Lisa & Boudicca

Well the Hawaii postdoc is still an option.

I am faced with a difficult decision.

It is not just about how painfully cold it is here (though the weather issue is not trivial) there are some other serious concerns.

The French bureaucracy is astounding.

I can deal with the minor things like “you need a bank account to rent an apartment and you need a residence to get a bank account” or that opening a bank account is a major event that must be scheduled 10+ days in advance.

What worries me more is things like the fact that the lab is only accessible from 7:30am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday. No one ever works in the lab later than 8pm or on weekends.    Ever.     I still can’t quite believe it.

Apparently it is some kind of French law that has to do with “security” (they seem to use that English word for: people not stealing stuff, terrorists not getting access to chemistry labs and also for safety like “well if you were in the lab late at night alone and you broke your leg or something no one would be there to help you”).

 
Another concern is the way my contract has been handled. As most of you know, there were numerous delays in finalizing the paperwork for my postdoc after the professor offered me the position. But what you probably don’t know is that the situation is still not 100% resolved.

A few days after I arrived in Paris we found that there was a problem with funding. Hervé came up with a (less than ideal) temporary solution and seems to have a permanent solution almost nailed down. But I can’t forget that the funding was supposedly completely taken care of as of September 19th – if something that is a “yes, definitely” can fall apart then how much can I trust that this new funding arrangement will work out?

 
Plus, there are visa issues now. I have to return to California to visit the French consulate and deal with some paperwork. Can’t be done from here. Can’t be done from the French consulate in NYC (which would be much cheaper airfare for me). Has to be done in San Francisco and I don’t even want to go into the complications involved in that trip.

The fellowship in Hawaii is much less complicated. I understand how things are run in US academic labs. When the PI in Hawaii tells me that he has an allotment in his current grant for another postdoc, the date on which the grant expires and that he plans on renewing the grant but is not 100% sure he will get the renewal, I know Exactly what that means.

When I asked him how soon could I start he told me that he would have a formal contract for me on Monday the 24th and that paperwork (and the holidays) might delay my start until January 7th. It was such a refreshing change to get a precise, straightforward answer.

 
So……

Hervé is amazing. I have tremendous respect for the way his mind works and his approach to science.
I haven’t meet the UH professor in person – I respect his published work and from our emails I think we will communicate well but I don’t know him the way I now know Hervé.

The work in Paris is exciting. I know I can do exceptionally well in this work and also learn and grow as a scientist.
The work in Hawaii is exciting but I don’t know the fine of the details of it yet.

No one works in the Paris lab later than 8pm or on weekends. I will have to get to lab at 7:30am (which means awake and walking the dog at 5am) every single weekday just to get a decent number of hours in at the lab.
The Hawaii lab is a normal US lab where people have 24 hour access, can work at anytime or schedule they like and don’t think that getting in at 10am and leaving at 7pm is “working long hours”.

The funding issues and bureaucratic complications in the Paris lab are at best a big headache and at worst will leave me without a salary for another stretch.
The fellowship in the Hawaii lab is guaranteed and uncomplicated.

The rent is Paris is expensive – everything in Paris is expensive. Very expensive.
Rent in Hawaii will be much less. Some things in Hawaii are more expensive than on the mainland but in general it is nothing compared to Paris and my Hawaii salary will be ≥ my Paris salary.

I like the rest of the people in the Paris lab.
I don’t know anything about the rest of the people in the Hawaii lab or how they interact with each other and the professor.

Paris is full of gorgeous architecture, history, museums and culture.
Honolulu is not.

Paris is so terribly cold. It is a physically painful environment. The cold creates a barrier to accomplishing daily tasks because I can’t stand to go outside. I worry that it will seriously influence my emotional and psychological well being.
Honolulu has a hospitable climate.

It is Cold here.

When I first got here I thought the cold was bad but that I could probably get used to it. And I sort of figured it was a cold snap or something. Then people told me that the first week I was here was abnormally warm. “Practically tropical” someone actually said.

Lately it has been really, really, horribly, miserably cold.

