In need of miracles...

Not much I can say here. Post-Katrina conditions in New Orleans continue to worsen, making heroes, criminals, and refugees out of cross-sections of the city's population. Please continue to pray for the welfare of New Orleanians and others affected by the hurricane. Though it's still not clear how my family's residence or my dad's office fared, we are all safely beyond the reach of Katrina's wrath. Thank you all for your continued support.

A Journey Begins

From my vantage point in the MS1 lecture hall, one story below ground in the PCTB (Pre-Clinical Teaching Building) of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions campus, the view is - er - complicated :). I spend my 8am-1pm hours in a mixture of lectures and discussions, currently dealing with macromolecular structure and cellular processes. Though I've already been inundated with information, I'm learning about something I love while surrounded by great people. I've put in almost ten hours of studying over my first two days, but it's not as much as it sounds. I'm still making time to exercise, cook good meals, follow the dismaying news from the Gulf Coast, and - of course - talk with Lisa every chance I get :). I'll post more about my classes and classmates as my impressions develop.

Le Grande Reunion

This past Sunday, August 28, Natalie Halbach and I reunited in Washington, D.C. after not having seen each other for more than two years. Our precious few hours together reinvigorated me for my classes at Johns Hopkins, which began on Monday. At one point Natalie keenly observed that we'd re-connected so quickly that it was as if we'd not spent those years away from each other at all. Of course, throughout that time he skills and determination as a letter writer certainly did help to preserve our bond. We didn't do much in D.C. except to go to Mass, grab some food at Eastern Market, then sit around and talk...which is to say - we did a great deal. She has so many fascinating stories to share about France, about Africa, and about the special man in her life. Our time together was brief, but invaluable. She's headed off to a field placement in Louisville, KY this Thursday for her fellowship in hunger policy - best of luck to her as she begins a new phase in her own life. The above picture is of the two of us in her temporary D.C. residence, a sort of Quaker meeting house. See how happy we are to be together again after so long!

Breaking News...

The next two weeks portent significant lifestyle changes for a lucky quintet of inter-related twenty-somethings. To start with the most recently announced: my brother, Ryan deJong, has just been hired on in the Institutional Sales department of Southcoast Capital, currently a subsidiary of Hibernia Bank! I can hear the cheers all the way from New Orleans, because this is a fantastic opportunity that's been in the works for a while. Ryan has already invested enormous reserves of time and energy into getting this position - best of luck as he begins this week! You can check out his new firm at this site: www.hibernia.com/Common/Pages/Hub_Site_Front_Door_A/0,2499,3685,00.html . In other news Lisa's sister Lauren and her boyfriend Peter are both preparing to start amazing new jobs, Lauren at Network (a Catholic social justice organization in D.C.), Peter at Design Continuum (a creative design firm based in Boston). Best wishes to them, as well! As for Lisa and I, we're both about to embark on new adventures - Lisa's preparing for the move from Cuernavaca, where she's been in language classes, to Monterrey, where she'll be taking graduate classes in business. I'm planning on visiting her sometime soon...don't tell her ;)! I'm starting classes Monday morning, but the most exciting news is my spiffy new haircut! You can form your own opinions based on the photo below - I'm happy to receive feedback for next time. That's all for now - congrats again to the newly employed! P.S. The above photo is a special one for Lisa - it's Tomas Torres' letter - aww!

Neal's first day at Hopkins - I'm official!

Today - Thursday, August 25th - I completed my first official day as a medical student at Johns Hopkins. For most of the day, my classmates and I filled out paperwork, listened to welcome speeches from deans and professors, and waited in various lines to have blood drawn, photos taken, and id badges made. My impressions of the day, though, center on my classmates, who seem remarkably human, low-key, and friendly - characteristics, I admit, that I feared I'd not find in ample supply. New Classmate Seth (Goldstein, from *gasp* N.C. State and Cambridge) is actually cutting my hair tomorrow morning before all 120ish of us load up weekend gear and drive to Sandy Hill, MD for some bonding. The event continues through Sunday, but I'll be leaving on Saturday for D.C. to hang out with one Natalie Halbach (yes - she's back!!) before she leaves for Louiville, KY. I took the above photo of myself (thanks for the technique, Mr. Briscoe) this morning, just before leaving for school. The photo below is of my new id badge - I'm official!

The above photos come from the June 11, 2005 wedding of my dear friends Rolf and Holly, who live in Bethesda, Maryland. As I presume is evident from the pictures, a great time was had by all. No offense to the lovely bride and groom, but I'd like to draw special attention to the photo of Lisa and myself (below) - doesn't she look fabulous! I've certainly missed her a great deal since she's been in Mexico, but photos like this one always make me smile. I can't wait to visit her in Monterrey! As for the guys at the top left who look like they having enough fun for the whole wedding party, that's Nate, Jason, and Streeter - my recent golf partners - with Nate's girlfriend (and classmate) Beth hiding below the frame. Due homage is paid to the bride and groom in the touching shot above at right, which catches Rolf administering the price to pass through the military sword arch.

