Familia Tica

Last Sunday I went to visit Neha's host family that she stayed with last summer while she was here in Costa Rica for 5 weeks. They live a bus ride away but on Sundays I guess the buses aren't frequent so I ended up taking a taxi.

They're so cute! I met Disney (mama tica) and her husband, 2 sons (one of which goes to UCR) and a daughter (that is my age). Just like in India, the kids live at home for a while after college. Disney wouldn't let me speak in English and they put up with me speaking very slowly and thinking very hard about conjugating verbs in spanish . . it's a humbling experience having people look at you while you're trying to form a coherent sentence, esp when it would just be easier to speak in English! But that's how I'm going to learn. I have a hard time understanding Spanish when its the younger adults/kids speaking, b/c of slang, accents etc. (Now I get exactly why my grandparents had a hard time understanding my English.) The family was really nice and Disney invited me to visit or call if I ever need anything. . and to bring my parents over when they visit.

I have been told multiple times that my Spanish is good! Maybe b/c I'm American they expect me to have a gringo accent . . but the fact that my first language was Marathi helps with the Spanish phonetics . . the consonants are softer . . and I think my accent makes it seem like I know more Spanish than I actually do (ie grammer and vocab wise). Some people speak really fast and I don't catch everything. It might be too easy to get away with not speaking any spanish while I'm on campus, so I have to make an effort to thinking in Spanish or speaking spanish with my office-mate.

Another professor also commented that my English is easier to understand than that of other visiting professors from America . . good to know . . I can turn off my cali-girl accent when I need to!

Tortuguero Trip - Green Sea Turtle

This past weekend I took a 2 day/1 night trip to Tortuguero National Park with a tour company and a friend I made in language class. It's on the northern Caribbean coast of the country and the only way to get there is by air or water. We took a bus to the farthest point where there was a road and the proceeded on small boats. Basically the touristy part of the park is based around the village of Tortuguero, and hotels that have their own docks along the channels. The main draw to the park is the egg-laying habits of the Green Sea Turtle, which come to the shores of Tortuguero Beach July-Oct to make nests and lay eggs at night. We had a night tour, which was awesome. For the first time I saw the stars from Costa Rica, and was once again disoriented geographically while trying to find familiar constellations. The weather was completely different than the San Jose area, it was HOT and dry, with no rain the whole time. Along the horizon in all 360 degrees however, I could see tons of lightning.

The night tour was pretty well organized, in order to ensure that we do not interfere or bother the turtles in any way. We wait a few 100 meters away from the shore, Turtle watchers keep an eye on the shore for turtles coming up to shore. These things are huge! about 4 feet long and 2-3 feet wide. Once they started building the nest and laying eggs (about 100-120 eggs ine one night), we are told to go to the beach and we can actually watch this happening. I was 2 feet away and could literally see the eggs dropping from the turtle into the nest she made (our guide used a red flashlight). No cameras were allowed, and apparently we can get close to the turtles while they are laying eggs and covering the nest b/c they are in a "trance" and our presence does not bother them at that point. We then saw a turtle leaving her nest and going back into the ocean. That's it. Her parenting job is done! The baby turtles emerge in 45-60 days and aim to get back into the ocean, but most get eaten by predators. The ones that make it to maturity will eventually come back to the same beach that they were born on to lay their own eggs. Historically (according to the guide), these turtles were almost extinct b/c of the demand for turtle soup in England. But the national park was created just for the turtles.

Now on to a more philosophical point, I'm not sure that I enjoyed watching the turtle laying eggs. It felt a bit intrusive and kind of gross. I wouldn't say it was "amazing" or "spiritual" in any sort of way, but it was . . . interesting. Felt like I was spying on her. I thought we would just see turtles coming onto shore and then leaving, from far away. I can appreciate wildlife and like knowing its out there living its life w/o my interference. I'm not sure that I want to interact with it though, (ie swimming with dolphins, touching fish/sea creatures, snorkeling/scuba, horse back riding) b/c it means introducing this wild animal into a "human" way of life, like I'm intruding on their world for my entertainment. I can appreciate the need for zoos, that's the only way the average person would see certain animals and in turn gain an appreciation for animals and the need for conservation etc.

