Travel

Namaste India!

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We’ve been in India for a week now. I had hoped to post about all my previous travels on here before even getting here but the reality is, I have essentially no disposable time ever.

I am starting to write this post while Mäuschen jumps around in my arms and Mausi is playing in the indoor playground we are now visiting for the third time this week. The heavy monsoon rains aren’t exactly inviting for outdoor activities. That hasn’t stopped us from undertaking trips but they are not the easiest to manage.

JOURNEY TO INDIA

Our flight was 7h30 long and a daytime flight from Frankfurt to Delhi. The other flight options were inconvenient timing with kids. With one child, I preferred red eye because Mausi usually slept most of the flight. This flight however had us arriving in India when the local time in Germany was just a bit past bedtime and I figured we could acclimate quicker. This did however also mean that I would have to entertain two kids on the plane for most of the journey. Or so I thought.

About 2 hours into the flight, the announcement came asking for a doctor onboard. I was just finishing up in the lavatory with the kids when we rushed out to see how I could help. Surely I wouldn’t be the only doctor onboard this huge plane headed to India. 

I was. At least I was the only one that responded to the announcement. 

MILE HIGH DR. HASSELHOF

The passenger was having an allergic reaction with watery/red eyes, nasal congestion, and difficulty breathing. There was a language barrier but from what I could gather, he started having symptoms after eating lunch. The flight attendant informed me that it was a shrimp dish. Ah-ha! Our likely culprit.

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

He was already wearing oxygen when I arrived at his side. The flight attendants brought over a kit with medication. The only antihistamine available was an unknown dose of loratadine. Neither the folder nor the blister pack said what dose it was. We started with that. 

Meanwhile, Mausi was running around the cabin and Mäuschen was screaming bloody murder while another flight attendant swayed back and forth. 

After having given the passenger the loratadine and checking vitals, I wanted to check the medical suitcase to see what other medications were available to me in case things escalated.

PREPARING FOR THE WORST

I sat on the floor breastfeeding Mäuschen next to a flight attendant while we looked through the medical suitcase. I was on the lookout for an EpiPen. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one. Only a vial of adrenaline. Thankfully, there was a literature that explained how to mix the right proportions for IV administration. We tore open the IV bag to get all the supplies we needed for me to place an IV should it come to this. We discussed how we would mix and dose the medication if needed. 

All while passengers were squeezing past us to get to the toilets on the lower level. A medical emergency was no place for modesty and I was boob full out breastfeeding to manage Mäuschen and simultaneously get medical equipment ready. Priorities.

MONITORING PHASE

We moved the patient to a stretcher in the back of the plane to make him more comfortable and more accessible to us. 

We continued to monitor his vitals which included elevated blood pressure (not surprising given the circumstances), stable oxygen saturations, stable blood sugar, and a slightly tachycardic pulse of 103 (again, no surprise there). 

His symptoms had improved in regard to the allergic reaction. After about an hour, I took him off of the oxygen to see how he managed. 

The guy was obese with supposedly no medical issues or chronic medications. Off oxygen, his saturation started falling again. When I asked him to take some deep breaths, his O2 sats shot back into the mid-90s. 

Eventually, he fell asleep (sort of an upgrade to business class for him since he got to sleep lying flat) and we continued to monitor. While asleep on his back, his O2 sat fell to the mid-70s. The altitude likely wasn’t helping but I presume he lives in a hypoxic state at night at home too. 

Since we were monitoring him though and seeing that mid-70s number, I decided to place him on O2 again. The lowest dose available was 2L. And almost immediately, the O2 shot up to 98%.

DECISION TIME

A while later, the flight attendant informed me that we were nearing emptying 2 bottles of oxygen and if we were to use a third, the airplane wouldn’t be able to return to Frankfurt because they wouldn’t have the minimum required oxygen bottles on board and they don’t get replenished in Delhi.

It was time to discontinue the guy’s semi-business class experience and I had him sit up instead of sleeping lying down. I monitored him for another 15 minutes off of oxygen while seated and awake. His O2 sats were absolutely fine. He was released back to his original seat. 

WRAPPING IT UP

Throughout the process, I kept him and his wife informed of what we were doing. A flight attendant was trying her best to keep Mausi entertained by reading books, playing games, and providing snacks. I had strapped Mäuschen to my back after the breastfeeding session so I could move around more freely. 

One other person had responded to the announcement initially made. A respiratory therapist. Luckily, we did not require their particular skill set for this situation. I can not say enough how happy I am that this passenger did not have a full-blown anaphylactic reaction. 

The entire crew was very appreciative of my assistance and offered me drinks and meals. This was not the first medical emergency I’ve responded to but it was the first I was offered compensation for. Although completely unnecessary, I was grateful and happy to accept the offer. 

All in all, everything worked out. I gave the patient and his wife a summary of what occurred on board to provide to a primary care physician (which I recommend he start visiting). Furthermore, I strongly encouraged him to have his blood pressure rechecked and discuss having a sleep study done looking for sleep apnea. I also strongly encouraged him to avoid shrimp and maybe see an allergist and get a prescription for an EpiPen. 

And with that, we landed in Delhi just a short while later.

DELHI TO JAIPUR

We arrived in Delhi at 1 AM. By the time we were through customs and got to our hotel and into bed, it was almost 3 AM local time. 

The next morning, I had someone come to the hotel to do my FBI fingerprinting for my medical license. A nice thing about India is that you can arrange a lot of services to come to you!

A few hours later, we were back at the airport to catch our flight to Jaipur. 

The whole travel day from Germany to India was less stressful than the short trip from Delhi to Jaipur. Mausi was on one… probably due to a prior travel day. Tantrums, not listening, etc. It was a lot to handle. I am empathetic that the kids go through a lot with me sometimes and am sympathetic when it all gets a bit overstimulating. 

We did eventually make it to our AirBnB. Our host had the fridge stocked with a few basics so we were able to eat some toast before heading to bed. 

JAIPUR

So now we’ve been in Jaipur for a week. On all my previous India visits, I didn’t have to worry about day-to-day operations. I was either on a fully planned itinerary or visiting people I knew who took care of it all. There was a learning curve to managing the basics as well as acclimating to the Indian surroundings again. 

Our AirBnB host has been so incredibly helpful in many situations. I try to be as independent as possible. I bought an Indian eSIM in the hopes of obtaining an Indian number. Many of the apps require but was only able to find data eSIMs that don’t come with an Indian number. The host said he is happy to order food, groceries, etc. on my behalf so I don’t have to obtain a physical SIM card. If I happen to pass a SIM store, I might still get one to gain some more independence.

It is still monsoon season in India and I think it has rained every day so far. Yesterday there were heavy rains. This hasn’t stopped us from leaving the apartment though.

Thankfully, we found this indoor playground. It is filled with things to play with, climb on, slide down, jump on. The first hour is 500 INR ( approx. $6) and every additional half hour is 150 INR (approx. $1.80).

OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES  

I have a list of attractions I’d like to see while we are in town over the next few weeks. I’m not putting a lot of pressure on myself to see something daily. So many factors affect the ability to do things.

One day, we headed towards Jantar Mantar, which is a large area filled with large astronomical instruments. I was looking for a place for Mausi to run around and get some energy out while also seeing something.

We were approached by a driver outside of the entrance. He inquired if we were going to Jantar Mantar. After sharing that this was our plan, he suggested an alternative itinerary. Since Jantar Mantar is best visited in sunny conditions given many of the instruments require the sun. For just 400 INR ($4.75) he offered to drive us to three sites. He explained that the royal tombs were also a great place to run around, were beautiful, and had an entrance fee of only 50 INR ($0.60).

It sounded like a good plan to me so we went for it. 

GAITOR KI CHHATRIYAN

Not so much the royal tombs as advertised by Ali, our driver, but rather the royal crematory and cenotaph of the royal family of Jaipur. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful location indeed and the drizzle made it seem even more mystical.  

For just 50 INR for foreigners (the kids were free), we were able to run around and explore. 

We quickly encountered a group of Indian women in beautiful, colorful saris. I offered to take pictures of the group as one woman was always out of the group taking pictures of the others. Mausi wanted to take a picture with them which they were happy to do. 

(If you want to feel like you are traveling with a celebrity, travel to India as a foreigner with a small child. I constantly have to tell people not to take pictures of the kids or touch them.)

We continued to explore the grounds. 

MEHNDI

After we were through, Mausi and I had mehndi applied to our arm. Convincing a preschool not to touch their arm for 20 minutes while ensuring they don’t get henna all over the car or themselves while also having one arm full of drying mehndi and a baby on your other arm is no simple task. But we managed. And now we both have a lovely mehndi design on our arm for a few days. 

Then it was off to see Jal Mahal, the lake palace. With the aforementioned drying mehndi, the rain, and the crowds of people, it was all a bit much for me. We just popped out to snap a pic and then got back into the car. 

HAND BLOCK PRINTING FACTORY

Many drivers will take you to a shop/workshop to see local crafts as well and hope you’ll buy something. I’m certain the driver gets a commission on sales made from the tourists they provide. In this case, I didn’t mind as I intended to visit a block print workshop/store anyway. 

A man greeted us at the door and started by showing us how block print is done. This was not my first rodeo. It was nice that Mausi was able to learn how it is done and was able to help block print an elephant design. Afterwards, we were led into the shop. I was given a masala chai and Mausi was given some chocolate and water. 

They were about to present us with finished block print products for purchase but that wasn’t what I was interested in. I asked them to take us to the block-printed fabrics to make tailored outfits. 

Mausi quickly picked out a multi-colored elephant print for a dress before running around the shop and entertaining the other workers, playing soccer with them, and chatting them up in German. 

I proceeded to choose two fabric designs for my dresses, two designs for pants for Mäuschen, and a pair of pants for myself. The tailor came to take our measurements and I took pictures of the various block-printed fabrics to send to my mother. 

All in all, 2 adult dresses, 1 pair of adult pants, 1 preschooler dress, and 2 baby trousers all tailor-made cost 11,700 INR ($140). I paid half as a deposit and was told they would be delivered to my home in two days at which time I would pay the rest. 

I will share the results once I receive the goods. Without seeing the fabric printed before your own eyes, there is always a hint of doubt, about whether or not the fabric is truly block print or a good screen print rip-off.

We then headed back home after a day of adventures with two tired children.

I was so happy that the day unfolded in such a positive way. 

I took the driver’s contact info and he drove us the next day to run some errands and visit the elephant village. 

ELEPHANT VILLAGE

Going to the Elephant Village rather than Elephantastic was a recommendation from our driver. Since I want to experience many different activities in Jaipur, I decided to give his recommendation a try. The website made it seem like the less pricey option compared to other elephant experiences in Jaipur without listing exact prices. I really should’ve known better to follow up on pricing before agreeing to go. 

