Week 15
- Jun 20
- 11 min read
Day 107 / June 12, 2026
Fridayyyy!! After a busy first week performing the antimicrobial assay, we wrapped up by measuring the results from the 72h samples plated yesterday. Then, I helped Cathe water the beans in the incubator for an ongoing drought resistance study and prepared materials for next week.
After work I went for a quick trip to the climbing gym then met Catalina to go watch the Paraguay USA World Cup game. We walked to Bar Estado together and settled at a table near the big screen when we arrived. We shared a plate of cheesy mechada fries and sipped on margaritas and micheladas as the game went on.
At 10:30pm I received a text from the climbing crew who were assembling for a last minute asado (BBQ) to start celebrating Cristobal’s birthday weekend. They wanted to get an early start for climbing tomorrow and mentioned I should bring all my stuff. I said goodbye to Catalina and ran home to pack my bag for the weekend. I ubered over to the asado hosted at Cristobal’s family home and was greeted with hugs and popcorn, a special house recipe from Cris’s mom using peanut butter, merken, and other seasoning too. Elias, Cami, Nico, and Nicole were all there when I arrived and we were later joined by Pachi and Kari too. We chatted over wine and pisco sours and played “He’s a ten but…” for hours. Eventually we made our way over to Cristobal’s house where we chatted late into the morning. At 5am we called it a wrap. Pachi and Kari crashed on the bouldering pad while I took the couch.
Day 108 / June 13, 2026
The initial plan for an early departure at 8:30am very quickly shifted to 9:00, 9:30, then 10:00am as everyone was still tired from the late night prior. We sipped on coffee and ate some oranges as we gathered our belongings. We eventually made it down to the car and were wheels up at 10:15am with Pachi, Kari, Elias, and Cristobal in tow.
Pachi and Kari pulled out all kinds of goodies for the journey. We shared chocolate covered espresso beans, jelly beans, and mate as Cristobal drove. We stopped at a gas station as we passed through Rengo where we inhaled breakfast sandwiches and coffees. It was a short 30 minute drive to El Olivar after that.
El Olivar is a popular crag featuring conglomerate rock and stunning views. Its located on the outskirts of Rancagua, a city with 250,000 residents 85 km south of Santiago. We parked up on Las Mendez in front of the convenience store and walked over to the crag. We passed through beautiful autumnal grape vines for the first five minutes, then passed by the infamous fermentation zone which stinks of grape waste. The decomposing byproducts of peels and skins sit in a huge waste reservoir and the stench is strong. Pachi and Kari came prepared and handed around essential oils to put under our nose as we continued past. Just 5 minutes later, the strong stench had subsided and the new challenge was navigating up the steepy, sandy path to the crag. After a solid ten minutes of huffing and puffing later, we were at the base of the wall.
Cristobal did a brief warm up then I belayed him up Cascarita (11a). Shortly after, Kari went up Kundalinea (10d). Elias and Cristobal then spent the rest of the day working Santuario Maldito (12c) while Pachi and I each took a turn up Kundalinea.
After a lot of weak pulls and even more takes, I eventually made my way up to two bolts below the anchor. In between climbs, we take down the rope but leave up the quick draws so everyone has the same experience ‘leading’ the climb. In theory, this is great for practice. But if it’s late in the day, and you’re climbing above your comfort level, it can also complicate things. Though there were quick draws in place, the section above was overhanging in a way that if I missed the clip, I would fall awkwardly (and likely painfully) into the wall below. As the sun was starting to set and the rest of the crew was too tired to do the full climb, we opted for the next best option to recover the draws above. I ‘went direct’ on the bolt I was at, meaning I connected my harness to the bolt using a quickdraw. Then Kari put enough slack in the rope so I could lower the middle section of rope down while still being connected on both ends. The crew at the bottom tied a stick clip onto the rope and I raised it up to where I was. Looking like a selfie stick of sorts, you can load the stick clip with a carabiner and pin open the gate allowing you to clip onto bolts out of reach using the telescoping arm of the stick. I placed one carabiner open on the stick clip and ran my rope through the other side of the quick draw making sure it was the right way around. I hoisted it above my head and tried to connect to the quick draw attached above. I inched closer and closer until suddenly, the whole arm retracted. I let out a frustrated sigh then extended and secured each layer of the arm and tried again. Same thing. The arm came whooshing back down before I could get close enough to clip. Elias could see my confusion and yelled up from below “the top sections don’t stick, you have to fully extend the bottom ones then reach”. I gave it a try and sure enough I was able to connect. I took a second to check everything over. I secured the clip stick to the bolt I was at, transferred the slack in the rope to the belayer below, and unclipped my direct line from the bolt. I advanced to the next bolt with more confidence knowing I was secure. Soon enough I was approaching the anchor and clipped with no issue. As I was descending, the sky shone in beautiful orange and pink hues. After the gray day, I don’t think any of us were expecting a sunset, nonetheless one as brilliant as what we saw.
