Engraving next to the entrance of my lab The building where my lab is located

Trinity College--side view. It's so pretty!

Entrance into Grafton Street, which seems to be one of the most affluent streets in Dublin. This is a main shopping street, and a lot of designer shops are located on this street.

Entrance into O'Connell Street. Probably one of the most famous streets in Dublin.

Overlooking O'Connell Bridge.

The IRA tried to blow this statue up a few years back.

Chuckled quite a bit when I saw this. They love Obama here, especially since he took a trip here. OBAMA!

Amerian made, Irish perfected: a two story Burger King.

This is a pole thing..but don't call it a pole. I was made fun of for that. It really doesn't have a significance; it's just in the middle of O'Connell Street

Local government building

Back of local governemnt building

So week one: I have already eaten 4 different types of cakes on four different occaisons...two were last night. Ahh, and two of them were from lab. I'm telling you man...the Irish have it down great. Once cake a week in lab--heck yes! Amanda, we nee dto get on it:) Even though I've only been here a week, I think I've gained weight because I've been eating nutella and bread almost every ngiht before I go to bed; it's quite tasty! You know what they say: When in Dublin. This past weekend I just wandered the city, bought some souveniers, fell asleep in a park (on accident), and went to a pub. Good weekend :) I also switched aparments yesterday; I wasn't really comfortable/geeling the one I was in before, but I love the on I'm in now. It's only a 10 min walk to Trinity, which is nice.

Lab work is starting to pick up. We had to teach ourselves how to do photobleaching. We were abving a bit of trouble with the FRAP (fluorescence recover after photobleaching) assays. I think we were frying the poor pelt because we weren't getting any fluorescence recovery at all. Hah. We were using the same methods spelled out in a paper from this other lab, but it was too much: they cranked the laser up to 100% , which is just so crazy! I think I perfected it a little bit better today, though, because I got recovery after I started bleaching! YAY. Can't wait to tell Adrian about it tomorrow. I think I'm now used to using the confocal here. We had a two hour lab meeting this morning. Who knew lab meetings were so long? I must admit, I like the way Sanyal (my PI at Emory does it). Haha--no lab meetings is nice, but I think it's easier for us to do it that way since my lab back at Emory is a lot smaller than the one here; we are able to keep up with what each other is doing a lot easier.

So yesterday Adrian adn I were on the confocal, then around like 4:30 he was like okay, it's about time for coffee. I was like what? and he was like yeah, afternoon coffee break. So we got up from the confocal and just had our afternoon coffee. It's pretty awesome. Everyone should do this. It makes your day more stress free. You get a break to just chill for a bit and wind down, and you feel more energized and motivated to get back to work. I think I became a pro at the coffee break thing today because I was on the confocal, and I had to do another dissection because I couldn't see any of the boutons on any of the muscle groups on the pelt I was working with. I went to go talk to Adrian about it, and I said, "Well, I decided just to do another dissection because this one doesn't seem any good...but I will do that after our coffee break. Johsn was like nice Sara: spoken like a true Irishman:) Then I went to the other room to wash my hands, and Isabell was like, Coffee break? and I was like heck yeah!

Grocery stores are different here. I went to like 3 different ones and still didn't find any ginger. They also don't carry a lot of brands like the ones do back home. I had only peanut butter brand choice...Panda. That will take some time getting used to.

I will be doing a lot of traveling in the next month! Tomorrow I am off to the Giant's Causeway. It's supposed to be absolutely beautiful. There's also a roped bridge that connects one side of the cliffs to another, and I wanna walk across that:) I'm going to Donegal next weekend, Galway and the Cliffs of Moher the weekend after that, then Cork and Killarney the weekend after that with Ashley and Brittany (can't wait to see them)...then THE WESTERN EUROPE TRIP!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY.

More pictures will be coming:) Until then.

