so wasted...

I'm sitting in an airport in Illinois, nursing a serious hangover. Yesterday I interviewed at Iowa university. Iowa seriously is a gorgeous place. I got to drive over the mississippi river, and I've got to say that it's fucking big. Iowa is flat. Driving around feels like the drive on the 5 when you're driving between northern and southern california. I guess it has a lot more trees and lots of cute little houses along the say. It's pretty freaking cold, but I hear it's supposed to get a lot colder.

I apologize for making you read this joe. I'm taking notes more to help myself remember/choose programs, more than anything else. Just jotting down my thoughts. Iowa is an amazing program. It's one of the few programs that has everything covered. Awesome faculty and residents. Old school surgical training - the good kind. They eschew kits and easy fixes. Awesome research, one of the few places where the residents do a full year of bench research. I was blown away, but I got the sense they weren't impressed with my california-ness and didn't believe that I'd be willing to live out in iowa. Nobody believes me when I say sac-town's only claim to fame is arnold and it's driving proximity to SF and tahoe. The party scene in iowa is pretty crazy. ah...the beauty of big 10 schools. Anyhow, after the interview, I went out with some guys I've been traveling the interview trail with and we were all hammered by 4pm. Happy hour in the midwest is cheap and the beers are ridiculously large. They make brits look sober. seriously...eventually, I sobered up enough to drive to my motel 6 across the street from the po man's airport.

Next stop on the Magical Mystery Tour: University of Michigan.

-bender