This is Public Health....continued

Just as a follow up to my last post, I thought I would add this picture. I saw this sign in the main town square of downtown Bridgetown, Barbados. Next to the sign was a large tent where people could come and get free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling. I would have taken a picture of the tent with all the people, but I didn't think people would like me taking pictures of them getting AIDS counseling, so I figured I would stick with the sign. I'm really glad that Barbados is making an effort to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. One thing I thought of was how this would never fly in the U.S. There's no way you could set up a free HIV/AIDS testing booth in any downtown; it would probably violate a dozen privacy and discrimination laws. Luckily, in the less developed part of the world, people don't seem to mind as much. But Barbados is doing its part in addressing the HIV/AIDS problem: condoms in the bathrooms and free HIV testing in city squares.

Me Voy

While most of you are finishing up your projects, mine are just getting started. I leave tonight on the red eye for Guatemala and have very mixed emotions. I am so excited to get out there are get started (and finished essentially), but I am really starting to freak out about leaving Mike for 2 months!!! Mark, Pete- I need some coaching because I don't know how you guys did it. Luckily he is coming to visit in 3 weeks, but still.

Of course it also doesn't help that I have heard about every horror story known to man about awful things that have happened to tourists, journalist, and volunteers in Guatemala (such as murders, abductions, kidnapping, rapings, etc, etc) People just need to keep their mouths shut- geez.

Well hope all of you are doing well. Like I said on my blog, I am not sure Ill have access to the internet while I'm there, but Ill post any chance I get.

Hasta Pronto!!!

A hurricane? Really?

So, I've been getting multiple calls from my parents about a supposed hurricane that is supposed to hit Denver later this week. I wasn't aware that hurricanes could happen inland...

Has anyone heard about the metro crash in D.C.? It was the red line to Shady Grove. You can read about it here:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/18473/

Camille, be careful when you ride the Metro!

Cupcakes with Camille, A work in progress... my internet is HORRIBLE!

This picture is for MaryAnne, we were walking by and saw an advertisement for the musical 9 to 5, and guess who is in it! Look closely at the picture I took it just for you. 

Cupcakes! Yes I know I look creepy in this picture, kinda like an evil simpsons character but this is the best you are going to get
Cupcakes with Camille! Let's just say I can make better cupcakes than they can. 

The cupcakes at Crumbs. 
The Apple Store on 5th avenue... Pete you would have been in heaven. 
Washington Square Park arch... does anyone recognize this from friends? if you dont then you need to watch more tv. 

Camille (and  Aaron) came to visit us in NYC this weekend… yes we are lucky. They took the bus from Baltimore to NYC… which sounds… well it sounds like a TON (or not) of fun, they came in a little late- I guess they got a late start (bus delay) and we met them around 11pm in Chinatown, we still aren’t sure the Chinatown at night idea was our best yet but anyway. So we picked them and dropped them off at Wall Street, nothing too thrilling there. The next day (Saturday) we met up for a fun filled day of NYC adventures… sadly it was raining and muggy and well really not the most pleasant weather. We started out our day by going to a little French restaurant in Greenwich Village , the place was extra cute, and the food looked good but there… wasn’t a lot of it. Sadly we did not take a picture of our food but we decided if that is what Pete and Mark have been surviving on all summer we are so sorry! We got little sandwiches- like sandwich’s on a biscuit for $9! No wonder Europeans are skinny. Anyway so after our breakfast of champions we headed off to see the sights. We stopped at Washington Square park (the arch used on friends) and took a few pictures, then headed off to 5^th Avenue to see the Abercrombie models- really you just have to see it to believe it since it is so ridiculous. After a quick stop into FAO Swartz (Aaron and Camille played on the BIG piano) and a peek into the Apple store- for Pete and Alisha, we headed to Times Square for some lunch and theater tickets. We ate some lunch at Carmines… which I would higly recommend. It is a family style Italian resturant- the portions are insanely huge- Camille can confirm- we had 6 people and it was painful to finish two entrees with no appetizers or salads- we tried to take a picture for you pete but at the last minute forgot, it was good though, anyone coming to NYC should make a pit stop there. Okay then what? Well then we wondered around Times Square and headed to Crumbs bake shop for you guessed it…. Cupcakes with Camille. Crumbs is supposed to be famous in New York and to be fair the cupcakes look amazing, they were good but not that good. Anyway I think I can make better cupcakes so it looks like I will be experimenting in the fall, Camille has graciously offered to help out and I am sure we can use some testers but we are thinking something along the chocolate raspberry lines. Anyway we went to a nearby park to eat out cupcakes and landed in the middle of Pride week here in NYC. It was…. A little different than provo. After the cupcakes we were stuffed so we decided to search for theater tickets to burn off some calories, we looked in both times square and the south street sea port and didn’t find any tickets for a student budget so we opted to stand in line for the wicked lottery… we didn’t win… which was sad but expected. After all that walking and standing we decided we needed a break… and a popsicle so we headed to little Korea for a melon popsicle- Camille will have to add more info about those since I had never had them, and a place to rest. We headed to Macy’s on 34^th street- you know like Miracle on 34^th street- and then up to the couches section where we found a lovely plush place to rest… we stayed for about an hour and then went searching for Camille’s falafel. We ended up skipping the falafel but heading to an all night Halal food stand… which like most Halal food in the city was delicious. We decided they need to put one in provo right by the RB- Pete even you would be converted. After eating our food in the rain we decided it was time to call it quits and head home.

