A Mi Me Encanta.........

I know that you guys are like where are the science posts? Well, don't worry, I will update you on my work (some of it). Currently, I am wrestling with writing a good protocol for embryonic stem cell extraction and expansion. The problem is that for a protocol, it's the details that matter. I understand the basic gist of how to make ESC but I have found about 4 different ways of handling the exact details of the procedure. Asking people who have done the experiment also did not help elucidate the situation (I was more confused about what to do). So, currently, I have decided to consider my timetable, my resources, and my own technical abilities. With these things in mind, I am formulating a protocol that is a combination of different protocols (it is also an improvement on the last protocol, my last ESCs did not look so great :( )

For something not so nerdy: yesterday I met up with my new Spanish tandem partner-- una espanola quien esta en Berlin para una aventura (for non-spanish speakers: she is a girl from Spain who is in Berlin for an adventure) --truly a girl after my own heart! She is a photographer and is fun-spirited not to mention friendly. Talking with her made me realize how rusty my Spanish is-- so I dusted it off and went with her to watch the Spain v. Portugal game with her Spanish friends-- un grupo amable. Spain won!! All the Spaniards were doing the wave. They joked to me that the ones who were not joining in were the Germans (probably 90% true).

Vivo por aventura!

LILY

It’s getting hot in here!

From yesterday (LAN was down): Berlin is warming up! I hear the next two weeks are going to be super hot (for Berlin, that is. No worries, Tucson, Berlin's got nu-nu-nu-nu-nothing on you, baby ... in terms of the degrees, Fahrenheit or Celsius). This means I'm pulling out the good old sunscreen because A. I don't want skin cancer and B. I don't need to tan anymore. I have gotten multiple comments about how "dark" I am for someone of Chinese descent. (My response: I'm from the freakin' desert! It's called blistering hot with the sun penetrating everywhere and heat waves warping everything in the distance?)

Good news is I'm pulling out those shorts and T's, goodbye coats and long-sleeves!

LILY

Berlin Vibes

I have been here for a little more than a month now. Although I live in Buch-Berlin, I have gone out to the city enough to make generalizations. Here are a few fun things I would like to share with you all about Berlin. (I like lists apparently so here we go.)

Berlin is....

1. laid-back: whether it's what people wear or how they act, there is very little to no reason being a real snob. When I was coming to Europe, I was amply warned that flip flops were a big no-no in public, however, recently, since the weather has been getting warmer, I have seen plenty of Berliners break that rule!

2. indie: the art scene here is on display everywhere--the city is covered in graffiti. Some of it is very rude, but some of it is truly art. In fact, there is a graffiti tour of Berlin that one can take.

3. divided: by this I am not referring to differences between East and West Berlin (right now, I find East Berlin more interesting just like everyone else... I still haven't figured out what the heck is in West Berlin-- my fault, I think, for not exploring it), rather I refer to the different regions in the city. Each region has its own subculture, its own vibe. For example, when you want a good place to watch football games in a biergarten, Prenzlauer Berg is good; on the other hand, if you would like to go to the hippest and fastest-growing region of Berlin, go to Kreuzberg.

4. historical... but not obviously so: when you take a good tour of Berlin, the tour guide will tell you that... oh, see that old looking building right there? yeah, it was built 30 years ago, they just put some old statues on it. Much of Berlin has been destroyed and rebuilt. (WWII bullet wounds to buildings can still be seen).

5. a good capital to live in: it's economical and safe for raising a family plus the big city feel is present but there are still parts of Berlin that feel very small and intimate.

LILY

Fanmeile

This weekend Adele visited me to see Berlin. Having spent her time in Paris and after me visiting her in Paris, there were lots of comparisons to be made about Paris and Berlin (my personal opinion: hipper, more casual but also more reserved, flatter and lower).

