Getting lost in London and Dancing to Reggae!

My cousins are serious party animals. Jeyvonne had warned me about how late she goes out at night. Usually she leaves at 12:30 and stays out till 5:30. This is my 45 year old cousin with a 14 y/o daughter and a partner at home she refuses to marry because "once you get married, men think they own you!".

When I got to her place on Saturday, I was completely exhausted from the day. I spent the morning finishing my IRB and submitting the scholaraly project proposal. Thus I got a late start on sightseeing. The main thing I wanted to do was to spend the day at the British Museum and go on the various tours they have. These are 30-45 minute free introductory tours done at the various rooms, like Roman (which I went on), Asian, African, etc.

Getting there turned out to be a nightmare!  My tour book told me to get off at Totternham Court Road, which I did, but I got so lost I ended up walking passed 3 tube stations before I realized I was going in the wrong direction.  I was wearing my healed boots since it was raining and my feet were aching when I got there.  Not what you want for a museum!  When I got there, a tour was just literally about to leave, and it was the 2nd to last one of the day. 

When I got back home, I wrote in my blog, mostly just because I needed to rest my feet before heading out to my cousins.  When I did leave, it was another traveling nightmare.  The Barbican station, which is just blocks away from me, was closed this weekend (every city is plagued by annoying transit closures!).   I had to get on at the St. Paul's station, which doesn't take that long to walk to, but since my feet were killing me, I decided to take the bus. The bus driver told me that the St. Pauls stations was closed to buses (WHAT??) and I'd have to walk back from the next stop. She dropped me off told me to pass 2 lights, but as I was walking, I had no idea where I was.  As rain started to trickel down, tears began to seep from my eyes.  My feet were aching and I was carrying duffel bag of dirty laundry.  After circling around, I finally found St. Paul's station.


When I got to Lewisham I made another silly transit mistake. I thought I was on the bus that stopped right outside my cousin's flat.  So when I didn't see it, I assumed I wasn't there yet and went down 2 more stops, to the end of her street, which happens to be down a hill.  I had to walk all the way back. It was not my night!

When I reached my cousins, she, her partner Micheal, and Jada (their daughter) were eating dinner and watching this crazy UK show called "Take me out".  Its sorta like the bachelor.  A guy has 20 girls to choose from to date. As the host introduces the guy, girls can switch off there light (lol, I love the drama) to say they are not interested. This poor guy worked in a fish market and I think that turned off a lot of girls!   I told them about my traveling mishap but that even if I had to sit the whole night in the club, I was determined to go.  Jeyvonne said that there weren't any seats there!  Even the shoe-box of a club I went to with the girls in Dalston had seats!

Jeyvonne told me to have a nap before going out, which I thought was hilarious since it was 10pm. But I did manage to snooze and was woken up by her alarm clock. When she got out the shower I told her my feet were killing me and I didn't think I could manage.  But as I thought about it, I realized I quite simply was not going to die from pain, so I decided to suck it up and go!  I'm glad I did!

We were very lucky to get parking right by the club. As Jeyvone entered first, the bouncer searched her bag, as he does everybodies, and I though also checking ID. When I came to the bouncer, and showed him my ID my cousin was like, "What are you showing him that for?!". I said, "I thought you were doing that!". They all had a good laugh at me.

So this club plays only reggae music. I like the first bit of it. I knew one song, Tempted to Touch, but easily was able to dance to the rest. It felt soooo good!!!! Especially after my last clubbing was entirely Techno. I felt like I was in the Carribean dancing on a beach somewhere. Jeyvonne got me a gin and tonic and both her and Karen made fun of me for liking it.

Then the DJ changed and the next one was awful. He kept talking and screaming over the songs. 
My cousins kind of just stood on the wall, not looking like they were having much fun. I wondered why they tourture themselves to stay out if they aren't going to dance. I kept looking at my phone's clock.. 3:10, 3:23, 3:50. I was quite ready to go but wasn't going to be the party pooper. There was one guy who was actually sleeping, standing up!!! My cousins and I kept watching, waiting for him to topple over but he had remarkable balance, lol.  Eventually, they had enough of the music and we left around half past 4.

I had made tenative plans to go to a flower market with Jess on Sunday, so I got myself out of bed when I got up, and put in some laundry.  Jada was up already making banana fritters and tea. I was so impressed! She really can cook. In fact, she was laughing at me when I was trying to tell them I knew how to cook ackee and saltfish, a dish I'm planning on making for Jess, since I thought you are supposed to boil the ackee, which your not! If you do, it'll turn to mush! I was so exhausted that I went back upstairs, got into bed and didn't get up till 3:30.   The flower market didn't happened.

