Week 10
- May 14
- 9 min read
Day 71 / May 7, 2026
On this lovely Thursday morning I reviewed the slides for my lecture with Education USA at 6pm tonight. I will chat for 45 minutes about my education at UCL and Brown, then touch on my experiences in industry, and wrap up with a discussion about my Fulbright project. I enjoyed a carbonada with a side of cauliflower and carrot cake for lunch from the nearby Sibarita Gourmet. Carbonada is a traditional soup served in Chile and northwest Argentina with beef, potatoes, corn, carrots, squash, and rice. It was so flavorful and warm!
Later in the afternoon, Nicolas and I headed to the BSL-2 cabinet in the bacteriology teaching lab. Nicolas spent the days prior preparing 100+ Mueller Hinton Agar (MHA) plates for us to use in the coming week. Today we just needed 32 plates and divided them between 8 opportunistic pathogenic bacteria for an antibacterial sensitivity assay using the 4 HiMedia discs G-2, G+2, G-11, G+15. We wore a double layer of gloves, mask, and gown as PPE to minimize the risk of contact exposure to the bacteria. Using a plastic loop, we then took a small sample of each bacteria from the corresponding culture plates prepared by Dr. Charles and transferred into an eppendorf tube with 1mL PBS.
At this point we obtained four MHA plates for each bacteria and labeled them accordingly. We used a cotton bud q-tip, dipped it into the PBS isolate solutions and inoculated four plates for each bacteria. After the plates were inoculated, we used sterilized tweezers to gently place a HiMedia disc at the center of each plate. We sterilized the tweezers using alcohol and a flame in between each plate. The plates were sealed with paraffin and left in an incubator over night. Working simultaneously, this process took just under an hour to complete. We carefully gathered our trash, removed our PPE and returned to our lab where everything was bleached and stored as needed.
I then dashed home to do my presentation. Angelica Anabalon, head of communications for Fulbright Chile, joined the call as well. She is familiar with the process both for Americans wanting to come to Chile, and Chileans wanting to go to the USA. As a result, she answered a number of questions about opportunities available to these students to instead apply for the US extension of the program. It was clear both by the enthusiasm of the students and the increasing STEM resources available in Chile that the field is growing!
I finished the day with a quick trip to the climbing gym.
Day 72 / May 8, 2026
Fridayyyyy!!!
Cathe joined Nicolas and I in the teaching lab to measure the inhibition halos from the antimicrobial tests we prepared yesterday. Once all of the data was collected, we discarded the plates and I logged the values into an Excel spreadsheet.
I spent the rest of the day working on the blog. At 3:00pm, Cathe and I met outside where Estibaly picked us up to drive to Professor Aparna’s house. Here we had a lovely afternoon cafecito with a special tea and snacks prepared by Aparna’s mum. Bhindi cut fryums, also known as far far, are a colorful and crunchy snack made from potato starch. Next soya sticks or ganthiya are another type of crunchy and flavorful snack made from soya flour, chickpea flower, cumin, red chili and black salt. Finally this was washed down by a homemade tea using cardamoms and some sweet atta biscuits. Missing the warm indian weather, the heaters were on full blast which made the room especially cozy. A huge ধন্যবাদ dhonnobad (thank you) for such a wonderful afternoon!
At 7:00pm I took an uber from Aparna’s house to Javiera’s house for a night of catan! Javiera, Miguel, Fernando and I battled it out for longest road and the 10 victory points for close to two hours. Miguel ultimately took the crown but we all felt like winners having dined on such a yummy spread prepared by Javiera!
I went home with a full belly and big smile. Such a great Friday!
Day 73 / May 9, 2026
On Saturday morning I started the day a bit slow. I cleaned the house, baked a carrot cake and then met Cristobal to run up Piedra de Peñon at around 2:00pm. That was our first time trying to do the whole thing and we were quickly shutdown by the final steep 0.5 mile section to the top.
After a quick breather, we made our way down through a much steeper section that was new to me. We hopped in the car and headed towards a local bouldering sector, Cristales Colino, for the afternoon.
From the car park it was a short 3 minute walk to the zone. Hidden in scattered groves of trees were 10-20 rock clusters. Again with no guidebook to reference, I just made my own routes and occasionally tried some problems recommended by Cristobal (which always feel SO far above my ability level). I am still finding the low sit starts to be the hardest part. Something about trying to move out of a condensed, precarious position is still unnatural. Perhaps an indicator I am just reading the start positioning wrong. C’est la vie.
At 6 pm as sun was starting to set we headed back to the car. Cristobal knocked on the door of the nearby house to pay the $2000 CLP (~$2USD) for parking while I played with a very cute pup.
We did a quick grocery trip to Jumbo then Cristobal dropped me off at home. As I walked in the door I got a phone call from Camila inviting me over for a girls night with Pachi and Sheila. I quickly showered and headed over with some fresh carrot cake to share. We sipped on pisco sour and watched a whole bunch of music videos ranging from classic Argentinian cumbia, to modern renditions including works from the group Amigo de Artistas (song Amor Fugaz is a banger). Also the beautiful, complex sound of Coral Rojo a Chilean group that only uses their voices to create music. Not long after, the vibe shifted and we began practicing the dances to Dança de Manivela by Axe Bahia and Envolver by Anitta. It was an awesome night with a lot of laughter and excitement for future plans together.
