One of my favourite discoveries is the Yoplait saveur d’autrefois (“flavours of old”) yogurt that I can get at the Brussels-South train station. It consists of thick and creamy traditional cultured yogurt sitting on a bed of fruit, in an old fashioned glazed terracotta pot. A world of difference from the runny fluorescent pink yogurt they sell in America in those strange plastic inverted cups. Just one of the many reasons I much prefer living on this side of the Atlantic.

In an attempt to see more of Seattle before we left, Adrian and I participated in a Savor Seattle Food and Drink Tasting Tour. We all wore wireless headphones so that we could hear our guide above the noise, and were given a rare behind the scenes tour of Pike Place Markets.

We ate doughnuts from the Daily Dozen, drank tea at MarketSpice, drank soup at Pike Place Chowder, went behind the counter to sample Chukar Cherries, ate herbed curds at Beecher’s, sampled Piroshky-Piroshky pastries, and finished with Etta’s triple coconut cream pie.

In addition to sampling some delicious Honeycrisp apples at Frank’s Quality Produce, we also learnt that if one wants eggplants with fewer seeds, one should choose the male eggplants with the small round navel, rather than the female eggplants with the long wide navels.

But most exciting of all, as we were savouring the smoked salmon at Pike Place Fish Markets, the fishmongers threw me one of their giant fishes, and I caught it! I smelt like a fishwife for the rest of the day, but it was well worth it for such a quintessential Seattle experience.

Today is October 15, the National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the USA. I have watched family and friends try to piece themselves together after these tragedies, which are made all the more difficult as often an answer cannot be found to the question “why?”

As a scientist, I know that thorough analysis of health issues begins with a quality data set. The S.3142 and H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act sets out clear requirements for each state to record pregnancy and infant loss in a systematic way, which will help researchers establish a national database to look for patterns and common threads between cases. This is the first step in identifying associations, which can lead to causes, then treatments, and then cures. I hope that the US government will find time to pass this Act amongst all the election and financial chaos.

Last night we held our Belgium-themed farewell party. We had waffles, fries with mayonnaise, chocolate cupcakes, and fourteen different types of Belgian beer. Many of our friends from Seattle were able to join us, and our tiny house was filled with noise and conversation. So many people came up to me during the night, telling me how sad that they were that we were leaving, and how much they will miss us. I have made so many wonderful friends over the past twenty months, and it will be strange leaving them all behind. I made sure to tell them that there will be a spare room waiting for them in Brussels if they come to visit.


We have four more weeks of work, and then we are leaving the USA. Work is so busy that I rarely have time to contemplate this fact. My time as a US resident and researcher at the bench is coming to an end.