He was the only President that got a Ph.D, said the introducer, and thus we have a center for scholars named after him. They also have really good food. Today I attended a lecture titled “Drug Resistant TB in Russia,” at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and along with getting stuffed on really good food I learned a thing or two.

My strength today rests in the legitimacy of the event which I attended and planned for well in advance (see the picture shortly of the participant list which I am on—come to my desk to see the hard copy). Today I enjoyed a venerable feast of assorted gourmet sandwiches, one of which is featured in the photo. Upon arrival I scanned the table and was pleased to see Mesclun Salad with a variety of dressings followed by trays upon trays of lunch fare that was well above average. I wish I could have eaten all the wraps and sandwiches: Tuna with ginger and lime, grilled vegetables with pesto, curry chicken salad, roast beef with brie and spinach, turkey with havarti and wasabi, and ham with provolone and honey mustard sat before me.

I was so excited I couldn’t help but talk about it. And my fellow interns who I invited to attend (non food-a-thon participants) exclaimed “Cara, this free food is so great” which caused an older gentleman in seersucker to give me a disapproving glare. The glare wasn’t enough to keep me from loading up on salad, the turkey with havarti and wasabi in a spinach wrap as well as the curry chicken salad. Continuing down the table I grabbed a warm, that’s right, warm, chocolate chip cookie and some Diet Pepsi (though I could have also selected a variety of Tazo Teas that were artfully displayed, lemonade, iced tea, ginger ale, mountain dew, and bottled water).

I sat down with my piled plate and happily began eating my fresh greens with plum tomatoes and mushrooms with a light vinaigrette. My turkey sandwich was so delicious that I immediately scurried out the door to grab another one. The curry chicken, though not as spicy as I would have liked, was excellent with tomatoes in its pita shell. But by far the best was the cookie. You know when you get a chocolate chip cookie and there’s only four chips in it?  Not this one—it was almost solid chocolate and was so warm that it melted all over my face. I began reminiscing of weekends at my grandmother’s house. It was so good it was almost on par with Thomas Coen’s cookies (but not quite, because nothing beats the cookies that are artfully prepared by him in the CP kitchen).

The first lecturer, Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, spoke artfully about the problems that socioeconomic factors bring to treating TB patients in Tomsk, Russia. As usual I was impressed with the work of Partners in Health (which Dr. Paul Farmer, one of my heroes, works with). They really seek to look beyond medicine to all the factors to ensure patients can be cured. So, for example, in Russia, nurses were hired to help their TB patients with their alcoholism (alcohol mixed with TB drugs can have adverse affects), or to bring treatment to them in remote areas. The cost of hiring nurses to administer this attentive care was much less than the cost of a patient failing to take their TB drugs and brought about a significantly higher cure rate. Ask me more about the lecture and I’d be happy to tell you. Or you can watch the video feed (which I appear in) here.

The second lecturer, was not near as engaging, though very intelligent (other attendees were complaining all around me). I felt like I was truly suffering for my food. But hey it’s the free food-a-thon: no pain no gain (or in this case, no delicious sandwiches). Said another attendee, “this is the best lunch I’ve had in a really long time.”

On my way out I made sure to grab some more sandwiches (Roast beef with brie and spinach and ham with provolone and honey mustard) to give to the judges. I got the last ones, which Tamia and Rupa happily enjoyed.

On my way back to CAP, very full, I still decided to stop in Café Mozart to see if they had any samples. Alas, today their samples were all gone, and I returned home to CP with the taste of a warm chocolate chip cookie in my mouth.