Obviously, when horses or bulls or mules are used for necessary work, there's a specific purpose beyond entertainment, and I can understand that. But somewhere there's a gray area where I'm just not sure I want to use the animal for my entertainment. But this hasn't led me to commit to being vegan just yet . .

First lecture

Had my first class today! I've got 8 students, mostly chemistry master's students and 1 physics master's student. I knew I'd feel so much more comfortable after I got the first lecture over with! Now I have an idea of what the students want and what their background is. I designed the course thinking they would have had quantum mechanics and solid state physics, but most had not. So, I'll take some time to review those topics, which is good b/c I thought I might be short on material. Also, the last 4 weeks, someone else is teaching topics that are not in my expertise, so technically I'm responsible for 12 lectures, which can be 2- 3 hrs long each. I'm not used to talking for that long! It's nice that its up to me and there's no strict guidelines. But that also makes me a bit insecure b/c for my first time it would be nice to have some more guidelines, so that I know what I'm doing or have specific goals set for me. Oh well, I guess that's part of being out of school and teaching my own class.

Nisha was in town yesterday! so I went into San Jose to have dinner with her and friends. They're vacay-ing in CR this week. It was nice to see a familial face in a foreign country.

The rain/thunder/lightning have been crazy the past few days, and I hear it gets worse in September! I haven't been drenched yet, but my canvas sneakers have been drenched a few times.

I need to continue doing some spanish exercises and studying vocabulary, or else I'm going to forget what I re-learned last week!

first few days

So this week I'm taking a spanish class, 4 hours a day, and its definitely starting to come back to me. Some of the grammatical rules are pretty complex and can't be translated into English . . so I'll probably never use em myself (conditional, imperfect). I understand the teachers perfectly well, b/c they purposefully speak slow and clear, but when I talk to other people on the street etc, they talk too fast for me!

Went to campus yesterday . . the campus is beautiful! there's a creek running through it and it feels like being in the middle of a rainforest! Some of the walkways are covered (b/c of the heavy rains) and we'll see how crowded they get when classes start next week.

I'm teaching a grad class, mostly chemists and some physicists, and there's a total of 6 or 7. It starts next Tuesday, will let you know how that goes.

I bought a tv, and the cable is amazing! i'll get to watch all my fave US shows, including sytycd tonight . . . mmmm just got a whiff of a neighbor cooking some garlic. 'Glee' is on in spanish right now . .

I live a few blocks from the main street, its a very quiet complex (no kids allowed!) and I've met a few Americans already (1 of whom is finishing his time as a visiting Physics prof at the same place I'll be working. random.). Apparently no one goes out after 7pm ish and they recommend not to walk alone (but i'll need to find out if that's an exaggeration or actually true.) . . so i'll need to tweak my daily schedule to get up early (ugh) and go to sleep early . . so I won't be out late running errands or going to the gym. Also, since its rainy season, people like to get inside earlier, it also gets dark around 5/6 ish. The rain hasn't been too bad yet, it rains every afternoon, with thunder/lightning every few days and probably everyday in Sept! luv it. I put up some netting over my windows so I can leave em open and not worry about bugs, but can still hear the rain and storms. Definitely need some rainboots but can't find waterproof boots anywhere!! Everyone I meet that knows I'm new here asks if I have an umbrella!

Well I had plenty to say earlier but now can't remember what I wanted to describe/say . . but i did put some pics up on fb!

en San Pedro

Well I'm here! After an uneventful flight, but eventful stop over in Denver, I'm in my quaint little apartment in San Pedro. I stopped by the language school I'll be taking classes at next week (right up the street from my place), did some grocery shopping and luckily caught the tail end of the downpour that happens every afternoon (apparently starts around 1 or 2pm and continue through the night). Of course with three bags of groceries and an umbrella, trying to maneuver opening two front gates using both hands resulted in my canvas shoes getting soaked, but luckily the eggs didn't break.

Driving in, the horizon reminded me of So Cal, so the south-east of where I am are some hills that remind me of the San Gabriel mountains. Everything is green here, as expected, and pleasantly humid. The thunder and sound of the rain is pretty awesome, we'll see how I can schedule walking home from campus to avoid getting drenched.

There's a dance studio, tons of restaurants and shops, and gyms, within walking distance!

