heading home

We are heading out of Siem Reap, Cambodia. It has been more than I could ever have imagined. The temples of Angkor Wat were spectacular. We only saw a small portion because there are so many. The guides we had were able to tell us the best ones to spend our time on. I will not be able to put up pictures until I return to the states. I found out I will be able to move into my apartment on the 17th and have a car on the 18th! Now just the long flight back...about 20 hours and four planes (Siem Reap to Bangkok to Tokyo to Chicago to DC). Its been a wonderful trip and I am so glad I was able to spend it with my mom. More later...

Taking a break to check out another Temple.


Beer (our awesome guide) and me at a waterfall


Our elephants...Ms. Chandi and Mr. Noon.


On Ms Chandi in Chiang Mai, Thailand


Flying over Bali in the helicopter!

We are heading to Siem Reap, Cambodia tomorrow morning. Chiang Mai has been fabulous. We have done more than imaginable. Some of the highlights.....meeting hill tribes (Mong, Karen, Lisu, and Akah), white water rafting, mountain biking, elephant rides, ox-cart rides, meeting with the witch doctors, meeting wonderful new friends and many other things that escape my mind at this hour of the night. We are exhausted. There are only three more days. Two in Cambodia and then the long trek home. We just mailed a box of stuff we have bought. I will try to upload a picture or two but not sure if it will work. More later of course!

Thailand....

We just finished up our time in Bangkok and Ayathuya. It has been awesome so far. The morning after arriving we took a car up to tour the old capital Ayathuya. It was really beautiful....loads of Buddist and Hindu temples. Some only the remnants due to invaders coming in and destroying them throughout the centuries. The Summer Palace outside of the city looked like something you would find in France. Nothing like what we had been seeing in the rest of our sightseeing in Asia. After that we headed for our long tail boat trip to meet our converted rice barge that would take us down the river from Ayathuya back to Bangkok with a stop overnight on the way. It was just the two of us and another couple from Italy on their honeymoon. The whole trip was one of my favorite parts of our trip thus far. Really awesome. The Thais are so sweet and seem to care deeply for their country. I took tons of pictures of course!
As for the rest of our time in Indonesia, it was nice but not as fabulous as Bali. We were in Yogyakarta after we left Bali, a few hours flight to the west. It was predominantly Muslim and as two women traveling they seemed to think we needed to be "taken care of". Kind of annoying. We had tours of Borobudur the large Buddist Temple and Prambanan the Hindu temple. We were pretty much the only Westerners in the whole place. Everyone was begging for our pictures with them. Both the temples were great but the heat was killer! I never knew you really do need an umbrella in the sunshine! I was actually ready to leave Yogya unlike the other places we had gone. The last straw for me was when the villas we were staying at insisted on waking us up at 4 am with a wake up call when we said we did not want or need one for our 530 am ride to the airport and came back at 430 am to wake us up in person since we didnt' heed the first one. Of course if this is the worst thing that happens the trip is a success. I shouldn't complain. They were trying to help us. Anyhow, I found that my cell phone works here. No idea the roaming charges but it was awesome to call the US so easily! Not sure if it will still work in Chiang Mai where we are heading tomorrow.


View from Borobudur


Me at the Nirvana level of Borobudur


A gold leaf pedicure for the buddha in Ayathuya


Me in Ayathuya


On the long tail boat...


Typical view from our boat


Our Boat


Early morning breakfast pick up for the monks.


Riding in the tuk-tuk in Bangkok

Bali is absolutely beautiful...

We arrived late last night from Kyoto. It was about a 7 hour flight but only one time zone away in the southern hemisphere. The flight felt pretty short relative to the 13 hour flight to Japan. We are staying in the mountains in the north of Bali in Ubud at Ibah Villas. The island reminded me of Grenda a little bit but it is more cared for and established. Everywhere you turn there is a shrine to the gods and incense burning. There are little palm holders with flowers in front of doorways all over the ground. I have accidently stepped on a couple not noticing them. Hope thats not bad karma! The villa we are staying at is breathtaking. We were in total awe at our place. The views of the mountains and rivers are amazing. It is completely secluded. When we arrived we had the hotel clerk guide us on a 5 minute walk by flashlight to our place. The people are very sweet and the merchants are eager to have us purchase their goods. We bought a few things already. The currency is out of control. A millions indonesian rupiah is about a hundred dollars. Hard to keep track of how much your really spending with all the zeros. Tomorrow we take our heliocopter ride around Bali. I can't wait. I hope the weather stays clear! Will try to post pictures later.

The　Golden Temple in the rain


A random shrine in the　Imperial Park


Mom and me in the Sento Palace (no palace left, only a garden...)


One of the Geisha we happened upon. She had her own papparazzi following her!

We arrived safely to Kyoto, Japan. The trip wasnt too bad. It is beautiful here. The people are so nice and wanting to do everything to make us comfortable. I know about four words in japanese and it is not enough but we are managing. It was raining yesterday and hopefully today it is clearing up. The Ryokan where we are staying it wonderful. We spent yesterday exploring the west side of the river and today are going to see the Imperial Palace. These temples are getting old pretty fast. They are all starting to look the same. I would write more but the computer keyboard is driving me crazy! I will try to post photos later too.

On the move...

