A little place I call 'The Rock'

Golden Gate Park

Nancy, John McLaren and Jesse

Do I have some competition?

Enjoying a wonderful day in SF!

First impressions:

1) this place is quite flash
2) At least 50% of people on the street are having conversations with themselves
3) Where else can you see a nudist, a CHiPs, barking sea lions, a guy playing kettle drums with flaming drumsticks and a stunningly beautiful bridge all in 24 hours?

Werkin' it

Well I seem to have gotten myself a part-time job! I've been eyeing a cute little cafe in Parnell for a while and decided to ask the owner if she needed help one day. Alas, she did! A coupla afternoons a week I work at Organic Africa and I'm loving it so far. 100% organic and fair trade breakfast, lunch, coffee and delicious treats. They also sell heaps of really cool African art, noteworthy are the warthogs made by Tanzanian polio sufferers from reclaimed metal.
After a couple of quiet weeks and weekends, Paul and I are heading down to Raglan tomorrow for the weekend. We've heard it's a bohemian arts and crafts laid back surf community (hmmmmmm?) so we're excited to explore. Full report to follow! We miss all ya'lls very much!

A Hidden Path

One of my favorite things about Auckland are all the hidden walkways that link the neighborhoods. We live on a cul-de-sac but everyday I see random groups of school kids or couples walking down our street never to round the cul (or is it the sac) and head back up the hill to Parnell. Finally this morning feeling triumphant after successfully changing a parking bulb on our Volvo, I bravely stomped over to the edge of the road and found a narrow staircase leading down the hill which slithered between the homes and disappeared into the woods. I am a complete sucker for exploring unknown paths sometimes against my better judgment. Draw what comparisons and/or conclusions you will! So I happily trotted down the steps and delighted in this hidden world under the tree ferns winding its way along a gurgling stream not knowing where I would end up. The sounds of the city were faint but lingered to keep me company. Eventually I came out across from a beautiful little park I've recently discovered a few blocks around the corner on Hobson Bay. Although this path was quite short and didn't uncover anything monumental, I can't help but translate each occurrence as being some kindof raw exploration of this new place and maybe even my proverbial path in life. There are hidden paths everywhere and it's up to me to find them.

Trampe le Monde

Hello from chilly nilly Parnell! Coldest days of the year here in Auckland yesterday and today. 43 degrees I think is the high today. Sounds like an Atlanta winter eh? Good on ya.
Paul and I had a great weekend! We caught up on True Blood Season 3 (not up to par if you ask us), did some clothes shopping for Pauly with a hilariously playful salesman, signed up for DSL finally (which means Skype is close on the horizon) and took a trip to the Coromandel Range on Sunday for a hike around Karangahake Gorge. We ended up climbing a mountain actually! The views and scenery were worth the stiff hips and sore calves. The last part of our walk was through the mountain via a 1 kilometer long tunnel. Yes dark damp and FREAKY! It is Paul's mission in life to scare the you know what out of me every chance he gets too. I'm convinced now. Something about a ghost train and conductor named Stevie McNichols who haunts the tunnel ... so original yet I still held on for dear life snapping my head back every few minutes assuming ole Stevie would be close behind.

It is important to savor, celebrate and honor the past, to save, hope and dream for the future but never miss the space in your moment. ~ Juicy
Kthx

Quite Flash

We hosted our first visitor this past weekend!! Our friend Courtney came through on a layover and we were so excited to have such a worthy cause to explore more outside the city. Like we needed one! The sun didn’t make much of an appearance but the puffy gray and white clouds moving rapidly across the blue sky created such a beautiful contrast to the almost neon green of the grass covered hills. After a hearty lunch in Devonport we headed north towards Leigh to check out the Sawmill Café. Along the way, we stopped at Heron’s Flight winery to sample some fine Sangiovese . The café was just up the road and turned out to be a brewery, restaurant, music venue and B&B all wrapped up in one. It had such an organic, relaxed aura and we all felt right at home instantly. We rented the cottage on site and enjoyed watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies on the big screen while eating a fabulous dinner. There was even a reggae rock band later that evening that were quite flash. Sunday morning after strolling along the beautiful white sands of Pakiri Beach we continued north through the countryside in search of the Waipu Caves. After the required lamb for lunch at the Pizza Barn in Waipu we found the caves hidden in the middle of a farm and did some exploring under the hundreds of tiny green sparkling lights of the glow worms which live on the ceiling of the cave.

