Time is Ticking and the Pressure is ON

This morning began with the usual routine followed by a mix-up as to whether the class was going to be doing a lab or a lecture. After going to lab and back upstairs to wait for something, Jody called us into the classroom for a lecture (the final lecture of the course). She reviewed the guidelines for our gene therapy project, which I'm pretty anxious for, considering all the work that has to be put into it. By the way, it's due Friday, so only there are only two days to work on it (as a result, I'll keep today's post pretty short and concise). Next up was a very long lecture on gene therapy and a video on a patient with a particular disease. There was so much to learn, but ultimately, the purpose of it was to be supplementary to our understanding of gene therapy. Aside from that, we also had to make predictions for our gel reading from those plasmids we worked with last week.

Lunch was lunch, but I got back to the Keeney where I met Alana for the final check-in. I then made it back to my dorm for a while. After researching a bit more, I thought it would be good to make another quick stop to find souvenirs or other needed things, so Brandon and I hit Thayer and the mall. It was very quick, since we had to meet everyone up a bit before 6 to get to our last dinner at Al Forno, an Italian restaurant just about a 15 minute walk away. I ended up not really finding anything I really like to take back home, but I did get some socks if anything. I'll probably walk around Thayer some time soon to find a few things. I do have to get the Summer@Brown shirt and water bottle at the Brown Bookstore (also on Thayer) as well, so I'll see when I get a chance to do that.

Calamari Pizza for the Appetizer

Dinner at Al Forno was great. It was very quiet at first, on my part because I was tired after running almost non-stop back from the mall to meet the cohort on time. Anyway, we all ordered a Calamari and Marinara thin crust Pizza which we all agreed was delicious. We waited for our entrees to be ready and made some conversation about our plans after this trip and all. At last, our entrees came as we felt it was bittersweet how it was our last dinner as a cohort. I personally had to Swiss Chard Ravioli with a poached egg and Parmesan with a side of Seasonal Veggies. Among the table was also Spaghettini with Clams, Scallop Skewers, Rigatoni with Veal Bolognese, Lasagna, and a Fried Sea Bass I believe (oh, and I can't forget those Rib-eye meatballs!). The conversation turned into a multi-lingual one. You don't hear that word often, do you? it was actually really interesting and very fun! Kevin spoke Japanese, Alana and Jack French, Brandon Cantonese, Jing Taiwanese, and I Spanish. It was difficult understand all the different tongues, though I tried to use both English and Spanish to understand the French. On the other hand, I had no idea how to understand Japanese, Cantonese, and Taiwanese, other than by body language, signals, and motions. Still, it was challenging, pretty fun actually, and interesting. We ended the meal with dessert. I wanted to try a tart but some ice cream as well, so ultimately the we all had Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream (hand churned) for everyone and our own desserts, ranging from the Rhubarb Tart, Chocolate Crepes, Chocolate Cake, and Pecan Tart. We all ended up so full and unable to finish everything, so the rest for later. After a great dinner and very fun talk amongst each other, we made a long and tiring way back to our dorms, as we were very full (or at least I was) and exhausted.
(I apologize for this very weird paragraph, trying to insert the pictures does some crazy things that unfortunately it does not let me change now...)

For me, Swiss Chard Ravioli with a poached egg and Parmesan on top

Seasonal Veggies for the side

Just after getting back to the dorm, we headed to the dance that our clusters were having. It didn't take more than about 3 seconds to realize that it wasn't exactly great, but I stayed anyway to chill and eventually got up for a while. Again it wasn't too hyped, so it was almost empty as people came in and right out of it. I decided I'd go back and do other more productive things. As you can imagine, it was blogging time, but then again, blogging time is coming to an end for today. As simply as I've put it, it's been a long day. There was that long lecture. check-in, research, shopping, dinner, and (not so much one, but still) party. It's only the second day of the week but it already feels as if everything will be over by tomorrow! The pressure is on and so is everything we need to get done! The exciting thing about tomorrow, though, is that I'll be able to see my AP scores here in Rhode Island (I could've seen them already if I was in California, but it varied depending on which state you're in). Aside from that, there isn't anything to do besides performing the procedure tomorrow and tons of researching to finalize my project in time for presentations on Friday (and also correcting my Pre-Quiz and solving a laboratory-related problem), not to mention the workshop our cohort was invited to. It's going to be stressful, but I'll make sure it happens and gets done. On that note, let me get going with some of those things and head off to bed. Goodnight!