Sunday was less adventurous. We headed to church, then to get some falafels, and then to Central Park. We ended the adventure with a  quick trip to Shack Shake- a local hamburger place that claims to be better than In-N-Out. Thanks Camille and Aaron for making the trip it was fun to see you guys!*

No worries Camille will add more details of the trip- I just cant remember what else we did. 

This is Public Health

Ok, so we all remember the "This is Public Health" campaign. Well as I walked into the women's bathroom in the PAHO office, I really wished I had some stickers.


Yes, sitting on the counter in a nice basket are a bunch of condoms. I noticed it the first day and realized the stock pile was low. Well coming into work today (Monday), I was happy to see that the baskets in both bathrooms had been refilled. I know some people might have issues with this, but as this is a public health building and the Caribbean has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world outside of Sub Saharan Africa, I thought it was appropriate. I hope all you who worked on the STD/STI projects this past year will appreciate it as well. ;)

My blog

For some reason I don't think I've given my blog to you all, which is probably okay considering there is a grand total of three posts and two are from yesterday. But just in case you want to check it out, it's bradandmaryanne.blogspot.com.

Crunch time

Hello to all...Pete, I hope you survive! Doesn't sound too fun.

I just finally wrote a huge post on my personal blog, so if anyone wants to see pictures, etc. you can check that one out. This one is of me and Loly Guzman as we drove through the mountains to get to the coast.

So...

I was told last week that I don't know anything about research. Don't let Dr. Thackeray hear that! I was pretty angry, actually, but tried to take Owen's advice (for all of you who remember that wonderful experience at the Dept. of Health) and just shut my mouth and thanked her for her comments. I then went and wrote a rebuttal which answered all of her questions and addressed all of her criticisms (since she hadn't read the proposal and didn't get why I was using a theory to base my questionnaire on) but when I went to discuss it with her she didn't want to hear it. Hmm... she says it's an entirely academic exercise and won't benefit the organization or the country in any way, shape, or form.

The ironic part is that everyone else gets it...just not the research specialist within the PAHO organization. I think she just doesn't listen to try to understand, but to try and find errors and faults. Don't get me wrong, details are important, but you've got to understand the base before you try to understand everything else.

So, we're now working AROUND her. Luckily, Dr. Suriel is really supportive and gets the point of the study, and I had to laugh when he started talking about how she'd said so much about problems with biases since it's a quasiexperimental study with cluster sampling- but she's now so biased against it that there's no way we can change her mind.

I'm finishing up some focus group analyses now so I can write the last few survey questions and then get going with the backtranslation and content, etc. validity processes. We talked about all that and I understand the theory, but I don't remember ever really getting any guidelines for how to do it, so I'm relying heavily on the internet to explain how to really check validity and reliability. Then the pretest group, and I'm set! Hopefully it all gets done before they all get out on summer break...

It's been interesting getting researchers here to back the "new" techniques I'm using. They don't use theory, EVER, so that's been the first hurdle. I think we're mostly past that now, except with Dr. Merino. The second concern for them is the use of an internet based instrument (which is the obvious time saver for me) since they don't know of anyone ever having done that before. I also did some key informant interviews over the phone to get some salient beliefs to go along with my focus group data, which they also said wouldn't work. They only do in person paper and pencil studies, and it took awhile to convince them that our generation (especially students in medical school) are going to be technoligically literate enough to do it...

Yay for different cultures! Hopefuly this turns out well and they realize that they have a lot more tools available than they ever thought before.

Well, take care!