Two years ago, my mother, her partner, Mausi, and I visited Elephantastic in Jaipur. We had a lovely day getting to know the elephant, feeding her, painting her, washing her, and walking with her. We were provided a snack and at the end of the experience, were provided a home-cooked Indian meal. Overall a great experience and cost about $80 per person. 

At the Elefant Village, which I was told was a project from the government to get the elephants out of the city and into a more calm location for them, was significantly pricier. I was offered the “combo” package which included petting, feeding, painting, washing, walking, or riding the elephant for $350 per person. No, thank you. Since we had already made it to the location after getting through the flooded streets and spending well over an hour in the car, I at least wanted to feed and paint the elephant. I wasn’t confident the children would be up for much more than that. For Mausi and I, these two activities cost me $130. So, not a great deal. Lesson learned. I’ll graciously accept recommendations but do my research before blindly following those recommendations. 

I’m still happy we got to spend time with such a beautiful creature and it was Mäuschen’s first encounter with the gentle giant. Mausi had equal fun with the elephant and playing in the muddy puddles. 

EXPERIENCING JAIPUR

Learning more about block print is what inspired me to choose Jaipur as our location for an extended stay in India. I didn’t fully take into consideration the monsoon time. Luckily, we are on the tail end of the season. I am trying to get Mäuschen to take a bottle so that I can partake in some workshops and hire a babysitter. 

There are so many incredible hotels, restaurants, cafes, and bars in Jaipur. Having two small children which includes the energizer bunny and without additional help, it is hard to try to experience them. I’m determined to at least visit a few of the hotels as sight visits so I have an idea of what the places are like. Let’s see what I can achieve. I’d like to share a guide/itinerary to Jaipur after our trip.

Now our two hours in the playground are almost over and I was able to finish the first draft of this post. Yay!

Proofreading, editing, and adding pictures will need to wait until the kids are in bed. 

mfg

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Locum, Mother Nature, Travel

A hui hou and Mahalo Moloka’i

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Aloha and greetings from gray-skied Germany!

The fact that my last post was in August of 2023 is a good indication of how busy I was over the last 6 months. 

Our time in Hawai’i has bittersweetly come to an end. We departed Moloka’i on January 19th, 2024, just 9 days shy of being there a full year. I am so happy I decided to go and grateful for the experience. 

As previously mentioned, we moved into a new house for the remainder of my contract. The view from that house is perhaps one of my favorite views I’ve had anywhere. The house was spacious but certainly also gave me plenty of work keeping it clean. There seemed to be seasons for critters who tried to join our living situation. Cockroaches, scorpions, centipedes, ants, and mice all seemed to take turns keeping me on alert all the time. I always with house shoes on. I would scan the floor each morning before my toddler awoke to make sure nothing was lying around.

My fear was either of us getting a centipede stab most of all. Many on the island had told me these hurt the worst. I had also seen some infected wounds in the office. I didn’t mind the centipedes’ appearance, just their potential. The scorpions were my least favorite encounters, however. I’m happy to report we both made it off the island unharmed by critters. 

We stayed mostly on the island of Moloka’i the second half of the year. Aside from a weeklong trip to visit my mother and sister in Ohio and New York, respectively, and an extended weekend trip to Miami for a friends wedding. Hawai’i is just so far away! Travel times were longer than my average travel times to Europe from the mainland. Luckily, my toddler is seasoned when it comes to long flights and we managed them relatively well. 

Sunset view from our house
The beautiful driveway
The sunsets were often magical

Mokulele Monopoly

One of the main reasons we didn’t venture to the other islands for short trips was related to the singular and awful local airline. Notoriously unreliable, Mokulele, also called Moku-delay-lay, has made life difficult for the community on the island. Aside from frequently moved flights, delays, or cancellations, they are also quite expensive. A short 20-minute flight to Maui costs about $120. Whereas you can island hop between the other islands with Hawaiian Airlines for a fraction of the price. Although I realize flying small propeller planes is likely more expensive per capita than a full jet plane, it hasn’t always been this expensive. Pre-pandemic airlines used to offer reliable $50 one-way tickets. That company was sadly bought up by Mokulele and well, they certainly didn’t continue their business model in any regard. 

The flight issues have lead medical specialists to stop coming to the island. Home physical therapists stopped their services as well. Patients have a hard time making it to their doctor’s appointments on time in Honolulu. Some offices have resorted to just saying “Get here and we will see you when we can”. I’m positive it is impacting more areas of business than just healthcare. I truly wish and hope that this improves for the people of Moloka’i quickly. 

Waiting once again on our flight after several delays

The People

Besides the beautiful ocean views and ability to visit the beach on the weekends, I will certainly miss the people and community of Moloka’i. There is beauty in small towns and the communities that inhabit them. Certainly, there are also drawbacks. It’s not for nothing that a popular sticker reads “What happens on Moloka’i, everyone already knows!” 

The vast majority of people I interacted with were grateful for my presence as a doctor. I always replied, “It’s my pleasure, a beautiful island is not a bad place to be!”. 

The island doesn’t feel like your typical Hawai’i. It feels like real people, living real lives, with culture and community. I don’t blame them at all for wanting to keep it that way and hold off any major tourist development. This would undoubtably change the vibe of Moloka’i. So, if you are looking to visit Hawai’i, please, go to any of the other islands that are set up for tourism. Not only do those islands need the tourism to sustain so many people’s livelihoods but you’ll also find enough beautiful nature on the other islands with much better infrastructure to accommodate you. Don’t be shocked if you aren’t exactly made to feel welcome on Moloka’i as a tourist. It’s not what she is there for. 

A stroll through our front yard

The Office

The office staff is another area I will miss dearly. The whole staff was female except one male MA (bless his heart for managing to work with all of us). They are fun, fierce, loving, caring, and work hard. My toddler enjoyed visiting all the aunties and especially loved being spoiled with chocolates. 

Being a small town, patient and staff interactions were much more intimate and intertwined than in bigger cities. Many patients were someones relative or they had gone to school together. It often led to the hallways being filled with staff stopping at exam rooms to chit chat with patients or patients chatting across the hallway between rooms with other patients waiting. It was just a really lovely environment to work in. Props to those women and man for supporting their community so well. 

Last day as Dr. Vik

The Beach

Months before our departure, it dawned on me that we only had a limited amount of weekends left on Moloka’i. To not regret not having used the opportunity wisely, I made an effort to go to the beach every weekend, usually on Sundays. It worked most weekends unless it was pouring rain. The few hours on the beach grounded me. My toddler enjoyed our beach days too. Nothing like rolling around in the sand and running into the ocean. We often started our time on the beach by ourselves and as it drew closer to noon, a few others would appear. 

There was a group of paddlers that met most Sundays at one of the beaches we frequently visited. My toddler loved looking at the canoe and climbing all over it while on shore. I knew some of the paddlers through our friend who rented us the house we were living in. They all embraced my toddler’s curiosity and enthusiasm with the canoe and often would allow them to climb in and even handed them paddle to paddle the air. So often, my toddler requested to go out on the water with them. I sadly had to deny the request and said we would have to wait until they were older and bigger for it to be safe. So, while the crew of paddlers took off on their trip, my toddler and I would run, splash and swim in the ocean instead. 

Looking back on those beach moments, I think being on those beaches was when I was most at ease. 

On duty, all the time

Many people asked me if I would be coming back to Moloka’i in the future. I could see myself going back, for a few months at most. Alternatively, when my kid is in their tween years. As much as I enjoyed our year on Moloka’i, it wasn’t always easy. That’s not to say it was hard, but it was very busy. I initially thought it would be a more relaxed year overall given the limited distractions. While this was true in one sense and I certainly felt calm with living the slower-paced, less distracted life and daily views of the ocean,…normal day-to-day things kept me constantly busy. 

On the mainland, I had several factors that helped simplify my life as a single working mother. I would occasionally have a cleaning person clean the house we stayed in. There were many opportunities to entertain a toddler including museums, parks, libraries, playgrounds, etc. I had an au pair last year which allowed for me to have a few hours a week to do something for myself such as work out or sit in a cafe and read. Purple Carrot (a vegan meal kit subscription) was not only extremely convenient but I didn’t have to plan what was for dinner. I’d also have a healthy, delicious lunch left over for the next day. I was closer to family which allowed not only for more visits but also gave me a sense of back up if I needed my mother to fly in to watch my child in case of illness. 

In contrast, on Moloka’i, I had none of this. No one to clean the house (which took up several hours every weekend). No restaurants that catered to vegan or vegetarian diets and Purple Carrot didn’t ship to Hawaii. This meant I was fully responsible for all meals and if I didn’t have the energy to cook, we’d have pasta with tomato sauce. Besides the beach, there was one playground we could go visit. This had to be done in the early morning or late evening otherwise it stood in the hot sun throughout the day. There were no other toddler activities to partake in. My family and friends were so far away, that I hardly had anyone visit (despite SO MANY people saying they would when I announced I’d be going to Hawaii). 

The above essentially meant I was always doing something. Rarely did I just sit and take a deep breath. If I wasn’t working my 40-hour weeks, I was fully engaged in being a mom and taking care of the home. I am aware that this is the reality for many women. Furthermore, I chose to go to a remote island. I’m merely reporting that it was a lot to juggle constantly and now, being around more resources, I more profoundly realize just how busy I was managing it all by myself this past year. Moving forward, I have to ensure certain support systems to prevent burnout on my end and to continue to allow me to enjoy the lifestyle. 

On a whale watching tour
Lilikoi (passion fruit) from our yard
Our adopted feral kitty Cacao
Flowers from the garden

What’s up next?

To be determined. For right now, I am enjoying some much needed time with family and friends in Germany. I’ve eaten my weight in bread because it’s just so darn delicious. The plentiful cafes and restaurants have also made me happy. I have some exciting developments in the works that I will share more on once finalized. So stay tuned for that! Shouldn’t be more than a few weeks.

Not an uncommon occurence on Hawaii
This moon was spectacular
I mean….seriously.

mfg

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Happiness, Locum, Mother Nature, Travel

Aloha from Hawai’i

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It’s been a little over 6 months since we moved to Hawai’i. More specifically, we moved to the island of Moloka’i. It is known as the last island of “real Hawai’i” as all the others have been dominated by tourism. Tourism has its positive and negative aspects, but the majority of the population of Moloka’i has decided they’d rather not have tourism here. Instead, we find ourselves on a rural island with small-town vibes.

A Quick Island Overview

The whole island itself has about 7,000 people. It takes about 1h45 to make it from one side of the island to the other by car. It takes that long mainly due to the winding roads on the East end and speed limits of 20 mph to 45 mph along the whole route. About midway along the main road that runs along the south coast of Moloka’i is the main city of Kaunakakai.

Kaunakakai

Kaunakakai is where our critical access hospital is located, my office is across from it. This is also where you’ll find our main road. It has two grocery stores, the post office, the bakery, a few other shops, an art gallery, and that’s about it. There are no chain stores here. Amazon takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks to deliver goods.

