November Joys and Thanksgiving

November was a great month!

First of all, I have to say that the peds department here at UCD is incredibly humane. I've been on peds urgent care and, despite working a full week, weekend, and last week until Wednesday in a combination of FP clinic/peds urgent care/newborn nursery and taking like q3 mommy call, I still feel like I have a life. And I got thanksgiving off (I was on the intern version of this rotation last year this time and it was my best month all year!).

Tom, Joe, Dr. R, and I got together last weekend to hit some tennis balls at the courts at Sac State. Fun, albeit embarrasing. I have lost my backhand and any skill whatsoever in tossing the ball to serve. I hope we play more so that I can get some game back :) Betza took lots of pics, but I am finding it impossible to paste the code into this blogger and so pics will have to wait until I become more tech-savvy.

I had an awesome birthday! It's tough to graduate into the "late" part of this decade, but I have forgotten about that... for now. There have to be some perks I'm just not thinking of... Thank you all so much for all the lovely cards and well wishes! That Friday, we had a potluck/bbq at Shomir's with tons of awesome food. The pecan pie(s) Shomir baked from scratch for me were a highlight, and got him the honor to rebake for Kyla's Thanksgiving get-together... which, unfortunately, I couldn't attend b/c I flew to MN! (Sorry, also no pics from the birthday... I had left my memory card at home despite having my camera... this caused a lot of confusion. Not that Kyla would have let me post any pics [well, involving her at least] anyway ;)).

So... Thanksgiving. It was wonderful, as always. I left Sac on Thursday a.m. and, despite a 1/2 hour connection in Mpls which had me briskly walking from one Northwest gate to the next and being the last one on the plane, there were NO delays and I was in Grand Forks by 4 p.m (actually, a few minutes early, which is just unheard of!). And con equipaje!!! (no bags to check... therefore, no lost bags! Yippee!!). My dad graciously picked me up and we headed to rejoin everyone else at Duane and Marilyn's Lake House. Thanksgiving there is becoming quite a tradition!

We had wonderful food, which included a juicy turkey, stuffing (my FAVORITE), lefse (a close second), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, spiced crab apples, 3 types of pies... and more. It was amazing. I am still full!




But even better was the company and fellowship! It was Duane/Marilyn, as well as Richard (my Dad's 1st cousin) Amy (his wife), Derek, Jacky (their kids, my cousins), Dyno (Marilyn's sister), Heather (her daughter), along with Grandma, my parents (flew from Virginia), and me. We missed my sister dearly-- she was battling the rainy weather in CPH, although also planning her Christmas trip to Kiev and more...

me with Mom and Heather


Grandma (with Cocoa in the foreground)


Rich and Amy


Derek and Marilyn enjoying some dessert


We were all also obsessed with this new (6 wks old!) kitten (unnamed), the only progeny of their cat (Laura, my cat expert, is it strange to only have one kitten and not a litter??) I don't even like cats and I wanted to take her home...

on Jacky's chest



Heather gets close


Soooooooo little!!!!



I want to adopt her! :)

Cocoa also getting close...

Well, we managed to roll ourselves home Thursday night.

Friday, on Grandma's request, we had to do a wee bit of shopping at Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, whose chaos on "Black Friday" is still NOTHING compared to the madness of Tyson's in VA or Arden here in Sac on a regular old day. No one got trampled, thank goodness. I got a couple of nice sweaters (thanks, Grandma!) and reflected on the Minnesota winters that I'd survived... (actually, it wasn't too cold up there-- in the 30s or so).

Some sights from up north:

The old farmstead outside of Fisher, where my Dad grew up and where we spent every summer as kids...

Piles of sugarbeets!

Frost-covered trees

We relaxed Friday evening, reading, watching Scrubs episodes, and heartwarming holiday movies like The Family Man (I agree w/ Wendi-- you have to see this if you haven't already!).

Saturday, we headed out to lunch, again in Grand Forks, with Duane, Marilyn, and Bill and Carol, my sister's godparents and good friends of the family.

I love this picture... Bill got this limo and wanted to pick us up in it! I think what's even funnier is the dress... him in the Santa Hat and short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt, next to my Dad, who is dressed to take on a trek in the tundra!

