After reading through all the blogs, I realized that I completely neglected an introduction. So, in my second blog:
Howdy! I'm Alicia Allen, coming to Switzerland directly from Houston, Texas. That 'howdy' will be the most Texan stereotype you'll get from me. I have one year left of bioengineering before completing my bachelor's at Rice University, and this summer is even more bioengineering, but in a much better setting! I'm in Lausanne at the EPFL in Dr. Melody Swartz's Laboratory for Mechanobiology and Morphogenesis. The campus architecture is drab compared to what I'm used to, but it has mountains in the background! It's quite an international lab; I hear French, Greek, German, and Italian daily. And generously funded! From what I've seen, there's access any equipment you might ever need, as well as a histologist and two lab technicians. I'm working with a post-doc, Jacqui Shields, who has been "acquainting me" with the lab and what I'll be doing (i.e. lots of literature and protocols!). I should be starting on my own soon, working on how tumors metastasize....

I spent the weekend, just walking around Lausanne (again). I'm still amazed at how layered the city is; a 2D map of Lausanne is by no means sufficient. I picked out certain sites that I wanted to see (the cathedral, St François, etc.) and also stumbled onto other things. Like...


..an interesting collection of booths promoting green behavior, all in front of the Palais de Justice. I also visited le Musée Olymipique on both Saturday and Sunday; it's an interesting collection of the ancient games and the modern games, also with a special exhibit on Bejing. I'm now excited for the games this summer and wonder what will be happening here (Lausanne being la Capitale Olympique)!


I've also started planning running routes around Lausanne. My first was along the lake--very different from urban running in Houston! When it's not raining (like today), the scenery is fantastic. I missed a turn and ran farther than I expected (a 4mi run into a 7mi run). Getting back, even for being lost, wasn't difficult; Lausanne and les banlieues are made for pedestrians.

I don't understand why all this soccer/football excitement leads to honking. I imagine it's only going to get worse as semifinals are soon....