Wow - playing 36 holes of golf in one day means playing WAY too many for me. In fact, playing just 18 holes of golf in one day is usually too many for me. What the hay, then? - you might rightly ask upon hearing that I did, in fact, play 36 holes of golf yesterday. They hay, then, is that none other than Lewis Vance Lecka III (known aliases - Streeter, that-guy-we-know-whose-photos-regularly-appear-in-ESPN-the-magazine-and-every-other-major-sports-publication) is in Baltimore for a few days. When Streeter and Nate Maust (like me, a lucky Baltimore resident) get together, golf happens. Lots of it - in fact, 72 holes of it in 2 days. I thought I was game for all 36 today, but I admit that I ran out of motivation somewhere between the 19th and 36th holes. I also lost a significant number of golf balls and - almost - my lunch during a whole day with these guys. Despite the horrible play, we managed to have far too much fun for golfing. To keep the evening going, we're about to head over to Blue Agave for some delicious Mexican food...for me, the best part of the day by far. The above photo is of the Woodlands, the golf course we played this morning. Notice that no golf balls are visible in the photo - that's because we hit all of them into the trees.

Homework in Cuernavaca!?!

Fresh off her first full week of classes at Cuahnahuac Language Institute in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, Lisa reports that she's been doing multiple hours of homework each night. All that work seems to be more a function of her own determination to master the grammatical nuance of Spanish than of any requirement imposed by her instructors. In true Lisa style, she's working harder than her teachers likely expect and learning a great deal more than they likely anticipate in three weeks' time. All her days have been chock-full. Weekdays she's in class from 8-1, with various afternoon activities at school and mealtimes filling up much of the rest of the day. Weekends she's on one of the seven school excursions that her scholarship is funding. So far she's been to Mexico City, a set of natural springs, an Aztec pyramid site, and somewhere else today about which I haven't heard yet. She's been taking pictures, which may or may not be posted on this site soon...depends on internet availability. She somehow managed to upload the above photo through sheer willpower. Loading photos takes a long time on dial-up internet!

Life in Baltimore

Since Lisa's departure for Mexico, I've had about ten days to acclimatize to Baltimore without her keen sense of direction and wonderfully spontaneous sense of fun. Two weekends ago, thanks to the generosity of my parents, my brother Ryan and I had a great time exploring Baltimore and D.C. together. After Ryan returned home, though I quickly reverted to school-mode: reading, studying, writing letters, cooking, exercising. It's been a quiet, slow-moving string of days, but the result is that I'm thrilled for classes to start soon. Yesterday morning, Saturday, I spent a solid three hours walking all around the harbor area of Baltimore (see picture). In recent years the area has acquired the name "Digital Harbor" in reference to the digital technology enterprises that either do, or may someday, line the harbor area. I'm still not sure if digital technology in Baltimore is reality or wishful thinking, but I can report that a significant portion of the harbor area is undergoing renovation. Truly, a city on the move...

Amigos de lejos

Imagine my surprise this evening when, arriving at this humble space with designs on updating, I discovered a comment from a dear friend, one whom I have not seen in far too long already. Some of you will remember Rafael Ioris from the summer I spent working at The Carter Center in Atlanta. A few years my senior (not too many, though...right, Rafael!), he became a mentor and close confidante over the course of several months. It was he who first encouraged me to ask Lisa out! She and I had the good fortune to share dinner with him in Atlanta a couple years back just before we graduated, but I have not seen Rafael since. My our next meeting come sooner than our last...and preferably at his place - in Brazil! The above photo shows Rafael with his wife, Renata.

Lisa Flies into the Sunset (alas, without me for 3 months)

Lisa arrived in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico last Friday afternoon to a warm host family and a hot meal, thank God. She spent the weekend on two excursions - one to Mexico City and some ruins, another to nearby natural springs - with her classmates at the Cuahnahuac Language Institute. She started classes Monday, and reports that the atmosphere and substance are comfortable and challenging, respectively. We've communicated thus far through strands of text-messages, emails, phone calls, and letters - sounds like a lot, but feels like too little. Lisa intends to tell more once she starts posting.

Creating a cretin

I am finally acting on a long-held fancy of mine to create and maintain a form of web publishing. My blog is - and will continue to be - rudimentary, more a self indulgence than anything else. If you happen upon this space, enjoy!