Dublin or Bust!

Today was filled with excitement as Dani and I went off to work ready to go to Dublin that afternoon. We had a bit of work to do before we could leave at lunch to make an early enough train. I, for one, had to set up another Pulsed-Field. I have much higher hopes this time, though. Turns out Fiona had written up the wrong conditions when she typed the protocol, using the ones for Salmonella instead of E. coli. Sandra and I are pretty sure that this will make all the difference, but Niall isn't convinced that it'll change anything. Fingers crossed!! I also set up some Integron PCRs to run. Sandra's had worked, so I set up a set with high hopes. We'll see come Monday how it goes.

Dani and I left work at 1:00, and ran home to meet up with Josh. We gathered all our stuff and took the Corrib Village shuttle at 2PM into Eyre Square. From there, we got a sandwich and snacks in town for the three-hour train ride. It sounds painful, but it really wasn't that bad. The three of us got a set of four seats (like a booth) with a table in the middle. The ride was spent eating, listening to music, talking, and sleeping. Lots of fun.

When we got to Dublin, we survived the crowd out and took our bearings. It was an easy enough walk to our hostel, all along the River Liffey, which runs through the city of town. The weather was nice, so we enjoyed it. The town looks nice so far, definitely a huge city. After a bit of a walk, we made it to the Temple Bar area of town. Here, we found the street that our hostel was on and went to check in.

The place was called "Cobblestones", and it looked alright from the outside. We were pleased to discover that they had room in a room for all three of us (originally it was supposed to be Josh and I in one room, Dani in the other), and so we went upstairs to put our stuff down. It was unreal. There were 8 beds, as with usual hostels, but this one had junk EVERYWHERE. Apparently the place houses people who stay for long amounts of time, and ours happened to have five of them. They had their stuff piled under beds and on the window sills - empty bottles, coins, etc.

We got out of there pretty quick and walked down the street to scout out some food. We'd also decided to go on a Musical Pub Crawl for the evening, so we needed to wait for Shelby and Amanda to show up as well (they had come back to Dublin after being in England and before they headed back to the States). It was really fun running into them again. :) Josh and I got kebabs for dinner, and then we all went up to Gogherty's pub next door to start our pub crawl experience.


Two musicians guided us down the road to a pub next to Ha'penny Bridge, where we had time to get drinks and sit down before they started playing and teaching us about the music. It was a really fun time. They were energetic and very talented, and had lots of fun/funny songs and stories to share. The next pub we went to was a bit of a ways away, across the river, so it gave us a nice chance to see part of the city and walk into the main shopping district. At this next pub, we had pretty much the same experience as the last. However, they had a segment they called the "Heraldic Call", where members of the audience went up and performed/sang songs from their country. That was pretty amusing. And we also had a sing-along as well. All in all it was great craic, even though it sounds super cheesy.


After we finished, the five of us walked back across the river and went into Trinity College. There, we hung out at a pub on their campus for a little bit and had a good time. Once it closed, we walked down the street to the Porter House, which is a bar that has its own microbrewery. We had lots of fun there, dancing and enjoying ourselves. A few hours later, we parted ways with Shelby and Amanda (who were staying at Trinity) and went back to the hostel for sleep. Lots to do tomorrow, and so looking forward to it.


So, I've finally got a new Irish saying of the day/week/month (lol): "knackered". This is often used to mean exhausted, wrecked, etc. For instance, after my flight back to the states, I will be knackered. Cheers!

Theater and Bazaar

Once again, entering work, I was met with the frustration of a non-working Pulsed-Field Gel. I'm convinced at this point that it's either the bad machine (since I haven't been able to use the other one) or the conditions are messed up. I've checked and double checked every step...so something else has to be going on. Other than that, I spent the day working on my report, getting advice from Sandra, and starting my powerpoint. Sandra also set up the Integron PCR to see if it would work, so hopefully it does and I can get started!