Work Commences

Day 1 at work: Meeting with Robin Dunbar (PI) on ideas for my summer project. Meet all the grad students (DPhil candidates) and post-docs, set up work space with computer. Refrigerator down the hall... Tomasch expects beer in it by Monday :)

Day 2 at work: Walk-through of experiment methodology with my post-doc (MD, MSc) partner, Cathal (great Irish accent!). Very young and funny, open to ideas to improve project. Basic design: baseline PANAS, pain threshold; comedy video; follow-up PANAS and pain threshold. Attend talk by P.I. in city centre- Veritas Forum in Sheldonian Theatre, on topic of "Social Net(works?)"

Day 3 at work: reading and summarizing background literature articles. Discussing my second project for data collection with Robin - this one is more independent, not based on stream of participant subjects. Follow-up on 1995 article published in Nature on conversational group sizes. Very interesting when you find quantitative limits on something this abstract, probably evolutionarily constrained and very obvious sex differences. Based on precedent of sexual segregation in ungulates. Department seminar from visiting Oxford professor on brain micro-circuitry influence on primate IQ.

"Off" for the weekend, still waiting on card/login WiFi access. Next week, data gathering!

Starting Work

My first week at work was pretty interesting. I learned a *lot* of new things.

I got familiar with the lab, which is actually divided into two parts. We work with zebra finches in the animal care facility (which is very nice and organized), and we analyze blood samples in the "lab", which is part of the biology department.

We started off the week by setting up some bird cages and nest boxes so we can breed our zebra finches. The next day, we picked out females that we'd like to breed (basically the ones that were available for the job--we didn't discriminate between "good" or "bad" birds) and took blood samples from them. I've never taken blood samples before so it was interesting to learn. I'm not perfect at it yet but I'm getting pretty good. We also weighed the birds and measured their tarsus length. This helps us assess their body mass vs. size.

Then we picked out the males, and also weighed them and measured their tarsus. We didn't take blood samples from them because we only care about the females' red blood cell concentration ("hct"), since we're investigating how reduced hct specifically affects the females' parenting behavior.

The birds were then paired up. It was so interesting to see how they behaved upon pairing! The male starts singing to the female almost immediately. I knew about this before but I've never seen it, so it was fascinating.

I also learned how to make egg food for the birds, which I'll be doing every morning.

Later in the week we went out to see the field sites, which was a great experience for me. The field sites are located at two farms south of Vancouver, close to the US border. I pretty much grew up on a farm for a good portion of my life, so it felt a lot like home. We checked out starling nests that have been set up and assessed them for the number of eggs and chicks. They are just starting to hatch, so I was able to see eggs, newly hatched chicks, and older chicks. Below are some photos from one of the field sites.

My boyfriend and I also checked out the Bloedel Conservatory this week, which houses exotic plants and birds like parrots.

Overall I'm enjoying my time here, except for a couple of quips. Those would be 1. that food here is like 2x more expensive, which sucks because it's something you *have* to get and can't really "save" on and 2. that I dropped my $600 camera this week. It's not entirely broken but can't focus properly anymore.

At least my work is going well. Everyone in the lab is friendly and my project is enjoyable.

I'm off for a run. :) See ya next time!

PS: I have tons of pictures I'd like to share but inserting images in these posts is really a pain in the posterior... maybe I'll figure out an easier way soon.

Hello from Ireland!

I'm here! Yay. I arrived yesterday at 6:30 AM, and let me tell you I am pretty tired.

I have some really nice roommates. They helped me go buy things yesterday, Can I just say that you can buy nutella for like under 2EUR? Pretty exciting. I really don't have that many exciting pictures. I'll try to get some more as time goes on.

Lesson learned #1: No one cares about your shoes. For now on, I will wear comfy shoes to lab b/c my feet definitely hurt from walking all the way to lab.

To my mom and sister: NO ONE WEARS RAINCOATS HERE! Haha, but I'm happy I got a raincoat b/c it's colder here than I thought. The weather says like 65...70...and it definitely does not feel like 65 or 70. It could be because the sun doesn't come out. Also, it hasn't rained, which I'm pretty surprised b/c you would think it rains like every day in Dublin. Oh well, I'm sure it will come. It also doesn't seem like people wear rainboots here...weird.

The taxi driver taught me a cool fact: there are not Catholic cathedrals in Dublin, even though Dublin is primarily Catholic. However, there are two Protestant Cathedrals here. Can I say, that they're really really pretty.

