Changes again.....

I know, I know. Long time no post, and I'm in New York and haven't even finished writing about New Orleans. How did I end up in New York? Well, that's a bit of a story. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

Before I left for New Orleans, I interviewed for a new job. While I was in New Orleans, I received a call for a second interview, and had that shortly after. This wasn't really planned. I had considered switching nursing jobs for a while, but wasn't really looking. One day, I was browsing craigslist and happened to look in the medical jobs section, and there was the perfect sounding job. During the interview process, everything went smoothly, there were no yellow or red flags, I got along well with everyone I met, and the more I learned about the job, the more I realized it was perfect for what I was looking to do next. So, I start in 2 days. And I quit the farm. It's all been good, though. Had to make some tough decisions, but everything's working out in the end.

In the meantime, I was getting ready to ride one day, and I got to talking to my landlord about general stuff, and she mentioned a trip to NYC, and when she told me some of the stuff they would be doing, I asked if she wanted another trip member (halfway kidding). When one of their travel people backed out, I got to take the spot. So, we've been having a blast in NYC the last few days. Took the Amtrak train up from Charlottesville, wandered all around Manhattan. Went to the top of the Empire State Building, took a rikshaw around Central Park, went to the Museum of Natural History, stayed at the Hotel Elysee, ate at the Monkey Bar and Dos Caminos, as well as having some great street food. Visited St. Patrick's Cathedral (AMAZING!). Oh, and did I mention seeing The Lion King on Broadway??????? Sitting right up front. Best. Thing. Ever. The show was amazing, the cast was wonderful, the costumes made you forget there were people behind them, and Rafiki was OUTSTANDING. I LOVE that lady.
BTW, the Hotel Elysee is everything their website promised. A cute little boutique hotel, close enough to many things to walk, and an easy walk to the subway for everything else. They have a great continental breakfast, and wine and cheese every afternoon. The front desk people are VERY friendly and helpful. We also fell in love with the Europa Cafe and have stopped there multiple times for coffee and/or snacks.

Our time here is drawing to a close. Some of us are heading down to the Statue of Liberty ferry this morning before we head out to take the train back to Charlottesville. It has been an awesome trip.

New Orleans, Day 2

Well, good morning from the balcony of our Bed and Breakfast in the Garden District! We had a beautiful day here yesterday, bright and sunny most of the day with some light cloud cover and a cool evening. Yesterday (and today) we got started a little slowly, and by the time we dawdled (mostly due to my picture taking) over to the trolley and then to the French Quarter, it was time to grab some lunch. Pat O's was on our list of things to do, so we headed over there for some good food. Our waiter was James, and he was awesome. A very refreshing change after the day before's trip to NOLA. Bambi and I each had a hurricane, and it was jambalaya all around. Oh my goodness, it was AMAZING!!! Great suggestion from Carrie! We then headed out for a wandering around the French Quarter some more. We headed back to this neat mask shop we found the day before and Carrie bought a panda mask: http://frenchquartermaskstore.com/cart.php?m=search_results&search=panda . I, on the other hand, fell in love with a turqouise cowboy hat that had a boa on it. Loved it, but way too expensive, and would probably only wear it once or twice in relation to St. Baldrick's. We also spent some time looking in the many cute shops in the Quarter before hopping on the very full trolley and heading back to the Garden District. We quickly jumped into the car for the drive over to Slidell for a swamp tour. I love the swamp tours (Cajun Encounters), though this round was a little disappointing when we had about half an hour taken off because the hotel pick up bus was late and then some women couldn't hold their beer so we had to rush back. I think maybe it's better to go earlier in the day. But, we did get to see some fun alligators, and a great blue heron. Afterwards, Bambi and I were dropped off down at Jackson Square to meet up for the vampire tour. We both were hungry, so we stopped by the Market Cafe (just outside of the French Market) for a quick po' boy. They messed up our order, and it took longer than it should have, and then added a tip automatically to our to go order. Not a place we will be returning!
The vampire tour has also been a favorite of Bambi and mine in the past. We do the Haunted History tour, and prefer "Tony" as our guide. He does an amazing job, is a great storyteller, and has lots of stories to tell, though we did notice he didn't tell as many this time as he did last time. It's a lot of fun, and you get a lot of New Orleans history.
Today is a more laid back day, nothing major planned. One thing I'm learning, though, as I return to places I love, is to pick out one or two things I've done in the past that I know I really want to do again, and then do all new things other than that. Otherwise, my whole trip gets crammed with things I've done before!