I arrived home just after 2 am and hit the hay.
Day 74 / May 10, 2026
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!! Mina and Jula made a huge effort at home to prepare a brunch for mum with cinnamon rolls, bacon, eggs, fruit salad and of course baked beans…safe to say she loved it! I gave them a ring as they were wrapping up and heard all about the ongoing gardening projects, the spring weather rolling in, and all the fun they had at Diana’s birthday bash yesterday.
Shortly after, I called Val. We were on the phone for close to two hours planning for the summer, playing Geoguesser, and catching up. Before I knew it, it was the afternoon and time for me to do something productive. I spent some time cooking and preparing for my Monday english tutoring sessions. Then at 3:00pm I walked to Gravity to meet the girls for climbing. With the student discount I can get a day pass for just $5.000 CLP, ($5 USD) and well worth it for the challenging sets. After a brief chat with Pachi and Paulina, I headed back home and tucked in for an early night.
Day 75 / May 11, 2026
Monday!! Feeling recharged from a great weekend I was tasked with the mission of finding a print edition of the La Tercera newspaper. A press article had been published including work from Cynthia Meza Ph.D. in our lab titled “Bacteria y porotos contra calentamiento global” (bacteria and beans counter global warming). I live in close proximity to Plaza de Armas where there are a number of newspaper stands, so I had the best chance of finding one. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that La Tercera discontinued their print edition distribution in Talca five years ago. Although it can still be accessed online, it is always a bit of a bummer to deliver bad news…nonetheless, Aparna printed a copy and had it hanging on the wall in no time!
I spent the morning completing my homework for Dr. Charles’ class tomorrow then met with Nicolas to perform a repeat run of the antimicrobial sensitivity assay that we completed last week.
Albert, our newest lab member, arrived from Kenya today! Nicolas and Aparna led introductions then gave him a tour of the lab and helped him to settle in.
At 6:00pm I had my first tutoring call with Brisa. She shared a presentation she made about her embroidery hobby which was awesome to learn about. We then did some grammar activities and finished the call with a review of the Humans of New York photography project by Brandon Stanton. I had a short break for some snacks then hopped back online for my first tutoring call with Francisca. We each drew a photo of our favorite vacation spot and described them. Francisca’s drawing was of a colonial house turned museum near to where her grandmother lives in the countryside. We reviewed the Techo brochure and then I left her with the same homework assignment that Brisa had: to complete a brochure describing one of her hobbies. We previously discussed her love for basketball, guitar, and Wii so I am curious if any of those will be the focus.
I ended the night booking my hostel in Lima for June and then went to bed.
Day 76 / May 12, 2026
Dr. Charles’ class was all about Meiosis today. We reviewed the lifecycle of sperm cells vs ovaries and then ended class discussing the upcoming test. Next week we will have our next big test and this time I am going to take extra time to prepare the vocabulary beforehand.
After class I met with Nicolas and Cathe to again measure the halos of inhibition in the teaching laboratory. I transferred the data into the excel sheet and then reviewed the other plates I had prepared with Marine Broth and 1% Glucose from the week prior. There was slightly more growth with this combination!
At 5:00pm, I had a call with Lily, Alex, and Tash about their upcoming trip to Chile in July. We settled on dates for the Atacama Desert and divided booking tasks. I am sure the time will be here before I know it!
After the call I went to the climbing gym and then to bed.
Day 77 / May 13, 2026
Today was my takeover day for EducationUSA Chile on Instagram! They are doing a whole week of Fulbright takeovers to give Chilean high school students the opportunity to ask us about our universities, any application considerations, and to see what life is like as an exchange student. I’ll be honest I spent most of the day curating posts when I really should have been working on my paper…I thrive off of a high-stress procrastination moment so a part of me is also just waiting until the desperation kicks in. Stay tuned!
The lab was quiet today with only Javiera working on some experiments. At 3:45pm I received a text from Cathe asking to help move some boxes. I scurried over to the mailroom where there were 10 heavy boxes to carry to the lab. Albert, Aparna, Estibaly, Cathe and I each grabbed a box and waddled our way over to the lab. Once everything was moved, Cathe started unloading the boxes and taking inventory.
Sweaty and tired we returned to the office where Aparna gifted each of us a new lab notebook. They were all beautiful colors and patterns! I am excited to see it fill up soon.
It was then time for my lab practical class. Following along with the Meiosis focus for the week, we looked at testicular tissue from rats under a microscope. Professor Susan Sánchez Rodríguez then briefed us on the lab component of our assessment next week. In addition to multiple choice questions about our previous practicals, there was going to be a hands-on component. However… surprise, we’re doing it now! Luckily we just had to show that we were each individually capable of focusing the microscope at 4x, 10x, and 40x magnification.
The sun was setting and I scurried home, snacked on a banana and some peanut butter, then headed to the climbing gym. I did a quick session before going to Lider for some groceries.
On my way out of the gym, I had a great chat with Eduardo a local artist! It turns out, the funky drawings in Gravity were done by him! He started climbing just 2 years ago and was inspired by the finger precision needed to pull on different holds. The intersection of sports and art is awesome.
After grabbing my groceries, I went home, showered, and crashed into bed.
Chau! Thank you for coming along! :)
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