A week in pictures

This friendly stray decided to join me on my run--at least for a little bit. 

The dish is called kanafeh and is very good. 

The second story view from a restaurant in the city center. 

Me attempting to make American Mac and Cheese from Turkish ingredients. 

Elfinesh seemed to enjoy it!

A group of doctors and doctoral students who visited our program. This is an irrigated test field for wheat. The head wheat breeder for CIMMYT's Global Wheat Program is the 5th from the right. 

Me being studious and taking notes like I know what they are saying. A nice doctor from Mexico explained to me what they meant when they said synthetic wheat. Note: it is not a hybrid or GMO. 

Test wheat. Looks good to me!

Merhaba ve güle güle (Hello and goodbye)

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would give some short updates. 

My first-ish week here has been amazing to say the least! In the lab, I have worked with Fateh counting nematodes. I helped set up an experiment with Elfinesh that included inoculating wheat seeds with Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium pseudograminearum. Today we are watering the plants in the growth room. On my own, I've been scanning the roots of grown wheat plants. There is a special software that then analyzes the roots and calculates things like root length, surface area, the number of tips, the number of forks etc. That data will be linked with the nematode count to see if there is a correlation. 

Yesterday I was able to go to the fields where they are testing new varieties of wheat. I even met the director in charge of CIMMYT's global wheat program. He was very nice and extremely knowledgeable, as you would guess. After talking with him and a Ph.D. student from Texas A&M I've started looking into plant breeding as a possible career--its future looks promising! On a side note, I've lost track of how many times people have asked me if I am a Ph.D. student or where I am studying. I've stopped saying  "I just graduated high school," and simply say "I'm a freshman at Iowa State." 

Outside of work, Fateh, Elfinesh, Omar and I have spent many nights going to the city and cooking. Fateh is an excellent cook and has made many delicious Middle Eastern and Mediterranean meals.  I've been taking notes and hope to repeat them back in America. Just last night, Fateh, Elfinesh, Omar, Katerina (she is a nematologist from the Czech Republic that is visiting for a couple days) and I went to a park and had a BBQ. It was nice to sit, eat and talk at a table where everyone is from a different country--truly a remarkable experience. This morning we said goodbye to Fateh. He finished counting and is headed back to Belgium where he will continue his work on his Ph.D. I wish him the best of luck in his research and life. 

Ramadan starts on Saturday. This means the place where  eat lunch every day will be closed for one month. I believe a lot of PB&Js are in my future. 

All Work and No Play

This is now the end of the first week. Only seven left!! Where is the time going?! 

On Friday Elfinesh and I worked from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. setting up her experiment. I placed pre-germinated seeds on wet paper towels as she inoculated them with a specific amount of spores. The amount of spores was determined and calculated in our previous days. Once she inoculated the seeds, I rolled them up and put them in tubes of water. We repeated this process for two experiments, three trials each, for 52 variables. A total of 312 times plus some controls of course. These were then randomized and put in the growth chamber. By the end of the day, Elfinesh and I a were "consumed" as Fateh would say. 

Today we rested. I slept rather late and then walked around the institute. Elfinesh corrected me when I kept calling it CIMMYT because CIMMYT only works in a couple of the labs. The entire campus is owned and operated by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. Since Elfinesh and Fateh had cooked the nights before, it was my turn to be chef. So, I went into town and bought supplies to make Mac and Cheese. Easy, right? I had the ingredients pre-translated and written down so all I had to do was point. Once I got into the market I was pretty overwhelmed by the different options. I knew I needed milk (süt) but there were so many types! What is whole, what is 2%? Do they even do that here?! I had been fooled once before by "milk" that turned out to be Greek yogurt mixed with water and I was not about to make that mistake again. In the end I left it up to chance. Now onto cheese. I needed cheddar and when I went to the counter I took out my paper and pointed. With some hand gestures and my faith in the Lord I got the cheese. They didn't have the blocked cheese or shredded--only pre-sliced, so I had to make due. The real find of the day came when I was about ready to leave. A passing thought of "wow, I could go for some popcorn right now," entered my head. Then, as if by divine chance, a bag of maize with popped popcorn on the label. Without thought I snatched the bag and went to pay. (On a side note, this was my second or third time in the this market so the check-out person new just to point to the numbers for how much I owed.)

