The 40 Minute Question

Most of my classes are back to back, meaning I have to leave class on time to make it to the next one, and usually don't have time to ask professors non-urgent questions. Yesterday, however, I had a full hour between lab lecture and lab. I ended up talking to one of my classmates (let's call her Leah). She lined up to ask our lab instructor (who was also our summer Gen Chem instructor and fall Orgo instructor) about a side reaction. I decided I would ask a question about one of the papers we have to read for a project. Let's call our instructor Dr. Avogadro for fun.

Oral bioavailability is obviously important, I began. But what all does that mean, other than you can swallow the drug without it killing you or being destroyed by stomach acid?

Well, it turns out, a lot. There's the stomach acid issue, the issue of metabolism, whether the drug can be absorbed through the stomach lining… I asked about the "fillers" in pills as well, which prompted Dr. Avogadro to discuss the differences in how quickly liquids, gels, and solid pills are absorbed. Since Avogadro worked at a pharmaceutical company before grad school and still does some research related to drug design, he went on to talk about the drug design process, and the differences in scale as you go from searching chemical libraries to producing kilos of little blue, purple, green, pink, or red pills.

Overall it was a very enjoyable conversation because I don't have a lot of exposure to the chemistry/biology aspects of nursing in my role as a volunteer, except for how to prevent spreading germs. So it's nice to be able to learn, at least on a very basic level, why some medicines can't just be swallowed. It's also very rewarding to realize that how many connections between Orgo and nursing do exist, despite what some people have suggested. Would I have imagined learning them from Dr. Avogadro? At the beginning of fall semester, probably not.

I certainly would not have imagined debating about Purell with Avogadro and Leah. That was a very interesting conversation too. I brought up the usefulness of Purell for cleaning marker off of the art table in the clinic where I volunteer. Leah noted the use of hairspray for cleaning marker. Avogadro didn't contribute to the cleaning discussion, but did argue about the concern of selecting for antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Purell does not lead to such resistant bacteria; go see their FAQs for more information). We went on and on until Leah had to leave, and I realized I had about fifteen minutes left to grab lunch and register a class before lab.

When I finished my last chemistry lab at Brandeis that afternoon, it was a little bittersweet. My bay this semester was not the most successful bay in terms of obtaining a high yield, or even product, but we worked really well together. Our elaborate drawings on the white board were something to be seen. But the learning won't stop after we had in our final lab exam.

There's still research to be done, for example, on the oral bioavailability of chocolate ice cream.

Trope, Fun Work Anecdote, Recipe

When I got back from Passover break, one of the things I did was go to my first trope (Torah chanting notes) session. It's taught by a Brandeis student, and it's one-on-one which is wonderful. I never got around to learning trope as part of my conversion process. Part of it was that, at 17, the idea of having a bat mitzvah in high school seemed weird - I'd be older than the traditional b'nei mitzvah students but much younger than most women who have bat mitzvah ceremonies later in life (the usual age range at my synagogue is 40-60, sometimes higher). My mom was relieved, because she was afraid she'd have to organize a big party. However, now that my Hebrew reading ability has improved markedly, and I've been helping my rabbi and cantor at some Shabbat morning services, learning trope has become a more approachable, and less intimidating.

My first trope lesson involved repeating (and repeating, and repeating…) several common notes and note sequences, and beginning to chant from Genesis 1. Keep the notes separate is a challenge, but making the leap from chanting the note names to chanting words in Torah is an even bigger one. But it's definitely a very rewarding process. Before learning trope formally, I spent a lot of time staring at the trope notes in Torah commentaries during services and trying to see how the sung notes corresponded to the trope. I figured out about two notes. Sometimes you just have to go out and learn.

Other times, you go out and teach, as I learned at work. I was in the specialty clinic, at the art table, illustrating my Hebrew vocabulary list (figuring that having pictures of some of the nouns would help me study). One of the girls at the table, who was probably about 8, looked at the sheet and asked, "is that Spanish?" I managed not to laugh, but it was really hard. I guess I assumed that almost all children in the U.S. have seen Spanish written on signs or at least on Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer, or at least *know* it's not in a different alphabet. Apparently that assumption was incorrect. However, given that there are more Spanish speakers in the US than when I was a kid, I think it's all the more unusual for someone to mistake Hebrew for Spanish. Of course, this is coming from someone whose family is really into learning non-English languages, so maybe I'm being unfair.

Finally, for my own reference a relatively low-fat, non-chili, vegetarian recipe:

*Add 1 cup boiling water to 1 dry cup couscous. Cook until couscous is al dente (around 7 minutes on medium heat on the stove).

*When couscous is almost done cooking, heat chopped white mushrooms and snowpeas with a pat of butter (about 30 seconds in the microwave).

* When the couscous is done, season with cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in veggies.

The "Pesach Diet" Adapted for the Rest of the Year

Over the course of Passover, I subsisted on three food groups: fruit, roasted or baked chicken, and leftovers from the seder I hosted (on the second night). For the most part, it was much healthier than the cafeteria food, bagels and plain pasta I'd been eating before Passover. In addition to being more flavorful, I felt a lot better. On a typical day, I'd have about 3 servings of fruit for breakfast, fruit and matzo for lunch, and some sort of chicken with veggies for dinner, with fruit or veggie snacks.

At the end of Passover, I decided that I'm going to stop eating cafeteria food all the time, incorporate a lot more fruits and veggies into my life, and cut down on the bagels.

So when I got groceries, I decided to get as much produce as I could reasonably carry back to my apartment, along with non-meat protein sources and assorted household goods. For my own reference/self-motivation, I got:

• Produce: 4 Pink Lady apples, 3 Hass avocados, 3 mangos, snow peas
• Protein: 1 box firm tofu, breaded tilapia fillets
• Carbs: 1 polenta brick, 1 box couscous, 1 box Quaker oatmeal

I was also surprised to note how many green/eco-friendly products the local grocery store carries. While I often laugh at how Brandeis approaches environmentalism (i.e. pushing students to reduce their electricity consumption, without the university making noticeable efforts to reduce their own electric/heating/cooling costs)*, I do find myself leaning towards the plant-based/no-animal-testing/let's-give-the-dolphins-a-hug products.

* Over the summer, when it was often below 70 degrees outside and raining, all the university buildings' AC systems were set on high. Needless to say, wearing sweaters to class in July loses its charm very quickly.