Cora vs. last times

My last week here in Cambridge, MA is progressing really well, definitely with a laughing and a crying eye... Everywhere I go, I go with the thought „omg this is probably the last time i’m here“ and then i get sentimental and sad and it’s dreadful so i try not to think about it. Like yesterday we went to my favorite burrito place. I will miss it so much. It’s such a friendly place. We also went to Quincy market in Boston. All these last times. It’s sad.

I also had my last lab meeting last thursday. And something very surprising and big happened to me. So everything was normal, the first speaker presented their work (he’s trying to do something he’ll never manage to do but that’s his problem i guess) and i was sitting there, listening to it, being cold and angry at myself because i always forget to take along my sweater. Fu** the AC. Seriously (I was in bed for two days last week because I had a fever and I KNOW the reason is the AC. Hate it. Can’t wait to be back in continent where people know how to regulate room temperature. No. Seriously.) But back to the lab meeting. So eventually the guy was done and it was time for the short break between speakers when Prof Jaenisch started to talk. And he was like „so we have something happening, Cora is leaving us. She has been here for the summer and has contributed to Yossi’s (my boss) work. And then my boss said some really nice things (some of which might not be 100% true, i mean, i know i wasn’t always a pleasure to work with and stuff.. but i tried hard and i do believe that i did contribute something! So then i said something short aswell because I really wanted to let him know that I feel like I’ve learned so much this summer! Not just the science, but also about what it’s really like to be a scientist and how there can be many failures (all these negative colonies. I probably scanned like 1000-1300 of them. I’m serious. It’s a most accurately performed estimate.) And even with the disappointment of all these negative colonies, I had a great time! So after these speeches Prof Jaenisch handed me a gift! And guess what it was. OMG. So there was a MIT t-shirt in one box (will definitely wear it) and... you won’t believe it... NAILPOLISH in the other one. I was SOOOO excited. And felt kinda honoured aswell. I mean. wow. also, I love nailpolish. And it was so cute of the lab to get me some!!! I will never forget that. Such a happy moment. Such a happy day! Really really nice. For the rest of the day i was in an excellent mood and on the next morning I used some of my new nailpolish. My nails now look like hot orange lava flowing between dark rocks. One colleague said it looked scary. I think it’s cool. But will probably change soon, wanna try out the other new colors. (it’s OPI by the way. Yes I know u care.) So that about my last (and awesome) lab meeting.

Any other news?

Went to IHOP (pancake place) and got a free meal (signed up for their e-newsletter) I love free stuff.

I’m starting to think about how on EARTH i will bring back all the stuff i bought here... I guess i’ll have to send myself a parcel. Yep.

Went to the MIT Museum (also free. Nice) Saw some awesome holograms. Good stuff.

No party this weekend. Not a single one. Can’t wait to go to a better place.

Went to see the Blue Man Group (student rush ticket = good price!). Nice show! I recommend it!

Four days left.

Four out of 77.

My summer in the US is ending.

Sad indeed.

Cora vs. Red Sox

I have only a couple of days left in the US and so I’m trying to do all the things that people have been telling me to do while I’m in the US. So today I decided to go to a baseball game. Red Sox against Blue Jays. I got cheap tickets online and went to Fenway park with a few couchsurfers. As soon as we got there we got our compulsory hot dogs ;) can’t go to a baseball game without having one. No beer for me, sadly L The stadium is really cool, it really is like in the movies. There’s the big screen where they show random people from the audience and when they see themselves on it they get really excited and jump around. They did not point the camera at me but I was fine with that. So then we all had to get up fort he national anthems (canada first, coz the other team was from Toronto then USA) and it was cute how everyone put their hands on their hearts and looked so patriotic. Cute. Then the game started but honestly we did not really notice because OMG baseball is SO BORING. Seriously. It doesnt make a difference whether they are playing or not... it’s more or less the same. A few people standing on the field, some have gloves, one has a bat. Occasionally a ball is thrown and hit. Occasionally someone runs a little bit. That’s it. And it goes on and on and on. I mean, don’t get me wrong, i had a good time. I had nice company and the atmosphere was really nice. All the vendors with their hotdogs and lemonades and the nr 1 hands and people with posters saying „ we are getting married“ and drunk guys with wiking helmets and stuff. So that was nice. But the game. No. Seriously. Most boring thing everrrrrrr. Oh I should also mention that it started raining heavily after like 1:30h so i eventually decided to leave. Cycled to Harvard. Got completely soaked. Changed my clothes. Went to a party at a Harvard dorm and then to a LGBTQ party ;). Definitely the less boring part of the night ;) Oh yes and I have a giant Nr 1 hand now. 

