the First Exam

How can it be that I've only just been in class for three weeks and I've already been presented with an amount of knowledge that should accompany months of study??? Indeed from one course alone I am already expected to know the entire system of fluid balance within the body - how it works, what can go wrong, how you can tell if it goes wrong and ways to fix it, Electrolyte management within the many systems of the body, normal vital signs, hormone and electrolyte levels and the basics of how to do and entire body assessment upon entering a patients room...oh, AND the basics of the cardiac system - paths, jobs, diseases and basic EKGs. One course. And we're being tested over all of that on Monday. Yes, my dear readers - two days from now. Holy cow. My weekend is filled with studying and I am amazed at how much I already know compared to this time last month when I sat in a moving truck traveling across thousands of miles of asphalt!

So, the study is going well, but needless to say it is already taking a toll. Just to prove my point:

Some nursing school friends and I two weeks ago - at the beginning of the semester.

And now - in the midst of studying. Boo Hoo!

I hope all of you are getting more sleep than I at the moment! :)

First step - look the role

The true journey to nurse-hood has officially begun. True, it technically started several weeks ago when I moved to New Haven and started classes, orientation even. But, yesterday was my first day in the hospital. I donned my scrubs, lab coat, fake crocs, ID badge and stethoscope and headed out of the house to be there for the 7am shift. True, we didn't do much "hands-on" work yesterday - it was just orientation. But, it was interesting and exciting to enter a hospital for the first time with a tiny ounce of clinical knowledge.

I'll be working on the cardiac floor - mostly with post-op patients. I am particularly excited about this assignment because I had a two week "orientation" to the cardiac floor in Houston a few months ago when my dad underwent bypass surgery. I am excited and interested to see this now from the other side. So much to learn!

In my scrubs...

and lab coat!

Today I have the 7-1 shift again and will actually start working with the patients. We have been officially learned to check vital signs: temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure. We've also learned how to change a bed (with hospital corners) and give a bed bath for those patients too weak or too sick to get out of bed. It's in my head...now I just need to transfer it to my hands. Wish me luck!

A little of Connecticut

Alas, grad school seems to eat up every moment of my time already and I have been slow to post any pictures and stories from my time here in New Haven thus far. I shall try to make a routine that allows me to update this blog more often. But, at the moment, I have piles of studies sitting (literally) between me and this keyboard and I must get to work. So for now these pictures from my mom's visit up here this weekend will have to suffice.

Mom came up for the weekend and we spent Saturday taking a road trip through the back roads of Connecticut. I plotted a route on the map and mom exclaimed that it would simply take us forever to drive. In fact, it took about an hour and a half. Toto, we're not in Texas anymore! :) So, we set out on our drive.

After changing plans a few times, we decided on a cute 2 lane road through the country and it was perfect because we happened upon and Lewiz farm - produce and antique shop:

Continuing on, we enjoyed driving through the crisp, cool autmn air amidst the lush trees and stone fences:

Soon we came upon a beautiful draw bridge, which we drove over slowly several times to take in the view (and, of course, get some pictures)

Our road trip ended at the shore in Meridian, CT. We found a great little resaurant (The Warf) where we sat watching the sunset, eating clam chowder and fish and chips. Beautiful!!!

Today we started our day at a Catholic church in the neighborhood and then hiked up "East Rock" which is only a few blocks away from my house. What a view!

On my porch - ready for a walk

a street near mine

"East Rock"

On top of East Rock with New Haven behind us

part of New Haven and the Long Island Sound

Look, it's my house!

It was a good visit and a beautiful time.

Classes Start Tomorrow!!!

I'm all settled in to New Haven now and I promise to upload some pictures just as soon as every last box is out of my bedroom and I put up the wall hangings. Unfortunately, that is yet the case on this eve of the beginning of my journey into nursing.