East vs West

The East end of the island is lush with beautiful greenery and a water wall at the very end. The beaches we tend to go to on the weekends are located on the East side. The west side is flatter and drier. There are also some nice beaches that are bigger. But they don’t really have the palm trees lining the shore as the east-end ones do.

The impressive and historic North shore

The whole north side of the island contains the world’s largest sea cliffs. They are truly magical to fly by when you’re headed to or from Maui. Jutting off of those seacliffs is a triangular piece of land at sea level that is called Kalaupapa.

Per the national park services website:

When Hansen’s disease (leprosy) was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, King Kamehameha V banished all afflicted to the isolated Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north shore of Molokai.  

Since 1866, more than 8,000 people, mostly Hawaiians, have died at Kalaupapa. Once a prison, Kalaupapa is now a refuge for the few remaining residents who are cured but were forced to live their lives in isolation.

https://www.nps.gov/kala/index.htm

Since many of the affected people didn’t know life outside of Kalaupapa, they decided to stay. The park services and state promised to continue to care for them until they passed as an effort to right the wrongs of history.

You used to be able to visit the community by taking donkeys down the cliff side but the community has been closed to visitors since the pandemic. There isn’t a timeline yet for when it’ll reopen to limited amounts of visitors. It’s something I would be extremely interested in seeing firsthand.

Life on Moloka’i

It was certainly a process of getting used to life here. Life is not hectic here, one of the things I looked forward to. We don’t have a movie theater, a mall, or even a Target to entertain you. The main forms of entertainment on the island are beach days, hiking, hunting, fishing, paddling, and spending time with your ‘ohana (family). For my toddler and I, that leaves us mainly with beach days.

Child care

During the first three months we were here, my sister Karoline joined us from Austria to be the nanny while I looked for local childcare. I knew that having an au pair was not going to be an option when I decided to come to Moloka’i. I also think an au pair would be bored out of their mind with minimal opportunity to meet similarly aged people. It wasn’t easy for Karoline either. She would spend four days at the house with my toddler. Our place was located up a steep hill, not within walking distance of a park or beach. On the weekends, we would make several trips to one of the beaches. She definitely got a lot of book reading in and started a bracelet-making business. I really appreciate her coming to help me out and realize it was not the easiest time.

I’m thankful I found a wonderful babysitter who now watches my toddler while I’m at work. There are a few other kids as well which is so much more fun than being the only kid. They play a lot outside in the mud and water. My toddler is even picking up some Hawaiian words!

Work

I work in an office with a really great team. The island went through a lot prior to my arrival. Two primary care physicians passed away (both having had long careers and large patient panels on the island). Two left the office to move back to Oahu (I came as a replacement for one of them). A primary care nurse practitioner also retired at that time. For an island of 7000 people, to lose 5 primary care providers was a lot. The one doc who passed away and was in private practice probably had a patient panel of 2500-3000 people himself. So my first couple of months were spent absorbing a lot of his patient panel into our office while also covering the panel of the doctor that moved away.

Thankfully, my appointment times are all 30 or 60 minutes slots. That is a real luxury as many of my colleagues would attest to. Even so, when I’m not actively seeing patients, I have a bunch of paperwork, orders, and coordination of care that keep me busy. I’ve continued with my four-day work week and don’t plan on returning to a 5-day work week anytime soon. It is such a wonderful work-life balance that I am grateful I can have.

The patients have all been absolutely lovely. Unlike many patient encounters on the mainland where you feel like patients merely use you to get what they want, patients here are truly grateful that I am on their island helping out and it’s a much more collaborative approach than I’ve experienced elsewhere. I think a big contributor to this is the beautiful Hawaiian culture that thrives on this island. They have such a wonderful respect for their kupuna (elders) and a sense of community.

Community

At first, we were rather isolated. The weeks looked pretty much the same. Go to work for four days, and be home with Karoline and my toddler for three days during which we would grocery shop and hit up the beach. But there wasn’t much interaction beyond that.

Thankfully, over time, I have built up a community of people. I’m not extremely close with anyone but I have made friends with neighbors, patients, and co-workers. Through one neighbor in particular (thank you Karoline for the initial connection), I have met many wonderful people who live on the island. We’ve had a few organized group dinners. I’ve been invited to patients’ homes and graduation parties. I’ve hosted a dinner myself too. So though it is mostly my toddler and I who spend time together, there is always a little event here or there to mix things up.

Cost of Living

The cost of living here is horrendous. Groceries are the most expensive I’ve ever seen them. I will easily spend $150 on not really that much. A watermelon costs $10-20 dollars depending on the size. I’ve seen a container of strawberries for $16! A big bag of chips will cost you at least $8. A packet of butter is easily $10. It’s insane. How anyone affords to live here, I do not know. I am privy to the fact that many share fruits and veggies among themselves that they harvest in their yards. I myself have an avocado connection and many patients have brought me mangos. But even so, all the things you can’t grow yourself (and are imported to the island) will cost you a pretty penny. Shockingly, even pineapples grown in Hawai’i cost over $8! It’s just wild.

I make my own soymilk. I initially was not able to find organic unsweetened soymilk. So instead, I ordered organic soybeans on Amazon and made the milk myself. It’s definitely not as creamy or tasty as the store-bought kind but it does the trick for cereal, cooking, and baking. I also made my own coconut yogurt for a while using probiotic capsules. It is not easy finding vegan alternatives. There are a few alternative meat options in the freezer section but two Beyond burgers will cost you $14. I mainly miss soy yogurt and tempeh/seitan. I do plan on trying my hand at my own soy yogurt one of these days.

Traveling Adventures

Traveling to and from the island is truly adventurous. Since the pandemic, there is only one airline that services the island, Mokulele Airlines. Funny enough, Mokulele means plane in Hawaiian, so it’s the plane airlines lol. Anyways, they might also just be the worst airline I’ve experienced. The pilots and staff have always been friendly so I don’t want to throw any shade at them. The issue lies with the schedules.

I have flown with them MANY times since being here (again, my only option) and I don’t think I’ve had a single flight leave on schedule. I’ve had several flights canceled, a flight moved ahead by 3 hours (sorry, I couldn’t leave work early), moved to different days, or delayed with no information given as to when we might leave and spent 5 hours at the airport with a toddler (so fun) before we left late at night. And all of these come without the benefits the big airlines give you. I’ve had to pay for my own hotels in Honolulu because we missed our connecting flight. I’ve gotten vouchers for flights that were canceled but not refunds. It’s as if they know they are the only option and couldn’t care less.

Every trip with them is a gamble. I’ve had appointments in Honolulu that I would fly out two days in advance and spend money on a hotel or Airbnb just to make sure I was there for the appointment. Oh, and they are so expensive! A round-trip flight to Maui (a 20 min flight) or Honolulu (a 35 min flight) costs $250 per person! The ferry that used to go between Maui and Molokai stopped service many years ago. So Mokulele is literally the only commercial way off the island.

Island Hopping

My aunt and uncle came to Hawaii for several weeks back in March. We met up with them on three of the islands on my days off.

Maui

Our first weekend with them was on Maui. Mokulele was doing the most so we ended up actually catching a private boat to and from Maui. My office staff really came through and found a boat with some room on it for us. It ended up being a bit cheaper than what the flight had cost and we got a nice 45-minute ocean boat ride out of it. We even saw several whales along the way. So although it was stressful to get it organized, it ended up being a cool experience.

We landed in the historic harbor of Lahaina. If you’ve been following the news at all lately, you’ll know that it tragically and horrifically all burnt to the ground this past week due to a wildfire fueled by a hurricane over 600 miles away from us. My heart is broken for the people of Maui who have lost their lives, their homes, their communities, and the life they knew. Lahaina was one of the cutest towns I experienced on any of the islands and it seems incomprehensible that it no longer exists. I’ll be posting some ways to donate to help those affected at the end of this post.

After grabbing something to eat and strolling through Lahaina, we drove to the peak of Maui, Haleakala. It holds the world record for the highest climb in the shortest distance- 10,023 feet in a mere 32 miles! The landscape changes several times as you drive up over the clouds to reach the peak.

The following day, we drove along the Road to Hana. There are many attractions along the way. It’s more about the journey than the destination. We stopped by the rainbow bamboo and the botanical garden. There are a few waterfalls to see along the way. We also made a stop at Hamoa Beach before heading back to the AirBnB through rugged terrain.

Kauai

To get to Kauai from Molokai, we first had to fly to Honolulu and then catch a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Kauai. As you probably already guessed, Mokulele royally screwed up this itinerary too. This is when we waited at the airport for 5 hours, only to have to get a hotel for the night in Honolulu and rebook our Hawaiian flight (for a fee as well) to the next day.

When we finally did make it, we had a great time. Kauai is a very beautiful lush island. We mainly spent our time on various beaches. My uncle and I took a helicopter ride around the island and got to see the waterfalls featured in Jurrasic Park. It was a wonderful experience that my toddler was able to join for free and slept through the entire ride.

The farmers market we visited had a lot of cool artists and beautiful flowers. The island had a bit of an artsy hippy vibe to it that I really appreciated.

Big Island

I was under the assumption that Big Island was going to be even more big-city than Honolulu. I was so wrong lol. The island is just that, it is very big but the towns are small. The two main cities are Kona on the west and Hilo on the east. We had our AirBnB on the Kona side. It’s a bit more in the mountains, cooler and wetter than in the east. Kona has an old hippy vibe and is filled with a lot of great shops and restaurants. Hilo gave off an old-time vibe with a bit of art deco flair. We took a trip to see the volcano. At the time, it was quiet, several weeks later in June, it was the active volcano in the news.

Overall, the big island had a very chill aura to it and wasn’t quite as touristy as Maui and Kauai are.

I really only got a small glimpse into each island over just a few days we were there. Given how expensive flights and especially AirBnB’s are though, I don’t have plans to return to the other islands for visits while I’m out here. I wouldn’t mind working a gig in Kauai sometime though, I’d like to explore that place some more.

Homeland

We took a trip to Germany in June. It was a long way to get there. We were there for two weeks and I did nothing else but see friends and family and host a family reunion. I never dealt with jet lag before becoming a mom. I just never had it. But now I get jet-lagged by proxy because my toddler is jet-lagged. It took about 5 days to get into a normal rhythm going there and almost a week when we came back. If I ever were to go to Europe from Hawaii again, it would have to be for at least a month.

What’s up ahead?

My original contract was only until the end of July but I extended it through the end of the year once childcare was established. I recently moved into a new house. After six months, I needed a change of scenery. I liked our first spot but I itch for change after 6 months. Our new place is actually the home of one of the friends we made. He is on the island for 6 months and on the mainland for the other 6. It’s a really beautiful house with a killer view of the ocean, a pool, an in-home movie theater, and plenty of extra space for guests.

