"Águas de Março"

Hands down, my favorite part of this song is always when Elis Regina starts laughing during her part (about 2:54).

Japanese earthquake relief bake sale

My friend/almost-former-student Yohko (and her roommates) decided to hold a bake sale to raise funds for Japanese earthquake relief. Yohko was raised in Japan, and had basically been a nervous wreck all last week (we spent some time consoling each other during Match Day). Despite the rain, there was an awesome turnout; people could purchase treats and/or donate (they had computers at the ready for Red Cross credit card donations). They managed to raise over $3000!

I donated this gingerbread. Molly threw down with some delicious-looking mint chocolate brownies. I was nervous about there not being enough goodies for folks to buy, so I didn't pick up anything (which I regretted all afternoon).

Flickr stats: 03/18/11

Looks like I managed to finally harness the power of good tagging coupled with timeliness (getting Match Day photos up on Match Day proved to be beneficial).

Match Day 2011

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this or this).

Another year, another Match Day. No abundance of stats yet (waiting for the Dean's newsletter for that), but about 2/3 of the graduating class is staying in the Bay Area. There were also a ton of matches in Emergency Medicine this year (also anecdotally observed by friend and PGY-3 Graham Walker).

Prior to the actual ceremony, folks were all atwtitter with the news that Harvard had opened their envelopes a full hour early. Scandalous.

I look for the students who look really excited to congratulate, and respectfully avoid the students who seem subdued or upset. After Match Day, unless I know for sure that the student is happy with their residency match, I don't congratulate at all for fear of seeming insensitive if they have not yet made peace with their assignment.

And now, photos.

a night of aubergine

6.2 earthquake near Kofu

Oh hey, would you look at that. Kofu is where my mom's family lives.

My mom spoke with my uncle today, and he reported that they lost electricity, but they are fine. He also called me and reassured me that everyone was safe. My mom asked him to get all their passports ready in case they need to leave Japan. This entire thing is unbelievable.

texting with 叔父さん

Since AT&T (among other telecoms) is waiving text and voice charges to Japan until the end of March, I decided to try and text my younger uncle, who lives in Kofu-shi, and see how they were doing. This is my mom's hometown, and it's located about 300 miles southwest of Sendai. I knew they didn't see the effects of the tsunami, but I was nervous because of all the aftershocks, and just wanted to confirm that they were OK.

Me: Uncle, it's Madika. I heard from Mom that the family is safe. Are you still OK? I am worried because of the number of aftershocks.

Uncle: Madika, sorry to have worried you. The whole family is well. THANK YOU. *flowers*

心配してる

My heart broke watching this.

Sendai 地震

8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Miyagi-ken (which is the most powerful earthquake to hit Japan on record). As of now, they are confirming 288 dead and 398 missing. My mom still can't get through to her family, but since they are further from the epicenter (Yamanashi and Saitama), we're both hoping that things are OK. My best thoughts to everyone affected.

Screenshots from the NHK World newscast:

UPDATE March 13: My mom confirmed that our family in Japan is fine (via text message). The death toll has risen to 1217, with thousands missing (including half the population of Minamisanriku). The nuclear reactor situation in Fukishima has also gotten much worse, with fears that partial meltdowns have already occurred.