Thursday, August 30, 2007

More pictures of beautiful, sunny California.
I love how it's always sunshiney here. How it's always hot but at a perfect temperature when the ocean breeze comes through. I love how palm trees just grow on the side of the road and the houses that sit on the mesas look like they've been weathered to become part of the cliffs.

Visit to Old Town, San Diego. Huge Mexican influence there. Lots of Spanish on the streets, Mexican-influenced architecture, Mexican cafes on every block. The tacos were amazing. After this, I can't go back to Three Amigos or Carlos and Pepes...Now I know what real Mexican is like.


Did some wandering amidst the street vendors and old-style shops that lined the streets. Fascinating things - I wish I could take it all home with me.




My friends took me to a driving range. I learned to golf for the first time and found out it took a lot more precision and positioning than I first thought. Very much fun though - I can understand why people enjoy it very much. As the sun set and the sky turned dark purple, it got easier to spot my balls as they flew out to midfield.


I had to take a picture of the mustang convertible that we zipped around in. I love this car. I love the grey sleekness of it and how the wind hits my face as we fly down the freeways.


Pelicans. Funny-looking things they are.

Inside a cave at La Jolla.


Sea anemones. Cute, interesting little things. I sat on the sea-carved rocks all day that day and watched as the anemones closed up when the tiny sand crabs scuttled over them. Listened to the waves crashing onto the rocks, saw the long, deep green seaweed breathe in and out with the tide, felt the salty sea breeze. Sat there and watched the sparkling ocean disappear into the horizon.
And of course, while I was at it I evened out my tan.





Got just a little wet splashing around in the waves.


If I had a choice, I'd stay here. For a long time...or at least until I had the luxury of calling all these things "normal".

Monday, August 27, 2007

I found out where I'll be living once I move out.
People say California is great - they never say it's this idyllic. Cruising down the No. 8 freeway last night in a convertible with the top down, the wind in my face, the radio cranked up, the sun setting just over the palm trees turning the sky pink and orange, the sandy adobe mexican-style houses lining the hills, I realized that this is where, if at all possible, I'd like to end up.


Pacific Beach, the "college beach". Not so busy today. It was sunny and hot but the cool ocean breeze kept the temperature perfect. The deep blue ocean just stretches out into the horizon.


We went to Tijuana, Mexico last night. We didn't spend that much time there - just walked down the Strip, had a few drinks, wandered through the quiet streets and then crossed back over the border. TJ is only a half hour drive from San Diego but exists a world apart. There's a dangerous edge about the place. Taxi drivers that hound you for a few dollars. Fights that break out on the streets. If you don't keep an eye on your drink you don't know what will end up in it. However it did have some exotic charm to it and the tequila was something to remember.


Good old Archstone. This is where I'm staying with my friend. Outdoor walkways that enter into luxurious apartments, heated pool and hot tub, palm trees that arch through skylights in corridors.


Fashion Valley Mall. It's beautiful - an outdoor mall. It's like a regular mall, just without a roof. The food court is on the second level in the open air and the Mexican architecture of mundane stores like Macy's or JCPenny gives everything a certain flair.

Trying to do cartwheels on the beach.
Woops.

Woops.

Yay!

Mmm....this is definitely the way to end my summer. I could not have done better. Except maybe Fiji...

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Some final pictures of New York City. One week was not enough to see everything I wanted to see but at the same time, Manhattan was overwhelming and noisy and crowded and I can say I'm a bit relieved to be out of a big city. Not that I'm not in a big city now - San Diego's pretty big - but it's a way different feel. Everything's a little more relaxed here. The smoggy Manhattan air too was not one of my favorite things about the city. I did, however, have quite a few adventures.


Going apartment shopping with my friend Tim one day, I realized how expensive living in Manhattan really was. Places we saw like the one pictured above, a small 1 1/2 that was visibly layered over with multiple coats of paint still cost circa $1700/month. No air conditioning, countertop and mini-fridge along the wall at the other side of the main room and bathroom so small that if you sat on the toilet you could still wash your hands at the sink. Needless to say, I was appalled and vowed never to call anything in Montreal "expensive" again. Compared to this, the 4 1/2 I had last summer for $1300 was deluxe.



I love ferryboats. The feeling of motion, the wind running through my hair, the sights, the smells. I could have taken that ferry back and forth from Staten Island for the entire day.


My (hopefully) future school, although I still maintain that I'd love to go to school in California. Advantage of schooling in NYC: networking. Lots and lots of connections. According to a very successful Wall Street broker I know, today's world is not about Ivy League education, it's about connections. T/F?




Shopping in Chinatown. Dirty, crowded, the briney smell of fish and crab wafting up from every tank and bucket placed on the street to sell. Old men still spitting on the street like they do in China so you need to watch your step. Little puddles of questionable murky water streetside. Food was pretty good but Manhattan's Chinatown is not the greatest Chinatown I've been to.


A hint of tropical paradise by Rockfeller center. The conglomeration of tourists and the trendy side boutiques gave this place a very festive atmosphere. Beware of walking into other people's photos.


Trump tower. 'Nuff said.
I wonder how logical it is to put trees halfway up a building. The green goes very well with the Gucci ad in red though. However strange, New York is unfailingly fashionable.


