First Day in Philly

Tuesday morning, I somehow woke up at 6 AM, which startled my brother. For years he made fun of me for sleeping in on non-school/work days, and apparently expected me not to be up until much later. But I think the thrill of being in a new city and the large amount of sunlight that comes through my window gave me the inspiration to get out and explore. I had spent a week in Philly during February break my senior year at Brandeis, so I had already seen the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Franklin Institute, and the new American Jewish history museum. It seemed appropriate to go to a place off the "standard" list.
Having read Swallow by Mary Cappello, which discusses the life of Dr. Chevalier Jackson, who developed nonsurgical techniques for extracting swallowed objects, I filed the Mütter Museum away as a potential destination. The Mütter has a set of drawers with all of the objects Jackson extracted, along with shelves of skulls, wax models of organs, and skeletons highlighting the effects of disease and trauma. For a nursing student who spent hours skimming Wikipedia pages on surgeries and diseases while working in a preoperative clinic, I had to see the Mütter.

The first takeaway I had from the museum was how much has changed in medicine and health (in the U.S.). Most of the full skeletons on display, which had been prepared in the mid-to-late 1800s were around my height (5' 2"). There were also a remarkable number of people in their 20s (and much younger) who died from now treatable infections, such as TB, and also several disturbing examples of rickets and osteomalacia (bone diseases caused by lack of vitamin D). At the same time, there was a display of spines curved abnormally from osteoporosis, and an exhibit on gunshot wounds during the Civil War. Though we have better treatments for gunshot wounds (particularly to prevent infection), there are still obviously many people who are permanently disabled or killed by guns, and the guns we have now are more destructive than those in the Civil War. My reflections at the museum, though, were lightened by the middle school group that was present. It was difficult to think too long about current medical and societal issues when there were fifteen preteen girls periodically commenting, "EW, GROSS" at the tissue samples and wax models.

After the museum, I had sushi for lunch, treating myself to some Philly rolls. Authentic Japanese sushi? Of course not. But cream cheese and smoked salmon with wasabi and soy sauce is a pleasant mixture of flavors and textures. On the way back to my brother's apartment, I stopped at the Superfresh in Society Hill to stock up on groceries. I was surprised to find that a lot of the produce was not fresh, to the point where I could detect the smell of turning lettuce, and stuck to non-produce. During my time at Brandeis, I used to complain to my mother that the produce section at the Waltham Hannaford was inadequate compared to the farmstand/grocery where she got our fruits and vegetables. Now I see that Hannaford was just fine, but there is hope in the form of a Whole Foods that is also within reasonable walking distance.

 I am surprised at how quickly I am starting to feel settled in, but I think a large part of it was this walking adventure - it was a good 1.5 miles or so walk each way, long enough to see changes from neighborhood to neighborhood but short enough that it didn't feel like something from Oregon Trail.

Today, I slept in, hung out with the cats*, and was introduced to Parks and Recreation by my SIL. Tomorrow, I get to familiarize myself with SEPTA by taking my first trip on the regional rail to Villanova. Classes haven't started yet, but tomorrow is Laptop Distribution day. I am not super excited about the computer itself (it's going to be a Dell, and I'm a Mac person), but I think it will be useful to have a school computer and a fun computer. As long as it stays alive, it'll be fine.

* = Brother and SIL have two cats, a compact, rounded tabby and a black cat. Both have taken to me pretty quickly, perhaps because my room has one of their food dishes.
More info on Swallow: http://www.swallowthebook.com/book.html