Clare at Cambridge: Ye Olde Vicarage of Herefordshire (i.e., Brand Lab Retreat 2010)

So, anyone who's tried to e-mail me in the last week knows that I've basically been MIA. And that's because I spent the past week (well, Mon to Fri) in the middle of nowhere in England on retreat with my lab. Basically, we all lived in a big house together with, well, questionable, heating, and spent all day talking about science and all night playing games and enjoying "adult" beverages.

In terms of the science, it was a great opportunity to both put my work in a larger context and and learn what other people are doing in the lab. It was also a great way to get to know the people I work with better. After you've played multiple games of charades and done multiple tequila shots with someone, you basically are by definition friends.

The weekend wasn't all fun and fuzzy science fellowship. As I alluded to, the house was in less than perfect working order. It was a beautiful and huge house, but the heat was a challenge and we ended up huddling around fireplaces trying to stay warm!

Also, one of the new PhD students and I were sharing a room in the attic. No big deal, it was a nice room. The problem was that the attic toilet had a macerator, which apparently broke the first night we were there. That meant that every 10 minutes there would be this sound that I can only describe as what I imagine it would sound like to put your tennis shoes in the dryer. It was so bad that we ended up sleeping on a couch on the first floor for the night. The next day, we learned that the macerator was the culprit. To see if flushing the toilet would help, we did, and.... well, ended up with sewage on the floor. In the end, the guy who takes care of the house came and cleaned it up, but it was, let's say, an experience.

We also experienced internet detox while in the middle of nowhere. Some took it as an opportunity to reconnect with the non-virtual world. Others went into tech withdrawal. There was a dragon statue next to the window that we dubbed the "reception dragon" because it was the only place in the house were the holy iphone would get a signal. Our boss also had something she really needed to get done requiring the internet, so she ended up spending quite a lot of time at the local pub using their wireless (which they were not super happy about!).

All in all though, the challenges just made it an even more hilarious and fun week, and I'm kind of sad that it's over.

Here are some pictures (credit to Kat Gold, who takes amazing ones!):