After work, I went into town with Dani to try and get some stuff for the Races next week. It's Ladies Day on Thursday, so the girls are getting dressed up. I wanted to wear a tie, but also get a little farmer's hat to wear. We found one, despite the rain, and headed back toward Corrib Village. On the way, we decided to stop in at the theater to check availability. This week is the Galway Arts Festival, and neither of us had done anything related to it. Luckily, there were tickets remaining, so we bought them and headed home to change.

We failed to realize that when we bought the tickets we only had about an hour and a half to get back to the theater. So when we got back home and realized it, we were practically running out the door. Luckily, we made it just in time, and sat down to enjoy "Only in the Heartland". It was actually a really good play, strange, but good, set in rural Kansas after a rapture of sorts. The play was quite amusing, with some really good lines, and even had Robert Kennedy back from the dead. He was a sort of zombie, who kept getting shot but couldn't die. It was interesting.


After that, we met up with Josh and together we headed into town to meet the others. First, though, we stopped for dinner at Supermac's, cause we were all starving. We got bagel sandwiches and headed down to the Spanish Arch when we were done. We went to a bar called Bazaar, that was decorated pretty cool, and filled with little sofas and ottomans. It was a nice place, definitely have to go there again. We wandered up Quay Street after that, stopping in at the Quays (which was overcrowded) and hanging out outside. Some of the girls wanted to go to the club next door, but the rest of us just headed home. I ended up sitting at Eddie Rocket's (a diner strangely similar to the Johnny Rocket's in Six Flags) with Marit, Jason, and Amal as they got hamburgers. All of us took a cab back to Corrib Village to avoid the rain.


I packed up my stuff for Dublin and went to bed soon after that. I hope I don't forget anything. We're going to try and catch the 3PM train to Dublin, which will put us there at 6PM. Hope it all works out! Cheers!

Misunderstandings and the Constant PFGE Battle

By now, setting up for a Pulsed-Field gel has become incredibly routine. I've done it so many times, I don't even need to look at the protocol anymore. That's good, though, I suppose. Practice makes perfect. However, I did run into a bit of an argument that I feel I will encounter in the future. The Salmonella Reference Lab people also had to put up a gel, so I figured they were going to use the new machine. A misunderstanding caused one of the ladies to bluntly explain to me that their clinical studies were more important than my research and that they needed to use that machine. One of the girls had thought I was taking the machine, which was not the case and she apologized, but it was still upsetting. I feel like that's something I'm going to encounter for the rest of my life. I'm bound for something in research, that will likely be overshadowed by people with an MD. I just hope we can get along, and I can prove how important and integral research is to health care, etc. Okay...off the soap box.

I spent lunch at the College Bar with Dani and Sarah, then off to the bank to deposit my check and inquire as to why my ATM card didn't work in London. Apparently, it's just a cash-only card that works on Bank of Ireland ATMs, and you can't get the debit function added until you've had it for six months. Drat. Guess I'll just plan ahead to bring cash in the future. The rest of the day I just sat in the office and wrote my paper some more. I need to get Sandra to go over it with me soon so I know that I'm doing it right. Dani and I also had a conversation with Sarah about cafeterias, where we came to realize that they weren't in most of the schools here. That's so odd...maybe it's just a Cork thing? But she was shocked that our schools had them and some kids got free/discounted lunches. Apparently that's not normal...but in America you'd be odd to not have those things.

Back at home, I took a nap for a few hours. I think the exhaustion from my trip to England was finally kicking in. I made some whole wheat mac & cheese (thanks Mom!) and thought of home as I ate it. Then I just relaxed with the roommates until it was time for bed. The usual TV shows were on - Friends, Simpsons, etc. - and we had a good time remembering old episodes and having a good laugh. Night!

Back to the Swing of Things

Our day began with a talk on paper writing and presentation in the Microbiology building. I thought it was a decent talk, but way too long-winded: he took 2 1/2 hours. I guess it was good to hear, but I feel like I knew most of it ahead of time. Oh well. After that was done, Sarah, Dani, and I headed back to work. I had almost nothing to do today, except prepare my plugs for Pulsed-Field again. I cut them up and started their digestion, which will go overnight, and I'll run them out tomorrow. Should be grand. Fingers crossed!