We were quick to pack up our things, then slow and careful on the steep descent. We arrived at the car just before 7:00pm, loaded it up, and departed for Talca with Elias behind the wheel. Cristobal, Pachi, and Kari all slept for the journey while Elias and I jammed out to his selection of Gustavo Cerati hits.
We arrived at Cristobal’s house at 9:00pm. I ubered back to my house, showered, and picked up before everyone else arrived at 11:30pm. We sipped on Modelo’s and Austral’s before booking an uber to the listed location for the Jardin Secreto Tech (Techno night, usually smaller crowd around ~100 people). When we arrived at 2 Oriente 6 Norte, we couldn’t find anything. No music, no people, no nothing. As we wandered around we encountered other groups dressed for the occasion and worked together messaging friends and promoters to find the venue. Eventually it was discovered the jardin secreto was close to Museo O’higgins, a few blocks south. We arrived and entered just after 1:30am. It was a very small venue, looking almost like the hallway of a shopping arcade. There were no more then 80 people inside all gathered around a two-sided DJ deck. We danced until the event closed at 5am and realizing where we were, I invited everyone back to my house. Back at home, we kept dancing and chatting until 10am Sunday morning (my sincere apologies to the neighbors).
Day 109 / June 14, 2026
It’s safe to say on Sunday I spent a lot of time sleeping. 10:00 am until 4:00pm to be exact. After waking up I had a lovely catch up with Val while I tidied the apartment. I did my laundry, cooked food in preparation for the work week, then went to bed.
Day 110 / June 15, 2026
Monday was a very exciting day!! The card game designed by Aparna, Cynthia, Nicolas, and Catherine arrived in the lab! Called “Micro Héroes”, this game was designed as a means of public science outreach. Players can use various bacteria, all isolated and studied by the FuncPoly group, to perform various functions to support the planet. They are hoping to share this game with local high school students and have scheduled the first outreach event for next Monday!
Otherwise in the lab, today was a major preparation day. Catherine prepared more media which Catalina and I dispensed into 60 plates for a second round of pathogen bacteria antimicrobial testing. I also inoculated the 12 INACH bacteria in liquid MB media to grow at 25C overnight and sterilized additional supplies as needed.
After work, I went to the climbing gym and it was all time! Pachi and Kari were still in town so the session was a party. Once we were all finished, we headed to get pizza together at Mahuida Pizza.
I went home with a full belly and great vibes from an awesome day!
Day 111 / June 16, 2026
Tuesday and time for another lecture with Dr. Charles. We are nearing the end of the Cell Biology and Histology Class, and it certainly feels like it. Today we discussed various types of muscular tissue.
After class I went to the lab to pack up the supplies we needed for the day. Before getting to work, we took a moment to eat cake together to celebrate International Biotechnology day! As always, this provides a great moment to plug the FuncPoly lab's page where you can find similar posts to the one below:
Most of the lab members have previously or are currently studying biotechnology. Vincente brought in a delicious apple cake, I brought some banoffee cake, and Catalina a vanilla bundt cake. As well as talking about biotech, we chatted briefly about Chilean television recommendations. There were echoes for the popular Los 80 as well as another new to me. Vinente said Pincheiras del Sur follows a Cumbia musical group from Linares a city just south of Talca. It’s now on my list to see!
We finished up with lunch then Catalina and I went upstairs to start replicates of the samples from the week prior. Using the same conditions, we plated 16 plates, two for each type of pathogenic bacteria, and created 9 wells within each plate. We filled each well with the respective INACH metabolite samples and controls then stored in the incubator at 37C overnight.