When I got downstair, Karen and her daughter Leah were there, chatting away. They come by Jeyvonne's every Sunday. Its really beautiful how close there family is. Karen made it to church that morning!

Usually on Sundays we sit chatting around the table. Leah is very outspoken and starts a lot of the banter. At one point today she was telling Jeyvone how she lying that she can go to Jamaica and retire without brining Jada with her. We also look through British tabloids and comment on things like prince Harry dancing to reggae music when he visited Jamaica a couple of weeks, and the controversy over having so many non-British people competing for the UK in the Olympic games.

I brought up how buddy-buddy Obama and Cameron appear, and immediatly they staring talking about what an awful dresser his wife is.   They showed me a picture of one of her lastest fashion failure's in the tabloid (below, last picture).  It looks like something my grandmother would wear to church. They said that Michelle Obama always looks so stunning and why is it that Cameron's wife has to go all the way to America looking so awful. 

The first dress looks like it should be on a 5 year old.   The red outfit looks like a hand me down that has been stretched too much in a washing machine.  No sense of fashion, whatsoever. 

Catch-up!

I missed writing over a couple of days so this is catch-up!

Wednesday I didn't feel like going to clinic in the morning so I worked on my IRB, had lunch in the kitchen with the girls, and went in the afternoon.  It was oncology clinic.  One of the girls has ALL and most of her treatment is being monitored by the pediatrician, not the pediatric hematologist.  The pediatric specialist here train for the same amout of time as a general pediatrician, and a general pediatrician can declare "an interest" in a speciality field, and be the main consultant for nephrology, hematology, etc clinics.  So I asked the consultant I worked with when does a patient actually see a pediatric hematologist.  She said that it is at the start of their treatment.  After that, the general pediatrician monitors resposne to chemo and cell counts.  I would be too nervous to have my kid see a general pediatrican for that.  I mean, think about the responsiblity and training you have as a fellow in the states!  Its no where near what the STs (aka SHOs)/residents" here do, which is just observe in clinic!  The other thing is that all doctors get paid the same, based on the number of years they spend working for the NHS.  It works out to be about 110K for entry to 160K for working more than 7 years.  I don't think I'll ever be a doctor in the UK!

Last Thursday I had a very sad day in clinic.  It was IBD clinic and the consultant let me see her new patients.  The first one was a 15 y/o girls with BRBPR for 6 months.  She was evaluated by her GP who thought it was hemorrhoids and nothing was done.  She continued to bleed and have abdominal pain, saw another GP who recommended a colonoscopy but she never got one. 

The second girl was the one who broke my heart.  She is 11 y/o and had a 1 year history of oral ulcers, up to 20 at a time.  She saw a dentist and an orthodontontist who attributed it to stress.  She later developed severe crampy abdominal pain, and a vulvar ulcer.  Her mom told me she had missed the last 2 weeks of school, and I was tying to understand if it was fatigue or from her surgery.  However, during this questioning the girl got extremely upset.  She started crying, and covered her face with her hands, and wouldn't look at me.  I did my best to ask what was bothering her, focus on the positive by saying I thought she was a very lovely girl.  During her exam, I sat right by her in the bed and made heart beating sounds and gurgle sounds when I listened to her abdomen.  That brought a small smile.  When the consultant saw her and told her she would need a blood test that day she lost it again.  She was almost inconsolable.  I wanted to tell her its okay to be scared and that I still get scared when I get shots but I let the SHO do all the reassuring. 

Thursday after clinic I had dinner by Jess' friend's place.  We made a greek salad, with chicken and pita bread, had Rose wine, chatted, and watched an episode of New Girl and Downton Abbey.

I went to clinic on Friday morning but due to an annual review, CF clinc was closed to students, and I didn't want to do derm again, especially since I'll be doing in in May.  I took the train to Greenwich, most famously known for being the location of Greenwich Mean Time.  It is also the birthplace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth the I, and will be the location of the equestrian events during Olympic games. 

On the way to the train station, I got off at the Tower of London.

Here I am standing with a foot in both the east and western hemispheres.  The silver line is the Greenwich Meridian, at 0 degrees longitude. 

