On January 10th of this year I embarked upon a task of herculean proportions, a feat that I knew would take me to the ends of the Earth, an intellectual journey riddled with risk, challenge, triumph and tragedy. My task: to finish all 751 pages of Long Walk to Freedom, the autobiography Nelson Mandela. For those to whom encyclopedia reading is a daily endeavor, I’m sure you’ll be tempted to chuckle at my overdramatic description of… a book. To me, however, this was a monumental life journey.

For the past six years, I’ve been at this place called Stanford. Today I was on campus, officially as student, for the last time… ever. I leave for Boston on Sunday, a one-way ticket to that other coast to set up my life, start to transition, and prepare for the start of my internship.

Let me recap my day:
-Wake up, work from home in San Francisco, plug away on the research from Uganda, mostly organizing video files.
-Take CalTrain to campus in Palo Alto.

Humanity

My first patient back as a medical student after 1.5 years away was a 60-year-old guy with a million things going on… congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, COPD, diabetes. Wild grey hair. Long mustache. 300 lbs. Hunched over like the gentleman from Notre Dame. Immediately I remember what it is like to feel paternalistic toward someone. He still smokes. He needs to stop. I tell him this. I’m taking care of him. In a way, he is my charge.

Right now.. today.. April 20, 2009.. I would say that my life is more balanced than it has been for over four years, and it likely more balanced than it will be for the next four years. Most certainly... med school kept me so, so busy, and.. that’s right, up and coming, my residency starts in June. I’m now in a sort of respite period in-between the two, and it is *awesome.*

This last week has brought several opportunities to gather some insight into this country, its turbulent history, and the people whom have been present to experience it. Namely, I had the opportunity to meet a lovely group of women named the Comboni Sisters, a small order of Italian nuns. Please, allow me to provide a bit of background.

I’ve been in Africa now for about 10 days and am beginning to become acquainted with the city of Kampala, the folks who work with the Kampala Kids League (KKL) and Adapted Physical Activity International Development (APAID, my project partners), and, of course, the people of Uganda. Along with this comes becoming acquainted with an African lifestyle, and, most noticeably, the speed of an African lifestyle. It’s quite something to experience and quite a beautiful challenge to get used to.

I’ve just embarked on my two-month trip to Africa and have arrived safely, now settled enough to have the time to put a few words and thoughts down... to be updated regularly. I think that often the gift we can give others is to be able to explain clearly and with detail what we’re thinking, what our work is about, and why it means a lot to us. It’s very easy to go about our lives and do what we consider to be meaningful, but continue to only “preach to the choir” with regards to why we think it’s important. We still impact those around us... but fail to be teachers along the way.

We all make them. When you see someone on the street, in a store, or at the office, your mind will go to one or two words that you attach to that person. Sometimes these connotations are incredibly positive, and sometimes they are frighteningly negative (that is, if you’re human).

Dear team, hi! It’s been a bit too long since my last entry.. what’s new? But get this: it’s 2009.... and it’s high time to get a jump start on keeping up this blog scene. Let’s get rolling with a little rap about universal design and exercise equipment.