More Photos!

I have finally posted photos from the Field Trip and Budapest!

Budapest

Last weekend was another, um, fieldtrip. I spent three days in Budapest trying to practice my Spanish (with my compañeros Maria (Spain), Mijail (Ecuador), Alejandro (Colombia), Jairo (Colombia), Christian (Bolivia), Elena (Spain), Carlos (Ecuador), and Freddy (Ecuador)). I had been to Budapest four years prior, with Mom and Ruth, and it has changed a lot since then. Or maybe I have changed since then.

We arrived Thursday night, after Freddy's graduation and a quick cocktail. Our flight was delayed due to thunderstorms in Budapest, which abated quickly, but we still saw the debris the next day. Friday was a beautiful day. We took our time as we crossed the bridge from Pest to Buda. Suddenly we were at the foot of Castle Hill, where Elena and I separated from the group to attempt to climb the hill, as opposed to taking the funicular (the others never made it too the funicular and climbed the hill as well, thought via a different route). So Elena was my date for the afternoon. We had some lemonade on the terrace, visited the church, peaked into courtyards, and had a fantastic lunch. That was one of the things that I do not remember about my last trip to Budapest, the food. I know I ate, I mean, even I have to eat. But during this trip I was acquainted with the goulash and chicken paprika that I probably would not have dared to try before. All of it was excellent. And the iced coffee, which actually was coffee with ice cream, was divine.

During lunch we ran into the others, but they still had more of the castle area to see, so we decided to meet at the Gellert Baths later that afternoon. These baths are apparently the most famous in Budapest, adjacent to a luxury hotel. When I was in Budapest last time, the baths were single sex, and sans clothing. This time, they were not. It is fortunate that Elena had recommended that I bring my swimsuit there, just in case. Apparently, the proper way to appreciate the baths are to first get a massage, then relax in the pools, so we each booked half hour appointments. We had time to first relax in the pools, one at 34C, the other at 38C, then head to the steam room (which smelled like chamomile), and jump in the 8C plunge pool. It was very invigorating. Our massages were wonderful and by the end of our three hour experience at the spa we could barely drag our feet home.

Unfortunately it took us about an hour and a half to take the tram the 3km home. This was due to some misunderstandings. While on the platform we tried to figure out how to buy tickets. There was one machine, but it only took coins. So we figured we would ask the driver of the next tram. When it arrived, as I was walking to the front of the tram to ask the driver, the rest of the group got on, and as the doors closed I was left on the platform. Alone. So I went grocery and asked about the tickets. The women gave me change and told me to buy it on the platform. OK, that was easy, get the ticket, catch the tram. I sent an SMS to the rest to tell them that I was fine and would meet them back at the hostel, but at the next stop I saw them on the platform, and they saw me so they got on. None of them had tickets. No one had change. So we got off at the next stop. There was a metro near by with a ticket machine, so we went over there trying to find enough change, almost begging. After we had 5 of the 7 tickets the machine would no longer accept our coins. So we asked another train conductor what to do. He pointed us to the ticket window that is 5 meters away where one can buy tickets with bills. We had seen the building, but thought it was closed since there were no lights on and barely a tiny slit of an opening where the ticket man was. Finally we had enough tickets, so we went back to the tram stop and waited for the next tram and eventually make it back to our hostel. We showered and dressed for dinner, hit a trendy restaurant for some decent food, then hung out at the bar telling jokes in Spanish while we waited for Carlitos (he arrived a day late due to a field trip).

On Saturday morning we were once again at the doorstep of the Gellert Baths, via another route from Pest, to climb the hills of Buda to the reach the citadel. The day was once again hot and I enjoyed the hike. But there is only so much time that I can enjoy a view, and I get very impatient in large groups. I always feel as if we are going too slow and that I spend more time waiting than I do actually exploring. I know I need to relax a bit more, but I'm not very good at it. So Carlitos and I left the group to returned back to the castle (there was more that I had not seen the day before, and he had not visited it at all, the rest wanted to go to the national museum, which I was not in the
mood for at that time). We had a really nice time strolling the palace grounds, having a beer, and finding our lunch at a street festival on the Chain Bridge, which they had closed to vehicular traffic for the afternoon. It was about then when my back started to itch a bit and I noticed my sunburn. From the photos I cannot imagine why I did not notice it before, but it was quite bad. I guess that I had forgot to put suncream on my back, though I had put some on my chest.

