Dr. Connor (far left) and his students at PITTCON

 Dr. Henry Connor, Professor of Chemistry at KWC, recently took four KWC chemistry majors to PITTCON (the Pittsburgh Conference), held in Orlando, Florida.

PITTCON is an analytical chemistry meeting that includes the largest exposition of scientific equipment in the world. About 20,000 people attend. The first conference was in Pittsburgh but it soon outgrew the facilities in Pitt.  It now moves annually between Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta and Orlando.

The KWC contingent (Dr. Connor, plus Ben Wilson, Alycia Lynch, Stacy Webb and Ashley Humphrey) left Owensboro on Friday, Feb. 26. After more than a dozen hours of driving, they arrived the next day in Orlando. 

The group went to the beach the next morning before launching full-speed into the conference that afternoon (Feb. 28) and returning home on March 3.

 This is the tenth time Dr. Connor has taken students to PITTCON. In 2008 they went to New Orleans — next year’s conference is in Atlanta.

A few photos from the trip:

At Coco Beach

Students with PITTCON info

Sales rep demonstrating a product

Students with NASA Rover

Click here to find out more about opportunities through KWC’s Chemistry Department.

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February 1st marked the start of my first full calendar month away from home and outside the United States. It’s easy to forget that I’m in a foreign country until I step outside and no one is speaking English. School is still uneventful and tiresome. I very much enjoy the first teacher, as she explains grammar concepts very well, and with some English if we need it. The second teacher knows hardly any English and only explains things in Italian. While being immersed in a language is the best way to learn it, no one learns to swim by being thrown in the deep end while someone shouts instructions from the lifeguard stand. That’s what it feels like anyway.

This afternoon, I researched a lot on the ski trip to Interlaken that we’re planning in a few weeks. I’m getting really pumped about hitting the slopes at Jungfrau

Tuesday was one of the best days I’ve had since I’ve gotten here. Class was nothing to sneeze at, although I’m still blowing my nose like it’s my job. After class, we went to the academic gallery and saw the original Statue of David in all his Apollo-esque glory.

The highlight of my day came afterwards though, when I walked with some friends up to Piazza di Michelangelo, a square up on a hill at the northwest corner of Firenze, overlooking the city. It was the most beautiful sight that I’ve seen since being in the duomo. Words and not even pictures can truly describe the view.

 

 The next day, we took another bus trip to a winery near Sienna. The wine tasting definitely was the highlight of the day. We sampled four different wines while we were there, and my table got seconds. The bus ride back was loud…and then quiet.

Thursday saw much rain and cloudiness to cover Firenze, and the extra two hours of class did not help anyone’s mood. Friday was our last day of class. I went to the first session with Constanza to review for our final. That evening we signed forms in preparation for going to Roma, and received a map, more housing info and a bus ticket.

Saturday was one of the longest days I’ve had thus far. I was up early at the usual time to eat breakfast, pack the last few things, and check out of my room. I then headed over to the school early so I could do some extra study for the final. The test itself was very straightforward and I feel confident that I did well.

Kids slowly drifted back to the hotel with food, preparing to leave on one of four buses, departing at fifteen minute intervals. Last night we learned our bus assignments, made in accordance with our housing. I grabbed lunch at a kebob place down the street from our hotel, and enjoyed my last meal in Firenze. The bus ride to Rome turned into the most successful bus nap I’ve had in a while. We parked on the southwestern outskirts of the city, where AIFS coordinators had taxis coming in at a relatively constant flow rate, each designated to take us to our various apartments.

The five of us finally got our taxis and got to our apartment, and it was absolutely the coolest flat I have ever seen. We have two large common areas, a kitchen, and three bedrooms. The walkthrough of our apartment is as follows (skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to read this): there is a dining room area as the first room when you enter; on the opposing corner, you walk down the hallway, there is a bathroom with a tub and a washing machine on the right, then the kitchen on the right, two steps down the large living room on the left; straight ahead is one of the double bedrooms, and to the right, through the kitchen and left, is the single bedroom; right and into the living room, you walk across the room, and there is a very narrow, very steep, concrete spiral staircase; down just a few steps is a bathroom that redefines the word tiny; the whole room is a small shower, with a sink and toilet included; up the stairs is another double bedroom.