My first guests were scheduled to arrive tomorrow but due to the events on Maui, had to cancel their plans. I was really bummed although I completely understood and agree with their decision. Although I’ve made friends here, I was REALLY looking forward to seeing some of my own people again and sharing the experience here with them. If I’m lucky, my next guest may be coming in October but nothing is booked yet. I’ll be headed back to Ohio and Rochester, NY next month for a quick week-long visit to family. Hawaii is really far away from anywhere else, so even a trip to the Midwest is an odyssey.

The above images were captured by the talented local photographer Arinna (ariannapaikii.com)

Support Maui

The wildfires on Maui were devastating. What those people are going through and what they experienced, if they were fortunate enough to survive, is unimaginable. I see Lahaina, or what used to be Lahaina, from our house. We had strong winds and a power outage for a few hours. Beyond a pool, deck, and yard that needed to be cleaned up, we are ok. There was a brush fire on the west side of Molokai that the firefighters were able to extinguish relatively quickly. What happened on Maui easily could’ve happened here and that is just terrifying. I was expecting so many different consequences from a hurricane but a wildfire was not on my radar. Since I am not physically on Maui and don’t have any items to donate with me, I have been donating money to causes that are helping people get what they need.

Please consider donating something. Even if it’s $5, that helps. Here are some links to make it easy for you.

Maui Food Bank

Hawaii Red Cross

Together Rising

Mahalo (thank you) for your support!

That is it for now. Take care and stay safe everyone!

mfg

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Happiness, Locum, Travel

Cows, Water, Flights & Family

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Dairyland

I’m into my last three weeks of work at my assignment in Wisconsin. It certainly hasn’t felt like 5 months altogether. This may be due to the fact, and I’m sure this won’t surprise regular readers, that we were quite busy. If we weren’t off to a different state or country, we were spending weekends visiting friends in Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

I work in a rural family practice with another physician and a nurse practitioner. As a locum, my schedule tends to fill up on the day of or a few days out. These visits are often same-day complaints, pre-op evaluations, ED follow-ups, and such. Things people would ideally see their primary care provider for but they are both essentially booked out for months! It is a different mind game seeing these sorts of visits on a regular basis vs typical primary care follow-up visits. I have a few patients I’ve seen on a regular basis, but the majority of patients are new to me every visit. It is all part of the gig as a locum, however, and I don’t mind it. Keeps things interesting!

I work with two medical assistants I’ve gotten to know quite well over the past few months. The rest of the staff consists of really lovely nurses, medical assistants, radiology techs, lab techs, and front desk workers. The feeling of familiarity amongst the staff was evident from the first day there. We have many laughs throughout the day.

On my drive home
View from the beach on the lake
Beautiful fall in Wisconsin

The substitute teacher of doctors

Many patients have asked if I would consider staying. The administration did that same early on. I make a conscious effort to be clear that I live a nomadic lifestyle and that keeps me sane. The physician I took over for, left primary care to work in urgent care for more of a work-life balance. There is another locum coming in after me to cover the first half of the year before their new hire starts permanently. I feel the era of having the same family physician for 20+ is over but you can still find the occasional doc that has stayed in the same practice over decades. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this trend. Burnout is a big problem among them. The locum lifestyle definitely helps me avoid burnout because I always have a new adventure to look forward to!

Time: A man-made construct

Mausi has done astoundingly well for all the time zones I took them through over the past few months. There have been no “up all night” or “sleeping all day” despite time differences of 12 hours. The kid is made for traveling and I am pumped about it. We’ve also visited the cock pit of two of our flights and run up and down airplane aisles countless times.

September

We started the month off in Waupaca, spending labor day with family and friends. Mausi even went down the water slide a few times…with my help, obviously. The following weekend, Mausi and I hopped over to Cleveland to see my mom and partake in my citizenship interview and civics exam (aced it). By the end of the month, my mother came to Wisconsin to hang out for 9 days.

Always finds buttons to explore
Took a lake cruise to see some of the estates
One of the fancy estates on the lake
Madison Farmer’s Market
Hot-Spicy-Cheesey-Bread at the Farmer’s Market!
Visiting some local farms
Nearby Apple orchard
Wisconsin kiddo with cows and Oshkosh B’gosh overalls

October

The first weekend of October, Mausi and I flew down to New Orleans to visit our dear friend and former Eugene nanny and her two boys. At that time, she was far along in her pregnancy and I helped get stuff done around the apartment to prepare for baby number 3’s arrival a few weeks later. Mausi was ecstatic to see her two friends again. It was a quick trip but filled with fun.

The following weekend, I was lucky enough to witness my best friend from middle school/high school get married. I missed a lot of my high school friends’ weddings because I was in medical school in Germany. Then I missed a lot of my med school friends’ weddings because I was in residency in Ohio. I’m so happy I was able to partake in his!

4/5 of the Fab Five
Fixing the groom’s bowtie

I officially became an American citizen! The judge presiding over the ceremony held a very beautiful speech about the importance of immigrants in a country like the USA. Lovely to hear, especially after the rhetoric of the previous president and his administration.

Personal record

Toward the end of the month, Mausi and I went on our longest airplane ride together. It was a direct flight from Chicago to Delhi, India. The outbound flight lasted about 13.5 hours, and the return flight about 15 hours. On the way there, I was given a new seat assignment during check-in with the hope that I would have a whole row for us. Unfortunately, when it came time to board, we ended up having someone seated in the aisle seat.

Mausi, being their usual curious self, was all over the place; pulling anything that moved, pushing all the buttons, and climbing on the tray table. The travel busy board and busy cube I had purchased the week prior provided a few solid minutes of entertainment. Mausi did end up sleeping for a good 6 hours. I laid them across the two seats we had and tried to position myself around them. That was minimally effective and quite uncomfortable. After trying that for 4 hours, I eventually just laid down on the ground and slept for 2 hours. That was enough for me not to feel like a zombie when we landed.

India – Delhi & Diwali

We were met at the airport by my boyfriend and his son. At their place, we were lovingly greeted and welcomed to their home by his parents and the house staff. We ate delicious home-cooked food and I got a proper nap while Mausi explored the house and had many willing eyes watch her. That evening, we all went to a neighbor’s place for a Diwali celebration.

Diwali is the Indian festival of lights. It’s celebrated by many religions and is one of the most important holidays in Hinduism. We got all dressed up in traditional Indian outfits and ate way too much food. Mausi met a few children at the party and played with them essentially the entire night, just coming to check if I was still around from time to time.

India – Goa

The next day, following our Puja (prayer) for Diwali, my boyfriend, his son, Mausi and I were off to the airport. We caught our flight to Goa. Goa is a coastal town about halfway down the west coast of India. Portuguese architecture is prominent due to the Portuguese history of colonizing the place. My boyfriend’s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew joined us in Goa. Our routine for the next several days was simple; wake up, get ready, go eat a delicious breakfast, and then spend the rest of the day on one of the various beaches.

So well behaved during the Puja
Looking at crabs

I even drove us home at night three times. For those who don’t know, they drive on the left in India. They also drive like crazy people! Very different driving culture than in America or Germany. We survived, no cows were hit (they like to just stand in the middle of the street sometimes), and no traffic tickets were issued.

After five days, it was back to Delhi. We only had the last day to run a few last-minute errands because our flight left at 2:15 AM.

Paging Dr. Hasselhof

While at the airport, it took forever to get checked in. I made it to the border control officer at the time boarding had started. And I arrived at the airport three hours before our flight time. Three stalls down, a man started having a seizure. Luckily, two others caught him and lowered him to the ground. I saw this all unfold and told the border control officer that I am a physician and should go check on that man. The officer was not impressed and told me to wait. Again, I pressed that time is of the essence and that I need to help keep that man safe. The officer continued to be unimpressed.

Finally, someone in the security line shouted out “is there a doctor here!?”. I raised my hand and exclaimed that the officer wasn’t letting me pass. Finally, a supervisor came and waved me through. I lifted Mausi out of the carrier and handed them to the supervisor.

How to help someone having a seizure

The main goal in taking care of a seizing person is to keep them safe. That means ensuring the area around them is clear, cushioning their head so they don’t hit it on a hard surface, and protecting their airway by positioning them on their side. Do NOT wedge something in their mouth. We quickly laid coats under the man’s head and positioned him correctly. I tried obtaining some medical history from his travel companion. He mentioned issues with low blood sugar but couldn’t tell me if the man was diabetic. Eventually, a paramedic came with a suitcase filled with medical supplies. At this point, the man had stopped seizing and was slowly coming to. He was still very confused, as was expected. He was surely even more confused when the seemingly only caucasian person at the airport was now hovering over him asking him questions.

Gotta go!

I stayed long enough for the paramedic to check that his vitals and blood sugar were stable (I had sent someone to fetch apple juice after the comment about low blood sugar in case we needed it). Vitals and blood sugar were good. Then it was time for me to go catch my flight. Luckily, the supervisor had me expedited to the front of the line at security but I still had to run, with a toddler strapped to my chest, to make it on our flight.

November

We were home for a mere 12 days before hopping on a flight to Germany. My cousin turned 40 and the whole family was coming together to celebrate. The week flew by because there were so many people to see. Anytime I am in Germany, there are a number of people I must see every visit. In the town I went to medical school in, there is a group of 6 people I do my all to see while there. Once again, I saw them all! The second half of the week was especially busy because everyone was arriving for the festivities. It was a good time.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day in Germany

My older sister came with her husband and kids. None of the extended family had met her kids before. Her youngest and Mausi are only ten days apart in age and are like two peas in a pod when they get together. Pushing them around in my sister’s double stroller made it look like I had twins!

The week involved family complexities I won’t go into detail on this platform. But, I will say, I think it was a very successful week for my family overall.

Now, we are back in Wisconsin and I have been busy over the weekend packing and organizing. The following two weekends are already planned out before we have the last weekend to do the final packing. Then it’ll be off to Ohio and Rochester, NY for Christmas before we head back to India for a three-week vacation with my mother and her fiance.

So, where to next?

It’s official! I will be headed to Molokai, Hawaii for 6 months starting in February! I’m beyond excited about this next assignment. If you have any tips for the island of Molokai or any of the other Hawaiian islands, please send them my way. I plan on spending the majority of the time on Molokai and just enjoying island life. However, one weekend out of the month, I’d like to hop to one of the other islands. My younger sister will be joining me for three months to be Mausi’s nanny. I’ll have to find someone local to take over once she leaves, or open it up here for applications for a three-month nanny stint 😉

I hope everyone in the States had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Stay healthy!

mfg

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Locum, Motherhood, Travel

A Tale of Three Months, Four Time Zones, and Five Countries

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Oh gee…I certainly was not planning on waiting 3.5 months before posting again. I know I sound like a broken record since I start off almost every post these days with an apology that it’s been so long. I was posting every two weeks almost consistently when I first started out and was pregnant. It should come as no surprise, especially to the parent readers, that a toddler requires a lot of attention, however. And honestly, I will always pick spending time with my child over engaging in social media. This time is so limited and so precious.

