Anna Reports on Adventures in Argentina!

Our second weekend here in Buenos Aires, I traveled with Saskia and Andrew further south in Argentina to a little town called Calafate, which is famous for the nearby Lake Argentina and the many glaciers surrounding it. We flew out of Buenos Aires Friday night (after a delayed flight adventure at the airport) and arrived in Calafate three hours later. Saturday morning, we woke up early to take a bus down to the lake, where we got onto a ferry that took us to see all the different glaciers. We also got very close to some beautiful blue icebergs (see Whoosh picture #2)--if I remember correctly, the color is due to the fact that the icebergs are made of compacted snow and not just regular ice. I may need to check on that, though.

The boat ride was so much fun! It lasted until the afternoon, and pictures were constantly being taken. It even snowed for a bit, but thankfully, the skies cleared up, allowing us to see Perito Moreno, the most famous glacier in the park. It was a good thing there was heating inside of the ferry, though, because it was freezing outside! (Literally, the temperature was below 0 degrees Celsius during the weekend, since it's winter here in the Southern Hemisphere.) Thank goodness for layers of clothing.

Sunday morning, we got to meet some genuine gauchos (Argentinian cowboys) of Patagonia, the name of the region, on horseback! (See Whoosh picture #2.) We rode around on a nearby hill before heading back to their headquarters for some mate--a typical drink in Argentina--and fried bread. After lunch, we went ice skating on natural ice--part of the lake was frozen over and open for ice skating! Definitely something that can't be found in Dallas, Texas.
Overall, the trip to Calafate was a wonderful and one-of-a-kind experience. Glaciers, horses, and ice skating, all within the span of two days! Argentina certainly has a lot to offer.

Liz sends greetings from Ireland!

I've been in Dublin for almost three weeks now, which is shocking. Time has absolutely flown by! Getting here was quite the experience. My flight out of Dallas took off a couple of hours late because of a tiny rainstorm, and I only had an hour and a half layover scheduled in New Jersey. We landed in Newark about 10 minutes before my flight for Dublin was scheduled to take off. It was just like a scene in a movie- I was running frantically through the whole of Terminal C at Liberty airport, trying to make it. And alas, I got to the gate just a couple of minutes after the plane had departed. LET THIS BE A LESSON FOR EVERYONE FLYING INTERNATIONALLY: Schedule long layovers, even if it seems like a pain to sit around for a few hours. It will make your life so much easier. Luckily there was another flight to Dublin scheduled that night, and I got on standby and actually got a seat. All's well that ends well.

Dublin is a great city. Everything is exciting and fast paced on the streets, but there are seemingly a million parks scattered throughout the city where you can sit down to enjoy a cup of tea and feel so surrounded by nature that you almost forget you're in a bustling capital city. The Irish people are extremely friendly and very willing to go out of their way to help you in any way they can. So far I've gotten to do a bit of traveling in the area surrounding Dublin. I had my first encounter with the Irish countryside in the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin on a day tour. Let me say, it does not disappoint. Absolutely breathtaking. I've also traveled to some of the little coast towns north and south of Dublin on the weekend, and that's a great way to spend a relaxing afternoon.

I'm here doing neuroscience research for the summer at Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, and my project is up and going strong. It deals with ALS (often called Lou Gehrig's Disease in the States). We're using transgenic mice as an animal model of ALS and seeing if we can slow the disease progression using a chemical compound. I'm enjoying it very much, and learning a lot. I think this opportunity to spend time in a new environment living and working is allowing me to grow a great deal, not only as a researcher, but as a person as well. I've had such a great time over the past three weeks, and I'm sure it will only get better!

Hello from the Cordillera Blanca of Peru!

I just finished a four day trek, the Santa Cruz Trek, through the Cordillera Blanca of Peru. The area known as the Cordillera Blanca is part of the Andes Mountains located in the northern part of Peru. On the first day the guide, Juan, picked me up to start the trek at 6:00 a.m. The road up to the Santa Cruz trek took a long time, we stopped for breakfast in a small town and then continued on. On the way we passed two beautiful lakes, the first lake was called Chinancocha (Laguna Hembra - woman lake) and the second Orconcocha (Laguna Macho - man lake). The original names are in Quechua, which is the native language of a lot of Peruvians. After that we passed through La Quebrada Llanganoco, which had beautiful waterfalls coming down the side of it. At around 1:00 p.m. we started the Santa Cruz Trek from Vaqueria. The first day we walked 13 km uphill. It was a lot of up and down though, we went through many Quechua villages and overall it was pretty, but probably one of the less beautiful days. We learned about how the glaciers are receding and each year they move higher and higher up on the mountain.