Cora vs. the bill

It`s been a while and so I have quite a few things to talk about. They are mostly not connected, random things, well, you know me :)

First of all  i need to talk about new york. OMG i love new york. I love times square. I love 5th avenue. I love the MOMA. I love central park. I love the lights everywhere. I love the Chrysler building. I love Rockefeller Plaza. (except for one thing: why. WHY?? is the swiss flag not square?? WHYYYYYY????? when will the world learn? oh what a sad life. In any case that flag and the rectangular flag in front of the lindt store have inspired me... as soon as I have time (maybe on my flight back) i will write a story. It will be a continuation of the story about the guy who works at the Migros Budget factory for toothpicks. (He glues together toothpicks that break during the production process. Yeah, awesome job.) So this guy will find a mission for his life: he will travel around the world and fix all swiss flags by cutting them to the right shape. Yes. but let me continue.  I love the Lego store. and the nintendo store. and the lindth store (more to that later). I love the Guggenheim. I love the view of Manhattan as seen from the river. I love the Forest Gump Restaurant. I love shrimp. I love how it smells of hotdogs everywhere. I love New York.

Now i need to talk about restaurants in the US. There are some things that really annoy me. First of all, it` too cold in there. WTH. I understand you love your AC and you want to show it off. But please. 15 degrees celsius (fahrenheit suck by the way, seriously, why do they have to use fahrenheit???) is NOT a comfortable temperature. I have to walk around with a wool sweater in my bag all the time. In summer. when its sth like 30 outside. Seriously guys. this must stop.

Ok next thing that annoys me are the waitresses/waiters. They are friendly. But somehow it`s all very fake because they really want your tip. as in, REALLY. so they will come to your table all the time and ask if everything is alright smile smile smile please give me a tip please please. it`s not cool. don`t like it. So fake. Ok next thing that annoys me. As soon as you are done, or even before (!!!!!!) they wil come and put the bill on your table. they say: I`ll leave this with you. What the h??? So rude. No, seriously, unbelievable. Yesterday I was at this burger place. amazing burgers. We were like not even half way through our meals when the waitress comes and goes: so, are you planning on having desert after? we said we weren`t. So she put the bill on the table. HALF WAY THROUGH MY MEAL. what is this?? no. not ok. Another thing: if you are a group of 6 or more ppl, they will just add the tip (18%) to the bill. So they don`t even have to be nice. can you believe it? There is, however, one thing i like about restaurants here. the free water. As soon as you get to the place they will give you water. And they fill up your glass frequently. That`s definitely nice.

Now I need to talk about the lindt store in NY. So they have chocolates that we don^t have in Switzerland. How can this be? How unfair is this? They have Lindt balls with irish cream. YES. Irish cream. And they are pink. Can it get any better? They also have balls with peanut butter. YES. They are orange. And awesome. And i’m gonna take many of them home.

Now something that just annoys me. The cars here. They are just too big. Who needs such big cars in a city? I was talking about this to a fellow european yesterday and I think we agree that the big cars are probably a compensation for something small...

Ok now some random news.

I visited the Novartis Institute. They have a cell culture machine. Wow.

I went kayaking on the Charles River. Met some nice couchsurfers. Awesome.

My nails are of a ridiculous lenght now. I can’t type. I destroy my lab gloves all the time. I hurt people. But the sight is fun. Three more weeks before I cut them. Only one has broken so far.

People are playing baseball outside my apparment right now. 

so american.