It was a quick but awesome weekend soaking up the never-ending scenery with Courtney the Carnivore! Paul and I vowed to cover every inch of this country while we’re here.

Hound Log = Kiwi for dog food

I miss you Tues

Mystery fruit revealed

My curiosity peaked so I (possibly illegally? I doubt it) extracted some of this fruit off the tree on our front patio. It's a lemon tree! But I think its actually a Meyer lemon ... yummy. Whole Foods eat your heart out. Paul assumes its poisonous and is awaiting my reaction. All good so far!

41 Days

We don't have heat in our flat but we got spirit(s)!!!

Pictures?

View from Ponsonby Road back toward the needle on a winter night

Part two

Wow- I caught flak when I got home for both being too brief and being too boring at the same time so I will try to wrap it up.

I guess I am just doing my best to keep my mind open about the health system here- most importantly because I have to be able to function effectively within it but also because there is a lot to learn.

In clinic today, I saw three different people that had lesions in their mouths, probably benign, but all needing to be excised.  For each of these patients I had to come up with a score based on a variety of criteria such as potential for malignant change, psychosocial consequences, risk of progression, etc.  I don't really have any idea what the score means except that each of these individuals went on to some kind of list.  The nurse told me that it would be several months.  On the other hand, when cancers come in to clinic, they go on the operative schedule within 2-3 weeks- which is actually faster than they would in the US a lot of the time.

It's a bit of a facade however to think the system is truly an equitable one.  There is actually a tiered system in place.  Private insurance is available and relatively cheap (at least by our standards).  For Jesse and I to get a basic plan, it would have been about $800 for the year.  It basically provides access to the same physicians but much sooner.  So the really really nervous guy from Bombay I saw today that is here studying for a year can pay the premium and then get the small spot on the inside of his cheek excised in the short term.

I won't be critical because I haven't seen any evidence yet that the system doesn't work.  I don't have any personal anecdotes about people waiting months for much needed surgery- at least not yet.

That's it for now- I will save my thoughts on my malpractice insurance that cost about $400US for the year and would have been $25,000-$30,000 back in the States.

Apologies for the hiatus

It's been awhile for me since my last post.  Our goal had been at least a couple of updates a week but work has really sped up for me and thus I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain. 

Fear not however as I have come up with a solution.  Since most of what I have been doing is working, I thought it might be interesting to write a bit about working.  Just as a tidbit, the news about what is happening in Washington with the US debt is HUGE news here.  Obviously, American culture is pervasive- from the radio stations all essentially playing hiphop all the time to the fact that everyone in this country seems to have an iPad or iPhone or both.  But one doesn't always remember how closely economies in the rest of the world are tied to us.  Anyway, it's interesting but maybe I will save that for another post.

What ever name you put on this system (socialized, public, equitable health), it's quite different in a lot of ways.  Maybe I should start by saying that I truly believe the US health care system is broken.  Waste occurs at every turn for a multitude of reasons.  In a fatalistic way, I was ready to give Obamacare a shot (even if he does think tonsillectomies are evil).  The US health care system is simply not sustainable and I figure that something has to change.

More to come later on today . . . have to get my clinic going.

Where's the heat?

Hello! Raining today after 4 or so days of sweet sweet sunshine. Yesterday I even had the windows in our new place open letting a cool, dry breeze through. The apartment tends to stay a bit dank and dark so any sunshine = warmth and wind is welcome. In fact our space heater is my new bff! So to catch you up Paul and I had a really awesome weekend. We were invited out to Waiheke Island which is about a 35 minute ferry ride east of the city centre of Auckland. The ferry alone was exciting right?! Well it got exponentially better from there. We were greeted at the ferry by our hosts Mark, Ro and Mac the 4 month old puppy. Mac was beyond adorable, wriggling around with his gumby like lanky legs and just overjoyed with pretty much anything he encountered. The best part is he reminded me so much of Bitty since he is a black Poodle (Standard) mixed with Springer Spaniel – such a cutie with a sweet devilish temperament. From the ferry we drove out to their house which was an impressive modern open floor plan tucked into the hillside near the top of a beautiful ridge overlooking every shade of green, vineyards and the Hauraki Gulf peaking over the horizon. We drank and ate like kings and queens enjoying the company immensely. Sunday morning we woke up to a warm and cozy sunrise followed by a stroll on the beach with Mac and our new friends. After a snooze in the sunshine we headed out for a fishing expedition to the far end of the island. Only one fish was caught but it was a glorious day out in the fresh air. We can’t thank our hosts enough for their incredible hospitality and allowing us a brief encounter with their beautiful life on that island.
This week Paul has been hard at work while I make this new place something to call home. My job hunt is slow going but given our circumstances I want to find something that fits so we can enjoy this fabulous country!