Also, instead of using “my child”, I think I’ll henceforth refer to them as “Mausi”. I continue to want to keep their identity off the internet, but for the sake of more fluid writing and for the sake of not sounding like I’m from a previous century, I’ll go with my nickname for them. But let’s dive in and let me get you caught up on what’s been going on!

June

For the last two months of my assignment in Eugene, we had to relocate to an apartment from the house we had previously lived in. This was known from the beginning as the house was already rented starting in June. The agency found us a 2-bedroom apartment close to the Willamette River. We, unfortunately, didn’t have a playground right down the street from us, but we did have a lovely trail along the river that we visited often.

Abortion is Healthcare.

On June 24th, the day people with a uterus’s constitutional right to bodily autonomy was stripped away, Ally, Mausi, and I attended a protest in Downtown Eugene. It was a peaceful protest and I was happy to see many men in attendance. Frankly, there should have been many more considering how the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade affects men too. In this sense, I feel like a broken record here too. The constant injustice we see happening in this country is truly disheartening. The fact that a handful of people get to decide the consequences for the majority of people is scary. They have real power. It is so important that everyone vote and that we elect leaders that will protect the rights of all citizens.

Blushing Blonde moments

Mausi and I spent an afternoon near the Heceta Lighthouse having our pictures taken by a local photographer. I really enjoy finding local photographers everywhere I go to capture moments of Mausi and me. Being a solo mom, there are plenty of pictures on my phone of Mausi, but rarely one where we are together. Having a photoshoot every couple of months makes for a fun way to capture our lives together. It is also a reminder of the places we’ve been.

Silver Falls Park

We finished off the month with a hike in Silver Falls Park. Only a 1.5-hour drive from Eugene, this park has a 7-mile loop that passes 10 waterfalls. We hiked it with another friend of mine with a baby. We’d like to say we made it the whole 7 miles, but then we’d be lying. We did, however, make it about 4.5 miles and passed 7 of the 10 waterfalls. The trail leads behind a few of the falls which were pretty cool. Definitely worth the trip if you find yourself in the area!

July

July and the half of August were several weeks of traveling. After the first week of work, Mausi and I flew to Europe for a two-week trip! The first week of that was the first legit vacation I’ve taken since October of 2019. Sure, there were trips all throughout the years, but they were mainly to Germany, which is like going home, it’s not a vacation in the sense of relaxing and exploring.

Μύκονος

Mausi and I spent a lovely week on the Greek island of Mykonos with my boyfriend. It had been almost 5 years since we were in the same physical space. He and I went on a date during my travels in India in 2017. Sounds crazy, I am aware, but it didn’t feel like we hadn’t seen each other in that long.

We stayed in a nice little boutique hotel just a few minutes’ walk from the beach. We rented a mini cooper convertible for a few days to zip around the very narrow streets of the island. My main touristy objective was to see the windmills that Mykonos is famous for. Mykonos is also known for its glitz, glamour, and party lifestyle. There was no partying for use with Mausi along but I was ok with that. There was an alarming amount of designer handbags to be seen by just about everyone walking around the island. I include myself in this, but in my case, it’s also the only small handbag I own.

There was an Italian restaurant within walking distance of our hotel that served delicious food and was staffed by really friendly people. Honestly, every restaurant we went to was extremely child friendly, and didn’t mind Mausi crawling absolutely everywhere. Often, the waiting staff would even hold on to and play with them while I ate. If you want to do something kind for a mother of a small child, watch their child while they eat their meal. It’s so rare to have an uninterrupted (warm) meal when you’re a mom.

It was a really fun and enjoyable week for our little trio.

Bachelorette Fun and Fancy Pizza

After our island adventure, it was off to Germany to partake in my best friend’s bachelorette festivities. Thankfully, she isn’t one for crazy outfits and silly games. We had a delicious dinner and spent the next day doing a photoshoot and going to a spa. I was really excited to meet some of her good friends that I had only heard of. Our friendship has been strong and thriving since I left Germany in 2015 but I’ve also missed a lot of the day-to-day stuff. I feel much more in the loop now that I know all her other close friends.

Between the bachelorette weekend and the wedding weekend, I crammed in as many get-togethers with my friends as possible. I also jumped on a night train with Mausi and traveled to Vienna to visit my sister Karoline for two days. I enjoy traveling by night train. The rattling of the train on the tracks is a great way to sleep and I am in a position where I can afford my own cabin now. On previous trips as a medical student, I’d book a spot in the 6-person cabin. At the time, I didn’t mind sharing the space with strangers. I didn’t want to do that with a toddler though.

Karoline works in a fun, hip pizzeria as the pizza decorator extrordinaire. We walked all over the city and ate many scrumptious meals together. I adore her and am always so happy to spend time with her. After our short 36-hour visit, we hopped back on the night train and traveled back up north.

Wedding Bells

My best friend’s wedding was a day filled with love, happiness, great conversations, and delicious food. Having missed so many of my friend’s weddings in the past, I would’ve moved mountains to attend hers. Lucky for me, she got married after I finished residency so no mountain moving was necessary.

Hello again and goodbye!

We flew back to Eugene for my last four days of work before heading to Wisconsin. I had a really great time in Eugene. I definitely did not see and do all that I planned to. My coworkers were such a joy to work with. It felt like hanging out with a group of friends every day. The work was not always easy. For the most part, it was actually complex. The patients I cared for were complex both medically and socially. There were a lot of social factors that came into consideration compared to previous jobs. Even “just” seeing 8 patients a day was a lot due to their individual complexities.

I had some great patient relationships build up in the 7 months I was there. For several, I felt like I made a real positive impact on their lives. I was even gifted a thoughtful gift by one of my patients. He had used the box that his medications come in to craft a keepsake box. I’ll have to take a picture of it and share some time (it’s currently in my new office space). I found certainly consider returning to the Lane County Clinics in the future for another few months.

August

As if traveling from Eugene to Europe back to Eugene and then to Wisconsin wasn’t enough of a timezone whirlwind, we traveled the first week of August as well. This trip was originally planned in March when none of my other travels had been planned yet and I felt like I needed a break and some adventure between jobs. But before we jumped on our international flight, we made a pit stop in Waupaca, WI so that I could attend my high school best friend’s wedding shower.

Back in High School, I was friends with the “Fab Five”. Not to be confused with the Fab Five of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. (My fashion and hair would’ve been much better had that been the case.) Although I was with them a lot, the Sensational Six didn’t have the same ring to it…and I was the only girl in the group. Bryant, Ryan, Kyle, Chase, and Caleb were all back together for the wedding shower and I was thrilled. Zach, an underclassman during High School, an admirer of the Fab Five, and a good friend of ours, was also there.

After that short visit, we were off to Panama!

Panama City

We were only in Panama for 4 full days plus the two travel days on each end. It wasn’t a lot of time but we managed to see a variety of things. We stayed in Casco Viejo while in Panama City. It was built in 1673 after pirates almost completely destroyed the former historical center of Panama Viejo. It was a mix of old and new. Some buildings were filled with fancy restaurants or boutique hotels. Others were just the facade and completely gutted on the inside. We ate some yummy food and did a bit of shopping.

I bought myself, my mother, and my boyfriend each a Panama hat. Panama hat is a bit of a misnomer as they actually come from Ecuador. During the Gold Rush, people would travel from South America through the Panama Canal onwards to California and often bought a hat in Panama to shield themselves from the sun. When asked where they had gotten their hats from, they’d answer Panama. And voila, the Panama hat was named. The really nice thing about the toquilla straw hat is that it can be rolled up and packed for travel. No more filling half a suitcase with a hat or trying to awkwardly wear it on the plane.

Jungle Living

After two days of wandering around Casco Viejo, we headed north towards the coast. Because it seemed silly not to, we stopped by the Panama Canal Locks at Miraflores along the way. If I hadn’t been aware of the monumental engineering feet the locks are, this would’ve been a rather boring stop. However, knowing a bit of the history and the impact that place has on the world economy, put it into perspective and made me appreciate what I was looking at.

We spent two nights in an AirBnB hosted by a very lovely French couple. They spoke French and Spanish and a little bit of English. I speak English and German with a little bit of Spanish and French. Nonetheless, we had pleasant conversations and a great time. Getting to their place was an adventure. We used google maps until Portobelo and then followed several directions sent to us by the host. We counted miles and kept an eye out for the structures that signaled to us that it was time to take a turn. Eventually, we found the entrance to their property. We continued from the gate to about 50 m from the house in their 4-wheel drive car before trekking the remaining distance up a steep muddy hill. Totally worth the trip. Our room overlooked their luscious garden and the ocean.

Island Time

Our hosts took us out on their Waverunner to show us the islands in the area. We zipped past the island Shakira apparently likes to vacation at. We slowly rode through the mangrove trees and what is known as the tunnel of love. One turn was taken a bit too sharply and we were all in the water. Luckily, we could easily stand where we had fallen off.

Ultimately, we decided to spend our day on Isla Mamey. Supposedly, the island used to belong to Pablo Escobar. I’m not really sure what constitutes “used to belong to” or how long it’s been since it was his, but there was a huge skull face etched into the ground. I wasn’t able to find any connection between Escobar and Isla Mamey online though, so maybe it’s just a good story they tell visitors.

Regardless, Isla Mamey will hold a special place in my heart since it’s the place Mausi took their first steps! Way to pick a memorable spot, kiddo!

The beauty of travel

On our last day in Panama, we went to a restaurant that had a great online menu for brunch. I am a sucker for a good brunch. We were the first to arrive. When we reviewed the menu, I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t include all the fun stuff I had seen online. Nonetheless, we stayed and ordered some waffles and eggs. We were the only ones there until about halfway through when a couple came and sat near us.

They received their menus and were trying to decide what they wanted. While verbalizing their options, I realized that we had not received the same menu. Their menu did have the fun stuff I read about online. At this point, it was too late for us though since we had ordered. Mausi, as they do, quickly made friends with our table neighbors and this led to a conversation amongst us all. And what a wonderful conversation it was! I think we spent another hour there just chatting!

Kate (an award-winning author) and her husband Dave have been traveling the world since 2013, house-sitting in various locations. They were both so interesting to talk to. We definitely connected on our desire and need to continue traveling, mixing up our surroundings, and not being in one place for too long. I could see myself doing something similar in the far future if house sitting is still a thing. What a great way to work/retire/live. She blogs about it on her blog Living the Journey.

This is what I love about traveling. What I’ve missed about traveling. Meeting new people with interesting life stories. People’s stories fascinate me and I have met so many cool people on my travels. I look forward to hopefully many more similar events as traveling becomes more frequent again.

