscles. Our professor is strange. Not strange in a bad way, but rather the "cool soccer mom " kinda strange. She is energetic, unbelievably intelligent and really fun to have as a teacher and lab instructor. We always learn and have a great time in her lab sessions.
Today's lab involved us marking each other's backs with ink to locate specific bony landmarks. This is Cameron. He was a professional dancer in a previous career. He is a really nice guy who turns exceptionally red when he gets flustered or embarrassed. It's pretty neat to see. Here he is being marked on his cervical spine by Jayme. She is a very sweet and very married classmate. Her claim to fame, for now, is that she is a "10" on the Beighton Hyper-mobility Scale. (It's a long story, go look it up!)



Then we would use the landmarks to develop our clinical evaluation skills. It will be interesting to see who forgets about the ink marks and still has them in Monday's kinesiology lab. ;-) The profession of PT involves a lot of close contact with patients. For now, we just have each other. Here is our lab professor examining Nicole. She must be ticklish, because she is smiling so much.



Lab would not be complete without a wonderful (and pretty) assistant instructor. This is Andrea. She is really smart and very fun to work with in the lab. I do have a confession to make.... She was my practical exam proctor a few weeks ago. She was eating pudding for breakfast while I was taking my test! I guess I am truly a bit slow, but I thought she just had the same eating habits as me. I guess I need some help or something...



Next we have this short guy in my class. He is from Astoria, Queens and is a little bit weird. This is a second career for him as well, but I am unsure what he did for a first career. I think it was something to do with building things out of rocks....since that was all he grew up with.... Oh, no! That's the OTHER weird guy in class, Jon. I think Frank was just sick of living at home with his parents, so he decided to go back to school. It doesn't matter what he did, or that his parents probably kicked him out. He is a great guy, and that's good enough for me. Don't worry, he doesn't have some type of postural problem, he is simply moving so that we can do measurements on his back. (Remember those pen marks from before?)



We can get a bit goofy in lab sometimes, especially after a long week of classes and exams. Here I am being goofy with Karen. I am not sure why I put this thing on my head, but I guess I look pretty silly.



After lab we sat for 2 hours in a very warm classroom for our kinesiology lecture. A good time was had by those who attended...and stayed awake. After kinesiology, we sprinted outside for some fresh air and a quick bite to eat at a local cafe, called "Jou Jou". It's a cute little cafe tucked away in a cozy spot, which happens to be directly across from the ER of the hospital. Not so cozy, eh? The food is super, and the soups can be dynamite!
We sat outside and enjoyed some food, drink and laughs. Here we have Candice and Sarah (the 3rd "little piggy" that spent all day studying) sitting at an outside table. These are two very smart and wonderful classmates. As I mentioned earlier, I am one of eight men in my program of 34 students. (How did I get so lucky!?!?)



Sitting next to us was another classmate, Alicia. As far as I know, she recently became engaged. Congrats to her! The book taking up most of the picture is the "easy-to-read and really light" neuroscience book that we drag around with us every Tuesday and Thursday to class. By the end of the semester Alicia will be so strong! From the size of that diamond on her finger, it looks like she will need the strength! Gosh, that ring is magnificent!



After our quick break we all sprinted up to our neuroscience lecture. We usually print out the lecture outline before class because we are pretty busy all day. I ran into Donna and Jody printing out the same outline before class. I tried to take a picture of Jody, but she is very camera shy. Must be a "Canadian" thing. Those people are really weird anyway, with their "funny" accents and all...



Finally, after a long day of studying I made it back to my room to relax and write this post. As usual, some medical students in my hall were watching 'ER' on the television. They call it "studying"; I call it "slacking". I am not sure if it's the same thing, but maybe in medical school it is... Beth is my cute neighbor who has the TV on which the students were "learning". She is reclining in her big comfortable chair in this first picture. She may look like a midget in this picture, but the chair is really big.



"studying" classmates...



I caught Beth earlier in the evening coming back after a workout.



Notice that I was at a distance and used the 'zoom' function on my camera for this shot. I am only kidding about that. I am all stuffed up from allergies, so I was ok when she stopped by... I will be adding more pics of classmates and neighbors as they pass by my room throughout the semester. I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. Tell everyone you know about this site!

Good night to you.

See you next post,,,

The reason we are here.

