Baltimore and Me!

Here is the story of why this song has been stuck in my head for the past three days.

I went to Baltimore this week on perhaps the shortest trip of my life.  I went for a very formal interview at the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University (go ahead, be impressed).

Overall impression of the city:  very cool.  Some parts are definitely very reminiscent of Boston.  Unfortunately most of my walking-around was at night, and so I didn't get any great pictures of the parts that were particularly lovely.  There's American history aplenty there, including Fort McHenry, the site where "The Star Spangled Banner" was composed.*  Of course, there are also parts that are very sketchy, but everyone I talked to seemed to say that it was a safe place for anyone with good common sense.  Also, the shuttle driver who brought us to campus was the most excitingly friendly man ever.  He was totally like a cartoon movie bus driver or something.  The sad thing about such a short trip was that I didn't get to try as much of the delicious-looking food as I would have liked, but hopefully I'll be able to go back.

Overall impression of the school:  OH MY GOSH I WANT TO GO THERE SO BADLY!!!!!  I knew I wanted to go there pretty badly when I originally applied, but after visiting and talking with all of the faculty and students, I'm in love with the place.  There is a ton of fascinating research going on, and I know that if I went there, I'd be extremely well-prepared for a career in academia.  Also, their medical school divides its students into four colleges or "houses," and the way it was described, it sounds exactly like Hogwarts.  Additionally, everyone is super friendly, and one of the current students has an a capella group called "The Centrifugues."**  How awesome is that?

Also it's beautiful.  I didn't want to be crazy-tourist and take tons of pictures,
but this is the front of the old hospital.

Other fun things:  I got to see friends!  Laura, the Lawyer of Baltimore, and Bostonian Dave Currently in D.C. met up with me the first night I was there and we had dinner.  There was much nostalgia (brought on in part by crayon-scented cars) and reminiscing and forgetting that I wasn't in Boston and it wasn't last year.  But it was insanely fun (probably because I was exhausted and hilarious scenes from "New Girl" were referenced).

This is not what Laura's face looks like all the time.
If I were more talented, I would Photoshop myself in the middle.

Overall, it was an awesome trip (if for no other reason than I was not in Hawaii).  I think the interviews went really well.  Fingers crossed that I'll be able to say "Good Morning" to Baltimore yet again!


*Forever ingrained in my memory from first grade music class with Mrs. Thomas
**They are a branch from the Med School a capella group, "The Notochords."  Yay for nerdy music puns!

My Trip to Michigan

Hello everyone! Yesterday I returned from the shortest trip I ever took that required five* plane rides. I visited East Lansing, Michigan for a grad school interview at Michigan State University. Here is the story of that trip:

On Monday afternoon I got off the plane at the Lansing airport. The Lansing airport is tiny and has a little bit of a "Twin Peaks-y" vibe to it, and I have to like that about a place. Shortly after I got my bag, I was whisked away by a grad student to my interview. The fact that I didn't know that I was having an interview meant that I didn't have time to prepare (thank goodness I was wearing a suit jacket with my jeans and fuzzy boots), but also I didn't have time to be super nervous. I was probably a bit more honest in my interview than I expected to be, but I don't think it was an utter disaster of tactlessness.

The next day, I was taken to see some of the things the Anthropology department has to offer. I saw their forensic lab and their (very impressive) skeletal collection. Overall, this was a very educational trip. Before visiting MSU, I had a very generic Pro/Con list about the program, and now, I'm able to flesh the list out on both sides, which will be very important should I have decisions to make in the future.** I'm trying to not think too much about these decisions until I have to make them, as to preserve my sanity and to not waste a perfectly good Pro/Con list.

(For those curious, here is one tiny glimpse of my Pro/Con list:  Pro--The cost of living in East Lansing is amazing. Con--there are no streetlights and I will probably get hit by cars.)

While in East Lansing, I got to experience quite a bit of the local cuisine, which, as you can imagine, is college-town-diverse. Here are three mini restaurant reviews for you!

• Bell's Greek Pizza (1135 East Grand River Avenue; East Lansing):  Delicious and super cheap. Like $1.50/slice cheap. Food is so much cheaper here than in Boston. This is a fun place where they serve you pizza at the counter and then you go sit down and eat it. I was at post-airplane and post-interview levels of starving, so I ate three slices:  mushroom, tomato-basil, and bacon. The bacon slice was a little soggy on the bottom, which was disappointing, but the other two slices were great. The crust is thick and fluffy and a little buttery, but not greasy, which is just the way I like it.*** Bell's is open until 4:00 a.m., which I imagine appeals to a certain demographic (not mine). 
• Sansu Sushi and Cocktails (4750 Hagadorn Road; East Lansing):  I went here with one of the Anthropology grad students to talk about the program informally. And informal it was! This is a "take your shoes off" kind of place, in the sense that it's authentically Japanese, that is. I got a Teriyaki Chicken Bento box, something I've never tried before. And again, the person accustomed to buying food in Boston says, so much freaking food for eleven dollars! There was chicken, rice, California rolls, seaweed salad, various and sundry things Tempura, and soup and more salad. All very delicious, and it almost felt healthful (even though I was so stuffed afterwards). 
• Thai Princess (1754 Central Park Drive; Okemos):  My friend and I went here for dinner on my last night in Michigan. This is a very college-student-friendly Thai place, but it is very pink. So pink. Like the Victoria's Secret of Thai places pink. Maybe it was for the impending Valentine's Day, but also probably because it has "Princess" in the name. I ordered the Sesame Chicken, which is a change from my normal noodle order whenever I eat Thai food. It was very well seasoned and came with lots of yummy steamed vegetables. I was sad that the side of rice was just regular white rice and not Jasmine or something more flavorful. Just as well, I guess, as I didn't need more carbs that day. The lady who cleared our table was really nice, and she had a good eye for fashion (i.e. she knew that my coat was from Lands End). 

One neat thing is that I have now officially visited every place I have applied for Grad School, which hasn't happened before. Both Provo and Boston were kind of leaps. Good leaps, but leaps nonetheless. I'll keep you all posted when it comes to decision time.

(Also, I failed at bringing a camera. I was like "East Lansing, what do I need to photograph in East Lansing?" There was a display case in the DO school that had a femur in it. The femur was painted gold with the words "Golden Femur" on it. Everyone who knows my superhero alter-ego, Bone Girl, knows that Bone Girl's weapon of choice is the Golden Femur of Justice! The only proof I have is the picture I took with my crappy phone camera that has no way of leaving my crappy phone.)



*Yes, five. Boston to Detroit to Lansing to Detroit to DC to Boston. I normally like to humor the flight attendants and pay attention to the safety briefing, but by the last time, I was like, "girl, I know how to buckle my seatbelt."
**Please bless that I have decisions to make in the future. And bless that those decisions are not "should I live in a box in Somerville or move back in with my parents?".
***Boston pizza tends to be a little too crunchy and burnt-tasting (yes, Upper Crust, I'm talking about you) for my taste.