Hi everyone,

I cant believe that it has been over 2 months since I left the US.  Italy is still fantastic, and I enjoy working at the University of Milan.  I am actually switching projects for the last two weeks of my time here to help finish some work on the EAE (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) model of Multiple Sclerosis.  Much of the work is similar but it is a nice change that has allowed me to learn new techniques.

Last weekend, Kristen and I visited Zurich and Lucerne, Switzerland.  Zurich is one of the greatest cities that I have gotten to visit thus far, and I am so glad we decided to meet there.  Conveniently, Zurich is exactly half way between Heidelberg and Milan so it was the perfect set up.  We had time to go hiking on Sunday afternoon and just made it back to the train station before a huge hail storm moved into the area.

Here is a photo I snapped on the way down from Mount Rigi -- you can see Mount Pilatus and a little bit of the town, Goldau, in the background.

Next weekend, I am meeting up with one of the friends I made earlier this summer.  Kerri and some of her friends from Glasgow  (where she goes to Uni) are traveling for two months so I am meeting them in Bucharest!  Of all places, Bucharest is pretty random, but it was the only weekend I could meet them and I am excited to visit Eastern Europe.

Talk to you soon,

Megan

Last days in Deutschland

All is going well here in Germany. The last two weeks there was a workshop for our collaborators in Cote d'Ivoire and so there were lots of lectures on lab techniques and projects going on at RKI, but sadly they were mostly in French...
I sat in on a few to watch and learned that lab words are pretty much in the same in German, French and English, so that is convenient. I feel like my knowledge about lab work has increased exponentially and my ability to make independent and educated decisions about how to carry out research becomes better every day. My project is done for the moment, so I have been working on other projects just to learn more skills and have a better understanding of all the things one can do with molecular biology. It's really cool to learn what the others are doing and I am so glad I have had the chance to work with this amazing group of people.

Last weekend I was in Lübben, which is in the Spreewald and I camped there with an old family friend who lives in Dresden. It was so relaxing to escape the hussle and bussle of Berlin and see some greenery for a bit. We grilled over the fire, hiked 16km around the lake and canoed for a bit. It was a really nice break. But now that I'm back in Berlin and only have 2 weeks left, I have to make the most of it!
Tonight a friend of mine from lab and I went to beach bar which is Jamaican themed and experienced the reggae scene. It was so funny to just stumble across this cultural island in the middle of Berlin.

I haven't been taking enough pictures, but I will get better about that! I hope everyone else is having an awesome time!

bis gleich!

Summer in Germany..at least I don't have to worry about tan lines

Spreewald

Picking some mushrooms for dinner!

Our fabulous set up

Kristen

Go Broncos!

Hey!

Lab is going just as well as ever. I've finished some data analyses for myself, so I'll be working on writing up something with them over the next two weeks. I'm still working on coding, data entry, and transcription and am headed on a home visit for the NICU study this week - they're collecting data for a 6 month follow-up for infants who were born prematurely then placed into the NICU. The home visits are where they get the videos I'm coding and the interviews I'm transcribing, so I'm excited to see the procedure in its entirety. I can't believe I only have 10 more days in this lab - I will be very busy for all of them I'm sure!

I've just had a wonderful weekend in Brisvegas (just learned that term yesterday and am really excited to use it!). Friday night I went to a Footy game despite some pretty damp conditions. It was great, and naturally the Brisbane Broncos beat the New Zealand Warriors, but it was a pretty close match! I am so happy to have found a substitute for Grid Iron in its off season! Rugby is a very similar idea minus any sort of head or body protection, and the fans are just as fun (well almost as fun as Steelers fans, but that's a pretty tough crowd to compete with).

The poncho look is in this season

Go Broncos!!

I spent the past two days trying to cross as much off my to do list as possible. I managed to trek to the Roma Street Parklands and walk through some beautiful gardens (and get in the background of several wedding photos...) and then head to the Brisbane French Festival to celebrate Bastille Day with some tasty crepes. The next day I tried out a new farmers market, wandered around the shopping town of Paddington, and finished the day with a scenic rock climbing adventure (unlike the Rugby players, I was wearing a helmet, no worries!).

Unique flowers in the Parklands

Happy Bastille Day y'all!