Coney Island. I took the Wonder Wheel - the huge ferris wheel in the amusement park - all the way to the top. Although the sticky humidity was very bad that day, nothing can go wrong when I'm on a ferris wheel. Along with ferryboats, it's another favorite of mine. When I went down, the boardwalk and beach were relatively empty because it was getting late, the sun was setting and all the tourist families were headed back to the City. Plenty of locals were around though, hanging out on the boardwalk and fishing on the pier. It would have been very beautiful if the rotting smell of fish guts on the pier didn't make my stomach turn. Needless to say, I retreated fairly quickly back to the boardwalk and then since it was getting dark, the D train back to Manhattan.
Sadly, I have yet to comment on the Manhattan night life since I've still got 3 months till I'm 21, the legal age in the States.


I just landed at the San Diego Airport a few hours ago. It was a really rough night. I vowed never again to fly earlier than 10AM. My flight was at 6:35AM this morning. The waiting around the airports and flying when exhausted was definitely not very fun. Got very little and sporadic sleep. Pikka (an old friend and mentor of mine) is sleeping. I think she may have the right idea.
More updates to follow.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Having fun in New York!


Spent half a day at the Cloisters, an awakening to all my little girl fairy tale fantasies of Medieval castles and chasing unicorns. The weathered stones of the old chapels ground you and give you a deep sense of peace in your heart.



Subway stations here make Guy Concordia metro look cushy. Very, very sketchy.

Bunches of fenced off lush green spaces - private parks. Small little oases in an urban jungle.



One of the many colorful murals in East Village.

New York reminds me a bit of Montreal. After having spent the last 2 months in the small cities of Alberta where the one mall downtown doesn't open past 5 pm and Starbucks downtown closes at 4 pm, where free public wireless doesn't exist and nothing is really within walking distance, New York is a haven. With the 24-hour restaurants and the wireless internet access in every cafe, the extensive subway system and people outside at all hours of the day, this place is what I've been missing all summer. I never thought of myself as a big city girl but maybe I miss the amenities that a big city offers. Even growing up going to backcountry ranches and the outcountry mountains, I wonder if maybe I'm just a city girl at heart.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Sitting in my room in Edmonton, waiting for my friend James to come pick me up and drive me to the Greyhound station.
Soon I'll be sitting on the bus, watching the Alberta landscape whirr by as I travel back to Calgary.
Sometimes it seems that that's what life does. You sit and watch and it just whirrs by as you press your nose against the glass and leave patches of cloudy vapour. Soon the greens and yellows and oranges and blues kind of blur together until nothing is really distinguishable. It seems like the past six weeks went by in a blur. Six weeks of long bus rides and cups of coffee and long rounds and wound evaluations and cognitive assessments and wheelchair adjustments, of walking down Whyte Ave. and shopping at West Edmonton Mall and hanging out with friends and eating out and playing volleyball...
After working in hospitals where death is not uncommon and having two of my childhood friends pass away over the past year the question always comes up of whether we're just living and living and living until we die. Do we just see just see life whirr by through a window? What does it mean to "live a full life"? That's always the phrase that's tossed around, isn't it? If C.S. Lewis is right, and all men are immortal, then there must be more to it than just living. If we believe there is an eternity, we must act accordingly.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

I'm tempted to write a semi-end of summer post since it seems like summer is quickly drawing to a close but let's not get too hasty. There is still three weeks of glorious vacation. Or time spent away from school anyway.
I had to go to work today. Which would have been very upsetting if I hadn't met the greatest guy today at the hospital. He has this twinkle to his eye, even when he's sitting still, which speaks volumes about a mischievous personality. He's never allowed to cause mischief of course - hospitals are very serious places - but I can imagine the type of trouble he would get into given the chance. Most of the time, he's slow to speak but only because he's formulating the type of idea and phrase that will leave you amazed and a little caught off guard. He moves with real dignity even though he has a slouch to his shoulders that seem almost casual. His ankle gets swollen sometimes from poor circulation so I wrapped it for him today and the warmth of his thanks made me feel like a little bit of sunshine had broken through the rainy clouds outside. He has deep laugh lines on his face and few of those wrinkles that represent a frown. He loves cookies but he has a lot of trouble with them because he's missing more than a few teeth. I like the color of his hair: a clear, snowy white. His grandchildren come visit sometimes and they've got the same blue-green eyes that he does. He astonishes me with his age; he's turning 100 years old next week.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

What do you do when you know you can't prevent a horrible mistake?
Mr. P has a sore on his heel. Sores often develop on bony prominences like over the calcaneus bone of the heel, the lateral malleolus of the ankle, the sacral and coccygeal prominences on the lower back...because of pressure. Capillaries are tiny blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen to muscles and nerves. These vessels can be occluded by a pressure greater that 32 mmHg and if that pressure is constant, muscles and nerves necrose (die) from lack of oxygen and nutrients. In healthy people, this is prevented by weight shifting, mobility and our intact sensation that tells us when we need to stand (like over a long car ride). In the sick and elderly, all this is impaired, resulting in cell death in parts of the body where circulation is cut off.
Pressure can be relieved in other ways, like with frequent repositioning done by the nurses and pressure relief surfaces such as air mattresses, gel cushions and medical grade sheepskin.
Mr. P is also a diabetic, which indicates poor circulation at baseline.
Mr. P is not allowing us to treat the necrosing flesh on his heel. If not treated and if the sore opens up further and is infected, he could require a below-knee amputation.
As health care professionals, we are bound by the hippocratic oath to always do good and never do harm. We are also bound by a stipulation of practice that the patient must agree to all treatment and we must practice with a client-centred approach. We cannot force him to accept treatment, can we? Is the decision really his? It's hard to convince this man, fifty years my senior, that I can treat his rotting foot.