Start to the Week

My alarm went off at 6 this morning, and I hit the snooze a few times. I was out the door by 7:15, and the sun was just rising. I returned home at 7:15 this evening as the sun was setting. It was a long day but I accomplished and learned much.

Yesterday I did as I said and rested and did my homework. I also went on a walk as there was not a cloud in the sky. I mostly just wandered and found some parks. I took lots of pictures. I posted some that I took with color emphasis. I noticed that the parks here, like the streets, are very dirty. There's trash in all the fountains and artificial ponds. There's trash on the sidewalks and in the grass. It almost took away from the beauty, but if you keep your eyes up towards the palm trees and mountains you don't notice.

I got to bed pretty late that night and so that alarm clock was not a welcome sound this morning. I made it to my internship on time and began in the lab. I cleaned rocks and sand to prepare for a molding later in the day. I also cleaned the mold and oiled it. I was then given the task of writing procedures for our Mettler Toledo titrator. I used one this past summer at GPC but i just pressed the method and pressed start. The manuals and methods that come with the Mettler are all in English. They've had this machine for years but can't use it because they can't figure out how to program it. It was a daunting task at first because I knew nothing about the titrator. I have done many manual titrations but none this complicated. I went to class at 11 a little discouraged.

When I returned from class at noon, I began doing research about the different titration methods and the equipment/probes that come with the Mettler. I finally began to understand how it worked, and what I needed to do. I wrote the complete method for the Ca content. I now have to write methods for Al, Mg, and Fe. Once I do that, I will have to run experiments and calibrations to make sure my methods are correct. It might be a bit of a guess and check process but I feel like I'm on the right track. It's kind of my personal project.

I then ate lunch in the Facultad de Formacion de Profesores, y returned to Intromac at 4. I then was given a couple magazine articles that they need the content from and began translating them word for word. It's a slow process and I got half way through 1 in 2.5 hours. I was mostly on my own today, and that was nice to be able to have a little more freedom.

I returned home as the sun set, and Maren and I then met Mercedes for a coffee at 8:15. We practiced Spanish and English for about 2 hours. It's nice because she can tell us when we say something that's grammatically correct but isn't a phrase that is used commonly or that has a different connotation. It's always a good learning experience for both parties because we can do the same for her. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed, but it was a day filled with infinite learning opportunities.