Creatures of the Sea

Both Jennifer and Brant have commented on the research, so I will take the liberty to discuss the "other" part of our stay.

First off, Monday I experienced a Chilean dessert (the name
escapes me) which was a combination of dried

peaches (yes, pit included) soaked in a funky syrup with what seemed to be barley at the bottom. It was an experience that I am OK with

not having again. (Not that it was BAD, it just wasn't good!)

Yesterday we tried a new restaurant, La Travola, and the staff was helpful (as far as travelling goes, almost motherly) and the food was excellent. I love going to a place where I can literally get the blue plate special. You never know what you are going to have. It was a bean soup with a salad, for those of you that are wondering.



Today, after working in the lab, we headed out on the Puerto Barron (which is very close to our bus stop). This is where I got my first view (other than birds) of Chilean wildlife. It was a sea lion. This is as close as I could get with my 48x zoom (if that gives any of you an idea of how far away they were). We were not quite sure what they were, so we did have to do some research when we returned home to find out exactly what our "creatures of the sea" were.


My other milestone today was my excitement about sharing a "conversation" (if you want to call it that) with a woman on the bus. We exhanged words, but since my Spanish is less than adequate I was very excited about this interaction. I was not only able to understand what she was saying to me (TWICE!!), but I was also able to answer her questions (TWICE!!!). Who knows, maybe next week I may give more than one word answers?!?!
I am really enjoying all of the multiple facets of this whole experience. I am working on my Spanish (always room to grow when you know basically... NONE!), I am enjoying the food (does that surprise anyone?) and I am taking in the culture (the conversations with my new amigos/amiga has been great!). Chile is an amazing country and I am hoping to learn and see more as we continue this experience.
I know my two counterparts have not talked about how wonderful the two of them have been to have around. I have truely enjoyed my time with both of them. I feel like we are a family. I have enjoyed their conversations and support during this interesting time of adjusting to this new way of life. I would also like to acknowledge our Chilean counterparts: Eduardo, Rodreguez, Alejandra, & Humberto. These four have been more than empetheic to our language barrier and have worked very hard to make us feel at home (did I mention that I have a "special key" to get into the professors bano (bathroom)??) I have ultimatly enjoyed the time with them this week. Their dedication to the project and their humor have made this week very enjoyable. I am excited for what this weekend has to offer and for the continuing of our research next week (yes, we have the AFM on Monday!!). Best wishes to everyone. I miss you all. ~Nic

Doing Research

For the last two days Nicole and I have been working in the lab on our research.  On Wednesday we worked with another student, Alejandra.  She is the master of the AutoLab equipment.  We are working with a three electrode cell in order to plate zinc oxide onto glass.  We began by cutting 1x3 cm pieces of conducting glass.  Nicole and I were not nearly as graceful with the cutter as Alejandra, yet, she was very supportive and added our crooked pieces to the pile to use.

Here I am with my first attempt at cutting the glass.

We also prepared the electrolyte solution for the cell.  Eventually we put three electrodes into the cell, the glass piece being one of these.  We then started a long process of plating the zinc oxide onto the glass.  The idea was to let the current flow for one hour for each piece of glass.  For each piece of glass we changed the voltage that was being used.  This was a long process because there was an hour of waiting between each reset.  We used this time in between to run some errands including eating lunch.  We had a long day in the lab but at the end of the 8 hours we had four completed plates.

Today in the lab we took our glass plates to the spectrophotometer.  We measured the transmission of light through each of the plates.  The transmission of light relates to the amount of zinc oxide that was plated onto the glass.  We were looking to find the wavelength of light that had the best absorbance with each plate.

Here is Rodrigo setting up the machine.

Once the data was collected Rodrigo did some magic with the numbers calculations.  We were able to see the value of the band gap of the glass samples.  While this may not seem exciting to some of you, on two of our plates we obtained a value of 3.4eV and the accepted is 3.2eV.  We were excited about how close we came.

On Monday we will look at our plates under a powerful microscope to check out how smooth the plating is.

So, one more thing to add today is my adjustment to the weather here.  Although compared to Minnesota winters the winter here is VERY mild, I did not bring enough warm clothing.  There is not much heating indoors so sweaters are needed.  I did not bring one so yesterday I went to the store and bought one.  Today I bought a new jacket to bring with me to the mountains tomorrow.

Below is a picture of me at the pier in my new sweater.  I may wear it every day I am here.

We are off for a three day weekend to the north (where it is even colder).  I am looking forward to going to the observatory.  I feel as if the trip is going very well so far.  I am able to get around and do what I need to do even though I know almost no Spanish.

