Lab Trip- Wafting on the Eno River
On Tuesday, our lab took a day off from lab and spent a day at the Eno River. It was so much fun- conclusion: scientists DO know how to have fun! We went “wafting” which means we paddled in our inflatable kayaks down the river and listened to the tour guide give us advice on how to get in tune with nature. It was very relaxing. When we got to the swimming hole, we all climbed across the slippery rocks to swim around in the swimming hole. Then we headed back. The tour guide said that the “winners” of the wafting tour were those who knew how to relax and enjoy nature- those who arrived back at the dock last were the winners. Ying, a grad student in my lab, and I decided to float all the way back, so we got back a lot later than everyone else- well, we also got out at the wrong place and pulled our kayaks onto the trail and then realized that we were not at the correct dock. Nevertheless, we were definitely the “winners”. The upside- they carried our kayaks back to the meeting area; the downside- everyone else had already started eating the food.
We had a potluck-type picnic. The food was DELICIOUS. Everyone brought in some of their favorite dishes: we had grape leaves and tzadziki, tandoori chicken, samosas, shanghai noodles, hummus and pita bread, and strawberry pie. After lunch, we played croquet. I had never played croquet before but it was a lot of fun playing it with my lab. I got fourth….out of four people!
It was a great way to get to know the people in my lab better. Everyone in my lab has funny idiosyncracies that I would not have found out about otherwise- I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of people to hang out with for 8 hours a day!
Ying (left) is a grad student in the lab. Meng (right) is a postdoc who I am working directly with. Meng’s a lot of fun to work with. Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, we know that we both love food, so we often talk about what kind of foods we’re craving.
Viren and Yehong “wafting”. Viren is the other undergrad in the lab; he’s a year older than I am.
On the left is my PI Nicole and across from her is her son Tyler in the dinosaur costume. He was hilarious- he showed up in a dinosaur costume and didn’t want to take it off even though it was really hot outside. Behind them are David, our lab tech, and his son Nathan.
Me, Nicole, and her son getting ready to play croquet.
Viren, Audrey (our new lab tech), David, and his son playing croquet.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
wow That trip looks fun, Jessica!!! I wish my lab was cool like that! Viren is really cool…I had Spanish 105 with him last semester. Tell him I say hi!!