Three Day Weekend

We have a three day weekend this week: I think it's for some kind of religious holiday. I didn't know it was coming until this week, but it's nice to have a break from the school. I think the general plan is to go surfing a lot. A board and a wetsuit rent for about $5 for a day. I'm still not great, but each time I look a little bit cooler.

Souls

One of the things that periodically amuses me about living in Peru is that the currency is "soles," which is supposed to be pronounced "SOL-ays" but we tend to pronounce like "souls." So we make a fair amount of demon puns, which are nice.

Haircut

The most wonderful thing just happened to me. I got a quick trim at a haircutting place near the plaza, and at the end the cashier girl asked me what I wanted for my prize, and gestured to a big rack of candy and soda. So with my $1 haircut I got a free chocolate bar. As confusing as Peru often is, occasionally it surprises me with good-confusing.

Medical School

The last few weeks I've been hard at work on my med school applications. I've gotten secondary applications from these schools so far: Dartmouth, Arizona (Tucson), Arizona (Phoenix), Cornell, South Carolina, Creighton, Tulane, Northwestern, Baylor, Georgetown, UCLA, Colorado, UC Irvine, USC, and Wake Forest. That's a lot of schools, and it doesn't count the three Texas schools that don't require secondary applications.

The fact that I got a secondary doesn't mean these schools are interested in me, necessarily. It is still possible that other schools (like Vermont) will be sending me apps, but it's nice that these have taken the time to make me write more essays.

I'm getting pretty good at thinking of compelling reasons why I would want to go various schools. These usually break down into five categories: Big city=patient diversity, someone else in the hospital might speak Spanish so I can practice, the school just built something new, the school does research, or the High Moral Fiber argument (where I tweak phrases from the school's vision statement.)

Fire

Peru loves fire, I'm coming to realize. As you travel through any city, especially on the major roads, you tend to see a lot of things burning. In the big markets there is always a guy with a big cart full of charcoal, and in the barrios there are always a few trash piles on fire. There are usually a few fields on fire along with a building or two, sometimes. In the restaurants they will bring out a low mesh can of glowing coals when it is cold. One of the better dishes you can get is a big plate of steaming meat served above a little tray of burning charcoal.

Here are some pictures from the Machu Picchu thing we did.