DAY 26

Wow! Life is really flying by! Cannot believe that, as of this weekend, I have only known most of my closest friends in the world two years AND of course, that I have almost been in Iowa almost month! Lots of exciting things have happened this week...

Firstly, My parents have booked my flights home for my 21st and our flights around the US for our big tour next summer- both have me very excited! It will be lovely to be at home for my big birthday and to be able to see some of my friends and celebrate with those who also have birthdays around the same time! And, of course, the fact that plans are coming together for our once-in-a-lifetime family adventure is brilliant! We’re spending three weeks visiting most of the big US sites and cities (most of the places that are too far from Chicago for me to venture!) and basically eating as much as we can and taking thousands of photos! Very, very exciting!

On Tuesday, American flatmate baked me a true southern homemade meal (she’s originally from Texas), including meatloaf, cornbread and fried potatoes. Although not a vegetable in sight, It was delicious and I really must come up with something British to share soon in return! I’ve discovered my accommodation’s private Gym properly this week to compensate for my fast food tastings. Its really cool! All of the typical gym stuff plus a basketball court, a sauna, tanning beds and a hot tub- Americans really know how to do the gym!

Things within the lab have been really fun this week! I’ve not only managed to troubleshoot why I was having so many issues growing my colonies but my AP has given me a little extra side project about a very recent discovery of a kind of RNA which also once (long ago) acted in vivo as an enzyme as well as a store of genetic info (these are called ‘Flexizymes’!!!) which I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into as there hasn’t been very much research into them at all because they’re such a new phenomenon.

A photo in the lab of two of the Lab Guys and I- Apparently we behave like Shrek, Donkey and Puss. Not sure whether I am offended by this or if it’s weirdly cute....

My colleagues, one of their roommates and I ventured downtown on Wednesday evening for burgers a little cute burger diner called ‘Hamburg Inn No. 2’ and I tried my first authentic American burger! It was massive and came with huge sides- so, yes, that is at least one American stereotype that holds true- they DO serve huge burgers. It was really tasty but definitely just as the occasional treat!

Talking about occasional treats, today I had an impromptu baking day (well, a baking morning, actually). To anyone who knows me well, this tends to mean I make a huge mess in the kitchen and rush around for an extended period, banging cupboards, disregarding recipes because I’m sure that I know better and cursing the burning smell coming from the oven. Generally, I’ve found this crazed method of cooking doesn’t tend to have too detrimental an effect on the end product and I’m very lucky that people usually have lots of nice things to say about the things I bake. Today I was all set to bake my Mom’s homemade Yorkshire puddings for the Lab, who, being mostly Northern Americans, have never heard of/eaten these before and they are one of my very favourite foods. Unfortunatly, as a consequence of my major health kick, I didn’t own any vegetable oil to cook them in and had to do an emergency diversion of resources to make shortbread instead. I have never made shortbread before and I had approximately 45 minutes before I had to leave to walk to my AP’s house. Amazingly, my shortbread was a real success and was devoured- I am still genuinely a little bit in shock and I had the bonus of being alone in the flat all weekend so there was no one around to care that I’d made such a mess for a change!

The reason behind my desperate need for baked goods is also another addition to my list of exciting things I have done this week. My AP from the lab threw a ‘British’ garden for our  little lab this afternoon, just six of us (all but one of my lab colleagues) and his little 3 year old daughter. He bought Pimms, Gin and a croquet set and between the rest of us we produced cucumber finger sandwiches, shortbread (!) and strawberries and other fruit. We had a lovely, funny, albeit very competitive afternoon which was followed by a trip to the lab for me to check my transfected HEK cells for GFP expression (which, in case any of you are wondering, was unsuccessful- as expected.)

Pimms and Croquet, Old Chap?

My other baking of the day included a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache and a homemade raspberry jam (jelly) filling, which I must take into work tomorrow to pay a gambling debt to my colleague (I was stupid enough to bet on the concentration of a DNA mini-prep with a guy who’s being doing them solidly for the last four months...) Hopefully the lab will enjoy this too and I will cement my status as the weird, funny-sounding little english girl who knocks over cell cultures and bakes nice treats! 

Missing you lots, England! (And Australia and Germany too, if either of you read this!)

love love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx