Some SOB Pervert Broke Into My Apartment...

I heard a loud scream at about 4:45 in the morning last Friday; at first I thought it was someone messing around so I rolled over to go back to sleep but then I heard my roommate Martha yell "Are you okay?  Are you alright? What happened?"

I got out of bed, took out my earplugs and pulled my face mask up on the top of my head and headed over to my other roommate to ask her if she was okay. She told me that a noise woke her up; her room was completely dark- she had a sheet over the window to block the light.  When she grabbed her phone and opened it, there was just enough light that she could see a man on his hands and knees going through her drawers.  He got up and groped her and that's when she screamed- he said "It's okay" and then ran out of the apartment.  Freaking SOB perv.

The police came over.  Then the detectives (dusting for prints below)

(I know, only a freak would be taking pictures with detectives, policemen and locksmiths over doing their thing.)

My other roommate thought she heard someone trying to get into her room (which was locked) around 2:00 or 2:30 AM.  She even called out "who's there?" - but brushed it off and went back to sleep because she thought it was me or whatever.  Basically we think the SOB pervert was in our apartment doing who knows what for 2 or 3 hours; he made off with some of my roommates underwear... freakin' sicko.  My room was unlocked; I don't know if he went in or anything... I'm hoping not (it was so messy he would've tripped on shoes or something... I hope he took one look and turned around.)

We moved apartments but all of us are still creeped out.  We don't know how he got in... did he have a key? They haven't found the pervert yet. We've had trouble sleeping, we check in closets, under beds and behind doors- we're paranoid.  We've boobie trapped the front entrance.  We don't feel safe and it sucks!  

Things could have been a whole lot worse and we are grateful to be safe and unharmed.  Be careful... you never think anything's going to happen to you but there are a bunch of creeps out there. 

Moab

The first week in the lab was great; I've already learned so much.  Dr. Capecchi was really nice- I'm working closely with one of hist postdoctoral fellows and a lab technician.

The other day we had a required seminar to attend for my research program.  One of the administrative workers for the summer research program asked me "are you turning mice into bats yet up there in Capecchi's lab?" and laughed.  I thought she was joking.

So far I have been learning a lot of techniques and pieces of things; today I got a general overview of two main projects we are working on. One of the large projects is focused on transferring an entire bat chromosome into a mouse stem cell with the hopes of creating a transgenic mouse that expresses the bat DNA- turning a mouse into a bat! The other day I got into the lab and Matt (the postdoc I work with) told me Mario needed to meet with him most of the day and wouldn't be around so I would need to get help from Joan (lab technician).  Apparently Mario had a meeting with Bill Gates in a few days to get some more grant money to fund the project and needed some presentation materials from Matt... I know, right?!! Too cool.

We went to Moab last weekend as part of this research program.  We had a lot of fun river rafting down the Colorado River.

I'm making some new friends...

The weather was perfect- not too hot and not too cloudy.

We hiked up to Delicate Arch; the wind was blowing so hard with a bunch of sand in it that it was probably as good as a microderm abrasion treatment.  Too bad you can't really see the arch in the picture; we were too busy fighting the wind to check and make sure we got a good shot.

I Speak Dork...

My family has always kind of teased me because I am such a dork.  Whenever one of them spouts off a random question or wandering, I tend to spout off some scientific explanation.  I can't help it, I am a dork.  I was the science club president in high school and did science fair projects... enough said?

In 2007 Drs. Mario Capecchi, Oliver Smithies, and Martin Evans were the cowinners of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for pioneering transgenic "knockout" mice technology.

If you know what transgenic mice are then you probably speak dork too.

This is Dr. Capecchi, co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine:

I was accepted into the University of Utah Summer Undergraduate Research Program (well not really, I applied for it but they put me into another program for minority students; basically the same thing).  I was in Córdoba working in the lab on a geometric morphometrics project (that's "dork" for I was studying shapes of flowers) when I checked my email and frantically read: 

Hi Malaina,

Since we didn’t hear from you (see below), we are assuming you’ve decided not to join us this summer.  We will be withdrawing your offer as of 3/16/09 if we don’t hear from you.