More importantly, Germany has made it out of the group for the World Cup (sorry, France :/). Also, Germany is thriving in football ( 4 to 1 good enough for ya?). Today's game against England (as I have been told by the Germans) is a culmination of hard feelings between the country that invented football and the country that is not too shabby at it. I went to the fanmeile to watch. This is a location right past the Brandenburg Gate, where the real fans come out decked out in red, gold and black to enjoy the game on big screens. (The street is sectioned off for the event).

With four goals, Berlin shook with every one of them. I was standing next to the Port-o-potties and I felt really bad for whoever was unlucky enough to be inside one when a goal was made. People were pounding and shaking those things! (probably felt like a magnitude 8 earthquake while going to the bathroom... eeeek!). It was a very exciting experience all in all.

Although the stranger part of my day came later when I somehow ended up with a 20 peso bill from a Mexican guy who said vamos a chingar a Argentina!! when I asked him why (hahahaha, I'm afraid it was the other way around...)

LILY

The Two Most Important Things in Life (Currently): Science and FOOTBALL

Since I'm back in good old Buch and pipetting away again, let me just say that science is pretty much the same anywhere. I visited Adele's lab in Paris and watched her do a plant DNA extraction: a very familiar Invitrogen kit! Yesterday one of my office mates struck a conversation with me about how he viewed science: particularly molecular biology. He said if you threw enough money and manpower at this type of science, you're bound to crank out data but it's all useless. People who sit on a pile of data but fail at the analysis part are not scientists, in his opinion (I agree). He then went onto say that he feels like the majority of "scientists" are not doing science. They are wasting money and time just to make a living. While we were chatting, I was mulling over his pessimistic views. While a lot of research seem far away from practical implications, this type of work is fundamental in building a collective understanding of our world. I disagree with the thought of knowledge being useless. How have we come to understand complicated processes like metabolism? Painstaking and meticulous research. When I read biology textbooks, I know that behind every sentence, a lot of bench and field work was put in. It is simply summarized for my benefit. I agree with my office mate that to be a scientist, you have to "get it"-- what is the freakin' point?? what is the big picture?--, you also have to be passionate because sometimes, repetition of one procedure and bog you down and make you want to fast forward through 6 hours of pipette, wash, wait 20, repeat X 6.

Okay, on to something less serious but very much a part of every conversation to be had here. Football, soccer fever, whatever you want to call it, is on the loose!!! Hopefully, you have been keeping up because Germany with a 1-0 against Ghana pulled a first out of the group! Next game up: England (long enmity in football) on Sunday afternoon. Everyone is buzzing about it. Most popular question is: where are you going to watch the game? Well, I already know where I will be watching it (to be revealed after Sunday, it's going to be crazy!). After last game, everyone on the streets were screaming Deutschland, Deutschland!!! The city went crazy: there was a bit of a stampede on the S-Bahn. Of course, I was caught in it--being squeezed by tall people = me wishing I had more muscles.

LILY

Rogue in Paris!

Firstly, there's a picture to prove that I was in Paris (I need to prove it to myself too because so much has happened in the last few days.)

The trip started when I barely made it to the train station in time to activate my eurorail pass and catch the train (I worked late and also failed to subtract properly -- military time requires too much thinking). There were three important things I learned on the train ride: 1. Talking to random strangers can be lots of fun (orthopedic surgeon + social science major); 2. sitting upright and sleeping = not fun; 3. when you are asleep, someone will steal your wallet!!!!!!!!!! Imagine this, next morning, when Adele came to pick me up, I find that I am destitute in Paris. With only 50 euros, no student ID and no debit/credit cards :( To my horror, I learned how long 50 euros would last me ( about let's say, 6 hours in Paris). I canceled all my cards and luckily, Adele was kind enough to lend me some money (thank you, mademoiselle). Now here, let me not go in specific chronological order but let me just give you a highlight reel of these days.

