fall 2009 pics

went to a park in bucharest where they featured model houses and churches from different parts of romania. have already forgotten the name, but here's one of the churches...
went to dinner one night and walked by the oldest church in romania...these are the workshop facilitators i worked with...
the people's palace (or palace of parliament)...built by a crazy communist leader. if you google it, it's got a pretty crazy story...
a few months ago, i went to charleston for a weekend trip with sarah...hit an actual plantation...
that's an alligator on the left, little duckies on the right...don't worry, they escaped into the reeds.
another gator...
charleston is a pretty city...family-friendly, but not so pet-friendly, which was an issue because we took along this little gal...so cute, no? just hard to get into restaurants and other sights in the city because of her. it's all good, though...we got to walk around and people loved her. it was a nice trip.

in my last post i forgot to mention that there have been a few visitors the past month. first, jane and earnie visited for a few days, so we had a proper southern dinner at mary mac's tea room...didn't have my camera, so no pics there. but i'm now working on getting jane to apply for the eis fellowship at the cdc...am plotting ways to improve the volleyball scene in atlanta...hehe.

the next week, hana was in town for a conference, so got to hang out with her a few times, plus flor, who was here for eis interviews. i haven't seen her since my last trip to el salvador, so it was awesome to have her over...i'm hoping she gets into eis so she can move to atlanta! that same week, our team's ex-eis officer, neha, was also in town, so we met up a few times...and then i left for suriname. it was a crazy week, but so nice to see everybody.

hmm, this post is eis-heavy, so i feel like i should explain. eis stands for epidemic intelligence service - a two-year fellowship for health professionals (mostly mds) at the cdc...you're either based in certain positions in atlanta or at a state health department doing applied public health work. it's a very prestigious and rigorous fellowship - much more than mine on both counts, and it's a good way to transition to or progress in a public health career.

okay...now that i've posted twice in one week, i'm done for a while...just kidding! ;P

mia...

so...it's been a looong time, i know. things since my last blog have been good. let's see...to catch up, in september my fellowship ended and i started working as a contractor for the same team, pretty much doing the same work. i had a week of being unemployed, so i headed to la and had a great, albeit too short, trip to hang out with friends and family. then i started my job as a contractor, with a one week trip in October to Bucharest, and another trip last week to Suriname...pretty random, i know. other than that, have been wrestling with all the new policies, trainings, and procedures of my new employer. and after 2 months of that as a contractor, i now have another month or two of policies, training, and procedures to look forward to...as an official cdc employee! while i was transitioning, a full-time position opened up with my team, so i applied, and...after a few nail-biting weeks, found out that i got it! so i officially start next week, after which i will be grounded for 30 days (through cdc, have to submit for international travel 30 days in advance), though there's be a trip to san fran mid-december...yaay! but learning the ropes for my second new employer in 2 months...bleh.

anyways, i'll have to post pics later, but romania was fun...my first time in eastern europe, so it was interesting. the city was a mix of a few beautiful old buildings that somehow survived the rise and fall of communism, plus some other less beautiful buildings that were built during the communist regime, plus some newer influences. had a good time with the people i worked with there.

suriname was also great...just really hard to get to...pretty much takes 17 hours to go about 4000 miles. had some interesting layovers, though. on the way there, i had to sprint across the miami airport (they actually called my name over the loudspeakers for a last boarding call) because i had a 50 minute layover. i sprinted most of the way and then flagged down a cart because i was dying. dy--ing. so out of shape am i. managed to make it to trinidad and tobago, where i had a 7 hour layover, but was cautioned not to try to head out of the airport alone. not so safe, apparently. was also propositioned by a security guard at the airport, but that's another story. anyways, i made it to suriname safe and sound...suriname itself was interesting as well. on the 45 km ride from the airport at 2 in the morning, i noticed all these chinese businesses (restaurants and little grocery stores mostly) along the road. i didn't do much homework on suriname, but once there, i found out that the country's very diverse. it was a dutch colony, so they speak dutch, and there's a history of slaves from india and china, among others, plus new waves of immigrants, so there's this mix of east, south-east, and south asians, dutch, and caribbeans...i was surprised that i saw so many asians, and many people thought that i was surinamese and spoke dutch to me. on my way back, i flew through aruba...from what i was able to see from the plane, it looked amazing and beautiful and full of tourists (saw 4 huuuge cruise ships docked). also, in line for my boarding pass, met a lot of elderly americans who had timeshares there...a bit of a culture shock after a week in suriname.

so...why the long time no blog...to be honest, there just hasn't been that much motivation lately - there haven't been many times when i've thought, i have to blog about this. until yesterday night, that is. i was at the airport back from suriname, waiting for my ride, when i saw steve harvey walk by, heading for security. he wasn't wearing his usual fedora, so i had to look twice, but it was him. and then i thought, i should blog about this. actually, my first thought was, should i put that on my facebook status. but the blog won out, since this is where i always post my celebrity sightings.

