a perfect weekEND: The very last weekend spent here in Maine.

How does one spend their last weekend here in Maine? So many things to do and not enough sunlight to do it. Does one explore something they have never seen or spent time on those things they loved doing here? Well in my last weekend here was a combination of everything.

 The first step of having the best weekend spent here was leaving work early. “But it’s the day before your poster are due?!?”  You try looking at a computer screen for 12 hours and tell me which goes numb first, your buttocks or your eyeballs. 

To justify my absence, I left work a little early and besides my mentor already left for the day so it’s like sneaking out of your house after your parents feel asleep. Does it really count if you don’t get caught? And I couldn’t take another minutes looking at my poster. And most of it was already done.....probably due to me being on yearbook for 5 years throughout middle school and high school and having to pull out a layout out of  my butt being that one kid “forgot” to do it. Life advice: Don’t be THAT kid…nobody likes THAT kid. 

The sun was out, the tide was high and my running shoes were calling my name. That’s probably one of my favorite things about this place. If you get hot, you just jump into the ocean. It will cool you off real quick, like real quick. After my run and jumping into the ocean I had to post it on instagram, because if I don’t post about it, did it really happen? “I’ll take things white girls say for 500 Alex.” I had this really cool idea to put my phone in my shoe and just put it on timer and see what happens. What you saw on facebook or Instagram was probably this picture with an amazing “white girl” captions. Nailed it.

People told me not to fall in love while I was in Maine. Nobody ever warned me about falling in love WITH Maine.

What you couldn’t see was that my brain could not process the whole jumping and timing thing, too complicated. So please enjoy this series of pictures I took trying to figure out what exactly I was trying to do.. 

Yep it’s was a glorious Free Willy moment. 

Friday was filled with just trying to get my poster done and trying to live up to the standards that my mentors has for me. We probably went back and forth trying to see if everything made sense, if ever figure was perfect, everything lined up. My mother has ingrained in my brain the small details of graphic arts, but gosh darn it this man could find the extra space in between the mouse hairs. All in all I appreciated everything he did to get the poster done. But of course as soon as it was printed, I noticed right away the final version he gave me, one of my figures was up too high and covering the text. It’s okay..it will only bug me for the rest of my life. Here it is all hung up. SO PRETTY! You'll have to wait to read the text till I get home.

Saturday rolled around and I rolled out of bed. That northern sun was warming on my face and I was ready to start my day, unlike my roommates who did not finish their posters. Luckily one of my roommates with a car was finished enough to hang out with me. We went to Oveans mouth which is a really pretty hike (or at least I think they call walking around hiking here). But the tide was low and not ideal for swimming so we left to go back to Bigelow to jump off the dock. We met up with the other interns who wanted to jump off the dock as well. There is something special about the water off of Bigelow; the devil himself could open the gates of hell underneath that water and it wouldn’t change a degree. After the breath taking ice water had surrounded my body probably for the last time we were sitting on the dock letting the scolding hot concert burn our flesh alive (there is no winning). 

We must have impeccable timing because just then this local intern Andrew whom owns a lobster boat pulled up to the dock, he keeps a couple of traps nearby. He asked if we wanted to climb in and see how lobstering, lobster fishing, lobster trapping…one of those..is done. Without hesitation the four of us got into the most authentic-looking boat I have ever seen. There was fish guts EVERYWHERE, the floor looked like what you produce after having taco bell, and the motor sounded also sounded like what you produce after having taco bell. But off it speed into the river, and we watched Andrew and his fiancé work a magical symphony. These two worked together like a well-oiled machine. One pulling out the trap, checking the lobster size, checking to see if they are egg-baring females, the other one baiting the trap, putting the rubber bands on the claws, and then throwing the whole cage back in. That would be the perfect way to see if a relationship would last. Spending every Saturday for the entire summer out on a tiny boat that smells like fish guts for 10 hours. How romantic. But was insanely cool seeing how it was done. We got to see baby lobsters that we make dance before throwing them back in, thousands of eggs on a female, and little star fish which we acted out scenes of Spongebob with. After getting off the boat I felt like a true Maine residence. 

After that we still wanted to go swimming but the sea was no longer ideal. We packed up our fish smelling dignity and left for my favorite place here, even the name is my favorite.

Lake KnickerBocker. Where the water is warm, fresh and there is always at least one cute boy with his shirt off. We caught it right as the sun was sinking and I started getting sentimental about leaving my new home. 

That night we celebrated Evies Birthday with cake and the rest of the fireworks my pryo of a mother bought us. 

The next morning brought us more sunshine and more plans. After the whole “I dunno know what do you wanna do?” We piled into the car, got some snacks and headed to the beach. It was an hour drive plus another 40 minute “hike?” to the beach,The hike was a brilliant. I don't know if you know the scence in Bruce Almighty where he meets God in the field. Well as I was walking through, I thought Morgan Freeman was going to pop out of the field any second.

Morgan Freeman.. What are you doing here?

But as soon as the sand was in-between my toes it was all worth it. My roommates got into the Ocean. It was the first time I’ve seen actual waves on a beach here in Maine. I was hesitant to go in because of the usual excuses: contacts, hair, sand everywhere, cold boobies..you name it. But Evie told me one “I’ve never regretted jumping into a body of water.”  So keeping that in mind I gritted my teeth and joined my friends in the waves of ocean. You know what? It wasn’t horrible. The water was cold but I could bare it. The waves crashed over our heads and body surfing became a competition. After the waves became too cold to bare any longer the warm sand greeted us open arms. Eventually the tide came to our towels to say hello and the sun was saying goodbye so we packed up and left. I could of done without the sand in-between my thighs making it feel like I was wearing sandpaper underpants, but hey you can’t win every battle. 

Crab graveyard RIP

The warm shower was my relief and  my pillow (pallow if your from Utah) was my saint.  I could only kiss my pillow before I remembered that I promised my roommate I would help with a video project. So back to the lab we went. The video was actually pretty fun but it was late. I was sad that I couldn’t skype with my parents very much. I got to see my parents long enough for my mother to comment on my “costume” that I was no longer wearing for the film. She was referring to my lab coat I took off, but because of the many years of training I’ve had in the art of sarcasm, I was quick  to response with “yeah the porno filming went well thanks for asking”. Gosh I can’t wait to be with my family again. I will admit my sense of humor is weird but at least I have 7 more weirdos back at home.

Don’t worry about me though, I’ll be home soon enough to see my little weirdos but for now I’ll enjoy the rest of the time I have here. Bitter sweet moments but all you can do is learn from your experiences.

When you’re brave enough to say goodbye

Life will reward you with a new hello.

Fourteen days.

I have exactly two weeks here in Maine. Two weeks! Can you believe it? That’s only fourteen days. Fourteen days to finish my project. Fourteen days to make a scientific poster. Fourteen days to present what I’ve been working on for 80 days. Fourteen days to say goodbye to some good friends. Fourteen days to kiss Maine goodbye. It will be a crazy, bitter-sweet, don’t-know-what-to-do-with-myself fourteen days. While I am dreading the flight I have to take back at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. It will all be okay because I’m excited to go home and see family, friends, sleep in my own bed, and see my PUPPY! 

This past week has been a busy blur. Like I think I have mentioned before, the days are long here but the weeks are short, the weekends even shorter. I berry-ly had time to pick blueberries (see what I did there). There are wild blueberries that grow everywhere here at the Bigelow lab. While it takes a half an hour to pick all but a half of a cup. Making my Aunt Cindy’s with fresh berries, and taking a break from looking under a microscope for 3 hours, makes it all worth it. 

The best thing that happened to me was my dearest mama came out to see me. She was teaching face painting up here in the east and she went out of her way to come see little old me. And just in time for my works annual Lobster Bake. Or for those who don’t like eating Maine States Bird of the sea, annual “you got chicken?” Bake. For all of those who are wondering. Yes I did try lobster, and yes it tasted exactly like I thought it would. Even dunked in butter, I couldn’t do it. Sorry to disappoint all those lobster loving hippies out there.

 I couldn’t even watch as my mother tore into the body of the poor little lobster. I just can’t look at face of the thing I’m about to eat. I need it to be decapitated. The other night my roommate bought some live lobsters and left them in the sink. All I could see was the hopeless lobster in the sink saying “save me Emma, don’t let him eat me”.

NOOOO GEORGE!

We finished strong with a hustled game of mother/daughter corn hole. “What we’ve only played this a couple times…what?” Then I showed my mama the place I’ve been living in. We went to this place called Ocean Point that has the most amazing rocks, and if anyone knows my mama she loves her rocks, just look at my front yard. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe the many pictures she took of the rocks on my phone. 

Look at this rock..

What about this rock

Another rock? Quelle Suprise!

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t behaving for the weekend. It was MAINly rainy (see what I did there..I’m on a roll) But the best part of the whole weekend was my mama got us a hotel room nearby for a night. It was like walking into the pearly gate of heaven greeted by two very nice gay men who own it. The bed was like a cloud that smelled like “clean” and the bathtub was small but it covered my knees.  We explored everything, my mama even got to see Maine’s “summerfest” which was just a flea market ran by the local church. But we met a nice lady who invited us for dinner and sold us some homemade maple Maine syrup. At leas the drive there was pretty.

"We saw the 7 darfs driving in"

It was hard to let my mama go home. It was nice to have a little piece of home in my little piece of heaven. That Monday she left, I became very homesick that day. I should not of been in the lab that day. It was hard to concentrate. But I had work to do. Instead of getting sad and moping I often launch myself into work and make myself very busy. 

The week went by within a blink of the eye.

The best accomplishment was I ran 4.5 miles. I don’t know if it was my desire to escape “The Real-World Boothbay”, or the fact that I was brave enough to wear shorts. But I found myself just running and running before I know it, I was at Linken Preserve. “I’ll just run the short trail”…famous last words. An hour later I finally made my way through the complex trails of the preserve. Don’t get me wrong, I took a picture of the map, I just didn’t realize my boob sweat covered the camera lens when I took the picture.  But running in Maine is really motivating. You can’t stop running or you get attacked by mosquitos, but you need to take breaks and look for ticks on your ankles. Getting lost did have it’s advantage, I found a lake. Beautiful lake, that I enjoyed for 2.3 seconds before I was treated like a blood bank for the devil’s little bugs.  Once I got out I had another 1.5 miles until home and it was starting to get late and that brave decision to wear shorts, turned into waddling as I tried not to rub my thighs raw. WORST CHUB RUB EVER!! 

Yyyuuusss indeed"

But before I know it, it was Friday. Bigleow has an annual open house where the public is allowed to come, explore and harass the people who work here. For part of the open house though I got to work at the photo booth. The children were timid and scared to take a picture, it was my job to make them feel like a real scientist. I learned that allowing them to wear my lab coat was the best way to do that. I loved every minute teaching and talking to those little kids. The curiosity in their eyes, and excitement in their voices.

“Do you make things explode” –Charlie “No but I set things on fire sometimes”  “CCOOOOLLLL”. The rest of the open house I talked about my project to the public and performed my experiment. That wasn’t by choice, I had planned to finish my project that day and Jose made me do it in front of 20 people. Talk about pipetting with shaky hands.  

Right now as I’m writing this, the sun is shining and the weather couldn’t be more perfect. I’m sitting in lab, avoiding doing my presentation. At least yesterday I jumped into the Ocean for the first time since I’ve been here. Yep it was freezing and scary, but refreshing and I felt so alive!  

Some days,

I feel everything at once.

Other days,

I feel nothing at all.

I don’t know what’s worse:

Drowning beneath the waves

Or dying from the thirst.

-o.m. via Pintrest

Common Sense Just Isn’t So Common

I have now been living independently (insert Beyonce lyric) now for 7 weeks. Don’t’ worry for those who hate math, I’ll do it for you!  That’s nearly 2 whole months. (“I have a 36 month year old”… “Crazy lady, don’t make me do math…why can’t you just say he is three?)  I’ve learned a whole lot since I’ve been living in micro-city Boothbay Maine. But before I go into deep thought about things I’ve learned about who I truly am, and the great education opportunities Bigelow has provided me(read previous post), oh no no no sweetheart I’m talking about other people. I’m learning so much about the crap people didn’t, probably still don’t know. Through my young adult life I’ve had some very fantastic people pop up and teach me little tid-bits about how to navigate through this crazy so-called-life. Special thanks to my grandparents, my boss, teacher, and more importantly my loving and so patient parents for putting up with anyone under the age of 22. They’re nuts, still boggles my mind you survived the teenage years… don’t know how you did it (shutter). While I won’t include all advice my parents have bestowed upon me (“NO LOVE WITHOUT THE GLOVE SWEETY”- Dad), I will tell you somethings I have learned that maybe at some point in your youthful life, someone somewhere should of mentioned/taught you/slapped you upside the head with…SOMETHING to make you pay attention and put it in that cranium of yours.