After that was done, I spent the remainder of the day researching Integrons, since I'm starting that segment of the PCR soon. I also wrote a little bit on my paper. It's coming along nicely...I just have to actually sit down and do it. Lunch came and went, and eventually all three of us were finished for the day. We headed home, where I spent the afternoon laying in bed and updating my blog.

Soon enough, Dani and I got together and began planning out weekend trips. This weekend, we're going with Josh to Dublin. Next weekend is the big trip to Brussels. After that, we have a week off to write our paper, so Dani, Josh, Marit and I are going to go to Killarney, in Kerry, for two nights and just finish our papers early. That weekend, we're also going to go to Belfast. Planning all my trips out made me realize how little time I truly have here. It's quite strange. It'll be August next week, and that'll make it two months since I've been in Ireland. Time flies so fast! The night ended with an appearance at our neighbors's "Ghost Party 2". Basically, they'd acquired some sheets from Corrib Village and dressed up as ghosts to throw a party. It was quite amusing. I went to bed soon enough, after giving up on getting my internet to function properly. I can't wait to get back to a steady connection!

Alright, so on to the Galway water situation. Since probably around February, Galway's water supply has been contaminated with a type of fungus called Cryptosporidium. When the outbreak first occurred, lots of students and townsfolk got sick and were hospitalized. Since then, everyone's been warned not to drink/consume the water and nobody's gotten sick. However, we have to either drink bottled water or boil the water before we can use it. It's kinda irritating to brush your teeth with a water bottle, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Hopefully they can sort this out soon - I feel bad for the citizens - but the only thing that can effectively kill the Cryptosporidium is UV light...and installing one of those in their water treatment plant is far too costly. Instead, they're looking for an alternative source for water. I'm sure they'll think of something. Well, gotta go to bed, cheers!

On a Quest for Cash and Pictures

Today we all got up early with lots of things to do. We started by taking the metro down to Herrod's, which is a famous department store (owned by the family of Princess Diana's boyfriend/fiancee Dodi Al-Fayed). Before we went in, though, I wandered around searching for a Bank of Ireland that didn't exist. It was a sad moment, but I'll look again. Once the store opened, we headed inside. The place is huge! There were probably six floors, all massive, containing designer clothing, accessories, etc. The best part, though, was the food hall on the ground floor. They had EVERYTHING - Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, vegetables, pastries, exotic fruits, meats, sandwiches, chocolate...the list was endless! It's definitely something everyone should experience. Just...wow. Shelby, Amanda, and I all got lunch there - I grabbed a sandwich, a rice cake, and a pretty dessert cake - and took it to go.


We ended up in the park at Westminster, and sat underneath some trees that looked out on Big Ben. It was lovely weather this morning, too. After we were all stuffed (and very happy), I sent the girls off to see Westminster Abbey, and I ventured forth on a quest for a bank. I remembered there was one just off Oxford Circus, on the other side of town, so I took the metro there and walked. It was pretty busy today - people running everywhere (it is a Monday, so that should be expected). I got really happy when I saw a Bank of Ireland, and went inside hoping to find an ATM or a desk for withdrawal. Instead, they told me where I could find an ATM up the road a ways (they didn't have those services at their branch). Apparently, Bank of Ireland sponsors ATMs in Post Offices around London. After lots more walking, I found the place they told me and sure enough, it was an ATM I could use!!

Cash-in-hand, I took the metro back to Oxford Circus to look for a place to buy a camera battery. I knew it would be pricey, but I would be pretty upset if I'd gone to London and could only come back with maybe 20 pictures. I found one in the first or second shop I'd looked in and purchased it. Thank God it worked. I just wish I'd done it sooner. Shelby texted me to say she was nearby, so we made plans to meet up for shopping. Instead, due to lack of communication and running out of credit on my phone, we kept missing each other. When we finally did meet up, I said I'd go to an internet cafe while she went down to find a Next, and then we could meet back up when she was done.


