The Oxbridge Life

Hello,

Sorry, it has been a while since my last update. I have been so busy and I finally had the chance to upload all of my pictures.

Things have been going really well in the lab. Earlier this week I got crystals of the protein I was working with and was able to do preliminary screening under the x-ray beam generator here in the Biochemistry Department. Although the crystals did not diffract well, we are fairly convinced that it is because the crystals are too small for our generator. In July, the lab has time at the synchrotron (a more powerful x-ray beam generator) at a place about 2 hours from here. I'll probably get to travel with them and collect data there. I'm really excited and praying that we get some good data!

In addition to being quite busy in the lab, I have also been partaking in a lot of Cambridge and Oxford (Oxbridge) traditions. Last Saturday, I watched the May Bumps here in Cambridge. The May Bumps is a rowing competition between colleges at the University of Cambridge. The River Cam that flows through town is narrow so all of the boats cannot fit across the width of the river. Instead, the boats are lined up along the river one after another with a certain amount of space between each of them. The goal of the race is to "bump" the boat in front of you to advance one rank ahead. The Bumps take place across 4 days, so colleges have the opportunity to advance up a few ranks and the starting position of the first race is determined by the standings from the previous year. There were hundreds of people watching the races on Saturday, the final day, along the River Cam. Each of the colleges had their own tents serving refreshments to the many current students and alumni from their college.

On Sunday, I made a day trip to Oxford, also known more affectionately as "the other place" to Cambridge students. The trip is about a 3 hour bus ride so it was not as easy as I imagined to travel between the two places. Oxford was beautiful though and definitely worth the trip. I took a hop-on/hop-off bus tour around the city. I saw the Bodleian Library, which is one of the oldest and largest libraries. It houses something like 11 million books that are stored in about 100 miles of shelving underground and off-site. I was able to take an inside tour, but they didn't allow us to take any pictures. I also saw Christ Church, which many of the famous Harry Potter scenes are based on, such as the dining hall and the staircase. Additionally, I paid a quick visit to the Ashmolean museum and the Covered Market. Oxford has many similarities to Cambridge; they share many of the same college names and traditions, but I did see a distinct difference in their focuses. Oxford prides itself on its famous literary figures such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, etc. Cambridge, however, prides itself on its number of nobel laureates and famous science figures such as Newton, Darwin, Watson & Crick, etc. It was definitely an interesting contrast for such similar universities.

Radcliffe Camera

 

Sheldonian Theatre

Divinity School

Bridge of Sighs

Christ Church Tom Quad

Christ Church Dining Hall (Harry Potter!)

Christ Church Stairwell (Harry Potter!)

On Thursday of this week, I attended another famous Cambridge tradition, the May Balls. They are formal black or white tie events held by certain colleges at the end of the school year. They were traditionally held in May, hence their name, but have kept their name despite the fact that all of them are now held in June. I attended the Clare Hall May Ball since I am staying in Clare Hall accommodation. The PhD student in my lab was able to get me the ticket and I went with my roommate. I bought a long, black evening gown and the event reminded me very much of prom. They served dinner and drinks throughout the night. The theme was "the colors of India" so they had entertainment and various activities. It lasted from 8:00 pm until 4:00 am, but I left at 2:30. It was really fun and I am glad that I had the experience of going to such an important Cambridge tradition. On Monday and Tuesday, I got to see the fireworks by Trinity College and St. John's College (the 2 richest colleges at Cambridge). Their May Balls are the most grand with tickets sold at 150 pounds.

St. John's College decorated for May Ball

Clare Hall May Ball

A real snake!

This weekend I am not doing much. I came in to the lab today to set something up and I am probably going to curl up with a good book later. It is raining all weekend (big surprise) so I'll probably be inside for the most part.

Nisha