Trinity College campus is also gorgeous. I woke up really early this morning (not by choice), so I went and just sat at different benches on campus. Architecture is AMAZING. All of the pretty architecture here was built during the UK invasion. There are soo many pretty columns. I do have pictures below.

My labmates are absolutely nice! I will primarily be working with Adrian (sp?), who I believe is a postdoc. He will help me with the FRAP experiments. That's where you tag a specific protein that you want to see with GFP (green fluorescence protein), then you photobleach an area and track how long the area takes to recover. Pretty cool stuff. I got to see the two photon microscope today. I envision something really big and with doodads sticking out of it..but it pretty much just looks like a regular microscope. Haha. (TCD [pics below)

You'll love this Dr. S. So the way it works, is that the microscope takes many slices and at a particular slice (not below or above) two photons are excited, and their energy levels combine at that point, and you're able to take really cool pics of it. Oh physics:)

The above picture on the left: there's like this stage in front of the tower thingy. They're having a Shakespear festival..and I think I'm going to go see a couple of plays. I really don't know what the picture of the gold thing is. It seemed odd, so I took a picture of it.

Anyway, one of the people in my lab is helping me get a phone. He's giving me his old iphone! So nice of him!! I expected to be buying a pretty low key phone so that I could just get by, but I'm not complaining if I get an iphone:) There's an Iranian girl in the lab too, which makes me happy. Maybe she can help me out with my Farsi!

Mani (my PI) is very nice. I'm excited to be working under him b/c he challenges you to find things out on your own, and then he'll explain it to you later, which is nice because I think you remember things better that way. We had a journal club today..which I never have been too. It was a good experience, but let me tell you, I was so tired at that point that I just wanted to curl up on the ground and take a nap. I stayed awake through the whole things, though, so no worries.

For now, I guess that's it. More pictures will be coming, from Will's request.

What happens when there's political disturbance?

For the most part, Ecuador has followed the means of democracy for a few decades now--believing in democratic voting procedures, debates, and a system of checks and balances (though, this is currently being disputed). Politically speaking these days the Ecuadorians are pretty happy with their president, Rafael Correa, and support many of his decisions from banning bullfighting to media reform (according to this BBC article). He's recently gotten public support after the referendum questions were revealed, which means if all goes well Correa will be President for a third round. Well chicos y chicas, right now I'm not in favor of the government's actions.

On May 23rd, 2011 there was a full blow military force to close down illegal mines in the province of Las Esmeraldas, specifically in the villages of San Lorenzo and Eloy Alfaro. Conveniently, this province is the primary location where my PI and the EcoDess projects take place. The aforementioned villages are two out of five villages we want to sample in, but they were severely impacted by the government's actions. The President said, "El operativo fue con base en el estado de excepción, que decretó el Presidente en los cantones San Lorenzo y Eloy Alfaro, para impedir la explotación de oro," which translates to "the operation was based on a state of emergency, in San Lorenzo and Eloy Alfaro, to stop the exploitation of gold." At the same time, this forceful destruction and dynamite usage on 67 mining machines caused a severe amount of environmental damage in addition to the damage already caused by the illegal mining. The nearby rivers of San Lorenzo and Santiago were tested for their microbiological and chemical water quality by Instituto de Higiene Izquieta Pérez and the National Department of Water (Secretaría Nacional del Agua) to find that there are increased levels of bacteria, aluminum, mercury and arsenic. Keep in mind these rivers are the primary source of water for almost all of the villages living on the coast.

So the question is, should the government deal with illegal mining like this again? For me, I would have to belt a resounding NO. Of course I'm biased because I sure as heck would hope that things settle down so that it is safe to continue our research project, but moreover this issue clearly demonstrates the ignorance of governmental actions on the community's outlook. People are angry in these villages. It's already hard to come by potable water on the coasts. This action made drinking clean water that much harder to come by. At the same time, the illegal mining action was an income generator for several families, now what? It's definitely a controversial issue because the illegal mining itself had been causing damage to the environment for six months previous to the military operation. Were they poisoning themselves without even knowing it?