We are here, in graduate school to study. Not to sleep, eat or have any free time at all. Just study. This week was a typical week, with a lab examination on Monday, followed by a written and practical examination in Gross Anatomy on Wednesday. There were many late nights and early mornings of studying. I don' t like staying up late and getting up early, but studying is my "job" and all of us do a lot of it!
This is the real reason I started this web-diary, to show the world what it is we do each and every day. If you think your job is tough and that you never get any time to yourself, then you need to spend a few weeks with us. You will be thankful of all the free time you truly do have in your life.
It began on Monday night, with Julie ("The Supinator") coming over to study. For a super-hero, she really does have quite a bit of time to study. I am curious when she actually has time to fight crime.... Hmmmmm...... :-)



Then, after a few hours of quality studying, we went downstairs to the study lounge to find our classmates still hitting the books hard. You can tell they have been at it for quite some time. James looks very tired and Beth and Elaine are both struggling to stay awake, and poor Karen has been in her pajamas all day (again!). It's a tough life, but these guys make it look easy. Honestly, I took this picture at midnight, and they remained at it for a few more hours. Nuts!



Our days in this program are busy, long and rather tiring. When we do have a minute or two to ourselves it usually involves a brisk walk to the next class. Here are some of my classmates (Mary, Imee, Jaime, Yaritza and Sarah) on our way to our Neuroscience class in yet another hospital building. Note the beautiful background skyline of downtown NYC. That someplace that we NEVER get to see during the week, and sometimes not even on the weekend. :-(

On our way to the next class...



Don't get me wrong, it's not all a pity party here. We all love school and are really enjoying learning all of this great information. Our professors are really great, fun to listen to in lecture and very knowledgeable. I know that the entire class feels very lucky to have such a great staff teaching us all about Physical Therapy.
As i mentioned before, some of us are very tired, hungry and somewhat "out of it" during our long days in school. HEre is proof of this phenomenon. Here is David (in the background) trying to eat while getting a quick bit of shut-eye before class starts. Multitasking for this new father is becoming second-nature! In the foreground, Aly and Beth try to enjoy a quick snack before another Neuroscience lecture.



Our examinations finally ended yesterday with our Gross Anatomy practical examination. all 34 of us show up at the same time, are split into three groups and take successive turns. This time a different group had to wait in these cold and small classrooms for 2 hours before taking their exam! yuck! I did it for the first examination, and I can tell you that it stinks!
Here we see courtney (not looking very excited about the exam), Ilanit and Beth squeezing out a smile and Ayal goofing off in the back as usual.



Finally we have Donna "lounging" in the other classroom before the exam. Note the coffee mug and scrubs. For the first examination, she stayed up all night before the examination. No sleep, just lots of coffee. I am sure she did the same for this one as well. I bet she slept well last night! :-)

Stay awake Donna!!



That's it for now. I'll begin to track down others in my program (like that "mean" anatomy professor) as the weeks progress. Hope you all have a great day. You know where the 34 of us will be....all....day......

Too many people in such a little place...

Today was a great day in NYC. The weather was perfect, mid-60's and sunny. Many, including my friend Tom and I were out for an early morning run in a short sleeve t-shirt and shorts. About 40,000 others were starting a long day in Staten Island before ending up in Central Park after covering 26-miles and 385 yards. Tom's wife, Sheila and my good friend Dr. Weber were two of those who went on this great journey today.
I met Tom at 10AM this morning at his hotel for a beautiful run around the reservoir in Central Park. We relaxed, chatted and enjoyed the scenery. ;-) After our jaunt and a bit of freshening up at his hotel, we watched Paula Radcliffe win the women's division of the marathon on the tele. She won by 4 seconds! It was an inspirational sight. Wow! Kudos to her for working so hard and never quitting.
Tom and I went out to a local Starbucks to use my computer to check up on Sheila and the train schedule for his return trip to MA later in the day. We had a snack and enjoyed a few laughs.



After our snack, we traveled through the park, over a packed bridge and to a great viewing spot to watch the race. We were at the top of a hill at mile 25 of the course. It was a great spot to watch competitors pass by, and to cheer them on to success. We did see one guy get carried off in a stretcher. Not my idea of a "fun" day. We saw many people dressed in the colors of their home nation as well as others dressed in very strange costumes. I thought Halloween was last weekend?

Mile 25 of the 2004 ING NYC Marathon



Throughout the day my mother was calling me with pacing updates for Sheila as well as my friend Dr. Weber. I am Dr. Weber's endurance coach. (check out http://www.performancetrainingsystems.com) Mostly for triathlons, but endurance sports in general. He is a stellar athlete and was looking in control at mile 25 when he passed us. Tom got a picture of him, so I will update this post when I get it.