Dairyland

After our short Panama excursion, we were back in Wisconsin. I’ll save the rest for the next post, which will hopefully happen before my contract here is done (hehe), but we’ve covered so much already. Props to you if you’ve made it this far. Thanks for hanging in there, I know it was a lot.

Hope everyone is well and healthy.

mfg

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Mother Nature, Motherhood, Travel

Emotional Rollercoaster

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Well, after being a bit smug the last few weeks about how I hadn’t had Covid yet despite being exposed to it from essentially day 1 of the pandemic (and thinking I might be one of the lucky “immune” people), Mother Nature humbled me last week when I tested positive last Thursday. I’m fully vaccinated so my symptoms were luckily really mild. I tested myself due to a scratchy throat. With the current requirements, I haven’t been allowed to return back to work yet. I won’t be back to my normal schedule until next week. This unexpected forced vacation has allowed me to get some work done that I haven’t had the time to do otherwise. Finally getting an update here is one of those things.

April showers bring May flowers and somehow we are already in June?

It has been almost two months since I last posted. The weather has continuously gotten nicer in the Eugene area. We moved out of our house and into an apartment for the last two months of the assignment here. It is a bummer to have left that neighborhood due to it being so walkable and a park just down the street. The new location is located near the Willamette river though and we are able to take beautiful strolls along the river. Still on the lookout for our nearest playground.

We flew to Ohio to celebrate my baby’s first birthday and for me to attend my co-residents wedding. As my facebook friends may have also noticed, I’m now in a relationship. My facebook relationship status hasn’t changed since the day I created my account many, many years ago. So, it’s a big deal for me. There have been a lot of great moments for me over the past two months.

Guest Cake
Smash Cake
Some of my co-residents and attendings

Unfathomable events

But there have also been absolutely heartbreaking moments. The shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde tear my heart to shreds. As do the many other shootings that have happened since but don’t get as much media coverage. These occurrences make it harder and harder for me to justify being the United States. I have become so aware and alert of my surroundings. I look for my nearest exit when I enter a building. But even if I were to leave, that doesn’t help keep the people still here safe. I believe the US could do so much better, be so much better. If only money didn’t corrupt humans so much. It’s unfathomable to me that we as humans can witness 19 children and their teachers slaughtered in a classroom and not change anything about the laws that helped facilitate it from happening.

Before I was even able to get around to uploading this post another horrible shooting has taken place. This one also hits me hard personally. A fellow physician was gunned down at a medical facility in Oklahoma by a patient that blamed him for his ongoing pain. The elementary school shooting shattered my heart and made me fearful for children everywhere in this country. As I intend on having my children go to school abroad, its one less fear I have for my own children. But I have a niece and nephew here in the states and friends with children. So it still is a fear that effects me personally.

The murder of a physician and staff members over dissatisfaction on the patients part solidifies a deep fear in me for my own safety. I try really hard to help my patients. I will try to find ways to help them and feel less pain. Sometimes the safest and recommended option is not what the patient wants and they get angry. Weaning a patient off of addictive and harmful medications is the right thing to do (while obviously working on the underlying issue and finding other, healthier alternatives). But when patients get angry, there is a part of me that is terrified they might try to retaliate. I am hyper-aware of my surroundings when I’m entering and exiting my places of work.

I shouldn’t have to feel this way when all I am trying to do is help people. Children shouldn’t have to fear for their lives going to school to obtain an education. Black people shouldn’t fear for their lives going grocery shopping. No one should have to fear for their life just living their life not hurting anyone else.

The ongoing war in the Ukraine. I know the news cycle has swabbed out coverage for other issues, but horrific and utterly unnecessary damage continues to be done to the people and their country.

None of these situations are natural disasters or forces of nature we can’t control. They are deliberate decisions by human beings and that makes it that much more heart retching to me. People choose to not love and help one another. It must be such a sad position to be in to willingly hurt another human being or help facilitate that hurt. Were these people not loved as children? It’s the only explanation I can think of. Humans aren’t born evil.

Adventures

I don’t really have a clever way to transition from such dark topics, so I won’t try. I’ll just continue on to share some of the beautiful places we visited over the past few weeks.

Eugene Saturday Market

I’ve written about this market before. We’ve been back a few times. The opening weekend was definitely the busiest. The subsequent times were less visited but nonetheless fun to attend. We also made it a few streets further north to the Farmer’s Market. I have a hard time visiting a farmer’s market and not buying fresh flowers. There is just something magical about a fresh bouquet of flowers. 😉 We also met the “bubble guy” and had a blast taking some fun pictures.

Sahalie Falls

My local nanny, her two sons, Ally, my baby and I all took a road trip to see the Sahalie falls in April. The plan was to hike a few miles and see a couple waterfalls. As we ascended into the mountains, however, the snow started accumulating height. The parking lot wasn’t plowed so everyone parked along the road. The walk to the viewing area of the first waterfall was an adventure in and of itself. Ally, who is still getting used to how snow works, took a few tumbles navigating the snow and ice. Many years of Wisconsin winters in my life allowed me to navigate the trail well enough not to fall with a baby strapped on my back. Although we only made it to the first fall, it was worth it.

Redwoods

I drove to Medford with my baby for a weekend to visit a friend and explore the Californian Redwood forest with her. These trees are massive. I felt like I was in a Jurassic Park movie just waiting for a velociraptor to appear. The grandiosity of it all doesn’t even really hit until you leave the area and start seeing “normal” sized trees again. The weather was amazing and the lighting in the forrest was magical. We did a quick pitstop on the coast before returning to Medford. What a great area to live with the Redwood forrest and a beach so close to one another.

Crater Lake

This location has been on the top of my Oregon list since we got here. I’ve been waiting for warmer weather so that more of the roads would open up. Despite going in late May, there were still winter weather condition and closures happening. A friend of mine from Ohio, also a SMBC (single mother by choice) and my baby nurse during my labor and delivery experience, was in town visiting with her child. She really wanted to see Crater Lake as well so we figured this would be a great time to check it off both of our lists. Despite there still being snow, and I mean A LOT of snow, the limited views we did have were well worth the 3 hour one-way trip. When there aren’t winter weather conditions at that altitude, more access roads are available as well as the many trails in the area.

I would definitely like to return in the future to check out some of the trails and see the lake from different view points. My aunt was the one who first told me about Crater Lake. She had seen it mentioned on a show in Germany that was discussing different shades of blue. Apparently, Crater Lake’s blue color is quite unique. The water in the crater is from precipitation. It doesn’t have streams feeding into it. That combined with the depth of the lake and the way the sunlight refracts in it, creates a very beautiful blue color.

South Jetty Beach

I can never get enough of the coast and ocean. My friend from Ohio and I took the babies to the beach one day and it was wonderful. It was a bit chillier than I expected it would be (I should have opted for something longer than shorts). We had the beach all to ourselves for most of the time. It was really low tide so the beach extended far out. This provided plenty of crawling/walking around opportunities for the kiddies. Nature’s sandbox is a good place to be.

Emotional Rollercoaster

These last few weeks have really been a ride for my emotions. I don’t believe you are living if you aren’t feeling. Life has its ups and downs. You can’t appreciate the highs if you don’t experience the lows. Having that emotional complexity makes us human. It’s not always easy. Especially experiencing the lows. Whenever the lows occur, I first allow myself to experience them. Then, I fairly quickly try to figure out what the low can teach me. Often, I adjust my priorities. Especially if the low is inflicted upon me by another human. I don’t hold grudges. I’m not mean. I don’t retaliate. I adjust my priorities. And sometimes, that means that person may have fallen lower on my ranking of priorities. I can’t control how people act but I can change my reaction to it.

No one has personally hurt me recently. Those comments are meant in a more general, life-view sort of way. On the contrary, I’ve received a lot of loving energy personally in recent weeks. But I’m also a very empathetic person and the recent events around the world weigh on me. The senseless gun violence, the loss of life, the attack on people’s right to bodily autonomy and abortion laws… it all affects me. As a woman, as a mother, as a physician…and above all, as a human.

I’m not naive enough to believe all these issues will be solved quickly. If anything, they will have less media coverage to make room for the next big story. The sadness, anger and hurt will seemingly fade and it won’t resurface until the next big tragedy. I hope I’m wrong. I hope that this time, something good will actually happen. As the German saying goes “Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt”… Hope dies last. So I will continue to hope and find ways to make a positive impact in this world and help protect and heal my fellow human beings and our planet.

mfg

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Happiness, Travel

Staying Local

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We spent almost the entire last month within the Eugene area. It was a month filled with visitors. Friends from the modeling world came by as did my mother and her partner. The mom of my local nanny stayed with us for a week. So, its been quite the rotation of visitors which has been so fun. We have no more visitors planned before traveling ourselves in three weeks. It’s crazy, but my little baby will be one year old next month. To celebrate, as well as attend a wedding of a former co-resident, we will be traveling back to Ohio for a week in May.

Hey Eugene

We’ve been taking a lot of walks around town and have visited some great places. We continue to find new murals we hadn’t seen yet. With Springfield just a hop and a skip away, there is quite a bit of The Simpsons graffiti around. Here’s a list of a few places we enjoyed these past few weeks:

  • Oregon Art Supply: I’ll take one of everything please! They stock a lot of German art supplies from Faber Castell which is fabulous. Ally and I try to do Creative Night every once in a while and were stoacked to find this place for supplies.
  • Sundance Natural Foods: This well stocked grocery store offers tons of bulk items including grains, oils, spices, baking ingredients, nut butters, coffee but also dish soap, laundry detergent, shampoo and so much more! We’ve been trying different spices and ingredients. Its nice that we can bring our own containers for the bulk items. The produce sections is also top notch.
  • Hideaway Bakery: oh buddy, the bread from this place is the best I’ve found in Eugene to date. They also have a nice outside seating area. I can’t wait to return on a weekend day when its nice and warm out.
  • Wild Light Yoga Center: I FINALLY started doing hot yoga again. Since Covid numbers have been lower in the area and I am vaccinated to the recommended max, I feel comfortable going to in-studio classes again. The studio has a new comer one month pass for $39 of unlimited yoga. Pre-baby Viktoria would’ve gone to 4 or 5 classes a week with that pass. Working solo mama Viktoria at least made it once a week. It felt really good being back on the mat in a hot studio.
  • Saturday Market: I am going to have to do a whole seperate post about this with lots of pictures. In brief, its a market spanning several blocks filled with stands of homemade items and home grown goods. It takes place every Saturday from April to Thanksgiving. Eugene has a unique mix of people and I kid you not when I tell you I was the most Plain Jane person there. I don’t have tattoos, interesting piercings, funky colored hair, ecclectic clothes. The people watching was superb!

