I don't have much time to update this with all we have been up to, but I wanted to share a couple of things real quick and then will elaborate on them in later posts.

On Thursday, we went to the Christian Oath Swearing for some of the medical students that graduated this year - John, David, Lesley Ajit, Hans, Tara and Nicole. It was a wonderful ceremony and I will post some pictures later.
On Friday, I went to Deola and Tunde's house to celebrate Bisola's first birthday! I can't believe she is already 1! Her hands found the frosting immediately but she didn't quite make the connection that she could eat it and then realized that she didn't like to have her hands all messy!
I baked a lot of goodies on Friday for the graduation party that I helped with on Saturday.
On Saturday morning, I went to the graduation ceremony for all of the medical students and graduate students while Brandon studied. It was a very nice ceremony and I was able to sit with some of Brandon's classmates. Afterwards, Brandon met up with us and we attended the reception in the Gonda building.
Saturday afternoon I helped plan a graduation party for 6 of the graduates - John, Dave, Lesley, Ajit, Tara and Nicole and all of their families (around 80 people??) I was glad that I was able to help out so that they could spend the time with their families. It turned out nice even though we did have to bring everything inside for the couple times that it rained on us.
Today, I coached my volleyball team in a tournament up in the Cities. It was a long day - we didn't get done until 6:45... But afterwards, I met up with Allison for an excellent dinner at an Italian Restaurant called Buca. It was so much fun to see her but I felt so bad that she waited 30 minutes for me since my games ran late. She is such a great friend and I am excited that she will be in Rochester again from June until August.
Brandon has been studying so much and studied all day today while I was in the Cities. I am keeping so busy that he almost has to study! Today, while he was studying at Mayo, he saw the President of Irag, who is here for a checkup. He said it was amazing to see all of the security around him. Down below is an article about it. I sometimes forget that we are working at the best medical institution in the world but when people like this come here just to get checkups, it puts things back into perspective!
Well, I am done posting for tonight since I need to get some sleep, but I will post a lot of pictures later on in the week. You can see some pictures from the graduation on John and Wendi's Blog, Tara's Blog and David and Lesley's Blog.

Iraqi president to get checkup at Mayo Clinic

5/20/2007 3:50:44 PM

From staff and news services

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq -- President Jalal Talabani was scheduled to come to Rochester this weekend for a medical checkup, a senior Kurdish politician close to the Iraqi leader said Saturday.

The politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the president's plans, said the checkup at the Mayo Clinic has been scheduled for weeks.

Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, was to fly Sunday from the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad. He gave no other details.

A Mayo Clinic spokeswoman said Sunday she could not confirm reports of Talabani's visit but added that he was not a current patient.

He would be the latest world leader to be seen at Mayo Clinic. Others have included King Hussein of Jordan who sought treatment there in the 1990s and died in 1999 from cancer and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a former president of the United Arab Emirates who died in 2004.

Talabani was admitted to King Hussein Medical Center in Amman in neighboring Jordan Feb. 25 after he collapsed in Sulaimaniyah. He was unconscious as he was rushed to a local hospital, but recovered enough to be flown to Jordan. Doctors said he suffered from exhaustion and dehydration caused by lung and sinus infections.

He returned home 17 days later, flying directly to Sulaimaniyah where thousands of Kurds greeted him.

Talabani met earlier Saturday with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the two addressed a news conference along with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Looking pale and slightly unkempt, Talabani was visibly angry when answering a reporter's question on the chances of a coup toppling al-Maliki's government.

"A coup is an illusion that will never materialize," Talabani said. "If it becomes necessary, hundreds of thousands of popular and military forces will be prepared to stand by the government against any coup attempt."

Talabani will be the second top Iraqi politician to fly to the United States for medical reasons in four days.

Senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday for further tests to determine if he is suffering from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.

Al-Hakim is the leader of the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq, the country's largest Shiite party and a partner in al-Maliki's coalition government.