European Behavioral Pharmacology Society......

I had no  idea how I was going to make it through the conference; I have zero talent when running on absolutely NO sleep. So  I decided to set some goals because the thought of the twelve hour day  seemed beyond daunting and without end. With that in mind I concentrated on each session - just get  through this session and then you can walk  around/eat something/drink espresso or whatever.  I have to admit that that  helped. So  I focused on taking notes so I could remember what was said and it also helped to keep me awake. I drank espresso and munched on cookies during breaks which helped some  too. My only problem came when I sat down to the Plenary Lecture, right after lunch, in an auditorium with chairs that were  too comfortable. I had one of those nodding off and then waking up immediately moments but I'm proud to say that I didn't fall asleep during any other time that day at the conference!! The sessions were interesting and they ticked by one by one. Then we were  at the poster  session; two hours standing in  front of my poster waiting for people to  come and talk to  me. But I figured this would be good because there was no way I could fall asleep standing up, right? I'm happy to say that several students and professors stopped by to chat and they were  genuinely interested and impressed with our current data. I couldn't help but feel a little bit  proud. :) And somehow, magically, the two hours was  up and Tim came to get me. I was terribly pleased as to how well the day went considering everything. And I think it's hilaroius that I went to the first day of a brain research conference without my brain. :)

After  Tim picked me  up we walked around to see some of La Rochelle, get a drink and have some dinner. The following day was much the same but I was a little more coherent as I was finally able to sleep after
going so  many hours without. I enjoyed the sessions even more, probably because I now had part of my brain on board, and again Tim and I spent  a lovely evening wandering around looking at the plethora of  yachts before  getting a drink and then dinner. The last day of the  conference we checked out of our room Tim dropped me off and went to see the La Rochelle Aquarium. He said there were large sharks there but was nice enough to not  take  pictures of them. :) Then, all of a sudden, our time in La  Rochelle was  up. I wish we had had more time because I felt like I didn't really see it but alas the conference kept me busy and the rest of the time we were taking meals or sleeping like rocks. :)