"Below" was my acceptance letter and a request that I formally accept their offer by March 9th... I received the email on March 13th!  I didn't get the acceptance email! I had been waiting and waiting for some kind of reply to my application but didn't receive any kind of email until this "final notice" email.  In absolute horror I wrote back something to the effect of "I didn't get the email, please still let me come!"

I skyped my family and was about ready to sick them on the U's butt with emails and phone calls so they wouldn't withdraw my offer (I was afraid my emails weren't getting there from Argentina)... luckily my contact at the U replied and said she got my email and that all was well, I was accepted into the program.

My next task was to send in some forms and list my TOP 5 faculty members I wanted to work with this summer...

Two years earlier while sitting in my Bio 240 molecular biology class, my teacher- Professor Bridgewater- was lecturing on stem cells and "knockout" mice.  During this time they announced Dr. Mario Capecchi as co-winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on knockout mice. Dr. Bridgewater worked with Dr. Capecchi while doing her graduate degree or post-doc- sometime in her career.  She told us what a great guy he was to work with and that if we ever got the chance to work with him we should...

I remember thinking to myself, "Yeah right, like that's ever gonna' happen."

Back to picking my TOP 5:

I'm in Argentina reading over faculty statements because I needed to choose five; I remember Dr. Bridgewater's statement about working with Dr. Capecchi and I put his name down as my number one choice, and then my other 4 choices.

Low and behold:

I'm on some dumpy hostel computer in El Calafate, Argentina checking my emails and I come to find out my research mentor for the Summer Undergraduate Research Program is...

drum roll please....

duh dada duh...

Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Mario Capecchi!

I didn't actually think I'd get in because I figured EVERYONE would put his name down and someone with more lab experience would work in his lab (if he even accepted undergraduate lab grunts).

So it's the night before I meet Dr. Capecchi and he introduces me to the lab in which I will work this summer, AND I'M NERVOUS AS HELL!

What if I go in there and make a complete idiot of myself???  He's probably a nice guy but he is also a Nobel Prize winner who studied under James Watson- Watson of Watson and Crick! The dudes that discovered the structure of DNA- even if you don't speak dork you've probably heard of them.

I gotta' go to bed.  Send some good Qi (chi) my way if you don't mind...

"You may carry a backpack but you are no 'backpacker'..."

I'm back in good old Provo, Utah.  I meant that too, Provo is my home.  It may not be the most diverse and I realize people get culture shock coming out to Utah County, but I love it just the same.  

After we got back from our backpacking trip throughout Argentina things were crazy and I didn't make time to blog about my adventures so here it goes now...

I should start of by admitting that I am NOT a real backpacker.  I proudly admit that I am a fake, a backpacker wannabe. 

1. I carried too many clothes because I refused to "make do" with two outfits.
2. I refused to camp.
3. I bought things everywhere I went... let's just say that real back-packers are a lot more frugal.
4. I tried eating really simply to save money (because eating out gets expensive)... cheap empanadas and sandwiches from kiosks.  It lasted ONE day before I said to hell with it
   and ate what and where I wanted.
5. I forked out 130 pesos for a private room.  It was towards the end of the trip after two weeks in hostels.  I walked into our 6-person, female-only, hot and humid, smelly, hostel room and there was some weird Israeli guy lying in bed with a girl in her undies. Wouldn't you have said "oh hell no!!!" and gotten your own room too?
6. I insisted on cama-suite for every bus trip we took (like taking first-class instead of coach when traveling by bus).
7. I whined about my ugly toes.  I desperately needed a pedicure.

Even though I am not a real backpacker, my backpacking trip was amazing just the same.