After a short minibus ride home, I started preparing the food. Fateh joined me and started cooking a type of lentil soup. So there we were, soup, cheese and pasta cooking on three out of the four burners in a small (almost make-shift) kitchen. Fateh is an excellent cook and knows a lot about Middle Easter/Mediterranean food. Myself, on the other hand, was ridding the struggle bus. Overall it turned out alright. I'd give it a 6/10 but Fateh and Elfinesh liked it and Elfinesh even asked for the recipe. 

Tomorrow, Sunday, I will help Fateh in the lab. He is counting nematodes and only has a short amount of time before he has to go back to Belgium. In the afternoon we are going to a different part of town and may even have a BBQ--some much needed "play." 

As for now, I am well fed, healthy and enjoying life.

The tubes that contain the germinated wheat seeds and are inoculated with .5 mL of the spore solution. Elfinesh is in the upper left corner. 

The CIMMYT office in Ankara. Amer's daughter Luna is standing beside me. 

Amer's son, Ahmad.

Amer and I. (Photo by Ahmad)

The Eskişehir city center.

Preparing slides to determine the amount of spores per mL.  

There is a river that flows through Eskişehir with a lock and dam system that is pretty neat.

The final product of a long day's work! The plastic is to keep moisture in so the spores can grow and do their thing--causing crown root rot. 

All in a Day's Work

It is lunch time here in Turkey so I will give a short update about what I am actually doing. It is true, I am doing actual work and not just eating all the time. 

Yesterday I spent all day (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 30 min. tea breaks at 9:30 and 3 and lunch from noon until one) stuffing cotton in growth tubes. I sat on a half meter high wooden stool with a pillow on it as bag after bag of growth tubes were brought in. It was tedious but necessary work for future experiments. 

That night after Fateh cooked a nice Syrian style dinner consisting of lentals, wheat and onions. After dinner Fateh and I returned to the lab where he was counting Cereal Cyst Nematodes. I set up the plates while he checked them under a microscope. We finished around 11:30. 

This morning I started working with Elfinesh, a Ph.D. student studding at a university in Ankara but originally from Addis Ababa Ethiopia. She is counting spores under a microscope. So, I have been setting up the slides so she can go from one to the next without stopping. It is important that the conditions and the procedure is sterile, so I have been bathing in a 96% Alcohol solution. My hands are soft now but I can tell they will dry out by tonight. 

That is all for now! I'll stop trying to give you a timeline on when you can expect pictures. It will just have to be a surprise!

*Edit 6:30*
The rest of the afternoon I continued working with Elfinesh. Once she had a count on how many spores were in the solution, we set up a ratio to find how much spore solution : Distilled Water was needed in order to get around 2,86o,000 spores per mL for 9mL of solution in total. Once we had our numbers for all 53 samples, we stared transferring solutions and water. It took some creative thinking especially since there are always unpredictable challenges to overcome. We eventually got everything set up for the experiment tomorrow.

Eskişehir bound

These posts are from prior days but I am not just getting the chance to publish them online. 

Today Amer, Fateh and I got up early and headed off to Eskisehir, about 250 km to the east of Ankara. We were all tired but knew we needed to get on the road early. About half way between the two cities, we stopped for breakfast. Amer ordered us a "village breakfast." We were each given small plates while bigger plates with various foods were put between us. The idea is take the bread that is provided to eat the different items such as melted goat cheese, a tomato and meet dish, fried eggs, olives, cherry jam, butter and honey. (A side note on the olives. I usually don't like olives but the ones in Turkey have the pit in them and are very good. Get your stuff together American "olives," if you can even call yourselves by that name.) Again çay was served and again we ate until the food was gone. We were back on the road and after about an hour we arrived at the CIMMYT institute in Eskisehir. We toured the campus that consits of green houses, the guest house where I am staying, the labs and offices and finally the restaurant. We had lunch at the restaurant and I got to meet some of the people I am going to work with. (I know it seems like all I do is eat. That is kind of true but the food here is amazing. Forget the freshman 15, I'm about to embark on the "Intern 20.") 

