Thanksgiving break starts Tuesday after classes and barely anyone on campus seems to be able to focus. OK. That was huge generalization that I based primarily (only) on myself. I can’t focus. Instead of doing homework, my friend Sam and I spent the day walking down by the James River. Here’s a photo so you all can see how beautiful the surrounding area is! This particular spot is only a 2 or 3 minute drive from campus. It was too chilly today, obviously, but the James is a great place to lay out, stick your feet in the water, and enjoy the sun during the spring and summer months!
As I shuffle from class to class rolled up in sweatshirts, jackets, gloves, and sweatpants I wonder why the city I grew up in never seemed quite so cold as it does now. In the past, my winter (technically late fall) weather exposure was limited to movement between the car and whatever my destination was…aka a building with heat. That being said, my advice is that you come to UR prepared with hats, scarves, gloves, and warm coats even if you don’t typically use them! I love bustling around in the cold, smelling the icy air and scattering the crisp remaining leaves with my feet. Trips to D-hall may make my nose start to run and require a little extra effort to prepare for, but it makes the hot food feel that much better.
Speaking of food, I had two dinners on Thursday. The first was D-hall’s Thanksgiving Dinner – mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and delicious gravy. I went in knowing that an entire meal awaited me afterwards and somehow still managed to consume as much as everyone else at the table. Post-turkey and such, I went to eat again at La Milpa with a group of students from the Intercambios Program. Students in advanced Spanish courses are paired up with native-speakers who are here for Study Abroad. My partner, or pareja, Valentina and I usually get together over lunch to talk, switching back and forth between Spanish and English. She’s from Chile and has introduced me to a number of other international students. Those who can join in the Spanish chats but most of them stick to English.
Anyway, a group of us (including my professor) went to La Milpa for dinner and spent a good two hours conversing in Spanish. I’m a complete and utter language nerd as any of my high-school friends will tell you, so I had a blast. Mostly we compared our perceptions of each others’ cultures, movies, and music. We told a lot of jokes and stories that only people who at least kind of spoke both languages could understand. Not many of them were appropriate enough to share online, but all of them were hilarious! The restaurant itself was cute and included a little shop with goods typically sold in Mexico. One of the girls eating with me had spent time volunteering in Guadalajara and said that La Milpa’s atmosphere was incredibly authentic.
The semester is coming to a close and, naturally, we’re finishing up our semester experiments in bio. Melisa, my lab partner, and I finally finished sectioning out our embryos and mounting them on slides. I thought I’d include a few shots from inside the classroom/lab for those of you interested in science! Our experiment involved in-vitro fertilization of frog embryos. We fertlized frog eggs then treated them with different combinations of UV light and Lithium Chloride to assess the effects on structural and axis development. And yes, it is exactly as exciting as it sounds.
Note: lab coats are not required, I just like wearing them because it makes me look like a doctor….
For those of you interested in knowing how slides are made: Melisa slices the dehydrated embryos embedded in wax then floats them on the warm water bath. I then scoop them onto slides and leave them out. The wax dries on the slide in a warming tray, then the slides are treated to removed the wax but not the tissue samples. Lastly, they’re stained. I didn’t know how it all worked until this year and was pretty intrigued by the whole process. I originally planned to major in science, but have since changed my mind. It’s weird that this is my last science class ever (if all goes as planned). I’m half-excited to be finished with lab reports, cells, gene signals, etc, and half-scared that I’m making a huge mistake. There’s still part of me that fears I will randomly and passionately want to major in science starting sometime mid-way through next year.
General lab shots - if these don’t look science-y, I don’t know what does 
The labs are a good deal roomier than they appear in these pictures. My camera just couldn’t capture a wide enough view!
I hope everyone has a great week and a happy Thanksgiving!
