Honduras

This past week I had the opportunity to go to Honduras as part of the Global Medical Brigades. Me actually going was a long line of things falling into place. At first, I wasn’t going to go because of a summer school class but I ended up taking an online one instead. I really didn’t think it would be possible for me to go seeing as how it was only a week before my group would fly out, but our group lead got it to work somehow and next thing I know I’m heading to Honduras…. or so I thought. The group didn’t book my ticket at the time and the flight was sold out! So the day before I was suppose to leave, I scrambled and ended up finding a flight. That was just the beginning of my adventure! My flight itinerary was LAX to Ohio to Atlanta then finally Honduras. My first leg from LAX to Ohio got delayed by an hour and I ended up missing my connector to Atlanta by 10 minutes! Fearing that I would also miss my connecting flight to Honduras, Delta put me on the last flight out to Honduras but I would only have 35 mins of layover to get there. Well long story short, we arrived with about 25 minutes left to spare but ended up sitting on the tarmac after we landed for bout 5 mins and by the time I was able to get off I had 15 minutes to get to the gate before it took off… for those of you who have been to the Atlanta, damn their terminal is huge! I ended up sprinting and taking the tram from terminal A to terminal E and made it to the gate just before they closed it!

In the end, I made the flight and had an amazing time in Honduras. I met and worked with some amazing people as we set up 3 days worth of mobile clinics. I believe in the end, we ended up seeing over 700 patients in those 3 days. Along with my scribe co-workers and our Doc, we teamed up with a group of medical students from the UK and their doctor. Those UK folks were fun to work with and they sure know how to party!

Going on this trip has definitely reaffirmed my goals in going towards medicine, and although it was chaotic in getting there, I would definitely make the same decision to go to Honduras again!

Here are some quick pics from the trip, the rest can be seen at the gallery by clicking here

- D^ 2

Our drug cartel ring

View from our place & the best hammock ever!

Our living quarters

Our visit to the orphanage

This is my lil pal, Luis

These kids were a lot of fun and very cute

Tooth extraction!

Nothing better than putting your feet up and resting on a hammock after a long day

Last view of Honduras before I flew out

San Diego

This past weekend I went down to San Diego with Aimee. We went to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park and stayed in the Little Italy area of San Diego. The Wild Animal Park is so much fun! It was the first time there for both of us so it was a really neat experience. We stayed in San Diego for the night and chose the Little Italy district because Aimee loves Italian food. The food there lived up to it’s name as we dined at Bencotto’s Italian Kitchen for dinner. We had brunch the following morning at Cafe Zucchero and topped off our weekend at an amazing dessert place called Extraordinary Desserts. If you ever have a chance to go down to San Diego then you must stop by Extraordinary Desserts and try their “toasted caramel macadamia cheesecake”! The best cheesecake I’ve ever had, hands down. Oh, and they have some really good coffee to go with the desserts to.

Here are a few shots

- D^2

My Origins

So during my little 2 day trip to Washington DC a few days back, I had the opportunity to visit my grandfather who is currently residing at the American Armed Forces Retirement Home in DC. He had moved there almost x3 years ago from southern California. So for everyone who has ever wondered why my last name is Davis, well he’s the reason.

My grandfather was a 30 year veteran of the armed forces and saw action in Pearl Harbor, Korean War and the Vietnam War. He is one of the few remaining survivors of Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was his first station assignment at the young age of 19. His last war was the Vietnam War, where upon he met my grandmother along with my father and 2 uncles. He helped them emigrate into the United States and when they arrived to the states, they had the option of keeping their heritage name or choose to take on my grandfather’s. My grandmother, father along with one of my uncles took on the last name of “Davis” while my other uncle took on “Phan”. So that is how I ended up with a last name of “Davis” and my middle name ended up being my heritage name, “Phan”.

My grandfather is pushing 88, but his mind is still there. He’s recounting his 30 years in the service into a book that he is currently writing. In the book, he told me there will be pictures and drawings from the war that has never been seen before. Apparently, the images he has was from a friend of his that passed away and were never published. So I’m pretty excited to read his book when he does finish it.

So for those who have wondered why my last name is Davis, this is why.

- D^2

Philadelphia

So last weekend I had the opportunity to go to another city on my list to visit while I’m still in the east coast, Philadelphia. It was a brief 1.5 hr drive from my place and I ended up first going to the historic area of Philly. Walking around and seeing the sights and places that helped formed this nation was awe inspiring. There is an incredible amount of history that you see and feel within the buildings. Seeing all these places makes you take a step back  and realize how far we’ve come as a nation but at the same time how much further we need to proceed.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

- D^2

Carpenter’s Hall (The meeting place of the first continental congress)

Another New York Adventure

So this past weekend, I had another New York venture. I was in Jersey City for the weekend to assist Louis Trinh from Tikko Studios at a wedding. The following day Louis was to fly out, but that wasn’t until later in the afternoon so we decided to go check out the Statue of Liberty because it was close by. I knew the Statue of Liberty was huge… but man it’s massive when you get up close to it! It was also pretty interesting to learn about the origins of the Statue, from the idea to the creation and finally the transportation of it to New York. We spent quite a bit of time there and I was barely able to get Louis to his flight!