When I got home, I was so excited to try making mochi. My order of glutineous rice flour had arrived and it was time to give it a go following along this recipe. After mixing and microwaving my dough, I let it rest on the counter to cool. I then rolled it out in more flour and divided the dough into two. I separated one half of the mixture into small balls which were then coated in cocoa powder. I used the other half to coat frozen peach slices. Not bad for a first try! I have since made them again and found I prefer using water and no dairy.
Day 112 / June 17, 2026
JAVIERA BIRTHDAY!! Though the lab was a bit quieter today, we still had a great time celebrating Javi!
We chatted briefly about her birthday movie plans and later weekend plans then got to work. Catalina and I prepared everything needed for the lab upstairs and arrived there just after 2:00pm. Much to our disappointment there had been contamination in some (4) of the plates. I am new to working with bacteria, so though I know this can happen, the sinking feeling of disappointment is still very much present. We have to discard any results from contaminated plates and essentially repeat those samples. As for proceeding with the 48h test, we had to take a minute to assess where any possible contamination came from. We opted to put all materials for the day under UV light for additional sterilization. We then prepared fresh pathogenic bacterial innoculates and discarded the ones made the day prior. Taking extra care to plate precisely, we finished up at around 4:00pm.
We returned to the lab to put everything away and discard the trash (a precarious process involving double bagging everything, sterilizing the trash, then handing it to a specialized hazardous waste company). I spent a bit of time reviewing the lab guide for my lab practical then headed up for the class at 5:00pm. As per usual, class started with an entry exam. To prepare us for the lab final in two week’s time, the quiz featured a microscopic image of an unlabeled tissue. We have to recognize the tissue, state the magnification of the photo, and justify. After writing about the hyaline cartilage photo on my paper, I passed in my sheet and started looking at the muscle tissue slides which were the focus for today.
After class I went to the climbing gym to do my closing physical assessment after 2 months with Coach Nick. I tested my max number of strict pull ups, 90° lock hold, and 90° locked leg hold (spoiler this is zero seconds...just trying with my knees up for now😭). There were also some new exercises in there including maximum pull strength using a 20 mm block loaded with plates. I managed a mere 55lbs on both hands, falling under the recommended 40% bodyweight starting point. This was a bit of a blow to the confidence, though as Val puts it, my fulcrums are long! (I have very long fingers) I need to do a lot more focused training on grip strength if I want to see gains there, so it goes.
I walked home and grabbed a quick completo before calling Leslie to plan her visit (next week!) After our call it was about time for me to tuck into bed, so that I did with excitement for all the visits to come :)
Day 113 / June 18, 2026
My morning started with my final call with Coach Nick. He reviewed my first and last assessments and closed with advice for future focuses. Reflecting on the past two months, I have certainly been approaching the sport with more structure before and can see various gains as a result (discipline, patience etc.). Moving forward I am hoping to keep up the consistency and try to do more strength training… all good things to come!
After our call I scurried in to lab to prepare for another day of antimicrobial testing. Just after everything was loaded into the autoclave, we headed to the auditorium to attend the CORFO and CEAP presentations highlighting ongoing progress and investments in agriculture in the Maule region. A lot of recent developments have been made possible through collaboration with local universities; maintaining academic and industry partnerships is so important.
After a brief coffee break on the terrace, we returned to the lab where Catalina and I gathered supplies to go upstairs. We began by measuring the 48h samples from yesterday and much to our dismay, found more contamination. Fortunately, due to our careful preparation the day prior, we were able to rule out most sources of contamination. We were left with the stock plates themselves being the source. To confirm, we took a photo of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa plate and sent it to Nicolas. Sure enough, he responded with a resounding yes that the stock plate was indeed contaminated. Disappointed though relieved to have an answer, we proceeded to plate the 72h samples.
After lab I was able to squeeze in a quick climbing gym session before meeting Javi and Miguel for dinner. I arrived at her apartment just after 7:30pm and Javi started prepping shrimp pasta with chicken for Miguel. It was so so yummy!!
After a lovely evening I headed home, made some mochi, and watched American Psycho as recommended by Javi. I can confirm, this individual was indeed psycho.
Chau for now! :)
You sure do make the most of your time! Studying, dancing, teaching, climbing, traveling, cooking, learning, eating, connecting. Viviendo la buena vida! I love seeing all your photos and I'm learning so much as I follow along. That sunset was truly incredible! What a shot. Loved seeing you with your beautiful sisters. Would love to try a pisco sour some day. Can't wait for the next installment. Chau!