Done with interviews! Part 2

When we left off, I had completed seven interviews in six weeks. December was going to be much more busy, though.

Date: December 5, 2008
Program: Christiana, Delaware
Social event: The dinner was at the Washington Street Ale House in Wilmington, with a full open bar and great food, including sushi and good hummus. We ate a LOT at this interview dinner, and drank a lot, too.
Breakfast: I grabbed breakfast from the hotel before the interview
Lunch: I don’t really remember lunch too much in detail, other than the fact that there was a lot of food, a crudite platter, a gorgeous fruit display (I ate a lot of strawberries and pineapple), and TONS of desserts. There was a platter of dessert pastries, including cream puffs, of which I had at least two, and there was cherry cheesecake. There was only one guy on our interview, and he claimed he couldn’t eat any cheesecake because he was worried about his figure. And yes, he used the term “figure.” In response, about 5 of us girls goaded him into eating cheesecake and made fun of him for being a sissy. It was an odd role reversal for sure.
Where I stayed: Christiana was notable for being the only program that paid for my hotel room. (Actually, one other program offered to pay, but I ended up canceling that interview.) Eric picked me up from the Philadelphia airport, and we checked into the Fairfield Inn in Newark, Del. After we checked in, we got a call from the front desk – someone had dropped off a welcome package for us! It was like we were attending a wedding. The package was all the information about the program, as well as some candy, which Eric enjoyed.
How I got there: Southwest to Philly; then rented a car to get from Philly to Baltimore for the Sinai interview
Other notable events: Christiana was another interview where spouses and significant others were invited to the social event. After this interview, I decided it would be nice to go to a program that had a lot of money. (That second sentence is unrelated to the first.)
Cost of interview: $358 combined for this interview, Drexel, and Sinai, including plane tickets, car rental, and a couple cab rides

Date: December 6, 2008
Program: Drexel
Social Event: Dinner at a resident’s apartment. The food was barbecue sandwiches and fried macaroni and cheese. Even though those are totally southern things, I totally associate them with Philly, because I used to eat at a really good barbecue place in Manayunk and gorge myself on fried mac-and-cheese when I lived in Philly.
Breakfast: A full assortment of not only pastries, but also bagels, fruit salad, and food-truck-style breakfast sandwiches. Yum.
Lunch: None; the interview was over by lunchtime.
Where I stayed: At Marjorie’s apartment.
How I got there: Eric dropped me off in Philly the day before, after the Christiana interview.
Other notable events: I saw Lisa from Penn State (and the Jersey Shore interview) again, and met Matthew. I also met a Muslim guy from Elizabethtown, KY -- this was weird, because no one is from E-town, and because we tried to play the "who do we know in common in Louisville game" and it failed. Drexel's program is known for having a lot of male residents, and as a result, they get a lot of male applicants; there were more guys at this interview than I think at any other interview I went to.
Cost of interview: $358, combined with the Christiana and Sinai interviews.

Date: December 7, 2008
Program: Sinai, Baltimore
Social Event: Happy Hour at the Mount Washington Tavern in Baltimore. Crudite, wings, and some unmemorable hors d’oeuvres served during dinner time. But good wine and hard liquor were available!
Breakfast: Bagels and pastries.
Lunch: Sandwiches, chips, fruit salad, and cookies.
Where I stayed: With Paula again.
How I got there: Rented a car and drove down from Philly. I flew back to Louisville out of BWI on Southwest. I think it was this trip that earned me the last of the credits I needed for a Rapid Rewards roundtrip, which I’m using for our Napa honeymoon in May. At least one good thing came of all these interviews!
Other notable events: Only two residents showed up to the social event. It snowed as I got to Baltimore, the first snow I had seen this winter. I unexpectedly saw Jonah at the interview – he rotated at Penn this summer when I was there, and he and I have similar stories, in which our significant other is already in the Philly area and we are trying to join them. I had no idea I was going to see him at this interview, and once we got sick of the social event, we left the private room and went to the bar to get a real dinner and discuss our interview experiences. Of note, he relayed a story that Temple girl #2 had told him when he had met her at another program – I find it endlessly fascinating how you run into the same people on the interview trail! I also unexpectedly saw my friend Osman at this interview. Osman goes to UofL with me, and I had no idea we had both applied to this program, let alone chosen the same interview date! It was really nice to see him, because I hadn’t seen him in months. Finally, both Matthew and the Muslim guy from Drexel were at this interview as well, and in the final play of "six degrees of Kevin Bacon," it turns out that Osman knew the Muslim guy from Elizabethtown. (I need to note, so that I don't come off as completely racist, that I only mention that the E-town guy was Muslim because Osman is, too, and there is a running joke in Louisville that all "brown people" know each other, since the community is so small. The funny thing was, it was true this time!) This interview was held on a Sunday, which was kind of nice for scheduling, but also pretty rare. After the interview, my mom and sister met me and we had dinner together. My mom had just gotten back from Belgium, where she and my dad live, and I hadn’t seen her since March, so the timing was great. Also, right before this round of interviews, I got a notice saying my wedding dress had been delivered to my apartment, and I wasn’t there, so I was pretty anxious to get home and see it.
Cost of interview: $358, combined with the Christiana and Sinai interviews.

Date: December 13, 2008
Program: University of Pennsylvania
Social Event: None
Breakfast: More pastries.
Lunch: A waiter-served banquet lunch at the Inn at Penn – fancy schmancy! We had a mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette that was the consistency of dense mousse instead of the consistency of a vinaigrette, and then a chicken breast of some sort with roasted potatoes and sautéed veggies.
Where I stayed: At Eric’s mom’s house in Exton. I arrived in Exton a little before dinner time, helped clean out the basement some, and we ordered Rocco’s pizza again. We eventually found the 1949 version of Little Women, with Elizabeth Taylor, on TV, and I was completely entranced. I need to rent that some time to finish watching it.
How I got there: I drove to Pennsylvania from Louisville since I was now on winter break and would be driving between PA, NJ, and MD over the next three weeks and wanted to have my car with me. It snowed through Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. I brought Moxie and Mojo with me, and they eventually made their way to Eric's apartment in NJ, where they are now and where they will stay until we find a new place to live this summer.
Other notable events: I can’t really think of any…
Cost of interview: $49, for a Red Roof Inn in St. Clairsville, OH (near Wheeling, WV) where I stayed as I drove east. I hate making the drive between Louisville and the east coast by myself, and if I'm doing it myself, I try to break it up over a night. Red Roof Inn is my new favorite on-the-road motel chain, because they accept pets for no additional fee, and the newly renovated ones have very comfortable beds, large towels, and great shower water pressure. I highly recommend them for your next budget motel stay.

Date: December 17, 2008
Program: Lankenau, Pennsylvania
Social Event: A real, sit-down dinner at Yang Ming, a Chinese restaurant in Bryn Mawr. The restaurant claims to be both authentic Chinese and fusion Chinese, but I found it to be not very good of either. Nevertheless, the food was pretty good, and it was completely free. We ordered appetizers, soup, entrees, and dessert -- the only thing that wasn't covered was alcohol, but that was OK because the dinner was so generous, and I didn't want a cocktail anyway.
Breakfast: We sat through grand rounds before breakfast was served, but luckily I had coffee with me. Breakfast was bagels and pastries, the usual. I think there was fruit salad, too.
Lunch: Pasta and chicken and hot roast beef that was meant for making sandwiches with but that I ate as an entree. There was a salad that had cheese on it and one of the residents asked if I would mind identifying it as either goat or feta for her. It was goat. She apparently doesn't eat feta. Oh yeah, there were also really good rolls (I eat hardly any bread usually, but when there are good rolls at a restaurant I tend to go nuts) and chocolate-covered pretzels and cookies for dessert.
Where I stayed: At Marjorie's apartment.
How I got there: Drove from Eric's place in NJ.
Other notable events: I saw a girl who I had met at Einstein, way back on October 31. I gave her a ride to 30th Street Station after the interview, and she took my email address. I hope she emails me; she was really fun.
Cost of interview: $0