After lunch I was briefly introduced to the project some people are working on. I was put to work transferring rotting carrots that contain nematodes to petri dishes with a type of filter paper. The nematodes that are alive will swim through the paper and into the water, the dead ones wont. The alive nematodes will then be collected and used for experiments.

One of the best things about a science lab is how universal things are. They were using a filter that is similar to a Buchner funnel and a vacuum flask. (S/O to all of the students who took Organic Chem with Mr. Frese!) 

My luggage still hasn't arrived but El Finnish, (that is how it is pronounced. I'll get the actual spelling and introduce her and the others in a later post along with pictures) Fateh and took a very packed minibus to the city center to go shopping. I turns out that clothes are quite inexpensive in Turkey. I got a pair of jeans, shorts aren't allowed in the lab for obvious reasons, for 52 Turkish Lira, or about 25 USD. We also bought some food at a market for dinner during the week. Fateh loves to cook so this should be a treat. 

I start working tomorrow at 8 a.m. 

P.S. I'll most likely be a day (or two or three) behind in my postings. 

Tonight, we dine like gods! (Sunday)

These posts are from prior days but I am not just getting the chance to publish them online. 

Today I met Fateh Toumi. Fateh is a Ph.D. Student from Ghent University in Belgium. He's studying Cereal Cyst Nematodes and the genetic traits of strains of wheat that are susceptible and resistant to the bug. Originally, Fateh is from Syria and still has family there. Amer introduced me to him as a Bashar al-Assad look-a-like--the resemblance is pretty striking. Fateh will be staying at CIMMYT with me for two weeks as he works on his research project. 

Soon after Fateh arrived we all ate dinner. The table was set with plate after plate of food piled high, all cooked by Shayaa. The main dish consisted of rice and chicken and is called "upside down" in Arabic. (I can't remember the Arabic word.) It was very good. We also had pickles that had been baked or fried (I'm not really sure) and stuffed with spices and beef. Greek yogurt, cheese, vegetables and milk made it a square meal. As I started getting full, I slowed down. Amer and Fateh noticed. Amer offered me some more "upside down" and I politely declined. Wrong answer. Fateh explained to me that in Arabic cultures guests are supposed to feel at home and have the run of the house. When the host sees that the guest is helping themselves, relaxing and enjoying their food, then they are happy. I didn't want to insult Amer or his wife who had made all the food so I sucked it up and started eating more of their delicious food. Once the food was gone and my stomach was ready to explode, Amer, Fateh and I sat down to watch France take on Honduras. About 20 minutes into the game, Shayaa brought out more food: almonds, corn, hazel nuts, pistachios and sunflower seeds. This was accompanied with çay, or tea. I ate and drank while being reminded that I didn't really have a choice. After about another 20 minutes, Shayaa brought out fruit: cherries, grapes, bananas and apples. Again I ate. The night was topped off with Arabic coffee--a small, yet powerful, cup of bitter coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker but that cup of coffee was amazing. Around 12:30 a.m. we decided to call it a night. I'm not sure I have ever been that full in my life. Make no mistake, however, I am not complaining. Turkish/Arabic food and drinks are extremely good. 

As for my luggage...I'm still living out of a carry on. :(

Pictures from "Home"

Day 1: Living with a Palestinian family in Turkey

I woke up around 4 a.m. to a nearby mosque playing/singing a Muslin prayer. I was actually really nice and soothing. I've heard other prayers throughout the day and it is a nice reminder to slow down and reflect on life. It probably isn't the actual intention of the prayers, but that is what I use them for. 

I am currently staying with Amer Dababat and his family. His wife is Shayaa and they have two children--Ahmad is seven and his sister Luna is 5 but has a birthday just four days before mine. Today, after we all ate a wonderful breakfast, I helped Ahmad with his English homework. He has a final exam tomorrow over the subject. By the looks of his homework, I think he'll do very well. 

Amer and his family are originally from Palestine and go back once or twice a year to visit family. It is very interesting because there are several languages being spoken at once. The kids go to an international school so they are learning Turkish, English and already know Arabic. Amer knows German, Arabic, Turkish, English and some Hebrew. He has been a great translator between the public and even his family. 