The group at the Golden Corral (Grandma, Carol, Marilyn, me, mom, Bill, Duane)

We had a quiet Saturday night before I had to return today. My flight leaving GFK was at 4:45 a.m.!! Can you believe this? I didn't know that flights were allowed to leave this early! Since the airport is about 45 minutes away, my dad and I were up at 2:50 to get there. Ugh. He is a saint for driving me. Needless to say, I slept that whole plane flight, the whole 3-hour layover in Mpls (minus some minutes of book browsing-- one of my favorite airport activities!), and almost-4-hour flight back to Sac. I do feel rested, though! It's so great flying back to the west coast... despite what felt like a long travel day, I landed just after 11 a.m.

Shomir's car unfortunately broke down on his way to pick me up (and we're not sure she's going to make it... :() and so I ventured home on the $1.50 Yolobus, but it was all good! While there are many things I miss about MN (which almost feels as much home to me as anywhere else) that include: wonderful family, childhood memories, friends, lefse, lakes, cheap gas, jello salad, bars, and clean air, I sure do love coming home to (in almost-December!!!) 65-degree, sunny weather! It was awesome to be able to leisurely walk home from the downtown bus stop in the sunshine!

After a run, unpacking, some errands, grocery shopping, and dinner, I am now content to snuggle down with another book before work starts again tomorrow. I hope December is just as good as this past month has been!

Jesus verses Satan

Darina sent me this very cute forward.

Since she hasn't posted it on her blog yet, here I go:


Jesus verses Satan

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and, frankly, God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused. They faxed. They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell. Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming: "It's gone! It's all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate."Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated!
How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"
God just shrugged and said,...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

"JESUS SAVES!"

Have a blessed day:)
You can never trust those computers, but you know who you can trust...

Cheers!

Comfortable at home
I am on mommy call all night tonight, where I take all the pediatric parent phone calls for the hospital. Although I am, as a result, unfortunately kind of chained to my pager, phone, and computer, it gives me an excuse to veg at home-- perfect for a night of blogging, tea, and reading (I have been able to read a couple of Obama auto/biographies [I love that man so much] in the past week and currently have a Picoult book, Change of Heart, from the library)! The only thing is, which I'm JUST noticing, is that my pager's sound alert feature (I usually just have it on vibrate) is NOT working. Uh oh. I better not miss any pages tonight. I'm going to be so paranoid tonight about falling asleep.

Sis's adventures in Europe
I just HAD to share with you some funny excerpts from an email update my sister (recently in London visiting her Italian beau) sent, as apparently the updating-her-own-blog-thing is so last month(s) for her.

["...London was great. It was kinda funny because we were wandering around the city center, which was super crowded, and the first few times I bumped into people, I kept saying, 'Unskyld,' which is 'Excuse me' in Danish. As you can imagine, I tend to run into inanimate objects/people with some frequency [we are most definitely sisters!!], so it's become a second-nature/popular phrase for me here in CPH...'

.... I have to admit, it was really nice to see everything written and spoken in English...so call me a cultural imperialist ("Everybody should speak AMERICAN!"). But at least this way I didn't accidentally buy yogurt instead of milk or have to spend 15 minutes trying to guess what 'nutmeg' is called in Danish....

... I'll be going to Kiev [I'm soooooooooooooo jealous! She might be up on me for total # countries...] for Christmas... I'm a little nervous though, because I think it's going to be about negative 50 degrees (hey! that's like Rochester!! In May!!). So my plan is to bring a big suitcase with all of my clothes and to wear them all at once. Think: Michelin man. Or Joey from 'Friends': "Could I BE wearing any more clothes??'....."

Tell me you have seen this Friends episode! I adore that show, and this is one of the funniest scenes in the history of the series.

So, in any case. Cheers to London/the U.K., and to these holidays!

Good movie
Speaking of England, I saw The Other Boleyn Girl on dvd this past weekend, and now am really into learning about all those crazy people in Tudor times. I thought it was a great drama! According to Shomir, the only movies I like (i.e. chick flicks) all have to include either cheating... or death. I guess this one has both.