  

Stop One: San Carlos de Bariloche

We arrived after a 25 hour bus ride from Cordoba.  We decided to do laundry, pack, buy bus tickets, say goodbye to our Spanish teachers and book a flight the day we left for our big trip. We basically planned the trip the day we left (after having stayed out all night saying goodbye to friends from church), but don't worry, we made it to the bus station 10 minutes before the bus left.  I was neurotic and ready to strangle one of the bus conductors because he wouldn't let me take my back pack up with me- he made me check it under the bus.  I've decided last-minute doesn't work so great for me (yet here I am blogging while I should be doing my homework that I've just about put off until last-minute).

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous throughout Patagonia.  As we got about an hour away from Bariloche I started looking in my travel book for things we wanted to do, places we wanted to eat and also for a place to stay.

After checking into the hostel we took a tram to the top of a hill to get a scenic view of beautiful Bariloche and Nahuel Huapi Lake.

We woke up early the next day and set out horse-back riding.  I had so much fun... my horse was kind of a dud the guy leading the tour had to kick his butt into gear to get him going but it was fun all the same.

Later that day we took a small bus ride out to Hotel LLao-LLao-

I don't remember why the tour book recommended it but it was a neat trip that only took a few hours.  Someday when I'm rich I'm going to stay at hotel LLao-LLao instead of some rotten old hostel (okay hostels aren't that bad I'm just not a real backpacker, remember?).

The next day we took a really neat tour and saw some more scenery and lakes

behind me is Mount Tronador- a glacier

Up close view of the glacier

It was really amazing.  You can see where glacier has fallen and melted down in the water below.

We then walked up to see a waterfall... it was really lovely.

We had fun in Bariloche.

Stop Two: El Calafate- Perito Moreno Glacier

We took another 30 hour bus ride from Bariloche further south to a town called El Calafate.  It is the gateway to the Glaciers National Park.

We started the day by going out to see the famous Perito Moreno (expert Moreno- named after the geologist Moreno who was an expert I guess).  It is one of three glaciers that is not retreating... it still is moving forward with ice chunks fall off into the lake.  It was amazing, while we were there we heard and saw a bunch of ice chunks fall off and crash into the lake.

It was cold and windy... very windy.  You can see Amanda through the front window of the tour bus hiding out from the cold and being a wimp.

The glacier was absolutely incredible- I have never seen anything like it.

We took a ferry across the lake and strapped these "crampons" (I know, it sounds like tampons) onto our shoes.

Can you see the hooks?

We didn't actually strap them on, the tour guides did.

We went hiking on top of the glacier.  It was expensive but completely worth it!  It was scary at first because I was sure those silly little crampon things weren't going to hold me and I was going to go plummeting to my death, but they turned out to be pretty sturdy.

The consistency of the ice on top of the glacier reminded me of regular ice you'd buy at a gas station- it wasn't like solid ice, but gravely pieces about the size of regular ice cubes.

There were deep crevices where the glacier was melting... they were so incredibly blue and clear!  Absolutely amazing.

The water was so refreshing and clean tasting

When we got to the end of the hike the tour guides had a little "bar" set up.  Everyone had whiskey on the rocks (glacier rocks of course). 

Us little BYU chicks had ice water... it was fun all the same.

I absolutely loved Perito Moreno.  Ironically I planned my Argentina trip for winter semester so I could avoid cold and snow... I didn't know I'd be going so far south and that I would encounter extremely cold weather and humongous chunks of snow...

Tomorrow (or whenever I get around to blogging again) I will add more pictures from El Calafate and then talk about Iguazu Falls, and the ruins of San Ignacio.

I'm in Bariloche

Hello everyone who reads my blog,

I'm in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina (you should google it).

I have been so busy the past few weeks and haven't had time to blog. I have all kinds of fun things to write about but will do so later. I spent last week frantically finishing up my research in the lab and writing my paper... I think it turned out okay.

