November Update

I think this Surgery rotation is slowly killing me, which is why I am glad I am only two weeks away from completing it. The last few weeks have been stressful at the hospital, not because of the workload or the hours, but because some of the students have been behaving badly (not showing up, not checking on their patients, etc.) and so I have been doing everything in my power to show that I am NOT one of those students by my work. That isn't the worst part. The worst part was that I ended up having to report something to hospital administration. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I did not want to be put in this position and I did not want to have to do it. Needless to say, that added level of stress has made me want to be done with this rotation.

Last week, a friend from the rotation and I went to see the Addams Family on Broadway. I wish I would have taken some pictures but I did not! It wasn't the best written play, but I really enjoyed it. When I was 6 and Grandma Ruth was dying from cancer, I remember getting to stay up late to watch Nick and Night with Mom and Grandma. I loved watching the Addams Family. I was so excited to see the play with Nathan Lane as Gomez Addams and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia Addams. I was so star struck when the curtains came up and there were Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth! They were amazing. The play was good, but I could see how it got mixed reviews as the songs weren't that catchy (although performed amazingly---the cast was awesome) and the second act wasn't well written at all. However, it was extremely funny and I enjoyed it tremendousness. If you made a $500.00 donation to an AIDS organization, you could go back stage and get your picture taken with Nathan and Bebe (and autographs!). I would have LOVED to have met them and done that, but I don't have $500.00 and it was only a polaroid. I think for $500.00, they could print you up a digital picture, but I guess it was for charity.

This weekend, one of my best friends in the world came to town: Mary. She has only been to the Big Apple when she was a child, so I wanted to show her around a bit. Her fiance lived in New York for four years while finishing his Master's Degree at Colombia. He had lunch with us, but he had friends to visit and wasn't as interested in doing the touristy things, so I took over. We only had about 5 hours together, which obviously isn't enough! Farley and I met her at Union Square, which was having an outdoor craft fare, and we went to Strand Bookstore, which is a local bookstore that has "18 Miles of Books". Farley and I both bough used books, but Mary had just received a handful of books from her soon to be sister and brother-in-law who own a bookstore in New Jersey. After hitting up the bookstore, we headed to Farley's favorite restaurant, The Heartland Brewery. Basically, he refuses to go anywhere else, but the food is good and the prices are reasonable. Next we divided and Mary's fiancée left with his cousin to do some shopping while Farley and I took Mary to Times Square. Here are some pictures!

Farley and I in Times Square near 43rd Street

Mary and I in Times Square near 43rd Street

Radio City Music Hall decorated for Christmas and the Rockettes!

Mary near the Rainbow Room--She needed a picture as she has been watching lots of 30 Rock.

Technically the tree is up in Rockefeller Center, but it isn't decorated yet.

The tiny ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center, but it looks much bigger on T.V. and in this photo

Some Christmas decorations are amongst the plants at Rockefeller Center. Can you see the giant snow flakes?

Atlas at Rockefeller Center, who faces St. Patrick's Cathedral.

I have never taken a picture of the organ at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is so beautiful and it is huge. Today was the first time I have gone behind the main alter to see the Lady Chapel, but they ask that no photograph is taken in that area of the Cathedral.

After finishing up at The Cathedral of St Patrick, we headed to the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. I didn't get to take any picture of the library, but it is a sight to be seen. It is a huge marble building that looks more like a museum than a library. Granted, we got there close to closing time and didn't have time to explore, but the first floor didn't have books but rather an exhibit of rare books. It was the Three Faiths exhibition: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There were Holy books from all three faith traditions that were hundreds, if not thousand, of years old. It was amazing. They had the pages open to parts where all three faith traditions were discussing the same story or topic, for example Abraham. Obviously, we couldn't take pictures, but it was amazing. Click here for the link to the website where you can see pictures of the exhibit. After finishing up in the museum, we headed out back (literally Bryant park is like the New York City Library's back yard). Bryant Park had the ice skating rink up and it also had Holiday Shops (the crafts at Union Square were super cool, but if I had more extra spending money, I could have spend a LOT of cash at the Christmas sale in Bryant Park. It was amazing stuff!).

Ice Skating rink at Bryant Park. It doesn't look that big, but I think it is bigger than the one at Rockefeller Center and it is free unlike Rockefeller center.

A picture of the shops at Bryant Park. I think the shops are up all season and they have some beautiful, creative and really amazing gifts. The white building in the background is the New York Public Library.

The Chrysler Building--Dad's favorite building. He doesn't think it gets the attention it deserves, so I decided to take a picture and post it for him. Here you go Dad!