Hi guys!

The photos above are from a mountain hiking trip last weekend. We went over to Grouse Mountain, one of the more popular hiking spots in Vancouver. We spent about an hour hiking (it was pretty challenging) and then took a ride to the top of the mountain. The views speak for themselves...

This is my last week in Vancouver, which is slowly getting to me because overall, I had such a good time here. I thought I'd make this post about what I enjoyed here, and which parts weren't my favorite.

Best parts of this trip:

*Dr. Williams is hands down in the top 10 kindest people I've ever met. He's such a supportive mentor, which is important to me because it motivates me to work better. Having his guidance throughout this project is a big part of why I felt confident to take it on. He also invites his students for dinner parties at his house... how awesome is that? I definitely felt very welcome in this lab.

*Branching out from my field of study (neuroscience) into physiology *and* doing research in another city took some time for me to get used to, but it's really made me think about what I want to study in graduate school and later in life. I'm getting ever closer to pinning down exactly what I'm passionate about. Isn't that really the most important thing?

*Vancouver is a beautiful city, and I'm glad I chose to come here. It's definitely worth visiting for anybody. I'm also really glad I was able to have my boyfriend stay with me this summer. I've had a bit of a tough year last year, and I think that being surrounded by great scenery and social support helped me be more optimistic again.

Not-so-great parts of this trip:

*Vancouver's prices are truly enormous. This applies to groceries ($100/week if you never go out... and I go out quite a bit), housing (I paid $600/mo for a place that in the US wouldn't be worth it), and running shoes ($90-110 in the US, $130-180 here). I never became comfortable about this, and it really sucks because it's something I couldn't/can't change. Lets just say the IRES award was more than appreciated, haha. I might have had empty pockets by now otherwise.

*There is lots of peculiar behavior everywhere. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but there are people who talk to buses and to open air, people wearing lamps as hats, etc. It's very weird and disturbing.

*Homelessness is a big issue in Vancouver... there is a part of town (right on the edge of downtown) where 4-6 blocks are just completely occupied with homeless people, some of who do drugs in plain sight. It's a concerning sight to see.

--

That's it for now! Off to do the final stretch. :)