Genome SFirst day in the lab. I'm already exhausted but I guess that is standard procedure at a new job regardless of where it is in the world. Still wasn't hungry from all the eating I did yesterday so I skipped breakfast and headed straight for the lab. Started off the morning with a meeting with everyone in the lab as a sort of introduction and a "what do you want to get out of this experience." I was pretty much in the hot seat, wish I had prepared a little more. Afterward I drafted a proposal and timeline for the eleven weeks that I have here.
Because the cultural aspect of my trip is so important, I plan to dedicate a large portion of my time in the first five weeks to learning and practicing Kiswahili. Elisha, a student in a neighboring lab that trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines (super cool!), taught me numbers which should help with the taxis and just buying things in general. The exchange rate is something like 1200 Tanzania Shillings to 1 US dollar. I'm kind of sloppy when converting in my head and just add the zeros and ignore the 200. I imagine that will might be a problem in the future.
According to my proposal this week I am to indepedently review some introductory biology topics (since obviously I did that pretty poorly the first two times around) including cell biology of protozoa, functional genomics and bioinformatics, host immune responses, and t-cell biology. Luckily whenever people in the lab "talk science" they do it in English. When they talk about me they do it in Kiswahili. Just kidding, the Professor assured me that they aren't talking about me! I did a little reading for INT199 and will be out the door soon to practice Kiswahili at the hostel.
Highlight of the day was definitely talking to Gatto in real time! Can't wait to get my cell phone situation under control so I can actually hear his voice. Oh yeah, and I guess it might be nice to talk to Mom and Dad. Not sure what I'm going to do about dinner but I certainly hope to put something in my belly, even if its trail mix from the airport!
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