Job update

It's been ten long months of filling out job applications weekly, trying to gently hound my contact at Abbott laboratories in Wiesbaden, career fairs, and reaching out to every friend with a potential job contact (a heartfelt thanks to all of my amazing friends for your help).  While I've enjoyed the vacation / sabbatical / break, this was never my intent.  I miss being a contributing member of society.  Plus this past Thursday I peaked as a haus Frau with my greatest accomplishment in 10 months being getting a red wine stain out of my favorite shirt of Sam's.  Don't get me wrong my days filled with blogging, friend lunch dates, DIY projects, watching Sam's trials, traveling, and walking the pup have been great, and I know how lucky I am to have had this time.  Especially, since God knows everything and clearly inhibited me from getting a job this whole time, so I would be able to stay for a month with my sister and her family during the loss of my sweet nephew.   I will be forever grateful that I didn't have to battle with the thought of going back to Germany too early for a job.  

Well, the good news is that one of those job applications finally came through.  While, it's nothing close to what I really wanted to do with my Ph.D (research infectious diseases and make an impact on the world), it is a job opportunity in Germany.  Not on the economy, but on the Army post.  I'll be an adjunct professor for the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).  For those of you who don't know what an adjunct professor is, it's basically a part time professor who teaches and receives no benefits (i.e. you make a small amount of money).  I'll be teaching face-to-face at nights, twice a week, for three hours at a time.  Yay, I'll still time for my friend lunches, travel, and filling out job applications (yes, I still have remnants of hope for getting a real job)!  

The good new is I'll interact with soldiers and their family members, while using my brain, hallelujah!  The closest I've gotten these past few months to science is making Jello (not gonna lie, I swirled it around and looked for small translucent particles floating around like you would while making an agarose gel.  I almost put it in the microwave because I missed it so much...haha, don't judge me).  Enough about that, I will be making a difference in people's lives and if that's not contributing to society, I don't know what is.  It also opens up the potential to qualify me for teaching online through the university, which will give me a job anywhere we move in the future.   Tomorrow's my first day, so wish me luck and pray that I have three hours of material prepared, eek!

Madrid and a little bit of science

*disclaimer:  I was not paid by Bio-Rad Laboratories, INC to promote their product.  These experiences and opinions are entirely my own.*

I have to admit I didn't see much of Madrid while I visited.  I was lucky enough to be asked to do a presentation on one of my projects during my post-doctoral fellowship.  For this research I used a high throughput instrument developed by Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc for the detection of syphilis.  They knew I was moving to Germany, and invited me to speak about my results at their BioPlex 2200 User Meeting.  

Finally, a chance to talk science!

It was a great networking opportunity for me, since all of the attendees were from laboratories in Europe.  I enjoyed learning about all of the different diseases the instrument can be used to test for.  They even have an assay developed for celiac’s disease.  I am so grateful to have been offered the chance to speak at the conference.  I haven’t talked science in 4 months, and have missed my first true love (sorry Sam, we had a connection long before I met you).   I also met two successful professional women, and they restored my faith in the idea that you can be a successful professional woman and have kids too.

Okay, enough about me and my love for science.  Here are a few pictures of my hotel!  I stayed at the Intercontinental Madrid.  It's located in the business district, but it wasn't too far from the sights.  The staff was really welcoming, and it's one of the nicest rooms I've had the chance to stay in a while.  

So cozy!

To try or not to try....

Too bad Sam wasn't here to enjoy this huge patio.

Loved the view!

I loved, Loved, LOVED Spain!  I studied Spanish in high school, and always dreamed of visiting Spain. Woohoo, now I can check the box of dream come true ;).  I'm hoping we visit Spain as often as possible while we are stationed here in Europe.  I feel way more at home speaking my mixture of German - Spanish here, which is crazy since my German knowledge is so little.  Here are a few pictures of my sightseeing during a break in the conference.  

Plaza de Colon - This plaza commemorates the explorer Christopher Columbus, and is home to the biggest flag in Spain.  Gigantic!

Puerta de Alcala - Built in 1778 as a monumental gate in the city wall in order to get rid of the drab medieval city walls.   You can find it in Independence square.

Ciebeles Palace - One of the world's most beautiful city halls.

There is much more to see in Madrid, and I hope to return to see the Temple of Debod, and the Plaza Mayor.  In 1968, the Temple of Debod was donated to Spain by an Egyptian state for gratitude in helping save the temples of Abu Simbel.  It's one of the few Egyptian architectural works that can be seen outside of Egypt.  The Plaza Mayor is a famous plaza where bull fights, soccer games, markets, and executions took place in the old days.  I saw this on a bus ride in the city, but I would have loved to walk around and take it all in.

I was lucky enough to eat at the famous Flamenco dancing restaurant Corral de la Moreria.  Flamenco is a traditional Spanish dance that involves singing, guitar playing, dancing, and hand claps.  I was mesmerized the whole time, and this goes on my list of best performances ever seen!

I took a few videos to share with you!  Enjoy!