A couple of summers ago I was at the Tropic of Capricorn in Namibia.  I've now had my body sectioned by the 2 bisectors of the earth!   

The river Thames with the Millenium dome way in the background.  I walked past a gate that had a sign that said the gate is never to be padlocked as a measure of saftey.  A very tiny part of me wished I could go down to look for Roman clay sculptures!

I next went to the the Victoria and Albert museum. 

Its hard to appreciate from the picture but I really liked this sculpture.  Its made of jade, a material our tour guide explained, that is very hard to sculpture because it is so hard.  This is of 10 geese, each look different and each is actually a small box that can open allowing you to store things inside. 

These giant vases were made by a modern british sculpture who had to go to China to make it because no other


And here is a picture and video from the Museum of London:

A victorian dress. How did women pass through doors with this thing?

 Tonight I'm going out with my cousin to celebrate her friend's birthday at a reggae club.

An acute emergency in clinic

Today I went to clinic around 11AM.  It was peds rheum clinic.  I saw an 15 y/o girl with JRA who complained of TMJ, left shoulder, and ankle pain, an 11 y/o boy with ankalosying spondylatisi who complained of back, ankle, knee, and wrist pain, as well as palpitations, and a 16 y/o girl with JRA with left knee pain.

The boy turned out to be a very ill.  The whole interview, he was souched in his chair, his head was down, it took him forever to find his words.  In retrospect, he was very lethargic.  But at the time, I thought, "What is wrong with this boy?  Is he developmentally slow? Or just very shy an intimdiated by doctors?".  I thought maybe there was a cultural barrier too since he was Bengali and the father was using an interperrture.  The physical therapist who examins pts during rheum clinic noted he was wearing an insulin pump.  The registrar (=PGY3) asked about his sugars.  He said that last night they were 32 mmol/L (=579 mg/dL in US system).  The doctors eyes nearly came out of his head.  He kept making sure he heard right.  "Thirty-two??   As in in greater than 20?" he asked to clarify.  He asked if the dad called the diabetic nurse and the dad said no.  I couldn't believe it!  I wanted to scream to the dad, "Do you know how high that is, how dangerous that is?" Then we found out the boy had also been nauseous and feverish.  We looked at his tonsils and they were so enlarged, practically touching one another.  The registrar phoned down to the A&E department, spoke to the doctors there and told them that he was sending down a pt from clinic. 

If I were that doctor, would I almost have missed how sick this child was?  Its such a scary thought to think that maybe if I was the one seeing this patient I would have sent him home after having focused on joint paint.  It was rheum clinic after all.  I can't imagine how guilty I would feel if someone died of DKA the day after I saw them in clinc and sent them home.  Really, in clinic, you are meeting someone for the first time and have to assess them based on your judgment and experience, if you think they are well or if something is off.  I thought something was off when I saw the boy slouched over in his chair, searching for his words.  But not knowing what exactly it is, its hard to know the next step.  In fact, prior to mentioning the sugar, the physical therapist, who had worked with the patient before, told the registrar that the patient didn't seem his normal, cherry self, but we all thought it was due to his worsening joint pain. 

After morning clinic, I took the afternoon off and visited the Museum of London.  The musuem begins with the pre-historic era and mostly describes the changing geography of London.  For instace, the Thames river used to be far north of London.  Over thousands of years, it moved southward, and has become more narrow and nore steep.  According to our tour guide, if you walk along the banks of the river today, it is not uncommon at all to find clay pieces of pottery or tool from the Roman era.  How cool!  This is because the tide of the river is constantly turning over the sand so things that were buried are coming to the surface.  Most of the collection in the museum was found from digs in the Thames.  Water is great at preserving things like shoes, arrowheads, and skulls, because when an object becomes water logged, it locks out air.  Air is what causes objects to decay. 

As you move though the museum, the displays also progress forward in time.  For instance, we walked though the Roman era, and saw marble sculptures of Roman gods.  The great fire of London which took place in the 1700s is also on display.  In fact, the famous dome of St. Paul's Cathedral was NOT the original design.  Instead, St. Paul's church had an arched steeple.  The dome was built after St. Paul's was destroyed in the Great Fire. 

I think I liked the Victorian era the best.  Dresses the ladies wore were on display.  There was also the walls of a prison cell in the Tower of London on display and you could see people's carvings and graffitti on the wall. 

I ran out of time before finishing the museum but must go back, especially as it is free!

