Pottery Workshop and BBQ Dinner

We started off the day looking at the embryos we treated with different chemicals previously on Saturday December 28th. We looked at each embryo in each well to see what stage they were in for heart failure. There are different ways to categorize what stage the embryos are in when looking for heart failure. Category 1 essentially being dead, as the heart has collapsed, there is a cardiac edema ( when space around the heart gets bigger and fills with fluid), the yoke sac is black and decaying, and the atrium is barely pumping. Up until you reach Category 4 where the heart is beating extremely well, no cardiac edema, and the embryos are thriving. In these two particular pictures, the one labelled C2 has 4 embryos which are in category 3 of heart failure, and 1 embryo that is in category 4. In the picture labeled 3A, all those embryos are dead. Unfortunately, we think there may have been a contamination of fungus in this well resulting in our results.

We finally got the opportunity to go to the Bank, so we could exchange our US dollars into Taiwanese dollars. I will say that I enjoy the currency exchange. We were encourage to only do half our money for now, and the other half later. My 500 US dollars gave me a little under 15,000 Taiwanese dollars. While things may look expensive in Taiwan, 30 Taiwanese dollar is about 1 US dollar. So when you see something for 100 Taiwanese dollars, its only a little over 3 dollars. 

We took the train to where the ceramics museum was located as we had an appointment to create our own ceramic pieces.

our walk to the ceramics museum

Finally in the ceramics museum, aprons on, ready to manipulate our clay

Decorating the outside of our mugs before they are placed in the Kiln to be fired. We also had to pick the color glaze we wanted them to use when painting them after they are fired in the Kiln. Honestly, it was extremely hard for me to pick the color I enjoyed because I didn't want just one color, and I wasn't completely satisfied with any one color. In the end, I picked a super cute dark  blue color that I am hopeful will be beautiful once its finished. 

This was apart of our barbecue dinner. I have to say I think I am enjoying all the places we go where we are in charge of cooking our own food. I like being able to make sure my meat is cooked to my liking, especially when handling raw meat. In this picture the lightly colored circle looking meat is pig tongue, and the dark meat next to the pig tongue is chicken heart. It was actually really good. Better then I was expecting. Flavorful, and even more delicious with the sauce they provided. I can say that the pig tongue is kind of chewy, like eating a piece of car tire, but manageable. 

Ice cream inside of some bread

Ice cream inside a different bread

Not my favorite at all. This sweet potato and cheese dessert. The combination didn't suit my taste buds.