May 27

I’ve decided to get to work at around 7:30 every day. Not a difficult thing to do really, the sun (if there is sun) shines in my window as a nice pick me up. My window faces directly south, but still lets in plenty of bright morning light. At work today I ran the reaction for the first time. It’s not too difficult really, but I screwed up of course. We did an HPLC analysis of the starting and ending materials, and I was supposed to take two samples: one at the beginning of the reaction and one toward the end. Of course I did not. Also, I added a solvent, and then waited an hour to add a reactant, when it was supposed to be done immediately. They are really good about things like that though (repeat often: you’re here to learn). I’ll just do it again tomorrow. The unfortunate thing is that I feel like an utter idiot in the lab, and I’m supposed to graduate and do further studies for a Ph.D. in one year. Oh well, it’s been a while since I’ve worked with most of this glassware and these reactions are entirely new. I think once the laboratory protocol becomes clearer for me (I finally learned where and what most of the equipment is called today), things will be better and faster (and I’ll feel less like a child :P). The good part is that my recrystallization went beautifully. I should get a pretty spectacular yield…but who knows? So directly after work I decided to go for another run to Großwinternheim and back (~5km each way). This time I ran farther without walking, and faster too, both good things (it’s been too long). On the way back I decided to head up the hill on the other side of the valley to go to the Bismarkturm, a tall tower on the hill that overlooks the whole valley. Because I was on the run I didn’t have my camera, which is unfortunate. Twas absolutely beautiful and expansive and wonderful in general. As you climb the hill, you first notice that it is very steep, which is wonderful for a workout, but unfortunate for everything else. There are vineyards surrounding the small lane that you take to get to the top; it’s really more of a one way street than anything, with no shoulder, but luckily there is sparse traffic. It turned out to be quite a trek for me, already at the end of my run, to try running, then walking most of it with gasping breaths. The top was certainly rewarding though. I’ll get back up there with a camera, perhaps this weekend to get some pictures. The run down was actually kind of fun, but my calves might not let me out of bed tomorrow, so that will not be so fun. I’ll be honest, when I got back, it was all I could do to walk into the elevator! At least these kinds of pains are rewarding. So in German class, Prof. Pruim suggested that we try some Turkish food while we are here. Luckily for me, there is the Saray Grill directly below my room, on street level. So, when I got back I went down there and ordered myself Döner mit Weißkäse und Salat. It was tasty, very tasty. The Döner is composed of a large flat bun/roll that is cut in two, and toasted with salad, meat and in my case white cheese (Weißkäse). I ordered like I do most things in German, laconically, too quietly and difficult to understand, yet possibly able to be confused for a German (probably not). In this case it was pretty easy because I just had to tell him what I wanted, wait for it, pay then go. I’ll probably be there again for a pizza and other things. It’s a nice little restaurant. The Döner was eaten up in my room, overlooking a portion of Ober-Ingelheim; quite satisfying and a full day to be sure.