Date: December 18, 2008
Program: Thomas Jefferson
Social Event: Happy Hour at Dr. Watson's Pub, near Jefferson. It was really crowded, and at first I had a little bit of trouble figuring out who was a resident and who was an applicant, but it was OK. The only food was a crudite platter and a dish of buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks. The mozzarella sticks ran out quickly, and it's hard to eat wings while standing up and trying to hold a cocktail plate, so I mostly stayed hungry while I tried to socialize, while not drinking too much beer. A full 30 minutes before the scheduled end of the event, the people from the bar told us we needed to clear out for five minutes so they could set up for the live band that was coming in next. Instead of waiting, Ananda, who I had met at Washington Hospital Center, and I left and grabbed a slice of pizza in the gayborhood. (By the way, I just want to say that I think it's awesome that GoPhila.com has totally embraced the term "gayborhood.")
Breakfast: You know, bagles and pastries.
Lunch: Wraps and diet-only sodas. Grr.
Where I stayed: At Marjorie's apartment.
How I got there: SEPTA to Center City, then walked a few blocks to the hospital.
Other notable events: Jefferson did not validate our parking, and does not give free parking to its residents. Saw the aforementioned Ananda, from the Washington Hospital Center interview; saw Welles, who I met at UofL and who goes to Jefferson; saw a girl from Cincinnatti who I met at UofL; saw two girls from VCU, one of whom I had met at Maryland, and one of whom I had met at Christiana. The program gave us a Big Bus Tour of Philly after the interview, which was quite enjoyable. Granted, I've done that exact tour before, but I had nothing better to do for the afternoon, and it was fun to see all the historic stuff again. After the tour, I dropped off our Save the Dates at the post office!
Cost of interview: A couple bucks for SEPTA tokens and a few bucks for a pay lot downtown for the happy hour.

Date: December 19, 2008
Program: Pennsylvania Hospital
Social Event: Dinner at the hospital the night before the interview. More Italian food -- lasagna and eggplant parm and salad. Beer and wine and soda and water.
Breakfast: Pastries and yogurt.
Lunch: Hot food. I don't remember what the entree was, but I know I had rice and steamed veggies and the food was good.
Where I stayed: With Marjorie again.
How I got there: Since Pennsy validated my parking and the hospital is a little farther south of Market than Jefferson, making traveling by SEPTA just the tiniest bit more annoying, I drove to the interview.
Other notable events: A bunch of people from the Jefferson interview the day before were at Pennsy, including Welles, the guy from Jefferson, and the girl from VCU who I had met at UMD. Lisa, the girl from Penn State, was there, and so was my friend Jonah, unexpectedly. The hospital is cool because it is the "Nation's First Hospital," with the first surgical ampitheater, the first Ob/Gyn residency program, was home to the nation's first intern, and has the oldest medical library in the country. It has a wall containing plaques of the names of every intern who has ever trained there. For history dorks like me, it was a really fun tour. The evening of this interview, Marjorie and I drove up to Princeton to have dinner with our friend Chris from high school, and the next day we met up with our friend Karen, and the three of us went bridesmaid dress shopping, which was a huge success - both Marjorie and Karen found dresses!
Cost of interview: $0

That concluded the second part of my interview season: 7 interviews in 3 weeks, including two sets of three-in-a-row. EXHAUSTING. It was over these weeks that I complained to Eric the most about how tired I was of interviewing, and how much I couldn't stand the thought of doing two more interviews in January. I talked to numerous people about how much I didn't want to keep my January interviews and wondered if it would be legit to cancel them (it wasn't; they were legit from a geographic standpoint, and it would have been really unfair to Eric to cancel them just because I didn't want to go anymore).