Orientation week was great - the group of students in my Pre-speciality RN/MSN program is truly remarkable. We come from something like 35 states and have studied in over 180 different institutions of higher learning. That's even more remarkable seeing as there are only around 100 of us (maybe up to 120). The group includes lawyers, teachers, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (five of us), social workers and a pipe organ builder (who helped build the largest pipe organ in the world!) Degrees held in the group vary from theatre to public policy to English to various sciences to public health to education to...to....to... It is an interesting and diverse group of people.

So, we were bombarded with information during orientation and given the tools to get us started on this incredible journey. I am sitting in my room, after this beautiful labor day weekend, reading over the notes for tomorrow's lecture. We do get one introductory day before jumping off the Olympic high dive. In two weeks we will be actively in the hospitals, 2 shifts a week, under the observation and guidance of preceptors in the medical-surgical units. I can't wait. And I'm scared to death.

I must return to my note reading, but I did want to leave you with this cute cartoon that one of our professors sent us via e-mail. I think it accurately describes our state at the moment. But, not for long....

I am now a resident of New Haven

Just a quick note, as I am using the computer at the library....

Dad and I made it safely through three days and nearly 2,000 miles from Houston to New Haven. After having loaded the truck in 105+ degree heat, the cold front here made unloading nice - around 70 degrees! Wow - what a change. I can't believe this is August.

So, I am almost completely unpacked and the apartment is taking shape. I hadn't seen it before arriving, as one of my roommates picked it out. However, I LOVE it. The apartment is half of the first floor of a beautiful old house in a gorgeous residential part of town. We are caticorner from a small grocery and coffee shop. People and families are out running/walking their dogs and strolling all day and everyone seems to know each other. It is wonderful!

I'll post some pictures once we have the Internet up and running in the apartment.

Moving Day

Well, as of today, I have officially finished the first quarter century of my life!!! Sounds a bit crazy when I put it like that. However, I could not be more excited about beginning this next chapter of my life.

This week has been busy - packing, sorting, packing, giving away and more packing. I don't know how I had so much packing to do after having most of what I own in storage for 3 years. But, alas, I do have a knack for building up things to pack!

And today I will finish packing the moving truck with everything I own. Tomorrow morning before the sun comes up, dad and I will hit the wide open road heading from Texas to Connecticut. I'm glad we're getting out of town before hurricane Dean hits land. We'll spent 2.5 days on the road - arriving in Connecticut sometime on Monday.

And the next chapter begins....but more on that later!

SALSA!

I've always loved Latin dancing. I've taken a couple salsa classes, but somehow the music just seems to be in my blood. Houston has a great Latin dance scene, so I try to take advantage of it while I'm here (and have time!). This past week has seen not only several fun nights of dancing, but I also learned about the origins of salsa music and dance.

Believe it or not, salsa actually comes from Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spanish Harlem (NYC) with a strong African influence from the Caribbean. It essentially came about in the 1970s and has developed since that time. "Salsa" is a Spanish word meaning "sauce" - showing that this type of dance is a combination of several styles, both music and dance.


Recently, the movie "El Cantante" was released - starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. It's certainly not the best movie I've ever seen, but it was an interesting look at the life of Hector Lavoe - one of the men central in the Salsa scene of the 1970s. LaVoe (played by Marc Anthony) came from Puerto Rico and quickly became on the of top singers in the New York Latin scene. His life was filled with drugs and misery, but he was an amazing musician.


One reason that I enjoyed the movie so much was that a friend of mine had exposed me to the roots of Salsa and "introduced" me to LaVoe's fame and music. I had heard some of his music before, but never knew who he was. It has been a really neat lesson on Latin music, culture and SALSA!!!

So, of course, I had to get out there and do some dancing myself after seeing the movies and hearing the music! I met up with a friend of mine from Elementary school(!!!) at Skybar in Houston. Thursday is their Latin night. We had a great time together!

My Peruvian friend (who taught me about Hector LaVoe) also came. What fun we had.

Ole!

My first visit to the Georgia Aquarium

An outing that I eagerly anticipated for my trip to Atlanta was a visit to the Georgia Aquarium.

When I left Atlanta in August 2004, plans were underway for the Aquarium. I think they had just broken ground to begin construction. Everyone was talking about it - the largest aquarium in the world - whales and sharks and and and.... It was sure to draw crowds!

For me, the Aquarium was a new amazing attraction, though it was actually completed nearly 2 years ago. So, a few days before my trip to Atlanta was finished, Happy, John and I set out to explore the adventure for ourselves. Albeit, the kids had gone before - but I was super excited to see it for myself.

Indeed, the aquarium turned out to be everything that people had described it to be. There were many touch pools, a variety of neat underwater exhibits and exotic animals. My favorites were the beluga whales and the whale sharks in the huge 8 million gallon aquarium (I could have sat watching it for hours). Here are some pictures from our trip to the aquarium.

Happy and John in front of an aquarium

a leafy sea dragon

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea......

big crabs

Happy and John at a touch pool

where we could touch......

Small sharks (yikes!) and...
stingrays
a cute penguin on a rock
and we go in for a closer look!

Wow! The jellyfish glow under black light!

Even otters need a nap.

John and Happy in a look window

(seen through an aquarium)

and finally - the huge 8 million gallon aquarium

whale sharks and all!

Visit to Atlanta

I just returned home from a two week trip to Atlanta. Let me tell you - I had no idea how much I liked that city until this trip back. The lush green trees, the hills, the culture and diversity - it was so refreshing to be there. Of course, the part of the city I knew very well how much I adored are my friends there. What a happy reunion after nearly a full three years away!

My plane arrived a couple hours late in the middle of the night and I caught a taxi to the Herold's house, where I was staying. I was tired and a little travel weary, but as I walked from the taxi to the house, all that vanished with a glimpse of my welcome home sign:

Happy and John made this sign for me and it was hanging on the porch as I walked up.

I had so much fun staying with the Herolds. It was as if I'd never left. Actually, I couldn't believe that John remembered me because he was 2 when I left and is now 5. They made sure to talk about me and show him pictures. I'm sure Happy wouldn't let him forget. It was so touching!

During the time I was there, the kids' focus was on circus camp - a summer camp they were attending. They were learning acrobatics, trapeze and Spanish web along with other circus tricks. They practiced them every where we went.

not too shabby for being 5 and 8! And, lucky for me, I was even there to watch one of the actual circus camp shows!!!

Happy and John made up and ready to perform

This one is hard to see, but if you look closely, you can see that it's Happy upside-down on the Spanish Web - hanging by one leg. Impressive!

Of course, the Herold's weren't the only friends I got to see while I was in Atlanta.

Susie, Maddie, Katy, Sydney and Emily

(a lot of "-ee"s)

Brings us back to KIPP:PATH

All in good time, my pretty. All in good time.

With Sydney and Maddie - what cuties!

With Victor at a posh Thai restaurant near Georgia Tech

Emily and Heather - Lookin' good!

a trip out to the Clarks' to see Brian and Heather

Roasters with Ben

a gourmet meal with Bernard

an afternoon visit with Nancy and Al

Michelle and I visit Melissa for lunch, after a visit to...

the Hindu temple of Atlanta

(which was an awesome cultural experience - the temple was beautiful, we were given holy bananas and we even got to chat with the man who was carving all the moulds for the ornate decorations all around the temple!)

And, of course, I couldn't leave Atlanta without a Thai themed party. I pulled out my photos, took a trip to the Decatur International Farmer's market, greased the wok and had a great time eating and visiting with everyone who could make it.

Tricia chats with Demond and Shaniece about joining Peace Corps.

Jeff, Robin and Tricia in the food line. Look at that spread!

Bernard goes for some curry.

It was a wonderful trip!!!

a break from the rain