Trip to Berlin

Most people who visit Germany do so with the intention of visiting Berlin. There is a good reason for this - Berlin is very important. By visiting it's easy to see why exactly that is. Berlin is the largest city in Germany, has its own federal state, is the capital of that state, and is the capital of Germany as a whole.

Berlin also has an interesting history which defines its current culture. The post World War division into East and West Berlin left noticeable scars on the architecture and development of the city. The division line, the Berlin Wall, can be seen in parts as a memorial to the history.

Where the wall once stood

Some people use the wall to send a message

Others to make their own art

There is plenty of room on the wall

Aside from the wall, there is plenty else to see in Berlin. There are obvious tourist attractions like the Brandenburg Gate or Castle Charlottenburg (pictured below)

Brandenburg Gate

Castle Charlottenburg

We also tried to see the Olympic stadium which was constructed for the 1936 Olympics, but we arrived at about 6 PM, which was apparently too late and we could not enter.

Olympiastadion exterior

The Great city of OULU!!

Our trip from the Philadelphia to Oulu was long and tiresome. After one layover in Chicago and one 9 hour flight to Helsinki followed by another flight to Oulu we finally arrived. Our adventure in the capital of the northern Scandinavia began at that moment.

Landed!!!

Background of the city

• Founded by King Charles IX of Sweden in 1605.
• The name Oulu comes from a word in the Sami language, meaning floodwater.
• Surface area 3,000 km2.
• 5th largest city in Finland.
• Population 190,695 with the youngest population of all cities in Europe, with an average age of 34 years – growing by 2,000 inhabitants per year.
• Oulu is considered one of Europe's "living labs", where residents experiment with new technology (such as NFC tags and ubi-screens) at a community-wide scale

We took the bus from the airport to our apartment in Yliopistokattu (University Street). It was a 30 minutes ride, but not boring at all. We got to experience the great Finnish landscape for the first time. Besides some living compartment, the equivalent of American suburbs, and the roads, all around us was forest, lakes and green fields. The air was fresh and after having been on planes for so long we breathed deep and enjoyed the air(It was a bit cold, but the temperature did not prevent us). The bus went through the city and we were looking all around us at the beauty of it all. Even in the city we could see trees and parks everywhere. As soon as we left the city center and went crossing a bridge we got to experience one of the best sights in the city; the Fountain in the lake. 

Fountain in the lake.

It was a great view and after it the forest followed till we arrived at the university where we met our guide Stephen. The best guide in forever. Stephen told us more about the city and the university. Some facts and information we would not find in the webpage. For instance, each building in Oulu has a "storage room", which has a huge steel door protecting it. It turns out that these "storage rooms" were built after the WWII in case of any sudden military attack and their purpose was to provide shelter for habitants. Another interesting thing had also to do with the Air Raid alarms. The first monday of every month a loud alarm would go off and the purpose of it was testing the system. However, we were here for 2 of these special days and we experienced none. I guess its just a urban legend here in Oulu.

Weather 

• Oulu has a subarctic climate that has severe winters, no dry season, with cool, short summers and strong seasonality
• The average annual temperature is 36.5°F
•  Average monthly temperatures vary by 48.8°F
• The lowest temperature recorded in Oulu is -42.7°F from 1966.
• There is a lot of snow during winter and they never cancel classes.

Oulu is only 107 miles away from the polar circle so the weather here is not very warm at all times. After having left Philly at a soaring 85°F we expected a somehow cooler temperature at around 65°F. Little did we know that we would have to open our luggages and bring sweaters out as soon as we left the airport. June was not my typical mid summer month. Usually by that time I would be at the beach. Temperatures varied around the 50°F and a completely unexpected thing happened on June 16th, our second day here. It SNOWED in Oulu that day. Snow in june!! Can you imagine?! Our expectations of going to the beach and tanning a bit were shattered but the locals came to aid supporting us by saying that this was not usual and August would be better. It had not snowed in June here for 60 years. However, their statements and scientific data were good enough to convince us. 

Weather has indeed improved here. This month temperatures have been around the 80°F besides some days when it rained a bit.

Hail in Rovaniemi.

