Hej alla!
As you might have guessed from this post’s title, I had a surprise guest right outside my bedroom window this week.
Quite often when I open the window in the evenings, I see a rabbit or some birds hopping around. I never expected to see a deer! She was so beautiful. I must’ve been sitting at my window watching her for a solid 15 minutes until she wandered back into the trees. It was an extremely cool experience.
In other news, I spent the first part of this week sick with a bad cold. It wasn’t so bad that I needed to see a doctor, but it was bad enough that I had to stay in bed. It reminded me of my first week here when I was so exhausted and jet lagged I couldn’t even leave my room. Only this time, I had some friends from Chalmers message me to check if I was doing okay. It was a great comfort just knowing I now have people looking out for me here.
I spent two full days sleeping, watching Netflix, and going through a coloring book I bought here a few weeks ago. It felt like a tremendous waste of time, but what can you do?
After I recovered, I went back to lab for a whirlwind of work. Despite missing a few days, I had a very productive week! Not only did I start two different reactions, but I also helped with a lab cleaning frenzy! The lab has been pretty messy my whole time here. We’ve been working in dirty fume hoods littered with unlabeled flasks and vials from previous students’ work. It’s not the nicest or most efficient way to do things, but we were reluctant to throw anything away without knowing what it was. But at last, our group was able to get together and work to sort through and clean everything up.
The lab is now squeaky clean! I wish I had taken a before and after picture so I could show the huge difference we made. The mess is gone, but we are still in the process of adding some organization to the various drawers and cupboards. There is a system in place already; it just needs some polishing.
Cleaning an organic chemistry lab was difficult work, but the results made it so worth it. And even better, the whole experience was a really good team building activity. There’s nothing like getting down in the muck and grime to bring you closer to your lab mates!
The end of my time in Sweden is quickly approaching. I’ve been very thoughtful lately about my time here and what I’ve experienced. Next week, I’ll share these thoughts with you. I’ve got a draft going for next week, and it looks to be QUITE introspective!
Until then, I’ll leave you with this:
