The Early Bird Gets Everything

While at first I doubted my decision to roll out of bed early, I was quickly rewarded.  I headed down to Barceloneta, which I’d been hoping to explore, and was greeted by a stunning sunrise.  It was so stunning, in fact, that I asked a photographer to snap a photo and send it to me.

I continued along the beach, out on piers and through the sand.  I finally reached a last stretch, turned around, and headed back.  As I hit my stride, someone shouted out (in Spanish) “Hey! Didn’t I see you at Opium?”  I was so surprised that I stopped, and met a nice guy named Nico.  It turns out that he works at the club and had overheard me speaking Spanish and English.  He asked me on the spot to be a waitress.  At what is apparently the most exclusive club in Barcelona, when it’s not only catering to 35-year olds on special holidays.

I have no idea what their offer will be, if anything actually comes from it.  It’s sort of one of those why the hell not see what happens things.  Given that the club closes at 6 am, when I get up, and that the only reason that I ran into this guy is because he was closing up Opium and his dad’s beach bar when I was up running, I highly doubt that this will work out.  But it’s a fun thought, right?  And hey, I managed to get offered a job in country where 50% of my age group is unemployed.  While that’s depressing for the kids my age, it’s sort of an ego boost for me.

As if the day could get any better, someone had brought a huge platter of delicious pastries to lab in the morning.  Tiny chocolate croissants; soft, flaky, cream-filled tubes, a flat sheet of apple tarts – I would have taken a pictures, but it was gone so fast.  Since most people in my (cardiovascular research) lab are mindful of their health and do not indulge in myriad pastries, they all goaded me into finishing the leftovers.  I was more than happy to oblige.  Now that they know how much I like food, they take a sincere pleasure in watching me try new things.

BUT WAIT – there’s more.  Another part of our lab that does more biochemical aspects (Western blots, gel electrophoresis, metabolite extraction) down the hall had a warm breakfast brioche of sweet ham and bits of melted cheese.  Celia, who is a goddess, shrugged off our praise at her beautiful creation, which we tore to shreds.

Alright, enough about food (for a paragraph).  Work today flew by, because I was working with my hands and really engaged in what I was doing, which is exactly what I love about benchwork.  I spent the day perfecting my technique for extracting metabolites, all those pesky little molecules that link together the body’s networks so that they can communicate.  I like to picture metabolites swarming like ants

around the body, although that’s a bit melodramatic and chemically inaccurate.  By the end of the day, Ignasi said my extractions were perfect, and I think so, too.  It’s sort of weird when you realize that you can see where one clear liquid ends and another begins, because if you stop and think about that for a second it seems somehow wrong.

And finally, the day ended as it began: with adventure and lots of food.  I went to La Boqueria market, famous for its fresh produce, variety, and a few delicious tapas restaurants.  It’s widely considered one of the best markets in Europe, and is super duper old.  It’s been around in one form or another since 1217, when it was known as the Straw Market, but its current incarnation dates back to about 1850.  Through thick and thin, it’s been bustling, supplying locals, tourists, and top-tier restaurants alike.  I wandered around for about half an hour by myself, overwhelmed by the people and shouted prices and colors,

An array of nuts and candies

A painter capturing the color and life of the entrance to the market

Fresh seafood!

Just need to figure out what all the Spanish names for fish mean.

Fruits and veggies, and very saucy salesmen (one told me his recommendation was to buy food for two and invite him to join me)

More candies!

Chocolate hedgehogs (to see real-life hedgehogs in chocolate, click here.)

The rejected auditioners for  Veggie Tales

before being joined by Naaman and making a few purchases.    I bought some churros soaked in honey (not particularly good, but a bit like the Indian dish gulab jamun), cherries, herbed meatballs to cook later this week, and a few apricots and peaches.  Being in La Boqueria Market is a rush, from the skinned sheeps’ heads staring up at you to the lush colors of fresh fruit.  Naaman and I made several resolutions:

(1)    We will try one of every candy (this is physically impossible without inducing Type II Diabetes on the spot, but I plan on trying as many as possible)

(2)    We will return almost every week to stock up on delicious food

(3)    I will buy some fish, so that I can finally use my spices from Turkey from last summer (shame on me)

(4)    We will try one of the famous tapas places here

It’s going to be wonderful fun.

Afterward, in true Naaman and Jess fashion, we wandered around the shore and absorbed the beauty of the city.

La Rambla del Mar, a modern wood bridge continuation of the iconic Las Ramblas street.  Note the statues in the middle of the water, which are just out of reach of little docks with benches favored by local couples.

Note my ruby slippers, which added even more to the feeling that I'm very, very far from home but on a wonderful adventure.  Also, appreciate the last days of my hair, which will be donated upon my return.

And, to end things off right – Spotted: a strange land of strange lab etiquette.  Here in Spain, or at least at my research institute, lab standards are far more relaxed.  I had planned to go to work every day in my leather boots or running sneakers, in accordance with Yale University precautions for footwear.  Here, I feel tame in my ballet flats.  Women in wedges and peep toe heels promenade around with their Eppendorf tubes, pipettes, and boxes of animal hearts.  Additionally, the attitude of food and water in the lab is strangely lax, an area where I have not reduced my standards.  People wander through with food, including one spotting of someone holding a cookie in their mouth as they picked up their samples.  Rest assured, Yale and RB and worrying parents, I will manage not to poison myself or lose any of my feet/toes while I am here.