I don’t mean “it was a mistake to wear flip flops tonight” cold. I mean temperatures below the freezing point of water all the time. There was ice outside today. Thick, solid pieces of ice just sitting there not even thinking about melting – and that was during the sunlight hours.

I can’t run errands or get much done because I can’t bear to be out in that hostile environment unless I absolutely have to.

It is so cold out it hurts. I wear a short sleeved tshirt, a long sleeved tshirt, a buttoned up collared shirt and two sweaters under my wool coat when I go out. Also ski gloves, a hat and a scarf. My torso does okay while I am out but my legs and feet hurt so much when I am outside and they don’t stop hurting for 30-60 minutes after I am back inside. The cold makes a burning kind on pain on my face and I feel like my skin could crack. If I breathe through my nose my sinuses hurt and my whole head hurts. If I breathe through my mouth my throat hurts. My head has been hurting non-stop for…… I can’t remember last time it didn’t’ hurt.

And I can’t think well. I often find myself thinking nothing but “its cold its cold its cold” or “it hurts it hurts it hurts” likes some weird mantra.
People can say what they like about warm weather producing an “Island Time” mentality where no one gets much done but the cold is definitely keeping my brain from functioning at its optimal level.

On the plus side, the lab is great. Herve is totally amazing and I know I would be a much better scientist after spending a year or so working with him. Paris is beautiful. Went to the museum of Judasism and wandered into to this incrediable gothic cathedral one night that was between the store where I went to buy a warmer hat and the Metro. It was just sitting there, not famous or a “sight” or anything – just sitting there with its numerous weird gargoyles outside and it is (literally) awesome interior.

Still, when all the positive vectors are added to the massive negative vector (cold) the vector sum is clearly negative.

I like Paris, I love the lab but the pain from the cold is unbearable.

So I am starting to see how people fall in love with this city.

Yesterday Boudicca and I went to “the islands” and had a wonderful time. I expected that – because of Notre Dame and all – it would be super touristy like the area around the Louvre, but it wasn’t. I mean there were plenty of shops selling postcards and many tourists but it didn’t feel like Fisherman’s Wharf at all.

There was the river, beautiful buildings, wide sidewalks around the river, a few narrow medieval feeling streets, pretty bridges - it was totally charming. Something about the islands made me much more conscious of all the history of Paris. Those islands were the very beginning of Paris and the Seine has been an important waterway for ages.

Notre Dame was pretty, it was not near as impressive as that giant cathedral in Seville Spain but it was very pretty.

And I loved seeing Pont Neuf. I find it so weird to think that in the past all bridges has houses on them and Pont Neuf reminds me of that because it was the first bridge in Paris to be built with the radical idea of not building houses on it.

After walking around the islands we walked over to the Latin Quarter and that was really charming too. At one point we wandered onto a lovely narrow winding street that was full of small art galleries and walked along the whole length looking in the windows and then turned around and walked back to look in the windows on the other side of the street.

There were loads of bookshops, many with beautiful old and rare books.

Oh and there was this candle shop that had been in business for over 300 years!

We saw the Luxembourg gardens and they looked gorgeous from the outside but it was no dogs allowed : (

I have to admit that yesterday being very sunny helped improve my opinion of Paris tremendously. The super cold (and usually rainy) weather is hard for me to deal with. We were really lucky yesterday and had perfect timing for the weather. It was sunny and not terribly cold most of the day. It started to cloud over while we were in the Latin quarter and then the rain began to fall just minutes before we got to the Metro station to go home.

The bad news is that snow is predicted for Wednesday. Snow! Even worse - there is supposed to be a Metro strike Wednesday. Should have brought my Sorrels to Paris with me.

Went to the lab today. I really like it the space and environment. Audrey and I get along beautifully and Juan is also super nice. It is very different science than what I did before but it is fascinating work. More about the lab later, this post is already quite long.
Bicycle Rental Near Champ de MarsPont NeufBoudicca on Pont NeufFrom Pont Saint MichelSide of Notre DameFountainBoudicca in the apartment with her new toy

So the plan about Notre Dame didn’t really work out.