Newest Hobby

As previosuly mentioned, my baby turns one next month. We will be celebrating with my former co-residents, attendings and office staff in Ohio. There is a fabulous bakery in Youngstown called Bake-Me-Treats. The chocolate salted caramel cupcakes are to die for and the macaroons are the best I’ve had outside of France. They have made some gorgeous custom cakes for my sister’s and friend’s birthdays over the years and I was so excited to get a first birthday cake from them next month. Unfortuneatly, they have stopped making custom cakes. They still make their delicious cakes in multiple flavors but with set decorations. I highly recommend anyone coming in the vicinity of Youngstown, OH to stop by this bakery and buy a treat. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

So anyways, since they don’t do custom cakes anymore and my heart was set on a cake with beautiful flowers, I decided I will be making my childrens birthday cakes as a new tradition. It gives me the opportunity to make that a gift as well as giving myself the opportunity to be creative. After a quick Michael’s run, I had the basic supplies I needed to try to make my own buttercream flowers. I still have a lot practicing and experimenting ahead. My plan is to have a cake for the guests and a smash cake. The smash cake will be without added sugar so that baby can eat the cake they’ll be smashing. I have a ton of ideas of how I want to create the flowers from the ingredients of the frosting to the flavoring. My first attempt went well!

Planning ahead

I look forward to the weather improving (lots of rainy days currently) and exploring the national parks of Oregon. These past few weeks were filled with so much fulfilling time with friends and family but it was centered in or around Eugene. Then this weekend, my baby was getting over rosela, so we took it easy and had lots of snuggles. Once the rain eases up though, we will be on the road and ready to explore!

We have some great trips to look forward to after our time here in Oregon. In August, we are booked to visit Panama for 6 days. If anyone has recommendations for Panama City, send them my way! Then in December, we are headed to India for 3 weeks! I’m so beyond excited to return to that beautiful country and hope nothing prevents us from going (its still such a long time away and the world seems so unpredictable these days).

I hope everyone reading this is doing well. To my friends observing and celebraing Ramadan, Ramadan Mubarak! And to my friends celebrating Easter next weekend, Happy Easter! My wish is that everyone is able to spend time in-person with family and friends whereever it is safe and feasible to do so. And to the people of Ukraine, I stand by you and I hope this godforsaken awful war is over quickly and the healing process can begin.

mfg

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Food & Drinks, Locum, Motherhood, Travel

Weekend Shenanigans

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Although I am spending this weekend exploring our immediate surroundings in Eugene, I spent the last two doing some traveling. We went to check out Portland with my uncle two weekends ago. Last weekend, we headed to the coast with my mom. I can’t wait for my AuPair to get here so we can start planning all our weekend trips!

Portland

In my head, Portland was going to be this green oasis brimming with bike paths and eclectic people roaming the streets. To be fair, visiting a city in January is hardly ever the time to see a city at its best. Throw in an ongoing pandemic and things look a bit different than you might expect.

We booked a hotel downtown, thinking we would be close to all the action that way. After checking in, we walked directly to the one farmer’s market that was open (again, it’s winter). The walk there was not exciting. However, the Farmer’s Market was a rather decent size and had some delicious things. We grabbed a breakfast burrito, apple cider, and some really yummy, single-source chocolate.

After that, we made our way back towards downtown. While doing so, we passed a lot of empty storefronts and even more tents at seemingly every corner. We stopped at a few coffee shops along the way. While looking at GoogleMaps, we realized that an area northwest of downtown seemed to be rather busy. After a bit of research, we learned that 23rd Ave was lined with shops and restaurants. So, we walked there to see if it was a bit more happening than downtown was.

23rd Ave definitely had more going on. We saw quite a few of the eclectic people I thought might be running around. There were some delicious-looking restaurants but it was still too early for dinner. So instead, we decided to walk back towards downtown and check out Old China Town. Maybe we just weren’t on the right streets, but we basically found nothing interesting in Old China Town. For dinner, we decided my uncle needed a good ole American burger before heading back to Germany and ate at Deschutes Brewery.

Day 2

After a fast and pretty decent breakfast at Cheryl’s on 12th, we took a walk along the Willamette River. I’m sure it is even nicer in the spring or summer when the trees are full of foliage and the temperature is warmer. Before heading back to Eugene, we spent a couple of hours at the Oregon Zoo. It is one of the more beautifully laid out zoos I’ve visited. At times, you feel like you are taking a walk through the woods. We didn’t see as many animals as I had hoped. Perhaps that was due to it being winter. The walk through the zoo itself was already worth our time though.

Someone slept through most of the zoo visit

In the end, Portland didn’t wow us as much as we thought it might. I’m not giving up on it wowing me in the future though. I’m hopeful that with warmer weather, flourishing flora and fauna, reduced pandemic restrictions, and a bit more research, Portland will be more like the Portland I imagined.

Oregon Coast

Last weekend, we headed to the coast with my mother. A little over an hour’s drive due west of Eugene lies Florence. It is a small coastal town with a population of just over 9,000 people. There is a road along the Siuslaw river known as the historic Downtown. The streets are lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. I immediately felt like I was on vacation when I saw a store selling Salt Water Taffy. For some reason, likely my childhood, I associate that with vacation.

We grabbed some hot drinks at Magnolia Bakery and walked along the historic Downtown road. We stopped to check out a few galleries with local artists before taking a nursing break at the harbor. I grabbed a bagel at River Roasters to eat while we drove to the beach. I’ll have to return to River Roasters sometime though. It was a comfy coffee shop with a fireplace and a back porch overlooking the river.

Hello Ocean!

A quick 10-minute drive from downtown Florence got us to the beach! Getting to the beach was a bit of a workout. First, you had to climb up a dune. Then, once at the top, if you wanted to get to the ocean, you had to maneuver down a steep dune side of sand. After taking in the beautiful view from on top of the dune, I took the baby to go see the ocean up close.

For a while, we were the only two people on that stretch of beach. My baby had never played with sand before and had a blast! We took a walk along the beach and looked for an intact shell. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up a bit to spend the whole day on the beach.

After a good while soaking in the beach views, we headed north up the coast.

Hello Sealions!

The drive along the coastal 101 Highway is very scenic. Every couple miles, there is a sign that reads, “Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone”. The day prior, there had actually been a tsunami wave weather warning due to the underwater volcano that erupted near Tongo. Lucky for us, the warning was over and the sun was shining. This led to some great views.

We stopped along the way to see the Heceta Lighthouse from afar. Little did we know, when we looked down from the cliff, we looked right onto the sealion gathering spot. There were so many of them! They even seemed to have their own little ocean pool.

Our intention was to see the Heceta lighthouse up close as well but when we tried driving there, we realized you actually had to walk a bit to get there. My mother had hurt her foot the day prior, so we decided to skip that part.

At this point, we were hungry for a real meal. Another 20 minutes north, in a town called Yachats, we went to the first place we saw, called Ona. It was very delicious and a co-worker later told me, it’s one of his favorites in that town. So that worked out well.

The last stop was for some ice cream before we embarked on our 1h50 drive home.

The Wishlist

I am making a list of all the recommendations people have been giving me. My AuPair should get here mid-February and I am so excited to spend our 3-day weekends exploring Oregon!

Svikki MD

Work has been going really well. They still had me on a lighter patient schedule these past few weeks. And gee was it necessary! I am getting better at using their electronic medical record system but still feel like I’m not as efficient as I could be.

The patients, for the most part, have been kind. Some are more complicated than others. Some are very complicated. I try to compartmentalize and prioritize, knowing I won’t be able to help fix all their problems in one office visit.

They also closed the previous locum’s in-basket of tasks the other week and all the unfinished tasks, labs, and medication refills dumped into my in-basket. All of a sudden I had nearly 100 tasks to complete. I was quite overwhelmed by this since I tend to have my in-basket cleared before the end of the day. I spent a few hours over last weekend in the office working on tasks. It wasn’t until two days ago, however, that I officially got through it all. Naturally, new things started coming in but 7 tasks aren’t as terrifying as 100.

It takes a village

The first week at work, my uncle was in town watching my baby. The second week, my mom was here to babysit. I had signed up for care.com and messaged about 20 people to see if they’d be interested in babysitting while I am at work and await the arrival of my AuPair. Only two got back to me saying they’d be interested. For many others, our schedules didn’t align. I was starting to get nervous.

The Universe (and my mother) had my back

My mother took the baby to the library the first day they were together. There, my mother observed a woman walk in with a few toddlers and a baby strapped to her back. My mom was impressed by how this woman interacted with the kids. The woman overheard my mother speaking German and struck up a conversation. She told my mother that she had spent an exchange year in Germany (in nearly flawless German pronounciation). My mother then proceeded to tell her of my current childcare situation. The woman said I should give her a call and that she could probably help us out.

I called her that evening. She was amazing. She agreed to add my baby to her cohort of kiddos. They spend their days between the homes of the two families whose kids she watches. One is in the city and the other is out in the country. She stopped by with her two kids last Monday for a face-to-face meeting. Our babies loved each other. I knew my baby would thrive being around this woman and her kids. She is so creative. Her parents were actors and she grew up around the theater. She has puppets to help the kid communicate their feelings, plays instruments, and works on sign language with them. I really hit the jackpot here.

Hopefully, play dates can continue to happen once my AupPair gets here too. The local nanny also gave me a huge list of restaurants to check out. Seriously, she rocks.

mfg

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Locum, Motherhood, Travel

Welcome to Oregon

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Holy moly, time flies! I’d really like to be posting more than once a month (or a month and a half!) and I think it’ll be more likely in the future.

This past month has been exceptionally busy. First, there was enjoying the last few weeks of maternity leave with family and friends in Germany. We celebrated Christmas with some of my aunt’s family by having a nice raclette feast! Shortly thereafter, my aunt and uncle drove us to Frankfurt where we all spent the night before baby and I caught our flight to Ohio.

During our short three days stay in Ohio, we visited my residency program to see everyone. I also had an OBGYN appointment for my Pap smear (make sure you are up to date on your Pap smear, my cervix possessing friends!).

Our journey to Eugene Oregon the next day was a doozy.

Connecting Time – Indefinite

Our journey from Cleveland to Eugene started really early on December 30th. Our flight out of Cleveland was at 6:10 AM (!). The flight to San Fransisco was fine, Baby didn’t sleep much at all but did make friends with the passengers around us. Shortly before landing, I checked the airline app to see if our connecting flight was on time. It was not. Au contraire mon amie! It was CANCELED. Due to staff shortages.

Remember hearing in the news how United had to cancel a bunch of flights between Christmas and New Year. Yeah, mine was one of them.

Once on the ground, I contacted a United agent to see what my next option would be to get to Eugene. The best they could do was put me on standby for a flight at 4:30 PM. Not great, especially since it was only 8:30 AM at the time. All of the flights the next day were only on standby as well. I neither liked my chances nor did I like the idea of being stuck at the airport with a baby for 8 hours. So after some deliberation with my family, I decided to rent a car and drive. Also not ideal with an 8-month-old baby but at least I was getting closer to my destination.

Road Trippin

We were looking at a 540-mile trip ahead of us. It took forever to get out of San Fransisco. Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge somewhat made up for it though. I only made it to Redding, California before booking a motel and spending the night. I don’t typically experience jet lag but I kept us on sort of a wonky schedule in Ohio because we had such an early flight to catch. Now being 3 hours even further behind, we were in bed by 8 PM. However, we then left the motel by 3:30 AM.

The morning drive was adventurous. Once we crossed the Californian border, we were in the mountains. The fog was so thick and it was snowing. At one point, I was only driving 15 mph downhill and hoping my little economy car wouldn’t fail us. Eventually, I started to get hungry and really wondered if there would even be a place to eat since I hadn’t seen an exit in quite some time.

Heaven on Earth

I asked GoogleMaps where the nearest restaurant would be. It suggested a place called Heaven on Earth which was only 20 minutes away. Well, with a name like that, and my options very limited, I decided to give it a try! We left the highway and quickly pulled up to a wood cabin with a big sign that read “Home of the Famous Cinnamon Rolls”. The sun was just starting to rise. We walked in to find cinnamon rolls as big as a plate! A lovely lady seated us. The only other folks there was a table with 4 older gentlemen who all seemed to be cowboys.

The omelet I ordered was exactly what I needed. The open fire made the place very cozy. We chatted a bit with our server and the chef before heading out again for the last 2 hour stretch of our journey. Before dropping off the rental car at the airport, I stopped by the gas station to fill up. I was quickly informed by a nice man that I better not touch the pump or I could be looking at a $1500 fine. … Wait…what? Turns out, you are not allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon and New Jersey. Good to know!

Eugene

I spent New Year’s Eve going to bed around 9 PM. I was in a new city, knew no one, had a baby, and was perfectly content with it all. The following day, we walked around the city a bit and ran some essential errands before picking up my uncle late at night. He flew in from Germany to watch the baby while I went to my first week of work.

My first impressions of Eugene:

  • Weed is omnipresent. There are so many dispensories in and around the downtown area. Holy Grail, Spacebuds, Oregon Weed Oulet… so… many…shops.
  • Homelessness is omnipresent. There are large lots filled with tents. Tents are set up at seemingly random places along the neighborhood. As a co-worker would later let me know, the numbers of homeless people is so high in Eugene due to a combination of skyrocketing rent, strict city expansion laws and liberal policies which make it a more welcoming place. In contrast, in Springfield, a more conservative town, which is literally right next to Eugene, it is illegal to hand anything out of your car window. Apparently its a law to stop people from giving food or drinks to the homeless. Supposedly, other more conservative cities in Oregon give the homeless a one-way ticket to Eugene and tell them they’ll be taken care of here.
  • Kindness is omnipresent. Everyone I have met has been kind. There are countless Black Lives Matter signs in the businesses and “Choose Kindness” signs in the neighborhood.

Svikki MD

My first week at work was all orientation. I work at a community health center. There are several offices throughout Eugene and I was able to shadow at several of them throughout the week. Not only was it nice to shadow providers to get a feeling of how their electronic medical record program works (vastly different than the Epic program I am used to) but it was also nice to shadow them seeing patients. It’s been 9 months since I’ve seen patients. Although I wasn’t afraid of having forgotten how to use a stethoscope, it was nice to ease back into the clinical setting by being a fly on the wall.

Everyone, from the providers to the support staff, really seem to enjoy the work that they do. The patients we see in the clinic are mainly Medicare, Medicaid, uninsured and underserved. They tend to be fairly complex, both medically and socially. However, the people working in the clinics really seem to have a passion for helping these people get the healthcare they deserve.

I was happy to find out that I would be working in a clinic closer to home than the one I originally was told I would be at. Since I was all over the place for orientation week, I was able to stop by at home for lunch a few times. My first week was Monday through Friday. Going forward, I’ll only be working Tuesday through Friday.

My first week of orientation went well and my first week of being back at work went well for Baby too. My uncle did a great job and I really enjoyed having him here with me.

I receive very intense kisses when I get home from work.

Three Day Weekend

I’m so excited to spend our 3-day weekends exploring Oregon. My coworkers have given me some fun suggestions of things to check out. My uncle, the baby, and I spent our first weekend in Portland. I’ll write about that and my first week back seeing patients in the next post (which hopefully will be next weekend…truly, I hope). If you have any suggestions of what I need to see, eat, do, or experience in Oregon, PLEASE let me know! I’m here for 7 months and I want to explore!

mfg

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Happiness, Travel

Getting into the Christmas Spirit…sort of?

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Over the last several weeks, I have been back and forth between Stade and Göttingen. I’ve been visiting family and friends. I’ve also been spending some time looking through old pictures at my grandparents’s home and working on putting together a family tree.

I haven’t really done much exploring as I intended to. This is multifactorial. Firstly, going back and forth between Stade and Göttingen so frequently eats up quite a bit of time. Especially when I get back to the house in Stade, its grocery shopping, doing laundry, getting organized. When I leave the house, there is a checklist of things that need to be done and trying to pack as minimally as possible for the baby and myself.

Secondly, the weather has been a bit of a bummer lately. It’s not exactly an appealing thought to go on a long walks in the rainy, windy weather.

Thirdly, the COVID numbers have been rising dramatically again in Germany. These numbers are mainly fueled by the unvaccinated. About 68.6% of the eligible population is vaccinated. The distribution is not proportional. There is a clear north-south divide when you look at a map of the cases. The north is more vaccinated and has less cases. Northern states are taking ICU patients from the southern states because the southern hospitals are overwhelmed. With these rising numbers comes increased restrictions on public life. As of today, many parts of Lower Saxony have a 2G+ rule.

  • Canal in Buxtehude
  • A free library in an old telephone booth
  • Cinderella in Buxtehude
  • Die Sterntaler in Buxtehude

German Covid Regulations

In Germany, they have the 2G and 3G regulations. The G’s are geimpft (vaccinated), genesen (recovered), and getestet (tested). Many places already had 2G regulations in place. If you were vaccinated or had recovered from Covid in the past 6 months, you were good. As I mentioned, as of today, many increased the restrictions to 2G+. So in order to partake in certain activities (Christmas markets or going to get your hair cut), you need a few things. You have to be either fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid no more than 6 months ago AND need to have a negative test result from that day as well. Oh, and you still have to wear a mask.

The rising numbers have also caused many Christmas markets to shut down after only being open a few days or not opening at all.

Christmasmarket Adventures

I briefly visited the Christmas market in Göttingen last week when I was in town to grab some chocolates and flowers for my friend’s birthday. I had to show my proof of vaccination and ID to obtain a wristband. This wristband had to be shown to vendors to be able to buy anything. I quickly grabbed some fried mushrooms as a little snack. Back in the day when I was a medical student, we would head to the Christmas market as much as possible in the evening to drink some Glühwein (hot, spiced wine).

Yesterday, I drove to Buxtehude, about 20 minutes from Stade, to check out their Christmas market. Buxtehude is associated with fairytales. The city’s mascots are a hare and hedgehog. The story surrounding the two is similar to the American story of the tortoise and the hare. You’ll find statues and depictions of the two in stores, on the street and on street signs. For Christmas, they set up statues of various fairytale characters throughout the city. To enter the Christmas market, I had to show them my proof of vaccination and ID. I read a few of the stories posted under the fairytale statues and grabbed some Schmalzkuchen. That is fried pieces of dough topped with powdered sugar. Similar to funnel cake in the USA. Overall, it wasn’t really busy. Maybe I was just too early. But it didn’t feel like the typical Christmas market experience.

  • Buxtehude Christmas Market
  • Buxtehude Christmas Market
  • Storytelling in Buxtehude
  • Buxtehude Christmas Market

Mission: get into the Christmas market!

Today, I drove in the opposite direction and wanted to see the Christmas market in Himmelpforten (Heaven’s Gate). On the radio, I heard that Lower Saxony was now using the 2G+ rule and wondered if this would already apply to the Christmas market. When I arrived, I saw the large poster at the entrance gate announcing the 2G+ rule. I asked the gate attending where I could get tested. Luckily for me, there was a testing location in walking distance. Their website said they weren’t open for another 40 minutes but I decided to head over anyways. The walk was filled with light rain and fairly strong winds. My baby was tucked in the baby wrap under a cashmere sweater and oversized winter jacket. If it weren’t for the imminent threat of Christmas markets potentially closing soon, I would’ve gotten back into my car and driven home.

My wait at the testing center was maybe 15-20 minutes before being tested. They had opened early. When I exited the building, I saw that the line had quadrupled in length. I apparently wasn’t the only one surprised by the 2G+ rule. In Germany, you can use an App on your phone at testing centers. Your individual QR code is scanned and then the result is automatically uploaded into the app. Germany actually has a few Apps it uses. There is one for checking in at restaurants and such by scanning a QR code so that you don’t have to fill out the contact tracing paperwork. Another App verifies your vaccination status and one even alerts you if you have been in the vicinity of a person who recently tested positive. All pretty nifty.

Mission accomplished

Since it was going to take about 15 minutes for my test result to be ready, I headed to the grocery store to grab a few items. When the test result was on my phone, I finally headed to the Christmas market. All in all, about an hour after I originally arrived.

It was a bit depressing to see how empty the Christmas market was. This was likely due to all the people still standing in line to get their Covid test. There were a lot of vendors with handmade crafts as well as several food and beverage vendors. I walked around a bit looking to see if they had potatoes pancakes (one of my favorite Christmas market foods) but unfortunately, they didn’t. Nonetheless, I wanted to support the vendors, so I found one selling deep-fried apple rings. At this point, baby was over being in the carrier, so I decided to head back to the car and head home. Again, the real feeling of Christmas market was lacking a bit unfortunately.

  • The church in Himmelpforten (Heaven’s Gate)
  • Christkindmarkt Himmelpforten
  • The calorie bomb in Himmelpforten
  • Christkindmarkt HImmelpforten

Practicing gratefulness

I really am grateful that I’ve had the few Christmas market visits so far. There are a few more on my radar I’d like to visit in the near future. I’m even willing to take on some of the increased security measures to do so. But I also fear many will shut down or not even open because there won’t be enough visitors. It’s a bit sad because if it weren’t for Covid, I’d visit the markets in Hamburg, Hannover, Kassel and so on. They would be filled with people, laughter, food, drinks, snacks, lights, decorations and fun. It would be a time to spend with family and friends and make memories. Maybe I’m idealizing the experience a bit because it’s been so long since its been that way for me. The first few years after graduating medical school because I wasn’t in Germany and the last two years because of Covid.

If pandemics of the past are any indication however, this time of restriction too shall pass. I guess I’m also grateful that my baby is just that, a baby and won’t remember this time anyways. Hopefully, by the time long-term memory kicks in, Christmas markets will be back to their old glory and we can eat, laugh, drink, play and make memories together then.

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