Carlitos and I headed to the museum to meet the others, for the museum was supposed to close at 6PM. But when we arrived it was bustling. We had seen the signs around town beforehand, but only then did we realize that it was a city wide museum night. Many museums in the city were open until 2AM with special programs. I was in heaven, it was ideal, I could have not picked a more perfect plan for the evening if I had tried. We entered the museum and met our friends and saw a nice exhibit on Ghengis Khan and his empire. It was about 10PM by the time we left and half of us dragged ourselves to dinner while the rest showered at the hostel. By the time it was out turn to shower we were so tired that we stayed in on Saturday night (well we did only finish dinner at 12:30AM).

We decided to relax on Sunday. Well, I did (try). Carlitos had not been to the baths with us before, so he joined Elena and I on a walk to the Szechenyi Baths in the park. The walk to the park was on a beautiful tree and mansion lined street. The park itself was OK. But the baths were excellent. It took us almost an hour to get in, for there was a bit of confusion as to which entrance to use, which ticket to buy, where to book the massage, etc. But it was worth it when we finally made it inside. This complex had some outdoor pools as well, plus about 12-15 thermal baths, a steam room, and a sauna with an ice machine. It felt so good to rub my sunburn with a snowball while sweating in the sauna. We took massages again, of course, but the coolest thing about these baths were the current pools. I had never seen anything like it before, they were small circular or oval shaped pools with jets at an angle along the wall. It produced a current that whisked you along the wall, all you had to do was keep your head above water. I was out of breathe from laughing the whole time, it was so much fun.

We finished our trip to Budapest with some night photos and a beer. We got a three hour nap before catching taxis to the airport for our early AM flight. I was completely exhausted by the time I arrived back at IHE, but only 20 minutes late for class.

Party of the Year

Last Friday night there was a party at IHE. But it wasn't just a typical party, it was held to celebrate the institution's 50th anniversary. So it was a PARTY! For the two days prior, I had been sequestered in the theatre with 18 other dancers eating soggy cheese sandwiches and making my own coffee in order to spend a total of 15 minutes dancing at three different moments (two different pieces on Thursday, only one piece on Friday but that was for the Prince). Let me be clear, I am not a dancer. I should have had that tattooed on my forehead for everyone at the party who came up to me and said something to the effect of, "You look like a professional...you must have been dancing for years...you looked so natural..." I think that was one of my greatest acts of deceit, ever.
To be clear, I had fun, it was a great experience. But the whole time I was on stage, wearing more makeup at one instant than I had ever worn in my entire life collectively, I was wishing that I could grab the headset of one of stage crew and try to blend in with them. I will try post a video of the dances, once I find them, but for now I have a few photos that don't show very much, I just can't decide if I prefer the one of us moving, or standing still. Our costumes were awesome. They were tailor made my the mother of one of our classmates who brought them from Bangladesh. I have to admit that I don't remember the name of these trousers, thus will not write it here until I get permission from my editor. Regardless, they were beautiful and colorful and I was a bit sad to have to return them.

After the performance on Thursday we had some cocktails (as shown here joined by Maria, Angela, and Elena), but after the show on Friday was the PARTY! As I entered our building to be greeted by champagne (would you prefer white or rose?), I knew that this would be a night akin to the lifestyle to which I was accustomed. I spoke with the head chef, Jaco (who typically keeps me well fed) to get an executive summary. The told me that the pasta bar was here, the sushi bar was there (but be sure to get there early), there was a grill in the back, and some ice cream as well. If I dared to venture towards the library I would find, among the cocktail bar and oysters, a chocolate fountain and a casino, stocked with some nice whiskey and brandy (and we even found some cigars).
I know that it doesn't sound all that impressive. It could have been a wedding, or a bar mitzvah, or even just a normal night out in Vegas. I think we were all excited when we realized it wasn't going to be a typical IHE party with the same crowd (besides the students and staff, there were about 250 guests, many of them alumni), the same food (I'd been craving sushi for ages), the same DJ (there were four adorable twenty somethings serenading us with classic rock and roll on the terrace). I cannot really explain why, but consensus was that it was a great party, we all had a good time and everyone is quite sad that we will have to wait another 50 years for another party like this.

