Latitude 17N

Friday, April 13, 2007

Camp USMLE Step 1


So this is Jaime's set-up for the USMLE Step 1 preparation. He is up at my parent's camp in Albany, NH which is about a 25-30 minute drive to the base of Mt. Washington. It is currently still snowing in NH as you can see in the post before this one. It snowed again yesterday and we're expecting more snow Sunday into Monday. North will probably get snow. South may get rain or a mix. I have never been happier that I am not running the Boston Marathon. The Marathon will take place on Monday (Patriot's Day) and the weather is not going to be pleasant. So Jaime has secluded himself up at camp and will come "home" to my parent's house on weekends...except this weekend because it is his first week and he missed out on three days of studying already so he's plowing through the weekend and going all week. Wish him luck!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Chris and Andrea




Chris and Andrea Hartwell came to town on Tuesday night. The same night Jaime arrived home from Nevis. I went to pick up Jaime at the airport and on the way home we tracked down the Hartwells in Seabrook. We wanted to get them out of there quick so they wouldn't get the wrong impression of NH. We had dinner at my parents house, watched a movie in the theater. The next day we headed up to camp. On the way we test drove a used Audi which I had tried out on Sunday. Around that time it started to snow. It kept snowing until sometime the next day. Up north we did some shopping and went to dinner at Cafe Noche. It was not good at all. We joked that they had gone next door and bought burritos at Cumberland Farms. The next day we had to wait around for the plow guy and the cable man. The cable man arrived first and got the internet hooked up for Jaime. Then we got plowed out and we headed back into town for a little more shopping. We started out at Applebees for some lunch. Not our favorite restaurant but we were all starving so we made a sacrifice. Chris' chicken sandwich came out burnt to a crisp. We all laughed because the rest of our lunches were really good. He ended up sending his back because it was seriously like a piece of charcoal. That night we went to The 1785 Inn which is a restaurant in an old house that dates back to...well...you can figure it out! The food was good but not amazing. We were seated by a nice warm fireplace which we liked and soon our room was pretty much emptied out and we were laughing and having fun and acting like little kids. The next day we had to get up early so Chris and Andrea could travel into Boston. Chris had some surprises there for Andrea for her 30th birthday which was Saturday. Jaime and I traveled in on Saturday to spend the day and evening with them. The Big Dig has changed Boston by many degrees and the road system is even crazier than I remember so we got lost getting in. Once we finally found the hotel they were staying at we walked over to Faneuil Hall to browse and decided we were all starving. We took a cab and found the Rockbottom Brewery. Jaime and I used to eat at the ROckbottom in Denver and really liked it. Halfway through dinner I found a little friend in my salad...a cute little...dead ladybug. That pretty much curbed my appetite. YUCK! AFter lunch we went over to Hahvahd. Chris wanted to get a Harvard Medical School sweatshirt so he could be an imposter. The place was crawling with parents in for Easter and as we were walking over to the science building I said "Now Chris, is this where you have your labs???". Nice and loud for all to hear. It was funny. After that we headed over to Faneuil to do some browsing and then headed back to the hotel to get changed for dinner. Andrea had no idea where we were going. First we headed over to the Four Seasons for a drink. It was really nice and comfortable. We stayed there for about an hour before we headed over to the Prudential Center for dinner. We were eating at The Top of the Hub Restaurant which is...at the top of the Prudential Center. The Pru is the tallest building in Boston I believe. They whizzed us up to the top floor which is the 52nd. It doesn't even feel like you are moving on the elevator. It's incredible. The restaurant was awesome. The view is amazing. You can see every inch of Boston from this restaurant. The food was awesome and we had a great time. Andrea was very surprised by the restaurant and Chris had pre-ordered flowers for her and a cake for after dinner. The evening was really fun. We ended up with some really crazy cab drivers during the day. One of them After dinner Jaime and I headed back to NH to sleep and get up for Easter brunch the next morning.

Audi


We have a fancy new car! Jaime and I bought a new Audi A4 wagon. It is a 98 which we paid less for than our old crappy Suzuki Samurai that we drove on Nevis for 3 years. It drives smooth and feels like new to us. It was treated well by its previous owner. We got very lucky. The exterior is still in good condition and looks pretty new. The interior is leather and we have heated seats and a cd changer in the back. I feel like I'm rich and driving in luxury!

Julian and Kaliyah


I took this picture the day before our friends Amber, Kaliyah and Isabella left for their extended break. Julian and Kaliyah got along really well in Nevis and Bella is a cutie pie! Jaime went to stay with Amber's husband Dave after Julian and I left. This picture was taken at Nisbet Plantation on the last good day before Julian and I went home. It rained on the last few days we were in Nevis. Kaliyah is now the proud owner of my bead collection which I'm sure she is going to be very successful with. We'll miss them but will hopefully see them sometime in clinicals.

We're outa here!

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So our last days came and went. Julian and I flew out on Wednesday morning March 28th. Our plane was on time leaving and arriving in San Juan. We had good flights and a very long wait in San Juan. We ran into Tom Dutton and spent a few minutes talking with him. He pointed me in the direction of Starbucks which was the highlight of my stay in San Juan. I got back to my parents house at around 8:00 which made a long day that started at 4:30 when I woke up. I will miss my friends in Nevis but will be back to visit in a few years. Yes, that's a warning! Haha.