Experiencing America

Yeah OK, I know, I totally suck at the whole regular blogging thing. To be honest though, you haven't missed much, I've mostly been working , or chilling. I started writing about "Fall" over a month ago, but never finished it. So I will do an update soon.

Today though I really want to tell you all about some recent adventures: a trip to Washington DC, finally! And Thanksgiving!

Baltimore is really close to the nation's capital, so it's a little ridiculous that I haven't made it there before now. But it was certainly worth the wait. We nearly went on an insanely hot weekend at the end of June and I'm soooooo glad we didn't because we worked out that we walked nearly 13 miles, not including wandering around two museums! Not something to be done in 40C heat and 100% humidity! As it was though, the mid-November weather was perfect: bright, sunny and crisp.

Baltimore Penn station

We started the day with a walk to Baltimore's Penn station (also not included in the 13 miles I think!) and caught the train to Washington's Union station, both conveniently located for our needs :) We headed straight for the Capitol building, the seat of the US Congress (please bear in mind that most things I know about US politics come from West Wing! And also that we're only on series 5, so no spoilers please!). Anyway, it is much bigger than I realised and has a statue of George Washington on top.

Only 11 days after the US election (btw, what a relief!), and they'd already started setting up for the inauguration, two months from now!

It wasn't long before I had my first glimpse of the view down the Mall to the Washington Monument. There are loads of Smithsonian museums lining either side of the Mall. Having reached the Monument (it's much bigger than Baltimore's, but nowhere near as pretty!) we took a little detour to visit the White House! It was difficult to get a decent photo because of all the tourists, but it was pretty exciting! Much much smaller than I expected though!

Then it was back to the Mall to see all the memorials: WWII, Vietnam and Korean (at which point my camera ran out, so lots of the photos in this post were taken by N); and Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Roosevelt and Jefferson. By now our feet and legs were already starting to niggle at us, but we still decided it was a good idea to cross the Potomac (which turns out to be wide!) into Virginia to see the Pentagon! So not only did I leave Maryland for the first time since arriving in the US, I also got to visit another state! :D

Having seen all the sights, we dragged ourselves back to the Mall for lunch at the American History museum, where the highlight was seeing the original American flag, which inspired their national anthem. Both of these things were made more exciting by the fact that the flag was made in Baltimore and the song inspired by the sight of the flag flying over a local fort during a battle in which the Americans beat us pesky Brits against all the odds. I also enjoyed the American Presidents + First Lady exhibits, but overall the museum wasn't all that interesting I thought. I know America doesn't have quite as much history as Europe, but I still felt there must have been more to it!

Finally we went around the Natural History museum which I really need to go back to because by that point I really wasn't taking anything in. I can't remember the last time I was so knackered by a day out, but it was totally worth it, and I can't wait to go back again! For more pictures see my Facebook here, or ask me for a link!

You can't even see the Pentagon behind me can you? That is definitely Virginia though!

I know this is a really long post, but I also really want to mention Thanksgiving, as another great American experience. I originally intended to work, so we were really grateful to receive an invitation to a real American feast from one of my lovely colleagues. It was awesome! Turkey with all the trimmings, which included mash potato, broccoli, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce and rolls, and sweet potato mash with marshmallows on top, which is infinitely more amazing than it sounds! And three pies: pecan, pumpkin and traditional Dutch apple (that last one by N of course). We really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed making my way through a pile of leftovers this past weekend!

Stay tuned for an update on American autumn soon!

Book festival squash pie

I can't wait any longer to tell you about all the exciting stuff! OK that's going to make this sound like a waaaayyy more exciting post than it is... Never mind, I shall continue anyway.

I've had a bit of a hard time recently getting hold of my social security card (ie. I applied for one, they processed it, and it never arrived in the mail), so last week I had to go back to the social security office and apply for a replacement for something I never had... And a couple of days ago it arrived! So now I can, erm, officially pay taxes... Yays?

