Week 26
Day 184 / August 28, 2026
On Friday I was feeling slightly better and headed into the lab at around 10:00am. The Micropolis team had returned from Santiago and Cata brought me a surprise sopapilla plush!! It was the sweetest gesture and the starting point of “dieciocho” energy that would continue to ramp up for the next two weeks.
As it was the end of the week, we spent most of the day planning for the week to come and tidying the lab for closure over the weekend.
At 6:00pm, I headed over to the Aula Magna auditorium where Club Andino Volcanes del Maule was hosting a mountain expo featuring talks from guest speakers about safe practices for the mountains.
The event opened with a minute of silence for Joaquin, a club member who sadly passed away from cancer recently. His first mountain was Volcan Descabezado in 2014, and he only had the chance to experience the mountains for a short while before his illness. A tragic reminder to live life now. Next, the Chilean national anthem was played over the speakers. It was at this point I realized that I had never heard the anthem before! Six months in Chile and only just hearing it now. The lyrics to Himno Nacional de Chile are as follows:
Ha cesado la lucha sangrienta;
ya es hermano el que ayer opresor;
de tres siglos lavamos la afrenta
combatiendo en el campo de honor.
El que ayer doblegábase esclavo
libre al fin y triunfante se ve;
libertad es la herencia del bravo,
la Victoria se humilla a su pie.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Alza, Chile, sin mancha la frente;
conquistaste tu nombre en la lid;
siempre noble, constante y valiente
te encontraron los hijos del Cid.
Que tus libres tranquilos coronena
las artes, la industria y la paz,
y de triunfos cantares entonen
que amedrenten al déspota audaz.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Vuestros nombres, valientes soldados,
que habéis sido de Chile el sostén,
nuestros pechos los llevan grabados;
los sabrán nuestros hijos también.
Sean ellos el grito de muerte
que lancemos marchando a lidiar,
y sonando en la boca del fuerte
hagan siempre al tirano temblar.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Si pretende el cañón extranjero
nuestros pueblos, osado, invadir;
desnudemos al punto el acero
y sepamos vencer o morir.
Con su sangre el altivo araucano
nos legó, por herencia, el valor;
y no tiembla la espada en la mano
defendiendo, de Chile, el honor.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,
puras brisas te cruzan también,
y tu campo de flores bordado
es la copia feliz del Edén.
Majestuosa es la blanca montaña
que te dio por baluarte el Señor,
y ese mar que tranquilo te baña
te promete futuro esplendor.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Esas galas, ¡oh, Patria!, esas flores
que tapizan tu suelo feraz,
no las pisen jamás invasores;
con su sombra las cubra la paz.
Nuestros pechos serán tu baluarte,
con tu nombre sabremos vencer,
o tu noble, glorioso estandarte,
nos verá, combatiendo, caer.
Owing to it’s length, just the fifth verse and chorus are sung, translating to the following in English:
Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,
puras brisas te cruzan también,
y tu campo de flores bordado
es la copia feliz del Edén.
Majestuosa es la blanca montaña
que te dio por baluarte el Señor,
y ese mar que tranquilo te baña
te promete futuro esplendor.
Dulce Patria, recibe los votos
con que Chile en tus aras juró
que o la tumba serás de los libres
o el asilo contra la opresión.
Pure, Chile, is your blue sky;
Pure breezes flow across you as well.
And your flower-embroidered fields
a happy copy of Eden.
Majestic is the (white) snow-capped mountain
That was given as a bastion by the Lord
And the sea that quietly washes your shores
Promises you future splendor
Sweet fatherland, accept the vows
That were given by Chile at your altars:
Either you be the tomb of the free
Or the refuge against oppression
The melody was composed by Ramon Carnicer i Batlle in 1828. Later, Eusebio Lillo was responsible for changing the lyrics to the anthem in 1847 to remove anti-Spanish sentiment. These changes were only officially adopted in 1909. The anthem was briefly modified during the dictatorship to include the third verse in support of the military, but this has since been removed and restored to the just the fifth verse and chorus.
Sebastián Rojas Carvajal delivered the first presentation on “Hypothermia and Management Techniques”. He pointed out the common signs and symptoms, then provided the audience with a number of tools to trap heat until emergency responders arrive.
After his talk there was a brief coffee break out on the patio where a number of local mountaineering adjacent companies had set up various stalls.
I chatted with Cami, Cami, and Elias about their impressions so far while munching on the chocolate cookies out on the table. They were all excited to be there and were especially psyched to hear the lecture from Luis Andaur, a well loved Chilean journalist and adventurer who would be speaking tomorrow, Saturday August 29. He has a number of records including being the first to solo climb Aconcagua 6960m, the tallest in South America, and descend on bicycle.
After the coffee break we returned to our seats and waited for the next speaker to start. It was a full house, even the standing room was limited. Janice Rot took the stage and loaded up a presentation with photos of awe inspiring peaks and bold text. She introduced herself, and took us through a history of her experience in the mountains.
At just 28 years old, she had already racked up quite the impressive resume of experiences. She had always loved trekking, completing the O circuit in Torres del Paine by age 18. In 2023 Janice became the first Chilean woman to reach the summit of Manaslu without supplemental oxygen and without guides or sherpas. She was just 26 years old at the time and completed the feat alongside her mountain partner Nicolás Horta who was just 21 years old at the time, becoming the youngest Chilean to summit an 8000m peak.
