Preparations

One thing I love about Iowa and the Midwest is how close some communities are. Today, my friends and I went "grad-hopping" where you try and attend as many graduation parties as possible. It requires a great deal of skill coordinating the times, the locations and, most importantly, the food. It is great how family, friends and classmates all come to support and congratulate you on your successes and accomplishments. Not to mention the free food is awesome from pulled pork, to hot dogs, to home made egg rolls. This time of year can rival the weight gained over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, you are probably asking what this has to do with my work for CIMMYT and the World Food Prize. I guess I was reminded today of the things I'll miss while in Turkey. However, I occurred to me that I could bring this type of Midwestern hospitality to the people I meet while abroad. I think it is very important to enter this experience with an open mind. Today I decided that is what I am going to do--arrive in Ankara on June 14 with an open mind and an eagerness to learn and better myself. My hope is that I will surround myself with new friends and colleges that, if in Iowa, I could go grad hopping with.

As an official update, I still haven't gotten my visa or gone to the travel clinic. (I know, kind of scary) However, I have my appointment for my vaccines and such set up and I am meeting with Lisa to finish and send my visa information (for the third time) to the Turkish Consulate in Chicago. Dr. Amer, my mentor, has shared with me a ton of great resources on soil borne pathogens. I have started reading the many papers and actually find it interesting.  I am getting more and more excited as the days pass. My to-do list seems to lengthen as I get closer to June 13.

T-20 days.