Come, Sail Away

I elected to board the ship early today in order to get settled and explore. Prior to departing for the pier, I felt a jolt of that kid-on-Christmas-morning feeling. I haven’t felt that since, well, I was a kid. A bit of uncertainty, a sprinkle of magic, and a generous dollop of excitement (with a pinch of “Me! Me! Me!” thrown in for good measure).

This is my first cruise. Have you ever been on one? If not, I suggest you do so immediately. My inner cabin, though somewhat small, was just right for what I needed. I unpacked my clothes and such, putting them in their respective drawers. I never unpack when I stay in a hotel. But I figured that since I was going to be here for nearly two weeks, it made sense. Plus this is a hotel on water, so that’s totally different from one on land. Right?

My Stateroom

There is an uber-creepy, oversized photo of a plump woman dressed in French Revolution-type clothes, complete with an overly-powdered white face, big wig, and garish red lipstick, the majority of which has found its way onto her teeth, hung outside my stateroom. No wonder the peasants revolted. The placard beside it says “Jane Kaplowitz, Mardi Gras.” I decide to lock the door…just in case Ms. Kaplowitz decides to bring her reveling into my room in the middle of the night.

A mandatory safety drill was scheduled prior to dinner. The captain came on and spoke, followed by translation into French and German. I strapped on my lifejacket, ascended the stairs, and reported to my muster station. It sounds a bit melodramatic, but I couldn’t help think, “Titanic.”

Safety Drill Through the Peephole

Dinner was open seating for the night of embarkation. The folks I ate with had just gotten married in Martha’s Vineyard and were on their honeymoon. They seemed incredibly happy and had that post-nuptial glow. They told me that I couldn’t have picked a better ship and itinerary to start out with. Apparently, some cruise lines are really terrible when it comes to food, décor, and service. Other than the omnipresent “Jane Kaplowitz, Mardi Gras,” the ship is very beautiful, classy, and well-designed. My stateroom attendant is quite helpful, and the food…oh, the food. I can’t possibly write about all the constantly-changing, diverse gustatory options available on ship, but suffice it to say that the Orion Restaurant doesn’t disappoint. For dinner, I had goat cheese quiche, a deliciously seasoned fish with quinoa, and profiteroles with hazelnut ice cream.

Toward the end of dinner, the ship’s engines started up, shaking the glasses and cutlery on the table. So commenced the second-to-last journey of the Celebrity Galaxy (the ship is being sold to a cruise line in Greece) and my maiden nautical voyage.

The Resort Deck

The Galaxy Library

Food of the Day: Goat Cheese Quiche

San Juan, Two, Three (Puerto Rico)

I flew to Puerto Rico three days prior to the cruise in order to ensure I made my cruise departure time (anyone who has flown out of or through Chicago knows that it can be notorious for its delays/cancellations during the winter). Because Da House Hotel (the artsy, life-above-a-local-music-scene-club digs I took up last time) was sold out, I bunked in the Garden Suite above a jewelry store called Bóveda. It was comfortable…a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room, and an open-air terrace garden below. There’s really nothing like falling asleep to the sound of wind chimes, lightly falling rain on tiled floor, and a Caribbean breeze softly blowing. “Which internship matching process? Come again? What is Match Day? I’m not familiar.”

Inside the Garden Suite at Bóveda

I had grand plans to visit the Rio Camuy caves while I was on the island. Reportedly among the largest in the world accessible to the public, the caves were closed almost two years ago when a boulder fell on someone; since that time, they have worked to secure the area and now require folks to wear hardhats. It was closed when I was in Puerto Rico last spring, but reportedly, the cave system opened up a couple weeks ago. Looks like I’ll never know...the tour company cancelled the tour because not enough people had booked it. If only they had bothered to tell me that before I got up early and waited outside a hotel down the street for over an hour. Nice.