She did finish, but had to go meet Amanda to pay for their hotel and arrange travel for their next few days in England. I said that was fine, since I wanted to photograph things I'd missed yesterday. I took the subway back to Westminster and walked along the river for quite a ways, capturing the same things I would have had I had my camera with Lori yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the Star Wars exhibit again, but I was satiated with some Storm Trooper pics outside. Once I'd finished, I met up with the girls at the Travel Agency, where I got my stuff, and then set out to find a bus to the airport while they bought tickets for Wicked. I ended up having to rush off and say goodbye after I couldn't find the bus, and I wandered about for a good while before luckily finding a shuttle by asking a random guy. It wasn't the one I planned on (nor the price) but I was just happy to make it to the airport.


I caught my flight just fine, and read Harry Potter the whole while. The flight was fine, just a little bit of turbulence, and I was back in Galway. Another 20 Euro later, I made it to Corrib Village, where I collapsed in my bed. Since I only had about three chapters of the book left, I went ahead and finished it. Most excellent, if I do say so myself, and quite appropriate (have you finished it yet, Allie?). I went to bed soon after that. Lots of work to do this week!

The rest of my pictures from London can be seen here.

Storm Troopers Attack Parliament!

Waking up this morning was kinda rough. Lack of sleep hurts. After Shelby, Amanda, and I got up and out of bed, we headed off toward Tower Bridge, where Thomas is staying with his aunt and uncle, so they could do laundry. We got off the Underground at London Bridge and walked along the River Thames to their apartment. It was a really nice day - I wish I had my camera. We passed city hall and this sidewalk art exhibit that had lots of differently designed guitars. It had a nice effect. When we met up with Thomas, we headed up to his relatives palatial apartment. It's on the river, right next to Tower Bridge, and occupies the top floor of the apartment complex. Pretty cool. After they started their laundry, we all headed downstairs to get some lunch at one of the nearby cafes. We just got some sandwiches and sat outside enjoying the weather.

After a bit we went back up to the apartment where everyone sat around waiting for the laundry. I was getting impatient, and had gotten texts from my friend Lori who was nearby, so I headed off to meet her near the London Eye. After a bit of wandering, we finally found each other, and it was excellent. We decided to check out the Star Wars exhibit at the County Hall (nerdy, yes, but super cool). Again, I was really sad I didn't have a camera. Hers had died as well, so it was overall bad luck for us and pictures. The exhibit was really nifty. They had outfits from all the movies, a life-size podracer and Naboo fighter, and C-3PO, R2D2, and Yoda. Very cool. We were both really excited. After we'd seen the whole exhibit, we went to this "Jedi School", where some Jedi trained some young Padawans in the arts of the Force. It was super cheesy, complete with appearances from both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, and even a "everyone use the force together to defeat the Dark Side together" moment. Awesome.


We hung around the Storm Troopers outside for a little while and were thoroughly amused that from a certain angle it looked like they were firing at Big Ben. (The picture I took above - along with all the others in this post - was from Monday when I ran around the city trying to re-take pictures. It was a sad day without a camera). From there, we walked around by the river and looked at some of the "statue" performers. Lori decided she wanted to stop by the National Gallery, so we walked down to Trafalgar Square to see what was up. We made it just in time to use the restroom and look at the gift shop for five minutes before closing. After that we made a sad attempt to find a camera battery for me, but everything was closed.


I got a text from Shelby soon after, and Lori and I parted ways on the Underground. It was excellent seeing her, though. I met up with Shelby, Amanda, and Thomas at the London Bridge station, where we walked down to Nando's for dinner. It's this Portuguese chicken place that lets you select how spicy your food was. We all got the mild, and that was hot enough. It was really yummy though. From there, we rushed off to catch our "flight" on the London Eye. It's this huge ferris wheel type thing that was built for the Millennium celebrations that has fantastic views of the city. We timed it just right to make it up in time for sunset. I cried (almost) because I didn't have my camera. But Shelby promises she'll give me her pictures, so that should be okay.


