Berbere On My Mind

At the beginning of Summer I started reading Cutting for Stone, and I finally finished it last week (the last two hundred pages of which I devoured in one sitting like an addict). The novel is about 700 pages, and in theory, most of my focus is on school right now, but the writing is so elegant, and the lives so immersive that it was really difficult to put down. The morning after I finished it, I found myself at the library looking for my next fix. That glorious day, I discovered section 617.092 of the dewey decimal system. Technology/Applied Sciences>Medicine> SURGERY! This section of the library is a gold mine! I got six books (Summertime and the living is easy) and am almost done with numero uno: Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. In one part, Atul muses at a surgeon's conference and it makes me daydream about getting to play with new sutures and tools one day, as an experienced surgeon. Most of my Amazon Wish List at this point is just anatomy books, disease history books, dream microscopes and suture practice kits. Once you find something you love, it's hard not to be anxious to learn everything you possibly can. Stay hungry, stay foolish. 

Speaking of, last night, Andrew and I got Ethiopian food (most of Cutting for Stone is set in Addis and the food descriptions in the last section were making me salivate). I did some much-needed research on spice blends of Ethiopia and how to cook things like misir wot and injera. For someone who was once, and I guess always will be, a chef, part of the joy of eating is knowing how things were made. Dissecting dishes, nutritional anthropology, and the tangible nature of food are really what drew me to cooking. I guess in that respect surgery has its similarities.

Well, I have a weekend of reading and coffee to take advantage of... and one more week of calculus! Yeehaw!