The Big Apple...

In order to frame the context for my arrival to the big city, I should start back a few days before my departure. Dawson was in Anchorage for the Lawyer Convention and I set off on a usual village day trip for work. As we were landing in the village of Toksook Bay (on the coast of the Bering Sea), I had a bad feeling about leaving that same day. Snow, fog, clouds and wind seemed to be setting in and Toksook Bay is notorious for the combination of these elements. To make a long story short, I ended up spending the next 3 days in Toksook Bay, hanging out at the clinic and nearly getting blown away in a 50 mph white out on the way back from the grocery store (where I bought a delicious variety of $6 Hot Pockets to nourish me for breakfast, lunch and dinner). The most entertaining part of the story was that I slept in a room at the clinic with fancy motion sensor lights and every time I rolled over during the night, the lights would pop on. It made for a good sleep. So anyway, a few days in Toksook Bay provided just the right contrast for a visit to New York City.

So a few days later, I rustled up some t-shirts and my city shoes and headed for the airport. Getting to the east coast from Bethel is a bit of a chore. I left Bethel at about 8 PM, arrived in Anchorage at 9 PM, left for Seattle at 2 AM and arrived at 5:30 AM, and then on to the flight from Seattle to Newark from 8 AM to 5 PM the next day. Whew--at least I bought one of those fancy neck pillows to help me sleep. Of course, my luggage didn't make all those fancy connections and headed to Los Angelos, but I didn't complain when I didn't have to haul it from Newark to the city. My sister-in-law Nicole met me on the train to the city and everything worked like clock work from there.

I feasted on international foods; Thai the first night, Indian at Francisca's favorite Indian restaurant the second night (where Christmas lights meet Chili Pepper lights), Afghani food with Damir the third night, and a selection of tasty cheeses, olives, and other Bethel unavailable foods for my last evening. What a treat! Nate and I spent the first day meandering Central Park and macking on cupcakes from Magnolia's bakery. I did nearly melt on our first foray as it was 80-some degrees and somehow my thermostat has adjusted to Bethel temps. This was the start of a few more temperature regulation difficulties. Anyway, the course was pretty good (though a bit basic) and overall the weekend was a fantastic success. Nate prepared for his law school finals during the day, and then we kept him up past his bedtime in the evenings with all sorts of entertaining events. It was great to see Francisca and Damir!

So the only folly of the weekend (which I wasn't going to publicly state---thanks a lot Dawson) was a minor fainting episode on the first day of the conference where 37 other health professionals all called the New York Fire Department to come to my rescue. I had eaten a chocolate croissant and a latte for breakfast which I guess just wasn't enough to hold me for a whole morning of festivities (combined with the fact that I haven't been ingesting caffeine on a regular basis). They put off our lunch hour til nearly 1:00 and at about 12:30 they turned up the heat in our room so that we could practice some manual techniques. Let me remind you that heat is my nemesis at this point. So I'm standing behind my partner diligently manipulating her shoulder when I start feeling hot. And hotter and hotter and I decide it would be a good idea to just walk over to the thermostat to turn it down a few notches. I make it there, but on the way back, I decide to steady myself against the wall a bit. Unfortunately, everyone had stacked up all of their bags and purses against the wall and I was traipsing over everyone's stuff. People turned around to point this out to me, when I lost it completely and fainted. It was just a for a second and really the combination of some jet lag, the heat, dehydration, and low blood sugar (combined with the alien growing inside me), but that didn't stop anyone from calling in the authorities. The fire department received various reports from massive bleeding to an unconscious pregnant woman and so I believe they sent the whole department. To make a too long story short, it was just a minor incident and I recovered within seconds, but had to spend an hour with the firemen to ensure them I was OK.

Everyone cheered for me on the second day when I made it to lunch time!

So don't worry mom...it was just a return of my old fainting days when I was a youngster!