All Good Things Must Come to an End

Jennifer & Brant have pretty much summed up the past two days for us. This has truely been an adventure. This being my first time of really enjoying another country and culture beyond just being a tourist. I am proud to say I am taking part of Chile with me (figuratively, it would be illegal to bring it on the plane-plus overhead compartments are small!!). The comrodery I have experienced has been amazing. Both with the other two "gringo's" I have been living with for three weeks and with our Chilean comrades who have been so inviting and patient (due to our lack of Spanish). I know these are people that will be forever remembered and I am proud to call friends. My time here would definitally not have been as enriching if they were not part of it.

Jennifer and Brant have left for Santiago airport and the apartment seems too quite. I will spend the evening, no the night (it doesn't start until 12:00-midnight), at a rock concert. One of our Chilean friends is the lead singer in a band. I will continue my journey in Chile for another week. Hoping to see more of the amazing features of this country and take in all it has to offer.

My two pesos

We have had a completely rich time here in Chile. I will share a couple of thoughts before signing off and returning the the U.S.

When visiting a K-12 school on Thursday I came across a quote that resonated with me and provides motivation for future language efforts. The quote said "the limits of my language mean the limits of my world", Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian 1889. I think Jen and Nicole would agree that because of our nascent grasp of Spanish we were somewhat limited in the experiences we were able to have. This being said, I feel that we broke through many barriers with the new friendships we made with what I have come to call the "Chilean contingent".

I could not have asked for a more welcoming and accommodating partnership than the one we have had with the research team within the electrochemistry lab at PUCV. They will be missed. Here is a photo of the teamAlso noteworthy would be the pleasure it has been working with two consummate professional educators and fearless world travelers (Nicole and Jen). Since this was a pilot program I could only foresee so many things. Nicole and Jen took everything in stride and were critical to making the experience the success it was. Until next time......

Last Day in Chile

Today is my last day here in Chile (Brant's too, Nicole is staying for another week).  I am looking forward to going home to reconnect with my family and friends, to see my cat, and to sleep in my own bed.  However, it is also with great sadness that I am leaving behind a fantastic country and some wonderful new friends.

Nicole and I finished up our research in the lab this week.  We then took some time to write up a report about our findings.  The report was difficult because it was putting the large mass of information I had gathered in my head over the last few weeks into a coherent form for others to read.  I am amazed at how much I learned but also realize that I have some unclear portions of my new knowledge.  The report really helped me to put it all together and realize how much we had done.  When I get home I plan to look over the literature and some of my notes to put together some more of the pieces.  I definitely feel as if my experience in the lab has enriched my understanding of science and the scientific process and I look forward to sharing this with my students in the upcoming school year.

For the last couple of evenings we have all gotten together, both Americans and Chileans.  These evenings have been filled with lots of laughter and fun.  However, they have also allowed me to learn more from my new friends.  I have enjoyed talking about many aspects of life and comparing and contrasting our experiences from different parts of the world.  I have been overwhelmed by how giving everyone has been here, particularly of their time.  Knowing how I feel that my life is always so busy I wonder if our places were switched if I would be so giving of my own time.  It helps to keep things in perspective.

I sincerely hope that I am able to make another visit to Chile in the not too distant future.  The only thing that gives me some concern is my lack of Spanish.  Being here has made me realize how wonderful it would be to know another language.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to follow our journey.  It has been fun sharing.

Pacific Ocean

Just a quick note to let you all know that today we had a very meaningful group experience.  The three of us had a dip in the Pacific Ocean just outside of our apartment.  The weather reached a tropical 66 degrees F (19 degrees C) today and it was sunny.  We decided today must be the day.  I will spare everyone the pictures but we must have been a sight to see.  To put it lightly, we were the only ones in swimsuits on the beach.  Everyone else was in jackets.  There was more staring at us than usual.  It was a refreshing dip, although the current was rather strong.

