greetings from far far away Virginia

Hi everyone! In response to Whitney's post, I thought I would write a little about what I am up to, even though I am not very far from Chapel Hill. The week started off slow, just re-learning the ropes of the clinic and going through the survey forms. We have HIV clinic on Tues and Weds mornings and all day Thursday. Monday was mostly meetings and getting to know the other people from the research team. I love my PI, a UNC SOM grad, and found it funny that we dressed alike 2 days in a row (black shirt w/khaki pants on Mon, blue shirt w/gray pants on Tues). I really think we might be long lost relatives since we have the same taste in food, music, movies, horribly bad tv shows, and of course fashion. On Tuesday I had my first day back in the clinic, which was really fun. I got to catch up with the social workers and nurses and clinic staff, who are all so hilarious. For example during lunch we talked about how awesome half-asians are (I kid you not) and then discussed how much we enjoy eating and cooking. My PI gave me a half day off to go to Target and run errands and while I was driving there I called into my favorite radio station and won the afternoon guess the song contest! So exciting! Today I had my first meeting with my other mentor (my PI's attending), who was my boss from last year. She is wonderful and we got to talking about research projects and additional research projects we could spin off from the one we're currently working on. So while I got to go home early yesterday, I stayed late today to do literature reviews for our next study. But I still had enough time to enjoy some trashy tv on netflix and watch glee on hulu and post this.

So I really can't complain. It is lonely here in the evenings, and I miss you all, but it is nice to be back in familiar places with familiar faces. My sublet is cute but with low ceilings that make me feel short, but it has a lovely porch and lots of yard space. The 15 min walk to work takes me across the university grounds, and it is a lovely walk. If anyone feels like making a trip to Charlottesville, let me know! There is a futon here with your name on it. I'm coming home next weekend, so I'd love to see anyone in town (Jess, Amy, Mary?).

And write what you're doing! I want updates! :-)