I moved out of my apartment in Brooklyn on Friday. It was the easiest move I have ever made. Perhaps this is because I was off picking up my diploma on my last official day of medical school while the movers packed the truck. After spending a night with Pete, Barb and the girls in DC, we headed down to spend some time at the farm. Before getting there, we stopped off in Richmond and I found an apartment. As long as they approve me, I should be able to move in as soon as I get back. It is everything I wanted and more. I am trilled with it. Then, before heading back to DC, I stopped off and tested out a Camry Hybrid. I liked it enough to put down a deposit and they should have one in when I return from the trip. The weather has been wonderful for the long weekend. We all took the boat out on the lake. Sylvie and Annabeth did some surfing behind the boat. Tomorrow my mom and I leave for our three week trip to Asia. We are hitting up Kyoto, Japan first. I hope to be able to update the blog from there but we shall see if that is possible.


Mini UR 1904 Reunion with Liz and Ashleigh...the interior designer, lawyer and doctor. We have come a long way.


Waiting at the train station after picking up my MD diploma in Bay Shore!


I went to Coney Island with Chris. We rode the "world's largest ferris wheel" in the swinging cars. Astroland is going to be torn down at the end of the summer.


Chris and me having some ice cream on the board walk.

Dr. Gwin

At last the day arrived. I graduated from medical school on May 3rd. (Although, I don't technically finish until May 23rd). It was an awesome week and weekend. I had so many visitors. Angie flew in from Texas; Dad, Heather and Aunt Cathy from Florida; Mom, Uncle Pete, Barbara, Sylvie and Annabeth from Virginia; and Martha from California. It was really nice to have everyone there to mark the occasion.

The ceremony was more than I had ever imagined. I invisioned something similar to my MPH graduation where we had a steel drum band and some Cricket Coach as our speaker. This far exceeded all that. It was held in Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. The speaker, Dr. Kim was amazing and it was all finished in less than two hours! We had a delicious dinner across the street to end the evening.

Thanks to everyone for all their support these last four years. It has been quite the journey. From doing MPH my first year in Grenada to then surviving category 4, Hurricane Ivan to then moving to Long Island and living in a hotel with three other girls for 80 days while completing my first term of med school. I can hardly believe it has come to an end. The next thing on the agenda is to finish my last week of rotations and move out of Brooklyn. I am packing up now and will be in search of a place to live and a vehicle. On May 27th my mom and I are heading to Asia for 3 weeks. I am really excited! We are going to Kyoto, Bali, Yogyakarta, Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Siem Reap. I have a lot of reading to do to update myself on on these places. After I get back I will start my residency orientation. Then July 1st marks day one as an intern. I found out I start in the newborn nursery. Perfect with me!



Lunch with the crew before graduation (minus Allison and Angie)


Me, Martha and Uncle Pete. Martha made her guest appearance before heading to a friend's wedding.


Me and Mom


Aunt Cathy, Me, Uncle Pete, Mom


Me and my sister Heather


Barbara, Me, Pete, Annabeth and Sylvie


Angie, me and Allison


Dr. Gwin and Dr. Peter


The MD, MPH girls


Me and Dad

With Angie on the Brooklyn Promenade


We walked the Brooklyn Bridge.


In Rockfeller Center


My stethoscope cover courtesy of Angie!

Last days in London

On my last few days in London I tried to finish up seeing all the items on my to-do list. I managed to see everything I wanted to. I treked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, had a picnic with Chantal in Regents Park, climbed up to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral and saw the National Gallery. The day before I flew out the weather was amazing! For the first time in five weeks the sun was shining and it was about 70 degrees. I managed to get sunburned just walking around. I came back with a nice tan to New York.


Kensington Gardens


Regents Park


St. Paul's Cathedral taken from a little window on my climb to the top of the dome.

Belfast

My flatmate Kiron and I decided to go to Northern Ireland for three days. It was a great trip. We spent two days in Belfast and one day on the Northern Coast. The city has come along way since the Peace Accord in the 90's, but still has along way to go. The people looked like they had lived a hard life. One Irish pub we went to required us to get buzzed in. Something still in place from the days of the IRA. That same pub were we were the only tourist in the place and everyone could tell, there were a group of teenagers who played traditional Celtic music. I didn't' get a picture of it cause I didn't' want to make it any more obvious I was a tourist.


Belfast City Hall... was modeled after London's St. Paul's Cathedral.


Being a chemistry dork and standing below Lord Kelvin's (absolute zero) statue at Queens University.


The kneelers at Belfast Cathedral. On Sunday morning during our walking tour we happened to catch the last part of mass. The organ was massive and sounded awesome.


The very famous Crown Liquor Saloon. The National Trust took it over to preserve it. This was my favorite thing in the city. So ornate and with so much character.


Inside the Crown Liquor Saloon in our own private booth with a door and buzzer for service. Hard to even describe it all.

Northern Coast of Northern Ireland

We took a day trip up the Northern Coast of Northern Ireland. Despite being cold and windy the sun was out in full force. It was an incredible drive on the winding Antrim Coast up to Giant’s Causeway. The Giant’s Causeway is a World Heritage Site. It is four miles long and the main attraction is hexagonal shaped stones stacked in columns. I saw a picture of it in the Aylesbury library and said "we need to go there" and funny enough we did! Anyhow, the stones are supposed to have been formed from volcanic activity 60 million years ago and the cooling process formed these hexagonal shapes. I thought it was over-hyped until I saw it for myself and was totally in awe. This is the reason I have posted so many pictures of it!

We had been told about a rope bridge we could walk across but due to the 40 plus mph winds it was closed.

Standing on the edge of a cliff in heavy winds, it is a long way down.....


These were some cool stepping stones. So perfectly shaped.









This is the Dunluce Castle. Back in the 1600’s they were having a dinner party on a stormy night when suddenly half of the kitchen fell into the ocean killing some of the servants.


A weathered phone booth in the middle of nowhere


There were sheep everywhere. It reminded me of New Zealand.