Ryan

12:25 AM- I’m briefly awoken by a real-time email thread between colleagues. I scan to see if anything is urgent. Nothing is, so I immediately fall back asleep.

4:19 AM- My eyes flutter open. Even though everything in my body is demanding more sleep, this is right around my typical witching hour.

4:23 AM- I start my daily coffee routine by filling and setting the electric kettle. Next is to weigh out 20g of beans and grind on the finest setting our grinder allows. It’s written “espresso.” The same aeropress has been alongside me for over five years now. The grounds are combined with 320g of water. This recipe has been alongside me closer to ten years.

4:31 AM- Our house makes noise. I take two minutes to listen closely. Sounds of leakage? No. The hum of the refrigerator? Normal. Critters? Seemingly not. I press my coffee.

4:35 AM- I sit on the living room floor and start a necessary stretch.

-       Forward fold- 2 minutes

-       Runner’s lunge- 1 minute each side

-       Butterfly- 2 minutes (the first sip of coffee is still too hot)

-       Seated twist- 1 minute each side

-       Wide leg fold- 2 minutes

-       Neck stretch- 30 seconds each direction

-       10 cat/cows

4:49 AM- I prefer my coffee just hotter than lukewarm—now is just about the right time to enjoy.

4:56 AM- After coffee is finished, it’s time to get dressed for a run. I check outside and see it’s a light drizzle. I teeter on the edge of whether I stay in or bundle up to trudge along, but I inevitably get myself dressed.

5:03 AM- The worst part is the beginning; but after a few moments, I’m settled in. The 5AM crew on the Schuylkill River Trail usually shows up consistently; but with the rain today, I see the skeleton crew. A car is parked in the walkway near the park basketball courts and the man who guards the O’Connor pool gate in the summers is balancing half full black plastic bags on the trunk. Three men with lunchpails and hardhats pass on scooters to climb the Market/Chestnut ramp. A runner with glasses intersects me by the Giant on Arch. A walker who's worn the same hoodie everyday since October is by the skate park (he has an umbrella today). The runner is the only one who ever waves back.

The Art Museum is a different place on the opposite of days—full of people either with raised fists atop the steps or in a queue at the base waiting to do the same with a statue. This is how I experience it almost everyday—dark and empty. I kind of prefer it that way. On my way back home, I pass a few less familiar faces. Neither of us wave this time. During the run, I listen to Chapter 2 of the audiobook Except For Palestine by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick borrowed from the Free Library via Libby.

5:37 AM- I get home and am wet only on the front half of my body. I quickly change and finish my morning workout: 5 repeating sets of pull ups and push ups.

5:58 AM- I quietly sneak into the bedroom to wake up my partner. Waking up with a quick cuddle and kiss is far less stressful than waking up to an alarm. The dreariness of the morning is present in the room, so they’re off to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

6:03 AM- I respond to my portion of the email thread from “earlier.”

6:10 AM- I start my partner’s coffee. I use the same recipe but this time half caffeinated and half decaffeinated.

6:19 AM- My partner is still asleep after checking back in. I draw the blinds and start the shower. This usually does the trick.

6:34 AM- Breakfast is served! Peanut butter toast with banana and hemp seeds and a protein shake.

6:42 AM- My partner comes downstairs. We chat about how we slept, what dreams we had (I had none to share), and what our days look like today. They’re off to Delaware for work later this morning and can take it a little slower.

6:58 AM- It’s my turn to shower and get ready for work. Like a cartoon character, my daily outfit is a black t-shirt, jeans, and black boots.

7:18 AM- I pack leftovers (today’s ‘cashew e pepe’), grab all necessary paraphernalia, draw the blinds in the living room, exchange a hug and kiss, and walk out the door. The rain has calmed to a mist. I turn on “Up First” by NPR to listen during the walk to work.

7:22 AM- I reach the midpoint of the South Street Bridge, headed west, and wait for the light at the I-76 intersection. Rarely do I time it right to make the light. I make strained eye contact with the two others waiting as the rain picks up into our faces.

7:34 AM- The fifth floor of the building is UPenn’s division of Infectious Diseases and I work in research there. 99% of the time, I work in HIV research. I like to think I dabble in other diseases, but  I stroll through the corridors checking our freezers, gas lines, and incubators on the way to my desk.

7:39 AM- After exchanging pleasantries with my other colleague who likes to get in early, I’m seated at my desk. Typically I don’t spend much time here, but today it will be the setting for a majority of my day. I get started on addressing some items from this early morning’s email thread. I put on the “Reading Soundtrack” playlist on Spotify softly in my headphones (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZwtERXCS82H?si=18ca994f8c804fea)

9:41 AM- Figures and data are compiled and sent off to everyone involved. I take a short water break. Our desks are among the research lab space meaning we cannot keep consumables nearby—no water, snacks, chapstick. The silver lining is that I break up my work sessions with a 20 second walk out of the lab every so often.

