June 2011 to August 2011

June 2011 was one of the months where I have worked the hardest.The protocol was ready and the time had come to use it on actual samples. But that meant 30 days of getting to the lab at 7am and staying there until almost midnight with a couple hours for lunch break. I didnt mind it a bit though. When my samples appeared on the microscope in glowing red, green and orange it was the most beautiful sight ever. So, I got my results after a month of living in the lab and it was a pretty good amount of data for my undergrad honors thesis :-)

I will never forget 30th June, the last day in Canada. It was a mixture of happy and sad. I was happy because I was going back home and I was also sad because in 6 months I had built a life of my own in Calgary. I didn't have to be so sad because I knew I would be returning in September but I still did. So, the night before I spent it packing and cleaning up the UofC rez room. At 9am sharp my supervisor arrived to pick me up. We went to the lab, sorted out the data, transferred it to the lab computer and by 2pm I was on my way to the airport. Oh, I forget to mention the "liquid nitrogen vanilla ice-cream party" we had in honor of my last day at the lab =D It was fun and the icecream was delicious, I just wish I was more awake to enjoy it better !

And I arrived home 2 days later. My first step out of the Mumbai Airport and the first thing I do is take off my jacket (+36C temp) and notice that my lungs are laboring to breathe (>80% humidity). But I got used to it soon, after all I have been born and brought up there !

The next 2 months went in doing all the typical Indian things: street-side food fest, all the festivals, rain-lots of it, visiting relatives elsewhere in the country (who knew when I would see them again) etc. And the day to leave arrived and this time I was really sad... =(

February 2011 to May 2011 - The Big Transition Part II

Still coping with the cold. What was not helping were the comments from locals telling me that this was the worst winter ever in Calgary after many years and that its not always like this.

Along with the cold, the other challenge was the project I was entrusted with. It involved developing an entirely new protocol based on a technology I had heard about only by reading books. If you asked me, it sounded like fairy tales when I had read the theory & principle of it back in India. The feeling of developing something new based on what you thought of as fairy tales was entirely something else and needless to say an amazing learning experience !

On the social front, I made friends, not as many as I'd liked to, but atleast I had one friend, Taruna, who I know I will always have no matter what :-) She is now in the same department as me and I see her at work everyday !

We went to trips organized by CISSA - West Edmonton Mall, Drumheller and a tour of the city of Calgary. I will never forget the Calgary tour. Specifically, I will never forget that walk from Peter's Drive-In to the CISSA bus in -25C. Me & my friend partially lost our way from Peter's and it took us half an hour to locate our bus. What my palms & fingers went through during that half an hour cannot be forgotten and whats even more unforgettable is the thawing experience. I have been kinder to my "baby cells" in the lab ever since!

I had a good time and my first glass of red & white wine at the end of April in the Biochemistry Department Advance in Banff. Had my first glimpse of the Canadian Rockies. They were so majestic and beautiful :-)

And then it was spring time in May. The temperatures were soaring and this encouraged me & Taruna to venture out into the city by ourselves. In this way, we went to Prince's Island Park (I kept thinking the name was Prince Edward Island Park...too much Twilight influence?), watched many movies together in the cinema as well as at our rooms (Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 being the notable ones :-D ), went to Kensington by the riverside and visiting many more little parks around campus reveling in the beauty of spring flowers.