On the second day, we woke up at 6:00 a.m. packed up and started our trek over Punta Union. This day we climbed 1000 m only to come back down again. It was a 20 km trek. At the top of Punta Union it was very beautiful, but the walk up it was incredibly difficult. The side of Punta Union that we trekked up was full of clouds so we didn't get a good view, but the opposing side looked down onto a lake, Laguna Taullicocha, and a glacier that fed it, and then down into the valley where there were two other lakes that we would be trekking past in the next few days. We had lunch at Punta Union, which was quite cold. While having lunch we saw a small avalanche come down from the glacier and into the lake, after waiting a bit we continued down to our campsite, Taullipampa. Once we got into the valley we laid in the sun for awhile and then we went on to our campsite.

On the third day we woke up at 5:00 a.m. and walked 26 km (it was longer than the usual third day trip because we did a side trip to Laguna Arhueycocha). We started out the day walking down the valley and then went to the north to climb up a ridge that took us to a lake (Lguna Arhueycocha) at the bottom of a glacier. The view from here was beautiful, we could look down and see a waterfall coming from the lake and the following stream going down into the valley. From here there was also a great view of the Paramount Mountain, which is used as the symbol of the Paramount movie company. The lake was partially man made because it had been lower to help decrease the number of avalanches that came from the glacier above it and destroyed the villages down the valley. After visiting the lake we went back pretty much the way that we came and had lunch next to where the stream from the lake met the steam in the valley. The walk across the valley was pretty easy and flat, and it took us to the first lake, Laguna Jatunocha, and then the second lake, Laguna Ichiccocha. These lakes were absolutely beautiful.

The walk on the fourth day was only about 8 km and it was pretty much just a short trek out of the valley to the village at the end, Cashapampa. However, the trail was along the edge of the valley/canyon (at this point) and it was really hard on the ankles. The sides of the valley were made up of huge boulders and debris and we pretty much just weaved out way amongst them and through them. When we finally reached Cashapampa I was absolutely exhausted and more than ready for a shower and a nap in a real bed.

Overall the Santa Cruz trek was absolutely amazing, the scenery was beautiful and the Quechua villages that we passed through offered a truly unique view into daily life in rural Peru.

Clifford - One Month Abroad

I cannot believe that one month has already passed in Barcelona. All my friends I made from the first session all left already and new students come in for the second session. I have done and seen so much in Barcelona, yet there are still many things I still need to do. Thankfully, I have one more month to explore.

So far, I have been to Monjuic (named the Jewish Mountain with a castle on top giving amazing views of Barcelona), watched the Magic Fountains (it's Fantasia like), go to the many beaches and explore Barcelonetta and Port Olympic, visited the Museum of National Art of Catulunya, walked around the Gothic District and Modern district, the aquarium (one of Europe’s biggest), Gaudi’s masterpieces and Unesco world heritage sites (Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Parc Guell), watched a bull fight (dislike), Museum of City History (there is Roman ruins underneath Barcelona), Costa Brava, Sitges, Girona, Figueres (Dali Museum), Montserrat, FC Barcelona Stadium, Miro Museum, Olympic Stadium, Botanic Gardens, the Spanish Village, and the list keeps going.

But the amazing thing is how fast I’m learning Spanish. I did not know any Spanish besides hola and gracias before this trip. I couldn’t understand a word my host mom said to me. Now, I can comprehend a lot of things, write some, and speak a bit. According to my professor, just one month of learning Spanish in Spain is about 1 year worth of learning back at home. 5 hour classes Monday through Friday is tiring, but so worth it!!

Where in the world is Prashant ?

Check out his blog.


Prashant Whooshes in the Grottes de Han (Caves of Han) in Han sur Lesse, Belgium.

Prashant Poses with the Jet d'Eau along Lake Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland.