Final are over and I am in New York! I though this would be a HUGE difference from the last two months of bumbi. Tji fick jag (Swedish for "what do you know").

This is what I left:

This is what I am currently hanging out with in New York. 4 x bumbibears.

 

 Äsch ok, we also had some time to walk around the City. 

 

The night before (stats) finals

Some (really cleaver) MPH student from last year's cohort developed this highly advanced graph. It cannot be more true. Reject null hypothesis of no difference in Facebook posts before and after finals!

Bumbibears

In order to increase our survival rate during this very dark and long semester, Saskia and I have developed two rules.

• Rule #1: We are not allowed to say the words "work" or "study" Instead, we say "gummibears" to associate our studies with something cute and funny. Over time, gummibears have developed into "bumbibears" and most recently only "bumbi". 

Sometimes I forget that far from everyone is familiar with our special rule. I almost told my supervising professor the other day that I was going to spend my weekend doing bumbibears (could be interpreted in many ways). That could have been the end to my academic career before it even started. 

 

 

• Rule #2: It is easy to get a tiny, little itsy bisty bit depressed here. Perhaps it's our European nerves that cannot stand the American academic climate, but the German and the Swede have been insanely angry at the world lately. Hence came the development of rule number two. After complaining and raging about the bumbibear-load and how we never get to experience sunlight, we have to say 5-10 things that makes us happy. Examples include nice coffee, crispy air, colorful trees, wine and cheese, hiking, skiing and friendly people. 

Other things that makes us happy includes Public Health (high-school) Prom-night!

Enough about bumbi. Since my last (ancient) blog update, much have happened. A few words to describe the passed months:

Football careers

We have celebrated out very first yberamerikanska Thanksgiving playing American football and eating tons of food together with the family of a professor that I work with. I feel a strong future career in football as I started to grap the game just as it was finished.

Swedish fish

Just as the darkness started to approach, we threw a combined midsommar-jul-kräftskiva with Swedish decorations and food á la IKEA in our apartment. Treats included tipsprommenad (quiz walk) featuring Swedish know-hows, sill (pickled herring), pepparkakshus (ginger bread house), knäckebröd (cracker bread) and snapps (that will have to speak for it self). What a night. It was like a huge behavioral experiment where at one point, we got the whole room of 40+ guests to sing Helan Går. Små grodorna (the little frog dance) came out during the after party for which only the coolest people stayed.

 

 

Please pay attention to the IKEA-bought cray-fish hats

George

For a few weeks, we escaped our apartment and moved down to house sit in Fells Point - an area of Baltimore where you can actually see the harbor and WALK long walks along the waterfront. The house we guarded came with a roommate - George. George is yellow, full of feathers and bites off fingers if you approach him to closely. Gustav says that he reminds him of me - stuck in a cage and eating only seeds and water. I am sure I must have more things in life than that?

 I stole a picture of George from Gus blog

Holidays are approaching and Gus and I are preparing to leave Baltimore for snowy adventures elsewhere. The city is getting into Christmas spirit and we have our very own (concrete) tree in the backyard: Baltimore monument. 1st of December is the lightening of the monument and I was able to gaze it for 3 minutes before returning to bumbibears. 

*Four more days to a long and well-deserved break* 

In the meantime, glad Lucia! (this may be from 2010, but hey, same same)

11.11.11

I wonder what this day will bring?

East Balimore walks and talks

Conversation with Jennifer, my Irish friend in Barcelona:

Jen: *Lifting up her dog and displaying him to the Skype camera*  - "Say hiiii to Anna"
Me: Hiiii dog, nice to meet you!
Jen: He is a bit depressed.
Me: Why?
Jen: Well, he doesn't have a lot of space to run around at during the day. Fiki (Jen's boyfriend) and me are working different hours and it is difficult to find enough time where he can run around an play (not Fiki, but the dog).
Me: *Distracted by Gustav playing charades behind my shoulder* - "Hmm. Reminds me of my dog (not a dog, but Gustav).
Jen: Yea, it's so hard when you feel like they don't get to explore and play where they want. Instead they are stuck in the same area with not much to do.
Me: *Looking at my over-energized husband*. "I hear ya".

I definitely need to find more time to take Gus out for walks. Each day I watch him dreaming about surfing, skiing, diving and other hyperactive stuff and it is only a matter of time before he escapes again. I miss all that stuff too, but school keeps me so busy I barely have the time to notice.

Mostly, I really miss taking walks. Living in Baltimore has made me appreciate the luxury of being able to walk everywhere, at all times. Instead I find my self packed like a sardine at the Hopkins shuttle bus every morning, glazing out the window as we drive through the infamous East Baltimore where Bloomberg School of Public Health is situated. It is really quite weird.

We spend every day inside the same building, learning about health disparities, public health challenges, socio economic differences in incidence and prevalence of disease, and yet I feel like many people fail to recognize that we are right in the smacking middle of it all. We learn about international health challenges in low income countries, challenges that ample people face every day in our proximate neighborhood. 

Part of east Balimore

Johns Hopkins Medial Institutions in the middle of it all

Again, weird. I am not sure how to tackle it and wish I could find more time and ways to be involved and learn about Baltimore community. It has taken me some time to adapt to the city and Hopkins (still adapting every day) and tackle the intense MPH study pace, which unfortunately gets in the way of other things. Such as being able to walk and play with my husband and getting involved in the community where we live. 

Some time this month I hope to start volunteering at an HIV outreach center which conduct targeted testing and counseling to high-risk populations. I am currently working as a TA (teaching assistant) for a course in HIV/AIDS prevention which is great since I am learning so much. Sometimes I wonder how I have been able to work in this field for 5 years without all the knowledge I am currently gaining. Hopefully I will get to use it in practice soon.

Wow. This got out of hand. My intention with this blog post was originally to write (in my usual sarcastic tone) about our trip to New York and throw in some pictures from Halloween in between. How did it get so serious? Quick-fix solution:

• For details about New York, please visit Gus blog.
• For Halloween updates, please see the following pictures. Please observe my outfit as the brand new (?) IKEA product "ANNA" (instruction manual enclosed).

Finalists in the MPH costume competition included humans and non-humans.

Best non-humans! IKEA and the Generalized Linear Model Sara.

Instruction manual for building the IKEA product ANNA.

Make sure NOT to attach the wrong pieces as indicated in the lower left corner.

In love

Hej alla.

I'm alive. Finals are over. New semester started.

And I have a new love.

Called New York City.

Just thought I should let you know that.

Hej då så länge

Saved by the beard

Late Saturday night, I defided the rain, darkness, cold and horrible traffick and drove to the airport to pick up Gus. 


Only to experience his most recent facial hair look. It is somewhat a tradition that whenever we've been apart for a while (or about to travel somewhere), he does something weird to his beard.

Most recent look

Mozambique, Winter 2010

Summer, 2010 - I think this is the most scary look as he looks like 12 (makes me feel weird and old).

And from time to time, I let my facial hair grow as well

At least he's back in Charm City, to - as he kindly phrased it - "sätta käppar i hjulet för mina onda pluggcirklar" (rough translation: put and end to my vicious study-sick-cycle). 

About time, as I am just about to enter hibernation. Finals are approaching (can't believe it's already the end of my second semester) and if I survive these exams, I feel confident that I will make it through the year.


Anyway, a minor headsup that you might not see much of me before Oct 20th. I'll throw in a picture of my calendar just to make things a bit more visual.

Bye bye, see you post-exams!


Oh, and welcome Birgitta (Gustavs mother who's coming to visit us next week) - hope this doesn't scare you of!

Pandemic fun

What do Public Health students do to spice up a party?

The play Pandemic - the boardgame - pretending to be D.A Henderson eradicating smallpox and other stuff. 

After a thrilling session with multiple outbreaks of disease "yellow", disease "red" and other colours in places like London, Calcutta and Johannesburg (Sweden was of course safe)

- we all died.

We know that because we reached the mark with a skull on it. Dead indeed.

For some reason, everyone blamed me for our death simply becasue I had tiny, microscopic issues with paying attention.

I am now wondering if this a sign that I should change profession? Or, if at the end of our MPH, we will be able to kick Pandemic's ass. It should definitely be included in our degree (for at least 4 credits).

Old(er), Cold(er)

Baltimore is getting cold. Compared to summer, that is. Yesterday I wore boots for the first time since I came here and actually didn't sweat. Following the cold, comes another cold: the flue. I am currently in bed hallucinating about biostatistics (midterms next week, perfect timing as ever). 

As much as I would love to blame the weather for my inconvient situation, I have to confess that my lifestyle the last weeks (months?) might have something to do with it. 

Introducing the study-holiday-more study-sick-cycle as an explanation:

Somewhere in the middle: sick, sicker, sickest. Copyright: Anna Larsson

Either way, I couldn't be happier that I decided to take a break and go and visit Gus in New Orleans last weekend. Not only did I get to live married life again, but experience the most amazing city.  In his blog, Gus did a great job decribing New Orleans and how the city is starting to recover (smooth indicator that you should visit his blog if you want a more elaborated discription). 

We were fortunate enought to have two awesome hosts - Bill and Gail - who made sure we got to eat everything from greasy traditional Lousiana food to crabs, go on aligator safari and not swimming in the Mississippi river (apparently that will kill you). 

Swamp. This used to be water, but due to Katrina bringing fertilizers, everything is closing up.

Check the left corner. No, it's not a log (stock).

We also did some exploring on our own. Like every other tourist in NO, we ended up on Burbon street (a.k.a crazyness street, a.k.a party street). All of a sudden we had huge drinks with 57% alcohol in our hands at 4 pm in the afternoon. 

This made us randomly decide on getting thai massages from a hole-in-the-wall place after being lured in there with "free massage samples" and then persuaded to stay (the girl massaging me held a firm grip of both my hands and feets - not much choice, really). The best experience was going back home on the "tram" - a streetcar with electric sparks flying everytime the driver shifted gear.

