Week 12
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Day 85 / May 21, 2026
Thursday was a holiday so there was no school today! After the late night at the disco, I slept in and woke up at 11:30am.
At around 3:00pm I headed out for a walk and did a lap down to the river and back home. I had a quick nap then chatted with Val all about his progress on Dune. He is working it!! Every time he goes, he says he learns something new. Climbing is rad.
Day 86 / May 22, 2026
On Friday, it was unclear if people were going to work or taking a long weekend. As there’s always some work to be done, I headed into the office to publish last weeks blog, and sent out my summary to Global Scholarships before moving onto my paper.
I didn’t see anyone else come in so I opted to head home early at around 3:00pm, change, and go to the climbing gym. I had my weekly coaching call with Nick and then tucked in for the night.
Day 87 / May 23, 2026
Saturday was one of the first full chill days I have had in a while! I spent the morning chit chatting with my dad and then catching up on the phone with Val. In the afternoon I went to the climbing gym for a bit and projected back and forth with Davide. Then I went home, showered, cooked, and watched the latest Mission Impossible movie. I don’t watch TV or movies too often (unfortunately I resort to doom scrolling instead) but it was really enjoyable to have some long-form content for a change.
Day 88 / May 24, 2026
The next day, Sunday, started with a quick hike to Piedra de Penon. It was a gray day, though the temps were ideal sitting right around 60F.
I got home shortly after 3:00pm then had a 3-hour phone call with Issy. She just recently arrived back in London and started her new job after travels to Paris and China (which sounded amazing!). Facetime really is a saving grace. Nothing quite makes up for the distance, but it sure helps!
After saying our goodbyes I got busy baking and used up extra stuff around the house to make an oreo cake. It hit the spot!
Day 89 / May 25, 2026
When I walked into the lab on Monday, I found Cathe and Cynthia deeply concentrating on the very tedious job of untangling roots from bean seedlings. For the first two weeks of the experiment, the beans are put into moist cotton nests within sterile glass jars. Some serve as control samples while others receive the various EPS biostimulants developed in the lab. After the roots are untangled, they measure for various features including plumula (plumule in english meaning initial stem), radicula (radicle in english meaning embryonic root), number of roots, total longitudinal length, number of leaves, and number of beans. It is the laborious process though Cathe and Cynthia did it with incredible patience and care.
I headed home from the lab at around 5:00pm for a quick grocery shop before heading home to prepare for another week of English tutoring. In the session with Brisa we learned about writing letters of gratitude. Her homework for the week was to write a 500 word letter to someone of her choice. Then with Francisca, I did the same “Where I am From” poem exercise that Brisa and I had completed in the week prior.
I then did homework for Dr. Charles class and went to bed.
Day 90 / May 26, 2026
It was a BEAUTIFUL autumn day today. The trees in the Plaza de Armas Square were practically glowing as I walked by.
In class today we discussed Epithelial cell patterning as part of the new Histology unit lecture series. As usual, Dr. Charles paired the lecture with fantastic illustrations on the board and live demos using students as cells.
I headed to lab where Cathe and Cynthia were still processing the beans. Cynthia very kindly bought me a lemon mouse from the nearby Sibarita cafe and we got to work.
Nicolas and I then looked at the cultured bacterial stock we had in the fridge. Every month each bacterial stock is inoculated on a new plate to reduce the risk of contamination. Though Nicolas had already finished most of these transfers, we checked to make sure each matched the morphology of the previous culture and ensure everything was in date.
The beautiful day ended with a brilliant sunset which I enjoyed while walking to the climbing gym for an evening sesh. When I got home, I did some laundry while chatting with Val.
Day 91 / May 27, 2026
Hump dayyyy!! Today was an earlier morning start, I left the house at 7:30am to meet Nayar for Zumba classes at the Estadio Bicentenario Iván Azócar Bernales (Ex Fiscal de Talca) in the Sala Multiuso (multiuse room) within the Karate and Judo building. As part of the regional health initiative, these classes are offered for free to the public! There are spin classes at 7am and 8am Monday and Wednesday, then Zumba at 8am and 10am Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There is also a treadmill and gym with a whole variety of different machines. You just need to fill in this form each time you visit.
It was a great way to warm up for the day. Our instructor, Diego, had a whole host of Brazilian Funk songs to dance too. Certainly my cup of tea!
After class I headed into the lab and prepared 10 different media conditions to characterize the preferences of various new bacterial isolates. After the media set, Nicolas and I worked simultaneously to inoculate the plates with all of the bacteria.
We finished up just in time to head to our respective lab practical classes at 5:00pm. In my lab class this week we built on the histology foundations from class the day prior by examining various examples of epithelial tissues under the microscope. Pictured below from left to right is large intestinal tissue, then kidney tissue, then tracheal tissue.
As we were wrapping up, one of the other students told me the grades were out from our assessment the week prior. I was nervous to check, but thrilled to see I had finally passed! In the first assessment I scored a 3,7 out of 7 and in this other one, a 4,9. Later that evening our lab assessment grades were also released. By some stroke of luck I managed to take home a 5,3. As I become more familiar with the testing structure, I hope it’s all up from there!
Chau! Thank you for coming along! :)
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