bienvenidos a miami!

this past week has been perfect.

any week would be perfect when it is sunny and 80 everyday. last saturday, after a delicious potluck with erin, alex and nick and our bellies filled with erin's remake of cosi's signature salad, alex's penne with shrimp and my coconut curry soup, i got ready to leave for the sunshine state. paul picked me, judy and regina up around 4 am. we drove to boston and watched the sunrise for the first time in a while. we boarded our flight to newark where savita hopped aboard. then flew into fort lauderdale where aly and her parents picked us up. i don't even remember what we did, but i'm sure there was food and blue valentine were involved.

monday, we went to camillus house where we distributed food to the people who needed it. at 12:30, sira picked me up and we went to 86th ave where i shadowed in a clinic at a strip mall by a jerkin' chicken restaurant. my preceptor was so cool, he taught me a lot about diabetes patients as well as patients with vaginitis (in the form of uti, trichomonas, chlamydia, etc) since those were the two main types of patients we saw. at 6, aly picked me up and we ate dinner at her house. the other girls went shopping while savita and i took a walk... to the liquor store. then, we went to south beach and hung out with savita's friends who were around at mango's.

tuesday, we went to ahec orientation and then lunch at a asian buffet where i had so much good sushi and veggies with red bean ice cream and a couple bites of tiramisu for dessert. we went to topwa and waited around for the mobile unit on a picnic bench in the parking area for awhile and then went to a neighborhood in little haiti. most of the residents were at work but there were some who come in to get their vitals checked. we tried to recruit people as we played with the cute neighborhood dogs. then we went to the u miami student clinic which was pretty cool except we didn't do much because we were not allowed to touch the patients. we left at 7 and then watched tangled after dinner. i passed out before it ended, but it seemed super cute.

wednesday, we went to a school founded by a miami heat basketball player to teach the kids about health. i was so dumb when i told them that a pharmacist gave out drugs. a little boy asked me if they were the good kind or the bad kind. DOH. but other than that, they were super smart and were very engaged in our little lesson. then we went to lourdes where aly graduated high school. the girls were enthusiastic, which made it so fun. then we went to south beach and tanned while chatting about whatever. we  had dinner at tap tap, a haitian restaurant which was DELICIOUS. it was really fun to just be goofy, too :) especially after, when we were walking around, 2 18-yo looking kids asked what we were doing tonight and wanted us to go to some apt party with them. they tried to lure us with their alleged greygoose that in no way shape or form could have fit into their little rolling cooler. we said goodbye and went to wet willie's. after a few daiquiris, reg and judy posed with the tree in provocative ways. amazing.

thursday, we went to lourdes and then the other girls went shopping while savita and i stayed in aly's backyard in the sun. shawn met us for dinner at carreta's for cuban food. the waiter must have hated me because i couldn't eat anything on the menu. i ended up ordering avocado salad with a side of steamed veggies and sweet plaintains with a glass of sangria. it was wonderful and when we got home, i fell asleep before the intro was done playing for easy a.

friday, we had a panel discussion with pre-med students. they had really awesome questions and were receptive to what we were saying. i enjoyed it a lot. we went back to aly's house where miriam made mango smoothies and i ate my leftovers for lunch. aly and i watched glee as the other girls sat outside by the pool. then we went to bombay darbar for indian food since that was the last ethnic food we had yet to have (asian, haitian, cuban.. haha - not on purpose, but by then, we had to get it). i had the chana masala with garlic naan. so good, especially with the few sips of mango lassi i had of savita's. then we chilled at the house and started to watch harry potter 7, part 1. we all started to pass out around 11 so we ended it early. waking up at 5 am on saturday was difficult, but we slept on the car ride to the airport, on the plane ride to philly, on the plane ride to boston, on the bus ride to hanover... i can't believe how fast the week went. going home to hang out with erin and dan was fun while watching sex and the city with shredded mini wheat smothered with nutella..

today i woke up after 8 hours and got my life in order for the coming semester. nadia picked me up and we had lunch at panera's to bond. it was lovely. and then i got home and watched tv as i chilled before making roasted herb and curry potatoes for the bbq at alex and nick's. i loved the peppers, sweet potato fries, tilapia, chips and salsa, sauteed mushrooms, and guinness. everyone caught up with everyone else which was AWESOME. i had so much fun. quynh drove me home and we got to spend some solid time together tonight, which was overdue.