Hello all!
My internship is officially over! It was a great success and my code will be included in the next major release of the SCALASCA software-nerdy-stuff that I was working on. More good news: I have an offer to come back to Juelich next summer for three months (paid!). Loverly.
I'm on the shared youth hostel computer so I'm not going to put up photos or much now, but I've got gay cheerleaders, vats of molten chocolate, indoor rain forests, and smoked sheep cheese to write about.
Laters!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Krakow!
My CESRI internship ended with a debriefing in Krakow, Poland. I arrived a day ahead of everyone else and spent the night in the Elephant on the Moon youth hostel (thus named because an elephant is a Polish symbol of good luck, and the moon is a symbol of sleep). The staff were very friendly and suggested I join a friend of their, Justine, on a pub crawl that night. Turns out that a "pub crawl" in Krakow is what I would call "clubbing", and my gray VT sweatshirt and sneakers got me bounced from several of our destinations. It was a seriously lame way to spend the night.
To cheer myself up after the pub crawl debacle, I used my extra day to visit the Auschwitz death factory. Auschwitz is of course horrific and shocking, but also very fascinating. The exhibits were strangely unadorned and included little explanation, mostly because they required none. Piles of shoes and clothing taken from murdered children are easily recognizable as a work of evil. The hair was the most disturbing. The Jews were shaved and their hair used to make textiles, exactly as if they had been sheep. (Imagine buying your daughter Jew-hair bedsheets!) Two tons of hair taken from murdered women were on display, and the smell was very disturbing. It smelled like people.
The Gate of Death, leading into Auschwitz Birkenau.
After I got back from Auschwitz, I checked out of my hostel and into the hotel downtown where I was to meet the rest of the CESRI fellows and our supervisors (Agi, Chris, and Vijay). We had another amazing gourmet meal at CESRI's expense (I had pierogi). Vijay has a degree in religious studies, so we had a great conversation about belief and religion. During dinner, Thomas taught us how to make a polish friend (video here).
The next day was the first round of presentations. Each CESRI fellow talked for 20 minutes about their research this summer and other such academic fiddle-faddle. Lunch was excellent, as always, but an adventure. I asked for roast goose, but instead got Polish blood pudding: a plate of millet mixed with blood. It tasted somewhere between pan-fried hamburger and chocolate. After that was over, we took a 3-hour walking tour of Krakow with a charming guide who spoke with a perfect British accent and was very short.
We visited the University of Krakow (Copernicus graduated from here) and made many discoveries. The best 15th and 16th century scientific equipment was on display: telescopes, astroglobes, and chronometers (a.k.a clocks).
Krakow is a very beautiful and romantic place.
That night we feasted at "Under the Angel", a high-priced Polish gourmet restaurant. I tried honey mead, Polish bread drink, vodka, borsch, bread with bacon fat, and other amazing foods. After dinner we had a vodka party on Vijay's balcony. A really amazing night.
The next day we had the last of the presentations and a final good-bye lunch. Agi, Chris and Vijay had to leave quickly to catch a flight, but the food was amazing. Each dish was brought out on a covered platter and then dramatically uncovered. Thomas sang polish songs of farewell and embarrassed many people considerably, but I enjoyed the performance (video here).
After lunch, we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This beautiful network of salt caves is one of the wonders of the world and includes the largest underground chapel in the world. Everything is made of salt, which comes in various colors and levels of purity. Salt sculptures are everywhere and artistic lighting creates a beautiful atmosphere.
Salt leaking out of the ceiling to form "salt spaghetti".
Salt sculpture.
And so ended the CESRI fellowship! I've still got ten days before I return to the USA, so I'll be visiting Rome, Granada, Malaga, and Munich before returning to Berlin for the flight home.
One thing I forgot to mention is the Krakow sheep cheese. This stuff is EU-protected so it can only be sold in certain places in Poland and it tastes great! It looks like a small loaf of bread and you buy it grilled from street vendors (the best will include some cranberry jelly). It squeaks in your teeth and tastes amazing.
To cheer myself up after the pub crawl debacle, I used my extra day to visit the Auschwitz death factory. Auschwitz is of course horrific and shocking, but also very fascinating. The exhibits were strangely unadorned and included little explanation, mostly because they required none. Piles of shoes and clothing taken from murdered children are easily recognizable as a work of evil. The hair was the most disturbing. The Jews were shaved and their hair used to make textiles, exactly as if they had been sheep. (Imagine buying your daughter Jew-hair bedsheets!) Two tons of hair taken from murdered women were on display, and the smell was very disturbing. It smelled like people.
The Gate of Death, leading into Auschwitz Birkenau.
After I got back from Auschwitz, I checked out of my hostel and into the hotel downtown where I was to meet the rest of the CESRI fellows and our supervisors (Agi, Chris, and Vijay). We had another amazing gourmet meal at CESRI's expense (I had pierogi). Vijay has a degree in religious studies, so we had a great conversation about belief and religion. During dinner, Thomas taught us how to make a polish friend (video here).
The next day was the first round of presentations. Each CESRI fellow talked for 20 minutes about their research this summer and other such academic fiddle-faddle. Lunch was excellent, as always, but an adventure. I asked for roast goose, but instead got Polish blood pudding: a plate of millet mixed with blood. It tasted somewhere between pan-fried hamburger and chocolate. After that was over, we took a 3-hour walking tour of Krakow with a charming guide who spoke with a perfect British accent and was very short.
We visited the University of Krakow (Copernicus graduated from here) and made many discoveries. The best 15th and 16th century scientific equipment was on display: telescopes, astroglobes, and chronometers (a.k.a clocks).
Krakow is a very beautiful and romantic place.
That night we feasted at "Under the Angel", a high-priced Polish gourmet restaurant. I tried honey mead, Polish bread drink, vodka, borsch, bread with bacon fat, and other amazing foods. After dinner we had a vodka party on Vijay's balcony. A really amazing night.
The next day we had the last of the presentations and a final good-bye lunch. Agi, Chris and Vijay had to leave quickly to catch a flight, but the food was amazing. Each dish was brought out on a covered platter and then dramatically uncovered. Thomas sang polish songs of farewell and embarrassed many people considerably, but I enjoyed the performance (video here).
After lunch, we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This beautiful network of salt caves is one of the wonders of the world and includes the largest underground chapel in the world. Everything is made of salt, which comes in various colors and levels of purity. Salt sculptures are everywhere and artistic lighting creates a beautiful atmosphere.
Salt leaking out of the ceiling to form "salt spaghetti".
Salt sculpture.
And so ended the CESRI fellowship! I've still got ten days before I return to the USA, so I'll be visiting Rome, Granada, Malaga, and Munich before returning to Berlin for the flight home.
One thing I forgot to mention is the Krakow sheep cheese. This stuff is EU-protected so it can only be sold in certain places in Poland and it tastes great! It looks like a small loaf of bread and you buy it grilled from street vendors (the best will include some cranberry jelly). It squeaks in your teeth and tastes amazing.
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