My dear blogfellows,
How it's been two.five months since I've written my last post is astonishing to me, but so it is, and it is time for an update! I'm still chugging away at school, having just taken a (ridiculous) head and neck written exam and (not as ridiculous) head and neck practical exam. The former was a multiple choice test, questioning my logic of mostly the holes in a larynx/pharynx (what's the difference!?).
But beyond that, it was great to finish up first semester (and suffer the wrath of moadei bet at the start of the second semester). It just goes to show that I'm half way there, both through this year and my time here in Israel. It's crazy to think how far I've come, and how far I have to go (it's also crazy to think how unnecessary that comma was, but whatever).
Chicago was cool--actually, it was freezing. I had an epic travel saga to go with it (what would you expect? I'm even on hold with American Airlines as we speak!). I was supposed to fly Iberia (those of you that know me well know my feelings on the subject) but, due to expected inclement weather in Chicago on the Friday that I was slated to arrive in, combined with the close proximity of the flight's arrival to the Sabbath, I decided to instead find a way to maneuver a change to the ticket. And maneuver I did! I swapped out the IB flights for a British Airways/American combo to London and New York (I was even able to spend the day in London with a good ole friend from 日本語 class), then used award miles on a first-flight-out-last-flight-in to Chicago and Nashville, which I then was gratefully able to split in two. Had I booked into Chicago instead of New York, it would have cost me $500 more, but instead I got a voucher for the change! I then flew to Nashville for an amazing Southern road trip with a good friend from the college years, followed by a flight from Dallas back to Chicago.
What did I see on this road trip, you might ask. Well, it was quite the adventure. Took in some of the Honky Tonk and learned about the legends of Country in Nashville, visited the various caged birds of the Cypress Grove Natural Park in Jackson (TN), dipped down into Mississippi (I also dipped into the how-to-spell-MS chant), got to experience the home of Elvis Presley and more in Graceland, saw the Mammoth Cave and the Louisville Slugger factory, the Gibson guitar museum, the Dallas science museum, the Bill Clinton Presidential Library and the monument to the Little Rock Nine in Little Rock, AR, and so much more! Plus I got my fill of Taylor Swift, as well as the ability to experience all the women that Reba is. Between the celebration of a friend's birthday, the experience of a southern Shabbat hospitality experience, and the amazing culture and patience that the South provides, I'm happy to report to all my Yankee friends that the South is a place worth visiting if you want to turn the tempo down.
I then got home for a couple of days of R&R, extending it just a bit into the second half of the year. My bad. Because it dropped to negative forty-something (incidentally, I went out in just a long sleeve shirt during that stint to grab the newspaper, something I signed up for to get a "free" Bulls jacket and then subsequently cancelled--it was pretty cold outside). And they cancelled all of the domestic flights. On the plus side, they let me choose whichever flight I wanted for the return to make up for it. And I chose Royal Jordanian. Why? Who knows. I can now add it to my list of airlines I have flown (and really do not plan on flying again, although perhaps that was only my personal experience). But we learn from every experience.
And now, as I embark on the journey into the systems of the brain, I soon expect to begin reciting the old adage:
Brain, brain,
Go away,
Come again another day.
Until next we meet,
David
