Hi everyone!

I just finished week 4 of my internship here in Philadelphia; I can't believe how fast the time is passing! This week was crazy because it was July 4th on Wednesday, which is a BIG DEAL in Philly. To sum up the experience in one word, it was INSANITY!

After going to a barbeque hosted by our dorm building at Penn, my friends and I made our way to Center City (downtown) for "Party on the Parkway." This is Philadelphia's annual Fourth of July celebration; the city shuts down the Ben Franklin Parkway and turns it into a huge festival and free concert that lasts for the entire day. It was quite an event, with over 500,000 people in attendance and the thermometer surpassing 105 degrees, but I am very happy that I got to experience it!

(The scene at Party on the Parkway. This went on for many blocks!)

After the concert, there was a giant fireworks show put on by the city! I LOVE fireworks, so I was very excited for this. Philadelphia's fireworks are consistently ranked as among the best in America, and now I can certainly see why. My friends and I walked a few blocks up from where we watched the concert to get a better view of the show; we wound up with an AMAZING view from the Parkway, right between the Schuylkill river and the Art museum. It was certainly a memorable way to celebrate Independence day, and I will definitely never forget it!

(Fireworks over the Philadelphia Museum of Art! They were beautiful!)

(A video I took of a part of the finale of Philly's 4th of July fireworks! Please excuse my friends talking in the background :) )

While not as glamorous as the 4th of July, I also had my usual internship activities this week. I continued working on my project in lab, and we heard lectures on basic immunology and the uses of transgenic mice in medical research. There was no lab meeting this week, which I was bummed about, but there will be one next week  which I will be certain to fill you in on!

Finally, on Saturday, I went out to dinner with friends and some of the other USSP interns in Center City. We went to a Japanese/Sushi restaurant and then got ice cream at Franklin Fountain for dessert! We were also treated to fireworks over the river at Penn's Landing, which was a nice surprise and a great finish to Independence Week in Philly!

(With friends in Center City)

(Fireworks over the Delaware at Penn's Landing)

Until next time-

Lindsay