Holiday cheer
As far as holiday get togethers: it's going to be a busy social season!
We have kicked off the residency interview season, first with a Pep Rally yesterday, and then first interviews today. Tuesday nights, we are having our dinners for the FP/OB applicants (unfortunately, the same nights as OB dinners. This week, however, the applicant couldn't come so I went to the standing "Tuesday (FP) intern" dinner instead [I don't know HOW these interns get together as often as they do!]). Wednesday nights, Shom is putting together a reading/discussion group (with possible pharma sponsorship of meals) of AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians) journal articles (this is, quite possibly, one of the best medical magazines you will ever read!). Thursday nights will be the FP applicant dinners (Joe hosting this week). This Friday will be a little bday potluck. Saturday I may get suckered into playing some doubles tennis after rounding on newborns and working at the urgent care. This is a lot of social occasions, is it not? Probably more than I've attended all year (!).

We may also be having a "networking" happy hour (these 3rd years have to look for jobs!!), and several holiday parties in there, too!

A week from tomorrow (on Thanksgiving day!) I head to MN!! I'm sooooooooooo excited to see family! :)

Cheers!!

Goodbyes and Reunions...

Goodbye
It was with much disappointment that last weekend, we said goodbye to our good friend Darina, who was a social worker/discharge planner at our Mather VA and who has decided to transfer positions laterally to the Veterans' Hospital in LA to be closer to friends and family :(

Darina at the VA potluck with Andres, a surgery intern and Shomir's roommate


We are hoping to still see a lot of her, as she is still performing with a dance group up here (back on 11/22), as well as to have an excuse to visit LA more often (I still want to see the Tar Pits....!), which is really not that far away. And we hope to keep up via blog (I'm not in the facebook crowd although she was twisting my arm... I think it might be a bit too much electronic communication for me, as I am already an obsessive e-mailer and blog-stalker!)

There was actually a trilogy of going-away parties! Here are some pictures (all of which I stole from her :))

Group of FP residents/significant others at Zokku's on 11/1 (Shom and I were straight off the plane from Boston!)


Darina with Joby and little Bryce, Kristin's house, on Friday


A Darina sandwich with two of her favorite people :) (Shom being rewarded with a curly cheetoh because of the newfound consistent teeth-including in his smiling! ["He's trained!" I exclaimed.])


Anika (my classmate), me, Kristin (intern), Darina, and Kristin's roommate, Michelle



We will miss you tons, Darina!! See you soon!

Reunion
Also this past weekend, as it had been WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long (I hadn't seen these guys since we went skiing in February!) and since I have been missing old friends even more after visiting w/ Tia and Rob in Boston, Shom and I took a 24 hour roadtrip to Palo Alto (about a 2 hours' drive) to visit Erin and TJ!

Erin is on her Adolescent Medicine rotation currently, but on "jeopardy," which means that she could be called in to cover for any of her colleagues who can't make their call because they get sick, have a family emergency, sustain a "neck injury" on the same night as hosting a Halloween Party (no joke... Erin got jeopardized on Halloween for this reason and was LIVID!), etc. Jeopardy is a whole concept about which most people, Shom and me included, have very strong feelings (He, one of the most jeopardized residents ever in our program, has missed out on all his sports med until now, and can't go anywhere for Thanksgiving because he's the designated jeopardy person. I somehow have evaded jeopardy thus far, mostly because I'm like always on inpatient rotations [the jeopardy person is generally "dispensible," on a nice clinic rotation] and nonjeopardizable [although some might argue that being jeopardy person is worse since it's so unpredictable!]). Anyway in short, it means you are tied to your town (or within an hour or something) and to your pager/phone so that we couldn't take any big adventures. It will still worth it to visit, though!

Luckily, Erin didn't get called in, and we just hung out from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, before I had to head back for night float. It was a great, relaxing time and we had a ton of fun!

On Saturday, we had a yummy seafood dinner at The Fish Market, a popular restaurant in Palo Alto near Stanford.

Shomir with his bib (he ordered crab, although Dungeness crab, apparently a local specialty, is not yet in season!)



After dinner, we rushed home to change into PJs, have icecream and hot water (I love Erin so dearly just because she shares this strange habit of mine... although I'm hearing from more people that it's not that uncommon!) and play cards including spades (TJ and I managed to pull off a win in a very competitive game filled with much risky bidding!).

We woke up to have delicious blueberry french toast from a recipe Erin had ("This feels wrong to be having for breakfast! It's like pie!" exclaimed Shomir), which had been soaking overnight and baked in the oven with a cinnamon crust in the morning, and then (to work it off), went for a couple hour hike at Windy Hill nearby.

