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pollo y esposa? { eric .. 6.24.06 .. 09:43:09 PM .. jarabacoa, DR .. internet cafe }
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| sooooooooo i don't think that i've recently been wed, nor do I frequently travel w/ chickens. That phone number was a hotel where i spent about 9 hours of my life. I don't have access to a permanent phone. Perhaps I never made my living arrangements clear. It's the middle of no where. Never have I ever been so isolated in my entire life. Most of the time there is no electricity. I play a lot of dominoes in my spare time. There is one road. My Batey (village) is five houses big. This weekend, we went hiking at Pico Duarte, the biggest mountain in the caribbean. It was pretty fun. It was also pretty hard and filled w/ a lot of ... mishaps? First, we started the hike w/ our guide at 11am. Usually it starts at 5am. We're 6 hours off. After 4 km it starts to rain, a lot. We ascend 1500 vertical meters and descend another 300 over a total of 18km. We arrive at 6pm at the cabins (alt 2200m or something). After dumping out my boots (each accumulated enough water to pour out), wringing out my socks (which held even more water), and tending to my blister, we went to eat. I put my boots and socks around the campfire. I burned a hole in one of my liner socks. We go to sleep. The sleeping bags are wet. The tent, to set up inside the cabin for extra warmth / protection, lacks poles. We end up using the tent as a ground tarp / sleeping pad, put the semi-wet bag down (open) as a bottom, and then cover ourselves w/ the dry bag. They don't have the same zippers and won't go together. We shared, 3 of us, under there. It was cold. Today we summited Pico Duarte and it was pretty. The walk down was pretty uneventful. The ride home I was scared for my life (pretty unusual to actually be scared for my life). In the states, when you drive by a big rock face, there is usually some kind of wire fence drilled in to hold up falling rock off the road. They don't have that here. Here, the rocks just fall. As we're driving, we drive through one recent rock slide only to come to another WAY more severe one. Nothing stops traffic here. Not dogs, pedestrians, or oncoming traffic. Traffic in both directions stopped. There was a river across the road and in it, boulders. On the other side (no shoulder) was no railing (broke by the falling rock) and a 300ft sheer drop to the river below. Our driver leans out the window and yells, "I can make it in a pick-up truck!?" as much a declaration as statment and starts. People are standing in the road looking up at the rock to know when the next will fall. We drive into the river, to the edge of the road, and turn back towards the mountain. Fuck. Anyhow, we have a nice hotel in Jarabacoa and i'm mailing pictures home. Kisses. |
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A wife and Chicken? { jenny .. 6.23.06 .. 11:57:50 AM .. .. }
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| Eric, is there something you haven't told us? Last night mom sent me an e-mail with a phone number of where to reach you. This morning I woke up early in hopes of connecting with you. I call the number and am connected to a woman speaking very little English. I ask to speak with you. Here is the conversation that ensued in spanish but obviously translated for this little entry: Me: May I please speak with room ... (whatever room you were in)? Her: yes, but the gentleman staying in that room checked out with his chicken and wife. me: A chicken and wife? NO i am looking for Eric Schenfeld. he is travelling with another gentleman. her: yes. he checked out. with a chicken and wife! No other man was with them. Me: A chicken and a Wife? Her: Yes, dont you understand. A chicken - cluck cluck- and a wife. Me: Um... ok. Thanks, I think. Is there anyone there that speaks english? her: Oh yes.... hold on. So finally I am connected with a woman who spoke English. She informed me that you had indeed checked out althogh she hadn't noticed if you had chicken and wife. The other woman was still chattering in the background about the supposed chicken/wife. I hope you are having fun in the DR! |
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living { eric .. 6.22.06 .. 09:43:56 PM .. la vega, DR .. corner of a something }
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| i am still alive. i have gotten a rash though. did i mention that i had strep throat too? i'm like a magnet for illness. currently, we're in a place called la vega which the lonely planet describes as having no interest for the tourist. so... for some reason we're here. really it's because we couldn't get a bus where we wanted to go, jarabacoa, so we're taking a gua gua in the morning. the goal being to hike up pico duarte. should be pretty sweet. clinic is still a bit tedious. same thing over and over. weekends are sweet. spanish here is tough to understand. someone described it to me as like learning english in texas. sweet. missing you all. kisses. |
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Bring back the chat! { jenny .. 6.20.06 .. 11:27:34 AM .. .. }
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| I am supposed to be working on a presentation for school: a critical review of a research study investigating the possible associations between pesticide exposure and the development of breast cancer. Since returning to school I have succeeded in avoiding common procrastination traps such as checking my brother's website, surfing friendster (although I now know that is out and MySpace is in but whatever), repeatedly checking my e-mail, etc... However, my summer courses, although incredibly interesting, can't hold my attention! Instead of being productive at this very moment, I turned to my brother's website which usually provides some form of entertainment. I am disappointed to see that no one has posted any interesting stories, movie reviews or shout outs! What's going on people?!? I know, I am JUST as guilty as the next person, but given that my brother is in isolation, living the hard-life in the DR and suffering through weekend trips to secluded beaches (Eric, based on your pictures, it MUST be really difficult) I decided to put up a quick post. Now he has something to read and I have a form of procrastination! ( Eric, I am not mocking you, I know that it is difficult....but the pictures you sent to mom and Dad are beautiful!). Eric, how is clinic life treating you? Are you enjoying working with the patient community? How are the facilities? Is it anything like Costa Rica or Peru? So how is everyone doing? Hil - the wedding is rapidly approaching - are you getting excited or are you starting to get nervous? Johnny - yeah so um..dinner? :) No i am serious. I know you can laugh as I have suggested doing dinner on MULTPILE occasions but what about this weekend? How is everyone else doing? Who else checks this website anyway??? Things with me are good - moving forward so I can't complain! A few weeks back I went to my five-year college reunion. How did I already reach my five year reunion? Damn... anyway, the summary of the trip: it was great! ;) I'll leave it at that. Otherwise, I don't really have anything else to share - classes are going well. Job is going well. Friends are doing well. |
