Global Colgate

Himi Pictures

Photos from our time in Himi.

 

I plan to write a more detailed post about our Himi experience, but for the time being, here are some photos of what we did.

 

Himi is in Toyama Prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast of Honshu, the main island of the Japanese Archipelago. It is extremely famous for its fish, in particular the Yellow Tale, called buri in Japanese, that can be caught during the winter months. All meals had as their center plate a plate of fresh sashimi (raw fish). We all worked at an internship for three days. I worked at the Fisherman's Wharf, selling the fish that were caught that day. We also did a lot of traditional activities, such a charcoal making and seeing the Lion Dance. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures from the visits with Elementary School children or the tea ceremony and dressing up in Japanese kimono that we did.

 

 

BUSY!

The last week of the semester is always the busiest.  Not only do I have to finish up all my lab work (which includes two cell culture experiments and finishing the purification process for two new proteins), but we have a final exam in biochemistry on Thursday.  There are simply not enough hours in the day to work full time and study for a final.  Hopefully my grade won't suffer too much as a consequence.  On top of a final exam, I also have a final paper due.  We have to write up our research in a scientific journal style article.  This is extremely challenging and time consuming, but it will be nice to have all my experiments and results organized in a comprehensive paper.  Fortunately, the article is due next Wednesday, so it looks like I'll be working on it during the beginning of break.

Because this week is so busy, this will most likely be my last post.  I had a GREAT time in D.C.  Working at the NIH was an amazing experience and D.C. is an awesome place to live!  I enjoyed blogging about my time in D.C. and would love to share more about my experience with anyone who is interested.  Feel free to e-mail me with questions at ttendler@students.colgate.edu.

Traveling, hosting and making the most of it: November

Between the kick off of holiday season and the end of the semester crunch, November always proves to be a busy month.

In the beginning of November, I was still on my tour of Italy with my roommates, Kelsey and Michelle.

When I last blogged, we were en route to Rome.  Because I prefer to balance sight-seeing with a bit of relaxation, I was unsure how I would feel about Rome with its high density of must-see attractions.  Luckily, the great map we had from our hostel in combination with the casual cool of the Italians allowed us to take in all of the sights without ever feeling as if we were on a tight schedule.  Kelsey, Michelle and I had a great time strolling around the city seeing what there is to see and stopping whenever we desired to do so. 

We visited Vatican City, where we explored St. Peter's Basilica and then climbed to the top of the cupola. This was a feat that should not be taken on by the claustrophobic or the weak of heart.  It was a serious climb-- beginning with the long winding steps in the first tower up to the roof, followed by 320 narrow steps up to the top of the dome, where the ceiling became more and more slanted as we continued to climb. 

With it's spectacular 360 degree view of Rome though; the climb was well worth the effort!

We paid a visit to the Trevi Fountain, a famous baroque fountain completed in 1762.  It is said that if you throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder into the fountain, you are promised a quick return to Rome.  When Michelle was trying to take a picture of me doing this, the camera didn't capture it the first time, so I had to throw in another coin and two coins thrown into the Trevi Fountain are supposed to bring you a new romance.  Unfortunately, this did not occur while in Rome, but perhaps it will on my next trip to the Eternal City! 

Dahab, Mt. Sinai, and long busrides

Instead of having turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing this thanksgiving, I treated myself with a little weekend trip to paradise. The town of Dahab (which means gold in arabic) is located on the Red Sea in the Gulf of Acaba, on the Eastern side of the Sinai peninsula. It's a 9-hour bus ride from Cairo. It was founded by scuba divers who found beautiful reef and sea life there, but today it is a blossoming tourist destination. I went scuba diving for the first time ever, but since I did not have a certification I had to be led by the hand by a scuba instructor. We also went snorkeling in this neat offshore reef in Blue Hole, where you could literally walk off the beach and see amazing reefs. I had done snorkeling in the brilliant waters in the Virgin Islands, but the accessibility and sheer size of the reefs in Dahab were breathtaking. And the fish were way cool. But the trip was mostly an opportunity to relax in a beautiful resort town and get out of the hectic city.