No update on my luggage right now but we are going to the airport to pick up a Danish student later today and hopefully they will have more information. We leave tomorrow for Eskisehir. I will go later on to Konya, Yozgot and possibly to Adana. I will try and post pictures later. The internet is kind of spotty and slow. 

You have now reached your destination

I currently have this feeling of astonishment, wonder, and outright awe. I'm currently sitting in the living room of Dr. Amer's house in Ankara, Turkey watching Costa Rica beat up on Uruguay. However, the journey to this point is another story. 

I'll start at the beginning. My "day" (I quoted day because with the time change it's more like days) started at 3:30 p.m. CDT on Friday, June 13. I, along with my family, loaded up on the truck and headed to the Des Moines International Airport. I met my aunt and grandmother to say goodbye one last time. My checked baggage was eight pounds over but, thanks to my brother, I had an extra carry-on bag that I was able to move stuff around. That carry-on also came in handy later. I boarded and was of to Chicago for the first leg of my journey. The flight was short and sweet on a tiny plane. When we landed I had to beet feet over to the international terminal 5--clear across the airport. Luckily there was a tram that cut some of the trip. I showed up to the gate and after a short wait boarded a pretty big plane. I would sit in the same seat, not getting up once, for the next 11 hours. 

I flew Turkish Airlines and sat next to a woman from Cedar Rapids. She was very nice and helpful during the whole flight. She even offered me her blanket if I got cold and some of her food that she didn't want to eat. She mentioned that Turkish Airlines is one of the best and I can see why. I was provided with a blanket, pillow, ear buds, headphones, socks, slippers, and more! The food that they had was actually pretty good. I had minced beef with rice, fried eggplant, vegetables, fruit and a lemon cake. After I ate (we were only over Canada) I tried to sleep. I don't know if you could call what I did for the next seven to eight hours as sleeping. It was more like intense zoning out while listening to music. It was pretty uncomfortable and reminded me of those long and late night bus rides from Mason City for football or tennis--only it was for 11 hours! Somewhere over the Croatia breakfast was served--an omelet with mushrooms, fried potatoes with more fruits and vegetables.  Julie, the woman who sat next to me, and I both started feeling ill with about an hour to go. Flying through the air at 900+Km/hr for 11 hours isn't natural and does something to the body. Neither of us had a history of car or air sickness so we were worried. It wall worked out well once we got some water and thankfully no one got sick. 

After I landed in Istanbul the culture shock was real. I didn't know what was being said but finding my way around wasn't difficult. I had to pass through a sort of “check-point” where anybody entering the country has to have their passport and visa looked over. While waiting in line I witnessed a disgruntled lambast a Turkish border patrol agent. She was yelling, using hand gestures—the whole nine yards. She kept walking away while yelling and then coming back for more. The security guard finally had enough or she said just the right thing because several plain clothed and suited men came and took her away. It was quite a “Welcome to Turkey” moment. Once I got my visa checked (I made sure to smile and say please and thank you after what just happened) I stared heading, once again, across another airport. While walking an older Turkish man approached me to ask where I was going. I was hesitant but simply replied Ankara. He was adamant to help me find my way. I told him I could manage but he wanted to help. After I refused to show him my ticket or let him carry my bag, he just ended up walking next to me or a few feet in front. Once we got to the security area he asked for money in broken English. I had to say no, I don’t have any. He was disappointed and left.

I left Istanbul after a short wait and flew Turkish Airlines for about an hour where they served me a really nice snack consisting of a sandwich, cucumbers, and a chocolate pudding of sorts. I had left Istanbul, my luggage on the other hand had not. When I landed in Ankara I waited by the baggage claim and didn’t see my bag. I went over to the lost luggage center and gave them my information and after some translation difficulties I found out it was still in Istanbul. I filled out the sheet and exited the airport where Dr. Amer and his son greeted me. I felt bad because the plane was late and then I had to deal with the lost bag so it was rather late.

Meeting Amer’s family and where I am staying will come in a later post. Right now a shower and a nice bed sounds heavenly.

--Adam Willman