When I returned to the United States...

...I had my first interview at UVa just two days after getting off the plane. I've decided that I'll write some posts about each of my interview experiences and my personal reviews of each school! (They're all excellent schools, by the way. Not to brag, but just saying that no matter what I say, I do feel that the people who attend these schools will certainly become fine physicians.)

But before I start doing that, just a few personal photos to get out of the way. First, the day after my UVa visit, Boston brother George L paid a visit and we ate out in College Park:

Yes, it's just pictures of wings, sliders, and tater tots (or something? can't remember), not us doing anything interesting, but are you really surprised? Plus, at least there's proof that he was there in back ground of the wings...

And then my aunt, older cousin, and her daughter came to visit:

From left to right: Tita Juliet, Clara, Ate Joahnna, Nanay

Little Clara has a habit of just going off to do her own thing in the woods, carving out her own path through the leaves, only to cry when caught by my cousin Joahnna. Nothing like an adorable, willful little girl to leave you entertained before going off to talk to a bunch of medical people in various different cities. And autumn in the United States... really is the best.

The waning days and the first goodbye...

Just a picture from one of my last runs as the season started to transition into summer...

We then celebrated the departure of Athi S, who went off to go work in East London (capital of Eastern Cape):

And then I held a little dinner party for some colleagues (somehow failed to take pictures when the rest of the team arrived):

From left to right: Eldi v, Zikhona S, Denise B; props to Eldi and Z for helping cook, and Denise (and later Rachel C and Lindi v) for bringing along more food!

This was a couple of days before I went back to the United States, to start the medical school interview trail. Life became rather fast at this point, to be honest. Almost too fast to process the first goodbye to Cape Town. And I guess I did know in the back of my mind that I'd be returning soon enough...

A run in the shadow of Lion's Head

There are three main topological features in the heart of Cape Town. Signal Hill is the smallest and is where people go to launch off paragliding. Table Mountain is the iconic symbol of the city. I talk about it a lot. And then there's Lion's Head: slightly shorter than Table Mountain, taller than Signal Hill, right on the western edge of the city. When you look at Lion's Head from atop Table Mountain, it kind of looks like Table Mountain's little brother.

Looking in the southwest direction, from left to right: Table Mountain, Lion's Head, Signal Hill

I had been much going on runs on the promenade pretty regularly and almost exclusively sticking to the same route, to be honest. At the suggestion of my landlady, I decided to try something new and run uphill, under the shadows of Lion's Head instead. And man, I sure had been missing out:

 The view at the end of the trail, at the foot of Lion's Head

Photo quality diminishing here, but I'll always have fond memories of Atlantic sunsets...

The amenities of a major city with the mountain trails just a block away. I honestly think Cape Town has become my definition of what a perfect place for me would be.