Also last Friday, I managed to get an advance on my paycheck, so I finally have some money woo! Unfortunately, because my bank account is new, my bank put a hold on it. But I had $200 to spend at the weekend! I felt rich! This was fortunate, because last weekend was the Baltimore Book Festival, conveniently located just up the road, woo!

I managed to get seven books for $29, five of which were new, bargain!

We also popped into the "cathedral of books" that is the Peabody library. Love this place.

Last week my lovely new colleague kindly gave me some of her excess squash.

This obviously meant I had to make a pie. A very scrummy "pumpkin" (I used acorn squash) pie topped with candied pumpkin seeds.

We are very sad that this is now all gone :(

But that just means we'll have to make more pie!

Exciting plans for this weekend :D

I won't tell you what the temperatures have been like here the past couple of days, you wouldn't like it...

Meeting my models

Hello all!

Admiring the Inner Harbor in the fall sunshine

The past couple of weeks have been a steep learning curve for me, in parts fun and in parts stressful, I've come to Friday exhausted and close to tears two weeks in a row! Not necessarily in a bad way, just sometimes when I'm tired, I can't hold back the tears!

Amazing mochi ice cream!

I've spent a fair amount of time learning the ropes of human cell culture, which is pretty cool. They're fun to look at down a microscope! And I met some mice, from a distance for now. I also got to do some bits and pieces of molecular biology, such as isolating DNA preps from E. coli. Although even the most routine of things is a challenge in a new lab. And not only is it a new lab for me, but it's a new lab full stop, having just moved to UMB from the University of Kentucky. So we're all finding our way around together.

Federal Hill shopping district

There's been a bit of time for fun stuff too. I've visited the famous Lexington Market with my colleagues several times, and finally went there with N yesterday (it's about 5 minutes from our back door, not somewhere to venture alone maybe, but worth going for the fooooodddd). And N and I have been doing some more exploring in Baltimore, visiting the Inner Harbour, as always, and today discovering the Federal Hill shopping district, which has shops and restaurants on a street! Like not in a mall! So cool! And a great secondhand bookshop, which I will definitely be going back to if I ever get paid!!!

Sunday lunch at Corner Bakery Cafe

First week at work: survived!

Hi there friends!

Just a quick post to let y'all know that not only did I survive my first week of work, but I enjoyed it too! Only 4 days due to Labour Day on Monday, my boss is still on holiday until tomorrow, so no lab work as yet, but I did enjoy settling in. I did a lot of reading, getting me really excited about the research, and a lot of paperwork. I now have a university email address (please ask me for it if you would like to contact me on work-related matters), and a key, how privileged I feel! I also have a bank account to fill with money when I eventually get paid! :D But no ID as yet, because you need a social security number to get one, and you can't get one of them until you've been in the country for ten days. Nothing's ever easy...

A beautiful Friday evening in Baltimore

We have had a nice easy weekend however. Dinner at the Irish pub again on Friday. I couldn't resist having the same chicken and prawn dish again because I drool every time I see the picture from last time! Thankfully it totally lived up to expectations :D

While there we were lucky enough to witness an impromptu dance-off! Awesome!

On Saturday we took a walk over to Fells Point and took in some dragon-boat racing on the way home.

Saturday also involved pizza and Doctor Who (I think a certain Panda Lemon would approve of this Saturday evening combo, no?).

And today was chilled with Farmers Market for fresh bread, cleaning and grocery shopping, in between some serious chillaxing, and eating an amazing fish dish cooked by my amazing chef of a fiance :D

Excited for my second week!

Baltimore Update

Hullo there! Now that I'm back in Baltimore, visa in hand, I just wanted to write an update about what's going on with me, and how I managed to come back so quickly, just in case you don't already know (and just in case you're actually interested...)

Everything I brought with me

So, back in June, thirteen days before my flight back to the UK, around lunchtime, I was merrily applying for jobs, including a postdoctoral position at the University of Maryland. By (afternoon) tea time I had an email asking me to call regarding this position. And less than an hour later I was down there being interviewed for a job that I was genuinely interested in and excited by! I felt like it went pretty well, and was asked to come back the following week to give a presentation about my PhD work.

