I AM TRULY GRATEFUL TO THE MAN (he will remain anonymous) that hosted my stay here in Albany. A doctor by profession, he is now a third year resident in Albany Medical Center (just a stone’s throw away from the apartment) and is originally from India. When I coincidentally hooked up with him, I did not expect to have him invite me to stay at his house, and two weeks is not a short time. But it turned out that he is a very nice person, works with the Doctors Without Borders before, and is especially helpful to medical students from overseas like me.

Albany is not a big city, and his apartment is not far away from downtown. It takes me 20 minutes to walk to a bus stop, and 20 minutes on a bus to reach the Center where I observe. All in all, the place is actually in a safe and quiet neighbourhood, yet not too far away for civilization (that means food and stores and stuff). The bus fares here is one dollar per trip, which is much cheaper than New York City, and the food here costs less too. I use the kitchen everyday for my meals, and thus saved a lot of money this week.

This host that I’m staying with, had to go to Utah for some sort of work, and he trusted me with his apartment and all. I’m surprised but felt warm at heart at the same time for his confidence and generosity towards me, bearing in mind that we were completely strangers prior to this. However, we do have some things in common, he is also very involved community service, previously through the Doctors Without Borders association.

The apartment is real cool, because of the very big computer monitor which also serves as a television screen in the living room. The sofa bed in the living room is really convenient because I can sleep here whenever I want to. There’s a bedroom with a queen sized bed and another room which is now a storage place. The kitchen is not big, but well equipped enough with cooking tools for me to prepare all my meals. Not a big house you might say, but I do feel comfortable here, and always had good nights every single day.

*** CAM of the day ***

Green tea
Unlike the other variations of tea, green tea is unfermented (thus the color) and is rich in antioxidants called polyphenols. Green tea is already heavily researched and is well-known for its beneficial properties to protect against atherosclerosis, many types of cancer, high cholesterol and obesity. For weight controllers, green tea is a very tasty beverage that serves as a great add-on to the diet plan (choose non-sweetened ones of course). How much do you drink a day? Two to three cups per day is good enough. The best ones of course are the ones that have safety claims that they are organic and does not contain artificial preservatives and colorings. Drink wisely now, and maybe you can help improve your health.