Don't worry Cathy or Leah, the University of San Francisco de Quito already sent some field directors to scope out the situation to see if it's safe before any of the students from University of Michigan or Emory get into the field. If all else fails, there is a potential plan B to work in Southern Quito on a hospital-based project with details TBD. Links to some articles on the illegal mining can be found here, here and here. Slightly more controversial: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55869.

As for now, I've been tuning in to spanish soap operas, grabbing coffee with students, and watching spanish movies (seen below) to apply what I'm learning.

Cross your fingers guys, I'm gonna need some luck these next few weeks.

P.S. More appealing pictures of Quito and some nearby sites will be up after this weekend.

Sara's arrived

Sara's arrived in Dublin but shhhh.... she's sleeping! Update coming soon.

That means everyone's on site and IRES is ON!

I've arrived in Middle Earth!

Well everything has gone smoothly so far, finding internet that I can use currently has been a bit of an obstacle, since I have to wait a few days for my ID to come in so I can get into the lab building after hours, which means that over the weekend (which is right when I got in basically), no internet! Though I found a McDonalds with free Wi-Fi, I used up the data allotment in about 10 minutes :( but the McCafe at that McDonalds had legit baked goods! They wouldn't let me take a picture though, so again, sad-face at McDonalds!

Anyways, my adventure so far ....

The flight over here was LONG, but I was asleep for most of it, which was good since I arrived in the morning, so I wasn't extremely jet-lagged, just tired for the first few days from traveling in general and getting used to new settings.

Also learned that barf-bags really DO work... and don't leak .... yeyyy lot's of turbulence! (and it was right as we were landing too haha!)

When I was at the San Francisco airport, I saw artwork made of reused items ... which was cool and all, until I saw a tire bucket, which as it sounds, is a bucket, made of used tires ... which would be nice as art, if they weren't sold EVERYWHERE in the Middle East as a really cheap bucket and we used to haul dirt in Jordan last summer! And someone is getting credit to display that as art? That's like taking a toy sand pale, and displaying it as art, without doing anything to it. Come on!

Then at the airport in Auckland, to get to the domestic transfer terminal, I had to run outside in the rain (really HEAVY rain) for 10 minutes since I didn't have enough time to wait for their shuttles, and made my flight JUST in time - though what they didn't tell me, was that NZ domestic flights, you only get one carry on, so I had to check a bag for $75! and my cards weren't working! So I had to go exchange my cash, so thank goodness I listened to Cathy and brought lots of cash with me! I have found out since that none of my cards seem to work here even though I told my banks I was going abroad, but they DO work at ATMs, just not anywhere else, so cash it is!

The Accommodations

So now you have heard all about my few hiccups! Onto the good stuff! The hostel I'm staying at, the Kiwis Nest Hostel, is awesome! Not only are the people great, which I could have told you before I got here since they responded to me through my emails (and quickly) and offered me a good deal, but the location is PERFECT! I'm about a 1 min 30 second walk from the University, about a 6 min walk from my lab and the hospital, and the walk there is straight through the main shopping strip in town! It looks like I will only have to pay for transportation if I go on a weekend trip outside the city to see other parts of the country, never when I'm in town! Since I've gotten here, I've looked into some places that I didn't see in my research at home when looking for accommodations, and this place has the best price and is in the best location!

The room itself is like a small dorm room, I have a twin bed, a desk, a closet, a LARGE window, and a little bar table thingy by the door. Tiny but all I need. The hostel itself has several shared kitchens and kitchenettes and refrigerators, and equipment for cooking, a washing machine, dryer and clotheslines, several shared bathrooms (you can pay for a more expensive room with your own bathroom, but that's not mine) and a TV common room. So basically, it is like a really upscale dorm room. PLUS, I don't have to worry about cleaning any of it! Just my dishes when I'm done using them, but the staff clean the bathrooms each day and everything and will service your room whenever you ask, so I don't even have to worry about dealing with my own bed sheets or vacuuming or garbage! So, for the price of the cheapest flat around here, I get everything I need, a great location, my own room, and I don't have to clean! The only possible downside is that I can't really afford to pay for internet by the hour to have in my room, but it is an option in an emergency (since now I am more set up in the lab getting internet shouldn't be as much of a problem) and the house doesn't have central heating and it's winter here ... though it is like winter in Atlanta so blocking the wind is fine and each room has a space heater, so it hasn't been a problem at all! :D



Above is the view out away from the city from in front of the hostel.