So what happened in Denver? I flew from SNA to DEN, had a 1 hr stopover and then went non stop to San Jose. In Denver, I realized I forgot to print proof of my return ticket (Costa Rican immigration only allows 90 day tourist visa, so your return ticket needs to be within that time frame, mine isn't of course). So I get that printed out, then the agent says, "Oh you need to fly back within 90 days, we can't let you through", this was while my flight was boarding! She suggested buying a one way fully refundable ticket online that moment (claiming I would have proof of 90 day return and can cancel the ticket later. Once in Costa Rica, the common thing to do is go to a nearby country (Panama, Nicaragua) for 3 days to renew your 90 day tourist Visa.) Just as I was about to put in my CC# to purchase the ticket, the agent speaks to her boss who asks if I'm a student and I say no, I'm a professor. Then he says, well if you have proof of your job then its OK. Whew. Made my flight just in time. I had a feeling this would happen (Frontier Airlines mentioned this) but the Fulbright folks said it wouldn't be a big deal. I guess I should have been prepared and automatically said my reason for going or asked to speak to the manager right away.

well anyways, I made it in once piece! And so did my luggage. I was able to check in 3 pieces w/o paying.

Not sure what I'm doing this weekend, maybe check out the malls and get a hold of a tv.

What is the Fulbright Scholar Program?

In a few weeks, I'm going to begin my stay at the University of Costa Rica as a Fulbright Scholar. Here's some background on the Fulbright Program:

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government, designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the US and other countries. It was established in 1946 by then-Senator J William Fulbright of Arkansas and is sponsored by the US Dept of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. More than 300,000 Fulbrighters from the US and other countries have participated in the program in the past 60 years, and awards approximately 8,000 new grants annually.

I specifically applied to the Fulbright US Scholar Program, which sends 1,200 American scholars and professionals annually to about 125 countries, to lecture and/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.

The most popular program is the Fulbright US Student Program, meant for US graduating college seniors, grad students, young professionals and artists to study abroad (research) for 1 academic year.

The Fulbright Program supplies the stipend, travel and living expenses, and some logistical support, while everything else is done independently (finding housing, a university host, research project etc.)

There's also plenty of grants for foreign students/professionals to come to the US and study/work.

As a disclaimer, I should say that the opinions revealed in this blog are my own and do not represent those of the Fulbright Program or US government.

I've still got a lot of stuff to figure out before I leave, but am truly excited!

A new adventure

Last week I attended the Fulbright Pre-Departure Orientation for the Western Hemisphere in DC, a 2 day orientation for Fulbright Scholars, Students and Teaching Assistants going to Central America, Caribbean and South America. Everyone was really excited and it was great to see and meet other people from the program. Most Scholars are professors at small universities with established professional careers and research, with plenty of teaching background. I, on the other hand, am teaching my first course, and just got my PhD 6 months ago! It was a bit intimidating. I definitely spoke to more of the students and grad students than the Scholars. There's 3 other Scholars going to the University of Costa Rica, but all are going in 2011. There's 4 or 5 other students/grad students going this Fall but they will be at various field sites doing their research. I'll be the first one going for the 2010-2011 year.

Most people were in the social science fields (anthro, social work, women's studies, teaching English, geography, ecology etc), the closest thing to another physical scientist was a Computer Engineer and Chemist/ecologist. Most people were going to a specific region to conduct research related to their project in that region. So what am I doing there?

I'll be a 'visiting assistant professor' at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica (outside the capital), in the Physics department. I'll be teaching 1 course to graduate students, 'introduction to nanotechnology and characterization techniques', and doing research. The research project I proposed was a new inter-disciplinary project combining materials science and archaeology. The materials science aspect of it will include using techniques I learned in graduate school to characterize nanostructures (mostly Atomic Force Microscopy) within the context of looking at ceramic samples from Pre-Columbian peoples of the Guanacaste region (near the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border). I've always liked archaeology and even thought about minoring or double majoring in it, so this should be interesting! I'm definitely interested in applying my technical background to areas outside of nanoscience that can use the tools we use, so we'll see how that goes.

For now, I'm prepping my course and figuring out the logistical details. I'll probably visit Neha's host family that she stayed with last summer. Once I figure out my dates, I will let you know so you can all visit me!