Rotation lab

So. Now that I've finally managed to get in front of a computer that I'm allowed to use for my own personal stuff and I have more than a few minutes, I'm going to update! I'm really not THAT busy, but I HAVE been in the lab until at least 5 or 6 every weekday for the past week or so if that counts. I'm working on a project that has gotten exponentially more interesting as I work on it which is really nice. I've also gotten a lot more interested in science in general (I'm actually interested in seminar topics that aren't related to what I want to do. weird.) and I'm not sure if that's because of classes, lab, or both. I've also noticed a complete and utter inability to remember where I learned something. I'm doing the same thing in both classes I'm taking (they both start with DNA, RNA, and protein basics) as well as doing the practical side of the EXACT SAME THING in lab, so I'm learning bits and pieces in each and quite a bit of overlap. All in all it's a good time and the only thing I have to worry about is finding a textbook for one of my classes tomorrow. I hope I can find the bookstore and they have what I need!

The lab I'm working in is kind of funny, because I think everyone there is German or Danish. Well, the main people in the lab anyway. I've been working with the Danish guy, Jacob. He's pretty nice and laid back but really knows his stuff and wants me to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. We've had some good conversations about lab stuff and non-lab stuff, so it makes me feel pretty welcome in the lab. I think the other people in the lab are getting used to me being there too, since they're acting like I exist now. That's kind of a mean way of saying it and I don't mean it like that, but it's the best way to describe it. I don't really have to interact with them and I'm trying to understand my own stuff and Jacob's so I haven't put much interest in theirs yet. Everyone's handling different parts of one big problem, like labs tend to do, but it's pretty cool to see how everyone goes at it from a different angle.

And now, pictures.
First of all, I have my own pipets and a spinning rack to put them on! I'm sure I'll take the labels off and leave them in the lab when I'm done with my rotation, but it's kind of cool to have something sciency to call my own.














Next are some pictures of my lab space. They gave me a laptop to work on while I'm at the lab and Jacob had an extra monitor that he got that doesn't work with his computer, so he gave it to me. so far it's just sitting there and looking pretty, but I might end up using it when I have a bunch of stuff to keep track of. The main bench is off to the right of this.














And it looks like this. I don't know if you can really tell, but it's probably about 8 feet of counter space and a bunch of shelves. Pretty nice and the only problem is that there's no place to put my legs if I'm sitting, but I don't sit often, so that's really not too much of a problem. Also, when I was working at Hope I didn't have leg room in one of the lab areas and I'm pretty used to it by now.














Finally, just a view from the other side.














And here's what the view from my window looks like. It was pretty gray when I took this, but it's a pretty nice view of the biochemistry building =D. (Please forgive the picture quality, they're taken with my phone which is, first and foremost, a phone.) All in all, it's a pretty nice place. All right, time for a second post on other stuff.