Upon later revelation of our adventure into the ocean to our Chilean friends we were met with looks of astonishment.  I believe they think we are somewhat crazy.

Long Live Spring Break 2008!

Ok, one quick photo of Brant psyching up to take the plunge.....

Teaching

Although we have been spending most of out time here in the lab doing scientific research, I have been continuing to learn about teaching.  As we interact during our research Nicole and I have shared our tricks of the trade and had conversations about our own teaching methods.  We have also had some conversations with Chileans in the lab about their teaching philosophies and the reasons why they decided to go into teaching and research.  At one point I was using "train tracks" for dimensional analysis and Eduardo asked me to explain this method I use for teaching.  He thought he might try it with his own students.  It has also been wonderful to watch others interact while working in the lab.  While I don't understand what is being said the lab seems to be a very cooperative learning environment.

On Monday we took the opportunity to sit in on a class Eduardo was teaching.  This may seem a bit odd in that the class was taught entirely in Spanish.  However, it was interesting to me how much I could pick up about the teaching methods used.  There were lots of things I saw that I liked.  The class only had 6 students: 3 male and 3 female.  Although Eduardo taught by writing on the white board he was very good at spending most of the time facing the students.  He did most of his lecture without notes.  He asked questions and gave adequate wait time for answers.

After class Brant, Nicole, and I were commenting to each other on the lack of technology used in the teaching of the class.  I mentioned that some of my colleagues prefer writing on the board as it tends to better engage the students.  Later Eduardo mentioned this same topic.  He said that during his first year of teaching he used PowerPoint for his lectures but has now gone back to using the white board.  It was interesting to see how teachers in classrooms so far removed from our own grapple with the same issues.

I was very thankful that Eduardo was willing to open his classroom to us.  We all know there can be a bit of anxiety about others stepping into our worlds.  It was a meaningful experience for me.

La Campana

I am sitting here on the balcony of our apartment on a not rainy day, looking out into the ocean.  There are about 15 sea lions playing in the water.  This may be due to the (fishing?) boats that are hanging out.  

I wanted to tell everyone about the adventure we had last Sunday when we went to La Campana.  We took a train and a bus to get to this national park that is about half way between Valparaiso and Santiago.  It was amazing how 

much the scenery changed during our trip from Vina to the park, a total of about 1.5 hours.  We went from busy city to beautiful mountainous park land.

The claim to fame for this park is that it contains a mountain that Charles Darwin climbed when he was here in August of 1834.  Darwin noted in his journal that the view from this mountain was one of the highlights of his journey.

We did not get a really early start to the day so we could not climb to the top, about a 4 hour trip.  The weather also did not overly cooperate and it was a bit drizzly.  We decided to take a walk anyway and it was a great experience.  We make about a 3 mile loop (not like the 3 mile loop around Lake Nokomis, as half of this trip was up hill!).  The

 scenery was great.

One thing I noticed was the fantastic foliage around us.  This was the first time I had ever seen cacti and broad leaf trees all living in the same area.

After our hike we stopped at a restaurant by the train station to get some dinner.  When we walked in the place was hopping - a soccer game was on tv.  The popular Chillean Colo Colo team was playing.  It was fun to watch a game in a room filled with people so involved.  Unfortunately Colo Colo lost the game.

Experiments

During our stay here in Chile, our research has expanded beyond the walls of the electrochemistry lab. We have constantly been conducting both quantitative and qualitiative research. The phrase "It will be an experiment!" has made its way into our daily lives. Our quantitative research has been measured by our success of achieving (or at least getting close to) our goal. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Riding the bus-We have successfully completed every bus ride to the appropriate destination. But, today is another day that includes TWO more attempts, so who knows?!?!

2.Oven/Stove & Cooking in General- It took a couple of days (and calls to the front desk and the property owner) for us to figure out how to start the range and the oven. Even after that, we are still conducting further experiments on how to keep the oven lit and NOT burn what we are cooking. We have yet to have overall success, and morale is running low as far as the oven goes.

