No Canned Yams for the Candied Yams

Monday November 22, 2010, Tuesday November 23, 2010          

Day 80 & Day 81

I do not know if I am too young to blame it on old age but I can’t seem to remember exactly what I did on Monday.  I will discuss Monday and Tuesday as one day since I think it was relatively the same.  It is sad that it is only Wednesday and I already forgot what I did on Monday.  Anyway, onward with the blogging. Monday and Tuesday were office days.  I worked on some things for the conference that starts next week.  I can’t believe it is almost December 1^st already. Wow! I remember during my first week when I found out about the conference I thought it was so far away, well now it is here!  The conference is being organized and sponsored by SUNY Stony Brook and it will be entirely in English. How nice of them.

On Tuesday I was working on some accounting things with Teresa and silly me decided to put it in a spreadsheet.  Well it was a smart idea because it makes everything much more organized but this led to a very long day/night at the office.  We were playing with the Excel spreadsheet until 10:00pm at the office.  I was exhausted and didn’t even want to look at all of those lines and numbers at that time.  We stayed so late that we didn’t have time to go to the grocery store to get my things for Thanksgiving.  Wednesday there will be more time for grocery shopping, thank goodness!

Wednesday November 24, 2010

Day 82

I was surprised this morning when we turned in the direction of the clinic instead of the office. I was really excited to get to go back there and see everyone, especially some cute little kids and babies.  Teresa had a meeting there but before she had her meeting she gave another great public health talk about cholera.  She is so good at it and I can tell that people are listening and understanding everything she is saying.

While I was at the clinic I got to make up the time I missed in my rotation schedule and I observed in the community health department.  In the community health department they do a bunch of different things but everything I saw today I really enjoyed.  One thing that they do is counsel pregnant adolescents so they are healthy during their pregnancies and are prepared to give birth and be a mother.  It is really important that this at-risk group receives extra care and attention and they do a good job of that at the clinic.  They also do pre-consultations for HIV testing.  Every person who gets an HIV test must attend a pre-consult to record information and learn about the test and the disease.

After the clinic we went to the grocery store and I bought everything I needed for my Thanksgiving meal.  The one thing that I couldn’t find were canned yams for my mom’s famous candied yams.  I had to cancel this part of my meal and I will definitely miss eating it this year.  When I got home I had lunch (more like dinner) and then started baking.  I made a revised version of my pumpkin cheesecake and I am hoping it turns out OK.  I think the pan I used was too big and it seems a little flat.  We’ll see what happens.  I have plans for festive chocolate cake (decorated for Thanksgiving, mainly for the kids since they are picky eaters), mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. 

Everyone keeps posting Facebook statuses about Thanksgiving and being home and it is making me a little sad. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving Eve here.  I am kind of confused about tomorrow’s schedule so hopefully everything goes smoothly.  Until then, Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Fun Facts:

1.       I met a young woman today who worked at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.  Last summer I worked (volunteered/interned) at the Bronx office of Visiting Nurse Service of NY and I could see Montefiore from the parking lot. Small world.

2.       They will be cooking turkeys at Bravo tomorrow morning and I am so excited.  It would be way to hot in this house if the oven was on all day, cooking a turkey in 80 degree weather without air conditioning.

3.       I saw a pig leg in the grocery store and it really looks like a pig leg. Scary.

4.       I have way too much food left in my pantry here. My mom is going to be mad.

5.       I set up the beautiful Thanksgiving table decorations that my mom brought me.

Paz y Pavo (Peace and Turkey),

Jaclyn