Hole in the Wall Gang

Yes, I am back in Boston, had a wickedly unstressful med school interview, and came back from the Philippines without getting dengue fever, malaria, or an arranged marriage. I would like to talk about the still-class centered and familial structured society of the Philippines or the immense social upheaval that will happen if the newfound wealth there doesn't start get trickling to the poor majority. Or my current thesis project, which centers on characterizing a dual-knockout worm line.

But instead, let's discuss what I came home to in Boston. There had been construction on the back facade of my apartment building before I left. This is the email my roommate sent me two days before my flight back:

On 10/4/07, Matthew Lee wrote:
>
> Joel,
>
> You're not going to f$%#@ing believe this, but the wall of our
> living room just fell out. They've been removing brick all week
> and I guess they took out more than they should, so the wood
> and plaster just peeled off the building. I'm looking at
> night sky and scaffolding from desk as I'm writing to you.
> In fact, I can see the night lights on one of those skyscrapers
> downtown right now. I'll try to have some answers for you
> for what that means about living here in the mean time.
>
> Matt

This is my reply:

On 10/6/07, wrote:
>
>
> Matt, I come back to America to find out theres a fucking
> hole in the living room. What else is new?

This is what the back of my living room looks like:







The construction workers estimate it will take them 3-4 weeks to repair the whole thing. Even though I can still use the bathroom and kitchen, and my bedroom isn't actually connected to the living room, it is a pain not being able to use it to relax, sit on the couch, watch basic cable, or play my roommate's PS3...Wow, was that really all I did with the living room? Anyway, it has forced me to have to watch the MLB playoffs at bars. And the main drawback to that is I can't save money buying my own beer.

For pics from the Philippines, look at http://uchicago.facebook.com/p.php?i=2902956&k=4V1445UZ4XTA6DDDRE2Y