Polar Circle

Our trip to Rovaniemi past weekend did not survive the muddy weather here either. Rovaniemi, is a small city north of Oulu and at the Arctic Circle. It is known as the capital of Lapland and it the house of Santa Claus!!! Yes, yes Santa Claus. The one(we met four of them there, but I will still refer to him in singular not plural. If young kids are to read this post we advise them to skip this part.) that brings us presents for Christmas. To get back to the weather topic. It hailed that day in Rovaniemi. But not just normal hail, the pieces were big as a nut. 

Apartment 

Dorm from Outside

We all live in the same building but most of live in different apartments. Apartments here vary from 2 - 4 rooms, which are spacious. Each apartment has its own common kitchen and bathrooms. Laundry is done in the building next to urs. It is free of charge but we have to book online. Also there is a sauna in the same building,which we have used whenever we had free time.  

"Storage Room"

Our apartments had everything that we needed starting from furniture, microwave, fridge, oven, utensils, and also good food left as an welcome present from the previous tenants. This took me by surprise. Before leaving my dorm room, I received an email from the housing office stating that my room had to be cleaned completely. Nothing should be let on the room otherwise I would be charged $ 100. Because I was one of the last people to leave my dorm I went to throw out some trash at the trash room. I was startled! There were microwaves, fridges and all kind of things that were barely used. Because students could take those home or resell they were just throwing things out not to get charged I suppose something should be done. Not only could new incoming students could use some of those objects and stop adding to the already expensive education ill, but also the school could use it to promote the sustainability cause.  

View from the roof of our building at 00:00. We are surrounded by Green. 

I got to live in a four room apartment but we were only 3 tenants. I, Moudit and Jean. Moudit was a pre-junior from India who studied Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. This was his second year in Oulu and he had been working for one month already. Jean was a soon to be Freshmen in Software Engineering for France. He arrived the same week as us and was here for a summer internship funded by the French government. It was a nice thing to have two roommates from two

View from my window. I'll miss this.

different parts of the world. We spent a lot of time sharing ideas, opinions and our views on different topics. It was a great experience to get the input and learn from cultures different from mine. I could easily notice the "laid back" and "live your life" point of view from an European, the thorough and deeply work hard ideas of an Indian and also the somehow mixed opinions of work and live of someone from the Balkans who studies in the States. As an international student I would joke by saying that I was international squared. However, the best culture exchange came when it was cooking time. They do not say "Food brings people together" for no reason. 

Center City 

Park in Center City

The city of Oulu was founded in 1605, but a huge fire destroyed much of it in 1822. After that the architect redesigned the city in the neoclassical style. The whole city is build with small blocks and there not many tall buildings. There are parks everywhere and bicycle routes dominate most of it. Most of the street are cobbled. The main street as in most other European cities has many shops on both sides.

The Bobby

The Market Square (Rotuaari) is at the seafront and a very popular meeting spot. There are cafes, ice cream vendors (A special section dedicated to them) and many other vendors that sells veggies berries foods etc. "The Bobby" is a policemen statue at the Square that overlooks the activity there. Judging by the number of people who take photos there it is the most famous tourist destination here. Something that I have noticed at the Market Square is the Finnish youth. They just gather there, sit next to the sea and bring out their drinks. They talk, laugh, and drink there. It is a good way to spend a summer afternoon. 

Other things in Center city are the: The Oulu Cathedral, the City Hall and the good Pizza they serve all over the city in every pizzeria. Don't forget to try reindeer meat. It is splendid. 


A green and sustainable city

• Oulu has the greatest per capita amount of bicycle paths in Finland. There are 550 kilometres of bike paths, which averages out at 3.5 metres for each Oulu resident. This year we will build another 20 kilometres.
• The greenhouse gas emission has dropped by 33% from 2010 to 2013.
• One of the fastest growing urban areas in Finland.
• The City of Oulu owns about 17,500 hectares of timberland.
• Landscape in the Oulu region has a great deal of variety: sea, archipelago, low-lying coastal land, river valleys, agricultural land and extensive marshes.

Bicycle tracks in Oulu. Red is our Dorm

When flying from Helsinki to Oulu the first five minutes we could see cities and man populated areas. After those five minutes until we landed there was only forests and lakes. That is Finland, sustainability here is a big cause. And Oulu as a city puts a lot of efforts into it. There are different conventions in which the city participates to lower the green gas emission. 

At the Park.

This one yawns, rolls, and pitches.

