Happy November (12/30)

Some rather chilly, but adorable, tourists in Salem

A sentiment all Salem shared during
October

     Ah November. I have been looking forward to this month for a while. I love it so much. I am a bit biased because my birthday happens to be at the beginning of November, but I think I’d love this month even if it wasn’t my birth month. I love the cooler temperatures, muted colors, stormy skies, delicious fall foods, hot beverages, warm clothing, and so many other things. I’m not alone in my love of November either. While I’m sure there are November-lovers everywhere, each with their own reasons for their love, I’m guessing it’s rare to find entire cities where all the citizens look forward to a single month, but that is exactly the case in Salem, MA. The reason is simple: November means Halloween is over and, most importantly, the tourists go away. Life can finally return to normal. Last weekend was still rather busy as the tourists tried to squeeze in some last bit of revelry before heading home, but soon the crowds began to shrink and the locals dared venture outside again. Many of my coffee shop's regular customers stopped coming during the month of October, at least on the weekends, so it's been fun to see many of them again, and it's been almost laughable how many locals greeted each other with "Happy November!" during this last week. 

The House of the Seven Gables

     So you may be wondering now just how bad/crazy October actually was. The answer to that question depends though on a couple different factors. If you're talking about the tourists in Salem, then it was a rather unpleasant month. There are often so many people that walking through downtown is stressful and driving is almost impossible. Even my daily commute was sometimes frustrating because the tourists crowded the afternoon train as well. Working at the coffee shop on the weekends was a lesson in patience to be sure. However, I cannot complain too much about the tourists because I joined their ranks, briefly, when my parents came to visit toward the end of October. My sister and brother in-law even came up to Salem as well and together the five of us played tourists, walking along the wharf, touring the House of the Seven Gables, visiting the Old Burying Point Cemetery, and people-watching all the oddly costumed people in downtown. I even got to introduce my family to some very cool people: my coworkers (at least some of them). 

      October wasn't all craziness and dealing with ridiculous tourists though. My sister and I both have birthdays right around Halloween, so when my parents were visiting we celebrated both of our birthdays a bit early with a delightful family outing. My brother in-law's family even came down from Vermont to join us in exploring the ICA and eating out in Boston's Chinatown. It was a simply smashing day. It was also the second birthday celebration for me since I'd already had a combined birthday palaround with coworkers earlier in October. This year's birthday has been rather prolonged since I have not really stopped celebrating my it yet, even though it was earlier this week. Besides the parties with my coworkers and family, I was also spoiled by my classmates and the girls in my Bible study this week, and next week I'm going to the final Anberlin concert in Boston as a birthday present! It's going to be so good. I wasn't sure for a while that the concert would even work because I didn't know my exam schedule for next week until one week ago, and two exams were actually planned for next week, but one is the day of the concert, and the other one was just moved, so I can actually enjoy a bit of fun amid the school craziness. 

Some friends promoting PA week at the
beginning of October

     School was definitely the thing that made October the busiest. I expected this since the PA program is certainly the biggest thing in my life right now, but I think I'd forgotten just how overwhelming it can be at times. The clinical medicine class in particular often feels like trying to drink from a fire hose. For our cardiology exam we covered everything over just two weeks (20 hours of lecture), our final lecture was on a Friday, and our test was on the following Monday. It's a lot to try to not only gain a basic knowledge of the material, but really learn how to apply it, especially in such a short amount of time. So far this term we've covered preventive medicine, dermatology, HIV, infectious diseases, cardiology, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal conditions. In one week we'll be tested on endocrinology and then it's just otolaryngology before the final. There is so much to learn, but it helps to think that we will soon be using this information when we start our clinical clerkships in the spring, and I have some amazing girls to study with, which has been such a help. So, I guess I can just say in closing that, yes, October was a tad crazier and busier than I would have liked, but it was all worth it in the end. I am definitely happy that there are just a couple exams before finals though. :)

This picture just makes me giggle.