1. Being touristy:
Eiffel Tower: I did not get to see this great monument until halfway through my trip, there was always a tree in the way for the first few days. All I have to say is that it's big and I liked it when it sparkled at night, although we had to wait in the cold until 1 am, while sketchy peddlers offered us wine, champagne, or cigarettes. Last day, I also climbed up to the top. The wait was long but i did get a nice view of Paris (so much bigger, whiter and prettier than I thought just walking through...)
Louvre: The museum was huge and beautiful. I saw the small Mona Lisa painting. This museum really deserved more of my time because all the paintings started looking alike after a while...
Versaille: This was an insight into how they lived back in days of royalty. It was a little too gaudy and extravagant for my taste but I wondered how the maids/servants lived? We were only shown how the royalties lived.
Sacre Coeur: My personal favorite, it was a powerful experience... the cathedral was beautiful and serene.
Notre Dame: Amazing architecture especially the back and the sides!
Moulin Rouge: Not that impressive, it was small but the street it's on was filled with sex toy shops and other equally risque clubs.
La defense: The impressive Manhantanized part of Paris-- didn't look like Paris at all, very modern!
Champ de Elysee and Arc de Triomphe: The street was filled with brand name luxury stores among others and the Arc reminded me of the Brandenburg Gate (Ahhhh, Berlin!)
Boat ride on the Seine: Beautiful! Things I love all combined: river, bridges, and being on the top deck of a sailing boat!!!
French Riviera: Oh, did I mention that we managed to squeeze in Nice, France? It was absolutely lovely (although the weather was not being good to us at first), but the stone beach was nice and the ocean turned the lightest of blues after the sun came out. However, the real adventure was in getting to Marseille to spend some time there and get back to Paris. We dozed off and missed our train! The scarcity of trains that could get us to Marseille on time forced us to break some rules: hop on trains we had no reservations for... we got caught but the guy was nice enough to just let us go with a warning. This train to Marseille turned out to be running extremely slowly and was late. Several times we were faced with being stranded in South France but in the end we hopped on a train to Paris in another city. Whew! Close calls, close calls.

2. The wild side:
Apparently I'm a crime magnet (Adele told me she hasn't seen this in her entire month in Paris). Okay first there was a big fight on the Metro among Algerian boys with too much testerone, too much beer, too many Algerian flags and too much pride. Punches were thrown and we were caught in the middle scooting our way to safety. Then there was another fight on the Metro towards the end of the trip. Sometime in between, a drunk French girl screamed in my face in loud French. I slowly back away as her alcoholic stench and drunken screeches invaded my personal space, however, she, drunk out of her mind, continued this for about 3 minutes until something else distracted her (thank goodness).

3. Food!:
Here, let me tempt you-- let's just say I ate my share in France. Crepes? Of course! For dinner and dessert. Sandwiches? For sure, the French know how to bake. Pastries????? Loved them, in fact, I am having withdrawal right now... I need some everyday! Baguette: did I mention the French can bake?? Panini? Who knew those were good in France too, oh but it was so crunchy and flavorful. Oh and of course, I had French fries (forgot about those....) and gyro sandwiches.
Sit-down dinners included a three-course lunch by the port in Nice: mussels for entree, paella for main dish, and tiramisu for dessert! We also had a dinner at a Parisian cafe where I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered lamb and french beans: not bad especially with a glass of wine.

4. Feeling like the ugly duckling:
I dress fine for Berlin where it's more casual but in France, the girls are pretty fashion forward. I looked like I was ready for an urban hike (because I was...) while they were dainty with their blazers, heels and accessories. Oh, and also, a side note, the French are big on PDA. Are you staring? Because they don't care.

5. Aaaaah Berlin: easier on the wallet (or my lack thereof), nice and casual! I'm glad to be back. And I missed the science (my cells); I'm glad to be back to feeling like I know what I'm doing. It was a close call getting back as well. I got on the train as it was pulling out... and realized that I got on the wrong end so I had to run the length of the train. This time, my seatmates included two French people, a Swiss young man who was on his 3 month journey hitchhiking Europe after studying milk technology (cheese-making and the like), and a German university student who studied in Paris.