New Orleans at last....

Sitting here in a bed and breakfast in New Orleans, grateful for terrific friends to be sharing this time with. We got in around 12 yesterday, just in time to quickly change, hop in a cab and make it over to NOLA's (Emeril's restaurant) for lunch.  The food was very good.  I had the turkey panini, which came out looking very dark, but was amazing.  We did start out with the Gulf Shrimp Remoulade, which had a great flavor.  One of my friends had the Caesar Salad, which was large, and she enjoyed it, while the other had the shrimp and grits.  Now, none of us are normally grits fans, but these had been cooked to perfection, slathered in butter, and then had barbecue sauce from the shrimp on them, and we all enjoyed them.  She also said the shrimp tasted great.  Dessert looked good, but we were WAY too full.  The service was mediocre.  Our waiter came over quickly and was very friendly and upbeat, but it took forever to get our drinks, our food, and anything else we asked for.  And it was not that busy.  Overall, it was something I was glad we did, but wouldn't necessarily do again.  We wandered around the French Quarter for a while, stopping to watch the street performers and grab a cup of coffee, before slowly winding our way back to the Garden District on the trolley ($3/day pass).  Got some great pictures of flowers and the cutest dog on the walk back to the Garden District Bed and Breakfast where we are staying.  It is an amazing place.  We have the balcony suite, and it's 2 rooms, with a microwave and small fridge.  There is a daybed with a trundle in the room opening up to the balcony, and a larger bed in the front room.  The room is nice and cute, there are snacks and milk and oj in the fridge, and we love it.  Having stayed here several times before, this is my favorite place, and I think we will return many times in the future.  We were going to go on a vampire tour last night, but instead decided to take a nap before going out to dinner at Joey K's, which was about 6 blocks away from us.  It was a beautiful night for a walk.  It's a really neat, homey place, with lots of personality.  We started with fried artichoke hearts, which were surprisingly good (though I think next time I would have asked for Ranch instead of marinara).  My 2 friends ordered the red rice and beans, which looked amazing, and the entree order came with a piece of andouille sausage.  I ordered the special of the night which was pork loin with green beans and mashed potatoes.  Our only complaint overall was the saltiness of everything, but the rest of the flavors were great, the pork loin was nice and tender, and the atmosphere was fun.  Another high on my recommendation list.

As for the first 2 days of the trip, my flights were uneventful other than everything being delayed coming into and out of Charlotte due to the president's arrival.  Still made it to Texas only half an hour late.  My mom met me at the airport and we headed back to Waco, where we met my sister and nephew for a delicious Mexican dinner at Casa Ole (I LOVE their green sauce and spinach enchiladas).  Stayed at my mom's house in Moody for 2 nights, had a Pampered Chef party, which was great because I got to catch up with an old friend, and had my picture taken for an article in the local McGregor paper about me shaving my head for St. Baldrick's (11 days from today!!!). Then I met up with my friends in Dallas, ran a few errands, had another Pampered Chef party, and we got a few hours sleep before heading out to New Orleans.

Today, we are headed out for a swamp tour, a vampire tour, a new tattoo for one of my friends, and any other trouble we can get into along the way.

Tiredness and New Orleans and Pampered Chef

Well, I did it again.  I always get to the point of sheer exhaustion and frustration before speaking up.  So, had a talk with my boss and got things straightened out, but still.....I'm exhausted.  And when I get exhausted, I get sick.  And so, here I am again.  Hopefully it will go away soon.

Having a blast square dancing, doing a lot of extra dances on the weekends and getting a good reception from other dancers.  We have a great group to work with on Monday nights learning.

