travel and atlanta

My travel schedule is awfully crazy over the next several months, but I will do my best to update my blog regularly. However, if I'm quiet for a few days (or a week) I hope you'll forgive me and keep checking back for updates.

This week it's Atlanta for a conference, the following three weeks are Atlanta for training (in preparation for India or Africa for polio work). As much as I'm not a fan of weather in the south, this is a great time of year to be down here. It's humid, but not too bad; it's warm, but not over 80 or 85 usually; it's sunny and the summer thunderstorms haven't really started. Plus, there's the added benefit of the people.

I've made some great friends through work, and I don't get to see them most of the year (since we're scattered all over the country). The level of camaraderie we have is wonderful, and our conversations bounce around from the scientific epi side, to personal lives (the reproductive drive is in full force), to the future (finding jobs, moving, etc.), to reassuring each other that everyone is having issues with their position. (And many of us know each other's spouses and kids and like hearing the most recent update.) It's an amazing professional circle of colleagues, combined with a great social circle of friends.

When I was in medicine, I was sufficiently different from most of my colleagues, that we didn't quite click (with a few wonderful exceptions). I had completely different interests (public health rather than clinical), and my values and politics were way further left than everyone. While I'm still left of the mainstream in public health, the norm is way more liberal than in medicine. Everyone here does what they do 'cause they're committed to making the world a better place. We could all be earning substantially more money if we wanted to, but this is where we feel we can help people. It's a great feeling to be surrounded by people I can connect to, on a professional and personal level.

So, as much as I'm not a fan of Atlanta, I really do enjoy being here (just don't make me come in August. :)