Brief update and couple of plugs

We spent a comfy first night in our flat!! after a great meal at a local Indian restaurant.  Posts may be a little sparse for the next few days as we havent gotten our home internet set up.  Broadband is quite expensive here (around 100NZ per month = roughly $80US) so we are looking at a couple of different options.  Jesse did a wonderful job selecting a "Norwegian" duvet cover (not sure what that means but it looks very nice).


I found out late last week that I may be "required" to attend a conference in Singapore in early September.  More to come later on that bit of excitement.


Big thanks to Skip! I am SO glad one of us is photogenic


Paul Farmer's new book on Haiti (Truly a great American)

Tonight we are headed out to Waiheke Island to attend a cocktail party at the home of one of my "bosses" as they call the attendings here.

Quite a Domain

Now that Paul and I have found a place to live in .... drumroll please .... Parnell! ... we can purge the shock & awe and pay closer attention to our surroundings. Parnell is the oldest suburb in Auckland. It is conveniently situated near the hospital, neighbors the city centre and is very close to the water. It also hugs the Auckland Domain featured here. We are scheduled to move in to our new pad on Friday so once the keys are handed over I will officially expose the location. Until then I can start scamming for jobs, scoping out the best cafes, where is the dry cleaners?, making our wish list of restaurants to try, testing out bar stools and engaging the locals. Everyone seems genuinely friendly and excited for Paul & I. So yesterday I walked from our hotel through the Domain. I inspected the Wintergardens, tended by the rather stiff caretakers pictured above and then walked up to find out what will await us inside the museum. Here is the view atop the hill where the museum sits. I am anxious to start settling into our new 'hood!!

Tramping, anyone?

Nope, it's not something beer-swilling frat boys do on Friday nights in Athens.  It's what one does on the weekend in New Zealand- or at least it's what we did today.  We headed out to the Waitakere Ranges about 30-40 kilometers west of Auckland.

First stop- Fairy Falls.

Is that a hobbit?

Lion Rock

This is Lion Rock- the star feature of our journey today.  As the guide book says, "with some imagination" you can see a lion looking out over the Tasman Sea.

I think she likes it here!

Lemon?

Well yesterday was my first experience with Paul driving the car....it is just so unnatural! He does a fine job though despite the car's efforts to thwart us. It's a 2003 Volvo station wagon (bright red!) and although we look totally rad in it, we've noticed some funny things with gear shifts. So yesterday we drove it over to Saint Heliers to take a look at the beachy suburb we've heard so many good things about. Well we parked the car to get out onto the beach to soak in some scenery and when we got back in the ignition would not go beyond the first notch. Unreal! AAA equivalent came out to our rescue and the result is the bottom cover for the steering shaft is now removed as if we've hotwired the thing! We'll sort it out... In the meantime - enjoy these shots we took on the beach in Saint Heliers yesterday afternoon. That peak beyond Paul across the water is Rangitoto Island. This is the most recent and largest of the dormant volcanos of the Auckland Volcanic Field. Rangitoto is Maori for 'Bloody Sky'.

Join me in the loo

Most toilets here have 2 options- "big flush" or "little flush."  This is a shot of the toilet in our room here at The Quadrant.


* I am slightly ashamed to admit how much entertainment this "water feature" has provided me.  Jesse continues to wonder what the giggles in the bathroom are all about.


** note the toilet seat in its correct upright position

Can I get a White Wiiiiiiinnneee

Well it was only a matter of time before I commented on the extraordinary selection of white wines and snacks here in New Zealand. I find it ironic that I have landed myself near to what is arguably the finest Sauvignon Blanc growing region in the world. Oh the joy! These kiwis surely love to kick back and have a crisp glass of wine or perfectly frothed pint of beer after a long day at the office or walkabout. Check out the "box wine aisle" at the grocery store! But really, I've noticed how proud and community oriented this place really is. They prefer to consume homegrown before imports when it comes to food & beverage and are very proud of anything kiwi! The fruit is phenomenal and the bread - oh the bread!! Ciabatta is the specialty and it rocks our worlds each and every day. The coffee is a little harder to praise as there is an entire section of ... can I even utter the word ... Nescafe. BUT we've still managed to find some decent drip and there is no shortage of the corner cafe. Prost!