And in a little over a month, I will be in New Orleans, tickets bought and everything.  But first, a quick stop in Texas to meet up with my friends.  Have I mentioned I hate Texas?  But I'll get to stop in and see some of my friends and family, and have 2 Pampered Chef parties.  One in Moody at my mom's house, and one in the Dallas area with a friend of mine.  Let me know if you want to join either one, and I'll send you the info.  Should be a lot of fun!  And I CAN'T WAIT to be in New Orleans for 4 days with 2 of my best friends!!!!

Planned traveling....

Well, working on my travel itinerary for this year, and here's what it's looking like so far:  Heading to NC this weekend for a Pampered Chef Spring Launch, in March going to New Orleans with 2 of my best and longest known friends, in July/August going to the Dakotas to work with the Lakota Indians  with my new church (more about that later), and in November (hopefully), going to go visit my cousin who lives just outside Abu Dhabi, UAE.  Probably a couple of little 3 day trips in there as well.

In other news, I've started having some Sundays off, so have been visiting a couple of churches in this area, and last Sunday, I found one I think I will stay at.  It's Crossroads Community Church, and it's small, very informal, and they do a lot of community outreach.  And, unlike my previous church, they don't care who you are or how long you've been there before you start jumping into help with things (and no 5 page trip applications!).    I've always wanted to work with Native American groups, and as soon as I saw the trip, I knew it was something I wanted to do, since part of what they are doing is medical work.  It's very exciting.

I'm also looking forward to going to the UAE.  My cousin has been there for several years now, and I've been meaning to go visit, but just hadn't made it there yet.  I was talking about doing an international trip this year, and my roommate happened to mention a fare sale to Dubai, and it reminded me I wanted to head there, so this made it on my trip list this year.  I can't wait!!!

Washington and Horse Show....along with Couch to 5k and Pampered Chef!

So, the horse show has finally come and gone...and after a complete and total meltdown during our lesson on Friday, Morgan and I pulled it together (with the help of our trainer) and managed to make it through the show on Saturday with minor adjustment.  Instead of doing Training Level 1 and 3, we backed off to Intro B and Training 1, seeing as how it was our first show.  We learned a lot, have a lot of great tips to work on, and look forward to our next show (whenever it is), as well as future lessons with our new trainer, who we love.

To get a few other bits of news out of the way, I'm trying to do the Couch to 5k program.  For those not familiar, it takes a couch potato and makes them ready to run a 5k in 9 weeks.  Now, I'm not a total couch potato, but I've also NEVER been a runner, so it's a bit of a challenge for me.  Tomorrow will be the last day of week 1 which involves 60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of fast walk x 8.

AND, I've begun selling Pampered Chef.  So, once I reach my first selling goal, I'll be able to set up a website, which everyone will be able to order through, no matter what area of the country you are in.  Look forward to more updates on that later.  If you're interested in ordering/hosting a show/becoming a consultant, let me know!

As for Washington, had a great time wandering around.  Spent a couple of days visiting my dad, we went to the Puyallup Fair, played a lot of Cribbage, went for some walks, then rented a car and headed down the ocean.  I love the WA/OR coast.  It's so relaxing.  Spent a day in Portland, went to the zoo, then headed back up towards Seattle via Mt Rainier.  It was cloudy and rainy that day, so couldn't see the mountain itself, but the waterfalls were gorgeous, and I found a rainbow that ended in a lake.  It was a little too cold to take a dive to find the pot of gold, so headed back to Seattle before heading home.  It was a nice little reprieve from the daily grind, and took the edge off my wanderlust for the moment.  The plan is to head to New Orleans in January.  Hopefully with a few friends.  If anyone wants to join me for that trip, let me know and I'll keep you in the planning loop.

April 30th - There is a waterfall....

The landscape here is rather flat and boring as we head out from Sault (pronounced sue) Ste Marie towards Thunder Bay, but driving around the Great Lakes is beautiful. My final destination for today was Thunder Bay, and while I enjoyed watching the lake as I passed, I found Thunder Bay to be disappointing, a rather ugly town. Though there is a park there in town that was rather nice to go hiking in. BUT, I saw on the map a place called Kakabeka Falls, which is a variation on the Indian phrase meaning “There is a waterfall”. And sure enough there was. A big, beautiful waterfall, with a nice park around it. A lot less crowded than Niagara, and while not as big, every bit as beautiful.

