Whoa Nelly! I'm going to Welly!

I just got an email saying I was selected to receive a scholarship to attend the Public Health Association of New Zealand's national conference!  It'll take place in September in Wellington. How cool is that?!

*happy dance*

The conference will focus on children's health.  I don't have anything to present, so I'll simply be an attendee.  I'm excited to sit back and be a sponge... just absorbing as much as I can learn about public health issues in New Zealand. 

*happy dance continues*

Rowing to Russia: Paul Ridley and Friends' Arctic Row 2012

Yesterday, I watched live feed of the Ironman Lake Placid finish line.  It gave me goosebumps to watch "ordinary" people finish an extraordinary event.  One finisher, Kelley, is a friend who battled breast cancer this year.  It was inspirational to see her cross the finish line with a smile from ear to ear.  She and I raced our first Ironman together in Lake Placid in 2010.  I still remember seeing her in high spirits out on the run course - quite the opposite of how I was feeling.  Man, she has endless energy!

Recently, I came across an extraordinary adventure of a different kind: Arctic Row.

Paul Ridley, one of Arctic Row's rowers, and I graduated from Binghamton High School together.  In 2009, I followed his Row for Hope that involved crossing the Atlantic Ocean to raise funds for cancer research.    This time, he's not rowing solo and he'll be in a much chillier climate.  Check out the Arctic Row website www.arcticrow.com for more info!

Milk, maps, and my brush with death (just kidding about the death part).

Most research students can relate to the stress that accompanies recruiting participants for our studies.  So, in the interest of good karma, I've tried to sign up for studies when I can.

A while ago, I participated in a study that examined how our mind relates to an artificial limb.  The goal with the research is to help people with prosthetic limbs.

For the experiment, I sat down with both of my forearms inside a black box and watched a video of the fingers of a prosthetic arm being stroked with a paint brush.  At the same time, the researcher was showing me a video of him stroking my fingers with a paint brush.  He was trying to see if my mind would accept the fake arm as my own.  I could tell which arm was mine, so I thought the experiment was boring. BUT, the student explained that in the original experiment (where he got the idea from) the participants saw a video of a hand getting stabbed with a knife and even though they knew the fake hand was being stabbed, not their own, they still jerked their hand back.  That was kind of cool.  So was getting a huge bar of chocolate for participating.

Last week, I participated in a milk tasting study.  The researcher strongly emphasized that we should NOT swallow any of the milk.  He also emphasized that an ethics committee did approve the study, so anything we tasted wouldn't cause harm.

Alrighty...

I sat in a cubicle and was presented with a pair of milk samples.  I took a swig of one, swished it around, and then spit it out.  Then I did the same thing with the other sample.  I repeated this for 12 pairs of samples.  My job was to identify the milk that I liked better and explain why.  I'm not a huge fan of milk, so I may or may not have sniffed some samples, decided they smelled HORRIBLE and poured out a wee bit of milk into the spit cup so it looked like I tasted it.

Yes, I am a cheater.  But, in the end I still got a $20 gift card to a local grocery store chain.

The most recent study that I participated in was really fun.  A guy from the tramping club was comparing our ability to locate ourselves on a map of Woodside Glen track, one that none of us had been on before.  The weather was craptastic and so our easy/moderate hike turned into a hardcore sliding down the mountain mudfest.  We had to scramble up the side of a mountain, sometimes on our hands and knees, for nearly 3 hours.  I fell into a stream at one point and ended up getting lost with a group of students (all with their own map mind you).  And you know what?  When we realized we had completely lost the track the first reaction wasn't hmm, maybe we should turn around and go find the track.  Nope. Someone suggested we photo-document being lost.

Like I said, the weather was craptastic.  The fog made it really hard to stay on the right track, especially when we walked through this tussocks. 

So, the leader of our little stroll decided to can having us find the last few points where we needed to locate ourselves on the map.  This was fine by me!  I was tired, cold and hungry.  He promised us lunch, so quitting meant we'd get to eat sooner.  We all looked like dogs on ice on our way to find a place to sit for lunch.  It wasn't a matter of if someone would fall on their rump.  It was more a guess of how many times we all would fall.

Oh, the things we do in the name of research!

Tramping in Manapouri

This weekend, Kate, Celia, Christoph, and I headed four hours outside of Dunedin to Manapouri for a little bit of tramping.