3-Shopping-We have conducted many experiments as far as shopping. We have learned that all produce and fresh bread must be marked prior to getting to the cash register (there is someone that just sits in the department and puts a barcode on the items for you). Yes, it was a lesson learned quickly. Also, shopping at the open markets has been quite a learning experience. We have learned that there is more than one type of avacado here and they do not all necessarily have the same taste or texture. We are sticking to hass avacados from here on out.

4- Purchasing tickets for the tour buses for the correct destination and time is one experiment that has gone extremely well, considering the language barrier. Included, navigating our train experience to La Campana, which required the purchase of a special card, was a success.

5- The Laundry Mat- We are pretty sure that the sweet woman there feels bad for Brant, since he is always with two women who are laughing at him (which we are laughing because of the language barrier, yet Brant still tries-with little success). We have been using the services of the lavanderia since our first experiment of using the washing machine (which we have only found to have a HOT cycle and it takes 4 hours to run with an additional 36+ hours to air dry the items-depending on the temperature during the day).

Our qualitiative research was unexpected to each of us. It is focused on the amount of interest Chilean people have on us. We get many glances and long stares. Jennifer and I are becoming accustomed to random "cat calls", honking of horns, flashing of headlights, and wistles while we take our daily walks/runs. From our understanding, this is normal in Chile. It is going to take some getting used to when I return to my quite neighborhood in South Dakota and just hear the lawn mowers & dogs barking.

Time

Time here is Chile has a very different meaning than it does in the US.  At home time is rather strict.  If I tell someone I will meet them at 1 p.m., I will plan to arrive between 12:55 and 1:05.  In Chile my experience has been that arriving on time has a much looser meaning.

My new Chilean friends smirk at me often because I ask "what time?"  What time ... should I arrive in the lab?  should I be back from lunch?  should I meet you to go out?  To them I seem very attached to my watch.  This difference in understanding of time has caused some growth and laughs throughout the trip.

The timing with which I run my life back at home is also different than the time line here.  Some of this may be a result of my teacher life schedule (up early, to bed early), but some of it is also a cultural difference.  For example, the earliest we start work in the lab is 10 a.m.  We may then work until 4, 5, 6 or 7 p.m.  When eating lunch it is unheard of going before 1 p.m.  When going out at night if we arrive at 8 p.m. for dinner, snacks, or drinks, we are the only people in the restaurant.  Evenings out tend to start around midnight here, a time when I am usually tucked in my bed.

Funny enough, there is this clock at the entrance to Vina done in flowers!

We Might Be Giants

A very unexpected occurance of my international experience is that we are considered giants in this foreign land. With Brant being 6'3" (190cm), Jennifer measuring 5'9" (175cm) and myself coming in at 5'12" (183cm), we are considered giants down here. We did assure the group of teachers which we met with on Saturday that not all Americans are this tall.

I better start sharing

Since it has been a while, I have a whole lot to share so hold on (in chronological order). The other day we had a little time in the afternoon so we decided to squeeze in a short walking tour around the Parliament building. When Pinochet was dictator in the mid 70's to late 80's he moved the congressional arm of the government to Valparaiso. This was, and still is, an unpopular move and there is talk with the latest administration of moving it back to Santiago. You will be able to see the ornate structure in the video which I took of our elevator ride. To get to the elevator we went through the coolest old school turn style I have seen.Supposedly there are over 40 elevators or ascensors in the hills of Valparaiso. I get the sense that they provide one of the many strong pieces of identity which Valparaiso has a lot of. The ascensor from which the video was captured is very close to campus and it provides a nice view of our little world.