9:44 AM- I shift work to a manuscript I’m contributing to. I glance out the window to find the rain has picked up even more. The rain somehow makes it easier.

12:07 PM- I get to a stopping point and take lunch. Usually, I take lunch earlier to avoid the crowds occupying the tables in the common spaces. There is a reliable spot in the medical school corridor. There is no service here—another silver lining—but I still manage to distract myself with a game of cribbage on my phone as I fork the ‘cashew e pepe.’ I win against the computer 121 to 100.

12:23 PM- I return to my desk and continue to work on the manuscript. Now, the lab is lively as more people have funneled in for the day. I switch my playlist (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5I19Iu49KYAgALgzYZxcw4?si=cf629a31b9ca418c) and try my best to offer the appropriate mix of guidance and respectful disengagement to lab members asking questions. Switching between reading, writing, and offering direction starts to chip away at my focus.

2:27 PM- I call it quits for manuscript writing for today and take another water break. The next phase of my day moves into our biosafety level 2 (BSL2) facility. This is where I physically handle infectious materials—either HIV or a monkey variety (SHIV). I turn the audiobook back on in my headphones before adorning with the necessary PPE. I don’t take any pictures here—I shouldn’t remove my gloves to take out my phone and I’m not sure about the Penn policy on photos. In short, our lab focuses on the way different strains of HIV behave. I check up on two experiments while finishing chapter 3 of the audiobook.

4:32 PM- I return to my desk and outline to set up another experiment next week. There is a different lab on campus that helps provide materials I need for the experiment. I sit back and wait for their email. I take this time to finally get started on writing this day—it’s cryptic text in a message to myself at this point.

5:03 PM- The email I’m awaiting arrives and I head to the building housing my requested materials. Thankfully it’s not raining anymore.

5:23 PM- I’m back in our BSL2 taking care of these new samples.

5:38 PM- My jacket is back on but my bag is outside of it this time. I say my “good evenings” to everyone remaining in the lab and start my walk home. Typically, I would call my mom on the walk home, but she’s also traveling for work. I play the album “Ants From Up There” by Black Country, New Road in my headphones. Also typically, I will start from track 3 rather than the beginning. Today is no exception. I take Spruce eastbound and stay on the northside of the street. There is a work truck with a roofing company logo on the side, NJ plates, and multiple extendable ladders mounted on the roof. As I cross over 33rd, the truck muscles its way between everyone who has the right of way before pounding the gas. For a brief moment, I entertain how an altercation would have played out, but the truck is gone just as quickly as the mental image.

5:48 PM- I reach the midpoint of the South Street bridge once again and just miss the light (once again). I watch the cars as they pass—I count how many drivers are alone. It’s most of them. On one hand, it’s sad to think about how much time people will spend alone throughout the week. On the other hand, it’s a bittersweet comfort knowing I’m not alone in that experience.

5:56 PM- I walk in the door and am greeted by my partner. They returned from dinner not long before I got home. We share highlights from our days. I have little to contribute, but feel content just listening to theirs.

6:07 PM- I get started on making dinner while we continue to chat.

6:51 PM- Dinner is served! We sit down together and my partner has a small plate. Tonight is falafel with seasoned brown rice and lentils, zucchini, kale, cucumbers, pickled onion, and cashew yogurt.

7:22 PM- I get started on the dishes while my partner heads upstairs. I sneak a handful of dried mangoes as I close up shop for the evening.

7:41 PM- I return a few unopened texts from the day. We get comfortable in our bed and put on the show we’re currently watching—Hunter X Hunter. We are the type of watchers who will pause and discuss what is happening throughout episodes. There have been a lot of opinions at this point in the show, so we are pausing a bit more frequently.

9:02 PM- After two episodes, we decide to get ready for bed—brush teeth, skincare, the whole nine yards. We share more about how we’re feeling with the current arc in the show while performing our routines.

9:24 PM- Now fully settled into bed, my day ends mere moments after I roll onto my left side.

Thank you for organizing A Year In Philadelphia and to all of the readers who journeyed through my experience of March 5th, 2024 :-)

Ryan was raised in the Jersey suburbs and moved around a bit before calling Philly home for the past three years. He's a big, curious kid who loves to learn about and explore the city. You can find him along the Schuylkill River Trail early in the morning, wandering through different neighborhoods, or on Instagram @__ryankrause