:)

susan, this one's for you...

so...it's been a while since i've posted, i know. the past 2 months have been a bit of a blur...didn't do much traveling, so when i'm in atlanta, there's not much to report...though i guess i did manage trips to la and bangkok. it's also been a bit difficult updating because there's something in my life that i don't feel entirely comfortable posting about...what to do, what to do.

i guess for now, i'll try to skirt the issue and stay in somewhat neutral territory. all i'll say is, things are good. they're a bit roller-coasterish, but overall, things are good. i'll also say that i never knew that i could be so...i dunno quite how to describe it...i used to think i would never be like this, but now i've discovered that i'm not so different from the girls i used to judge...yes, i actually thought i'd be different, but...who knew?

i know i'm being vague, but for the friend(s) that actually still check(s) this blog, i think you know what i'm talking about.

so anyways, la was good...much too short, but good. some of the highlights included wine-tasting near santa barbara, the hollywood sign hike, the griffith observatory (for the first time since my elementary school field trip way back when), volleyball at youngnak with the kims, dinner at craft bar with the touts, dinner at the chans, lunch at the newly re-opened indo cafe with the wongs, pastrami sandwiches at langer's with art, errands with tryfena, dinner and late night coffee with high school friends, late night snacks at ihop with judy, red mango with the berkeley gals, matthew's first birthday party...just spending time with family and friends. sigh...need to head back sometime soon...

other than that, have been hanging out around atlanta...besides the la trip, i really hadn't been traveling for about 3 months, which is the longest i've been here, i think, since i moved. trying to remember what i did, but it's all a bit of a blur...i went to bangkok a few weeks ago, though that was only for a week. i went for a workshop, but didn't really know many people there (though i did reconnect with someone i had met 5 years ago in cambodia!), so it was pretty low-key. got a few massages, ate really, really well, and met some cool people. my last afternoon there, i walked around a nearby park and came across 100+ thai people aerobicizing to really loud techno music. didn't have my camera with me, but this will give you an idea of what it was like. pretty awesome...

oh, and delta and northwest were having this deal where you could upgrade to business for one mile, so...i upgraded part of my flight back from bangkok (seoul to atlanta) and it was awesome! i got to hang out in the korean air lounge at incheon...free food, free wireless, free showers. though i didn't take advantage of the latter, i stuffed myself and definitely made use of the wireless. then, during the flight, i think i slept about 8 hours straight...it was so nice! sigh...it's going to be hard to go back to economy...

i guess the only other updates i have are: 1) i think it's pretty certain that i'll be staying on at work...so i'll be here for a while longer, and 2) i'm heading down to guatemala this week.

susan, now it's your turn! ;p

the beach...in atlanta?

the avp was in atlanta last weekend...i missed it last year because i was traveling, so this year, i had to go. i was like a kid in a candy store...so excited to see some good volleyball. caught all the ucla players i used to watch in high school...nygaard, wong, johnson, and davis...and for once, the weather was awesome. like, as good as so-cal beach weather. no matter that we were in the middle of land-locked atlanta, in a parking lot with a bunch of sand dumped in it...it almost felt like i was back in so-cal watching the avp, minus my bro and the ocean. yes, art, you were missed.

i love aaa

so...long time, no post, i know. sorry, there just hasn't been much to report on this end. have been taking a break from traveling, so i've been in atlanta for over a month now...keeping busy at work, for the most part.

in job news, i think i'm getting a position with the team in september, so i'll probably be staying on for another few years. i'm trying to be a bit cautious because i still have a few months before it's official, so who knows what'll happen before then, but things look promising. we'll see...

the latest drama in my life was with my car last week. got out of work and my battery was dead. called aaa (it just so happened that i bought a aaa membership the saturday before! definitely God's grace...such a small thing in the big picture, but for some reason, He put it in my head to buy that membership.) got a jump start, was looking for a place to buy a new battery, and the car died on me in the middle of a busy street. managed to get my car to the right lane, and had to call aaa again...twice in one day! got my money's worth my first week in! this time, my car wouldn't start (some nice stranger stopped and tried to help me...yup, i'm in the south. funny because i was on the phone with my sister-in-law at the time, and she was like, tell me his license number in korean so if i don't hear from you after, i can call the police.) anyways, we tried another jump-start, but my battery was officially dead so i had to tow my car and get it fixed....just had to replace the battery, so all in all, could've been a lot worse.

that was a pretty boring story, i realize, but that's really been the only semi-blogworthy story from the whole past month. or, at least, the only one i can think of right now. things have been fun and good, but nothing stand-outish. tho, i think i saw andre 3000 at a movie theater last month.

guatemala + thailand pics

took a trip out to ayutthaya...

cabbages and condoms in bangkok...yup, those are what you think they are...hey, i work in hiv, what do you expect?
mango sticky rice...soo good...
pacaya, an active volcano in guatemala...
antigua...

belated update....

so...for the 2 loyal readers i have...this is going to be short, but i'll be posting pics soon...

did the kenya, el salvador, guatemala, bangkok trips...all in all, productive and good, but got really burnt out toward the end, so i feel like i didn't fully enjoy the bangkok trip...which is sad because i was really looking forward to finally returning to southeast asia. but, it was still fun, the meeting was really interesting, the food was good, and i did get a few massages in. all in all, a good trip, i'd say.

kenya and el salvador were quick trips, so though it was good to see friends and hang out a little, it was a lot of work (yes, i do work on these trips). in guatemala, i was working all day into the evenings, which is where i got burnt out. i did manage to get out of the city the weekend that i was there...went to antigua, which was really nice, and hiked pacaya, an active volcano not too far from the city. will posts pics soon...

so now i'm back in atlanta, and am spending the next few weeks (until the end of april!!) working on some papers and finishing up a few projects that have been languishing. i'm really looking forward to spending spring in atlanta...2-3 weeks of nice weather before it gets really hot and humid!