I finally arrived in Livingston, New Jersey last Monday. I made the drive in two days driving 15 hours the first day to Roanoke and then finishing up the drive in about 6 hours to Livingston. I traveled through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and finally New Jersey. I was able to stop in Harrisburg PA to eat lunch with a friend from college who is living in the area which was a pleasant surprise.
The first week of neurosurgery at St. Barnabas Medical Center has gone really well. I have a great time with the residents each day and get along really well with them. I have learned a whole lot about the field in a relatively short time just because of the amount of patients I am rounding on each day. They do a great job of including us in all aspects of medical management which really helps to pick up on things. I had one hick-up when I was driving to work my check engine light came on. Luckily for my my hotel is across the street from the Lexus dealership so I was able to take it over there and get a loaner car in no time and it turned out to be nothing and I was in and out for $100. I took call this past weekend with one of the residents which was really fun but got me really behind on sleep. On Sunday we were able to get most of the work done pretty early and he let the other student and I leave around noon for the day. I took this opportunity to drive to Newark and then take the PATH over to NYC and walk around.
The PATH dropped me off at WTC or now ground zero and I walked from there up broadway to Union Square. I mainly just peopled watched. I noticed that in order to be a true New Yorker you needed a combination of some kind of hat, a fancy coat, skinny jeans, boots, and at least some time of accessory usually a scarf. If you really didn't fit this description I chalk you up to being a tourist. The biggest reason I went to the city was to go to Apostles Church led by JR Vassar. When sitting in a pew by myself a friend from college snuck up and sat next to me I was so surprised she then went on to tell me that another friend from college would be there because she was in town and then I saw another guy who was in BYX with me. Never in a million years would I think I would run in to one person I knew, yet I saw three.
