Weeks 2

My research at K-RITH is in full swing. Over these last two weeks I've been busy creating a protocol to analyze my metabolite in lung tissue and have been making great progress. I've been able to quantify it in my mouse lung samples and the next step is to check its compatibility with formalin as a sterilizing agent so we can take the patient samples out of the BSLIII lab and submit them on the MS. I've been spending longer days in the lab which means its dark before I leave K-RITH. However, it isnt as depressing as it sounds because our incredibly slow internet means the other interns and I often get together for dinner or socializing.

Friday night at K-RITH is soccer night. Theres a great little bar with turf soccer courts that people from the lab rent by the hour. PI's, postdocs and interns get together to battle it out for the glory. The competition was tough so it didn't take long for  me to realize how out of shape I'd become. Post game is time for beer... I've begin to appreciate the little things that make this research environment so positive: Friday night soccer, cappuccino machine right outside the lab with the friendly chatty receptionist, and a diverse group of interns. All this makes the 10 hour days a pretty enjoyable experience.

The weekend itself started off pretty relaxing with the day spent at the beach and plans to go to a popular club named Origin that night. We lucked out having our bed and breakfast only ~2 km from the ocean. So on the walk to the beach we pass right by the beautiful Moses Mabhida Stadium where some of the games for the 2010 world cup were held. When we got to the boardwalk we had a little run in with a group of monkeys who were playing in the bush. There are always moneys at the beach, but this time it was pretty funny watching some young kids trying to scare them by hoping up and down/ walking up to them only to get scared in return when they didn't flinch. Good free entertainment. After the monkey business we went to lay out on the beach and take a dip in the surprisingly warm ocean. not a bad start to the weekend.

Club Origin is apparently one of the hippest night clubs in durban since so many different people I assked recommended it first. Here I learned that house music is all the rage in South Africa and managed to meet several local DJ's through the IT guy from K-RITH. The night started off great until an overly friendly guy approached me. He grabbed my arm like he wanted a chest bump which i knew was weird and before I knew it he was leaving. In the US something like that would just happen from someone who was just drunk, here it resulted in a disappearing act for my wallet. Only 15 minutes earlier I had taken out cash for the taxi drive home so I immediately knew he had taken it. After telling some of the guys I was with and a security guard we managed to find the guy and pull him aside.When we searched him all the money was there but no wallet in sight. Since it happend in a part of the club not on camera there was no proving it was mine so security had to let him go. Now out a drivers licence, debit, and one credit card I learned there're no friendly arm shakes.