The weather was great and the conversation equally wonderful :)

(Figured out my timer to take these pics. Alas, you cannot see the nice view of the Bay behind us but it does seem as though we are atop a high hill, right? :)





We had yummy sandwiches at an outdoor mall in Palo Alto and then, sadly, had to head back before I had to get to work. While it wasn't too bad outside while hiking, I had an episode of major Raynauds-vasospasm while sitting outside at lunch. Check out my hands next to Shom's!!!


(This is why I do not belong in MN...).

We actually have been blessed the past few days with sunny and pretty warm, but fall-like weather, unlike the rain that often characterizes Sacramento winters. I'm also blessed because, after tonight, which is my last night of night float (which actually, due to my white cloud, has been a wonderfully relaxing rotation for me!) and clinic tomorrow, I have the WHOLE weekend off before starting peds urgent care on Monday. Wow! That's something to celebrate.

Surprises!

Some news updates which have surprised me lately...

Night float
I have now spent 6 nights on FP night float which is a 2-week block we do as an R2 or R3 (or maybe R4, too- ugh) which involves: seeing and evaluating family practice patients in OB triage (rule out labor, bleeding, etc.), admitting and managing family medicine patients in labor, admitting and taking care of their newborns, covering the inpatients on the family medicine wards service, admitting from the emergency dept., and taking "phone triage" calls when FP patients call the operator during the night wondering what they ought to do.

Although the hours aren't too bad (6 pm- 8 a.m. with post-call clinic Friday a.m but a 48-hour work-free period of a weekend!), I sort of dreaded this rotation as, when it is busy, all of that is too much for one person to handle and it can be very stressful! I think I'm helped by the fact that I enjoy and feel comfortable with OB, so that's not such a huge deal; I'd rather admit and manage 5 laboring patients than deal with 1 pt from the ED :). In any case, I have been hugely blessed. There have been nights when I have gotten 2-3 calls from floor nurses and/or phone triage, maybe 1 OB triage patient or laboring pt/delivery, and up to 6 hours of sleep (albeit not very good sleep --I feel soooooooooo guilty about sleeping while I'm at "work" [I have never slept one minute while on a night shift on OB!] and am constantly paranoid that I'm missing pages..., even resorting to paging myself at times to verify that the pager is working!). I've gotten not only to sleep, but also to read and catch up on emailing, blogs (this is the most frequently I've posted since residency started-- are you happy, Wendi? :)), bills, and all of those "little things" which add up and are tiresome to do at the end of a long day but which are very manageable when you can knock them out while at work. And I've had the time/energy to work out some days as well as run some errands, as I'm not so physically/mentally/emotionally exhausted from work that I'm a complete vegetable after the shift ends.

I have had a "no-hitter" for ED admissions thus far, which is truly some record. Although every day I go into work, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that "now I'm going to get it" since I've had good luck so far, last night was also very calm. I certainly am getting some sort of white cloud reputation :) Additionally, the chief resident informed me that since Tuesday is Veterans' Day, a holiday (holidays don't even register to me anymore while in residency, a.k.a "jail" [per Kyla]), I don't have to work Monday night and only have a 4-day workweek. Hooray! I can't believe my good fortune :) Night float has been a real treat of a surprise... I have just Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights (+ Friday a.m. clinic) to work before our rotation switch.

Yes on Prop 8 :(
Just a short note to express that I am surprised and disappointed that California, whose citizens I pride on being loving, open-minded, and with strong values supporting equal and fair rights for human beings, and who overwhelmingly elected our current democratic president, voted 52 to 48% (although they say that there are still votes to be counted) to ban on same-sex marriage, overturning the Supreme Court decision in June that declared it a "fundamental right." Hmm. Have to work on this.

The rain
It was raining in Belize and it's... rainy season in Sac-town. Unfortunately, Nov.- Feb. or so brings much precipitation (great for the Tahoe skiers!). I'm always frustrated by being thwarted in my efforts to work out or walk around outside when the weather doesn't cooperate! While the end of the week was quite nice and sunny, we had about 3 days of rain to start it off (less than 50%, although my mood took a serious nose dive!). We definitely get spoiled here with our 9 or more months of cloudless, sunny skies, and I forget that people in other states/countries have precipitation (I would not be excited about the recent Rochester snow) on a regular basis! Surprise!