What a Great Father's Day!

Well, I woke up early this morning and was in blinding pain...always a wonderful surprise. After about 30 minutes I ended up on the floor outside of our bathroom, as this gave me easy access to vomit every few minutes from the pain. Mark woke up shortly after that and asked me if I was okay...I told him I didn't think I was??? I finally decided to call my dad, which was a nice Father's day present to him (a few middle of the night phone calls), and tell him what was going on. Well, my suspicions were confirmed as he told me that I most likely had kidney stones. Mark went and woke up our neighbor to ask if he could take us to the hospital...luckily, our neighbor was very nice and took us in. When we got to the hospital, I laid down on the floor (this was the coldest and most comfortable position I could find), while Mark went and found some help. For being in an emergency room, the help actually came much quicker than I thought it would and it was nice and efficient as well. Although, they did tell me that I would have to pay for any and all services myself and then take it up with my insurance later...I told them I didn't really care how much it cost, but to please just stop the *$!% pain! (I was very nice about it though) Once they got me in a bed and took some blood the most wonderful thing happened...very powerful pain killer shots! They worked so fast and so nicely too. After an hour or two, they confirmed that it was kidney stones and that the worst of it should be over by now (music to my ears). 

Here is the confusing part. I am in Switzerland, I don't drink soda anymore, I drink a crap load of water every day, I run 3+ times/week, I eat a whole lot more healthy than I should be, and then this happens??? Why didn't it happen at home when I don't drink water, I don't exercise, I drink my body weight in Dr. Pepper on a daily basis etc...I think the moral of the story is that all this healthy living garbage / protective behaviors I hear about all the time is exactly that, "garbage." I really think my body just needs to get home and get back to how life is supposed to be lived!  

Oh, the doctor told me too that many people say that the whole kidney stone thing is as painful as labor??? I don' t understand the beginning of labor, but if they are anywhere near correct about the pain thing...What in the hell are you women thinking when you decide you what to get pregnant and have a baby? I mean seriously...I would not make a good woman. I would definitely just say no to having kids...or just do what Frank and Alice did and have Phoebe carry my children. 

This is me after a little of the pain medicine

This is me after a lot of the pain medicine!

blog music

Not to take away from John's amazing announcement, congratulations again, but I just have to say pete added the music not me... so thank him for that.

"Beard Hall", a Base Model, and a Christmas Baby

Jenny, my wife, came out to North Carolina for a visit about 2 1/2 weeks ago. We drove over to the University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill) to see if we could find the Gilling's School of Public Health. We drove around the block a couple of times, but eventually found it. It was very exciting, but a little disappointing at the same time because all of the doors were locked (the same thing happened when we drove by the SAS campus in Cary). I guess you have to swipe your ID card after 5:00 p.m. and on weekends to get into the buildings. The best part, though, was what we found two buildings down from the SPH at the School of Pharmacy: Beard Hall. That's right, there's a building at UNC with my last name on it! I took a picture with the camera in my cell phone (yeah, I have one of those now too, but I am still having problems figuring out how to check my voice mail with it). Maybe that means they'll admit me to the Epidemiology program because of a (non-existent) family relationship. (I also recently found out that there is/was a famous stastician at the University of Washington with the last name of Beard, so maybe I can cash in on that one too).

The NIEHS is great. The Epidemiology Branch was reviewed over the last two days (a pretty big deal because a bad review could mean less funding). They brought in a bunch of epidemiologists and statisticians, primarily from acadamia, to review the branch. Each of the eight principal investigators gave a talk summarizing their work from the last four years (the review period). They then had to answer questions from the board of reviewers and were given feedback in a private session with the board after that. It was a really neat way to hear all about what is actually going on here in our branch. I have been surprised how much biology, especially genetics, is a focus of the research that goes on at the NIEHS. I think six of the eight PIs in our branch have done something with genetics in the past four years. While all of the talks were interesting, the three that were probably the most interesting (maybe because I could sort of understand them) all dealt with, I can't believe I am typing this, women's health/reproductive epidemiology. The presentation by Dr. Donna Baird, the PI of the Women's Health Epidemiology Group, about fibroid growth in the uterus was especially interesting. The Sister Study, a large cohort study of 50,000 sisters of women who have or have had breast cancer (being lead by Dr. Dale Sandler and Dr. Clarice Weinberg), was also a very interesting presentation (man, the more I think about it, I bet Ashley and Judy would absolutely love it here). Just as an FYI, apparently the National Children's Study is no longer beng partly directed by our branch. I guess the funding went extramural to NIEHS, so I haven't been able to find out more about that.

