I had my first day of work in the lab today. It was mostly like my first days at other labs- exciting, confusing, disheartening. There's always this sense that there is too much to know, and that I'll never be able to actually contribute to the work rather than being a burden. But I've gotten over it before and will hopefully do so again. It's a genetics lab, which is definitely not my area of expertise. Understanding terms like EcoR1 and yeast 2-hybridization is hard enough and is complicated by heavy accents. The lab itself is wonderful, though: very nice equipment, nice people, and a glorious common room with cable TV, couches, tea, and air conditioning, which felt like heaven itself. Everyone keeps apologizing to me about the weather, as if it is their fault. Again, it's nothing I haven't experienced before, but not being able to open the windows at night is still killing me. I decided to risk it and opened the window very early this morning to get in some less-sweaty sleep, and woke up with four new mosquito bites.
Since this shouldn't just be an image blog of cute cats (but seriously, how cute are they?!), here's some photos of the gorgeous Bogazici University campus. First, the view from it, which may be the best view in Istanbul:
The main campus green looks nice enough (and is full of kittens), but the real beauty is in all of the smaller buildings:
...and the wooded paths between them:
Having this serene paradise situated in the middle of crowded and bustling Istanbul makes it all the more awe-inspiring. And since it's so near to my apartment, I can (and will) visit any time I need to a quite, peaceful place to clear my head.
ALSO IT'S FULL OF
KITTENS OH MY GOD HE'S SO CUTE AND FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE
I see you like that red cat...I also see you live on a hill and the school is a walk downhill, but isn't there more of the school which is north of you?
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The school is split up into several campuses. I am on the northern campus (Kuzey). The main one is Guney, which is across the street. There is a smaller one right across the street from my apartment, and then another farther north, as well as one on the Asian side of Istanbul.
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