LILY

A Series of Close Calls

Okay, wow, a lot has happened in the last five days, but I'm back in Buch. I will update when I have more time and energy.

LILY

Au Revoir, Berlin... Hallo, Paris!

For those of you who bother to keep track of me:

I will be in France for the next five days. I'll be leaving tonight and coming back to Berlin on Wednesday morning. During that time, I cannot guarantee that I will be posting at all, so this is a temporary goodbye, but don't worry. I'm going to make it up! I'll take lots of photos and write about it!

For my ES cells:

May you remain undifferentiated and pure; healthy and attached to feeder cells. Grow but remember to stay undifferentiated until we signal for you to differentiate!

For my feeder cells:

Please grow tightly and cover the petri dish so that you can feed your brother ES cells.

For my cardiomyocytes:

Keep beating and maturing; you're doing a great job.

OK, I'll be writing post-France!

Lily

PS:

For Berlin:

Don't be jealous, my temporary affair with Paris will not last long and although people tell me I'll love Paris; you know you're my favorite European capital.

To the Beat of My, the Beat of My Heart

I have not really gone out to the city since the weekend, so I can't report on any awesome sightseeing, but I did see one spectacular thing today: the beating of the cardiomyocytes that I plated earlier this week! That's right, I spent a part of today looking at small triangular grey blobs contorting on a dish. Okay, on to something a little more exciting for you guys.

Dramatized for your reading pleasure:

Please try and dig out the food race post in your memories (or simply scroll down, click around and find it!).

Setting: the very same gathering of the herd outside for that usual walk to the mensa (or as the Australians say food hall).

My mentor comments on how quickly my PI eats. It's simply amazing: he talks the most but also finishes his food first. No matter what. Challenge (silent): PI vs. ich--who can eat faster? Clearly, I was off to a bad start; I couldn't make up my find in the mensa: what should I eat? Some questionable brown goulash? Some heavy, red meat with potatoes? Some pasta? Some salad? Or some fake Mexican food? As I am negotiating with my stomach on what it wants and what I know is better for me, my PI has already decided on the Mexican food. I hastily line up too but alas, I am a whole 6 people behind him! By the time I pay for my food, he has already settled down with knife and fork raised! WAIT, not fair! I sit down and start. After five minutes, I look over to gage the competition. His plate was 50% gone! My progress = 90% still left to eat! Suddenly, the chicken and vegetable with brown sauce did not look so appetizing and that mountain of fries was piled insurmountably high. I was dismayed.

My mentor caught my eye and motioned for me to continue this match: not over yet! As I was intently working on my food, the conversation starts. My PI asks me about football and what not. I manage to chew and answer, however, this Q&A was hindering my progress. 15 miserable minutes of food shoveling later, I still had not reached 50%, and that's when I heard it.... the sound of two clinks as my PI put down his fork and knife and the scratch of the sound of the tray being pushed away. I hung my head: defeated.

I enjoyed the rest of the meal at a moderate pace: I was the last to finish, oh well but at least my stomach got some time to process all the food.

Afterwards, my lab mates heard about my challenge; they laughed and said, he doesn't chew... that's his trick of eating fast. (Good tip for next time if I ever take up the challenge again... it's the balance between enjoyment or eternal glory-- in other words: stomachache from eating too much too fast...)

LILY

I Supervise Myself

It seems like a lot of people are out of lab for one reason or another. My "supervisor" for the past few weeks is also among the absent, he is best man for a wedding in Frankfurt. Guess what that means? I'm in charge! I have a few basic assignments:

1. Keep ES cells alive and healthy
2. Start FRAP experiments after primary cardiomyocyte culture
3. Clone if there's any time left (there is.... molecular bench work involves a lot of waiting)

This means that I get to plan my work days and decide which experiments to do when (without anyone looking over my shoulder and jokingly calling me their "slave"). YAY, so far I have managed to stay busy, minus small breaks :P

LILY

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Yesterday I met a real Berliner: born and raised in Berlin and never been away for more than 4 weeks. I joined a tandem language site to practice my Spanish and begin to take baby steps in German. I admit that it sounds super sketch but as far as I know, many people do it and the meetings take place at public places. My guest house mate disapproves. He thinks I'm naive, but for two hours, I chatted with a total stranger about German, Chinese, and food (of course, there was a whole 15 minutes about bread alone). I admit it was not THAT interesting but it made aware of the different types of people who live in Berlin.

