Yes, it's hot - but I'm still enjoying this city!

Yesterday, despite the record breaking heat, Kathy, Kevin, and I went out to dinner with the Mohantys (two professors from our graduate program) who are in NYC visiting family. We went to this AMAZING Thai restaurant and with five people you end up trying a little bit of everything! I usually get curry and pad thai but this time I also got to try papaya salad (green papaya, carrot, string beans, tomato, peanut, and lime juice), crispy whole red snapper topped with sweet tamarind chili garlic sauce, panang curry, yellow curry, pad thai with squid, and something else that was delicious but I'm not sure what it is called. Then Mano ordered a desert of sticky rice and mango, which sounded really strange, but  is incredibly delicious! What a great night - excellent food with wonderful people!

Professors Manoranjah & Bidyut Mohanty, Kevin, Kathy, & Erica

People have been asking me about the heat wave that has settled over the East Coast - yes it is hot, but I have spent a few summers in the tropics and I grew up where the thermometer can reach over 115ºF so for me it is hot, but definitely bearable. Last night I had to run the air conditioner for the first time because it has been difficult to sleep when it is so warm and I really wanted a good nights rest (I only used it to cool the room then shut it off and turned on the fan). The gal I am subletting from also gave me a good tip before she left for France - sleep with frozen water bottles wrapped in cloth. I did that last night and it works really well! I will probably do that again tonight, although the breeze has kicked in and the temperature today was only in the 90s. By Friday it will be back in the 80s. One thing I do love about the hot weather is that the sorbet people come out and sell small refreshing cups of it for only $1. It is a perfect cool down treat to take down into the sweltering subway tunnels (the trains have air con, though).

I am still enjoying work. Right now I have 3 projects, well the third one starts tomorrow. They are keeping me busy, but I like it that way. Kathy and I are still working on the new filing system, I am running an online test forum that I created (which I think is starting to come along quite nicely), and tomorrow I start doing some research - basically finding ways that the same amount of money can reach more people with HIV/AIDS (value for money). It is shaping up to be a good summer and a good internship...it is true what they say, internships are what you make of them, and I plan to make the most out of this opportunity.