Clinic, museums, and upcoming trips!

This morning I went to endocrine growth clinic and saw several patients with growth disorders.  One of them looked about 8 years old but was really 14.  He has idiopathic growth hormone deficency and is being treated with growth hormone.  The second was of a patient who was 6 years old in the bottom 5th percentile for growth.  She likely has short stature and normal growth hormones since her rate of growth over the past year was 4 cm.  The most interesting girl for me was one with hypochondroplasia.  Like achondroplasia it is due to a mutation in the FGFR3 receptor, and the extremities are disproportionally shorter than the trunk.  However, the height is much greater than that in achondroplasia.  She is also on growth hormone which actually can make the disproportion more severe by mainly increasing trunk length.

After clinic I decided to go home.  Its getting hard to stay motivated to go since no one is keeping track and since I'm mostly shadowing. 

At lunch, I was happy to see several of my friends in the kitchen.  So we had a nice chat about euthansia since there a man in the UK with locked-in-syndrome wanting someone to euthanize him, how dangerous it is to bike riding in London, and the crazy bus drivers here (I don't think people here drive worse than they do in NY).

After lungh, I finalized my plans and booked tickets for the trips I want to take before I leave.  Next week Wednesday, I'm going to take a bus up to Bath, spend the night, and the next day do a tour of Stonehenge and Avebury.  I'm really hoping to stay at a couchsurfer's place that night.  I email a lot of girls I saw on the website but so far no one has been able to host me.  I hope I do find someone not only because it would save money, but also because the idea seems so cool to stay at a total stranger's place for a night.  I wish my landlord would let me host people so I could also meet people from around the world.

The following week, I'm taking a trip to Prague on Monday and Tuesday.  I'm super excited about this trip.  I've been waiting to go for years since people rave about Prague.  And I got a great deal on tickets with Ryainair.

Jess and I made plans to check out the Imperial War Museum this afternoon.  She got off around 3:30 and we meet at the tube and headed over together.  We spent most of the time in the Holocaust exhibition.  I throughly enjoyed it.  One thing I thought was strange was that there was a sign saying you have to be 14 or older to enter.  ???  What's the logic behind that???  Surely 14 y/o olds watch more gruesome things in the movies or video games. 

After the museum closed Jess and I stopped at a nearby pub for dinner and drinks.  We both got the house special, a cottage pie-- minced/ground beef with mashed potatoes on top.  We chatted a couple of hours.  She actually spent most of the time studying for her boards in pubs in Cardiff where she was visiting her boyfriend.  I think its a great atmosphere to study since there always seems to be one really obnoxious person in Starbucks who makes it impossible to concentrate or there are no tables.  I think its so brave to go to a pub by yourself and read but I'm going to try it because I'm so bored at nights with nothing to do and I just sit in my room.  Its too uncomfortable for me to read in my room so I end up surfing the web for hours until I fall asleep.

Sometimes I wonder if its okay that I'm not doing much on this rotation.  I thought about taking a PICU rotation in addition to my general peds-subi just to sort of challenge myself in a way.  So far I can't bring myself to sign up for it knowing how intense it will be.  So I'm just going to enjoy life being easy for now.

I also am thinking of dreading my hair when I get back to the States.  I think the Coppola treatment has given me insomina. 

Oxford

I took a day trip to Oxford on Saturday.  Its about 60 miles northwest of London.  I got to the city around 12:30pm.  The city center is a 10 minute walk from the train station.  It was easy to find by following both the signs and the people traffic.  Broad street is a very wide streat with pedestrians, bikers and cars sharing the same space, as well as outdoor seating for diners of the resturants.

Broad Street                         

I first came upon Shelodnian theater. 

Sheldonian Theater

Situated behind the theater lies the Bodleian library, one of the oldest libraries in Europe. 

Bodleian library

Just behind the library lies Radcliffe Camera.  The word camera is taken from a latin word which means a circular room.  The dome of Radcliffe Camera is probably most distinct for its blue hue that stands out in the city's skyline.

.Radcliffe Camera

I walked down along Cattle Street and got to the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.  You are able to climb up to dome to get an aerial view of the city but I couldn't find where. 

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

I then went to Christ Church.College on Algate street.  This college has several claims to fame.  Lewis Carrol was a student of mathematics at this college.  Also the Great Hall is where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.  Unfortunately, it was closed to visitors when I was there due to an event.  The college is unique in that it functioned as both a college (center for student education and living) as well as a cathedral.  It was founded by Henry VIII.