As far as my analysis goes, I finally have a base model. My suicide analysis has been a very iterative (and interesting) process. I don't know how many models I have fit, evaluated, refit with recoded variables, and reevaluated, but it's a lot and I'm loving every minute of it (this has seriously got to be one of the best jobs in the world, in my opinion). The base model is important because we will adjust our odds ratios for all of the variables contained in it (like age adjustment, but with multivariate logistic regression models). Now that we have a base model, we just have to add the pesticides into the model one at a time and estimate their odds ratios. I was able to start adding pesticides to the base model before the branch review and didn't found anything yet, but who knows what I'll find.

Well, I hope I have driven the suspense up with the title of my blog post and by waiting until the fourth paragraph to get to those last two words of the title. Yes, Jenny and I are expecting our first child (which means I actually may be attending BYU's Women's Health Class, at least some of it, in the fall). Our baby is due, get this, on December 25--Christmas Day (crazy, huh?). Apparently, though, babies have only about a 17% chance of arriving on their due dates, so it probably won't arrive that day. Jenny is 13 weeks along and went to the first appointment a little while ago. They did that doppler thing, so Jenny heard our baby's heart beat and taped it for me (she later played it for me over the phone). It was 160/80, which is normal. Fortunately, I'll be home before the gender ultrasound. We're very excited, but nervous too. My mom, though, has apparently gone crazy. I guess she called my aunt and taunted her by saying, "My grandbabies are going to be cuter than yours!" This will be the first grandchild on both sides of the family, so maybe that's why she is acting like that.

Well, I could write a whole lot more, but I should get some sleep. Sorry to tell you all the exciting news through a blog post instead of in person. Happy interning!

New blog

Hey guys, I joined the bandwagon as a late adopter and started my own blog. I didn't want to flood this one with all my stories. Don't worry, I'll continue to post, but if you want to see some pics and see what else I find fascinating in Barbados, check it out. breasadventures.blogspot.com

I'm alive!

Hello fellow MPHers! Sorry I haven't written in a while - my mom was admitted to the hospital this week. Her appendix burst and she had some post-op issues, but she's ok now. I've been on the phone with my family for the past 3 days figuring things out and preventing my sister from keeling over with stress.

I drove out to Denver on the 6th of June, a Saturday. The drive was fun! There are tunnels that carve through the mountains, and the rest of the drive was so scenic that it went by quickly. I also decided that Jimmy Eat World cds are the best ones to listen to if you don't want to fall asleep at the wheel. My roomates are really nice - they are older than me (about 30), but we get along pretty well.

I'm working at the Region 8 EPA office. The office is really nice! The whole building is designed for energy efficiency and water conservation. I think I could get used to this office thing.

The weather has been crazy. I was sitting in church the day after I arrived, and I kept hearing this siren. I thought it was an ambulance, but then the bishop walked in and said that there was a funnel cloud forming outside the building. I think his exact words were, "I need everyone to please move reverently to the Cultural Hall. That sound is the tornado siren." And then, after the tornado was over, there was a hailstorm!

I also met my first criminal. I was playing chess in downtown Denver, and this younger guy and I start playing a game. We begin chatting after the game is over, and he asks me what I was doing later that day. I told him that I didn't have plans yet, but I was going to meet up with some friends later. He then asks for my number - he was pretty attractive, so I gave it to him. I had no intention of meeting up with him, but I thought it would make for a good story. After talking to him for a while, I found out that he was a music producer. I also found out he was under house arrest, and that he couldn't be out of the house after 5 pm. Interesting... and yes, I went online to do a criminal background check on him. Call me Sherlock.

He texts me later and invites me over to his house for champagne, saying that "we could get to know each other better." I'm pretty sure he meant "know" in the Biblical sense. I'm not stupid, so instead of giving into his hints, I invited him to church. And then he asked me what faith I belonged to, so I told him I was Mormon. Then he asked me what our basic doctrines were, so I explained the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement to him. And then I taught him about eternal marriage and the law of chastity (he brought the intimacy topic up, not me). Needless to say, I haven't heard from him since. I think my response to his flirtation was a complete 180 from what he is used to. But I'm glad that I took the time to explain the doctrines of the Gospel.

At least the next time he hits on a Mormon girl, he'll know what to expect. :)

Ciao!

IHC mention

IHC was mentioned in Obama's speech to the AMA, I thought you all might want to see... even if you dont here it is.

