Phase I of interviews is drawing to a close and I’m en route to Bozeman.  I have already given up showering the (early!) mornings of interviews, which makes me worried for the direction I’m headed for phases II-IV!  Someone told me my teal blouse was “ballsy” which also makes me worried for future interviews.  If teal is ballsy than consider me a real stunt-woman because it’s all I’ve got!  But I digress.

Madison, Wisconsin was fantastic (Capital building featured above).  For starters, I stayed at the Doubletree which was way cheaper and way more upscale than the Westin hotel in San Fran.  It did not disappoint.  And they provided free shuttle rides basically everywhere!  I went on a post interview run with a fellow applicant who was an excellent running companion and was quite frankly one of the most genuine folks I have met on the interview trail.  We moseyed over to Lake Monona, ran along her shores, and then hit Lake Mendota.  I couldn’t help but be reminded of the John Prine song “Lake Marie”– Oh, aie, oh, aie, oh!  The temps were freezing (single digits) and the wind was blowing, especially through my hair.  I battled Raynaud’s while my associate in his shortie shorts battled “Raynads.”

We followed the run with an impromptu Emergency Department holiday party.  I was skeptical of going, ONE because I am antisocial and curmudgeonly, and TWO because I was looking for a night off from meet-and-greet style social events (refer back to number one).  However, like most things in this world, once the ball was in motion it was heaps of fun.  There was a karaoke station, but it was amazingly difficult to muster up public singing courage without more thoroughly lubricating my vocal cords (which I’ve heard is ill advised at interview functions?).

Thus after much deliberation my cohorts and I chose not to sing.  Wah wah.  But we did have a fantastic time partaking of the feisty musings of the emergency underworld.  And we did what every self respecting group of med students would do– shut the buffet down at the end of the party!

I also wound up with a new and fantastic roomate, an amazing lady from the town most notable for hosting the hit television drama, Connie Britton 2.0, also known to the masses as Nashville.

For now it’s homeward bound, feeling more than ready for a fridgid evening ski in Madison… county.