Christ Church Cathedral

Library of Christ College

Outside the college lies a large meadow that stretches to the Thames river which cuts through Oxford.

After visiting the college, I got lunch at Tescos and headed back up to Broad street to see the Ashmoleum museum.  Entrance is free.  The museum houses work from the Egyptian period, through 17th century European Art.

I wandered into a bookstore and got my old PI a postcard since she did her PhD at Oxford and I thought it would bring some nice memories.  Then it was time for my tour.

Seeing the Boldeian library was a real treat.  Everyone had to put their bags in a chest.  We weren't allowed to carry anything inside.  Our guide was an American, who apologized for not having an authentic british accent.  He's doing a PhD in history at Oxford.  The library is a deposit for all the books published in the UK.  This includes childrens books in case one day someone wants to study childs literatures.  Of course because there is a limited amount of space, the library across of it is being expanded and another one is being built somewhere in England.  Back in the day, the library had no book shelves.  Instead, books were displayed on a sort of table and students had to read the books standing up.  The books would be chained to the table.  He showed us an example of a book with a huge chain attached to its cover which was then chained to the shelf.  Students still use the books to this day.  Most of the books though are in Latin so these are very smart students!  It was really magical to be in the middle of this library with thousands of voulmes of huge books several hundred of years old.

Nando's and St. Paul's

Tonight was soooo amazing!  Kasuni, Diyvia (from London), Rosie (from China) and I went to Nandos.  Its a resturant that originated from Mozambique-Portugesese people in Johannesburg.  Its found globally, in several countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and in D.C.  The chicken is cooked in a Peri-Peri marinade.  Peri-peri (or pili-pili) is Swahili for chili pepper!  Its also called Galinha a Africana, which is Portugese for "Chicken the African Way".  When the Portugesee settleld in Mozambuique they were introduced to peri-peri by the Mozambiques and began incoroporating it into thier cusine.

The resturant sells chicken that is flame grilled and marinated in peri-peri spicy sauce.  You can get medium, hot, or extra extra hot.  I think I would have gotten the extra hot were it not for Divya and Kasuni who warned me that it was really really spicy.  I remembered trying some of Hiral's home made pizza that was too spicy for me and decided to get the medium. 

This really was good chicken.  I liked that is was flamed grilled and not fried since a lot of fried food upsets my stomach.  The quality of the chicken wings was really good too.  There wasn't a lot of fat or rubbery skin and I could easily eat the chicken right down to the bone.  The outside was crips, spicy and full of barbeque flavor!  They also sell chicken liver! 

 

Diyvia and Kasuni

Rosie and I

Diyvia is a first year medical student who also wants to go into pediatrics. Kasuni wants to be an oral pathologist and is in a 1 year masters program.  I asked Divya about medical school tuition which she said is 3,950 pounds and about 3500 pounds for living expenses (about $16,000 a year).  She couldn't believe it when I told her our last financial aid budgent for 1 year was $80K.  Queen Mary University also offers scholarships off free tuition to the students who are in the top 10 of their class.  She explain that students from Cambridge and Oxford come to Queen Mary for thier clinical rotation since the expose is really sparse near these universities.  She also told me about "vajazzle" a trend here where women put on glitter studs on their vagina!  How gross!  Theres also one form men called pajazzle and guess where those go.  She also wants me to try banoffee (combination of banana and toffee) a desert she said was really good.  She asked about what music is popular in the states right now. 

The girls told me that this is the first time they've gone out together! Usually they hang out in the dorms. And they were so happy they met me and felt like they've known me for a really long time even though its only been a little over a week! I told them how mutual the feeling is. 

Nando is right by St. Paul's Catherdral.  After dinner, we took the elevator up to the 6th floor of a building complex.  There's an amazing rooftop bar and a lounge that you are free to walk around.  The dome of St. Paul's Cathedral is right in front!  Its illuminated at night.  You can walk down the rooftop lounge and the dome is so large right in front of you that you feel you can reach out and touch it!  I'd really like to come back in the day time to take better pictures.  There is also a view of the London eye and the London suppository, lol, as I heard its similar structure called in Barcelona.  We just had a great time on the roof time, loving the view and taking pictures.  It was the first time Divya and Rosie had been up there. 
  