My trip to the beach was equally disheartening. After the cave incident, I decided to try the method for vacationing used by some of my friends and family: just taking it as it goes, doing whatever, whenever you feel like it. My prior tendency has been to plan things out months in advance to fit everything in. When I finally rolled out into the bus system (oh, the bus system in Puerto Rico…sigh…why do I complain about the Chicago Transit Authority again?), I ended up getting off way too early and walked nearly two hours to Hobby Beach in Isla Verde. The sun was going down, but no spectacular sunset colors emerged. Still, it was warm. Oh so very, very warm, and I got about an hour of beach time in before dark. However, given how much beach time I could have gotten if I’d started my excursion earlier in the day, I think I’ll stick with my regular vacation-going plan: get up, get going, see it, do it, and soak it up.

Hobby Beach in Isla Verde

Despite my somewhat underwhelming experience in San Juan this time around, I did manage to get my fix of mofongo, arroz y habichuelas, and fresh tropical fruit. And did I mention that it’s in the 70s and 80s outside? Ahhhhhh. Why do I live in Chicago again? Below are a few shots I didn’t manage to capture last time:

Internship Interviews...or "How Steven Spent Several Thousand Dollars Flying All Over the Country to Get a Measly One-Year Internship"

At the beginning of the internship interview circuit, I had big dreams of writing in my blog at each stop. Given that my first full week of interviews had me in five different cities in five days’ time, I guess it’s no surprise that I’m lumping the whole experience into one big entry. It’s just as well, though…I don’t know if the presupposed daily entries would have been coherent given that my two all-encompassing tasks during that time were flying in airplanes and playing the role of interviewee.

Overall, I applied to 20 sites and had 16 interview offers. I agreed to go on 11 in-person and complete 2 over the phone. Some interviews went well, others not so much. Some sites wowed me, some were yawners, and one made me want to run screaming from the building ten minutes in. Because everyone’s experience is different, and out of respect for the fact that sites can change from year to year, I won’t specify which of the interviews below fit into these categories. Here’s the rundown:

December 19th Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston
January 5th Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
January 6th University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
January 7th Oregon Health Sciences University
January 8th UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital
January 9th Children’s Hospital Orange County
January 12th Stanford/Children’s Health Council Consortium
January 14th Children’s National Medical Center
January 15th Children’s Memorial Hospital
January 16th Primary Children’s Medical Center
January 16th Spokane Mental Health (via phone)
January 20th The Children’s Hospital
January 24th Morrison Child and Family Services (via phone)

A big thanks to everyone who provided lodging, transportation, advice, food, and overall support throughout this process. I couldn’t have made it through without you. Looking back, I feel as though I grew by leaps and bounds during the process. I feel wiser, more mature, stable, and sure of myself. I never thought that such a grueling, costly, ridiculously-intense-given-the-fact-that-it’s-only-one-year-of-your-life internship application process would be one that I’m ultimately very grateful to have experienced.

My rankings have been submitted to and certified with National Matching Services Inc. I’m keeping mum about my decisions…even my mum doesn’t know which sites I ranked first. From now through the morning of Match Part One (i.e., when you find out if, but not where, you matched), I will be in the Caribbean. I really think it’s better that way, don’t you?

Below you can find some of the photographic highlights from my internship interview journeys. They might be best enjoyed while listening to Fall Out Boy’s “Folie à Deux” album, something I did before and after each and every interview. It helped me center myself and focus on holding them all in context simultaneously.

I took up fancy (yet surprisingly affordable) digs at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel while I was in town. Off to a good start!

My friend Rhea from the PCIT days now lives in Boston, and she recommended Parish Café just down the road. Parish has sandwiches created by all the famous local chefs in Boston. Hey, there she is now. Hey Rhea! Let's go eat...

I had the Regal Regis, created by Susan Regis, Chef @ Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge. It consisted of sliced flank steak and portobello mushrooms in a soy, scallion, and balsamic marinade, served on parmesan crusted French bread with a side of homemade potato salad.

At my request, our next stop was Old South Church near Copley Square...

Sweet, a bakery on Massachusetts Ave, was worth trudging through the snow and sludge. I had a chocolate peppermint cupcake...delicious!

After Rhea and I parted, I had a substandard bowl of clam chowder and a lackluster lobster at Ye Olde Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the United States. While in the North End, I stopped by the iconic Mike's Pastry for (my first!) cannoli, a black-and-white cookie, and a Boston Cream puff to be devoured for breakfast the next morning.