Flat tires
If I am a "white cloud" when it comes to FP night float, I am a "black cloud" when it comes to tires. In the near 1.5 years I have lived in Sacramento, I have gotten 2 flats in my car, and 2 (or maybe 3) flat tires on my bike. In the less than 10 years that I've been driving, I've probably had about 5-6 flat tires. As I do not drive a whole lot, this seems disproportionately frequent! What do you think? While I think I could probably, at this point, change the car tire by myself, it is indeed nice to have a man around to do this manly stuff (Shom spent his Friday a.m. dealing w/ my rear tire). I wish even more that I could flat-proof my tires...

Publishing fame
I was slightly bored on night float last night and I realized that I've never printed out copies of the article published last year (Varicella zoster virus-associated disease in adult kidney transplant recipients: incidence and risk-factor analysis, which was my 3rd year research project in med school and on which I spent many hours and much sweat). When the paper was published in Tranplant Infectious Disease (2008; Vol 10, issue 4: pgs 260-268), there was an exorbitant fee attached to getting reprints for saving. Last night, I decided that I would try to look myself up in PubMed and/or google to see what popped up! If you google , you get a bunch of hits-- of both the article, as well as other sites and articles that quote it! How cool and surprising is that?!

Other ones on the way
Perhaps my favorite surprises, and ones which I can't help but now reveal, include that: a friend who's blog still smells like the beach around here, is expecting a little one in April. Additonally, Laura and Tony have one due June 12th. After doing this (i.e. so much OB) for "work," it is so surreal, and incredibly exciting, that people I know are having children!

Thanksgiving around the corner

In just over 2 weeks, I will be in MN visiting my grandma, Dad's family, and seeing parents for Thanksgiving, a break which was a big surprise for my November peds urgent care rotation schedule.

Those are the surprise highs to end on :)

(Goodbye) Vacation: Part IV (Good times in the Patriot State and Happy Halloween)

This is the last of the vacation posts. Sigh. I love vacation so much and am re-living it to get me through the nights while on FP night float...)

Although delayed due to midwestern storms, we made it from Guatemala City to Boston in one piece (and with all luggage-- I have a veritable STREAK going!!)


It was so great to see Marie (Shomir's sister), Adam, and the kids, Anne, Lily, and Emma, who are 6, 5, and 3, respectively, and about as adorable as they come.

While it was COLD up there, the weather was quite sunny and I got my "fall" fill (if you recall, it's my favorite season!) with the beautiful New England leaves. We did laundry (immediately when we got to the house!! Our soaked clothes reeked!), got to do more sleeping, visited the kids' school, had playtime around the house, had some good dinners, did festive Halloween decorating and trick-or-treating, saw some of historic Boston and museum-visiting, and got also to meet up with old friends Tia and Rob! It was a perfect blend of relaxation and fun.


Shomir bearing gifts of Guatemalan fabric.
Here dressing Anne, who obviously admires her "Uncle Shom" greatly!





Dressing little Emma



Ta da!!!



The kids jumping on the trampoline!

Trip to the Children's Museum of Boston, which is hugely impressive!
Lily, who is great with towers!

Action shot, Lily running on the dance-floor

Foray into historic Boston...

Despite the cold (we Californians were underprepared!), we braved parts of the "Freedom Trail" which is a walk which covers major historic sights in the downtown area such as cemetaries, birthplaces of i.e. Ben Franklin, sites of the first public school (Old Latin School), Old Corner bookstore, site of the Boston Massacre, the statehouse, and Boston Commons.

Paul Revere's Tomb at the Old Granary cemetary

I think this is a Red Auerbach statue, near Quincy Market/Fanueil Hall which was the town center

Boston Cream Pie... mmm

We made our way, via the T (public transport), to the Brigham area to meet up with Tia and Rob! I hadn't seen them since med school graduation, and it had been way too long! I miss those guys so much! We visited their cute apartment on Wigglesworth St, we drove by the hospital, and then had a lovely Venezuelan dinner followed by regional favorite J.P. Licks icecream. We four had such a wonderful time! It was so great to catch up on all the happenings of residency and their recent trip to Tanzania. I'm trying to convince them to come visit me and EVB in California, although I think Tia already has plans to go to Hawaii for her next vacation.

