…Been to a Kirtan Celebration

David Newman Music - Kirtan Celebration

Have you ever realized that Yoga is more than just a “stretching type of exercise?”  Well, I always thought just that, until mine and Josh’s friend in Philadelphia, John, informed me that he has been going to meditation with his niece, Janine.  In talking to the two, I learned a small bit about yoga that I never knew.  Yoga is more of a lifestyle that can include meditation, chanting, singing, stretching and exercise.  Apparently the yoga lifestyle is a pretty big thing up here in Philly.  I told them to keep me posted if there is ever anything going on, as I would be completely open to the idea and situation of attending such events. 

Well, John contacts me, stating that Janine told him of a Kirtan celebration for a new CD release for a guy, David Newman.  She was to be working this event, but welcomed us if we liked.  John told me he had already purchased his ticket but would like to know if I would be interested in attending.  So without any hesitation, I told him I would love to go to this and see what it is all about. 

So what is Kirtan?  Well I looked it up and I found this:

Kirtan, also known as sankirtan, is the call-and-response chanting inspired and popularized by the great saint Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The roots of kirtan go back over 500 years to Renaissance India. During this period the influence and style of kirtan became the focal point for the upsurge in religious expression in Bengal led by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This joyful mood quickly spread throughout India, where today kirtan is accepted as one of the surest paths to enlightenment. The singing is accompanied by the ancient musical raga musical tradition with a rhythmic drumming style that transports the chanters to profound spiritual realms. In its religious fervor, it has been likened to modern American Gospel music, and in its heartfelt expression it compares to profound states of deep meditation.

What is Kirtan?

So John picked me up on Saturday and we ventured about 30 minutes to a near-by town called Gladwyne and we would search around for a place to eat before the event.  Well, needless to say, Gladwyne is a very, very nice neighborhood town.  The houses there are rather large and look very “fairy-tale” like.  Here are some examples….

Amazing, huh…?!?!?!?!

So we arrived to a mansion/castle similar to these and I would never have guessed what was ahead of me.  We walk in, and I see rows of shoes and then notice people walking around barefoot.  I took this as my cue that I needed to remove my shoes :-).  John and I removed our shoes and walked over to the registration table.  We were handed a “chant” list (below) and when I first looked down….I was dumbfounded.

We walked around and found Janine, who was extremely excited to see us (which made me happy to know one other person there!).  She then introduced us to two of her friends that were also working the event before she had to run off to attend to her duties.  So John and I walked into the large room, which appeared to have been a living room in this splendid historical home, and I noticed little crescent pillows aligned in rows.  There were also couches and “stadium like” chairs with backs on them.  This room was very interesting with all the house decorations in addition to all the pillows and chairs. 

When it came to begin the show, I was excited and nervous all the same time.  I was surrounded by a large amount of people (probably easily 150 people) all sitting on little crescent pillows.  Everyone seemed to know each other, so I started making the impression that this must be a typical group. 

David Newman came to the front of the room with his wife/assistant/musician/singer and three other guys that constituted his band.  I learned that the night before they were at a Kirtan celebration in New York City and that they are originally from Gladwyne, about two minutes up the road from this event. 

David started off with his title track from his album called “To Be Home” which was entirely perfect for his situation, considering he was “home” for this event.  It was a beautiful song and included the vocal styling's of his wife as well.  This song, at least was in all English.  I cannot say that for the rest of the music. 

Please go to David’s website and his music streams on there.  It is a very interesting style and starts out soft, soothing and relaxing but all of a sudden the intensity starts to pick up around you and before you know it people are up and dancing in the back of the room!  Now, all these songs are really the chants that are listed on the handout.  So it consisted of David singing/chanting a phrase, and then his wife, Mira, would repeat the phrase and we the audience would chime in with her.  It really reminded me of the responsorial song during the Catholic mass, when the cantor sings a line and then you answer back with a line. 

So in the beginning, I admit I was hesitant, but with an open spirit, I stepped in and had a good time with the Kirtan.  I really enjoyed the group of people as well as David Newman’s group.  They were excellent performers and appeared very “down to earth” while actually that was how the whole thing seemed.  At one point, David asked if anyone was new to Kirtan, and I and others raised our hands. He explained that it is a very neat experience and to definitely follow along with our handout.  He mentioned that it is ok not to know what the meaning of the words are that are being chanted, but to just take it all in.  While this was entirely comforting, I was also thinking to myself…”but what if I really do want to know what these chants mean!”

Overall, this was an excellent experience, one that I went in to with an open mind.  I think that is very important when you are trying something new, because you do not want to shut out something that might turn into a real experience.  I went in not knowing what to expect, and I received an experience that I would never regret.  Hopefully I will have the opportunity to experience something else like this soon.  I am enjoying keeping my mind OPEN! This is David and his wife, Mira.  Together, they are wonderful musicians.