Here is Dr. Weber with the blue hat!



The picture I took turned out to be someone's leg! I need help!
Sheila was about 15 minutes behind Dr. Weber and looked as if she was not having as much fun as other runners. It was a hot day and she challenged herself on the course. I think she still looked good at mile 25, what do you think?



After Sheila went through, Tom and I joined the other lemmings in an attempt to get out of Central Park. Along the way Tom and I had a great idea! We thought that this endurance-sport stuff was so popular and that we needed to try something new. We ran into this guy and were intruiged by this new sport. I am not sure I have the coordination for this sort of thing...



I guess we will just stick to endurance sports for now. :-)

Our trip out of the park was insane, but we eventually got to the bridge that crossed a stream of finished runners and led us to salvation. (Central Park West and 72nd Street) This picture is a view from the top of the bridge as I was crossing. It was a continuous river-like flow of athletes in mylar blankets after they had finished. I believe this bridge is within 200m after the finish of the event. I thought it was a pretty neat shot.



Outside of the park we met up with Dr. Weber (who ran an impressive and steady 4:00:49 for the marathon) and did not appear to be tired at all! Very impressive!



After a long and somewhat stressful wait of over an hour, Sheila finally appeared from the crowd. She was very tired and explained that she had stomach issues during the run. I think she looked pretty good to me!



We gathered her stuff, she showered and sent off Tom to the train before heading to dinner with me. We went to one of my favorite eating places in the city, Cafe Taci. The lasagne here is so good, and very filling. We took a cab (thank goodness!) because we were sick and tired of walking, and Sheila just ran a marathon or something...

Sheila and me after a long day



Once dinner was over, I sent her on her merry and tired way back to the hotel for a deserved night's rest. I came back to school and am ready for some quality sleep as well. That's it for this weekend. It was a great time, especially visiting with some great friends in my life and having beautiful weather too! I have an Applied Physiology Lab Exam tomorrow and then Gross Anatomy written AND practical exams on Wednesday. The fun never stops! Off to studying and maybe some sleep tonight...

See you next post!

Marathon excitement in the "Big Apple"

Today I had a wonderful friend (Sheila) come to NYC to prepare for the NYC Marathon, which takes place tomorrow. She traveled all the way from MA to participate and I know she will do very well.
After a nice brunch at a diner, we took the A-train (subway) to the Jacob Javits Convention Center for the pre-race expo. It was a very busy place, full of very fit people and extremely over-priced running gear. I think I saw one booth selling "Performance Underwear" for $16 a pair! I am not making this stuff up!
During my desperate search for the lavatory I noticed that a young lady was signing autographs at a not very busy booth. With my digital camera in hand I headed over and realized that it was multiple Olympic medal winner Jenny Thompson! I was psyched to have a photo opportunity with a world-class athlete and cute medical student.



Well, she was not much of a conversationalist (not like there were people backed-up in line) and seemed rather disinterested in signing a picture for me, but I got one anyway. Quickly after leaving I realized that it was REALLY weird to see a SWIMMER at a RUNNING expo. Don't you think that was weird? Sheila and I finished grabbing whatever schwag (free stuff) we could and then bolted out of the expo.
We hailed a cab and began our trip back to the hotel to relax and wait for her husband to arrive. Our cab ride was directly out of a Seinfeld episode. Our cabbie told us that he was starving because he is fasting for a religious holiday. I then proceeded to inquire if it was safe for him to handle a motorized vehicle. He responded by stating "I have had plenty of water, don't worry!" How could I not worry with such a safe driver behind the wheel. It was a 10-minute cab ride, but he seemed to make fun of everything from Gatorade to Starbucks coffee while praising Dunkin' Donuts for having the best coffee because it was the least acidic. It was well worth the $10 for the trip.
Back at the "Euro-fancy" hotel Sheila was staying at, we relaxed and waited for her husband (Tom) to arrive.



Two of my (cute) classmates joined the three of us for dinner at a really super restaurant on the Upper West Side called Isabella's. I strongly recommend the sesame encrusted yellow fin tuna, it was unreal! We had a great dinner and a great laugh before splitting ways for the evening.

Sheila, Tom and me!



Nicole, Renee and some random bald guy...



Tomorrow promises to be a breat day for Sheila and the other 40,000 or so runners in the 2004 ING NYC Marathon. Sheila will do really well because her race number is her lucky number. What's your lucky number? :-)

What a coincidence that her race number is her lucky number!



See you after the marathon!