More tales from abroad...

Free Day in Munich
During our trip we had an appointment or two every weekday. When we did not have a visit we were driving (time on the bus varied from two to six hours a day). Though we usually had our evenings free, we only got one free day in a city where we were staying during the two week trip. That was in Munich, the only city on our itinerary that I had visited previously. So, what do you do in a city that you have visited six years ago (almost to the day)? The exact same thing as last time (well, almost).

On Saturday morning Anwar, Loreen, Helga, and I went to the train station and discovered (remembered?) that Munich has a fabulous deal with their day passes (probably the best public transit deal in Europe). For €9, a group of up to five people can travel together until 6AM the next day on all the trains within the city. For the four of us our whole day pass cost each of us less than one ride. We began at the Marienplaz to watch the 11AM performance of the glockenspiel (carillon) on the Neues Rathaus (town hall). It's basically a few statutes spinning to music near the top of a spire, but it was something that you have to see in Munich. I was just as unimpressed, yet satisfied, as last time. From there was a pleasant walk to one of my favorite museums in the world, the Deutsches Museum. Though most of the exhibits are still right out of the 70's, it is a museum of science and technology with planes, ships, rockets, cars, drills, bridges, and a cell that you can walk through. This is the what the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago was based on.

After wandering back to the center of town for some bratwurst, we went to the Olympic Park, only to get caught in the rain while strolling around. We took the elevator to the top of the Olympic Tower for some great views of the Park, but the fog prevented us from seeing the Alps, or for that matter, the center of Munich which was only 3km away (though managed to find the Hauptbahnhof).

Adjacent to the Park is the BMW Museum, which had some beautiful cars that we couldn't touch and very limited information. It gave a nice brief history of the company, though it seemed to be geared towards people who actually like cars, as opposed to people who just like museums. But it was still a nice visit. Like an observant civil engineer, my favorite part was the parking lot (please note what the location of the puddles can tell about the quality of the construction).

We ended the night with one more flashback, a trip to the Hofbrauhaus (a picture of McHale and me here at age 21 is my key chain) for a liter of beer with the locals. OK, I admit that about half the visitors are foreign tourists, but we shared a table with some German guys around our age who tried to convince us that the Hofbrauhaus was a stereotype and not typical Bavaria (though we already knew that, considering how few people we saw on the streets of Munich with lederhosen, dirndls, and feathers in their caps). The beer was good, the food was great, and the people were friendly. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Munich and prepare for a six hour drive to Zurich on Sunday.

What is a Trevian?
My high school mascot. Or someone from Trier. I finally visited Trier, Germany, the namesake of my high school, New Trier in Winnetka, IL, USA. Trier is thought to be the oldest city in Germany, founded by the Romans in 16BC as Augusta Treverorum (thus the locals were known as Trevians). I managed to get my picture snapped behind the Porta Nigra (from the front the whole gate didn't fit in the photo). We were only there for an hour and a half, and it rained as we were leaving, but Anwar, Loreen, Helga and I managed to have lunch in front of a graveyard in front of a thousand year old church. It was a bit of a shame that our time there was so short, but we had to return to Luxembourg for our last night before heading back to Delft.

Luxembourg
We spent two nights and one day in Luxembourg. Our hotel was near the airport. There was nothing else nearby, even though the airport is only 6km from the city center. Luxembourg City is beautiful, its placement on a fortified cliff yields amazing views from almost everywhere. Even from the bus. After our Friday morning meeting with the Ministry of the Environment, we drove through the city (to go to Trier). From our bus window we saw valleys and parks and castles and churches and...the Environmental Science class? Pounding on windows to get their attention (we didn't), the only time we saw any of our IHE colleagues was through the bus window on the last day of our trip. It would have been nice for the school to coordinate field trip schedules so we could have a futbol match with the other group, or at least a cup of coffee. But we went onto Trier and when we returned a few hours later they were gone.