Later that evening, I went to a phenomenal Christmas performance at Faneuil Hall...thanks, again, to Rhea for finding out about it!

While in Los Angeles, one of my former missionary companions and now good friend, Sanie, took me down to Santa Monica Beach.

Santa Monica Pier

When we got to the end of the pier, a young man was performing. The crowd wasn't very large, but he sang with feeling in one of those slightly raspy voices I like so much. I bought his demo CD but, in retrospect, he sounded better live. Maybe it was the magic of being in above-freezing temperatures (yeah, Chicago, I'm talking to you, punk!).

I shall miss Sanie's cat, Dewey. Hi, Dewey!

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Newport Beach marked an important milestone.

While in San Francisco, I went to the Exploratorium with Kim, Jason, and their son, Sebastian. Kim and I worked together at B. Dalton in high school, majored in psychology at the U of U, and are now both finishing up grad school in clinical psychology. If only the current Steven and Kim could travel back in time to warn Steven and Kim in the year 2003. “Turn back! Turn back! Turn back, 2003 Steven and Kim! Too much trauma awaits!” Alas, this cannot happen unless current Steven and Kim go to the island.

Walking around on the Stanford University campus, I couldn’t help but think of Orange County.

I know it seems strange, but I find the DC Metro to be magnificent-looking.

I don’t remember which building this is, but it sure is neat.

The U.S. Capitol Building prepares for President Obama’s inauguration.

Oh, hey, it’s -40 degrees outside and there are icicles hanging from the train. Welcome back to Chicago, Steven.

No cross-country trip would be complete without an adorable little nephew waiting at the end. Hello, Ammon!

Day Seven: Kirtland and Hiram

What a busy final day. After a breakfast of strata (reportedly Bob Hope’s recipe), sticky bacon (covered in maple syrup), biscuits, and a top-notch berry-type concoction, accompanied by a step-by-step account of the B&B’s restoration, we headed out. Following a brief stop at an antique store (where I picked up two historical books from the mid-1900s), we arrived at Historic Kirtland, a series of restored homes and sites managed by the Church. We first watched a video about the history of the Latter-day Saints in the Kirtland area, which touched Mom deeply. Next, we toured the Whitney home, where we learned about summer kitchens (off to the side of the house to keep heat out during summer cooking) and that yellow was the most expensive pigment in the 1830s, so if you painted your house yellow, you were kind of a big deal. The Whitney Store was well-stocked, and the School of the Prophets upstairs inspired lofty thoughts. After a stop at the John Johnson Inn (turned into an auxiliary visitor’s center), we observed a working sawmill and the only operative ashery remaining in North America. Apparently the stuff that falls to the bottom of your fireplace could be turned into a cash cow back in the day.

Homestead House Bed & Breakfast

Whitney Home

Whitney Store



School of the Prophets inside Whitney Store



Manuscript of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible



First Edition Book of Mormon

Sawmill and Ashery

Mom and I hightailed it to the Kirtland Temple, which is currently owned by the Community of Christ, a group that split off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. It was great to see the temple, but it kind of felt more like a historical building than a sacred place. This may be due in part to the plethora of folks who have occupied it over the years. Still, it was interesting to step inside this key spot in LDS history.

Zooming through the area from which the stone for the Kirtland Temple was quarried, we headed to Hiram to see the John Johnson Farm. Joseph Smith, Jr., and his family lived with the Johnsons for one year, during which time many of the sections in the Doctrine and Covenants were received, including the section on what happens in the afterlife. The room in which these revelations occurred fills one with the spirit of enlightenment and peace.

Kirtland Temple Stone Quarry

John Johnson Farm

This has been a truly rejuvenating and insightful trip on so many levels. I wish we’d have bypassed Toronto and spent an extra day in Ohio in order to see all the significant LDS sites and spend some time chilling with the Amish. I’ve always wanted to kick it Amish style, and I’ve only had the chance once when I was interviewing in Pennsylvania for graduate school. Well, I did get some cool salt in Toronto, so whatever. Be sure to stop by next February for my oh-I’m-so-tired-from-the-internship-application-and-interview-process-now-that-my-rankings-are-submitted-I’m-getting-the-heck-out-of-town Caribbean cruise.