Halloween

... would not be complete w/o carving pumpkins!

Uncle Shom and Lily


Anne and me (we also did, using a stencil design, a more impressive kitty cat jack-o-lantern not pictured here)

Daddy and Emma

... and then came the costumes which were all variations on princesses/fairies, with myself being roped in and included! And off we went Trick or Treating... Luckily, it wasn't too cold (I always wondered what you do in cold northern climates! It's a bummer for warm clothes to have to mess up/obscure your costume, right?!)

Doesn't this princess dress look like it fits me fabulously??


While the kiddos got handed candy, the adults got handed....


..beers! Shomir liked trick-or-treating a lot! :)

The girls with neighborhood kiddos on candy break

Anne devouring her treats... (she generously shared w/ us!)



What an awesome, awesome, vacation! I can't wait until February for the next one.... :)

Now.. back to night float.

"Yes!!!...

.. we did."

Quick post to quote my friend Michelle, who blogged these words so simply but accurately last night, expressing my sentiments exactly...

"i chose a winner. after years of feeling disenfranchised, and in fact never getting the president of my choice for as long as i've been able to vote... years of feeling disgusted, discouraged, and actively considering a move to another country...finally.

yes we can."

Here's praising record voter turnout this century and a truly historic and international victory with rejoicing around the world.


And celebrating that my immediate family will not all feel the need to relocate to Kathmandu, Canada, or Europe.


(photos from AP)

Please vote

I know that if you were planning on voting, your mind is probably made up at this point, but here's just a little more subtle encouragement :)

While in Quincy Market in Boston (post to come later!!!), we saw these life-size cutouts...

McCain trying to sneak into the picture... and the race.

My sis sent me this funny personalized video of what could happen if one doesn't vote:

Loss linked to Tara A.

Go blue.

Vacation: Part III (Antigua and Active Volcanoes)

Antigua was the last town we visited in Guatemala. What a lovely city, and what a change of pace/scenery from the rest of our trip. We got there via cross-country bus (see pic above) from Puerto Barrios, via Guatemala City (which we virtually bypassed as it seemed dirty, crowded, and a bit dangerous). Antigua, near the western highlands, is nestled among 3 volcanoes and (I'm not a very beachy person) provided my mountain fix for the trip. It is very European in feel. It also houses multiple Spanish language schools, so there was a large number of students, as well as tourists, around. If is famous for jade, including a lovely shade of lavender, with lots of jade shops. We also stayed at a lovely hotel, which was much needed in terms of comfort. We did a lot of relaxing, eating and chilling at cafes, but also did some hiking. Here are some pics!

Hotel Museo Uxlabil

Merced church.

This city goes nuts during Semana Santa, or Holy Week, when roses cover the cobblestone streets and festivities abound! Jugo from a street standRuins at Colegio of San Jeronimo


Yummy foods...


Avocados Rellenos and nachos!

We're glad we're still alive

Antigua is surrounded by a couple of active volcanoes which you can actually hike. The last major eruption on this one, Pacaya, was in around 2000. But there are little eruptions and smoke/steam are spewed every day! Nevertheless, being adventurous, we joined a group of other tourists to hike up Pacaya one day...

(From left to right: Fuego and Agua)

Some very tricky terrain of volcanic rock we traversed:

Feeding el caballo, named Caramelo, en route

Near the top, where you could see hot lava beneath the brittle crust!

Pyro (this was Shomir's favorite part of the trip!)

Roasting marshmallows on the hot rock. It was like a sauna up there!!

A little smoke and steam (why does he look so gleeful??!)

When part of the nearby crust collapsed, I was anxious to head out of there. You can really tell from the distance on this pic, but my face apparently expresses my concern. Even Shomir said he was a bit scared... but then stuck around for another 20 minutes poking the crust. Yikes!!

The erupting volcanoes we saw on our exit: (Fuego on the left)..

Pacaya, which we were on...

(the guide said that the afternoon trip would take the back route up the volcano to avoid the smoke and direction of spewing...) Nice....

In any case, we're alive!!!!

We're also back in the states, California even, after a trip to Boston.

Next post: Good times in the Patriot State (+Halloween).

I am very bummed to have to go back to work to start Night Float tonight.

Why can't vacation last forever....