A Prize-Winning Weekend

Hello all,
Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I was battling a bad cold last week and spent most of my time in the lab or in bed. My lab work has been going great, however, and I have been scrambling to get as much done as possible before I have to leave. It's so hard to believe that it has already been 8 weeks. Just the rest of this week and next before my time in the lab comes to a close. I know it will be really difficult for me to leave. I have become quite attached and invested in my project. Also, I know it will be hard to leave behind such a a great city. Cambridge has definitely treated me well. 

Despite a rough start to the week, battling a cold, I had an excellent weekend. On Friday night, I went with the other summer student in my lab and her program mates to see The Dark Knight Rises. We went to a showing at 9:50 pm because all of the earlier shows were sold out and we didn't get out of the theater until 1:00! But the movie was amazing and a great start to the weekend. 
On Saturday I did some shopping at Cambridge city center. I bought a Cambridge sweatshirt and coffee mug. I had a delicious crepe and read a magazine under a tree in the park--the weather was beautiful (finally!). Then that night I joined the PhD student I work with, the other summer student in the lab, and a collaborator from Germany at my professor's house for dinner. And as an amazingly special surprise, Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan joined us for dinner. He's only the 2009 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, no big deal! I cannot even describe how incredibly great it was to sit around the dinner table with such great scientists, including a Nobel Prize winner. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will definitely be one of the most memorable moments of my entire summer. "Venki", as he liked to be called, was so down to earth and had a great sense of humor. He took an interest in each of our backgrounds and I realized that I had so much to connect with him about. My PI at Emory worked in his lab as a postdoc and he even came to Emory to give a talk before I joined the lab. He is also from the same place in India as my family and lived in Ohio, where I am from, for quite a while. I enjoyed chatting with him and the rest of the dinner guests
On Sunday, I traveled to Brighton with the other summer student in my lab and her program mates. The weather was beautiful and sunny and a perfect day to go to the beach. Brighton is a coastal city along the English Channel, featuring a pebble beach, which is quite unique. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the sights. It was too cold to go swimming, but perfect to dip our feet in and enjoy the sun. We also explored the pier and had some seafood. Later, we ventured to the Royal Pavilion, which is a huge palace that used to be a "pleasure home" for the royals. It was built by King George IV and was basically the royals' version of a summer home. It was extravagantly decorated and breathtakingly beautiful. After our visit to the Pavilion, our day was almost over. But before heading back to Cambridge for the night, we enjoyed a "gaufre", a.k.a. the most delicious dessert ever. It was a crispy waffle topped with strawberry syrup, strawberries and vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect end to such a beautiful day. Seeing the sun after such a long time was so refreshing. 

Pebble Beach

Large Donut?

The Royal Pavilion

Gaufre, yummmm

This week, I am back in the lab trying hard to make some more progress on my project before I must leave. The weather is too gorgeous to be indoors all the time, however, so we have planned a lab punting trip on Thursday. We will be spending the day out on the River Cam with some champagne and strawberries. It should be really fun and I'm excited.  Nisha