And I'm back...and leaving again

So it's been awhile since I posted, but what's new about that?

My trip to Honduras was fan-freakin'-tastic (excluding the missed flight bit). We did nineteen surgeries and they all went really well. Hospital San Francisco was a great place to work. The facilities were great (we had A/C in the OR! -- such a luxury), the people we helped were amazing, and the hospital staff was extremely helpful and a joy to work with. Especially Dr. Raul Schneider and his wife Raquel, both of whom made this trip all the better for we knew our patients would be in extremely capable hands.

Monsenor Muldoon and his staff were quite entertaining and extremely hospitable. This was the cheapest medical mission I've gone on thus far. We didn't have to pay for housing or food until the last day of the trip. Plus Monse took me out to a little village about half an hour away from Juticalpa where I watched Confirmation and First Communion. It was great. A totally different Catholic experience. It's interesting to see how much work the Deacons do in the rural areas where they're lucky if a priest is able to be there twice a month, let alone once a month. Monse and I talked sports, politics, and religion...Interesting discussions were had, and I got to know more about Honduras and the State of Juticalpa than I would have had I not spent so much time talking with him.

The orthopedic surgical team I went with was amazing. There was only one person I didn't know on the trip and we ended up quite close. I love these doctors and nurses. They are amazing people who do so many good things. They expend so many of their own resources (medical equipment, time, money, expertise) for those in so much need that it warms my heart, as cheesy and cliched as it may sound. It's trips like these that renew my interest in the medical field.

There's an ENT trip scheduled for the first two weeks of October, which I'm definitely going on. It will probably be the last trip I make for the next 4-5 years, so I'm not taking any classes fall quarter of this year. It'll slow the whole Nurse Practitioner process up a little bit, but I'm not worried. I wanna get in as many trips as possible before my mind, body, and soul are taken away by schooling.

Hong Kong and China were great. It was wonderful to see my family in Hong Kong again, especially since I hadn't been back in about ten years. My grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary went well. Six out of six children and 7 of 15 grandchildren were there to celebrate it with them, along with some close family friends. My mom, sister, brother, and I went and visited many of the touristy sights/areas and did some shopping while there. We ate a TON of good food...I'd almost forgotten what real, good Cantonese food tastes like.

The differences in Hong Kong were quite interesting. The neighborhood my grandparents live in has always been a good, pretty affluent area, but apparently it's gotten even more affluent. Ferraris, BMWs, Benzes, Jags, even a Diablo parked everywhere, not to mention the influx of white people living in the area, let alone my grandparents building. AND they even have a freakin' STARBUCKS about 2 blocks away. So strange. Globalization is an amazing yet frightening thing.

The Hong Kong I knew and loved as a kid is still there, but now there's an even shinier, taller, consumer driven facade over it. I loved it then and I still love it now, but the fast-paced, money money money lifestyle is not for me.

----- Continued...one month later -----

Rural Southwestern China was interesting, but not that fantabulous. Definitely not somewhere I'd break out my Rand McNally for. I do believe that I would have enjoyed the 7 day tour more if I knew how to speak Mandarin, but alas, I only have Cantonese under my belt. And while this allows me to understand bits and pieces...my Mandarin is worse than my Spanish. Southwestern China had some really oily food (not so good for many people's GI tracts), beautiful scenery, (me being a nerdy pseudo-history buff) quite interesting stories to tell, and interesting cultures. I'm glad I went on the trip, but if someone asked me where to go in China I would say...stay to the East, my friend.

This also probably comes from the fact that I live in the Pacific Northwest where I am surrounded by snow-capped mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, and trees. The kind of nature that Hong Kong tourists are not readily surrounded by.

Since I've been back I've been working, watching movies, and watching my siblings recover from various ailments. 1) My brother got cut from a ceramic pot while helping my uncle clean his pond. Ten stitches in his left thumb and 20 on top of his left forearm. 2) My sister got her canines pulled and they are some of the biggest teeth I have seen.

The DaVinci Code wasn't very good. Hanks and Tautou had little to no chemistry and some of the writing and dialogue was really hokey. I liked the special effects, locations, and supporting cast -- in particular Sir Ian McKellan; and Paul Bettany did quite a good job as freaky albino Silas. Other than that...Hanks is too old for the role, Tautou wasn't a good fit, and well, the book wasn't very well written, so I couldn't have expected a little more from the movie, right? Also, they changed a few things which I did not think needed to be changed.

X3: The Last Stand also wasn't very good. The writing and dialogue was forced and cheesy, editing was choppy, story wasn't played out well, Brett Ratner was not a good choice for director, characters were winy and not focused, and well...Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart were the gems in the damn thing. It was too in your face and could have been 10 times better than what it is.

I'm really hoping that Superman is good because Bryan Singer and his writing team who worked on the previous two XMen movies put it together. At least he has an eye for subtlety and nuance when it comes to telling a story and telling it well. Not to mention the fact that he gets good performances out of his actors.

Go see Akeelah and the Bee. Yes, it's a Starbucks Entertainment production, but the movie is quite good and everyone does a great job. Heartwarming feel good story about an inner city girl rising above.

Luck Number Slevin was quite entertaining. A good mix of action and story...and more action. Cast did a good job and I would definitely recommend seeing it.

Thank You for Smoking was quite the satire. Funny, shocking at times, and total relevant to today's society. Go see it if you want some socio-political satire in your life.

In other news, I have signed up for summer quarter 2006. This is to help me on my way to applying to the APNI program at Seattle U. And here I thought that I was done with school forever...alas, not the case. But I'm excited, and each medical mission I go on only reinforces my plans for the future.

Tuesday, May 30th I'm heading out to Guatemala on a scouting trip for the Fall ENT jornada. I'll be going to Guatemala City, Zacapa, Rio Dulce, Antigua, and other areas around Lake Atitlan that were hit badly by hurricane Stan and the ensuing flooding and mudslides. We'll be checking out sites to send medical teams in the fall while the surgeons take care of the ENT cases in the city. A rough estimate of how many patients we'll see on this scouting trip is 1,000. It's going to be fantastic. I'm so excited. I return on June 8th, and school starts on June 19th, so I'll have about a week to enjoy my last days of a non-academic lifestyle.

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Get out there and grill something. It's an American tradition. (You might also want to remember those who served our country in the process).



Say hi to the cousins!