Sheep and Ketchup

I've noticed that ketchup in foreign countries is SOOO much better than in America! In Jordan, Dolly's ketchup is super sweet and amazing, and the ketchup here has a uniquely flavored vinegar that is really yummy! I don't know why American ketchup is so lame, but my theory holds true! To make this a little less random, the first night I was here I took myself out to a nice dinner (since I will be living on rice and peanut butter most of the time now that I've settled in) and tried venison for the first time, something I've always wanted to try. The meat itself is ok, though I do think I prefer beef and lamb over it, but the meal overall was awesome! And it had fries, hence the ketchup. I also made friends with my waitress, Claire, there, and she is a 4th year student here at the University and lives with 3 American international students and a Canadian, so I got her contact info and one of her flatmates who is also going to be doing research here when the semester ends contacted me :D so yeyy, friends!

Also, the sheep I saw on my way to the hostel from the airport were so much cuter than the sheep in Jordan! I guess they are different species, but the sheep in Jordan made me not like sheep as they were really creepy looking with creepy eyes, though the sheep here are soo cute!


The City

Dunedin is a small college town, and it is DEFINITELY just that! The population here seems to be almost all students, or people associated with the University (aside from the people who run the businesses in town, though a lot of the workers there are students as well!) and the demographic looks surprisingly a lot like Emory ...

It turns out winter break is soon for the students here though, so from June 24th to July 10th, the town is going to be pretty dead, and exams are in about a week, so it will be pretty quiet.

Food so far

The ice cream here is amazing! Super creamy and NZ's Hokey Pokey ice cream is very very vanillay and creamy and with chunks of toffee in it, it's incredible! The cakes here are also pretty good and the restaurants and cafes all are great so far. Only thing is aside from some of the baked goods, and there being more lamb and seafood on the menu than in America, I can't really figure out what is uniquely New Zealand food. There are a TON of sushi, Korean, Thai, and Indian restaurants here, as in the majority of places to eat fall into one of these categories. Guess it's a good thing I love those types of food, though I wish I could figure out more what would be considered local, guess I'll have to work on that. I have managed to find locally brewed beers though (don't worry, I'm legal here as well as at home, yey being 22!) and the main student pub is about as far away of a walk from where I'm staying as a walk from Eagle Row to the DUC, so less than 5 minutes. The beers I have tried are pretty good, especially since I am not a fan of beer usually, but the guide book I picked up before my trip raves about a few of their brews, so I figured I have to at least try them while I'm in town!



Yummy peppermint slice and AMAZING homemade fizzy lemonade with mint!
The Work

This week I'm mostly doing background reading from textbooks my advisor has and then getting started on the data collection, so it's a nice way to ease in to the new setting. Also the department here is very much like the anthro department at Emory, so it's very comfortable for me and I am pretty much on my own to work at my own pace, with other people around doing their own thing too. I got to go to the department weekly meeting today and listen to a presentation update on the work one of the professors here is doing, which was interesting to hear as it seemed like a way to discuss obstacles and see what others have to say about them. Also I went to a basketball game on Saturday with my advisor, as her husband's company is one of the team sponsors, with my advisor and one of the PhD students here which was a lot of fun and cool to see the differences between professional basketball here and at home, where the last NBA game I went to was of the Bulls back when Michael Jordan was playing ... so VASTLY different! There were maybe only 1500 people in the stadium total, but then again, I was told that the Otago Nuggets won their first game in three years last week .... and that streak didn't last.




Basketball game ... and a competition at half time to win a bar tab ... with some girl competing in a (Lilo and) Stitch onesey ...


And that's it for now! Sorry this post was a bit long, but it's encompassing a very busy week :D

Cheers!
Julie