You can easily get "lost" in the magic of the streets around St. Pauls.  Walking around, I felt like Gil, the novelist, in the movie Midnight in Paris, who imagines himself to be in Paris during the 1920s.  Its like you are walking down streets and you know its 2012, but the things that look so old are so well preserved that you're mind easily slips away to the 1600s.  I felt like at any moment I could see a horse with a suited gentleman on top trottling down the street.

We walked through Smithsfield market which is a meat market that is most active in the early hours of the morning.  My friends told me that if you come really early you can see cow and pigs hanging.  I'll try it one morning!  It was also the site where William Wallace, one of the great Scottish heros in the Scottish War of Independece, also depected by Mel Gibson in Braveheart, was executed by the British.  Its also right by the night club Fabric which Divya told me was rated the NUMBER ONE CLUB IN THE WORLD!  Wow!  I hope I can check it out one night! 

Kasuni and I in Smithfield Market

I also had a great morning in clinic today as well.  Today was peds derm clinic.  Today I told the consultant that I was in my last year of medical school after which she asked if I'd like to clock in my own patients.  I told her I'd love to.  But as it happened only one patient was there at a time so I ended up seeing all of her patients with her.  She was great teaching consultant because when we examined the child she asked me to descibe the affected skin and tell her what I thought it was.  The first case was of tinea capitis.  I also saw eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo, alopecia areata and pityriasis rubra pilaris type IV.

I decided not to go to the peds surgery clinic in the afternoon and instead went back to Baker's Street to get a novel at Oxfam.  On my walk today, I passed by the site where Charles Dickens lived when he wrote 3 of his novels, and a manor house used by Henry the VIII and Elizabeth the I.  I found the book Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder which Ana my roommate raved about and picked it up along with Memoirs of a Midget by Walter de la Mare because its from 1932.  The cover looks like it could be a collectable and I have small hopes that one day it will be worth more than the 2 pounds I paid for it.  I also got a Frodors guide to London, which inspired me to take a day trip to Oxford tomorrow.

One of the medical students told me today that if I wanted I could spend a day with the major trauma section of the hospital and see the cases that come in via helipad.  I feel a bit reluctant to do say because now I'm comfortable with the people in the peds department and it will be hard to branch out and try something new.  But I know I'll regret it if I don't so I really hope one afternoon next week I give it a try.  I'm also looking forward to metabolic and oncology clinic on Monday.

I was a little happier than I normally am while seeing patients in derm clinic today and I think its becasue in general all the derm patients are healthy.  I guess its has taken a small toll on me seeing so many kids who are unwell.

Dinner near Baker's Street

Today after lecture, Jess and I went out to eat at Comptoir Libanais, a Lebanese resturant near Baker's Street.  Baker's street is famous for being the fictional residence of Sherlock's Homes.  It used to be dominated by high class London residences but is now mostly shops, pubs, resturants, book stores, and cafes. 

Jess is an amazing person.  She spent 6 months traveling thoughout Australia, New Zeland, India, and SE Asia!  I wish I was able to travel for that long.  She even worked in a hosptial in India when she traveled there.  She also had an amazing job working at the Yankee's stadium as a statistician for the broadcasters during Yankee games. 

I was in general pediatric clinic today and saw a 5 y/o girl with hematuria, 14 y/o girl with migraines, 10 y/o boy with enuresis, 9 month old by with possible acondroplasia (dad noticed feet were disproportionatly short), and a 6 mo old boy with eczema.  I don't have an April elective scheduled yet, and today after I read though the survey of electives, I really appreciate how chill this elective is.  I see diverse conditions, some very rare, other very common, and feel zero pressure and zero responsiblity.  I get in at 9:30, stay in morning clinic until about 12:30, go to lunch, then come back for afternoon clinic from 1:30-4:30.   I can go to any clinic I want or A&E and thus no one would miss me if I didn't come, but I want to see as much as I can!

Tomorrow night, Diva and Luny are going to take me to Nandos, a chicken store that they've been raving about.  They say all Americans love it and that P Diddy wanted to open a branch in the states.  Sarah, Tess, Carly, and Gina are going to a dinner and a friends place and then going out in the city.  I may meet up with them later. 

The first pictures below are of our night out in Dalston.  The last are of this evening.

Cat and Sarah 

 Izzy and Gina

 Tess and I

Me, Carly, Tess, Izzy, and Sarah 

 Jess and I on Marylebone Road

 Comptoir Libanais

My lentil soup and Morrocan bread

Jess and her mint tea