I took a wrong turn at Rue Vaugirard and instead of ending up at the Luxenbourg gardens (on the way to Notre Dame) we ended up way down southwest. Plus it was drizzling lightly when we left and then by the time I realized how far off course we were it was really raining. And cold. I don’t want to seem like I am exaggerating but I am pretty sure I felt sleet hitting me at one point.

Once I figured out where we were I picked up Boudicca and carried her under my coat to the nearest Metro - which brings me to the silver lining in today’s adventure: Boudicca is now a big fan of the Metro : )

Many of you know that Boudicca developed an odd adversion to the BART several months ago that eventually got to the point that she was so scared of it I didn’t make her ride it anymore. Her first trip on the Metro was a little better - I think because she was not shut up in a bag and that made her slightly more comfortable - but still she didn’t really like it.

Today she was practically thrilled to get inside the Metro tunnel because it was warm and dry! She trotted right down the stairs like she was very happy to be there.

So it was worth the time in the cold cold rain to make Boo like the Metro. And we will try again tomorrow to go to Notre Dame.

I think I must be missing something about Paris…… All these people I respect tell me how much they Adore Paris, how I am so lucky I can live there and that I am sure to Love it. But I am not really loving Paris.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice city – dog friendly, excellent public transportation, friendly and very polite people, good bread and cheese everywhere, loads of pretty architecture and public art. I like it. But I am not really feeling the magic.
Maybe that reveals me as a philistine. Maybe I am just not a Europe kind of girl.
Though I did Love Barcelona. Come to think of it, my reaction to Paris is very similar to my reaction to Madrid. Its nice.

Still, Boudicca and I are having a nice time. We walk at the Champ de Mars everyday at least twice. There is a big open space for her to run around and usually there are lots of other dogs for her to meet. Here are a couple of pictures of her there one morning. (two different photos, sorry the links run together I am still learning the Word Press stuff)
Boudicca at Champ de MarsBoudicca at Champ de Mars

One day we walked from our apartment (which is a Great apartment by the way! I am so happy with it!) to Champ de Mars, along the Esplanade des Invalides (here is a picture of her just before we crossed the Pont Alexander III bridge to the right bank), to the Petit Palace, along the Champs Elysees, pass the obelisque and the big ferris wheel, along the Tulieries gardens and to the Louvre.
(three photos, sorry the links run together I am still learning the Word Press stuff)

img_2604.jpgPont Alexander IIIFountainFountain Detail

The Louvre was really amazing! And there was this incredible, old, protestant church just east and north of the Louvre.

Boudicca was exhausted from walking so far even though we had taken breaks and sat on park benches. We took the Metro back to our neighborhood.

I like the quiet of this neighborhood (the 15th on the border of the 7th) much better than I liked the bustle (and hordes of tourists!) of central Paris.

Went to the lab yesterday. The space was very nice. They don’t have all the fancy toys that most Berkeley labs have but the labs were newly remodeled with lots of space and natural light. It is in the Latin quarter and you can really tell how different that neighborhood is. Herve was in Amsterdam but I met the other lab members and they were all friendly, fun and bright.

Today Boudicca and I are going to see Notre Dame.

It was a difficult trip to get here because Boudicca was miserable the entire plane ride (so I was miserable and worried the entire plane ride).

I have loads to say but I don’t have internet access at my house yet. Worse, it takes about 3 weeks to get internet turned on and even worse than that Every Single person in Paris has their wireless locked down with a password! Seriously, its not just the 30+ connections I can see from within my apartment, I can’t find an open one while wandering the streets with the iTouch.

I planned to write a long entry here at the Internet cafe but this non-qwerty keyboard is killing me.

Apologies to everyone that I have been out of touch - the tmobile blackberry is too expensive to use with roam, the French phone I got doesn’t do data and cost 0.35 Euros per sms to the US and did I mention that it is Impossible to share wireless?

There are so many people I have been thinking about while I have been walking around. I can’t wait for you to visit so we can enjoy Paris together!!!

Okay I am giving up on this. More details when I have a “regular” keyboard : )