The more exciting part of yesterday was the football game between Germany and Australia. Summary: Germany kicked some major Australian ass. This is THE most exciting football game I've ever watched (yes yes I admit, I'm one of those people spoiled with basketball where there is at least a basket everyone minute... so I always considered soccer to pale in comparison... why would I want to watch people run back and forth? makes me tired just to watch...) BUT but but (before you football/soccer people starting harping) I'm gradually changing my mind. Some shots and moves in football are quite beautiful and it is harder than it looks (even though I say, the goal is that big, why can't they just make it?). At this rate, I'll get beat up talking like this in Europe. Don't worry, I lay low when watching the games: I clarify first which team is wearing which color and cheer when the others do. We went to watch the game at a bar in Prenzlauer Berg; atmosphere was joyful and patriotic. Black, red, and gold/yellow dominated completely. Each of the four goals were greeted with loud roars, horn-blowing, screaming and excessive beer spilling as everyone stood up and fist pumped! Good time for Deutscheland!

LILY

Don't Eat a Big Breakfast, the Marvelous World of Medicine Awaits

If this blog is a morning read for you, please be careful as I will fill this one with gross details about disease and deformities. Today I went to visit Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum. In the Lonely Planet guide, this was listed as one of the top five quirky museums. Seeing that it was quirky plus has something to do with medicine, I'm there! This museum was housed near the Charite Hospital, and it showcased the history of medicine in Germany as well as the collection of odd, gross, and disgusting specimen that Rudolf Virchow collected. This was Body World plus 8. The museum spanned three floors. The first showcased a history of the important people in German medicine. As I read through the summaries of their lives and achievements (which were numerous and impressive given the times that they lived in...who knew that they did surgeries way back when in the 1800s, lots of screaming patients with no anesethia :( ), I commented, where were the women??? As I looked around at the paintings, there were only two women in all the rows of important figures. They appeared much later and were ridiculed. For example, while one woman who did work on starch in urine was presenting her work, her male colleagues joked that she probably dropped her powder in the chamber pot.

Second floor housed a large collections of jars, tissue sections, and skeletons (like I said, Body World to the extreme). Each system of the body, each organ was represented. Want to see a super hypertrophied heart, a cirrhotic liver or how about a grotesque tumor? It was all there and up for display. However, the grossest samples were by far: a huge colon... (size of me), deformed fetuses, or personally for me feet in jars that were infected with some sort of fungi (unattractive to the max).

Third floor housed medical equipment and their history. The older microscopes and the blood pressure cuffs were intricate and very vintage (hahaha). I especially enjoyed the display about modern medicine and medical research: pipets, tips, petri dishes, cell culture media... stuff I have not seen since forever (when I changed media for my cells this morning).

Hope it was not too gross and if you want to see more gross pictures, just ask. I figured one would be enough.

LILY

Roof Top #2

Yesterday one of the lab's old members came back to visit. She is currently doing her post-doc in Australia and stopped by Berlin on her way to a conference. Speaking of tea parties, there was a small coffee and dessert break in the afternoon in her honor. There was a chatter of German. Everyone laughed. The guest of honor motioned wildly and jerked while explaining some fascinating story about her adventures, I surmised, in the wilderness of the Outback. Everyone roared with laughter until tears were dripping down the corners of their eyes, and I, on the other hand, was intently munching on the dessert. My first victim was the cheesecake topped with mandarin oranges. Delicious! My love for cheesecake has no bounds, especially not continental ones. I waited for a bit to get my second piece: some sort of raspberry crumble cake. This I savored slowly because dessert was becoming scarce (though it was my only source of entertainment). When I was done, I stood politely and tried really hard to understand German. Needless to say, I did not have any miraculous epiphanies about German, instead I just guessed at the content of the conversation based on the cognate words I could pick up and the context clues. After a while, I got to fantasizing about being able to speak and understand German and how awesome it would be if I had a Babel Fish (like the one in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Then it was back to experiments, I walked out of the stuffy little lounge and realized that the last time I came up against the language barrier in a similar manner I was nine, small, and intimidated. Ten years later, I did not feel too inadequate --I knew somewhat about what was going on-- and I was certainly not intimidated. Languages can be barriers but they can be overcome with some guessing and laughter (my mentor asked if I spoke Italish the other day... I-ta-lish??? I was going through the possibilities. He assumed that in England they speak English, in Spain they speak Spanish, so in Italy they must speak Italish... sounds logical to me hahaha)

Later after work the lab met up at a roof top bar (!!!!!) to chat more with the visitor. I have been to a roof top bar once in Beijing and had loved it! The view is amazing and the atmosphere is, well, atmospheric (nice to be above the traffic and the city jungle). The bar we visited last night had a good view of the Berlin skyline (not as impressive as New York's but we took the time to point out the landmarks and the history associated with the city). Inside the bar, there were plenty of lounging decks and sand (did I mention it's a roof top beach bar?) with people busy working on their tans with drinks in their hands (a little piece of island life in Berlin).

When not admiring the view, I enjoyed conversations (in English) with my lab mates. These ranged from talking about drinks to "the big picture" of life. My PI also asked me about the North American perception of doing a Ph. D in Germany. In my opinion, I don't think many people even consider the option. They are simply not aware of the option and some major differences in the education system present compatibility problems. However, let me just note that he was proud to cite that the MDC is 25th in the world for impact in genetics. The top 24 institutes were much bigger in size.

LILY

Hey Honey Bunny, Life is not a Tea Party!

From yesterday:

This morning, on my way back from sending Polina off to the next leg of her trip, I was listening to my ipod and letting my mind meander down its familiar corridors when the doors of the train opened, and right on cue, a 20-year old walked in. I didn't pay any attention because I was too intently focused on drifting off in some mental labyrinth. For a while, it remained this way until our gaze locked and we introduced ourselves and had a pleasant conversation.

Meanwhile, in the real world, I woke up at 4 am to send Polina off the airport. Her parting gift was telling me that "Lily, life is not a tea party." She meant stop being naive, even though it's Europe--a different place-- people are people, it takes a while for them to warm up to you and no one is going to sit around and invite you to sip tea. No one is going to just chat with you on the train out of the blue (could happen but not exactly picture-perfect like in the movies because I, for one, would be --the most apt phrase would be-- "weirded out"). In reality, I woke when I dozed off on the train and banged my head against the glass. I woke startled and looked around to make sure that no one else had heard the thud of my skull against the glass, jumped to my feet and hopped out of the train before it took me somewhere further from Berlin than Buch. Then I went back to the guest house and took a nap before work.

I guess my major complaint is that everyone here is older and at a different stage in their life and plus everyone I know here is connected to work, but what's wrong with that? It seems like I can still connect with them even if I'm not where they are in life.

Sigh, just never satisfied... but still having a good time!

LILY

Pick the Right One

Work Update: I have been cloning and doing cell culture--nothing much has changed. This post is for all you molecular biology nerds. I have been PCRing, Mini-prepping and picking colonies like mad. I'm doing 4-5 constructs. However, when we pick colonies here, we pick 10-15, which means a lot of tube labeling, lysis, neutralization, and centrifuging. As a joke, I asked my "supervisor" which colonies I should pick and he said to pick the "right ones." Hahaha, harsh harsh, but I did pick one right one so far! Four more constructs to go.

Also, yesterday, we had a seminar about MRI and its applications and benefits as a diagnostic tool but also as a tool of other sorts. For example, MRI can also be used on a probe for oil drilling because with this type of imaging, one can detect the difference between fat (oil, the stuff that's spilling all over the oceans recently :( ) and water.

LILY

Can We Get Some More?

Yesterday Polina and I went to explore the Turkish region of Berlin (our guide recommended it over the weekend). We decided to get dinner near the area and consulted the Lonely Planet guide my lab co-worker kindly lent me. We decided to go to a small restaurant called Nil. This was by far the most brilliant idea we've ever had. Although we got lost (which gave us the opportunity to get some baklava and cake), we eventually made our way to the small, Sudanese restaurant. We got chicken wraps (Sudanese style) and then.... we were still hungry! We looked at each other and went back in. The guy at the store looked at us and said... "but you already ate"!!! I guess we didn't look like we would be the ones to go back for seconds. (But in our defense, we had long days--me at work and her exploring Berlin plus the food was good, it was like mouthfuls of happiness, no kidding). So we got tamiyas (falafels with a Sudanese twist), delicious! But so gluttonous... and sort of embarrassing. The guy at the store asked us where we were from, turns out that he is one of the few who knows of Arizona (he likes the Diamondbacks) and he welcomed us to Berlin and to his restaurant.

--Adventures of foodies!

LILY

Mmmmm, cells!

Work update: I am doing cell culture, an area which I have always just briefly explored but never in depth, so these protocols are new to me. In summary, the most emphasized point that I have learned so far is the importance of maintaining the sterility of the cell culture hood. Fact and point: spray everything and its mother before you put it into the hood! (Yourself included, if possible. I'm exaggerating, not really, just your gloves.) The first few times at the hood, I had to be constantly reminded to spray things off. Now I'm getting better.

Although the most frustrating thing about cell culture is that being of smaller stature: my limbs are of a limited length. I can't really reach things in the back of the hood without a good amount of struggle as I try not to bang my head against the glass and stretch for that pipet box leaning up just out of reach. Of course, this whole process earns some chortles from the person watching me. Then I simply reach for a pipet and slowly use it to scootch that box towards me! Whew, I sigh when I finally get it, then groan as I remember that I need that other box that someone casually placed in the very back. Oh well.

LILY

Mis Pies!

So a little someone dropped by to stay with me for a few days. Yup, Polina's here in Berlin with me :) Okay, more like she is in Buch with me and we have to take a train for 40 minutes to get to the heart of Berlin, but we both think that it is pretty amazing that we can meet up in a world capital. Not to mention, our love of food has given us a common goal: let's walk around Berlin and eat as we go! On Saturday, we took a free walking tour of the city (if you're ever planning to visit Berlin, take notes, we did some pretty touristy things!). Our tour guide was a self-proclaimed loud, obnoxious Brit (who did a masters in German history and is now gonna go to law school). In 3.5 hours, he took us all over East Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust memorial, Hitler's bunker, Reichstag, Charlie's Checkpoint, Opera House, Humboldt University,etc. Afterwards, we took the time to visit the museum underneath the Holocaust Memorial: it was very depressing but the design of the exhibit was very simple and powerful, it allowed the words and lives of the persecuted to touch us, the modern day visitors.

On Sunday, we visited the top of the Reichstag (it's free and beautiful, so go go go if you ever get a chance). There is nothing quite like a panoramic view of Berlin on top of the parliament building. I love rooftops and an exquisite glass dome on top of a building is right down my alley. After an hour or so, Polina dragged me away from the top because I could just be walking around up there for quite a while. Then we sought our some exotic dinner (Vietnamese curry salad?) and walked to a park, where there were a lot of people on a beautiful Sunday evening just out and about enjoying nature and the company and chatter of some good friends.

Overall, I got more exercise this weekend than I have gotten since I arrived in Buch. My legs are sore.

LILY

Food Race

Having been here almost two weeks (and having worked for nearly nine days), I feel the need to tell you about our lunch periods. For lunch, we usually go a little after noon, nothing unusual, except right before, everyone calls each other and assembles in a little herd outside the building. Any stragglers who choose to take their lunches separately or with other people are left behind but usually almost everyone goes, including the boss. We then begin the ritual walk to the mensa (cafeteria). Everyone gets their food, pays, and sits down at a table together. This is where I was surprised two weeks ago. The conversation is few and everyone scarfs down their food. The first time I had lunch, I was the last one to finish (I was talking to my PI but he somehow, along with everyone else, managed to eat everything and talk at the same time). As I looked around at the empty plates, it was clear that they were waiting for me, so I stopped talking and picked up the fork to shovel some food, so as to not make them wait excessively long. When I finally felt like I gave the lunch a good effort, I put my utensils down carefully and looked up. We waited a few minutes to be polite, and then someone muttered what I assumed to be "let's go" in German and everyone got up to walk out. Each time, the whole process takes less than 30 minutes..... who says the Europeans were all about leisure? :P

LILY

Desert Weather!

It's finally sunny today! For the past few days, Berlin has been wet and dreary. I was wearing multiple coats and shivering. A few nights ago I went out to eat, and look what I found: a little piece of home :) That warmed me up!

LILY

Knockout Night

I arrived in time for all the meetings of the year! The students at the institution attend a lot of meetings and seminars. Tonight was Knockout Night, which is a big lab meeting once a month. The first part of the meeting is general announcements and concerns. The second part involves presentations: the first person presents data usually formatted with future publication in mind; the second person "freestyles". This means that they can present about anything they would like (given that it's reasonably related to science and beneficial for everyone else). For example, today, the freestyle was about clinical trials.

After attending all these seminars, presentations and meetings, I am impressed with the variety of information and resources that these students are exposed to. Lots of guest speakers, some with international backgrounds, drop by and present their work. For example, earlier this week, a researcher gave a talk about gene therapy and his research team's work on the subject. Another clinician presented about case studies and another about epigenetics (which I mentioned earlier). It is exciting that these very relevant topics are being brought up because I took courses which discussed these subjects (bioethics and genetics!).

LILY

Pipet Withdrawal

At last, at last! After being here for a week, I finally got to do some bench work yesterday! I pretty much have been doing bench work since being in lab during high school, so data crunching on the computer instead of doing bench work was new and foreign to me. Currently, my project is getting to a slow start, so to more properly occupy my time, I am helping out with some other lab projects.

It's fate: cloning and I are inseparable. (Transformations, digests, ligations..... !!! ) I am going to help clone a construct that might help give me insight into my own project as well. Yesterday, I helped with a transformation, it was interesting to compare lab equipment and protocols. The concept and intent behind the procedure is the same, however, there are slight differences. For example (for all you molecular biology nerds), in this lab, they put a smaller amount of DNA into the competent cells and incubate on ice for only 20 minutes instead of the 30 I'm used to. Similarly, the equipment is slightly different but I'm at least intuitive enough to figure it out. (However, I must admit, I did, in fact, pull multiple times on a push door today :/) This morning I also did a maxi prep with the invitrogen kit, and instead of the makeshift styrofoam system we used for the holding the columns in Tucson, the German lab had a rack specially designed for holding all the columns and tubes! (That was exciting, in a very nerdy way).

BRIEFLY: Last night, my friend and I went to Alexanderplatz because she wanted to go shopping (she just got her first grad student paycheck). I resisted the temptation of buying anything but I looked around and what do you know, everything that's in fashion in the States is indeed in fashion in Berlin. The exception is that it's way too cold and rainy to wear any of it right now! (Unless you just don't care or you have a layer of natural blubber, it feels like a Tucson winter right now--first time I'm wearing coats in summer?!?).

LILY