After that, we decided to look around at some of London's pubs, since it was my last night there. We went to two on the River and sat outside enjoying the nice weather and looking at the stars. At the last one, nearest to Thomas's apartment, we played Scrabble, which was a whole lot of fun. We laughed so hard, but probably just because of lack of sleep. It was fun trying to navigate back to Victoria, since the Underground was closed, but we finally made it and went to bed with plans to wake up early in the morning. Exciting!

(Note that the weather was much nicer the day before I got to take all these pictures. You know. The one when my camera battery was dead. Sigh.)

London: Spamalot, Sterling, and Starry Nights

I think I got maybe three hours of sleep last night. Which made me really, really tired today. But it was okay...the important thing was that I actually got up in time to catch my cab to the Galway Airport. It was quite a distance away: the cab ride cost me nearly 20 Euro! I made it there pretty early, got checked in, bought a bagel, and read Harry Potter for an hour and a half before boarding the flight. The weather was kinda stormy, but what else is new in this city?

The flight wasn't all that bad - all I did was read the whole time. Loving the book so far. Once I landed in London, I got my baggage and went to get money out of the ATM. My Bank of Ireland card didn't work, so I just used my American debit card and figured I'd sort it out later. The important thing was catching a bus to the train station to get a train into the city. Luton Airport is a bit away. I suppose the train was about an hour, during which I read some more. When I got off at King's Cross, I wandered around until I saw Shelby and Amanda. It was great seeing them again! They took me via the Underground (Subway) to Victoria Station, and their nearby hotel.


I put down my stuff and all of us went out to Oxford Circus to do a little shopping and get some lunch. We ended up at this place that had an Italian Buffet (unheard of in Ireland) that was pretty darn good. Yay for pasta and lasagne! We also got tap water to drink. It's so odd not being able to drink the water in Galway (Have I mentioned that yet? I can't remember. If not, let me know and I'll fill you in). After that, we wandered about in a few shops before meeting up with Thomas at Debenham's.


From there, we took the Underground and walked to the West End, where Shelby and I bought tickets for Spamalot - the Monty Python musical! Thomas and Amanda had already seen it, so they went to see Mary Poppins. Shelby and I got excellent seats in the third row, and sat down to enjoy the show. It was so hilarious! We were practically falling out of our seats from laughter. They took most of the stuff out of "the Holy Grail", but added in some bits and pieces from their other works, like "Life of Brian" (Always look on the bright side of life, do do, do do do do do do). Definitely worth going to see, even again! After some pictures and meeting up with the others, we headed back to the hotel to relax.


I ended up falling asleep on the floor (guess I was quite a bit more tired than I thought) for an hour or so, before we all got up to go out. We stopped at a pub nearby for dinner, which was good, but it took FOREVER to get the order placed, and then even longer to get the bill. Ah well. I've also realized at this point that my Bank of Ireland card simply does not work on these ATMs. I've heard that there are Bank of Ireland ATMs out there...I just have to find one. Until then, my American bank account is hating me for this 2.02 conversion rate. *sigh* Why does the dollar suck so much compared to the pound?


We relaxed for a half an our or so at an internet cafe after that, and caught up with the world. Soon enough, though, we headed out to catch a bus for a night tour of the city. We sat on top of a double decker, which was roofless, and enjoyed the night air. Except for a ten minute rain where we went downstairs, the weather was lovely. We got some excellent views of the city, and I enjoyed trying to take pictures of things as we moved by. Unfortunately, my camera battery died towards the end. I didn't bring my charger...so hopefully I can either find another battery or something tomorrow.


When we got back to Victoria Station, we caught a bus downtown to see if we could go to the oldest pub in London. When we got there, however, we discovered it was closed. So we caught the bus back to Victoria and walked to the hotel. After we all got ready for bed, we read a little bit and then fell fast asleep. Man, I did a lot today! Cheers!