Patriots Day (aka Marathon Monday), Four-twenty, and Earth week

Yesterday was Patriots day and Marathon Monday here in Boston.  Both are a big deal in this city! A group of HMS student got together at 0430 Monday morning to drive to Lexington to watch a reinactment of the Battle of Lexington that took place April 19, 1775.  Man, the people of Lexington get into it!  It was great.  After a brief speech about what was about to transpire, the soldiers got into character and position.  In the distance we saw Paul Revere ride onto the Lexington Common to announce the British were coming.

Do read on!



A while went by, then a platoon of British regulars were upon the small band of rebels.  Fear, anxiety and anger were emotions on both sides.  Who fired the first shot?  To this day no one knows but the end of the skirmish left eight colonial rebels dead.  The British troops then marched on to Concord.  The British were met with a much larger rebel force. The battles of Lexington and Concord where the first military engagements of the American Revolution

We made it back to Boston around 0715 in time for a meeting at 0730.  After class I went with F to watch the Boston Marathon.  The energy was contagious.  Most schools had the day off so kids, teens, and college students where out in the streets.  Young and old stood at the sideline cheering.  You could see the runners struggling in the last miles.  People at the sideline picked out runners to cheer-on.  It was really moving to see how people would get another wind when they heard the encouragement. F said we HAD to run a marathon before we graduate.  I'm for it!

After the marathon I set up an recycling display for Earth Week with my friend and fellow member of Students for Environmental Awareness in Medicine (SEAM), JJ.  We hung items trees that we found in the garbage but should have been recycled.  We got pretty creative with it. 

I think it looks cool.  As I was putting up the display several people came up asking about it.  They where surprised by some of the things we can recycle in Boston.  Earth Week is going to be a big deal for SEAM.  I think it will be a great way to improve or organizations exposure at the medical school. As well as making the case for why medical professionals should aware of environmental issues.  My particular interest is environmental justice and and medical waste.  We have people working on lots of great things.

 Lastly, wassup to El Maestro out in the Bay Area.  My "brother from another mother" is making a change on the ground level as a teacher in Oakland.  It's interesting we had some of the same high school teachers.  They touched our lives, shaped how we view the world around us and gave us early tools to make the change we want to see in the world.  We went to school in the hood and our teachers would tell it like it is.  Things haven't changed too much in that respect.  El Maestro sure wasn't going to shy away from talking about 420.  Peace y'alls