Hola! Que tal?

We’re almost at the two-week marker! It feels as if double that time has passed, which I suspect is because there are so many new experiences every day that you remember it in much more detail (also, the days are longer, which I’m still getting used to). 

This past week has been a really fun one! (As you can tell by the blog title, I’ve been traveling on the Metro… a LOT) On Monday, my favorite activity of the day was going to a live music bar in the Lavapies area and from my vantage point in a packed crowd, listening to a local singer and her guitarist. I’d never been to such an intimate music venue even back home and I really enjoyed the smaller scale of it, and the picturesque area! Tuesday was when I decided to have a little evening adventure every day after work. My goal for this is to get out of the house after the work day + the long commutes and re-energize myself while exploring new neighborhoods in Madrid! So to start that routine off I went to explore El Retiro and watch the boats, the passerby, and all of the many pigeons. I went for some shopping around Sol on Wednesday and went home with a new bangle the likes of which I’ve seen on everyone’s wrists here in Madrid, so I wore it to the flamenco show on Thursday! The show and class at the flamenco theater were very fun and I took lots of videos to send to my friend back home who tap dances, as I didn’t realize how much tap and flamenco have in common. To finish the week off on Friday, I explored the Serrano area with some friends after all of our internships were done for the day before spending the night out and about. 

The weekend was slightly slower paced, but still pretty packed. On Saturday we rallied after our late-night Friday and wandered El Retiro (quickly becoming one of my favorite places) with iced coffees in hand before stumbling upon a delicious pizza place a ways north of the park. On Sunday, my friends and I explored El Rastro, the morning market that’s been on my bucket list forever, and unfortunately my wallet fell prey to the many, many stalls selling there. Then we had a lazy afternoon in the sun before trying a wine tour near Plaza Mayor, which was a fun way to end the weekend!

So my time in Madrid has all been quite awesome outside of work, and thankfully managing my time at my internship has come more naturally to me as well. For example, during the first two days I was either very busy or not busy at all- going from hours of shadowing a student and learning about their experimental procedures to some unexpected free time when my mentors were busy with their individual tasks and I simply had to wait for my next objective. While I believe I have been on top of my communication in terms of meeting with mentors and peers and clarifying weekly tasks or long term goals, I had to adjust to a few things to hone my time management. For one, realizing that it´s fine in a laboratory setting to interrupt someone mid-conversation or mid-task to ask a question. I found myself hesitant to do this at first, but once I became more direct with my clarifications I spent less time waiting for the ‘right moment’ to talk to someone and more time working. 

Another factor for the time management aspect of this position has been adjusting to a flexible schedule with minimal routine implementation. In the CIAL labs, you’re performing different experiments every day, having on the spot meetings with coworkers, and constantly changing your daily plan. This took me aback at first because while I arrive at the same time every morning, I eat lunch at a different hour and leave the workplace at a different hour every day. Initially it felt very informal and a bit confusing to have this variation, but after a week of going with the flow I really appreciate it. The flexible lunch hour means that all employees have someone to eat with even if your lab procedures are taking longer than usual, and having some short and some long work days has in turn given me a wider variety selection of post-work adventure choices! It also means that you are able to focus more completely on your to do list, as your tasks are your guides for your timetable rather than structuring everything rigidly between a start and end time. 

So, practicing time management has definitely eased my introduction to the internship experience, especially as I shift from learning hands-on lab skills and shadowing coworkers to familiarizing myself with new computer programming softwares and taking the first steps for my individual project- having to do with peptide analysis- that I´ll be working on during this two-month period. You’ll hear about that in the next few weeks!

Ciao, Katherine