A photo post of sorts

As one of my tasks I have tried to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible during our time in Chile. A lot of behind the scenes activity that takes some time but is not all work. On one of my side trips I was following up on a lead for lunch that took me to Puerto Baron. This is a decommissioned port that is kind of museum/park which affords an incredible view of the hills of Valparaiso (those pictures to come later). At any rate, I found a restaurant or two and was provided a new perspective on the city and history of this historic port town.
"Catolica" as it is referred to is a bustling university. The activity level seems to be heightened due to the end of the current term coming on Friday. The middle two weeks of July are considered the winter holiday for Chilean academic institutions.
Our office

Getting down to business!
The next picture I am finding is where the true richness of the International Research Experience for Teachers (IRET) pilot is going to come from. Between lab tests there is ample time to compare cultures and languages which invariably provides good humor and camaraderie. Jennifer and Nicole can share more specifics if they would like but what I have seen to date has been very rich. Tomorrow we leave for La Serena and then on to Vicuna to take a tour of Cerro Tololo- http://www.ctio.noao.edu/. Until next time.

Brant's Thoughts

Two days in and all is going well and as expected. Since this is the first time through an endeavor such as this , we are not as efficient as we would be in the future. For example, the main activities of Monday and Tuesday could be condensed into one solid day in future iterations. The activities for this day would include a research team debriefing with US and Chilean participants getting on the same page with research expectations and content, as well as getting perspective on where each person is from both geographically and academically; a full tour of lab and university facilities; and instrumentation demonstrations to become familiar and adept at using said instruments. This being said, On Monday Humberto took us through a tour of the Chemistry department, he showed us the office space for our use and we did a quick tour and introductions within the electrochemistry lab. This is a picture of Humberto taking us upstairs to the office space he lined up for us.And then showing us the specific instruments that will be used for our research.
We are on the verge of becoming "regulars" at a restaurant within Mercado Carvonal. The picture below shows the building in which this restaurant is located. Humberto was saying this structure was designed by the same person who produced the Eiffel Tower. The building was originally supposed to go to Peru but for some reason found a home in Valparaiso, just off the port.


The second story of the building has many restaurants but to this point I have only experienced one of them (3 times now over two different trips). The lower level is a bustling market with all kinds of beautiful fruits and vegetables. On Tuesday we did a thorough stroll in and around the market. We bought some vegetables for dinner and snapped a couple photos. Below is a picture of Jennifer passing by a beautiful spread of what Marcado Carvonal has to offer.

Today the plan is for a full day of research now that our feet are firmly on the ground.

First Day in the Lab

Today we had an orientation to the lab and the equipment we will be working with.  Two post doc students we will be working with, Eduardo and Rodrigo, walked us through the use of the AutoLab machine.  The learning was intense but they speak English very well so we were able to communicate effectively.

We are working with an electrochemical cell that contains three electrodes.  By switching out the compound of one of the electrodes a different graph of the oxidation and reduction that was occurring can be seen.  Some compounds produce faster results than others but the cost of the material used is a factor as well.  The ultimate goal of this research as a whole is to develop a more economical solar cell compared to the ones currently available.

Tomorrow we hope to actually start doing some of our own research.

Getting used to it

I am enjoying the simplicity of life down here. It really helps to realize how life in the United States is somewhat cluttered. At the grocery store, for example, you have a selection of 10 chips, not 100. Same is true for cereal. I am really excited about the shelf-stable milk, it makes things so much easier!

The language barrier has seemed to not be a huge issue unless we are looking for something specific. It is difficult to explain what we are looking for unless we have an example of what it is we are looking for. I wanted to get slippers, yeah, try explaining that! I am slipperless as of now.

Our apartment is not heated (hence the slippers) so during the day it is very comfortable. At night is is cool and I have 4 blankets on my bed! It reminds me of camping, once the sun goes down we need to put on more layers.

My addition to the blog today is a google map of where we are living and working. I am also adding other "locations" as we get to know the lay of the land a little better.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=-33.031162,-71.576904&daddr=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=17&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110224936514495761747.00045182546ebfdb79132&ll=-33.030731,-71.577151&spn=0.001898,0.003304&t=h&z=18

End of Day 2

Today we went to the university and got acquainted.  Humberto brought us to an outdoor market for lunch.  On our way in I saw the biggest stock of celery I have ever seen.

We had a nice lunch.  Everyone else had fish but I had cheese empanadas.

At the university we have our own office together and access to the lab.  Nicole and I also have special keys to the professor's restroom.

In the afternoon Humberto talked with us about some background information for us to understand to begin our research.  It focused on what really is a basic battery cell.  I was so happy that I was able to follow along with the information and actually understand the chemistry that was being discussed.  In my mind I was even thinking about labs I teach in CPC and how they are kind of connected.  Tomorrow we will learn how to use the equipment in the lab.

It has been a good day and I think we are all getting some things figured out.  We know how to use more of the stuff in our apartment, we know where to shop, we know how to take the bus to/from campus.  Not many people here speak a lot of English and since I know no Spanish it makes it challenging.