Still, even when we do know what works, we are often not making the most of it. That's why we need to build on the examples of outstanding medicine at places like the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where the quality of care for cystic fibrosis patients shot up after the hospital began incorporating suggestions from parents. And places like Tallahassee Memorial Health Care, where deaths were dramatically reduced with rapid response teams that monitored patients' conditions and “multidisciplinary rounds” with everyone from physicians to pharmacists. And places like the Geisinger Health system in rural Pennsylvania and the Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City, where high-quality care is being provided at a cost well below average. These are islands of excellence that we need to make the standard in our health care system.

And here are a few mentions of prevention...

The second step that we can all agree on is to invest more in preventive care so that we can avoid illness and disease in the first place. That starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children. It means quitting smoking, going in for that mammogram or colon cancer screening. It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside.
It also means cutting down on all the junk food that is fueling an epidemic of obesity, putting far too many Americans, young and old, at greater risk of costly, chronic conditions. That's a lesson Michelle and I have tried to instill in our daughters with the White House vegetable garden that Michelle planted. And that's a lesson that we should work with local school districts to incorporate into their school lunch programs.
Building a health care system that promotes prevention rather than just managing diseases will require all of us to do our part. It will take doctors telling us what risk factors we should avoid and what preventive measures we should pursue. And it will take employers following the example of places like Safeway that is rewarding workers for taking better care of their health while reducing health care costs in the process. If you're one of the three quarters of Safeway workers enrolled in their “Healthy Measures” program, you can get screened for problems like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. And if you score well, you can pay lower premiums. It's a program that has helped Safeway cut health care spending by 13 percent and workers save over 20 percent on their premiums. And we are open to doing more to help employers adopt and expand programs like this one.
Our federal government also has to step up its efforts to advance the cause of healthy living. Five of the costliest illnesses and conditions – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung disease, and strokes – can be prevented. And yet only a fraction of every health care dollar goes to prevention or public health. That is starting to change with an investment we are making in prevention and wellness programs that can help us avoid diseases that harm our health and the health of our economy.

*on a side note I am still not an Obama fan, but I thought I would include the excerpts since I am working on a memo summarizing the speech right now.

So, Pete and I spent the weekend in Rome with his wife and her mom and sister. They actually left on Thursday night and spent Friday in Florence, but we all met up on Saturday morning in Rome. Rome is officially my favorite city ever! There is so much to do and see there, two days just did not do it justice - I guess I'll just have to go back someday. Here are some pics from our escapades:


This is the view overlooking the Vatican City and most of central Rome from the top of St. Peter's Basillica. The Sitine chapel is the dull brown colored building jutting out from the bottom left hand corner of the photo. Below are Michelangelo's frescoes inside the chapel - amazing! Sorry about the poor quality, there was not a lot of light in there, and we actually weren't allowed to take pics, so I had to take 'em on the sly.

The two pics below are are of some art work in the Vatican Museum. I spent two hours in the musuem and only saw a fraction of the entire place - again, I'll just have to go back again someday.

Above is the cool looing exit out of the Vatican Museum. Below is a view looking out of the entrance area of the Pantheon (which was amazing!); and below that is the inside of the Pantheon.

The Colloseum, in all it's majesty:

And my favorite: St. Peter's Basillica. This place is huge!!! Below is a view of the altar looking up at the dome/capula. We attended Mass here on Sunday which was quite an experience.

Where are Judy and Alina?

Has anyone seen, heard from, or talked to Judy and Alina? It's like they dropped off the planet.

Where's Waldo?

In this case, Camille is Waldo. She's definitely in here somewhere. I'll give you a clue, she's in section 336.

Big News: My Family Has Arrived! Home finally feels like home again and we've begun to explore the area. The east coast is so much more interesting when there's someone to share it with! Pete and Mark - at least you have each other, right?

So, Friday night Sara and Tanner and I went to Family Night at the Orioles versus Braves game at Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore. It was Tanner's first ball game and we ate peanuts and cheered for the orange team. Little did he know, but his first game was in the very stadium where Cal Ripkin, Jr. set a record of 2,632 consecutive games (breaking Lou Gehrig's 1939 record). Yay!

Camden Yards is named because the field is situated on what used to be the rail yard of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Camden Station (you can see the old warehouse behind the scoreboard).

He enjoyed the game (as evidenced here by the bubbles), all except every time anyone scored a run he cried. We think it was because the loudspeakers were directly above us, so we gave him some gold beads to distract him. They were "less effective" and we left a few points later.