So do please check out David’s site.  It tells a little bit about him and gives you a little insight to the while Kirtan experience (minus actually being at one!). 

David Newman Music - Kirtan Celebration

Thanks for sharing my experience with me!!

…Survived JCAHO week at the hospital

In every setting, there is a judicial board, or a board in which determines and sees how things are done.  Well in the hospital world, the governing board is JCAHO or the Joint Commissions Accrediting Hospital Organization.  JCAHO comes around every year and during my orientation, I was informed that JCAHO was due “any-time” during my internships.  Well, the first two weeks went by with occasional conversation regarding JCAHO but no physical appearance of the organization roaming the halls in suits.  Until Monday, June 14th.  I run into my internship supervisor who mentions to me that JCAHO is “in the hospital.”  She told me that if anyone from the organization approaches me, I should tell them that I am an intern and I cannot or should not say anything without my supervisor with me (my clinical instructor or internship supervisor).  So this helped me to feel better regarding being approached.  

So then started all the “hub-bub” regarding JCAHO in the building.  I learned a few important things from their visit:

1. Nothing can be on the floor, other than a chair.  So this means no bags, no shoes, no books, etc.  I don’t really know why this would be, but I guess the Joint Commission finds it important :-)

2. There must be an 18” clearance from the ceiling to any items, such as cubicles or items on top of the cubicle.  So if you place anything on top of your cubicle, there must be the 18” clearance.  So then I asked myself, “is this a fire hazard??”

3. The organization reviews the interactions and care that occur in the hospital by “tracking” patients.  This is usually done by tracking a patient that has been recently admitted and then following that patient through his/her care.  Now the organization is not supposed to be the “bad guys” but they are there to make sure everyone involved in patient care is doing their part to provide the best care possible.

4. Everyone becomes very very ancy when JCAHO is around.  Either people try to avoid all encounter with them if possible.  And this is understandable, because no one wants to get questioned regarding the care they provide, and no one wants to answer a questions incorrectly in regards to the hospital. 

• people become more high strung
• documentation must be clearly written with proper abbreviations so not to provide poor care. 

Overall, it was a very interesting experience to survive JCAHO week.  It provided me with some good knowledge for the future, if I ever work in a hospital setting.  Just remember…someone is ALWAYS watching…

Thursday I took off work a few hours early so I could catch my flight home!! I took my backpack and my tote bag with me to work and even impressed a few of the ladies there that I could fit all my things for the weekend! From the hospital, all I had to do was walk two blocks to find the train station. I bought my ticket and waited for the R1 train outbound to the airport.



When the R1 arrived, I hopped on with my luggage and was surprised to find out that the train delivered me directly to the terminal at the airport! How fantastic is that?! I had allotted myself plenty of time due to that schedule of the train, so when I arrived at the airport I had plenty of time to look around and determine where I needed to be.

While I was waiting for my plane to arrive, I ended up chatting with a mother and daughter who were sitting next to me. I had noticed that the daughter had put on a sweatshirt and from what I could tell, it appeared to say “Sacred Heart.” So of course, I was intrigued! I made a quick comment about it and come to find out, the daughter had just graduated from high school only an hour or so before and was traveling to a crew regatta championship in Cincinnati (which is the same airport I was headed to). So we had a nice little chat and it appeared that the daughter was super friendly and started chatting to me as if we were best of friends. It was kind of nice talking with someone who was graduating from high school, when I had just missed my 5 year high school reunion. Overall, this was a refreshing moment.

When the plane arrived, I boarded the plane and met my seat buddy. Yet again, I ended up starting into a conversation with the lady sitting next to me and ended up having a nice little time conversing with her.

It seemed like such a short flight and we were landing in Cincinnati. I think I was also preoccupied with the thought that Josh was the one to come and pick me up from the airport (although I had to wait for him to come from his night class). I took advantage of the time and busted open my PT board exam book that I brought along with me.

Josh arrived to pick me up and we headed on our way back to Louisville. The rest of the weekend we were headed out to the lake for my dad’s 50th birthday celebration. He had been planning this party for months and was expecting close to 70 people.

We had a fantastic weekend, one that I wish would have never ended. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. Before I knew it, it was already Sunday and time for Josh to take me back to the airport.

Once we finally arrived to the airport, I felt like I was “go-go-go” from then on. While I was home, I ended up packing another rolling bag to take with me. So now I needed to check in at the little kiosk and they made me check my bag too. I got distracted by the receipt for the bag, that I forgot to pick up my boarding pass at this time. Without knowing it, I had started for the security check point (which seemed poorly organized and forever long of a line). I was standing in line for close to 10 minutes when I started to approach the security officer and realized I needed to pull out my boarding pass. Well, when I attempted to do so, I realized that I only had the receipt and chances are I would not be allowed through security without my boarding pass. So I now had to jump out of line (which seemed longer at this point) and rush over to the kiosk in hopes that my boarding pass would still be there. Thankfully, my pass was still there and now I was headed to the security line to start all over.

