Irish Weather at Its Best

Waking up was rough today. Definitely did not want to do it. But today's my last day of work for the week, so that made it okay. The forecast for today did not predict a temperature above about 56, so that was quite a change. Pulled out the sweater and jacked and headed to work. It was cold, but a nice change. We'll see how long I say that.

Work was really easy today. I read the results of the API strips from yesterday - turns out all but one were E. coli - so we threw out that one and I extracted the DNA from the other 5. I spent the rest of the day tidying up, reading journal articles, going to the autoclave, and helping Sarah with extractions. Not too bad, but I'm ready to get started on PCRs next week.

One of my favorite things about work is our tea break at around 10:45. All the people in the lab go downstairs to the canteen, get tea/coffee/food, and sit around and chat. They're all really nice and a lot of fun. I realized today that I'm the only guy in the lab at tea (the other guy, Niall, goes elsewhere), which is interesting. Today, the ladies talked about the upcoming Justin Timberlake concert, and also about "Britain's Got Talent" (the UK version of America's Got Talent). Apparently the winner gets to perform in front of the Queen. It's grand, really (using a new Irish adjective!).

Sarah and I went to lunch at Supermac's, and I was, once again, disappointed. I need to stop going. lol. It rained for the whole break, so we got a bit wet on our walk back after lunch. Still no sheets of rain like back home, more of a drizzle, but Sarah says it's abnormal for Irish weather. The rain itself is pretty normal, though. We got out an hour early today, and I just came back to the apartment and relaxed. I relaxed so much, in fact, that I ended up sleeping for a few hours. It was nice. Then I got up and cooked some pasta, watched TV with the roommates, and came in to blog and go to bed. Fun times.

I'm going to attempt to answer some questions that have been asked of me here:
1) Random Irish Sayings - I'll try and include more of these as time goes on. One of my current favorites is "your man". It's the equivalent of "that guy". Example: I went to order an ice cream and your man was really rude, like.
2) Irish Rain - The rain feels different so far...mostly because it's been nothing more than a drizzle with the occasional burst of raindrops. I'll let you know if it gets anything like our Southern thunderstorms. But I doubt it will.
3) Irish Pop Music - The Irish seem to listen to a mix of American and British pop. I've heard plenty of songs I recognize from back home (especially when we went out last Thursday night), but also some that I don't know (or know only because I went to Spain a few weeks ago and heard it there). There's always the traditional Irish music, but I think that's more for show and the older people here.
4) Anaerobic Bacteria - GDL, I don't think I'll be studying anything other than E. coli this summer. But I have studied them in class. :)
5) NUIG Mascot - I honestly have no idea. I don't think they're really big on mascots/sports/rivalries over here. The whole "college football" type phenomenon I'm so used to at LSU is virtually nonexistent here. But I'll see if I can hear otherwise.
6) Green Clothes - Surprisingly enough, there is not an over-abundance of green in the clothing of the country. All the touristy shops, though, boast racks of green shirts. But the locals where it about as frequently as we do back in the states.


Well, this has been fun. I leave you with a picture of the Quadrangle of NUIG (modeled after Christ Church at Oxford, England). I'll be updating the next two entries on Saturday, since we leave for the Aran Islands tomorrow morning. Should be a fun trip! Cheers!