South Texas

I spent the month of June in Laredo, TX as a part of my MPH practicum. This public health rotation was an extremely interesting experience. Not everyday do you get to a chance to get so close to / in the Rio Grande River.

We visited colonias (shantytowns set up by unscrupulous developers to take advantage of the poor) and conducted various forms of fieldwork (mosquito catching, water sampling, air quality sampling, etc). From these short four weeks, we gained a lot of useful perspective on the hot-topic issues of immigration, border security and border health. One of the families we visited barely got running water and sewer hooked up a few months ago; they've been living there for over two decades already.

Never take things for granted. Running water, flushing toilets, air conditioning, garbage pickup, safety. You really don't notice these things until they're gone. In the United States of America, there are American citizens who are living without any of these basic needs.

On the other hand, the US-Mexico border is really scary. With regards to infectious disease (think TB) and to a larger extent, drug violence.  There isn't an easy solution.  The cartels have too much power in Mexico, too much money, too many guns. How do you clean up corruption, when people's lives are being threatened? If you were offered a handsome bribe and to refuse is to be kidnapped & burned alive or worse - your family would be kidnapped and chopped to pieces, wouldn't you take the money? I would. I ain't seen nothin'.

Give me a few decades' time and I'll come up with a more realistic idea, but maybe we should develop something to put into the water to break people's addiction to illicit drugs. No demand -> no profit -> no money to be made. Thoughts?

Quickie Update - South Texas

Hey all! The last month and a half have been crazy busy and exciting and adventure-filled and emotional. It's been...something else.

This past month (I'll be finished this Thursday), I've been on a public health rotation in Laredo, TX. Directly on the US-Mexico border, it has been an eye-opening experience to say the least.

Updates, photos and travel stories coming soon!

California Love

Had an ridiculously fun time in California! Over 5 days, I saw old friends, partied, enjoyed delicious foods, considered great works of art and did so much exploring.  Sadly, ended up not bringing my DSLR because I wasn't sure how much of a chance I would have to run around playing photog. Huge mistake.

New friends, new experiences; what more could one ask for?

Food-wise, we had some amazing stuff. On night, I had dinner with my college friends Norman & Aida. We tried this new Japanese-Korean BBQ place and ordered among other meats, Kobe Kalbi. Dat marble.  It might have cost $4 per bite, but it was a heavenly experience.

Later that night, I finally got my first K-Town experience at Gaam, partying with USC frat brothers and sisters through a mutual friend.  There were no Koreans in the group, so I was the next closest.  Of course, the show K-Town on Youtube was my trashy reality tv fix back in the day, so I set up a couple of "Seoul Trains" and was instantly accepted into the group :D

The weekend was then spent driving to and from San Francisco for Bay to Breakers on Sunday morning.  We piled into my ex-fiance's apartment (April Fool's engagement) and were able to fit 10 people onto two beds, a few air mattresses and a futon. The event itself was amazing. There were so many people dressed up in costumes or dressed down to their birthday suits. Our group didn't really have a costume theme, just absurd.

Lunch was at the famed Ike's Place. 4.5 rating on Yelp, Ike's is rated by many to be the best sandwich shop in the United States.  I never heard of it before, but my foodie friends maintain that it was definitely not overrated.  It was a really good...haha

Finally, on the last day in LA, I explored on my own. Checked out the LA County Museum of Art and Santa Monica. Spending 4.5hrs at the LACMA, I visited every exhibit and painting created after 1950. Below is one of my favorites, since it was one of my own creations - it is currently hanging from my refrigerator.

Can't wait to go back <3

(Re)discovering Music

Here's a peak into some of the stuff that I've been listening to lately. Not even sure how to characterize this...  Hipster-ish indie stuff? Otherwise, it's been the usual jazz and trance/house. In the car, I've been tuning in to the country station. Gotta rep my Texas roots.

OK, It's Alright With Me - Eric Hutchinson

Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second - STRFKR

Death of Communication - Company of Thieves

I Found You - The Wanted

Dance Me to the End of Love - The Civil Wars

Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy

When the Sunshine Comes - Kero One, Ft. Epik High

Jet-setting & Progress

I've been keeping busy, especially with the end of the spring MPH semester coming up this week (presentation, paper and final tomorrow and 2 finals Wednesday). On top of that, progress has been made in my research project! I'm meeting with a pharm rep next week regarding funding/support for my project and have found a few leads regarding my prized rat models. Then last Thursday, we sat down and mapped out the experimental design and started looking at grant applications. My goals are one step closer to being realized, but the upcoming weeks will be devoted to grant writing - maybe I can sneak in a few lines in the budget for a camera upgrade or something like that ;P

The other day, I looked at the months of May and June and all I can say is...damn. So this Wednesday, I'll be done with spring MPH classes. Thursday is a Megabus back to Houston, Friday is a flight to Chicago. Sunday night, I'll be back in San Antonio for my meeting with the Eli Lilly rep early in the week followed by a drive to Houston from Thursday til Sunday - family, friends, Rice's graduation (Neil deGrasse Tyson is the commencement speaker), and subsequent graduation parties. Thursday after that, I'll be flying out to LA to visit some friends. We'll be driving to San Francisco that Saturday night and staying until Monday morning for Bay-to-Breakers on Sunday morning. I'll fly back to San Antonio on Tuesday, but have a wedding in Houston the Saturday following - this brings us to May 25th. Immediately after, I'm currently slated to drive out to Laredo for the month of June, starting the evening of May 27th...  @_@ All the while, I start 2 online MPH classes on 5.20 and will be working on my project on the side as well.

Here are some pictures of springtime fun:

Pizza, "Dancing" and Swans

It's been a while. My schedule's been a bit crazy since getting back to SA. Parents came to visit, winged a 20min presentation, and playing email tag with various research groups around the world. Here's a bunch of photos.

Anyway, this week is the week of ethics that comes between major modules (week of fun). We had our 3rd potluck on Monday - it was a pizza-baking party. Many of the calories were worked off via XBox Kinect - Just Dance or Dance Central. Also, based on drawing names, I have the honor of the next "last meal" - might do something like a grill-out by the pool, now that the weather is warming up.

This week is Austin Restaurant Week! Four of us went to ATX for lunch and dinner. Lunch was at Korea House and in between, we went kayaking in Town Lake, where I was attacked by a swan. Who knew that roasted swan tastes so good? :) We also hit up Castle Hill - an ever-changing sanctuary for graffiti. Dinner was Fogo de Chao - that said, I'm avoiding red meats for a few days.

EOL RRF

	Rice Fight!
	Nobody knows what it means. It's provocative.
	Hadoken!

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