Upon arriving at the x-ray scanner and metal detector, I saw the sign mentioning liquids needing to be outside of the bags. At this point, I realized that I had not encountered any problem going through Philadelphia security, but hoped that maybe I wouldn’t encounter problems again. BOY was I wrong!! The officer that pulled my bag aside was very unkind and very frank. I tried to be very polite and willing to participate with the security officer, but he did not seem of interest to reciprocate the gesture. He was very rude and of course, I tried very hard not to take it personally because he was just doing his job, but it would have been more fantastic if he did his job with a smile. :-)

So after getting through the awkwardness of going through security, I finally arrived at my crowded gate with about 5 minutes until boarding time. The terminal was extremely overcrowded and I stood patiently awaiting for the boarding time. It was then that they announced that due to bad weather in Philadelphia, we were not going to be taking off the ground for another hour. Well, I suppose this allowed me some time to go grab some food since I was already hungry.

I ate my lunch and opened up my 7th Harry Potter book that I brought along with me and had some personal time. When it came time to boarding, I softly took my seat and opened up my book again since we still had plenty of time before take off. I continued to read my book throughout the flight and once we landed, we encountered another surprise. We were told that we had beaten the storm to the airport, but…the walkway was not taxied out to the plane – so we needed to wait out the storm on the ground.

By the time the weather ended, I headed to baggage claim and went to find my train out of the airport. To get home, I had a decent trek to include the airport train to 30th street train station, then walk across the street to the subway/trolleys, hop on to the trolley and then walk two blocks to my place. All in all, this does not seem like a bad walk, but when I had three bags, I had definitely worked up a sweat.

By the time I was home….I was exhausted and relieved to be “home” for I no longer was traveling. All in all, I had a very eventful weekend and got to experience traveling solo, which is something I had not done before. Boy, was this an adventure!!

Thanks for riding along.

…Walked everywhere I go!

One of the great things about living the in the city of Philadelphia, is that the city is set up perfectly for pedestrians, bikers and public transportation.  I have tried out some of the public transportation here, including trolleys (that can travel below and sometimes above ground) and subway.  I have yet to travel the regional rail which is more of a train expressway I believe.  I will find out more when I take the regional rail to the airport.  So far, I have had pretty good public transportation experiences and I have even had some fun conversations with other people while we are waiting for the trolley.  I am starting the get the hang of the whole process of determining which stop I need to get off at and where the trolley stops are located.  While riding the trolleys, I have even learned which stops are for which stores, due to the bags that people tend to carry on to the trolley.

I do not feel out of place if I walk around the city with a large tote bag or even a backpack because majority of the other people walking are doing the same.  Whether I am walking to work in the morning with other hospital and business professionals or down by the outside shopping streets, people have bags to carry the things they need while they are out or even to carry home their goods that they buy while out. 

It is awfully nice to be so close to work in the morning.  On average, it takes me about 15 minutes to get from my room to the Acute Care PT/OT room in the hospital!  I am not used to this idea at all! Typically in Louisville, it would take me on average to get to places about 20-30 minutes.  But to be able to get in AT LEAST 30 minutes of walking time on a daily basis is so exciting.  (I say AT LEAST because in the acute care setting, we are running up/down at least 4-5 flights of stairs, traveling all across the large hospital that includes 3 buildings, etc.  So needless to say, I get plenty of walking done during my work day!).

Last Sunday, I traveled into the city and discovered a lot.  I found a few vintage type stores and a hidden mall within a professional building.  To top it off, I even found two Victoria’s Secrets within 1-2 blocks from each other!  Never do I feel alone, because I am surrounded by other shoppers at all times.  It is a pretty neat experience. 

Before I go anywhere, I make sure that I have educated myself on the routes in which to get there.  I track which trolley/train stops I need, where to find them, and how to get to where I am going.  This helps put me at ease so that I am at least familiar with where and what I am looking for. 

Later on Sunday, I traveled back to where I live and found a grocery store about 2-3 blocks.  I ventured around the store which seemed smaller than some of the general grocery stores at home, but it could also be due to the different layout that I was not used to.  But the grocery building was about 3 stories tall, but that included parking for people since it was on the corner of busier streets, as well as rooms for some business offices.  When you are in the city, they have to find any and all available room to put places, so sometimes businesses are on the second floors of buildings in order to make sure they can maximize the space available!

So I dare you to come visit me and let’s go walking around the city!! Because after all, that is what people do!