It looks so cute and innocent. It's not.

It was a fantastic weekend. Then, suddenly, it was over and I was old(er). We celebrated the fact that I am now 28 grown up years with banana pancaces and shopping rubber boots for the upcoming rainy winter in Baltimore. Back home, Kristin picked me up at the airport with homemade cupcakes in the car. A few drinks later with friends and my age-paranoia was long gone. At least until next year. Back to study cycle!

Older(er) surrounded by even older, matching, colorful, men.

Nörd, nördare, nördast

The more time I spend at Hopkins, the more I discover that I am a huge nerd. This conclution derives from expressing the following nerd-symptoms:

• In biostatistics, I got goosebumps reuniting with my T-83 caculator after spending more or less 10 years apart.

The fact that I don't even remember how to do a log10 calculation makes little difference. It's back.

• I powerwalk listening to mp3 recordnings of my course in Reproductive Biology. The professor introduces approximately 1785 new vocabulary each lecture which I try to memorize saying it out loud ( = people passing by me are exposed to words such as "erectile dysfunction" and "estrogen receptors".
  

• Having discovered Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), I can't stop watching this guy drawing scientific stuff on a blackboard.
  

• Youtube. No need to say more. Everything and beyond can be found there. Like this video about HIV replication and anti retroviral treatments (please notice the sound effects!). I am amazed how I have managed working with HIV prevention for the last 5 years without knowing about different co-receptors, delta-32 mutations, and advanced DNA structures. 

•  I find myself making advanced excel spread sheets to organize and plan coursework. All in different colors, of course. And then compare it to even more advanced ones made by my brilliant classmates. 

• I started using flashcards for studying. And bring them to the gym...

• I want to by a sweatshirt that says "Hopkins".

• I already bought one keychain and two folders that says "Hopkins"...

• My organization of documents into different folders have gotten out of hand and resulted in that I no longer know where to find what.

Now that I confessed all that, I also want to point out that I do have a life. Next weekend I am visiting Gus in new Orleans! And have promised not to bring any books.

I wish this was the boat Gus is working on.

A night with Irene

I just woke up after spending more or less 24 hours, alone, inside my flat. Peaked out the window to gaze the hazardous consequenses from Irene. The only thing I can see is that the tree outside my building has one brench less than yesterday. And there's a HUGE waterpuzz downstairs. 

That's it, at least on my street.

In any case, the weather was crazy last night. At that point I couldn't even see through my window because of the rain. I felt like a cat who refuses to get wet and stayed in doing homework.

There was probably more damage in other Baltimore neighborhoods such as Fell's Point by the waterfront. People have been preparing for days there isolating houses and evacuating people, cars, animals, god knows what. I was a bit worried about my friends down there. 

Then I saw this video. I hope everyone made sure to keep their office papers safe!

(Quick not on a totally different topic: many of you have mentioned that it is impossible to comment on my blog. I finally changed the settings. So, comments please! Då blir jag glad.)

Get clean before Irene

Going back to the motel from sailing, this sign welcomes us. 

Hurricane Irene is approaching. What better opportunity to get a car wash? (Or get the hell out of here).

So. Now we're kind of stuck in between going back to Baltimore where there was an earthquake today. Or stay here and face Irene.
Hjälp.

Two europeans and one american on holiday

I can't believe I survived the last week, but I did. The study pace and climate here is definitely... different... from Sweden. I guess both in a good and a bad way. Good because I learn so many amazing things, bad because the workload is slowly killing me.

A new portion of knowledge delivered in Sommer Hall.

Anyway, finals are are finally over. After spending every hour cramming knowledge into my head, it's time for a break. And since  it's apparently the only break we get until December... better use it wisely.

So now I am in Outer banks, North Carolina with Kristin and Saskia. We're staying a genuine American motel right by the beach and drive around on the highway that divides this very, very nice island into two beach strips (with houses on every side blocking the beach view).

Today we went exploring.

We tried to get a tan on the beach. It rained. So we escaped.

Happy crowd despite the rain. Wearing sunglasses to make the sun come out again. 

We took Kristin's 4-weels for a drive on the beach and almost got stuck.

We saw a lighthouse.

We walked on giant sand dunes. The jumped a bit.

We drove some more. The sun finally came out and we passed out on the beach. Woke up when 3 bulldozers almost ran us down. Here they waste no time making the environment even more built.

Wait... wait... what's blocking the sun? Oh, don't get up. It's  just another  bulldozer.

We had dinner in a surf bar. Surf bars are always the best spots. Within minutes we got offered a free sailing trip tomorrow and a round of beers.

Soon back to reality as courses start Thursday. Then my blogging might be off for some time, again.

And yes, I am still married. Gus left for Key West and is now onboard a research ship for the next 6-7 weeks. Before he left I got a birthday gift that he spent his evenings renovating (!). I don't know which one I love more; my new bike or my (new) husband...?

Waiting to explore Baltimore. I'm a bit scared since I never use a handlebar like this. Looks so professional.