There are parks and forests everywhere. For instance, our university and dorm is located in the middle of a small forest. There is a lake behind our dorms and a botanical garden as well, where we have located the shire. The best thing we have come across and that also brought back our childhood memories was the games at the park. As engineers those games caught our eyes and we spent a lot of time on them. 

Everyone bikes here in Oulu. Maybe it is summer but I have not seen many cars. I think that people here buy bikes because distances of traveling are fairly short, it is cheap, convenient, easy, and healthy. There are bike tracks everywhere in the city and you can reach every location. Sometimes it is faster to take the bike than the public transportation system.

Center city here we come!!

Because centercity is around 5 km away from our dorm and we wanted to try biking around here we all purchased bikes the first week. We bought the bikes online on facebook in a group dedicated to selling or giving away used things (sustainability again). The bikes were cheap and affordable by us with a mean price of 30 euros/bike. However, Coming and going back from center city costs 6.2 euros before 11:00 pm. Plus when we go to center city we go through a beautiful park and also cross by the lake fountain. We have travelled all around with bikes and the good thing is that there places to leave bikes everywhere. 

Dam

Windmills

When talking about sustainability I should of course mention energy. There is a dam next to center city. It was build in 1940 and it is located in a very beautiful park. The dam has also created a artificial lake which people here use for sunbathing. I have to point out that "sunsets" from the dam are marvelous. Besides the dam there are also windmills at the beach. 

Protest

But what has caught my eye is the cleanliness of the city. I have not noticed any cleaning staff but neither have I noticed any one throw something in the street. The citizens are so conscious about the environment and its importance. In a conversation with my mentor he was saying that there is no police controlling hunting and fishing. People just do not hunt or fish when it is not the right season. The first time we went to center city we noticed this protest. It was a small group but they were still protesting against nuclear plants in finland. 

Ashleigh with Ducks.

                                                                

Finnish Food, Culture, and...Saunas?!?!

Finland is such an amazing country with such a rich culture, and I realized the other day that no one has done any blogs specifically about Finnish culture. Culture is an integral part of Finland (and every other country), so I wanted to write a little bit about what makes Finland unique.

Saunas

First and foremost, Finland is full of saunas. Saunas, saunas, saunas. There are about 2 saunas in the country for every 5 people in Finland (approximately one per household), so as you can see, there are ALOT of saunas. (And they are nude saunas). Most houses in Finland own a sauna, and it is an activity that you partake in with your family, friends, guests. Even some of the apartments in the complex we are staying in have saunas. Often it is single gender rotations, so that women go in the sauna for a few minutes (5-10) and then the men have their turn.

While in the sauna, someone is frequently pouring water over the hot stones to increase the moisture in the air. Normally, someone will go into the sauna about once a week at a minimum because it is relaxing and seen as a necessity. There are even different types of saunas, different levels of comfort, and mothers use to give birth in saunas before health care and nurseries.

There is even a whole Wikipedia page about Finnish saunas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_sauna

There is no other country in the world that has such a deep connection to saunas and have it so intertwined in the culture of the country.

I have been in sauna twice, once with Drexel kids, and once at a barbecue with my advisor (with her son showing me how to set up the sauna). It was a really refreshing experience, and it is also common to enjoy a beer in the sauna. Everyone in the house has their own "placemat" with their name on it to put down on the benches in the sauna. it really was quite a sight.

Picture from Wikipedia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Sauna_2.jpg

Salmiakki and Ice Cream

Another food that is very popular in Finland is salmiakki, also known as salty licorice. It is really hard to describe the taste exactly of salmiakki, except with the comparison to rubber tires. Its extremely salty, and is often called an acquired taste, because no on outside of the Nordic area (and Northern Germany) likes it. Even other Europeans don't like it because, well, it tastes like rubber tires! 

Its essentially ammonium chloride and looks like licorice, but a darker black. The Finns can't get enough of salmiakki, and flavor a lot of vodkas and ice creams with salmiakki. 

This brings me to my next idea: ice cream stands are wildly popular in Finland. The two major companies are Pingvinii (owned by Nestle) and Ingman, which is owned by Unilever.  (Unilever owns/ makes TONS of products such as Ben and Jerry's, Dove, Lipton, Klondike, etc.)