This is an ivory chess set that some President used to play with. We spent Saturday in DC for Sara's first time since she was little. I realized that we had a sweeeeet hotel location when we went for our Advocacy Summit. Parking is expensive! We paid $20 for the day (9 hours). I finally got to see Abe's hat and the Star Spangled Banner and we spent the rest of the day in the Holocaust Museum.


It was also nice to see DC with foliage. Really pretty, but much easier to get lost. You didn't really need a map in the winter because all the monuments are visible no matter where you go!


This was at a really cool marble outdoor amphitheatre thingy by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you go onto the stage you pretty much get baked by the sun reflecting. We realized that's why the guards are issued sunglasses!

Conversations on the Beach

I promised Camille I would post my conversation I had with a Bajan (Barbadian) guy on the beach last Saturday as I was laying out. I figured that you would all enjoy it, so here it goes...

"Hi darlin'."
"Hi."
"Are you enjoying yourself today?"
"Yes, I am. Thanks."
"First time to the islands?"
"Yes"
"Are you from Sweden?"
"No."
"Are you from Germany?"
"No."
"Are you from Holland?"
"No."
"Where are you from?" (it would have been easier to ask that right off)
"The US."
"Oh, you're an American girl."
"What are you doin' here? Vacation?"
"No, I'm working."
.....
"Why don't you go for a swim, you look hot?"
"I will, but I'm kinda tired. It feels good just to lie here."
"Why you be tired? You be out partying last night?"
"No."
"Nah, you be partyin'"
"No, I don't party."
"For real??"
"Yes."
"So you don't drink?"
"No."
"You don't smoke?"
"No."
"Why not??"
"Cause I don't want to. It's not good for you. It's bad for your health." (even promoting public health on the beach)
"Well I don't smoke, but I'm a social drinker, I like my beer." (and then named some variety)
"Oh, well I wouldn't know."
"You don't...girl, you are the craziest girl I've met. But whatevah, you can do what you like. Do you want me to introduce you to some guys? You want a Bajan boyfriend to keep you company?"
"No, I'm good, thanks."
"You sure? I know of some, and I'm not talking for myself...but I know lots of guys."
"Uh, I have an American boyfriend."
"Girl, that's ok. I understand. But he's not here. How long you here for?"
"2 months."
"That's a long time. What are you going to do?"
"Well I'm working and coming here to the beach."
"No, I mean that's a long time to go..."
"Uh, like I said, I have plenty to do."
"No, that's not what I mean. I mean that's a long time go without...you know...I mean sexual."
"Oh, well, I don't do that either."
"What?"
"Yeah, I'm not into that."
"Girl, you really are crazy, but you can do what you like. If you want a Bajan boyfriend, just let me know."
"Thanks."

So there's the conversation. I might have left out some, but that's the jist of it. It was pretty funny to see his reaction when I told him all the things I didn't do. Just to see how strange it was for this guy that I didn't want to party or find a Bajan boyfriend, I read today in a report that in the Caribbean over 64% of males between the ages of 15-17 are sexual active and the number is not that much lower for females. Also, the Caribbean has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world, outside of Sub Saharan Africa. Wow, lots of issues to tackle there. Our work is never done.

I'll let you know of any more fun beach conversations I have.

Something Not Quite Right With the World

Something is not quite right with the world, what you ask? Well lots of things but I am only addressing one issue (on this blog). So an explanation. I am part of a "health policy" team at CDF. We have two lawyers (preceptors) one law student/MSSW, one teach for america teacher, and me- the lonely MPH student. Obviously there are quite a few skill sets in that bunch and out of the 5 of us I am the only one that can use excel... so I have become the data person... do you see a problem with this? Granted the data is nothing like the data John and Camille are dealing with but hm.... not sure how reliable our results are going to be. Okay i am being dramatic, and I did change things so now I am 100% sure I can handle producing the results they want,  I am just making graphs- no stats thank goodness, and yes pete my color scheme skills are coming in handy here, you think the graph we made for Mike's policy analysis was snazzy now my stylish graphs are getting published who knew I had an eye for matching... no one, maybe I should thank Dr. Merrill for those skills I worked on for his data project... 

Oh yes and the most exciting news of the day- our kitchen flooded yesterday- that is the story you really want to hear but sadly I posted it on my blog. 

Oh yeah and our other exciting news (yeah you keep thinking it is something more exciting than it actually is) we went to church on sunday and we met another BYU intern couple! Yay for provo people!