As Janice stressed throughout her presentation, mountain recreation is complex. She faced hardships on Lhotse, K2, Alpemayo, and Huascaran, even involving a complex rescue for her climbing partner above 8000m. There were other times when she didn’t reach the summit, more than anything, it was important for her to go home. In spite of some huge peaks Aconcagua (6,961m), Ojos del Salado (6,893m), Volcán Llullaillaco (6,739m), Cerro El Plomo (5,424m—including a winter ascent), and Cerro El Pintor (4,180m) some of her biggest learning moments came from adventures closer to home. She recounted a time she went out for a solo day hike in between her bigger projects and fog suddenly rolled in. She was lost, had little food and minimal gear. Danger can happen when you least expect it, so always be prepared.
Finally she closed the presentation with some questions and comments she has received over the years as a female mountaineer:
“¿Estás segura que puedes con esa mochila?”
“¿No te hará mal de cagar ese peso?”
“Eres muy pequeña”
“Una mujer no debería cargar tanto peso”
“¿No te da miedo de ir solo?”
“No pareces montanista”
“¿Que pasará cuando seas mamá?”
“Are you sure you can go with that bag?”
“Isn’t it bad for you to carry that much weight?”
“You are very small”
“A woman shouldn’t carry so much weight”
“Doesn’t it scare you to go solo?”
“You don’t seem like a mountaineer”
“What will happen when you become a mother?”
Let this serve as a reminder that you can try absolutely anything that you want regardless of your age, background, sex, height, stature, religion etc. Open doors for yourself, and leave them open for others to join you too. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.
It was a great night and I was so moved by the fantastic talks. Tiredness from my cold caught up to me by the end of the day and I went straight home for dinner and bed while the others went for a post-lecture michelada. I had a BLT on olive bread, a classic combo that always reminds me of my Oma, and went to bed.
Day 185 / August 29, 2026
The next day I mostly stayed inside working on the blog. I had quick catch up calls with my mum and Val, then at 7:30pm I popped outside for a quick 5k run to shake out my phlegm. Back at home I made some mac and cheese with chicken then went to bed.
Day 186 / August 30, 2026
Sunday was the same as Saturday, I laid low and spent most of the day working on blog posts from early July. Later in the day I heard from my dad and Val then ate some leftovers and went to bed.
Day 187 / August 31, 2026
Feeling significantly better than the week before, I arrived to work on Monday a whole new person! Cathe, Catha, and I started our day with an English lesson just a quick hour working on sentence structure. I then prepared for the week, specifically planning for another DNA extraction using a thermal shock step in hopes of encouraging further action of the lysis buffer to remove DNA from cells within the soil samples. Nicolas and Cathe helped me located the materials I would need to perform this step as well as the general protocol they used for previous runs.
After work I went to Pared for the first time in what felt like a long time. Climbing felt really hard. Vacation time, sickness, and funky scheduling meant I had not been consistently exercising in a minute and it showed. Either way it was nice to get back to moving again. I had a longer call with Val to catch up about our weekends then went to bed.
Day 188 / September 1, 2026
I arrived to lab right at 9:00am and got to work with extractions. I first weighed the soil and putting into the appropriate tubes with beads and lysis buffer. I vortexed the tubes for 10 minutes then proceeded with the new thermal shock step. I performed three repetitions of 1 minute in boiling water and 1 minute on ice.
After proceeding through all the other steps, I checked the resultant concentrations and they were all still low.
Frustrated by yet another low yield, Catha, Cathe and I headed to Hookie Cookie (crumbl dupe) for a sweet treat after closing the lab. I couldn’t decide so ended up getting the pink cookie and tiramisu. Cathe had the red velvet and Catha the brownie cookie (brookie) combo.
Cookies weren’t the only thing on the mind, our real reason for heading into town was to pick up supplies to decorate the laboratory for Sept 18th celebrations. Fiestas Patrias, also known as Dieciocho, commemorates the formation of the First National Government Junta in 1810. The following day, September 19, celebrates the Día de las Glorias del Ejército (Day of the Glories of the Army). As soon as September rolls around, you can see flags in the streets (or at the very least on your house for the days of Sept 18 and 19 as is mandated under Ley 20.537), empanadas and mote con huesillo for sale, and spring weather slowly returning. We headed across the road from the cookie shop and found an array of streamers, bunting, and flags for the occasion.
Still a bit peckish, we grabbed some nuggets and fries from McDonald’s then headed to our respective homes.
Day 189/ September 2, 2026
Today the lab was trialing the bioreactor for the first time. We started by making a trip upstairs with the media unit to autoclave it before use. It was loaded into the industrial scale, vertically oriented chamber and set on a cycle for thirty minutes. After a brief lunch break, the necessary contents were loaded and the first bioreactor run began.
At 2:30pm I met with Aparna to discuss the results from the thermal shock step. We narrowed down the samples that worked and agreed upon running another extraction for the ones that still had insufficient DNA concentration. In addition, she recommended that somebody else performed the extraction alongside me to ensure the low concentration wasn’t a result of human error.
After that, I headed home to change and drop off my bag, then Eiber joined my to go to Pared. He had only tried climbing once as a kid, but he crushed it! We had been climbing for close to three hours when we decided to stop. Then I headed home for bed and dinner.
Day 190 / September 3, 2026
When we arrived in lab the next day, all the decorations were up! Cathe and Catha had turned the lab into a dieciocho fonda!
I spent the day doing another extraction of sample 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 which all had low DNA concentration. Eiber and I were both sore from climbing the night before and dreaded every time we had to use our hands to pipette.
At the end of the day I went next door to use the nanodrop and Dr. Luis Morales was there. I asked if the nanodrop was still availible, and he mentioned his team was leaving for some public outreach events. However, he said, I was welcome to take it into our lab for the time being. It was an incredibly kind gesture, and I felt a chunk of responsibility to ensure the equipment was cared for accordingly.
I checked the concentration levels and they were low again. No surprise at this, I just accepted the results for what they were and went home. I enjoyed a lovely sunset jog then hit the hay.
Chau for now!! :)
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