Dublin: Day 3

NOTE: Happy Birthday to my Uncle Christopher! Thanks for being there and supporting us all the time and for being an awesome and cool uncle. I love you and hope you have a Happy Birthday!

We are still waiting on our school ID cards from the registry so that we are insured to handle chemicals and everything else so we continued on with reading the scientific literature and putting our presentation together for a 3-day workshop on PDMS chip making that we are going to instruct in a few weeks. Another problem is that we didn't bring our equipment or masks for the fabrication because we thought DCU would have everything so we are waiting on that care package to arrive and hopefully it will get to us before the workshop since one day will be presentation and the other days are going to be a hands-on training. Wish us luck! Mirek will be presenting an intro but a majority will be discussed and taught between Marisol, Fernando (DCU) and yours truly.

Flyer that Mirek put together for our workshop. He did an awesome job incorporating all logos and designing it.

Check out the Steve Urkel lab approved vintage safety goggles in our lab! I could've sworn I saw similar styles selling at Urban Outfitters. Wish we had them at our lab. Can you just imagine us saying, "Did I do that???" a la Steve Urkel.

Marisol's turn with the goggles.

You just know what he just said or is about to say. No, not "Laauuuraaa", but "Did iiii doooo that???"

Another beautiful, gloomy and gray morning.

Super cute bathroom at DCU's engineering building S. Its got personality and charm, not like our school's bathroom. (Why Why Why Why is this gray?!?! Annoying to see and don't have time to edit the html. Ugh.

My arms are going to be strong from all that toilet flushing because the pumps and handles require muscle to flush the dang thing properly. None of that using your feet to flush when you don't want to touch the icky handle. That's for wussies. You need collaboration of your biceps, triceps and deltoids (and maybe your pectoralis) to get the job done.

There is a stopper in case I need to have just the right temperature of warm water to wash my face at school. Remember! Only use hot water if absolutely necessary! Otherwise, save water heating energy! 

Another lovely view from my room, the bin area!

My cozy twin bed

A wardrobe I wish I had at home in addition to my closet. Would probably need at least 3-4 of these.

Sneak peek although I had not entirely unpacked all my things. All that extra room makes me want to go shopping soon, which I plan to do very soon. Also, please refrain from laughing at my Jonas brother hat. Thank you.

My lovely and stubborn timer controlled heater. Sometimes it works but not for long. Still trying to figure out the 2 set timer on the dial. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong.

My room was missing a wastebasket so I let the receptionist know and she said she had an extra one left and she pops back out of the room with this plastic bucket/pail all for lil' ol' me. Ain't I so lucky?!?! I must have the handsomest wastebasket in the entire complex. My roomies will be jealous. At least it's a dual action bucket/pail for trash and a bath or washing clothes. 

No photo of my desk because it is always full of crap and would like to take a photo when it is nice and tidy. It's where I spend a lot of time since the stupid short phone cord has to be attached to my laptop or else no internet for this baby. Le sigh... I miss the days when I can have the laptop on my chest surfing the internet while I lie with my back against a wall or headboard or my favorite, lying down with my head on a pillow with the pillow slightly propped up. For the laziest indeed! Everyone with their blinds open is usually at their desk facing their laptop as well. I'm sure a majority of the people here spend most, if not all their time at their desk. I will have to take a pic soon so you will understand what the hell i am talking about. I miss my wi-fi. 

 Boo hoo boo hoo boo hoo.

Dublin: Day 1

Marisol and I arrived in Dublin, Ireland yesterday at about 8 AM. We flew on Aer Lingus and I must say, it was a very cozy and pleasant flight. From Chicago it was about a 7 hour flight and I was able to watch 'The Reader' (pretty good) and 'He's Not That Into You' while fully extending my legs since Marisol and I were able to sit together at the exit seats (we had to agree to help in case of an emergency). I wanted to watch 'The Wrestler' and 'Watchmen', but there was no room to squeeze in all those movies so I opted for a drama and comedy-drama for our evening flight to suit my tired and mellow mood. The lavatory was right in front of us which was great since I was able to fully consume as much beverages and not worry about bothering my neighbor(s) to make way for me when I get stuck sitting in the middle or window seat like I normally do.

We were served 2 meals and lots of tea. For dinner I chose the roast beef with potatoes and veggies. My entree came with salad with italian dressing, a slice of cheddar cheese, crackers, french bread with butter, cheesecake and chocolate mint (or as my niece would call it, pillow mint). For breakfast we were served a ham and cheese croissant sandwich with orange juice and tea.

The immigration line moved quickly and then we waited for Tom (from the DCU lab we will be working in for the next 8 weeks) to pick up two exhausted and jet lag girls (it was about 2:30 AM West Coast time) to get to our apartments and help us finally settle in with internet connection (modem!) being our top priority. I wish there was a TV though but they do have televisions available for rent. 

I'll be residing at Shanowen Square Apartments for the next 3 weeks and moving over to Shanowen Hall where the rent is much cheaper after that time. I've also planned on opening up an irish bank account to help alleviate ATM/credit card/exchange fees which can add up since I'll be here for 8 weeks and then traveling to London and Paris for another 1-2 weeks.

Entrance to Shanowen Square Apartments

Shanowen Square Apartment Courtyard  

View from my room. Unfortunately, no sight of a leprechaun yet :(

My bathroom. Not pictured is my lovely blue toilet water. The narrow shower is something I will have to get used to, but overall, it's good enough for what I need.  There is a timer inside the door of the utility press at the end of our flat's corridor. When the switch is set to 'timer' water will be heated during the night and will remain hot for most of the day. We are sharing the apartment with 2 other girls and my 1st shower was pretty damn hot! So hopefully there shouldn't be a problem, but ahh... the luxury we have at home of not worrying to set the timer for hot water. Added feature of our hot water timer: A 'boost' facility on the unit will allow the heater to work an extra 2 hours as required! Yipee!

A couple of things I bought at SPAR (convenience store next door) to add to my junk food provisions. Will be going to Tesco to buy groceries after our first day in lab later on.

Didn't take pics of my cozy bed or room just yet since I still have some unpacking to do and it was a mess when I decided to snap these few shots. 

Forecast for today: Cold and cloudy with a lot of wind. No surprise, right? I sure didn't come here for the sun! I'm glad I brought some wooly socks!

Ta ta for now. I'll be on way to start my 1st day in the lab. Woke up early for obvious jet lag reasons, but most importantly, to refresh my mind on the project proposal. It was a fairly long read, but you do what you have to do! Man... I'm going to want to burn out probably by mid-afternoon at this rate. 

A big thank you Dr. Gomez for working to get the funds through to make this possible for us.

xoxo from Dublin