PS John thanks a million for your help- I used your spreadsheet and went and explained it to my preceptor and she looked at me then at the spreadsheet and then we decided to change things so lawyers can understand them- hence the pretty graphs and no stats. 

Desmond is my homeboy

So Pete and I got an email at work last Friday telling us about a free conference on social change that was taking place at the international conference center just down the road from WHO. So we headed over there Saturday morning to see what all the hoopla was about and caught the keynote speaker for the day: Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He spoke about how to effectively resolve conflicts and pulled from some of his vast experiences in Ireland, Palestine, South Africa, and quite a few more places. The rest of the conference was alright. They showed a bunch of documentaries, some really cool, some not so much, but the Archbishop was definitely the highlight of the weekend!

East Coast Adventures

Hey! I know its been a while, but I wanted to finally update everyone on what I've been up to. I'm loving working at the NCI. I'm still using SAS almost everyday, but I'm almost done with all the analysis so hopefully that will be phasing out. But now I really do love SAS! Dr. Merrill will be so proud. I've completed all the figures for my first project, so I feel like I'm accomplishing something (which is always a good feeling).

I get to see Aaron pretty much everyday and on the weekends we travel around a lot. Over Memorial Day we went down to the Outer Banks, North Carolina and stayed in a huge beach house with a bunch of other singles from the greater DC and other east coast areas.

The beach in North Carolina (above). Its no Barbados, but we loved it. The beach house we stayed in was huge and beautiful (below).

We also went down to DC to see more of the city and the Smithsonians 2 weekends ago. We played in the Air & Space, American Indian, and Natural History Smithsonians all day and then went down to the momuments around dusk. I wanted to see them at night, but we got too tired and settled for sunset.

I found all sorts of guns! But I also found out I was too tall to be a stewardess. :( Sad day. There goes my dream of dropping out of the program to explore the world as a stewardess!

The monuments were beautiful at sunset too. The fountains were on at the WWII (below) and at the FDR monument and everything. It was a lot better than the freezing cold! Although its been raining like crazy here, the weekends have been incredibly beautiful...I'm sure the humidity is on its way.

This past weekend we went to visit my aunt and uncle and their family up in Pennsylvania. It was fun to play with my little cousins and see more the Easton/Lehigh area. Its absolutely beautiful up there...and there's so much open space! I haven't uploaded those pics to my computer yet, but I'll put some up next time.

So pretty much life is great. I miss the lab and getting ice cream cones at Macey's, but I can't complain. I love reading about everyone's adventures on the blog too. Keep us all updated on EVERYTHING! Love to all!

Ok, this "first" day is for real

Sorry to be cluttering the blog with my consecutive posts, hope no one minds! Anyway, I just wanted to answer everyone's burning question: Yes, I completed a full 8 hour day in the Barbados PAHO office. (no I wasn't wearing my swimsuit, or flip flops, or even shorts, but real office attire). I met with my advisor to discuss project ideas, sat in on a meeting about the injury and violence prevention surveillance system workshop that starts tomorrow, found my workstation (about 3 times the size of my spot in the lab--I don't know what to do with all the space.), read a report, read more documents on the PAHO/WHO websites. There you go...Day 3 or is it Day 1 done!

Hope you are all enjoying yourselves wherever you are. I promise I've thought about each of you as I reflected overlooking the Caribbean Sea! :)

First Day...better than expected?

Barbados PAHO building

Just as predicted, but not totally expected, I showed up at PAHO this morning with no one knowing anything about me or my arrival. Dr. Alleyne, my mentor, was not in the office and finally when someone could get a hold of her, we found out that she was sick and had been at the doctor that morning. In the mean time, I met the staff, had some lovely conversation, and took a mini tour of the facilities. I was sent downstairs to the document library so I could play on the internet. Even the lady in charge of the library was not there and while I was waiting for someone to give me the password to log on, I received a call from Dr. Alleyne. She explained her situation (she thinks she had a sinus infection, but had to visit the doctor to rule out the Swine Flu before coming into work). She told me to take the afternoon off and go to the beach and that she will call me in the morning when she gets in and will come pick me up at my house and take me to the office. So much for a first day! I guess I can't really complain as I did spend the afternoon lying on a white sandy beach. We’ll see how tomorrow goes and if I actually work or just hang out and explore the town.