Celia was the trip leader and planned out a nice loop for us to walk.  This required a water taxi ride across a small river to the start of the track to Hope Arm Hut.

We paid "Skipper" $20 each to take us from one side to the other

We walked for about 2 1/2 hours.  Along the way, we got some great views of Lake Manapouri.

Then we continued through the forest.

During one small stretch, we saw this stuff hanging all over everything.  What on earth is it?  It was really pretty; I half expected little fairy people to pop out from it.

Just before sunset, we arrived to a spectacular view of snow capped mountains across from the beach just beyond our hut.

Right before the sun went down the air temperature dropped substantially.  We all made an effort to keep the fire going in the wood stove in the hut, but it didn't do much - hours after the fire was built, we were sitting in 41* air temperature indoors.  Brr.


Kate and I took on the responsibility of making dinner (well, I sort of volunteered us).  We brought pasta, broccoli, brie cheese, garlic, butter and pine nuts for an "easy" dish.  Unfortunately, our canister of gas for the stove was a little on the empty side.  We spent the better part of an hour waiting for the water to boil.  

Kate took over boiling water. She didn't trust me with the second pot.

When it was almost ready, I stood up to get the pasta and proceeded to knock the whole pot of almost boiling water over.  Man, I've got some smooth moves.  Eventually, we ended up with boiling water, cooked pasta, and ultimately a garlicky dish of yumminess.  (Note to self, do not make cheesy dishes on tramping trips.  They are a p.i.t.a. to wash after the cheese has cooled down!)


Before we climbed into our sleeping bags for the night, we took a trip down to the water for some star gazing.  It was freezing, so we didn't plan to stay outside long, but wow what a sky!  Just being able to see that many stars makes a trip to New Zealand worthwhile.


The next day we walked back to meet "Skipper" to take us back across the river.  On the way, we had to cross a river using a "bridge" made out of a thick wire rope.  So, we had to walk it like a tight rope and use two similar ropes on either side for balance. Celia went first.  As she was walking we heard gunshots.  Odd.  I froze and wasn't sure what to do.  

Soon after we heard several more shots.  Turns out, two farmers were in the woods hunting deer and pigs.  One of them turned up at the bridge just as Kate was about to cross.  He was pleasant while I made small talk; he was staying with his mate at Back Valley Hut (this is the hut Celia originally planned on us staying at - I'm SO glad she switched to the other one!).  It made me a little nervous that he said his hunting skills were "rusty".  This gave me extra motivation to zip across the river to get out of the way of the hunters, pronto.


The weather wasn't as good as the day before, but it was hard to tell in the forest.

We made a quick stop to check out the beach one more time (one of its inhabitants was the most obnoxious bird ever) and then carried on our merry way.

On the way back to Dunedin, we stopped in Te Anau.  Unfortunately, the lake was under a blanket of fog, so we couldn't enjoy the scenery.  I did get to enjoy a kick ass cup of coffee at the Sandfly Cafe, though!  It was the BEST coffee I've had in New Zealand so far. M'mm. And, the best part for me was that the coffee came in a large size!  This sounds silly, but if you're the kind of American used to all those size options at Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks and then you're cut off from those choices only to be given coffee in a dinky sized cup, you learn to appreciate the opportunities to get a nice big hot cup of Joe when you can.

Four hours in the car passed by quickly with such great scenery.

All in all, it was a great trip!  I have another tramping adventure coming up this weekend and again the following weekend.  I am a tramping machine. =)

Beached Whale

It's always fun to meet new people and try to guess where they are from based on their accent.  It's even more fun to mimic accents.  Talk like a Brit? Sure, no problem.  Talk with a Spanish accent? Got it covered.  But, for some reason, I cannot replicate a kiwi accent!  So, I thought I'd give my readers an opportunity to listen to a kiwi accent (through a beached whale in New Zealand) and see if you can give it a shot yourself.

U.S.Heeey! Top 10 Most Wanted Foods

Happy birthday, America!  Yesterday at Abbey College we celebrated by adorning our faces with stars and stripes and watched Team America.  Heck yeah!

For me, it was a day of reflection on that whole life, liberty and pursuit of happiness thing.  What makes someone happy?  Choices!  By that, I mean food-related choices.