While on the elevator I was able to capture a nice view of Casa Central, the campus where we are conducting our research. Casa Central is right in the middle of the photo with the palm trees sticking out. Remember that detail because it will come up later.Also to be considered part of our walking tour was the reconnaissance we did of a couple museums after we had ridden the bus home one day. Outside of the Fonck Museum in Vina was a statue from Easter Island. It will definitely be the closest we get to Easter Island this trip. A couple clothing notes which captured my attention (and Jennifer's) While we were strolling through a market in Valparaiso we suddenly got a feeling that maybe we were not so far from home. Or maybe that 6000 miles is not as far as once thought.
When I saw this next sweater I had to restrain myself from asking the gentleman how much he wanted for it.
"Don't worry be happy" can definitely be combined with the other catch phrases for this trip in that of "Down to get down" and "Living the dream". I am finding you never know what you are going to see on urban streets around the world. Switching gears back to research. Friday was a very big day in the lab with Eduardo essentially giving his whole day to discussing background theory and the conduction of experiments with Nicole and Jen.


After the lecture Jen and Nicole went to work.

Unfortunately the days efforts did not completely go according to plan. Essentially what had happened is the first test which was run produced fair results. The consensus of the research team was to get some results which were a little better. This turned into a few hours of research not going according to plan and not securing any usable results at all. In a nutshell that is how research acts sometimes. Humberto's word as shared by his wife Carmen today are very fitting: "Best is the biggest enemy of good enough".

Remember those palm trees from earlier. Here is a photo looking out from our lab.Today we had two great experiences, one much greater than the other. First we discovering a working space heater in the office which we have the use of.
And second, we had the opportunity to share with Chilean K-12 science educators as part of their Master program in science methods. Carmen acted as translator and all in all it was very rich. We talked about why we were in Chile and what we hope will come from the experience. The Chilean contingent had many questions about our training and experiences in the classroom. Overall we felt very welcomed and that the Chilean science teachers were interested in getting a perspective on US students and schools just as we were interested in the same thing about them. We did make a contact with a science teacher who works at an English immersion school just down the road from where we are staying. Hopefully next week we will be able to visit since it is the only school represented at the meeting today that was not on winter break.
Tonight we have been invited over to Carmen and Humberto's home for dinner. A good time will surely be had by all.

I am not starving

For those of you that know me you are aware that I am a picky eater.  One of the most difficult things for me in traveling to other countries is my navigation of the available food.  You will all be happy to know that I am not staving here in Chile, actually I am probably a bit on the other side.

We have gotten into pretty much a routine with our meals here.  We eat breakfast at the apartment in the morning.  We have cereal (with shelf stable milk), yogurt, and toast.  For lunch we go out to eat at one of the restaurants near campus.  We have tried a few different ones and everyone seems to find something to eat with which they are satisfied.  In the evening we take turns cooking in the apartment.  We have had fancy meals such as spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, and ravioli.

It is interesting because Chileans eat differently than Americans.  They eat breakfast, have a big lunch, and have just some sort of small snack for dinner.   I did try something the other day that I saw in a bakery while walking down the street.  Nicole and I each ate our first "pan de leche."  It is like a cream puff made with sweet bread.  Even better, this gigantic treat cost just 180 pesos (about 38 cents).

At the apartment I figured out how to make popcorn just on the stove.  It made for a good late night snack.  However, I had bought what I thought was butter to put on it but it may have been lard.  I decided to give it a try anyway and the results were wonderful.
I also tried to get some lunch at McDonald's one day.  I was by myself so I thought I would give communicating (with my complete lack of Spanish) a shot.  I started off by telling the woman at the counter that I did not speak Spanish.  I then proceeded to point to pictures of what I wanted to eat: a hamburger, fries, and diet coke (Coca Cola Light).  We seemed to be doing pretty well until my order came.  I ended up with fries, coke, and a sundae.  Oh well.

Today I gave McDonlad's another shot and this time I ordered a combo meal.  A picture of me with my lunch is below.

One thing there seems to be plenty of access to here in Chile is ice cream.  It seems a bit silly to eat a cold treat when it is cold outside.  However, I just can't pass it up all of the time.

Kissing

My travel book says "Upon greeting and leaving, cheek kisses are exchanged between men and women and between women.  Both parties gently touch cheek to cheek and send the kiss to the air.  Between men, the kissing is replaced with a hearty handshake."  I want to take some time in this post to outline the experience Nicole and I have had with this Chilean norm.  It is the true story of managing a different culture.

The first experience we had with kissing in Chile was on the first day in the lab.  A female student was introduced to us with the purpose of showing us where the bathroom for our use was located.  As we were introduced the female leaned in and kissed to the sides of our cheek.  Nicole and I both took it in stride and played along in order to fit in.  However, I am sure we both had a bit of the "deer in the headlights" look about us.  We commented to each other later about this greeting was different to us than our regular experience.

As we continued to meet new people at the university Nicole and I both felt almost awkward not kissing as a greeting because we saw Chileans doing it with each other.  However, we were also not comfortable enough with the practice to initiate.

While working in the lab a conversation was brought up with us about greeting in the US.  We replied that for the most part people in the US greet by shaking hands.  We were asked how we greet our friends and we said we waved or just said hello.  We were asked if we kiss our friends and we said for the most part no.  We understood from this conversation that a navigation between the two different cultural norms was under way.

Although we had this conversation Nicole and I continued to be unsure about this greeting practice of kissing.  

We were then introduced to another male professor and during this introduction he initiated the kissing ritual.  We felt as though we were successful in making this greeting go smoothly.

Later in that lab another conversation was started again about greeting and the differences in Chile and the US.  Nicole and I were again asked how we greet our family and friends.  We were asked if we kiss or hug, etc.  Nicole and I both gave our best answer about our own experiences and norms with family and friends generally saying that kissing was reserved for special situations.

So, Nicole and I had reached a bit of a difficult point in this journey.  We felt that we were being a bit standoffish by not kissing when greeting our new Chilean friends but we had already started this awkward norm of not doing so.  How could we change without being obvious?

Along comes a social function with our new Chilean friends from the lab.  At the end of the event we were all saying good bye to each other.  The women kissed with Nicole and I and we successfully partook in the exchange.  Then the question was brought up by one of our new male friends who had engaged us in conversation about this topic, "but you said you don't kiss as a greeting or parting?"  We kissed on the cheek to say good bye.

So, the next day in the lab, have we mastered this new cultural norm or not?  We met with one of the females and kissed appropriately.  But how about with the males?  Although we have moved forward we are still working on it a bit.

Just a funny look at two Americans trying to negotiate the social norms of a different culture.  Friends, family, and colleagues don't be surprised if we kiss you in greeting the next time we see you.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

On Monday we worked with the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). This microscope (seen with the beautiful model to the right) has the ability to create a topographic map (in both 2-D & 3-D) of two of the ZnO thin film samples Jennifer and I created. It does the measurements by running the tip over the sample. The area that is actually measure is 15nmx15nm (for those of you that are not scientists, 15nm=0.000000015mm (remember that 1mm is the thickness of your fingernail), so basically it is really, really, really small...how about that!?!?!). The tip that does the readings is, in a perfect world, only 1 atom thick (Yeah, try and wrap your head around that!...Not literally!)

To the left is an example of what our ZnO deposition looks like (it's the orange part of the screen). The samples which we did reading on were created at -0.9V and -1.0V. The roughness and the mean grain size measurements were the pieces of data used to make a comparison. The roughness of the sample is relevant to the conductivity of the sample (i.e. the smoother the sample=better conduction). The mean grain size measurement is used to determine the average diameter of the grains, also for the conductivity of the sample (i.e. larger grain size= better conductivity).

After using the AFM, we proceeded to place the samples into a "oven" (seen above) to cook at 350 degrees Celcius for 2 hours (remember, water boils at 100 degrees celcius). This process is called aneiling. The purpose of doing this is to remove any water gas that could be trapped in the sample.

Today, we used the AFM on those same sample (seen me to the left removing the sample after testing). The -0.9V sample's roughness remained the same and the mean grain size decreased. This is possibly due to the large grains reducing to two particles. The -1.0V sample, which had many cracks in it due to the aneiling, had a more homogenous roughness and the mean grain size doubled. This is possibly due to the tall grains flattening out due to the aneiling process. Tomorrow we are going to test the semi-conductive properties of the thin films.

National Holiday

Wednesday was a national holiday in Chile and so the University was closed.  We took the opportunity to do a bit of sight seeing.  Stacy and her parents were with us as they stopped in for a couple of days on their way to Santiago and then home.

We started the journey with our usual bus trip into Valparaiso.  We were then walking to the bus terminal when we discovered a big flee/produce market set up in front of the parliament building.  We took a stroll through and saw lots of interesting things.  For the most part produce here is very inexpensive.  For example below is a stand with clementines.  1 kilo (2.2 pounds) is 200 pesos (40 cents).

We took an hour and a half bus ride south.  Our destination was Isla Negra.  This was the favorite home of Pablo Neruda.  Neruda was a Nobel Prize winning author from Chile.  He is dearly loved by the Chileans.  His home is right on the ocean.
When we arrived we had a fantastic lunch right on sight.  Some of us had a Neruda pisco sour which was blue green in color.  Neruda did all of his writing in green ink because he felt it was the color of hope and life.

After lunch we went on an (English) tour of the home.  Neruda was a big collector so on display were many interesting items from all over the world.  I particularly liked his collection of bowsprits, the carved women from the front of ships.

After a tour of the house I went down to the ocean.  The waves were big and giving off lots of spray.  From here I got a good view of the entire home.  The house is long and skinny, Neruda said it was like the shape of Chile.  It also has lots of nautical features as Neruda really enjoyed the ocean.

During the evenings at our apartment Brant has been reading us translated Neruda poems.  His favorite, considering our locale, is "The Great Ocean."  I tried to find it online but didn't.  I will keep looking.

Amazing Andes

Note: All three of us will be writing about this last weekend. It was that amazing that we have divided it up. Please make sure to read all of them to get a complete picture about what is happening.

Brant promised us a "luxurious" trip on the bus. I will admit (as a veteran greyhound rider) it was pretty lush. The trip took 6.5 hours and during that time different vendors would enter the bus to sell snacks. One woman was selling pastries (which I have a fondness of), but you had to buy 6 of them. At the time it seemed like a smart thing to do, we all enjoyed our variety of sweet, flaky goodness. Later, it turned out to not be such a great choice for me because I started to feel sick. I think it was a shock to my system!! Too much goodness at once!

Once we arrived in La Serena (which I have updated my google map if you want to check it out!! I know my Dad is going to be excited about that), we took a bus for another hour to arrive in Vicuna. This is a small town surrounded by table grape vineyards and a Pisco (this is the local brandy which is made from distilled wine...I have HEARD it packs a punch!) distillary. The following morning we headed to the observatory (which was amazing! but that is not mine to talk about). On the way I snapped this photo of the Andes, which just took my breath away. "I can see for miles and miles, and miles and miles and miles" seems fitting for the sensation (imagine the little tune that goes with that, courtesy of The Who).

After the observatory, we headed to the property which Brant's in-laws are working on (I am assuming he will be telling more about that). Once again, I was taken away by the vastness of this area. We hiked to the top of a nearby "hill" to view the sunset. It was spectacular. This picture is taken toward the west (the ocean side of the country). Even though we were in the middle of "no where," this is where Jennifer and I were very excited to have a WARM place to sleep (nothing is heated here, so you can just leave the windows open, it's the same temp. inside and out) and it was also the hottest shower we had taken (we actually had to use the cold knob) in Chile.