There are ice cream stands probably every kilometer or so, and there must be at least a dozen in the city center. All of the beaches have ice cream stands, and there were at least four stands in the small zoo in Helsinki. The ice cream is quite good, too. It is very creamy, and there are significantly more flavors than in the USA. Flavors such as blueberry, peach, strawberry, white chocolate, nougat, and tar (yes, tar–they use some sort of tar syrup).  

Coffee

Finns have made coffee an integral part of their culture, and will happily pour coffee into the coffee maker themselves, instead of buying coffee. There are coffee shops, but entire university departments will come together and drink coffee. For instance, the Environmental Engineering department, where I intern, has set coffee breaks at 9 AM and 2 PM, where professors and deans alike will drink coffee, schmooze, and relax for at least a half hour. The professors provide coffee for others – the rule is that you can partake in these coffee breaks if you bring in a bag of coffee every once in awhile. I participated in some of these coffee breaks too, and of course, brought coffee in for everybody. 

At many offices, there are free coffee machines for clients to take as much as they please (and we do!) 

Weather

After spending many weeks in Finland, I still cannot understand weather here. It can basically rain at any time, even when it is sunny and no clouds, and it hailed ice balls when it was 55 degrees fahrenheit in the Lapland area, Northern Finland. It also snowed in mid June, like the second day we got to Oulu. 

At the beginning of our time in Oulu, it would be 24 hours of constant daylight. They even coined it as the 'midnight sun' because it really is as bright at midnight as noon. As time has progressed, we have been able to see immense changes in the amount of daylight, and it is actually getting dark in the evenings! 

On the Summer Solstice, everything is closed, and the holiday is called Midsummer. Conversely, in the winter, it is pitch black almost all the time, and there is often only a few hours of daylight. 

To cope with the heavy snowfall and constant darkness, they have set up the university to be entirely connected. No one has to go outdoors to go to other buildings, and corridors connect the entire university. It is hard to fathom not every having to go outside during college, but they manage it quite well and the building is brilliantly designed.

http://blog.universitypositions.eu/universities/university-of-oulu/

Overall, we really like Finnish culture, but it took some getting used to. We are going to miss it very much, and we leave in just over a week!

Impressions on the Finnish Culture

Spending time abroad, especially the extended time we have spent here as opposed to a vacation, tends to lead to impressions of the culture you are around. Finland is no different and after spending the past few months here, there are some ideas that the people and the culture have left with me. Coming here with an open mind and attention to detail was very important because the first thing I noticed are that the people here are generally a bit more quiet and shy compared to people back home.

This is by no means something bad about the Finnish, just something odd for us Americans. There were time where we would stroll down to the break room for coffee or tea, and walk in to no less that 6 or 7 people, but no other noise than the television in the background. As explained by one man in the office, "We are no good at small talk, if we have nothing to say, we don't have to say anything. Sitting around a table of five in silence to each other is not disrespect, in fact, it's perfectly normal here." As a natural talker and an American, this threw me off a bit, but the people in the office were quick to converse with us out of curiosity of a different culture. 

Although they might not be keen on small talk, the people here sure like an engaging conversation, most of the time open to things I wasn't sure crossed the "line" or not. For instance, when I was walking to lunch yesterday, an older (relative to the graduate research students) member in the office caught up to me and ask if we could sit together for lunch. Haari is his name and over our chicken cordon bleu, he starting pelting me with questions. About my culture, what I thought of it here, and how we were different. We discussed things like the different healthcare systems and how he believe that positively impacted the culture here, to know that everyone is on the same playing field in the doctors office. He also felt that it was more effective due to the lesser spread of wealth in Finland, with more families closer in wages to one another, allowing for this equal spread of health care. This was also true for the education system. The free post high school graduation played an enormous role in the view of Harri, so that regardless of the family's income, a child may attend almost any school he wishes to go to in Finland as long as he passes the tests to get in. We even got into a discussion about the state of Texas (he had lived there for a year growing up), throwing questions at me whether the state was similar to others or not and told me he could feel the individualism that came from each state allowing them to feel a bit separate from the federal entity of the entire country. It was an interesting discussion, that one must take with a grain of salt, because although the people here might seem a bit aggressive or invasive in their conversations, they are simply curios and wish to learn by provoking thoughts. 