 Through an almost hour-long discussion process that is hardly worth repeating, I got the single room. The five of us unpacked and moved in, something I have been looking forward to for almost three weeks. We then walked down to a local supermarket to buy some groceries – a convenient five-minute trot from our flat. After stocking up, we then tap-danced around each other in the kitchen, fixing our pastas, salads and sandwiches before sitting around our dining room table, eating together as flat-mates for the first and most likely last time.

 After dinner I grabbed a map and plotted a surprisingly short route to the Vatican. Standing in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was one of the most humbling and awe inspiring experiences of my Catholic life. I absolutely cannot wait to go back (as I will many times in the next three months) and even go inside, and assist at Holy Mass there.

 On a side note, “when in Rome” has quickly become the most overused phrase in our group …

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For more on the opportunities available through the KWC Biology department, click here.

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January 8, 2010

 –Ben Allen–

Today was our first day on the mainland, after a slightly eventful plane ride in. Clarissa Falls Resort is the name of the place where we are staying – it’s a quaint little place with some bungalows and an outdoor patio dinning area. After a delicious breakfast of local fruits, eggs and some fried pastry, we embarked on our hike along the banks of the Mopan river toward Xunantunich, a Mayan ruin.

The hike was about two miles and was awesome. Along the way we saw many local species including leaf cutter ants, parrots and a variety of cranes. Our guide, Chenna, was the owner of the resort, and was very knowledgeable of the area. Chenna told lots of interesting stories and remedies the local flora is used for, such as the plant that makes castor oil.

Once we reached the park that Xunantunich sits on, we rode a ferry across the river. It was another short mile hike up the hill to the ruins. As soon as you enter the ruin complex you see the main tower standing about 250 feet tall, sticking out of the forest canopy. We all ascended the building – it was pretty intense since there was nothing but a six-inch wide stone step between you and the ground hundreds of feet below. Once you get to the top you can see for miles; the view is breath taking, with Guatemala on one side, Belize on the other, forest all around.

We explored the rest of the ruins seeing the ball courts and the other two temples, which were less impressive but still intriguing. We then hiked back down to the river where we were met with a quick lunch and inner tubes. We proceeded to venture down the Mopan on the tubes. It was very relaxing and we got to see several iguanas sunning themselves up in the tree tops and blue herring fishing. There were some minor rapids that we had to traverse but only a few people flipped, with their pride the only thing hurt. We spent about two hours on the river before arriving at our resort.

We were fed a delicious dinner of some local chicken dish and rice. On the way back to my bungalow I happened upon a large tarantula that happened to be a red rump, which was a species John Grieb had presented on in class. So I captured it in a bag and brought it back to the dinning area where Dr. Rosemier handled it and we passed it around being sure to be gentle so not to get bitten, even though a bite is only like a bee sting. Of course lots of picture were taken.

Well that’s all for today – lots of fun, very tiring, time to hit the sack. Heading to San Pedro tomorrow.

–Christine Spear—

Today was a very full day – we had the opportunity to take a guided walk, go to see the Mayan Ruins, and then tube down a river back to the place we were staying.

When we arrived outside of the jungle area, we had some time to walk around and take a quick look at some of the stores.

To get to the Ruins we had quite a hike. Starting off, the trip was easy – all we had to do was go on a ferry and cross the river. When we crossed the river there was a very big hill awaiting us, and when we made it up the hill there was an even steeper hill waiting for us.

On this hill two girls in our group decided they were going to race up it. This turned out to be quite hysterical because as they were going up they had a good pace then near the very end they both died very quickly. When we finally made it to the top of the hill, the rest was a very gradual incline that made the trip seem not nearly as bad as it was.

We reached a spot where we could buy tickets to enter into the Mayan area, but to our dismay we still had some hiking left to do. When we finally reached the site, it was amazing. The stone buildings were so high and the architecture for that time was very impressive.

So, naturally we all found the tallest of the three areas and started climbing up it. We all got to the top, where it seemed like we were on top of the world. It felt like I could see for forever in every direction. You could easily see houses and fields in the distance; it was quite spectacular.

Then it was time for the descent. Going down did not seem to take nearly as long as going up did. When we reached the bottom, we were able to grab a small snack before we grabbed tubes and got into the river. Drifting on the river was very relaxing and very fun. Finally we got back to the house and rested and grabbed some food.

The trip has been a lot of fun and very interesting. We have learned a lot from the people here and have had the chance to experience many new things.

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