It's funny that when I think about my return to the U.S. I instantly conjure up a list of foods that I've been deprived of which I will instantly seek out when my feet hit American soil.  Living in a catered residence hall means that I'm at the mercy of whatever the cook has on the menu.  Don't get me wrong, Nigel (our cook) does serve some deliciousness.  But, every now and then I get a strong hankering for particular things.  Some are available in New Zealand, but most are not (at least not here in Dunedin...the word on the street is that Auckland has some of my favorite American delicacies). *sigh*

So, what are these cravings, you ask? Here they are, in no particular order:

• Heinz ketchup
• Life cereal
• Reese's peanut butter cups
• Jif peanut butter (really, just about any peanut butter brand)
• Morningstar and Boca burgers
• Whole in the Wall pesto
• Ben & Jerry's chubby hubby
• Funfetti cake
• Harpoon beer (raspberry hefeweizen in particular)

You can't really tell that I have a background in nutrition based on my list, can you?!  Nevertheless, Mom, if you're reading, feel free to drop a package of Reese's cups in the next care package.

☺

A Birthday Abroad

My birthday was this week.  Besides my 10th birthday that I spent with the Girl Scouts in Arlington Cemetery I've spent each birthday with family and friends.  Recent birthdays have been celebrated with a nice dinner out and a slice of cake topped with a scoop of ice cream.  What would this year bring?

I made a reservation for one at Luna Bar & Restaurant in Roslyn.  For one you ask? Yes.

Months ago, I ran past Luna and admired the view of the harbor.  I suggested Luna as a pit stop on a girls night out, but others felt it was too far out of the way. Fair enough.  Since I was making plans for my birthday, though, I was going to do what I want even if it meant hiking up a long, steep hill in a nice dress and heels in the cold and wind all by myself.

I had to work at MInT on my birthday, so I hurried to finish things up and make it to Luna for my 6pm reservation.  Before I left, I double-checked directions to get to the restaurant.  Google maps told me it'd take 40 minutes to walk there.  It was already 5:40pm. Oops.  I decided I could make it on time if I hustled - the time estimates are for slow walkers anyway.

I definitely didn't make it on time.  I zigged when I should have zagged (not my fault, the roads aren't marked very well and so I missed a turn) and I underestimated how long and steep Stuart Street is.  I actually stopped partway up the hill to assess the situation: why on earth is this place so far away and why did I think it'd be a good idea to walk there and do I really want a glass of wine and piece of cake this bad?!  Needless to say, I looked rather disheveled when I arrived (I think I looked as if someone had been chasing me) and the kind bartender asked what I wanted to drink even before I found a place to park myself.

So, this was my idea of a sophisticated birthday, huh?

I ordered a glass of Mt. Difficulty Roaring Meg Pinot Noir and the chocolate pudding with a brownie and vanilla ice cream. Then I immediately spread out a bunch of research articles and started highlighting important looking parts to make it look like I was a pro at eating by myself in nice places.

I'm sure I could have asked other people to join me, but the walk to the restaurant was long and treacherous; I don't think people would be too pleased with me.  On top of that, it was a little pricey.  I spent $25.50 on my glass of vino and dessert.

Contrary to popular belief, I think I did enjoy this time by myself.  I wanted to treat myself to something nice for all that I've gone through recently.  The great views of Dunedin and the chocolatey goodness filled that need just fine.  Plus, I tucked this experience away with the other things that I've been nervous to do by myself, but did it anyway to prove to myself that I can.

I didn't stay too long.  I had a date with my friends at Abbey and New Girl.  Here's a picture from outside the restaurant: a vague idea of how beautiful the city is at night time:

My birthday adventure didn't stop there, but I know my mom reads my blog and so I don't want to worry her with my tale of...

...walking home by myself in the dark; cutting through paths that required me to keep hitting buttons on my cell phone so that I could see where I was walking; saying aloud how thankful I was that it was too cold for homeless people to come out and attack me in these unlit woody areas; bushbashing up a bank and falling in the process...

Only I could end up in situations like these.

And guess what? It was snowing!  Not enough to stick to the ground, but how many people who have a June birthday can say they saw snow on their birthday?!

Back at Abbey my wonderful friends had bubbly drinks to share.  It was a delight when the room full of people from all corners of the world started singing Happy Birthday to me.  I acted embarrassed, but I secretly loved every minute of it!

Next year is the big 3-0.  *gasp!* I do NOT plan on spending any second of my birthday by myself.  I want to go on an adventure, but not the kind that requires jumping off a bridge attached to a rubber band or hurtling through the air after jumping out of a plane.  If you have any ideas, please send them my way!