As mentioned before the people are not much for small talk, but it won't stop them from proposing their own opinions. Often, we will find people to come and visit our lab, four floors and a building away from the offices, simply to get an update on the state of the lab and ask questions, and put their own opinions in. Although the criticism is never harsh, the staff often, what seems like interrogate us before offering their own creative and, usually helpful response to our project. The people are very down to business over here and it makes for a great work environment, with little distraction, that I feel can usually be found in the states. However, it is very important for the people to take breaks as well, especially when they can in the summer.  

Above is a picture of a usually packed conference room for our department. When we first cam here there were always people and meeting going on in here, but for what seemed like a mysterious reason, right around the beginning of July, the room went empty, a ghost town no longer hosting meetings and daily conversations. As soon as July hit people here go on "holiday". Not vacation, "holiday". Not only for the beginning of July, but for a lot of them, the entire month. Finland has the third most vacation days of any country with near 30 paid days of vacation and around 10 days for holidays (Christmas, religious holidays, etc.). Most people will take advantage of this in July when its warm and beautiful here. I guess being stuck inside and dark all winter class for extra vacation days. As August is rolling around we are beginning to see some familiar faces again. 

Lastly, the little things are the most important to these people. This is something I love about Finland and the culture. It seems like the social classes are less defined over here with a bigger middle class and smaller upper class, resulting in less stress on material things. It seems the only thing these people need to be happy are family, the great outdoors, and ice cream. Oh man do they love their ice cream... Family is also something hugo to the people here. As we have noticed, people will start a family around 24-25 which seemed a little early to us, but normal to everyone here. Some even as early as 19 without a problem. And the outdoors. They could spend years just fishing, biking, walking or skiing. The people here embrace the wilderness and everything it has to offer. 

It has truly been an amazing summer spending time with the people here, and I'm glad I got to explore their culture as well as share my own. Hopefully I am able to bring some of these qualities back with me and continue on with the Finnish ways back in America, especially the ice cream part! 

Gringa in Peril: Part II

We are doing 4 different research projects simultaneously while in Costa Rica.

1. Observing the different species of birds that attend army ant raids. Some birds are specialized to follow the ants because insects run away from the army ant raid.  This makes it easier for the birds to find prey – birds do not eat army ants!  

Method: Whenever we come across a raid of army ants pillaging the forest, we set a timer for an hour and identify every species of bird that comes in close proximity to the ants.  On this trip alone, I’ve been able to identify 60+ species of birds!

2. Collecting scent samples from army ant bivouacs (aka the home base for army ants).  They don’t build nests; they form a collective mass (of ants) under trees or in the ground.  They usually relocate every night and move in massive migrations.   

Method: When we find one, we set up a scent collecting apparatus Sean thought up using S.P.M.E. fibers (pronounced spee-mee, some weird scientific acronym).  The fibers bind to any compound found in the air, and we can send the SPME fibers to be chemically analyzed.  With this information, we could determine how/if birds are tracking the army ants by smell.

3. Dominant male behavior in wasp species Mischocyttarus mastigophorus.  Males are rarely dominant in social insects; this species of wasps is very laid back and won’t sting you unless continually provoked.  The males actually bully the female wasps.  We are testing to see if there is some connection between the female’s dominance and their nutrition.

Method: locate a colony of wasps and surround the nest with Halothane fumes contained in a cup until the wasps were knocked out.  Mark the wasps with paint for identification, until they can be dissected and analysed.

4. Thermo tolerance of different species of army ants at different elevations.  (This is actually the research of graduate student Kaitlin Baudier: she has her own crew collecting extensive data.)  Army ants (underground and above) can only live comfortably at certain temperatures.  Studying what elevations they exist at could shine more light on their distribution and, over a period of time, could also predict the possible future effects of climate change.  

Method: collect raiding army ants and separate them into test tubes and test survival rates at both hot and cold temperatures.

And that is all of the projects we have been diligently working on this summer.

Now for the fun (and much less scientific) stuff.

San Gerardo

We went to a field station located in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.  There is no Internet, no cell phone service, and no hot water.  You can’t get to the station by car; you have to park at the top of the continental divide and hike an hour and a half down the mountain.  Don’t forget your snake boots!  There are snakes everywhere.  

It was AWESOME there. A local couple owns the place and they maintain the entire station by themselves.  That includes grocery shopping for a capacity of 40 people, cooking, cleaning, repairs, maintaining all the trails for safe hiking, and chasing away venomous snakes.  It was similar to summer camp.  There were bunk beds and outside the rooms was a huge porch lined with hammocks overlooking the volcano (that was sadly, always concealed by mist). 

