Office Blues

Well it's Monday here in the Nucleo de Doencas Infecciosas. Pretty much a skeleton crew here right now, I'm never really sure where everyone is around here. The labs seem empty most of the time, and when I'm in the office I'm typically alone. Not a lot going on today, supposedly tomorrow we're starting up a new protocol for the species differentiation of mycobacteria, so that should bring some activity. I've read up on the relevant journal article, seems pretty straightforward. I'll be interested to check out their molecular biology equipment here. I'm sure it's nice, this place is about up to the standards of a moderately-funded lab in the US.

I'm worried about being able to get a project started here in a timely fashion. Still really struggling with the language, and I want to feel like I'm contributing something. I don't want to get in the way but at the same time I'm like, 'hey, give me stuff to do.' But be careful what you wish for, as they say. So little goes on here in a given day, I'd like to venture outside this lab and spend some time in hospitals, clinics, and see more of the country. Maybe I'll talk to Reynaldo and see if this can arranged.

The pace of life here really gets to me, people seem to be in slow motion. The supermarket is the worst, it takes an eternity to get through the lines there. It is the most inefficient system I've ever seen, and no one seems to mind the fact that it takes a good 20 minutes to get through the checkout line. And then there's the public transportation system, ie the onibus. I hate taking the buses, you typically have to wait 30-40 minutes for one to show up. What baffles me is that people will wait this long when their destination is a 15 minutes walk away. And another thing, they eat pizza here with ketchup! For some reason the pizzas here don't have tomato sauce, what is that!?! Just another interesting cultural difference I guess. OK time to maybe find something to do. Currently reading through a huge textbook on TB to get a head start on med school material. Also I've got a book of crosswords. Did I mention I hate crosswords?