Executive Summary
The field trip was great. I would have liked a few afternoon hours free in the cities, but I do realize that the primary purpose of the trip was not tourism. Still, it would have been nice to make it to a few more museums. A few of the hotels were a bit far out of town (Zurich, Luxembourg) which limited our access to inexpensive/local food (basically the only place to eat was the hotel restaurant). And after 48 hours back in Delft we were off to Limburg.

International Field Trip

After two weeks on the road, in four different countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, three more if you count starting in Holland, lunch in France, and driving through Belgium), my MWI class has returned to Delft. I will start with a few stories, and add more in the following days. I hope. There may be a time issue. On Monday we have fieldwork in Limburg until Wednesday, then beginning on Thursday is the 50th anniversary party for UNESCO-IHE and I will be dancing in two performances and attending parties and symposiums all weekend. But now it's a grey Sunday morning and I have nothing better to do besides look through a thousand photos and try to put some into words...First meet the team, Loreen (Philippines), Helga (Honduras), and Anwar (Bangladesh) were my primary traveling companions.

Water Treatment
In Munich, the drinking water isn't treated. No aeration, no chlorine. It is pumped from the ground and piped to reservoirs for the consumers. That meant we saw some pumping stations and not much in the way of drinking water treatment in Germany. In Zurich they treat their surface water, which meant we got to see a nice treatment plant. But of the 15 or so visits that we made during this field trip, only about 3 were directly applicable to my speciality. Fortunately, the rest (most of them) were really cool, regardless.

Futbol
In Munich we finally found a park to play in, about one week in to the trip. The match was well attended, with about 24 of the 41 participants playing, plus one professor. The pitch was small, with a tree in one corner, the ground uneven with manholes interspersed, and behind one goal was a small forest as a buffer from the major street. It was nice to stretch our legs after so much time in the bus (usually 3-4 hours per day). Water Supply beat the composite Sanitary and Integrated Urban Engineering team, but I think that is only because our team had Dr. Kebrab, who is lightening quick. And also since I got a futbol to my face with two minutes left to play. It was loud. I got hit on the side of my face and almost lost my balance. I thought that I had broken my nose, but there was no blood. Helga steered me back to the hotel and got me some ice. I had a bit of a swollen lip and my cheek was a bit pink the next day, but it didn't hurt at all. I was fine. Well, a bit annoyed because I missed the end of the match, but fine.

There was another friendly in Zurich, which was injury free, but on a real pitch, and a competitive game in Luxembourg that I didn't attend (I wanted to explore the city instead). I had hoped to have a match with another department, but the only time we saw anyone outside our program was from the bus window during the last day of the trip in Luxembourg, we saw the Environmental Science class. It was a shame that our bus kept on driving and all we could do was bang on the window to try get their attention.

Incinerators
We visited two. One in Zurich for municipal waste, the other in Basel for hazardous materials. Both were located in residential areas and only emitted steam. The energy from the waste was used to heat homes in the area and run the plant. At the haz mat site they threw entire sealed 55 gallon drums into an 1100C incinerator. From the camera you could see the contents explode and the steel melt. Apparently only six seconds at that temperature is needed to convert these dangerous chemical byproducts into inert molecules that cold be easily sequestered. After incineration there is waste, about 10% by mass that needs to be buried. But where? I think the Swiss send it all to Germany.

The Sewer of Europe
That would be the Rhine. We saw it upstream when it was clean. By the time it reaches Holland, it is not.
Swisshotel
After 10 days of the Ibis Hotel, we arrive at the Swisshotel in Basel. This can't be right, the hotel looks really...nice!? There are doormen, a concierge, a pool/gym/sauna, English newspapers. It's not that the Ibis Hotels were bad, they were just more simple. The location in Basel is perfect, about 750m from the Rhine and the center of town. Basel was my favorite city. It was quiet, almost silent except for the music, a cello and accordion player in the town hall, an orchestra practicing at the university on the hill, Vivaldi's Four Seasons creeping out into the main shopping street.