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long long weekend { eric .. 6.14.06 .. 08:08:51 PM .. santo domingo, dr .. internet cafe }
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| thanks to a wonderful thing called Corpus Christi, there is going to be a 4 day weekend for me. This means, of course, 4 days in virtual paradise -- hopefully. I haven't seen the beach yet, but I imagine that it will be as beautiful and, I hope deserted, as the other was. In terms of the clinic, things are going ok. Mostly doing physical exams in interviews. These are going ok -- not as hands-on as I had hoped, but it's still useful I'm sure. There are other students here which is good -- a new girl came down yesterday -- a columbia public health student to do some kind of patient satisfaction survey. Spanish is still a challenge. Getting the quick speech is what gets me. We'll see what happens as I spend more time here. And, thanks for the e-mails, you're all great. I now feel loved -- even if it is forced. Hilary, give me some idea sometime soon what I should be thinking about for your wedding speech or whatever it is that i'm doing. much love. |
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The Beach { eric .. 6.10.06 .. 06:52:50 PM .. La Romana, DR .. Internet Cafe }
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| Hey all. So, I´m alive... though barely. And I only have 3 minutes left on the cafe time, so i´ll post more later. short of it: 1. I learned to dance Bachata from a hooker 2. I spent 3 days w-o electricity 3. I ate craploads of fresh fruit off of trees 4. I felt totally overwhelmed at my inability to communicate w patients and the fact that I know shit anyhow. More when I have more time later. E-mail please. I had zero e-mails from anyone directly to me. That was *really* sad. emschenfeld at gmail dot com. |
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Avalon { kris .. 5.24.06 .. 05:38:22 PM .. NYC, NY .. Dining Room }
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| Steve just posted on The Doug that the beach trip may be cancelled because the house is getting re-wallpapered or something. I'm really bummed, especially if it means not getting to see you before you go. Any interest in coming to NYC instead that weekend? I'm still bugging Steve to see if he can magically fix the beach trip, but so far, no luck. |
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The end is nigh... { eric .. 5.23.06 .. 09:55:28 PM .. Pittsburgh PA .. my room }
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| Oh how close it is. I close out the year on Friday. Maybe some climbing over the weekend. Then I think I'll head up to Boston next week to see my boys -- maybe do some climbing / hiking and then kick it down the coast to Avalon. Speaking of, Johnny told me he wants to come. Steve, Johnny, talk. Steve, KJ, Neil, Mike, et al... when are you guys getting to the beach? And when are you leaving? i leave the country on the Tuesday after that trip so I need to figure out, pretty exactly, what my itinerary will be so I know what I need to bring where and when. All right, break. |
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'Dem Blues { kris .. 5.17.06 .. 11:48:25 PM .. NYC, NY .. The floor of my bedroom }
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| Rico - it's only natural that you should be feeling a bit of a void after not seeing yours truly since last summer, but don't despair, Avalon calls in a few short weeks! On a more serious note - I hadn't heard that about insurance stuff, but I have a good friend from high school who went from being constantly pessimistic and mopey to being sometimes unsettlingly plucky and happy as a result of seeing a (as he would say) "not very smart, little, old Italian therapist who tells me 'Hey... Life is Beautiful!'" Apparently Roberto Benigni is a therapist in NJ now, who knew? Also, my sister has had a similar transformation after starting to see someone a few months ago, though I don't know how long it'll last. Anyway, I don't know if that's too much sharing, but what the hell - if it helps at all, I don't mind. Nevertheless, do not underestimate the power of sun, satellite TV, and time spent in the company of men (if you'll extend the definition of 'men' to include Steve, Boosh, and I). In the meantime, congrats on finishing one year of med school! See you soonish! |
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What I did this weekend { eric .. 5.17.06 .. 11:19:35 AM .. Pittsburgh PA .. room }
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| The pictures might indicate it to you but, this weekend I got to do some fun stuff (I know, what a surprise). I (1) dyed my hair; (2) went climbing at a local crag I just found; (3) attended Mystery Eve; and (4) went home for Mother's Day. All-in-all, not too bad. In other news, I've been feeling kind of down the last few days. Not sure why; I've spent a lot of time considering seeking therapy and have actually seen a few different people with no luck. I had been planning on seeing someone outside the UPMC system and going through insurance, until yesterday in class, when I found out that a number of people have trouble getting disability insurance after seeing a therapist or psychiatrist. This seems perfectly and 100% absurd to me. Feel free to comment. I took the talkback thing down due to some mis-use by some random spammer. I don't have time to protect it right now so I just closed it. Use your account for once. |
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aj on [ 5-8-2006 ]
Eric, you look like Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver"
kris on [ 5-4-2006 ]
looking forward to seeing you at the beach!
on [ 5-4-2006 ]
YIKES! Scared me! Can't say if its the cut or expression.
eric on [ 5-4-2006 ]
johnny, i chose those words carefully and hilary, you have no idea the embarassments that I have cooked up for you. Mwa ha ha.
hilary on [ 5-3-2006 ]
um, when you marry us... is your hair going to look like that? ;)
johnny on [ 5-3-2006 ]
You're marrying Hilary and Josh? First massachusetts legalizes gay marriage and now this. I didn't even know you could do polygamy with two dudes.
adrian on [ 4-25-2006 ]
man. i'm so sad i don't live in D.C. and i don't mean "deep crap," either. i guess i missed the eric arrival. waaaaaaaa! (that was the wario noise from mario kart.) xoxo
