Day 10

I just realized that yesterday was also the official first day of summer. This week will follow that date in true form with highs in the 100’s and lows in the 80’s. YAH, not. It’s already hot enough here. I am not really looking forward to July here. But anyways, today was a pretty good day. This morning I rotated my laundry around. I only have ten hangers, so I hung my shirts outside on my balcony from a wire attached to the roof. I put all the rest of my clothes around in different places in my room. I realized this morning that I had somehow turned all my socks pink when I washed them. I have no clue what happened, but oh well I guess.
This morning at the lab, I did more research on my experiment topic. Tina gave me more suggestions about what to look up, and she also emailed me some more information about how to use PCR and ELISA. Then we went to lunch and took our traditional afternoon nap. I really should have done the rest of my laundry, but I was pretty tired, so I took a nap instead.
After lunch, Tony helped me with the procedure for germinating cotton seeds. We had to soak the seeds ( I am comparing both transgenic cotton with Bt and “wild” cotton) in H2O2 for 30 minutes to kill the cauliflower mosaic virus, which could hinder germination. Then we rinsed the seeds in water three times before letting them soak for twelve to twenty-four hours, so I will be finishing them tomorrow by planting them. I also began asking the graduate students if they had a question or experiment they had thought about during another experiment (like a follow-up or something) that they didn’t have time to do because I could do it for them for my “real” project. The one I am currently doing is more of a learning experience than an experiment. I have to do something substantial and helpful in order to meet my requirements for my paper for the World Food Prize. No one could think of anything, but I still have quite a few people left to ask, and I am trying to think of something myself. It’s just difficult because I am only here for eight weeks, so I can’t take on something huge.
Then, I just hung around the lab and asked some of the graduate students questions about their experiments and projects. Then, Alex came back from the farm with a huge bag full of fresh peaches he picked while he was there. They talked me into trying one (but don’t worry I washed them thoroughly in clean water and peeled the skin off), and they were amazing. I never really liked peaches, but these were very sweet and juicy. I even brought some back to my room for breakfast. We missed dinner at the cafeteria because Alex didn’t get back on time, so he went to a restaurant nearby and brought back cold noodles and egg sandwiches. I liked the noodles at first, but the more I ate, the less I liked them. It consisted of noodles, cucumbers, vinegar, and some other seasonings. I ended up just picking out the cucumbers and eating them instead of the noodles. I heard that Iowa had a lot of severe weather last night, so I hope all is well and everyone is fine.