Day 314

Busy, busy, busy! 

I have been rushing about so much this last week it seems to have passed in the blink of an eye! Mostly good rushing, though, which makes it all worthwhile!

Today is Monday and I’m still sat on my bed when I would usually be on the way to the lab by now. Why? Today is shipping day. I’m crossing every feasible limb in hope that DHL actually does come to fetch my boxes/my boxes survive the journey home. Regardless, this fourth weekend day is very, very much appreciated after the weekend- even if I am supposed to be preparing things to leave. 

Much of the last seven days has been spent trying to finish things up in the lab; I have currently completed 74 of those 120 ligations I mentioned in my last post- slowly but surely! (Also, on this note, when the lab who is using these libations finally publish their paper- I will be credited for this work! Yay! A paper as an undergrad isn’t very common, so the possibility is very exciting for me!)

On Wednesday, the lab headed about 30 minutes north to a village called Mount Vernon to the Lincoln Wine and Pizza Bar that specialises in home-made wood-fired pizzas. About fourteen of us squashed around the biggest table they had and indulged in good pizza and beer (probably the best I’ve had in the US!) My boss bought his daughter, who was turning four that day and his wife, who I hadn’t seen for a few weeks, so that was really lovely. Good lab quality time! 

Thursday was definitely bittersweet. Technically it was my final day in the lab and my last day in the lab with my boss, my supervisor and one of the undergrads, who were all leaving that weekend for various reasons and I wouldn’t be able to see again. Me and Y, the undergrad, went for a nice lunch at the hospital cafe and exchanged sad goodbyes with the hopes of meeting up in NYC in a few weeks. 

Saying goodbye to my supervisor, L, was infinitely harder. We left work around three and she took me to a gorgeous vintage bakery on the east side of town. Between us we ordered lemon and blueberry cheesecake, chocolate raspberry ganache tart, lemon and vanilla naked cake, raspberry and chocolate macarons and russian cookies- it was all yummy! We talked for about three hours, putting off the inevitable goodbye, before the bakery owners kicked us out so they could close. It was really important for me to spend some time with L before I left, since she's been a big part of my enjoyment of my time here. She gave me a beautiful ‘good luck’ clover necklace as a leaving gift, which I love! I wrote her a little recipe book with all of the baking recipes I have attempted whilst being the US and gave her a double batch of brownies and a Cath Kidston handbag.

That evening, my boss invited me round to his to spend some quality time with him and his wife and daughter before they flew out to the East Coast over the weekend They bought Pimms and made a beautiful spread of food (his wife is an AMAZING chef), including my favourites, BBQ! As a nice little surprise, good friends of the lab, J and his wife, A, also popped round for the evening and we had lots of fun discussing must-dos for all of the cities that my family and I will be visiting over the next few weeks. Saying bye to little B was a toughie! My boss’s wife and I insisted on a mini photo shoot before I went home to savour the moment- I’m really going to miss my surrogate American family! 

Early the next morning, J picked me up from my apartment ready for our Kansas City road trip. J’s best friend from high school (who I met at J’s graduation) has lived there for the last few years, and J’s ex-roommates have just moved down there from IC, so we were excited to see everyone for a party weekend before we all go our separate ways and J returns to her parents’ in Nashville to continue her job hunt. 

The drive took about five hours when you include our Maccies breakfast/supermarket detour, haha. We bought essential independence weekend supplies; champagne, lots of vodka, food for breakfast burritos, chips, salsa and cocktail-making ingredients, and then headed to J’s best friends apartment to meet everyone. 

We spent the day by the pool, drinking cocktails, champagne and beers with a wonderful assortment of J best friend’s close colleagues, J’s roommates, J’s good friends from home and everyone’s various friends/boyfriends. We partied by the pool until the sun ( which was so, so hot!) began to set and we made our way back to the apartment to take naps and get ready for the evening. 

The whole group reconvened to make our way to the Power and Lights District (also just known as P&L)- the huge party scene in downtown KC. We had a great night, listening to live music, doing a bit of dancing,  just enjoying the warmth of the night and the atmosphere of the city.  Since bar close isn't until 3am in KC, we finally wandered back about four and crashed at the apartment. 

Saturday was just as fun; we made breakfast burritos (because I’d never eaten them before and, oh my god, were they good!), browsed a shopping village area on the outskirts of the city, got vietnamese food for lunch (my first Pho!) and got ready for a yard party/BBQ/Fireworks at the home of some of the group’s good friends. 

After another late, late night, J and I were up at 8.30 am on Sunday for the drive back to IC. As goes without saying, this drive was not nearly so much fun. We were tired, hungover and I had the prospect of having to pack all of my belongings up to return to but we tried to enjoy the quality time together as much as we could, doing some radio karaoke and getting terribly greasy take-out food to soothe out bodies. 

I was so glad to be able to see everyone and say goodbye before I leave- I’ve met that many good friends during my time here and am so grateful! The girls and I have extravagant plans for a greek island hopping holiday as out reunion in the near future- fun!

 These next few weeks will likely be similarly hectic, to the extent that I probably won’t write about any of it until I’m back in England in early August, so I’d like to finish by saying what an important year this has been for me- as a scientist and as a person- and how blessed I feel to have shared my time with such genuine, fun colleagues and friends. 

Thanks for making me feel like a part of your family, guys!

Love love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx