Firsts

Looking back on my first few weeks in Seattle, I feel like I should make a list of "firsts."

1. First time really enjoying a cup of coffee. I had the best mocha ever last week at a little cafe called Arosa that is a block from work. Hans, who owns the shop, is from Switzerland and uses real Swiss chocolate flakes in the mocha - so tasty!

2. First time looking for apartments. I wish this experience was as wonderful as the mocha... but it's been hard. There are a lot of choices, but none of them have been really good options for me. I may have found somewhere, though... more details to come! (if it actually works out... one thing I've learned is that apartments go fast in Seattle!)

3. First time dealing with the difficulties of public transit in a big city. One day last week, I took the bus from work to Queen Anne to look at a condo. Not only was the bus 20 minutes late, but it was also crowded with some very interesting people.

4. First time to see what living under an overpass means. I was walking to visit a different condo and had to walk under the I-5 bridge. It was pouring with rain (shocking, I know), so not many people were walking around, but I took a moment to look around as I was under the bridge. I was shocked and heartbroken by what I saw. There were tents and sleeping bags everywhere. Not just a few, but many of them. I took a minute just to stand there and reflect on what I had just experienced. I had always heard of people living under overpasses, but had never really been exposed to it. I'm not sure what this experience means for my time in Seattle, but it has left a deep impression on me.

And that's the end of the list for now... I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any right now.

My Cool New Job

I survived my first week of work! So far, it seems like my job is going to be really interesting. For those of you who don't know, I'm working for the Infectious Disease Research Institute. We are working to develop adjuvants for use in vaccines for diseases like TB, malaria, and leprosy. Adjuvants are a component of vaccines that make them more potent, so less antigen is required. I'm still not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but so far I've done some particle size experiments and a lot of paperwork and reading... For those of you who are interested, the adjuvants are in an emulsion, which is a solution of water in oil that has been mixed so there are very small droplets of water suspended in the oil, so those are the particles we need to know the size of.

Along with work going well, everything else is also still great. Community is still developing around me and I'm really enjoying it. Tomorrow is the big launch Sunday for Downtown Cornerstone, so today I helped some of the ladies get food ready. It was wonderful to be able to spend some more time with them and get to know them better.

This week I got to experience some of the typical Seattle weather... today was the first day I saw the sun in a week. But it's not that bad. Everything is gorgeous and green :)