And I heard a song twice on the road today that I had never heard before and it was great. It was called, “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan. My favorite part? The chorus: When I get older, I will be stronger, They’ll call me freedom, Just like a waving flag…..

April 29th - Toronto Zoo

Spent the day at the Toronto Zoo. It is supposed to be one of the best zoos in Canada. I must say I wasn’t impressed, though it could just be because over ½ the exhibits were not out/were being worked on. The price was high ($30 between parking and entrance), and the maps of the zoo (both paper and posted), were horrible. Having said that, the exhibits themselves were large and spacious, with very few not having any place to get a good picture from. One of my pet peeves at zoos is the kind of fences that it’s very difficult to get a picture through.

I love Toronto’s “interstate” system. They have expressways and collectors. Expressways are like freeways, and every once in a while it intersects with the collector, which is where all the exits are, and does exactly what it’s name says, it “collects” the cars trying to get on and off the freeway, basically eliminating the blockage that causes on American interstates. I also noticed that once I got out of Niagara Falls, there were NO US license plates, which I thought was kind of sad.

April 28th - on the road again!

Made it to the Niagara Falls border, and almost didn’t make it across. They have these questions they ask you at the border. Basic questions. Your name, what you do for a living, what you’ll be doing in Canada, how long you plan on being there, if you know anyone there. Well, apparently they don’t appreciate people coming in who have no definite plans, timeframe, etc.  Who would have thought. So, if you’re a suspicious person, they pull you over to the side, search your car, and then take you in a building, where you wait in line for them to finish with the people in front of you, and then call you up to the desk, where you answer a whole nother set of questions from a border patrol officer whose job is to be not so nice. They ask you the same questions the first person asked, plus anything else they can think of. I told him I was going on a road trip. He wanted to know how much money (cash) I had with me, and when I told him, he asked why so little. I said I have credit cards. So, he wanted to know whether I had proof of how much I had available on them. No. Then he wanted to know what I did for a living. I said nurse, and he quit after that. So, the moral of this story is, if you are crossing the border the correct answer to any question is: I am a nurse.  j/k. Then, you go sit down, and I guess somebody in the back, or the internet, or something, does a check on you, because the guy who took my information went over and talked to the guy next door about something they were doing after work for at least 15 minutes. He finally called me back up and said it was okay to go. He was much friendlier then. I felt bad for 2 other people there, though. They had been there before I got in there, and were still going round and round with the officers on whether they could get in or not, and had been called up to the desk several times. So, after a long day of driving, I got to Niagara Falls, wandered around there for a couple of hours, then headed up to Toronto. I had forgotten how beautiful the falls were and how much I missed them. I decided to stay in a hotel that night to get a good night’s sleep before heading across Canada. I ended up at the Admiral’s Inn just outside of Toronto. A very nice hotel, with a great rate, a pool, hot breakfast, and had a fridge and microwave in the room. I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, 3/23/2010, Haiti again...

Another good day in the clinic, started out with 2 very dehydrated hypotensive pts who stayed for quite a while, and then more peds. It's amazing the things we take for granted in the US; the system that is in place. We sent a guy home today to find his own way to another hospital. He had to walk a ways down the road, then catch a tap tap. His pressure had been running 80 -90 all day and his temp dropped for only a couple of hours after tylenol and ibuprofen before climbing again. It was 39 celsius when he left, to walk in the 100+ degree heat index weather to catch a crowded tap tap (you see people hanging off the sides and on top of those things) to take him to Port au Prince. Then there was a baby that we also tried to transfer, whose mom insisted on taking him home. In the US, we would have called security, and if it came down to it, gotten CPS involved. We will probably be seeing that baby again (though hopefully she'll take him directly to the hospital)! Got off a little early today, went and raided the old ward for more supplies. I am extremely grateful for Grant, an EMT, who coordinates transfers and transportation (which can be outrageously frustrating).

With the arrival of the teams yesterday, the house is full. All the upstairs dorms are mostly full, and several girls have joined me in the tents. After they arrived last night, there was much insanity for a while, so I hid in the tent and read a book. But once everything settled down, we had a good time with cribbage, conversation, and a "how to find a vein by feel" inservice.

