Savor the Flavor cooking

With only 19 days left until we board a plane to Manila we are all getting very excited. We are all very busy studying for the end of our Neuro course and getting prepared to take our neuro shelf exam. On top of that our leader, Mike, is taking care of last minute details such as medical supply donations and the final itinerary. We will have that up in a few days time so that you will be able to know where we are each hour of each day!

In order to raise money for our CURA group as well as the other CURA groups going to different countries than us, Creighton University hosted a "Savor the Flavor" event. Each group made food from where they will be headed and there was a silent auction as well. We Southeast Asia people decided to make a large batch of curry flavored dumplings. This involved cooking a mix of potatoes, chicken, curry, onion, and an assortment of other spices and individually fill each pie crust circle. Fortunately we were able to receive a donation from WalMart to buy the supplies for this and we were very grateful for that.


(Large pots of boiling potatoes)


(Working hard to cut up a dozen chicken breasts and half a dozen onions)


(Kati and Missy dicing up those chickens)


(Joe and Adam sauteing a LOT of onions)


(Mike, Kati, and Joe filling up our dumplings)

Also in case anyone has noticed Anu is not around, that is because she was in the living room making a sign to display to those in attendance. Here she is in all her artistic glory:



(All the men cleaning up while the women lazily sat around)


(Mike and Joe taking a well earned rest while Kati and Anu clean up)

We got together a few days later to finish stuffing the dumplings and we needed three extra large size foil trays in order to carry them. We made over 300 individual dumplings! It was an extremely laborious process but in the end it was worth it because they were a hit at the silent auction. We received compliments all night about how great they were. In the end we were all pretty tired of the taste of curry since we had been snacking on them for a week.

Also we were left with a broken counter top for all our hard work since we put so much effort into the kitchen! In the end it was fixed but here is a photo after the granite people came by to glue the corner back on:

Group BBQ

Five weeks before our departure to Southeast Asia, our group met at Joe’s downtown apartment for an evening barbeque. Unfortunately, Kati was unable to make it but together, Joe, Adam, Mike, Anu, and I enjoyed the beautiful weather and the completion of our third Neuroscience quiz.

Joe took on the role of master chef and manned the grill. We had bratwursts for our main entrée. Mike and Adam supplied the drinks and I brought a hashbrown casserole and baked beans. And of course, Anu also contributed her fabulous cooking skills with a bag of Doritos.

(Joe and Mike at the grill)

(Adam and Anu)

During dinner, we discussed some of the final logistics about our trip. We discussed needed vaccinations and medical supplies for the clinics we’d be serving. We also discussed items to pack as well as sleeping accommodations in each country.

(The boys - Joe, Adam, and Mike)

(The girls [minus Kati] - Anu and Missy)

The evening was not all business. We had a few laughs reminiscing on events that had occurred during the previous school year. At one point, Anu informed our group that she recently discovered that quidditch (an athletic event in the Harry Potter book series played on flying brooms) was now a real sport. Adam immediately doubted Anu saying it was impossible because people can’t fly. Adam’s response may have been the funniest part of the night!

(Omaha skyline view from Joe's apartment)

We finished our evening laughing at a few episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” in Joe’s apartment.

HOPE Worldwide

Take some time to check out our biggest partner on this trip, HOPE Worldwide. They have countless clinics throughout SE Asia and all over the world that provide healthcare to impoverished communities. We will be visiting at least seven of their clinics and offering as much help as we can. They have helped to coordinate many of the in-country aspects of our trip.

Almost there...

With a just a little more than a month to go before our big trip I thought I'd go ahead and get the ball rolling on our blog. Just so you know where we are now here's a little recap:

Thanks to a ton of help from HOPE Worldwide directors in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, we have nailed down all of our plans to visit clinics throughout SE Asia (As soon as I can find a way to upload a calendar I'll have that posted).

Our fundraisers have gone smoothly so far. The gift baskets have been profitable and Adam's parents made a very generous donation of a weekend at their Mammoth, California condo that we were able to sell at the annual Savor the Flavor event. Thank you to everyone who has contributed either directly to our trip or through these fundraisers, we couldn't do it without you! The money raised will be put towards medical supplies and other expenses associated with the trip.

Now the most important thing left to do is to find all those medical supplies that will be so crucial to the success of our trip. We will rely mostly on donations from local hospitals and clinics to fill our bags will all sorts of medications and bandaging materials, and the remainder will be purchased with the money we have raised. By the time of our trip, we're hoping that we'll each be carrying two duffel bags on the plane--one for personal items and one stuffed with all the medical supplies we can carry!

Now, if only we could all be done with our Neuro course and on to SE Asia!

Stay tuned for more posts from all the trip members as we near the date of our departure and (hopefully) whenever we get access to the internet while we are on our trip.