It was in Basel when I realized that I had an obsession with foreign food shops. During this trip, we couldn't pass a chocolate shop or bakery without me peering in the window (or wandering in for a moment). I had to find the street food, since it always tastes better than from a restaurant. But it's the posh food markets that I seem to like the most. The ones where the jars are arranged perfectly and the packaging so sincere that I actually believe that I will be a better person if I drink that tea or that my taste buds will be overwhelmed with pure delight by that grand cru of chocolate from Venezuela.

Up next...Free Day in Munich, What is a Trevian?, Luxembourg...

Summer Holiday I

It is finally time to relax. Last week was exams. I only had one, but for my other module the entire grade was a group paper. It is very difficult to coordinate 10 people writing a paper. I was the editor, which means I just gave orders, did research, and waited for people to email me their sections of the paper to coordinate. Then I would print out the paper, give it to my group members and we would meet to comment. But nobody read the paper. Most people read parts, but I really don't think that any one person read the entire thing (It did end up being 130 pages, at least 75 of them text, the rest appendices). But I will stop complaining now. Yesterday afternoon it was finally out of my hands. We handed the paper in, and I went to the lake. I got to spend the afternoon lounging in the sun doing absolutely nothing. It was fantastic.

Tomorrow I leave for a two week field trip to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. After that I promise to post more pictures and stories.

Piece of S*!T Bike Lock

So, this evening, after dance class, I try to unlock my bike. As I turn the key, it snaps off in the lock. The first option is to try tweeze the key out of the lock, but the spare key is already bent. So the only other option is cutting the lock. Which basically means I need to figure out how to steal my own bike. Apparently there is a lock cutter at IHE, but I will not able to access it until tomorrow. So I had to walk home. In the rain.

This whole situation would have been quite entertaining if it had been sunny or warm or my back wasn't still a bit sore. But since it is a windy gray day and I've been taking two Advil every 4-6 hours, it was not. Maybe if the sun is out tomorrow the remainder of the bike rescue will be better. Or at least the photos will have better lighting. The end.

African Night

Last Friday was another cultural night at IHE. This one included goat. African night was a bit different than European-American night a few months ago since the majority of the second year students are now gone due to graduation at the end of April. So African night was totally different because it was almost all first year students and no powerpoint presentations. There was lots of dancing within a concise storyline about the coronation of a queen.

Of course the food was excellent. I found a spot out back in the tent near the grilled goat and was able to grab a piece before it was all gone. There was drinking and dancing until midnight and a few of us went out afterwards. Unfortunately my back was (and is) still sore from something I did on Wednesday night. I don't know exactly what I did, but it's still hurting and I don't think that dancing and playing futbol yesterday helped. Hmmm, I'm boring myself, I'll try writing again later...

Born to Run?

Just got home from a run. I hadn't been running in over a month. That does not mean I have not been active, I have been swimming, biking, dancing, playing futbol and even made it to one capoeira class. But the run today was awful. My right ankle hurts a bit, probably from lack of stretching, but also my left shoulder is sore. I may have used it to block the wind, but that's no explanation for the ache. Maybe I can blame it on the weather, yesterday was the first rain in five weeks, which is a record drought for these parts.

This module (Water Treatment Processes and Plants), which is already half way through, has been quite interesting. It began with a trip to a intake reservoir, which actually was a boat cruise through a nature reserve with coffee (as seen with Mariano) and beer. The rest of the module is centered around a group design of a treatment plant for a fictitious city in a developing country. The concept is nice, but the biggest problem with working in groups is the different attitudes towards what is relevant versus what is not. For example, one person may want to argue the importance of one tenth of one percent in the population growth rate, while others think that it is more important for the figures to be in the correct range but not necessarily precise, is more worthy of discussion. Maybe the MSc in Environmental Engineering comes with an MA in Arbitration...Not that I'm bitter...Time for dinner.

