Far too long

It has been far too long since I have written anything, wouldn't you say?  I can hardly believe we are nearing the end of June already.  I am halfway through my summer internship, which is unbelievable for two reasons: it doesn't feel as though I have been here, doing research, coming to work at the lab every day for five weeks already...but at the same time, it feels as though the friends I have made in the past 5 weeks have been my friends for years.  I guess that is what happens when you live in close proximity, share a mutual passion for science, and spend hour upon hour, day after day, in a lab either staring at a computer screen or sniffing chemicals (as for me I stare at the computer screen and sometimes I convince myself that I can actually feel my cognitive processes fading away).  Back to the main point...5 weeks done, 5 weeks left.  Crazy.

Like I said, it's been such a long time since I have written anything in here.  For some reason it seems much harder for me to put together a decent post now; it's not that my life is boring, but I do feel as though the things that I do now are much more run-of-the-mill than all of my previous exciting travels and I am just not certain you want to hear me ramble about watching American tv, eating American food and speaking English all the time.  I think I am subconsciously burdened by a need to compete with Denmark Rachel.  Maybe if I just use all of the right words I can make my Iowa City life seem almost as glamorous as my Copenhagen life.  It's worth a try.

Although this summer is full of research, studying for the GRE (ick!), planning my senior research for next term and generally being scared silly about my impending and inevitable future, I am also doing my best to make time for a bunch of really awesome activities.  For one thing, I have been riding my bike (whose name is Lyle, by the way) as much as possible.  Not only can I get to work in less time than it takes on the bus, it also wakes me up every morning to coast through the fresh air, feel the mud splash on my legs (I usually don't see mud puddles until Lyle is too close to them) and blare my special biking playlist into one ear (have to keep one ear open for important things like traffic, of course).   Besides just riding to work, I have also spent some time on the nice Iowa City bike paths with friends.  I think the most memorable moment I have had on a bike ride so far was getting hissed at by geese who were literally taking up more than their fair share of the bike path.  My friend Dan and I were just passing by, on our bikes, as nicely as possible and apparently the geese were really not pleased with us.  Is it reasonable to be scared of an animal 1/8 your size when you are on a hefty machine made of metal and gears?  No, probably not, but that doesn't mean I had any desire to stick around to see what would happen in the face-off between Lyle and the goose.  Lyle and I booked it out of there, with Dan and his bike (Lexi) following close behind.


Another thing I am desperate to do this summer is dance.  I have already gone to a few Zumba classes here and although it is fun, I am disappointed that no one has lived up to my previous Prairie City Zumba experiences.  I enjoy going to these classes but they make me really want to either be back at Kat's class or teaching my own class.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can teach Zumba at Knox.  It would just  be so swell.  We'll see.
 
And now for some actual dancing, I recently found out that a few of my hallmates can swing dance.  It just so happens that I LOVE swing dancing.  I searched and searched and searched for swing dancing opportunities in Iowa City and was lucky enough to come across a group that swing dances in downtown IC every Thursday night.  Naturally, I was ecstatic so after work last Thursday I got all dolled up, grabbed some friends and headed downtown.  Although I rarely wear skirts, for this special occasion I had on a high-waisted skirt, leggings, gold flats and a big flower headband.  I looked like I just walked out of the forties, which is pretty appropriate for a night of swing dancing.  Unfortunately, no swing dancing was to be found and my friends and I ended up in a bar eating appetizers and playing darts (still in my dancing garb).  Although the lack of dancing made me want to cry (and I wouldn't deny it if someone claimed they actually had seen a tear or two on my cheek), I am really glad my friends were there so I didn't have to go to a bar by myself and wash away my disappointment with a few too many Shirley Temples.

The failed night of swing dancing has made me more determined to find somewhere to ballroom dance.  I think I might give the Senior Center a try...apparently there will be Tango tonight and salsa tomorrow night.  I'll keep you updated.

I forgot to mention- the reason I am obsessed with dancing this summer is because I am lined up to be the president of ballroom club next year. YIKES.  I gotta learn some sweet moves before I can stand in front of everyone and pretend like I know enough to teach them.


I realize this is a pretty short post compared to some of my abroad posts but I am supposed to be having a meeting soon and since I am getting paid for my real job and not paid to sit around sending my thoughts all over the interwebs, I should probably skidaddle.  Who knows, maybe next time I won't wait 4 weeks before writing.

As always, tak for reading and enjoy your day!

New obsession: Charleston dance craze

I basically want to be all of these people combined. Too bad I wasn't born in the roaring 20s.
Give it a looksee.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQ23ZQ84Mg&feature=related  

The Life of an Intern

I wish that I could say that I haven't written for so long because I have been so gosh darn busy.  And I could say that...it just wouldn't be quite true.  I have work Monday-Friday from anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00 until 4 or 5 and although I have plenty to do at work, the evenings are pretty much mine for the taking.  Thus far I have been cooking yummy dinners, watching Modern Family episodes online and hanging out with the awesome people in my program.  Those things combined have left little time for important things like writing in my blog.  I think I need to work on my priorities :P

Ok now I'll get down to the real point of this, I am having a great time.  It has only been two weeks and I have already become quite good friends with most of the people in my program.  2 weeks is never enough time for me to make friends, but that's how long I have been here so I guess these people must be really special.  I think I have earned a reputation with them of being the odd girl who loves Zumba and hacky-sack a little too much and somehow makes everyone laugh without really trying (mostly they laugh at me and my oddities but its laughter nonetheless) and apparently they still like to spend time with me so that is good :)
So far we have spent a day at the Coralville lake, made some dinners together, danced some Zumba and salsa (who knew I'd get to dance with a Puerto Rican who is really good at it!?!), played hacky-sack, gone to the movies and walked around downtown Iowa City.  Meeting these people has also reminded me of what a small world this is.  I have some type of connection with almost everyone here.  3 of them even studied in Copenhagen at DIS in the fall and know some of the Knox students who were there!  I have to admit I love having people around to reminisce with about pastries and øl and Tivoli and host families and the few words and phrases we actually remember from dansk class.  It's nice that someone else can appreciate the map of Copenhagen that I have hanging on my wall right now.  All in all I am very pleased to be living with these people and getting to know them as we all experience this summer of research.

As for the actual research aspect of this internship, so far I really like it but it is not quite what I pictured.  I do work in a basement lab (which is about what I expected) but so far it has not been crazy, hectic, stressful and full of actual research.  Since we are in the beginning stages of this research project I have been reading. And reading. And reading. And.....highlighting, annotating, questioning and searching for even more more articles to help me get informed on our project.  Want a really brief explanation of the project?  If yes, read the next paragraph and try not to get mad at me for being boring...if not, skip past it and I will try and be extra witty for you.

The mentor I am working with works part time in the Neurology clinic in the hospital and part time in the Speech and Hearing Center.  Therefore I kind of work part time in each also.  In the Speech and Hearing center there is a nice room with some computers, desks, whiteboards and chalkboards.  Most days I station myself at this large desk with a beautiful apple computer where I sit and look up articles, print out articles, and repeat the process.  My mentor works a lot of memory systems and language development and also with amnesiac patients and their different abilities and inabilities.  A very recent paper was published describing a new theory about the memory systems and how amnesiacs can actually remember a few novel words if taught them in a certain way that seems to bypass the hippocampus (the area that is destroyed in amnesia cases).  Our lab is going to try to replicate this paper with our amnesiac patients and see how far we can push it to say it doesn't work if you do it this way, that way, ect, ect.  Did that all make sense?  Let me know if you want more details. I tried to make it as interesting as possible :)

So this is supposed to be the witty paragraph.  Go figure, I have no more wit left.
(major pause while I go eat dinner)
(major pause while I watch Dexter)
(major pause while I sleep)

Ok, it is morning now and I am back and hopefully wittier than last night.  Here goes
Yesterday while my friend and I were sitting on a bench downtown eating ice cream , an older gentleman who was sitting across from us asks me what kind of ice cream I am having and where it is from, how much it costs, ect ect. Very friendly guy.  I'm guessing he was Iowan (not only because he was in Iowa but because he was so chatty and I kind of think that is a decent generalization to make about older folk in Iowa) Anyway, we continue eating our ice cream and I soon hear the guy stop a young man who is walking by in an Iowa Hawkeye shirt and the following conversation ensued:

Older man: Excuse me, sorry, are you a hawk fan?
Young dude: Yeah, I am. 
Older man:  I have been trying to find someone to ask a question. Can I ask you a question?
Young dude: Sure, what is it?
Older man: I was just wondering, why is Kinnick stadium always so cool?
Young dude: (major confusion) Um..why is it so cool?
Older man:  Yeah, we just noticed that the stadium is always so cool. Why is that?
Young dude:  You mean, cool as in the temperature?  Is it cold in there?  (still super confused and really not sure what to say)
Older man:  Well, it's gotta be because there are always so many fans in there!!  (insert rimshot here)
(I immediately burst out laughing and quickly turn my head so the guy can't see)
Young dude:  Oh! (laugh laugh laugh)  That is a good one.
Older man:  (looking quite pleased with his funny self laughs at his own joke while his wife looks slightly embarrassed to be married to this goofball)
Young dude:  Haha, well you have a good day sir.
And off he went.

Oh, Iowans.

And now I'm off to work!