I LOVE Camp!!

The last two years I have been able to go to Camp Hye Sierra (Hye=Armenian for the "odars" who read my blog; odar=foreigners=non-Armenians). Camp is awesome - in fact, it is more fun as a staff member than as a camper because you truly appreciate the gift that camp is - 7 days of peace and relaxation and no worrying about any of the pressures that face us "down the hill."

And now we have an awesome video made by MY, our videographer/cinematographer/writer extraordinaire! And I even get to make a cameo appearance in the video.

Enjoy!

Med School Journey Continues - Next Stop: NYC for OB/GYN

I finally will see normal vagina as I do my OB/GYN rotation next, for 6 weeks in NYC. Of course, during the OB part we will most likely see happy mothers-to-be, but during the GYN part we will see all sorts of pathology. Just remember: your vagine should not have a fishy odor or a curdly cheese discharge that smells like cottage cheese - that is bad people, very bad! (But treatable!)

I digress - if any of my readers are airline dorks like me, here is my itinerary:
Delta Flight 78: Depart LAX 730am - Arrive JFK 420pm

I will add Twitter updates during my trip, so check the sidebar on this blog, to the left, for updates about flight status or any delays.

I return to Fresno on December 5. Until then, I will be spending long days delivering babies, examining cervices, and studying for my board exam (Step 2 CK).

36 Hours in Cambria

Honestly, I could have spent 36 hours in one of the dusty cities along the 99 Freeway on the way home from Los Angeles and it still would have been an amazing, fun weekend due to the group of people I was with! First, AA was there - you already know a crazy good time will be had. But then add her Aunties plus their families and big P and you know there will be lots of laughing, drinking, stories, debating, and just plain old fun.

The weekend started with a blowout football game between Thousand Oaks High School and some other team not even worth mentioning because they lost HARD. We got to see our boy BH play one major crucial play, which made it all worth it! After the game, AKH drove us to Cambria where the group was already passed out, except for a couple troopers. We talked a bit, but then went to bed ourselves - big day coming up!

The big OPOLO Wine Tasting Party Day: Saturday was spent wine-tasting at a variety of wineries throughout the area. Can't remember all the names, but it was well worth the time spent. The view alone in the area was enough to help clear your mind and relax. Then, in the evening, we joined the Opolo Winery for their annual wine-tasting: all you can drink, all you can eat, all you can dance, and all you can watch AA juggle, throw paper airplanes, kiss old men, make new friends at other tables, get the owner's attention, and just generally lighten everyone's spirits and mood! And I got to do something I never have before and may never get to do again: stomp grapes. Definitely reminded me of the I love Lucy episode where she is stomping grapes and hilarity ensues. Super cool!

If you have a free weekend, definitely consider a visit to Cambria. If the scenery doesn't relax you, the wine most certainly will - just take a Designated Driver! :)

Oh, one more thing: I took three wine glasses with me back to La Habra to gift to my host family there. Of course, it is a priceless and amazing feeling when you get the wine glasses all the way to their final destination only to drop them at the last possible moment and hear them shatter in the paper bag you had carefully wrapped and placed them in. Absolutely priceless. Therefore, I award myself the biggest doof award for said accomplishment!

Whittier College 5 Year Reunion

It is an exciting time for the Whittier College class of 2004 as we approach our 5 year reunion! In honor of the reunion (and because I'm on the Reunion Committee) we made a special video to commemorate the event. Hope you enjoy!!



And PS: Coming up in a couple days will be "36 hours in Cambria"! Stay tuned!

Ya Don't Say

I ran across the following headline in a NY Times Article the other day:

"Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts"


Ya don't say. And all this time I figured dropouts were making our society all hunky-dory. It's a good thing lots of money was spent to research this topic.

“We’re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States,” said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern, who headed a team of researchers that prepared the report. “It’s one of the country’s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates — it’s scary.”

It is scary. It is even scarier that we continue to build a materialistic society that values the Kardashian's of the world to the tune of many TV shows and millions of dollars, but pays its educators an amount inadequate to live in the communities where they teach. It is even scarier that we shell out millions of dollars in salary to folks who can throw, pitch, toss, dunk, and hit a ball, but complain about $5 copay to see our Doctor.

But I digress - point is, dropouts are bad for the economy and end up in prison at a higher rate. Shocking.