Chicago: How to Spend It

I've been back in Delft for about an hour after a twelve hop across the pond via Zurich. I had an amazing weekend in Chicago. Last Thursday was graduation, so it was a long day of celebrating, but I woke up at 6:30AM the next morning to catch the 7:30AM train to the airport for my 11AM flight. There was no check in line, no security line, no immigration line, my flight arrived in Chicago an hour early, my luggage was waiting for me on the carousel after immigration, and my Dad was waiting for me at the gate. It was the easiest flight I had ever taken. Even as we drive home the process is streamlined. Dad has the menu for our favorite Japanese restaurant in his glove compartment. We call to order, pick it up, and before I know it we're in our kitchen having lunch, then a cup of tea, and of course, some chocolate chip chocolate cake that Mom made for me because she knows I like it for breakfast. It had been six months since I had been home and nothing had changed. Friday night was a nice dinner at home. My parents close friends, the Braun's, and their family trickled in, as did my sister Ruth, her husband Vince, and their dog Roxy (or is it Roxie? I should know, but I never thought about it until now).

Saturday started slow, but I wasn't jet lagged. I dusted off my bike and Mom and I went for a ride in the forest preserve. We only went about 10 miles, but it was perfect. It was a bit cool, but the sun was shining and riding my road bike was divine. I was gliding. I am not looking forward to riding my beast back here in Delft. After the bike ride I was seriously considering bringing the road bike back to Delft, but decided not too after I realized how much time, energy, and money that it would cost me. The bike itself weighs eight or nine kilos, maybe ten. I can easily lift it with one hand and throw it over my shoulder, but taking it apart and putting it in a case to carry back on the train would be miserable.

After the bike ride was a bit of shopping, a family lunch, followed my pedicures for Mom, Ruth, and myself, then back to the house for a doggy play date. Connie and Greg had come over with their pup, Izzy (I can't spell that one either) and Connie's brother Tony (who just started as a pilot, but was a bit unsure of where the The Netherlands was). So all the kids were home. For one brief hour the house was full, but then it was time to go to the city.

Dinner was at BBQ King in Chinatown. They make the best Peking Duck I have ever had (but I haven't been to China, yet). We ate until we could not move, as usual, then went to a bar to meet up with some other friends of mine. There were eight of us at dinner, three were in from out of town (Ruth, Vince, Becky), one had just moved into town but is a pilot so he doesn't hang out there much (Tony), and one was me. So I had dinner with three of my friends that live in Chicago (Connie, Greg, Drew (my ex)), and at the bar I met three of the other four (Vishal (Duke), Blanca (SOM), Aparna (SOM)). We didn't stay out too late, it was a laid back night, just as I had wanted.

Sunday was when I was put to work. I spent the morning at the Shedd Aquarium, testing water. Drew has volunteered there every other Sunday for the past two years in their water quality lab. I knew what he did but had never thought to tag along, until now. Behind the scenes at the aquarium is really cool. We took samples from the dolphin and whale pools and I helped in the lab with the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite tests for the sea water. I really like lab work. Then it was back to Connie's for some cleaning. We took apart her bed. We have a wonderful domestic relationship, she's a cleaner, I'm an organizer. Neither of us would have survived some previous moves without the other. From there I met Nicole, the final friend in Chicago I had wanted to see (she had another appointment the previous night). She had just moved so I helped hang. It was really nice to see my friends and actual do something useful with them.

That night was an engagement party for some family friends and by the time I got home I was exhausted. Monday was an easy day, up early to ride to the dentist, then I spent about an hour wandering through a book store. Back home to wake up the Kid and get him to take me to buy $12 worth of cheese (which made it through customs) before meeting Dad for lunch. Then a nap on the couch in the sunroom and it was time to say goodbye to Mom and go to the airport. I had such a wonderful time at home but three and a half days is just enough. The excitement wears off, people need to work, and by the end it was just me, the couch and the Financial Times. It was a nice trip, but I felt ready to return to Delft. And 12 hours I was back.