¡Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

With the first week of my time at Buenos Aires drawing to a close, I still can't believe that I am on another continent. The entire experience so far has very much been mind-blowing. Even with just the beginning of my journey, I am so appreciative of this chance in enlightening me to what things are like outside of the United States, not only in the science but of the culture and sociality which defines our universal human condition.

It looks like I wasn't the only one not looking forward to the 10 hour flight :3

I think the anxiety of the trip first hit me as I landed in Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, waiting to board my flight to Argentina. Unfortunately, there was a one hour delay, which meant I was wallowing in my anxiety at the gate for an additional hour while being surrounded by Spanish-speaking (presumably) Argentinians; it already felt like I had left the US.

Yay for international flights!

I was pleasantly surprised when the flight crew started handing out dinner because I thought the custom of complimentary in-flight meals were all but abolished some 10 years ago.  The meal itself wasn't very good and literally half-baked, but I think I was hungry enough to eat the whole thing without complaining at the time. I watched three movies on the plane ride there, although I can't seem to remember which movies they were. United Airlines also sports an impressively large overhead luggage container because I realized the "carry-on" I brought was actually large enough to have been checked-in. A few flight attendants and passengers gave me some worried looks, but it would have all gone to Argentina on the same plane, right?

Dozens of these European-esque statues dot the city streets.

Going through customs and border police was relatively fast, and I was on my way to al centro, or downtown, Buenos Aires through a bus service. The Ezeiza International Airport which I landed in is actually 30 to 45 minutes away from the actual city of Buenos Aires. Once I reached the bus station, someone from my host lab came to pick me up and take me to my apartment. In total, it took me nearly 24 hours to get from Hartsfield-Jackson to my apartment, so I rewarded myself with a nap.

I would say Argentina is quite different from other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries because its development and culture and have been influenced by so many different sources. There is definitely a more European atmosphere to Buenos Aires than capital cities of other South American countries. My host PI, Dr. Lidia Szczupak, told me of the more prominent Italian tradition, rather than Spanish, in certain elements of Argentine culture, like cuisine. And due to continued immigration, many other ethnic groups, such as the Chinese and the Koreans, have effectively established their place in the country as well.

Buenos Aires on a rainy day, taken from my apartment on the 11th floor.

Buenos Aires is divided into various districts. My barrio, Colegiales, is a sleepy, cobblestone-paved residential area tucked between some of the provinces most bustling sectors. Literally if I walk a couple blocks in any direction, I will be met by a busy avenue with people and shops open at nearly all hours of the day. I wasn't able to take many other good pictures of the neighborhood because many of the streets are under heavy construction. Hopefully by the end of my trip, things will have cleared up a bit more.

By the Colegiales train station.

Yes, they're open for 25 hours everyday!

On my second day at Buenos Aires, I ventured to take the public transportation system to one of the surrounding barrios, Recoleta. I am fairly sure that I was ripped off when getting a subway ticket, but I am just thankful that I got to where I needed to go. I remember getting on the subway not knowing which stop I had to get off at and wondering if I was on the correct subway line entirely. But somehow, I recognized the one street name that I knew and was able to get to my destination (after walking a kilometer or two). There were also some travelling musicians who got on my train and started jamming in the midst of the morning commute. I wanted to take some pictures of them, but the subway was more crowded than the C Route shuttle during rush hour at the time.

My main purpose of this trip was to get some USD exchanged for pesos through the so-called "black market." But as I've been reassured many times by many Argentinians and travelers to Argentina, this is a perfectly legitimate way to exchange money. Since the Argentine peso is so prone to inflation and instability, many Argentine citizens prefer to cash their savings in USD, often offering far better rates for dollars than the official market. This makes it a win-win solution between citizens and foreigners. Although I couldn't find the store I was searching for, I was able to strike a decent deal with a local family who owned a string of small markets (kioskos). 

Starbucks would not stand for this in the US.

While I was walking around, I found this standalone McCafe and was so surprised because I had just seen a McDonalds a couple stores away. Interestingly enough, as soon as I took this picture, a group of American tourists came by, remarked on the ingenious idea of a standalone McCafe, and took pictures. How American of us.

Dog walking, a full-time job in BA.

Here is an example of another sociocultural difference between the US and Argentina. Most Argentines are extremely busy people but not entirely because their schedules are full of things to do. But due to public transportation issues, traffic at nearly all hours of sunlight, and a host of other issues means that most working class Argentines get home and have dinner at 8 or 9PM. This doesn't leave time for many other things. But Argentinians also love dogs, and to combat the necessity of having to walk their dogs, they hire dog-walkers to take care of their dogs during the day. You'll run into multiple packs of dogs throughout the day, all handled by one person. I've already seen handlers with many more dogs than the ones in the picture above! It's also very interesting when two packs unexpectedly meet each other on the streets :3

My desk and computer at the lab.

My very own homemade power supply!

In regards to my research, I will be at the Ciudad Universitaria campus of the University of Buenos Aires in the Departamento de Fisología, Biología Molecular, y Celular. Our lab is more like a consortium of many different labs, all working in a communal environment. There are physiologists, neuroscientists, molecular biologists, and many other academics using various perspectives of study. My host PI introduced me to most of the people working in our shared space. Since most of them were fairly fluent in English, it was nice to have a conversation lasting longer than a minute!

My project will involve using intracellular recordings to stimulate the NS (non-spiking) neuron of the leech ganglion. The Szczupak lab has previously studied this particular neuron in detail to ascertain its properties and possible role in the leech Central Pattern Generator, specifically in leech crawling mechanisms. This neuron has been shown to be electrically coupled with major motor neurons in the ganglion, and, in a previous paper, the lab discovered that hyperpolarization and depolariztion of the NS caused reciprocal effects in the motor neuron firing frequency.

The exact role of NS is still debated; it could be a type of premotor neuron or another regulatory element altogether. To aid in this investigation, I will be using force transducers (which I have previously worked with on the leech heart) to measure tension of a piece of leech skin still attached to an isolated ganglion. We will use extracellular and intracellular stimulation of the NS to observe what effects it may have on the actual motor output, which will be measured by how it affects the leech skin movement, a mirror to leech crawling.

As such, I am excited to see what the rest of this trip has in stock for me! I will end my first post with some pictures of local graffiti artists. They definitely give an interesting look into the local culture and show how art can be represented on any kind of medium.

Until next time. Ciao!