First Impressions

House across the street from where I live

The road I live on

Neighbor's flowers with mango trees in the background

Rendevous Beach

More Beach...notice the turquoise color

Well I finally made it. After months of emailing, planning, and frustrating communication, I made it. I am now in Barbados. I start work at PAHO tomorrow, and I won't lie..I'm nervous. I stopped in today on my tour of essential places to know, but no one in my department was there. I hope they know I'm coming...with the way communication has been, I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot. We'll just have to see.

I have now spent almost 24 hours here and here are some of my first impressions.

Barbados is hot! Last night I got in well after dark and couldn't really see anything, but I could feel it, and it was hot and humid. It really isn't too bad, but it will take some getting used to. I took a tour today, part by taxi, part by foot and my thoughts were that much of the island reminds me of Mozambique and it's weird when everyone is speaking English. I'm not used to being in a foreign country where I can understand everything. Of course, the English is a little different from mine, but I'm getting used to it...I just have to listen carefully. Here are some pictures that I took today on my walk. Most of them are of the roads and houses and a few of the beach I walked to. The supermarket, bank, and post office are about a 25 minute walk and the beach is just across the street from the bank. This weekend I will look for other beaches where I can lay out and read. The water is seriously warm and a beautiful turquoise. I can get used to this! Enjoy the pics.

There is a manhole cover in my apartment...

So we moved into our new place... let me just say I never knew that Wymount would seem like a palace... I would gladly move back into 881 in a heartbeat. I tried to post pictures on here but they didnt work- I did post them on my blog so if you really want to see them they are waiting for you. Just a few things about this place, until we trekked 4 miles (which took 2 hours and 3 trains) there was not a microwave, there are two pots, one room, a shower in the living room/bedroom/ kitchen, and a manhole cover in the toilet area/closet. This is an exciting adventure, but on an actual good note there are no rats here (we were told there were rats at our other place) after a germ filled summer I may be ready to go swimming at Lake Powell in September- I mean really what's a little dirty water compared with daily subway rides, rats in the street, and a manhole cover (seriously!) in the bathroom?

 By the way I am pretty sure there was a naked guy/flasher on the subway yesterday (this update is for Pete), he was wearing what can only be described as a puffy coat (just a bit longer than MaryAnne's cute white one) dress shoes, dress socks, and an ipod, his coat was zipped when he walked past me, but as he walking down the stairs I am pretty sure he unzipped it because several people gasped in horror as they clutched their maps (tourists). 

A couple more Pete quotes...

... to brighten your day:

1. "I love it when my pee smells like fruit loops" he informed me while exiting the bathroom.

2. "I have sensitive hands" - after not being able to hold a cold glass full of ice.

Don't worry, I'll keep 'em coming.

Rhode Island

The view from Marble House- this is the Atlantic Ocean for anyone wondering. 
The real reason I came to Rhode Island (just and FYI I dont actually love Walmart I just like reasonably priced items)
The Elms- one of the Newport Mansions- this home was in full operation (6-8 weeks in the summer) until the late 1960's, the home retained a staff of 42 until the death of the final owner in the late 1960's. 
Downtown Providence- well really this is what is known as college hill- the home of Brown University but it is located next to downtown Providence

The tea house at Marble House- the owner of Marble house decided to build a tea house to host women's suffrage rallies, she even built a river and bridge so that visitors could mentally transition from west to east- she also had special china made that said Vote for Women- she obviously had too much time and too much money

We left the City (yes it is supposed to be capitalized) last weekend and headed off to a place where people are polite, the f word is not used as a place holder, and they have normal stores like Walmart (more about that later), we decided Rhode Island was the place for us. We also wanted to see the Newport mansions (okay that is the real reason that we went) so we took the train from Grand Central to New Haven and rented a car. Newport was beautiful, it is a cute little seaside town that just happens to have huge houses. Newport was the seaside retreat town in the late 1800's and early 1900's and to some extent remains that way today. The Newport mansions were built as summer cottages for the wealthiest americans at the time- cottage is used loosely since most of the homes have 20-70 rooms. Today these houses have been turned into museums, complete with audio tours (they give you a headset and mp3 player and it is self guided). The houses are amazing, really if you have time to go to Newport (those of you on the east coast this summer) I would highly recommend doing it. Oh yes the best part of our trip was going to walmart- okay not really but it was nice to have one stop shopping- since we were moving into our new place the day after we got back we stopped and got a few things, it was well worth carrying them back through the train and subway so we didnt have to go to 40 million stores to get an overpriced version of the same thing.  Newport was great, the people were nice, we didnt have to ride the nasty subway, and there were no rats, all things that we would not have had in NYC.