Medical field?

HER: An unforgettable experience is hard to pass on...

An extended invitation to the surgery room.

Frank got to join my Father for a day of work :).

A girl time with her girlfriends...

HER: Small talks, laughs, Margaritas and chicken wings... some wine, memories and engaging conversations...

Esta vez solo tres! (Suyin, Vanessa e Iliana). Mis amigas de siempre.. Espero verlas pronto de nuevo... a ver si la proxima vez Gianina ingrata, Yuriko y Raquel nos juntemos todas!

MUCHISIMA SUERTE EN DONDE SE ENCUENTREN! LAS QUIERO AMIGAS!

Zoolicious

HIM: So, today was a great day. Made it to the zoo for some animal adventures. We were worried that the weather would be too chilled to spend a few hours hiking outdoors, but it turned out to be sunny and comfortable (in a hoodie and coat...).

With some of the other law schoolers, Sebastian, Vanessa, and I enjoyed a great afternoon observing monkeys, lions, elephants, and fainting goats.

HER: After a confusing decision (of the what to do, where to meet and when...), due to weather conditions, we finally made it to the Jax Zoo! Despite the cold weather, we all decided to bundle up and enjoy the cool breeze.

As always a pleasure to catch up with familiar faces and enjoy some exploring time! It was wonderful to see and visit with all who made it today! A respected dinner followed in Seth's honor, along with some laughs, smiles and a few stories said.... A taste of the favorite cheesecake to indulge some of us who have a sweet tooth. And a hug bye to end the day. All I can say is that I had a great time and as always looking forward to enjoy other activities in the future to come.

And of course... We will miss you Seth! Until March, stay safe and in touch!

Sharing some memories..

HER: So finally a few pictures of our trip to the Rainforest!

We are back!!

HER: After taking some time off (a very well deserved 3 1/2 weeks, of course!), we are back in Jacksonville.

Peru was great!.

Glad to see some of my friends and family members but most of all, being able to show and share new experiences with Frank during his first visit to South America - Peru.

Returning to Orlando

HIM: Vanessa and I are making the final preparations to embark on the return journey to Jacksonville. We will be flying into Newark, then arriving in Orlando at 12:30 in the afternoon tomorrow (January 10). We´re riding the redeye out of Lima at 2 in the morning... I´m hoping that Brian remembers to pick us up. =) See you soon!

The Amazing Amazon

HIM: Vanessa and I got back in last night from our latest adventure! We spent the last weekend in the Amazon Jungle! Vanessa´s mom sent us to one of the far corners of the world for 3 days and it was amazing!

Our journey began with a flight from Lima to Iquitos. From there, we were met by our tour guide who took us through the village and the market to the Amazon River. We then hopped on a boat for a 45-minute ride up the river into the jungle, where we unloaded at the dock of our accomodations.

The Amazon Rainforest Lodge was great. While we didn´t spend much time there, it was a great base of operations. However, the pillows were too hard. Though, staying in the middle of the jungle that´s probably a pretty trivial concern.

Anyway, it was night time when we finally completed our motor boat ride to the cabin. It is summer in Lima, but for some reason, the temperature in the jungle was very mild. They said it was because it is winter in the Amazon. I´m not sure how we went 1 hour by plane and crossed 2 entire seasons, but I guess I´ll take the word of the natives... Regardless, it was cool when we docked at the lodge. There was a toucan on the railing of the walkway to our room. Since it was night, we couldn´t see very well and thought it was decorative, until it turned its head.

After unpacking our things we explored the ¨compound¨there was a pool room in a hut by the pool so we played a round before dinner. After winning a game against Vanessa, we explored a little more until we heard the drums summoning us to dinner at the dining hut.

The dining hut was arranged buffet-style with chicken and some random exotic meat (Vanessa is out at the moment or I´d ask her what it was that night...). There were vegetables and fruits, coffee, juice, and tea. Since it´s the jungle, you can´t really do much in the way of sightseeing at night, obviously, so we finished our meal and retired to the room. We weren´t quite ready for sleep, so we turned on the television and explored the satelite television stations. Yes, I know, we´re in the jungle watching ¨Bandits¨on satelite television... It was hilarious, but then if you think about it, all you need is a power generator and a dish to get signals from the ¨civilized¨world. The stars were bright in the sky and it was mostly cloudless, so we got great reception. ;)

The next 8 hours were awful however. The pillows were too hard and since we only had screens for windows (normally charming, until it´s time to sleep...) there was nothing to buffer us from the natural noise polution of the jungle. Lousy birds and bugs chirping and chiming in unison, but just discordant enough to prevent rest. A little of that was surely the uncertainty of staying in the Amazon, hundreds of miles from a high-tech medical facility and potable water... but we ended up surviving the night.

The following morning, we got up for breakfast and a hike through the jungle. Our guide pointed out all sorts of flora and fauna. Luckily, we didn´t see too much more than birds and bugs on the fauna side. Random not-so-friendly animals include the anaconda, jaguar, puma, and Michael Jackson (a crazy monkey we met in one of the villages).

We leave for Florida tomorrow and I should have all our photos from the trip and more from our second adventure up sometime late Thursday, so keep an eye out!

First Semester - Law School

HIM: After waiting 3 agonizing weeks for results on my law school classes I discovered that I´ve passed all my classes! As each one is graded on a curve, a certain small number of people get A´s and some get F´s Most of the rest fall somewhere in the C range. It was particularly unnerving because I looked at the whole list of grades posted (mine and everyone else´s are anonymously listed through a randomly assigned number...) and I knew that some of my friends didn´t do well in one class or another. Some friends are surely feeling really good going back into the second semester and others are probably dreading returning right now. Regardless, I know that I got what I earned (more or less... ;) and there is another grueling semester beginning 1 week from now. In the meanwhile, I have some more pictures to post.

Christmas and New Years

HIM: So, we enjoyed a great Christmas and New Year. The family came over and we had dinner together. Then, we opened presents early in the morning and got up late Christmas day. Then at New Years we celebrated good times at the house and visited Vanessa´s grandmother an hour east of Lima.