My favorite part of the trip was hiking to the waterfall!  Our crew stripped down to our underwear and went swimming.  The water was freezing and walking underneath the waterfall was like getting hit by a million icy water bullets.

We have seen our fair share of wildlife throughout the trip.  I’ve seen multiple monkey species, tarantulas, scorpions, tarantula hawks (aka giant wasps that kill tarantulas and also have the second most painful sting in the world…), rainbow lizards, freaky bugs, butterflies, toucans, etc etc.  So many animals I can’t list them all.  Life is thriving here.  At least, where the animals are protected.  There is a lot of deforestation to make room for lucrative coffee and banana plantations.  The future of the rainforest here is unknown.  Private owners own the reserves, not the government, and they are safe for now, but one wrong management move and the forests could be gone.

Sometimes hiking through the forests we find strangler figs, which are huge parasitic trees that grow on other large trees and basically choke them to death.  After a while, the dead tree on the inside of the strangler fig will rot away and the fig tree is left completely hallow.  This is perfect for climbing!  You can climb up inside the tree to astonishing heights.  You have to be careful because the insides of some trees are teaming with spider webs…

We had a humming bird feeder hanging up right next to the windows of our house, but humming birds kept slamming into the glass!  One humming bird didn’t see the window and flew straight into it, then tried to fly away but fell into the grass.  We ran over and picked it up and put it in a dark cooler to try to calm it down a bit.  After a few minutes, its wings were buzzing against the walls of the cooler so Sean took it in his hand and we tried to feed it some sugar water before releasing it.  After that, we moved the feeder further away from the house to prevent more collision accidents.

So many cockroaches have crawled into my luggage that I am scared what I will be bringing back with me when I fly to Philly.  I have chigger bites all over my body and there are spiders in every corner of the house.  Sometimes at night the spiders with webs above my bed will drop bugs on my face while I am sleeping.

Last night, we went square dancing!  The Quakers get everyone up on their feet and dancing to polka music on a record player.  Afterwards, we went down as a group to a Latino bar.  Everyone got beers and cheap tequila shots and we (kinda) learned how to dance like true Latinos!  Salsa, merengue; the dancing here is so much more fun than American parties. 

With our stay in Costa Rica coming to an end, I know I am really going to miss it here!

Wait, we have to go back to America?

Well, we're down to the final stretch here in Finland. After 7 weeks of Euros, Finnish, 24 hour time, metric system and constant daylight, the thought of leaving to go back home is strange. I'm sure many of you saw the amazing traveling we all had the opportunity to do, and I am so grateful for all the experiences we had, both abroad and here in Finland.

One of the highlights of going on our trip to see other countries was that got to stay with the family that hosted me when I went to Norway 4 years ago for a government exchange. It was so great to see them all again and they were just as kind and caring as they were the first time I stayed with them. I have been in contact with Stine, the girl I stayed with, since I went to visit the first time and while she has had the opportunity to come visit me, I never thought I'd be able to go see her again! It was so hard to leave a second time, but we have already made plans for her to come visit me this Christmas (:

One of my favorite things that I got into on this trip is biking. I haven't been on a bike in a long time, since I didn't really want to or have the need to bike at Drexel. I really enjoy going into town or to the grocery store or wherever I have to go by bike. It's much more relaxing then driving, but still is good exercise.It's been in the 80's temperature wise and we rode our bikes to the beach when we had time. Now we are all so busy finishing everything up we don't have much time for that.

My research went well, and now I'm finishing up my review paper on the Bioremediation of Sulfur in Mining Waters. Basically I've been reading paper after paper after paper on this topic and have learned so much. Now I am composing a summary of everything I learned. This paper will be in my advisor's final research paper after she conducts her research on this topic. She will read over my paper and then begin her work in the fall. It's kind of frustrating because most summary papers like this are worked on for 6 months or longer, not just 7 weeks. So I'm frustrated because I know there is more out there that I didn't have the time to read, but she wouldn't have assigned me this project if she had a problem with that.

I'm very excited to see what everyone has to present in Germany. We have all been working so hard here, it will be great to have the chance to talk about what we have been doing and what we have learned.

Thank you!!