…Had to use a fire extinguisher in the kitchen – until now

So it seems as if I keep meeting more and more of my roommates while cooking dinner.  This is actually turning into a pretty neat event, because we all have different cultures and having different food selections.  But tonight was a major first. 

I met two roommates who are interning at Merck Pharmaceuticals, which is apparently decently far away from where we are staying.  So while I was cooking my rice mixture (broccoli and cheddar) with chicken and diced tomatoes as well as corn – which is a pretty typical American cuisine.  In the meantime, my roommate started making a South African meal (which appeared to be pretty tasty with a wide mixture of flavors). So while we were there discussing our meals and what we were doing in Philadelphia – her pot started to sizzle.  She told me it is normal, because it has oil in the pot.  But the one thing that was not normal….was the pot burst into flames!  Well, stupidly, I just kind of looked at her and she made the comment, “well, that’s not normal…” Ha, so I mentioned if we should add water to it, but then she said since it is just oil, it might make things worse.  So I had noticed the fire extinguisher earlier this week, so I went to grab it and hand it to her.  And due to the most recent online modules I have had to take for my orientation at the Children’s Hospital, I knew that I needed to P.A.S.S. or pull the pin, aim a the flame, squeeze the handle and sweep the flame.  I had already pulled the pin and was about to aim and squeeze until I realized maybe I should move my pan of rice out of the way (which I was not smart enough to do with my pan of corn :-( sad).  Then, I squeezed the handle and POOF!!! Out bursts the chemical/powder/burst of smoke from the extinguisher.  Successfully, I put out the fire!! Yay, go me. 

The aftermath consisted of dust on the stove as well as in my corn :-(.   Overall, this became a pretty good ice breaker when you are just meeting someone, ha.  But if you are trying to figure out the best way to start a conversation, do not feel as if you have to start a fire to do so.  Now I am starting to wonder what will happen the next time I make dinner!!

…Lived with someone from China

Tonight, I went to the kitchen to fix my good ol’ American pasta in a bag when I saw another pot on the stove just a bubbling away.  I wondered to which of my 6 roommates it belonged to. As I was washing other dishes I have dirtied up along the past two days, my next door roommate, Lee, showed up to stir her food. We started discussing what all we were making and I was surprised by what she had to say.  Her meal consisted of chicken (chicken legs still on the bone), mushrooms, sliced potatoes, and black fungus.  Yes, that is right, I said black fungus.  Come to find out, black fungus  or cloud ears, grow on a variety of woods including mango and kapok.  This is mostly sold dried but can be available fresh.  This piece of food is “prized in Chinese cuisine for its crunchy texture and therefore added to dishes only for the last few minutes of cooking. Delightful in salads, soups and stir-fries, it has no flavor of its own, but absorbs the seasonings it is cooked with” http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/1999/asian/fungus.html.  After Lee was telling me about the dish, she offered me a tasting of it.  Not only did she hand me a few pieces from her meal, rather she gave me close to one serving!  This was a very delicious meal and the black fungus was very tasty and was  soft, yet crunchy.  I offered up some of my tasty noodles in olive oil, garlic and broccoli.  Lee appeared to like it and was taken by surprise that it was a meal in a bag.  One comment she did have: “Do you like hot sauce?”  Which I think was a type of insinuation that it might need some spice.  So I went to my room to show her my new Franks Hot Sauce: Sweet Chili Sauce.  She appeared impressed. 

In addition to our meal conversation, we were also talking about some of her Chinese culture.  She mentioned that Kentucky was one of the first state that she ever learned about, which was all due to Kentucky Fried Chicken (thank you, thank you, KFC!).  She mentioned that KFC is way more popular than McDonald’s here in the states.  When she was talking about KFC, I asked if she has ever had any of the KFC here to compare the two.  She said there aren’t any in the city so she has not had any chance to experience.  In addition to all the other interesting things about KFC, but Lee also mentioned that the KFC and McDonald’s in China are nicer than they are here.  She said the food is of a higher quality and the inside of the restaurant were even nice too.  Who would have thought????

So on another note, I realized the differences between our languages and cultures.  During one of our conversations, I made the phrase, “That’s pretty neat.”  Well, after that phrase, Lee had an expression on her face of “What?

?”  Lee then asked me very kindly what I meant by “neat” and I tried to add additional adjectives such as, “cool”, “fun,” and had little success in describing what I was trying to achieve.  So Lee returned with, “Well, I have not heard of that phrase before.”   

So, tonight I enjoyed the company of my next door roommate, Lee while we sampled each others food, shared personal and cultural experiences, as well as chatting about some of the other roommates we have (which ones both of us still have not met and she has been here since August!).  Overall, it was a great time and hope to have many more in the future (maybe not much more with Lee since she moves out next week, but with a few of the other roommates). 

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