What a deceptively simple-sounding question. I got an e-mail the other day from a friend asking me if I knew any good vets in her area for her new puppy. I responded with the name of a vet I knew in the area, a vet who practices good medicine and knows his stuff. Had she not had me to ask, how would she choose? I doubt she'd pick up a Yellow Pages. Maybe Google the vets in the area, check out Yelp reviews, go from there? Look for a clinic with a Facebook account or website to check them ... Read more »
Daily Life
The Grotesquerie
One of my favorite parts of going to Peru was wandering through all the little markets in Iquitos and Lima. It was exactly how you might imagine it: a small, dusty storefront. A man sitting lazily behind the counter with a cigarette watching soccer as you wander to the back of the store. The back, seeming to stretch out before you as if by magic, revealing oddities and strange items choking under a layer of dust. I felt like Indy in search of ancient artifacts. They had a knife that I would ... Read more »
Two Words for the Newbie Vets
Ah, it's that time of the year: department stores filled with tacky ruffled prom dresses, florists hawking overpriced leis, parents secretly rubbing their palms in glee at the idea of their kid finally being out of the house come September. It's graduation, a rite of passage as old as time, a celebration of - hmmm, I wouldn't say "knowledge" so much as "managed to pass everything", but what do I know. I do know that the more advanced your education, the scarier graduation becomes. ... Read more »
Wordless Wednesday: Hugs
Playing with Hipstamatic on a lazy afternoon. ... Read more »
Trade Secrets
I was reading the most interesting thread last night where people were talking about their profession and then throwing out one or two little known nuggets that might be interesting to people. I loved that (though the stories from the airline pilots were frightening.) So I figured hey, it's Wednesday, why not share some lesser known tidbits about my own experiences with life in practice: I use less math than you'd think. The most complex calculations I need to do on a regular basis involve ... Read more »
A Tale of Two Birdies
There is something strange that comes over you when you become a mother. I don't limit myself to the idea of giving birth as the only way to inherit the title- as we all know, being a parent comes in many forms. The act of accepting responsibility for another living being sets upon your shoulders a weight that, despite its heaviness, you could no more bear to shrug off than your own skin. We've all heard and seen remarkable stories of mothers in nature doing tremendous things in defense of ... Read more »
Top 10 Reasons Being a Pet Mom Rules
As Mother's Day approaches, I look forward to the carefully painted foam picture frame and the 10 inch bead bracelet my kids have made for me and not so carefully hidden away. I also can't wait for the gummy omelet and watered down mimosas at the overcrowded Mother's Day brunch. I mean that sincerely. It is a rite of passage shared the world over, born of love and gratitude, and I wouldn't trade my lot in life for the world. That being said, coming into my seventh Mother's Day as an ... Read more »
Stay thirsty my friends
I have a sneaking suspicion that Cinco de Mayo may not be as big of a deal elsewhere as it is here in Southern California. This was recently confirmed by my co-worker whose family is from Mexico. "We never celebrated it until we came to the States," he said. "But I'll take any excuse for a beer." Which pretty much sums it up for the rest of us, I think. Cinco de Mayo, which is not technically a celebration of Mexican independence so much as the celebration of one key victory- and beer- is a ... Read more »
Wordy Wednesday: VIT (Very Important Tigger)
I decided to forego the standard title and just concede that I can't do a wordless post. There's just too much to explain, always. In this case, this is what happens when you have a punch-drunk team of veterinary volunteers under the influence of malarone, equatorial heat, and a little too much free time while waiting for the real surgeries to get checked in. Welsh volunteers Luke Marriot and Katherine Mock, two intrepid and extremely thoughtful explorers who stopped in to the Amazon Cares ... Read more »
The Perfectly Glorious Petco Gala
"I wish we lived in a world where caring for animals wasn't so rare that it deserved an award." -Ellen DeGeneres There are innumerable ways people can show how they love animals. Of all the things I've learned since I've started blogging, this has really struck me the most. I ended up becoming a veterinarian because it seemed like a logical step for a pet lover, but I see other people serving in their own ways every day: accountants, marketing reps, artists. Everyone has a gift to ... Read more »
Faceplant
I didn't have a lot of wiggle room when it came to planning this trip to Peru. I departed on Friday after my daughter's last day of school before Spring Break, and came back the day before class resumed. Assignments, classwork, summer camp registration and everything else was kind of shuffled to the side to be dealt with when I came back. I'm not averse to hitting the ground running, as that's pretty much been the story of my life for thirty-something years. Land at 9 pm, grab a couple hours ... Read more »
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Amazon
I have a couple of posts I wanted to direct specifically to people heading down for future volunteer trips with Amazon Cares, since I know there are multiple people reading this who are planning on going to Peru. Please feel free to e-mail me directly with questions if you are considering going! The rest of you, sorry, this might be dull. Before I headed off to Peru at the start of the month, I really had no idea what to expect. I'm not much of a backpacker or camper so I was starting off ... Read more »
Attitude Adjustments
It's been an oddly disquieting 24 hours. You know how they always say a modest life in an industrialized country is a life of untold wealth and riches in the third world? It's true. I mean, it's something you know on an intellectual level, but to experience it, and to live within it for even that short period of time, really cements the impression. Indoor plumbing? Luxury. Hot running water? Absolute decadence. A house with more than one toilet and multiple bathtubs? Palatial, really, by the ... Read more »
The River of Destiny Trailer
Now that I made it back to the luxury of my couch, my Brody-pillow and my reliable plumbing it feels like a dream that I spent the last 2 weeks in the backwoods of Peru. 24 hours ago, I was scratching my bug bites in a third world airport while trying to convince a ticket agent from LAN that 12:40 does not equal midnight and that my ticket was indeed changeable for a nominal fee, all while wishing desperately for a Starbucks. Tonight, I got to enjoy Easter with my family while scratching my ... Read more »
The Suite Life
In my world, surgery is always done in the same sort of suite: sterile, with bleached floors, bright fluorescent lights that shine with blinding precision upon what needs to be illuminated, and an ergonomic table that can be lifted to the exact height one needs to eliminate those pesky hunchback issues during surgical procedures. Needless to say that is not really the case here in Peru. Here, we stack benches in old schoolhouses, cover pool tables with plastic, and balance a plank on a ... Read more »
Just another day at the office
Yesterday we visited the second of the four villages along the Amazon river basin on our trip, a small town called Tamanco. We rose early, having planned to go do some sloth viewing at 6 am. Of course it had been pouring rain since midnight and was continuing to pour as we got up, so no sloths for us. Instead, we sat around in the common area and hatched up a plan to borrow the resident dogs of the ExplorNapo lodge for some much-needed care. Paco, an older male, and Lola, a 12 week old female ... Read more »
Medicine Man
When I was 7, I was stung by a honeybee while floating in the pool in the backyard. My grandmother, ever resourceful, put a poultice on my back to draw out the venom. She had a home cure for everything, which seemed quaint at the time before I appreciated just how much she knew: honey tea for sore throats, orange juice for a cold. Before we took the knowledge away from people and sequestered it behind white coats and books, everyone knew how to minister to their health. Here in the river ... Read more »
ExplorNapo: Medicine Begins Here Part 1
I'm posting a bit out of order here, but with the wifi all over the place it's easiest for me to just do it this way. So while I may not be able to post about the first week in Iquitos for a bit, you all can at least get a feel for where the AmazonCares team is here for week two. After the first week of what can only be explained as pure unadulterated good hard work, we were all more than happy to head down to the dock of the Explorama Lodge and head down the Amazon for our two days of rest ... Read more »
