Meeting Paul Farmer

This month I met one of my heroes. A couple of years ago, a close friend lent me the book Mountains Beyond Mountains. The story chronicles the fascinating life and inspiring projects of Dr. Paul Farmer, an infectious disease doctor and founder of the now famous NGO Partners in Health. The book left a huge impression on me. Paul Farmer's story is a concrete testament of the power of individuals doing little things to bring about big change. I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in international affairs, anthropology or health care. Dr. Farmer spoke in Columbus a few weeks ago and Brianna and I had the chance to attend his lecture. He shared experiences from his work all over the world on a variety of public health issues, including projects in rural Haiti, inner-city Boston, Russia, Peru, and Rwanda. Hearing Dr. Farmer speak was inspiring, and got us all fired up to pull a Captain Planet and save the world. It is refreshing to see someone trying to make a difference and succeeding, even without a green mullet.

Med Prom

Ever wished you could go back and relive the highschool glory days, even just for one night? Yeah, me neither. However, when Brianna and I had the chance to revisit our highschool prom night this weekend as part of OSU College of Medicine's much anticipated Med Prom, we jumped at the chance. On Saturday night we got ourselves all decked out and hit the town in style. Breaking with Northern Utah tradition, I skipped out on the wrist corsage in an attempt to give the circulation in Brianna's arm a break.

The evening started off with a big group dinner. In classic highschool-boy fashion, us guys waited until the last minute to set up dinner reservations. Our procrastination landed us at Inchin's Bamboo Garden, a unique Indo-Chinese restaurant in a nearby strip mall. To say we were a little overdressed for the establishment would be an understatement. In retrospect, I did take my Junior Prom date to Tony Roma's: "Famous for Ribs", so I guess I was keeping with tradition. The restaurant had a fun ambiance, the food was great, and unlike my last prom experience, I didn't spill any BBQ sauce on my pants.

The dance was held in downtown Columbus at The Vault. The building is an old bank that has been transformed into a special events venue. The theme for the night was The Roaring 20's. Prohibition evidently was not being enforced, but the bar served Sprite, so we were in good shape. We had a great time dancing, and I enjoyed not having to worry about if my breath was OK or making sure there was space for a triple combination during the slow songs. Below is a shot of us with the Pouly's, some good friends we doubled with.

The night ended up being a blast. Reliving the glory days of prom night turned out to be quite enjoyable. And the best part was skipping the awkward doorstep scene and heading straight for the bedroom...to go to sleep.