Monday, 3/22/2010....

I awoke after a long night's sleep to sunshine, roosters, and horns on the highway behind us. There are very few road rules in Haiti. They basically drive on the same side of the road as in the US, but utilize both sides constantly, and make up their own lanes. And always with the horns. If you're passing somebody, just blow your horn really loud.... :-)The little tap taps are the funniest with their clown car sounding horns, then the big buses roll through, whose horns sound like an 18 wheeler's, and they insist on blowing them almost constantly. We had an amazing first day of clinic. One of the Dr's with us is a pediatric ER doctor, which means that we are doing mostly urgent care and peds cases all day. My 2 favorite things. We started off the day learning how to do x-rays with a C-arm, but quickly moved on to 2 MVCs that came in. The girl had a concussion with multiple abrasions and several gashes on her head, and the guy had actually been run over by a tap tap (a Haitian taxi). The girl was stitched and bandaged. The guy was actually in pretty good shape, aside from bad road rash and a couple of broken ribs. Then we got in a young child whose mom had died in the earthquake, and dad couldn't take care of him anymore and wanted to give him up. Such a sweet little one who was also dehydrated and had some other problems, so we IV'd him, and he eventually got transferred out. Apparently, over 1/2 the kids in the orphanage here actually have parents, or at least family, that couldn't (or wouldn't) take care of them for whatever reason. Some were found abandoned. And Haitians believe that twins are bad karma or voodoo or whatever, so they are rarely kept. Another night of cribbage with three guys from an American work team that joined us today. There were about 30 people, and they are a great bunch. About half are from OK, and half from MN.

First day out.....

Written March 20, 2010, my first day on the trip to Haiti....

"Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!"

I think airports invent aircraft delays simply to sell more goods. People who were sitting contentedly in their seats waiting for their flights, suddenly decide they're famished and rush to buy massive amounts of food and drink when confronted with a one hour delay. My way of avoiding this: always take Subway on flights. Yes, you can bring food with you into an airport. So, usually the day before (to avoid any bigger rush the day of), I go to Subway and buy at least one footlong, and then refrigerate it. I knew I would be on a plane/in an airport all day today, so I actually bought 3 (had one for dinner yesterday).

As for the flights themselves, to start off with, I hate flying without a window seat. I like to see out, and often take pictures out the window. So, at home I had booked myself on a window seat for the Richmond to Chicago leg, but it wasn't showing any window seats available from Chicago to San Juan. And that's a long journey without a window. But I checked again when I got to the airport, and there was exactly one window seat available. It was perfect! Then, for the movie, they showed "Where the Wild Things Are", which I had been wanting to see. A very good movie.

Bad Travel Karma aka The Best Laid Plans

Finally arrived in San Juan after the hour delay leaving Richmond and another hour delay in Chicago, all due to the snow there. Yes, snow. Picked up my luggage and grabbed a taxi, because apparently no hotels in San Juan offer shuttle service. Get to the hotel, only to find out the reservation was canceled and that the 3 other ladies I was supposed to meet weren't going to make it in that night. The hotel, which was just a fairly cheap looking island place, wanted $80 for a room for the night. Nope. So I had them call me a cab back to the airport. As I'm waiting for it, 2 police and 2 MPs show up with machine guns. :-) So, one hour, 2 taxi rides, and 27 wasted dollars later, it was 11:30 pm, and I sat down to try to nap in the waiting area before getting on the 7 am flight to Port au Prince. I was definitely looking forward to a much easier connection on the way home, with just one layover in Miami.

A few hours later.....

All Things Work Together for Good aka All's Well That Ends Well....

Had a hard time sleeping, so was sitting there reading, when up walk Claudia, John, Henri, and Junior wearing Haiti shirts. We quickly started up a conversation and when Jr and John decided to go get something to eat, Henri and I joined them, with Claudia volunteering to watch the bags. It was great to talk to others who were going. They had all lived in Haiti @ some point, and were now going to help out with passing out supplies and doing clinics with Mount of Olives Church of God in New Jersey. Such sweet people, made my night a lot better!