The presentation also went down well, and after a short chat I was offered the job! Five days before I was due to leave! FIVE DAYS!!! Amazing.

Home I came, and happily went about enjoying July, but all the while waiting for the all important form to arrive in the post. By the time we got back from The Netherlands I was able to book an appointment to get my visa at the US Embassy in London.

I was lucky that my grandparents live only a 20 minute walk from the embassy, so I stayed with them for one very warm night. I arrived in good time for my interview and after a short wait went through security with no problems. There are lots of restrictions about what you can take in with you, so I went with the bare minimum: my documents, purse, a book and a cardigan. Turns out I didn't need the cardigan, it was extremely warm and stuffy in the massive waiting room ,which was packed with people!

After getting my number I only had to wait 30-45 minutes before handing over my documents, a process which took a few minutes at most, after which I settled down with a cup of tea and a Muller rice from the shop and waited. And waited. And waited some more. And just when I thought I couldn't wait any longer, I waited some more! I don't think I have ever had to wait so long for anything in my life. And I was too agitated to really enjoy my book. Finally, after waiting for 3.5 hours I had my interview. Which also lasted only a few minutes, consisting of a few simple questions.

It was such a surreal experience that after paying for my documents to be couriered back to me, I almost felt like I needed permission to leave! I even joked with the security officer outside that I was beginning to wonder if I would ever again breathe fresh air! It was definitely worth the experience though, as three days later my passport and visa were in my hands, and I was able to book a flight back to Baltimore for only a week later, and now here I am!

Homemade flatbreads to go with curry on Saturday night

After a stressful morning leaving my family and coping with a delayed train (25 mins! Thankfully I'm insane and left loooaaddsss of time!), everything else went smoothly. The flight felt very long, but I did watch three films (The Five-Year Engagement - very good; a BBC drama with Matt Smith about rowing in the 1948 Olympics, which I can't remember the name of but also very much enjoyed; and The Lucky One, which I also really enjoyed!). And I managed to enter the country without being quizzed at the border like last time! Yay for visas!

Baltimore Grand Prix was on this weekend, spot the car!

Thankfully today is Labor Day, a public holiday here in the US, so I have had a lovely four day weekend to recover and readjust. Walking around (getting used to the heat again!), baking, and trying to sleep.

Fresh, homemade soda bread for breakfast on Sunday morning

Tomorrow I start work. I am going to be doing research in cancer, specifically into a protein called NM23, which is well known in the field as a suppressor of metastasis. If anyone's interested I might write a post explaining more about my work sometime! I'm really excited about the work, but it is very much a change in field for me, so it'll be interesting to learn more about the subject. I'm mostly excited to get back into the lab and do something useful! I'll let you know how it goes :)

N bought me Harry Potter Lego today because he is awesome! :D

Summery

Well, it appears I accidentally took a holiday from blogging since I left Baltimore, so I thought that rather than try to write a blog post about all the different things I've been doing this summer (which, it seems, is a lot!) I would write a little round-up post instead. Do you like my play on words in the title? I shouldn't be so proud of myself for that should I?! hehe!

So I'm going to be sparing with my photographs in this post, otherwise it will get too long. For more photos see my Facebook when I get around to putting them up. If you don't have Facebook and would like to see some more photos, then just let me know and I'll send you a link (unless you're a random psycho :P).

First Lemon to be wed! - 6th July

Three days after getting home I was off to Bath for the wedding of the first of my friends to get married! Unfortunately it rained all day, which sucked, but the beautiful bride and groom made the most of it and it was a lovely day.

And it was great to catch up with my Lemony friends after three months away :D

Tamzy's 21st! - 7th July

The following morning I hot-footed it up to Liverpool, cake in tow, to stay with my sister for a few days, first and foremost to celebrate her official entry into adulthood!

The weather even held out long enough to go on a ferry up the Mersey!

After several days of shopping and chilling (and eating out for pretty much every meal) it was time for the next main event

Tamzy's Graduation! - 11th July

Yes, it's true, my little sister is old enough to be graduating from university already! This scares me!

