May - June - July

Holy guacamole! 

has it been an eventful three months. Not only could I write an entire blog about just these three months I could write my entire dissertation on them! 

Let's start with May, which feels like it was decades ago at this point. In May we started "Family Dinners" with my housemates, the food was exquisite and the company was even better. We made all our food over a campfire one night and had BFD (Breakfast for Dinner) another night. My favorite housemate has also gone crazy and is baking something new each day, though she never eats much of what she makes and I end up eating the rest (this is not a complaint however seeing as my world revolves around food, and her baking happens to be excellent despite the fact that she burns everything she cooks). 

We also went on a beautiful hike along the Truckee River and swam I looked for a cool death defying rock to jump off of but alas no such place presented itself and I had to be satified with a light swim in a very cold river. 

June was five times as exciting as May because we finally went camping! Boy was it amazing. Matt Manish, Nef, and I drove out into the Tahoe National Forest and found an adorable little place to camp that Matt knew about. We had a fire and pizza and sang and I slept like a baby under the stars (and a tent roof). The next day we went to the Boca Resovior near our campsite and I took a long walk along the shore with Manish. It was a particularily windy day though so I refrained from swimming. Though the quarentine and Covid have put a damper on many aspects of my life it has meant that I have had some more free time to just hang out with my friends. Evenings in the backyard playing guitar and singing are some of the best night I've had and going the the park and training while my (lazy) housemates enjoy the weather and walk the dog are a wonderful break from my life in the lab (or garage in this case since the lab is currently closed). 

Towards the end of the month I attemped a grand feat by biking from my house up to Lake Tahoe, in total it was a 57km ride with a 1389m gain in elevation the ride there took me 5 hours and the ride back only 2. The ride itself was difficult with the insane steepness and rise in elevation but the worst part was the crazy american drivers who almost ran me over multiple times (just kidding mum, dont worry)! It was worth it though because I had an amazing day on the lake with my labmates and even got to go on a boat. It truely is a beutiful lake but it's hard to imagine that the mountainous, treescaped area surrounding the lake is part of the same state as the dry, sagebrush filled, climate as the rest of Nevada!

July was twelve times as exciting as June, and not just because two of my housemates who are particularily loud happened to move out towards the end of the month. July was bittersweet as we prepared ourselves for my sweet Manish's departure to Iwoa but anticipated the arrival of two new housemates, one of which being the fun loving and super smart Anneliese, whom I consider a dear friend (she already spent a month with us not so long ago). 

Being in America for the Fourth of July was certainly and experience, sadly, because of Covid, most events were cancelled though. Despite the cancellations I still had a super fun day becae I went to an amazing place called Potholes in California with Nef and her family. It was a beautiful place where the natural erosion of the river created a series of waterfalls and swimming holes in the rock. I spent the day jumping off the rocks with Nef's cousins my new best friends (who're 9 and 12), sunbathing, and exploring the area. After a day in the sun we went back to Nef's moms house for an american classic: burgers!

Uhm I was also carried on a quad in the desert's hills by an 8 year old kid (scared to death).

Though not as satisfying as a day on the lake we also had a "pool day" at our house though because of our lack of pools it meant Manish and me sitting in a trash can and a storage bin, respectivly. Its amazing how a little creativity can go such a long way. 

One constant in my life that started in July and ended only days ago is one of the most beautiful and well written television shows I have ever seen, Queen of Flow, or Reina Del Flow, seeing as it's set in Medellin Colombia. I will not spoil it for those who wish to embark on the adventure that is this TV show however I will say that it is a grand tale of romance, betrayal, shocking twists, and exquisite music. My days consisted of waiting until I could go home on my lunch break to watch an episode then waiting for the work day to end so I could go home and watch four more episodes. The show is sadly only one season but thankfully that one season contained 82 episodes (each episode being 40 minutes) and in just under a month we managed to finish season one, now my life will consist of waiting for season two.

That is all for now but I hope you enjoyed reading about my last few months as much as I enjoyed living them!! 

Stay safe!