Just before our departure to the 7+ hours bus ride, we had an encounter with my first form of LARGE Chilean wildlife. Rascal, as Brant's father-in-law, Dale, calls her, is a local fox. She is very cautious of us during her breif stay, but after hearing about how fond Dale is of her it was a delight to have an encounter with her.

Well, that sums up my weekend. I am enjoying my time here (eventhough I miss my best friend and husband, Mike, dearly). It is too bad I cannot put ALL of my pictures on here for you to see, but I will add them to my flickr account when I return (I will add that on here when I get back). Don't feel as though you are going to miss out at all!!

For those of you that want to check out the "lay of the land" with google maps. I would suggest zooming out to see our weekend locations (up north).

Observatories

On Saturday morning we met at the bottom of the mountain in Vicuna at 9 a.m.  Our goal for the day was to visit Cerro Tololo, the monstrous telescopes that sit at 7200 feet.

At the mountain base we were given instructions about the drive up.  We were cautioned about the twists and turns as well as the steep drop offs.  We were shown pictures of cars that had plummeted to their doom.  We began the half hour drive up the well maintained road that went back and forth and up, up, up.  At certain points the view of the Andes mountains were spectacular.

As we neared the top of the mountain we had a good view of the collection of telescopes.When we reached our destination and got out of the truck I was glad I had worn my sweater and jacket.  It was cool but also very windy.  We were with a tour group of about 25.  We had a bit of time to walk around the site.  Then we went into one of the observatories to see a 1.5 meter telescope.  This telescope began viewing the stars in 1967.

The tour was mostly in Spanish so I did not get all of the details about the telescope but I was amazed that they let this group of visitors right into the observatory.  We were advised not to touch the wires that ran along the outside and were able to watch as they maneuvered the telescope and open the doors.

Here is a picture of the four of us inside: Jen, Nicole, Brant, and Stacy (Brant's wife).

After visiting that first telescope we went over to the largest telescope.  From the outside it is pretty impressive looking.

This telescope is 4 meters and was installed in 1973.  At the time it was the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere. 

It was amazing to me that they were able to get all of this big equipment up that road but everything was brought in by truck.

The telescopes here are operated by an association of universities.  Researchers come to the mountain and work 7 days on and then 7 days off.  Even though there are bigger telescopes in Chile now (12 meters and plans to build a 30 meter) these telescopes are still booked out years in advance.

It happen to be cloudy the day we were here but this region see clouds only a few days a year, making it perfect for telescopes.  It did clear up by the end of the day.

Map

I just thought I would show everyone a map of where we are in Chile.

We flew into Santiago.

We are staying in Vina del Mar.

The University is in Valparaiso.

This weekend we took a 6.5 hour bus trip north to La Serena.

We then took another 1 hour bus trip east to Vicuna in the mountains (not labeled in the map).

A Trip North

From my perspective, the trip north to Vicuna was especially sweet. Last summer when I traveled to the same locale I had similar plans to visit the observatories at Cerro Tololo. Tours are only given on Saturdays and therefore on a busy 3 week trip the window of opportunity is small. The day before we were scheduled to come off the mountain (where we were staying at Casa Montana) there was an 8 inch snow fall that made the road into Vicuna impassable. On the second attempt a year later, success. Pictures struggle to do justice to the magnitude of the telescopes and their structures and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. I will try and give a little taste with my photos in addition to what Jennifer and Nicole have already shared. To begin, we had a very clear picture of what we wanted to avoid on our journey up the mountain
A couple shots for perspective on the size of the 4 meter telescope structure. Note the little people
Other telescopes
And lets try a couple videos; to start, the mission control room for the 4 meter telescope



Here is the 4 meter telescope. The larger white section is where the mirror is housed



And for good measure, a Newton disc demonstration which was found at the end of the tour



Tomorrow is a holiday in Chile so the research week has been cut a little short. Our plan is to explore Pablo Neruda's favorite home, Isla Negra. More to come. Ciao