Tess Lin
Ola!One of my first meals in Coimbra was at a Cervejaria (beerhouse) serving seafood. In this picture, the local exchange officer, Francisca, is teaching me some useful Portuguese so I can be less lost when ordering at restaurants. Some common and fresh fish in Portugal include the Bacalhau (codfish), sardinhas, robalo (sea bass), and dourada (golden fish). The Portuguese will also indulge in gambas (prawns) and wash their food down with some beers or Vinho Verde (younger white wine).
I start work around 10 am in the lab at the College of Pharmacy. Here is the black box that I work in. It is the Faculdade de Farmacia. The professor and the post-doc I work with 
usually get in by 10:30am. I have been able to work by myself for most of this week: streaking a total of 100 E.coli HUC ESBL samples from patient at the university hospital, extracting bacteria DNA, running PCR to amplify the genes known to easily identify different phylogenetic groups of the bacteria (groups A, B1, B2, or D) via gel electrophoresis, and then comparing the groups with pathogenecicity factors. Other than my own project, I also help Dr. Gabriela with her antibiotic resistance study. She has conjugated different types of bacteria to observe horizontal transfer of the antibiotic resistance gene from donor to acceptor. I am learning different ways to be able to see the unseen.. quite the intrigue! Much of the lab techniques are similar to what I am used to at UCLA and The U-M College of Pharmacy Med-ChemlLab.. They are more conservative with their reagents and buffers, however, than in the States. For example, they keep the running 
buffer for gel electrophoresis and do not dump it out after each run, until the buffer becomes muggy! I made a joke about Americans being wasteful.. and they could not agree more ....
usually get in by 10:30am. I have been able to work by myself for most of this week: streaking a total of 100 E.coli HUC ESBL samples from patient at the university hospital, extracting bacteria DNA, running PCR to amplify the genes known to easily identify different phylogenetic groups of the bacteria (groups A, B1, B2, or D) via gel electrophoresis, and then comparing the groups with pathogenecicity factors. Other than my own project, I also help Dr. Gabriela with her antibiotic resistance study. She has conjugated different types of bacteria to observe horizontal transfer of the antibiotic resistance gene from donor to acceptor. I am learning different ways to be able to see the unseen.. quite the intrigue! Much of the lab techniques are similar to what I am used to at UCLA and The U-M College of Pharmacy Med-ChemlLab.. They are more conservative with their reagents and buffers, however, than in the States. For example, they keep the running 
buffer for gel electrophoresis and do not dump it out after each run, until the buffer becomes muggy! I made a joke about Americans being wasteful.. and they could not agree more .... For lunch we go right next door to the student cantina. For $2.15 euros you can get a full meal, but with pretty much no choices on the main entree. Regardless, it is a good deal and I appreciate the simplicity. The Portuguese love to drink soup ... very simple soup.The one I am having here is extravagantly called "Green Broth".. made from a type of cabbage. It is very simple, and quite bland. I guess that is what the table salt is for.
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