I like this one of my sister and our step-dad :D

Such a clever girly

Family meal! - 14th July

With so many things to celebrate, we made sure to meet up with our family in Exeter while both my sister and I were home in the south west. We went out for Thai food here and it was awesome! I didn't take many pictures, but even the starters were great:

My 25th Birthday! - 15th July

So, after spending three nights at home, it was time to be off again, this time to Cardiff. It was a funny birthday, mostly spent travelling and waiting for N's family to arrive. We had some time waiting in Cardiff city centre, which isn't the most interesting place late afternoon/early evening on a Sunday, so what did we do? Why a birthday photo challenge of course! And it being my birthday, I had to be in all the photos, which spell my name!

G - Gate

E - Escalator

M - Menu

M - Millennium Stadium

A - Aneurin Bevan

In the evening we went for a meal at a Portuguese restaurant with N's family and a couple of lovely Lemons. The meat on sticks was really tasty, but I can't say much for the over-cooked veg...

Mine + N's PhD Graduation! - 16th July

The following morning we donned some silly robes and headed to the city centre to graduate from our PhDs!

Unfortunately it tipped it down with rain all day, but we did have a lovely day and managed to get some great photos indoors.

We went for tea and cake in the afternoon.

And tapas for dinner.

Followed by drinks for some, and the most amazing cheesecake ever for others!

Holiday in The Netherlands! - 21st-28th July

This photo pretty much sums up our week in The Netherlands. Happy, sunny, cycling around, relaxing. The only thing that's missing is some yummy Dutch food in our mouths. We're probably holding sausage rolls in the hands you can't see in this picture hehe!

Unfortunately the holiday eventually had to end, and N had to go back to work in Baltimore. Sad times :(

My stay in Gloucestershire - 8th-12th August

I continued the fun though, staying with my good friend Panda Lemon and her lovely parents in Gloucestershire for a few days (thanks guys!). The weather was lovely, lots of Olympics was viewed, and we even found this lovely pub in the unassuming village of Cricklade, where I devoured a very tasty sausage and mustard sandwich!

Bristol Balloon Fiesta - 11th August

On a beautiful Saturday Panda and I headed to Bristol to meet more of our Lemony friends for the balloon fiesta and some catching up. We did a lot of great catching up, but unfortunately, even though the weather was gorgeous, the mass ascent of balloons had to be cancelled because it was too windy! Boooo! But the night glow in the evening was quite fun.

And I can't let that weekend go by without a mention of Panda's Dad's infamous BBQ. Amazing as always!

Weymouth - 18th August

Road trip! I went to Weymouth with some friends from school, to play Pirate crazy golf (I didn't come last woo!) and surprise another friend of ours in her mum's cafe! Fun day! And look at my new mascot:

The guys brought me a Wenlock from the Olympics! Thanks guys!

London - 19th/20th August

I had to go up to London (at this point I was saying to anyone who'd listen "I'd love to just have one week where I don't have to get on a train!") for my visa interview (more about this another time!), and took advantage of this by seeing my grandparents and my aunty while I was there. My grandparents live near Regent's Park, so while they were resting I decided to take advantage of the sunshine (30C! In London!) and go for a two hour long walk. Look who I came across on my travels!

I even made it up Primrose Hill. Prizes for anyone who spots the most London landmarks in this picture (also, you have very good eyesight, well done! Maybe it's better to check out the bigger version in Facebook!)

Burrow Farm Gardens - 25th August

Tamzy and I braved a torrential downpour to get to this beautiful place, where one of my aforementioned lovely friends from school was kind enough to show us around his grandparents gorgeous gardens as a potential wedding venue! It is soooooo incredibly beautiful there, even in the rain, absolutely loved it.

If you want to go there too, check out their website!


Wow, well this turned into a long post anyway in the end, sorry about that! But I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I've spent the past two months. I feel like I've been busy, and now that I've written it down I see that I have been! That's not even everything that I've done or everywhere I've been!

I fly tomorrow, so the next post will be from Baltimore. See you on the other side of the Atlantic!