Hello, Baltimore

Made it without a hitch to the Mount Vernon Hotel, the shuttle ride was very efficient! I was a little hesitant on what the room would be like after reading some online review (they're about average), but it was much better than expected. First, the a/c is super powerful thank god, second the beds are big and comfortable and third, the bathroom looks beautiful with a huge mirror above the sink. It's definitely not the most sauve place for for the price and the building (it's a pretty old place), I think it was a great deal. The wifi seems pretty good as well so far which is great since I have no cell service as Rogers isn't a carrier in the US. Which is great actually so I won't accidentally send any texts/calls that will cost me heap loads.

So I ended up relaxing at the hotel for a bit (I was super tired earlier but fell asleep on the plane from Philadelphia to Baltimore right when I got on and woke up just before landing so that was a nice nap) but I still needed a little break. I didn't really have enough time anyways to do some exploring since the plane was delayed and it was just too hot anyways.

I headed down to the Baltimore Convention Centre to register and get all my SLEEP 2013 goodies. There were flocks of people heading toward the Harbor so I'm assuming there is a baseball game tonight since I passed the HUGE stadium during my shuttle ride into downtown.

{Registration area where I picked up my badge and things inside the Baltimore Convention Center}

At 5pm the Trainee Symposium started on the Hilton Hotel next door to the convention centre.

Insert Note: OMG I just saw someone with a Forever 21 bag, totally forgot that I'm in the states and can go shopping there!!! Now, the question is how much room is in my suitcase….?

I arrived to he opening lecture about 10min early and was the only one there! People finally started pouring in around 5 and we got started a little late. There was a good turn out of people, I would say over 100 out of the 250 that will be participating in the symposium lectures on Sunday. The opening lecture was alright, it was on genomics and the human genome project which was very interesting but he didn't really make the connection to sleep research which would have been nice. A couple of people also presented their data during the Datablitz which was made up of quick 3 minute talks. Only four people participated so it would have been nicer to hear about a couple more projects (which was what I was expecting).

{The empty auditorium before the Trainee Welcome Reception}

I initially wanted to do some site seeing around the downtown area afterwards but ended up just heading back the hotel. First off, I was extremely tired having been up since 4am and gaining an hour through travel. Second, I just wasn't sure how safe I felt walking around by myself. A lot of the area around the hotel seems deserted with a lot of boarded up restaurants/buildings. Needless to say, it was the right choice since I have to be up at 6:30am Sunday morning.

Night!

S