Tonight has been a lesson in blogging on the iPad. It is now 11:45 and I have just lost all the text which I have been writing for the past three and a half hours 😦 I will post the pictures anyway as they speak for themselves and will re-write the text in the morning. It was a great day as you can see…

6:00am: I’ll try again…

The day started with coffee at 49th Parallel in Kitsilano with Pamela Liao who graduated last year and is visiting from Toronto where she is an Obs/Gyne resident coming to the end of her first year. It was great seeing her again. We bumped into Henry Stringer at the coffee shop preparing his Valedictory Address for the afternoon Hooding Ceremony of this year’s Medical Class of 2013 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre; a happy coincidence. It was then time for a training session with my wonderful trainer Naomi who is ensuring I will be at my peak for the peak! After a strenuous workout (as you can see!) coffee at home with Hilde and then off to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for what is the most anticipated and happiest day of the Academic Year for our graduating students. It is always such a pleasure to see students one has taught and mentored receiving their hoods and walking across the stage with proud parents, families, friends and faculty cheering them on. Good job with the address Henry. I had the honor and privilege of leading the students in reading the Hippocratic Oath, although the oath we read is not the traditional one but a version written and adopted by the World Medical Association at their General Assembly in Geneva in 1948. It is a declaration of physicians’ dedication to the humanitarian goals of medicine and I hope you will agree it has been worth including at the end of this blog. A great day indeed, only marred by my losing all my written text last night. Lesson learnt…

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION DECLARATION OF GENEVA

AT THE TIME OF BEING ADMITTED AS A MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION:

I SOLEMNLY PLEDGE to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

I WILL GIVE to my teachers the respect and gratitude that is their due;

I WILL PRACTICE my profession with conscience and dignity;

THE HEALTH OF MY PATIENT will be my first consideration;

I WILL RESPECT the secrets that are confided in me, even after the patient has died;

I WILL MAINTAIN by all the means in my power, the honor and the noble traditions of the medical profession;

MY COLLEAGUES will be my sisters and brothers;

I WILL NOT PERMIT consideration of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient;

I WILL MAINTAIN the utmost respect for human life;

I WILL NOT USE my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat;

I MAKE THESE PROMISES solemnly, freely and upon my honor.

…Happy Victoria Day

I have to confess that today’s blog was done on my laptop.  Now I know how to post photos from Posts and then create a photo Gallery next time I’ll try on the iPad.  We had a beautiful day hiking the Pacific Spirit Regional Park on the UBC Endowment Lands and along the beach at Spanish Banks, with Vancouver shimmering in the distance.  We do live in a special part of the world and every day know how fortunate we are.

See you tomorrow…

Spanish Banks

Pacific Regional Park

East Canyon Trail

Royal Ascent on Victoria Day

Where’s the snow?

Definitely no snow

…So here we are at day two of my blog and twenty seven to go until we arrive at Machu Pacchu.  I see you have started following me so I hope I won’t let you down.  As I learn more about blogging and also Word Press, which you are reading this on, there may be some tweaks and changes over the next few days. Since I will not be taking my laptop to Peru I plan to write and post everything from my iPad, which I am doing now. For those interested I am using an app called Posts, which allows me to write off line and then post to Word Press when I’m finished.  I can also take  images, which I’m about to do, and include them with the post.  If all works well my photos will appear seemlessly for you to enjoy.  So let’s try for today’s photos, which I am about to take in our patio garden. The big question is whether or not our lovely and flourishing poppies will bloom before we leave? If they do you’ll be the first to know… 

Looks like it worked. See you tomorrow…

Here goes.

We set off for Peru and Machu Picchu on June 4th, seventeen days from now.  We wanted to share our travels with family and friends and hence the blog.  Since there has to be a beginning to blogging, and I am in the process of learning, this seems like a good time to start.  I will try and give a daily update together with a photo journal until we are back from our travels.  By then perhaps I’ll be an expert at this; you’ll have to tell me.