We took a 22 hour bus ride from Córdoba to Bariloche and got here yesterday. After Bariloche we are heading further south to El Calafate to see some cool glaciers. We decided to travel around Patagonia instead of Machu Picchu; it would have taken three days (by bus) to get to Peru and we just didn't have time to do it. I guess I'll have to come back to South America, oh darn.

I went horseback riding today... not sure how the cowboys were able to do it all day because my tookas is SORE after only three hours (maybe because I don't know what I'm doing?).

more adventures to come later.

Quebrada de Humahuaca

I'm too lazy to re-order my photos. When you upload them onto blogger it puts the new ones at the top; basically the photos from the beginning of the day are going to be at the end of this post.

We ended the day (day after Purmamarca) in San Salvador de Jujuy inside the justice building in the flag room learning about the flag of Argentina, and some other really old flag that General Belgrano (important in the Argentine war of Independence) made and gave to the province (I think? It was in Spanish and I wasn't listening that closely).

I do remember that the face of the sun is Incan-inspired; the straight lines of the sun rays represent European influence and the wavy lines are indigenous influence (if you are Argentine and reading this, correct me if I'm wrong).

View from the Plaza of San Salvador de Jujuy- looking at justice building.




Some nice scenery (on the way to Jujuy)- our tour guide Juan and Marie (Marie and her husband traveled with us the second day).

Along the highways they have tolls and different check-points; sometimes you get pulled-over and sometimes you don't. This time we did; I'm pretty sure Juan is passing 10 pesos to the guy under his license (to avoid some kind of ticket). I had to do the touristy thing and snap a photo.



This is Humahuaca. It was a very important stopping point when travelers went from Buenos Aires to the Spanish Viceroy in Peru. The tour guide explained that there were other routes they could have taken but this was the easiest because it wasn't as high in altitude as the other route (the animals carting everyone around could find stuff to eat). There was a third route they could have taken (can't remember where) but it was more jungle and was dangerous because of pumas and venomous bugs and mosquito's and so on.


This is a monument to Argentina's independence.



View of the city:


Pucará de Tilcara (fortress of Tilcara)

We stopped along the Quebrada de Humahuaca (gorge of Humahuaca) at the Pucará de Tilcara (I think Pucará is a Quechua word signifying fortress).


These buildings/ruins were re-built in the 1950's (I think with the materials from the original ruins that date back to the 15th century). Before the Spanish brought adobe bricks to South America, they used stone- like with these buildings. The roofs were made out of mud and madera de cardón (wood from them big cactuses you see in the background).



Along with homes, there were corrals (for llamas) and agricultural fields and so forth.




I wish I had written this a week ago when I remembered more.

EL ROBO

As I was walking back from the travel agency in Alta Córdoba (our barrio) and texting the agent a message to confirm that Amanda would leave the money (for the trip to Salta and Jujuy) with her sister (who is our Spanish teacher) some SOB, B@$#@&d came up behind me and stole my phone.  Can you tell I'm still bitter, not quite over it yet? 

He drove up behind me on the sidewalk, plucked it out of my hand and drove off. I know I should have been paying attention and not texting while walking but still, I'm pissed. It seems the exact same thing has happened to everyone I talk to.  People snatch their phones while they are talking or messaging. The phone was old (I bought it in Malaysia 5 years ago) but it was MINE and I knew how it worked. 

Don't laugh-  I filed a police report. (and took a photo of it so I could post it on the blog... yes I'm lame)

  

I was more interested in seeing how the process worked than in getting actual justice- I didn't actually think anything would come of it.  There was a police station literally TWO blocks from where the guy stole my phone.  I told the cops what happened in my broken, gringo *gringa cause I'm a girl* Spanish and they let me drive around with them in the back of their truck (in case the guy was still in the area).

More than anything they were probably trying to calm the freaked out foreigner- they knew and I knew, that the guy and phone were long gone.  I'll be more careful from now on.

In the words of my Grandpa Martin,

"Shit happens"