July 27 2013

Summer has been very rewarding. To begin, the weather has not been interminably oppressive. We had such a nice cool spring, and since my return from India, it has been largely gorgeous. Matt and I have appreciated this weather very much and have tried to make the most of it. In early June we finally got steps built from our deck down to our backyard. I cannot believe we existed for close to two years without this access route. It makes such a difference. Upon the completion of the stairs, we immediately hosted a neighborhood party. There has been so much curiosity about the work we have done in the back. People were really impressed, and I must say, I felt a fair amount of pride that we have managed to make so many improvements in such a short amount of time.

The science has kept me busy. Just when I thought things were going to calm down a bit in the lab, I had two separate colleagues write to me about last minute inclusion in projects that they were working on. I could never pass up such amazing opportunities, but the timing was tight. Thank goodness for Wooster undergrad William Harrison, who just happened to contact me and ask if I needed help in the lab. Thank you William! Together we triumphed over lab work that I would not have been able to complete in time on my own. Plus, I learned all about topics I previously knew nothing about, for instance Chinese and Norse mythology.

After wrapping up the lab work with William, I spent two weeks of June in Ottawa attending three intensive mass spectrometer training workshops. I have to get myself back up to speed with the technology now that we have our own instrument in Cincinnati. The days were long and rather crammed full of information, but I really enjoyed the evenings. Ottawa is a beautiful city and excellent for walking. It feels remarkably different from Toronto. I walked miles exploring the river walks and old architecture. I had no idea how close the city sits to Quebec. I heard nearly as much French as English during my visit.

I returned to Cincinnati on my birthday and had two full days to get ready for India. During this time I planned a series of projects to conduct with students in the India class and I celebrated my friend Audrey’s graduation as a Plastic Surgeon. Good work Audrey!

And then I headed off to India. I was well prepared for this trip. It helped enormously that I had already traveled once to India. But things were not going to be easy on this expedition. For starters, due to a barely missed connection, our group was delayed in Newark New Jersey for two days. There are worse places to be stuck and we took advantage of our proximity to New York City. But still, this was unexpected. It also meant we had to spend many long hours in the airport unsure if and when we might see our bags again. But we did get to India. And the trip was an overall success. The weather and road conditions were in our favor, and the students were, for the most part, in high spirits. Because this trip was earlier in the year than the one in 2011. I got to see (and identify) a lot more vegetation. Most of the mountain flowers were in bloom, and they were stunning. I spent many hours perusing my field guides attempting to identify everything I saw. I learned a lot! We had some rather trying camping conditions including a subfreezing night spent at around 15,000 ft before we were acclimated to the altitude, and a series of dust storms, but again, overall it was not bad. And we secured an absolutely beautiful campsite for a five night stint near Korzok, which is situated on a large glacial lake called Tso Moriri. We were surrounded by yaks, ponies, and a handful of native wildlife including a giant bearded vulture that made a daily appearance in the sky and a little weasel that lived by the spring where we got our drinking water. The campsite was near, but not too near the town. We got to enjoy some peace and quiet by being isolated, but it was an easy and enjoyable walk down to town. During our stay, we got to enjoy a festival at the local monastery. Monks dressed up in very colorful outfits and danced to drum beats. Children dressed as demons and asked visitors for donations. It was nice to see the monastery bustling with activity. During our visit in 2011, it was quiet and empty.

Really our trip wasn’t that long. Much of the 3 weeks was devoted to travel and we only had 8 days truly “in the field”. Nevertheless, as the trip came to a close, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been working continuously with a group of students with their class project. I had also been quite sick for the majority of the trip and was very much looking forward to breathing humid warm air again. We stayed at a nice, clean hotel in Leh and I had just enough time to buy a couple of souvenirs. Then we flew back to Dehli. I secured a window seat on the flight and delighted in watching all of the mountains roll by below me. It had taken us days to drive across this landscape but it only took an hour to fly over it.

Back in Delhi, things were hot, humid, crowded and dirty. Nevertheless, spending several days there is a worthwhile experience. Driving is completely insane. Busses, trucks, bikes, motorbikes and rickshaws (both motorized and foot powered), share the road with pedestrians and cows. As far as I could tell, traffic lights, signs, and lanes are interpreted as suggestions. I do not understand how there are not more accidents.  Also, the city is HUGE and the layout is confusing. There are at least 50 large roundabouts (I know because they are numbered). These roundabouts combined with the permanent haze that blocks the sun made it nearly impossible to keep track of directions. But luckily, I didn’t have to drive. I got to enjoy the chaos as a passenger in a bus driven by a very calm gentleman with a giant mustache. Thank goodness.

The city has a lot of history and there are some beautifully preserved monuments and tombs from the Moghul period that one can visit. We checked out Humayun’s tomb, which is a World Heritage Site. We also visited the Gandhi Memorial Museum, which very tastefully and respectfully provides information about Mahatma Gandhi and his family. But we still had a full day to kill in Delhi. Some of us decided that we needed to visit the Taj Mahal, just a three-hour drive from Delhi. I am glad we went. The size of the overall memorial is impressive. I had not realized that there are actually three buildings (the main mausoleum, which is always photographed and two side buildings, which have received comparatively little attention). It was the complex as a whole that impressed me. I was also floored by the level of detail that went into laying every stone. Some of the inlayed and carved floral designs are truly remarkable. The main detractor from the ambiance was the number of visitors. Like any world famous site, the Taj is visited by throngs every day. This makes it challenging to take photographs and also gets a little bit claustrophobic. But so it goes. It is wonderful that such a monument IS open to the public (albeit for a fee), and I am certainly grateful that I had the opportunity to see it in person. Also, despite the crowds, people were quite respectful and polite. And here’s something I found amusing - I was asked by at least 5 other groups if they could take their picture with me. I guess that I looked the part of silly American tourist. And that wrapped up our trip to India. The trip home was long, but at least there were no overnight delays. It feels really good to be back home.

Since my return, I have been trying to catch up on some of the work I abandoned for several weeks but I am also just trying to enjoy summer a little bit. It has been a fast year and I’ve got some big things coming up in the fall, including welcoming a new masters student into my lab. It’s nice to just take it slow for a few days.

I hope that you are also able to enjoy the remainder of your summer. You’ll be hearing from me again soon.