Rock climbing at Kangaroo Point Cliffs

View of Brisbane from the top of the cliffs

I have one more weekend left in Brisbane, and I'm really excited to spend it with a couple of friends who just came to town to begin their fall study abroad programs. I can't believe how quickly the trip has gone, but I suppose time truly does fly when you're having fun. Exploring this country has been such an amazing experience!!

Cheers!

Dance Lemur, Dance!

All the children saying goodbye to us after our 3 day stay in their village

a mouse lemur during our night-time trapping

 a really cool looking spider (they're really big here, like REALLY big)

kids love photographs in villages

old man sitting in a window in a village

all the children saying goodbye to us after our 3 day stay in the village

Hey all!

Madagascar is still doing really well.  I just got back from an expedition to the second village that we are working with (out of 3).  Since the village is only about a 20 minute drive away, we did a lot of work there before our expedition meaning that we only had to sleep there for 3 nights.  Village 3 is a few hour drive away and because of that we have to do all of the work there at the same time;  we're leaving on tuesday for a 10 day expedition.  

Yesterday we went mouse lemur trapping, which was a really amazing experience.  Mouse lemur trapping consists of setting small traps in trees and hanging them by strings.  A few hours after setting the traps you go to collect them and take the lemurs out.  When we took the lemurs out (they're in between the size of a mouse and a rat) we got to hold them (with gloves on) which was just so great.  There's nothing cooler than holding the world's smallest primate in your hand, so thank you IRES, for giving me that opportunity.

Meanwhile, on hours that we have off and on weekends, I frequently go visit the river that's down by the Centre, or go hiking in the forest, or go on day trips with other researchers and help them with their research.  Earlier today I went into the forest with another lemur researcher and we were collecting lemur urine, which is probably one of the most difficult things I've ever done.  She used frisbees to collect urine as it was falling from the canape.  

I'll be sure to check back in as soon as we return from the third village

All the best

Ian

Fourth of July and Olympic Torch Relay

Hello,

This past week hasn't been too exciting, except that I did get some awesome data in the lab. My crystals diffracted really well at the synchrotron x-ray beam line and my professor was able to collect two data sets! We are hoping to analyze and process the data in the next few days as well as make some more crystals, so we can collect more data.

Outside of the lab, I haven't been doing too much. For the Fourth of July, I went to a restaurant called Wagamama with the new American student in my lab and a few other students in her program. The food and wine at the restaurant was really good. Afterwards, we went to a cafe and had the most delicious desserts-- I ordered a tiramisu.

On Saturday, the Olympic Torch made its way to Cambridge. The Torch travels around the UK for 70 days ahead of the London 2012 Olympics and covers 8,000 miles with 8,000 runners. There was just 20 more days to go until the the Opening Ceremony. On Saturday, it finally came to Cambridge and was welcomed by a large cheering crowd. The event took place at the biggest park in Cambridge and there was music, food, and games. I met up with the other American student in my lab and then visited one of the famous pubs in Cambridge after to celebrate.

The stage on Parker's Piece

Can you see the torch above the crowd? 

Well, it was on the big screen in case you couldn't

The Cambridge "cauldron" being lit 

On Sunday, I watched the men's Wimbledon final and cheered on Andy Murray with the rest of Britain, hoping to see the first British man in over 70 years to win the title. Unfortunately it didn't go his way, but it was exciting anyway to be here to see a British man into the final.

Yesterday, there was a BBQ in our department to welcome some new students, primarily from Hong Kong. There was free food and drinks and it didn't rain so it was a true outdoor BBQ. I had a really good time and got to mingle with other people in the lab and the department. We also welcomed one of these students into our lab. He is an undergraduate student from the University of Hong Kong.

I'm not really sure about my plans for the weekend yet. I'll be really busy in the lab for the next few days, but hopefully I'll be able to make a trip somewhere nearby this weekend.

Nisha

Almost halfway done...what???

Hey fellow Europeans and other world travelers!

I was having trouble logging onto the IRES blog but thank you Kathy for helping me fix the problem! (though I am still not exaclty sure what the problem originally was). So last week I went to Venice with Megan as youve probably read by her last post...probably one of the most unique cities Ive ever been in! For one, boats are the primary form of transportation..and by primary I acutally mean the ONLY form of transporation.
Venice in a nutshell:

Meet the Gondolas...such a shame they were so expensive to actually ride but we can at least pretend?

St. Marks Basilica...I wouldn't mind living here :)

Quaint lil' alleyway

I ate real Italian pizza for the first time in my life, and learned at least 5 Italian words...so practically fluent I guess. It was a short week in lab because the DAAD-RISE program hosts an annual conference in Heidelberg that all the interns attend from Thursday to Saturday. It was a blast meeting other Americans, Brits, and Canadians but it was also a relief to finally speak fast English without fear of being misunderstood. The conference itself was relatively short. We went to a few meetings, which informed us of the laundry list of opportunities available to American interns in Germany (who knows, I might be coming back!) and listened to a few student presentations. The rest of the time was meant to meet other students who we can later travel with! We stayed in a hostel literally five minutes from where I live. (Important note: one advantage of having the conference in Heidelberg is that I received 160 Euro to "travel" to the conference..this will be put to good use with my upcoming travels! Also I was basically the official tour guide of the trip.)

Funny side note: A German friend of mine told me that I have been using the German word "komisch" incorrectly for the past month. I thought it stemmed from the word comical. It actually means "weird"...I might have been offending a few Germans along the way. OOPS!

This week in lab I will continue testing my NHC catalysts..I currently have 6 to test. The NMRs show pure results so far. Also, I am getting signifcantly better at recrystallizing my products, so my yields have improved significantly. Chemistry note: recrystallizing means applying a certain combination of ether and/or pentane to precipitate the product...the problem is that I never seem to use the right combination :/

More updates coming your way!

Kristen

Tasmania

Hey!

Things in the lab have been fairly quiet, as school holidays have led to vacations and days off for many. Honestly, I've been enjoying the quiet, as I can blast the heater above my desk and not have to worry about making the lab an unbearable temperature for others (did I mention I packed shorts and tee shirts for my trip? Brisbane's having a record cold spell, so poor planning on my part.). I've been continuing to code videos and enter data as well as work on data analyses for a project using data from a PICU study. I'm comparing distress symptoms from PICU admissions between age groups to come up with the best approach for treating younger vs. older children that will result in the best psychological outcomes. I took advantage of the school holidays, however, and took a long weekend to travel to Tasmania.

My weekend started Wednesday evening, watching the third and final game of the State of Origin series at a friend's house. Naturally, the Maroons (Queensland) won for the seventh year in a row. Since it was also 4th of July, my friends made me some makeshift fireworks (basically just a bunch of sparklers) so that we could all celebrate. Between that and the apple pie we ate, I felt almost at home! Fourth of July is a great holiday so I was sad to miss it, but I am grateful that I was able to spend it with such a wonderful group of people!

Firework Show! (Kinda)

Happy 4th of July!

Thursday I headed down to Tassie to visit with some of my cousins. It was really, REALLY cold, but it's an incredibly beautiful part of Australia! We spent the first day hiking around Cataract Gorge in Launceston. Talk about a picturesque town - I loved it! We even stopped by the Macaque exhibit in the City Park. Yes, there are monkeys in the park (anyone else think that's strange?). The next few days were spent road-tripping around Tasmania. We drove down to Port Arthur and spent the day walking around the beautiful old prison (is it okay to call a prison beautiful? It really was.) and then continued on to Hobart. On our way back, we stopped by the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and fed a ton of kangaroos. These guys were too cute- they curled up into you if you scratched them under their chins. Precious.

Cataract Gorge in Launceston

Cruising into Port Arthur - just like a criminal.

This is the furthest south I've ever been. Fun!

Port Arthur Penitentiary

Playing with my 'roo pal

How cute?! He was begging for food.

A trip to Tassie would be incomplete
without a Tasmanian devil sighting!!

I'm safely back to sunny Brisbane and am ready to get cracking on all my projects. I can't believe I only have three weeks left of work! The time is passing far too quickly, but I am having an amazing experience.

Oh, and I managed to upload a video of some Aussie birds outside my office. They have the weirdest calls - I hope you enjoy them!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZeSK7_bnqg&feature=g-upl

These birds are so pretty- and loud!

On that note, cheers!