I thought I would take this time to edumucate those young readers (also maybe a little ranting…just a bit) .  Some of this list comes from my lovely roommates (sorry if you are reading this, but you have brought this upon yourself).

INTRODUCING……………..

Crap someone should have taught you at some point in your young life

1.       How to wash a dish without using a dishwasher…. I quickly realized after going through AN ENTIRE bottle of dishwashing soap within the first week of living here, not everyone knew that you don’t need a tablespoon of soap to clean ONE fork. I became the keeper of soap and had to dilute it 10 fold so we weren’t going through soap like my older brother goes through a pack of Mountain Dew. Tip: If you fill the sink with hot water with a good squirt of soap, you can usually do the entire amount of dishes from dinner. Washing them one by one waste water and kills my soul a little each time. 

2.       Don’t use metal on non-stick pans….RIP to those fallen pans and hello to my increase of cancer. If it’s black, don’t be wack and use some wood to flip your eggs. 

3.       Tolerate others because others tolerate you….. People will get on your nerves. Like to the point where everything they do just irritates the living crap out of you. If I ever get the urge to punch my roommate in the throat because of the way he is chewing his otter pop, I remove myself from the situation and go into my room because I know there are probably things I do that irritate the living crap out of him. I would want him to tolerate me so I tolerate him.

4.       What’s yours is yours, what is mine is not yours…… If you mind your own stuff people will often leave yours alone. 

5.       Choose your battles ….. This one comes from years and years of training at my little home sandwich shop. If you complain about every little thing, when you have an actual concern people won’t listen because you have become the complainer of the house. You have a right to complain if it’s a real reason to complain, other than that bite your tongue and pray to get you through the urge. 

6.       How to jump start a car……. My daddy didn’t raise no fool. I’ve now have jump started 2 cars. One car more than four times. The car that is jumping: red to red, black to black. The car that is being jump (the one that is dead): Red to red, black to ground (metal). By the way the plastic car frame does not count as metal. 

7.       How to make grilled cheese…….. this one just made me sad. 

8.       If someone tells you to correct the way you are doing something, it’s for a reason……. The people you are working for have been doing there job for a very long time. Usually they won’t tell you to correct something if needed, but if they do tell you something, for example, please do not put needles in the garbage bag because they go in the sharps container, it’s usually for a reason.. like so the other intern (insert my name here) doesn’t have to put their hand into the garbage for the fourth time to remove those needles praying I…I mean “they” don’t stab themselves? 

9.       Banana peels,  no matter the argument,  don’t go into the recycling bin….  If the garbage is full, just take it out. Don’t put your nasty rotting banana peel wherever you may damn please. So some other poor intern doesn’t have to reach her hand into the recycling bag and pull it out. 

10.   Say what you mean, but don’t be mean…… there are a lot of words to describe how you feel. But maybe saying “hey dumbass…” isn’t the best way to approach it. I learned this one from my dad when I was dating someone who I no longer wanted to date. I could say what I wanted to say without using specific events against him. I didn’t have to be mean to him to get my point across. Oh trust me, I could use a whole lot of colorful language, but it wouldn’t of gotten my point across. It didn’t do me any good to be mean. Just tell them how you feel. There is no need to point out other peoples insecurities because they are probably well aware of them.

Well there it is folks. I could make a list going on and on but SEE number 5. There is some of my advice on how to survive living with 10 other people. I thought I would make a quick update about my research. It worked! I got what I needed to get into the parasite and it is expressing it! What a sigh of relieve! Along with pictures I thought I would add some quotes my mentor has said. He accent is very thick, but he is very funny.

"Holy Cow"- Emma       "No we say Holy Lobster, you're in Maine Emma"

"Look at these b#$tches....OH no I meant BEAST!"