Study Abroad Week 4: Wine Tasting!

My favourite wine-tasting locale: the typical French cafe or brasserie.  Because why not?

 

CEA held an Introduction to Cheese and Wine Tasting session on Tuesday. About half the program as there, because due to the size of the program they broke it up into two sessions of about 15 people each.  It was interesting.  We got a little booklet explaining the principles of wine tasting, the regions of France and their respective wines, wine-making and bottling practices in France, and a little bit of information on how to distinguish the origin of a wine by the shape of its bottle.  Our region of France is apparently known for its rosés, and even with the few wines I've tasted thus far into the semester, I can understand why.  Rosés just have so much more distinction than I can detect in either red or white.  True, reds have far more character and whites are more subtle and elegant (disclaimer: not a wine taster.  Take my opinion on wines with many grains of salt), but the varieties and subtleties of rosés amazes me.  We also had a little introduction to the cheeses of France, and how to pair and balance them with wines. 

In cheeses, we had:

1. Fromage de chèvre (goat cheese); served spread on bread
2. Chausée des Moines
3. Brie
4. Cousteron
5. Compté
6. Emmental
7. Roquefort; served spread on bread
8. Saint-Félicien; served spread on bread

 So today I had a randomly selected rosé and the three B's: baguette, brie, and basil

In wines, we had a very "basic" red and rosé, and Monbazillac, a white dessert wine.  I fell in LOVE with the Monbazillac, to the point I know that is one bottle I am bringing back to the States in May. 

In the instructions for tasting wine:

• Sniff the wine, whole nose in the glass, and swirl it around the glass
• Look at the "legs" of the wine- the wine that remains on the glass after you stop swirling
• Sniff the wine and sip, swirling it in your mouth and chewing it
• Spit or swallow

The red wine I found incredibly spicy after tasting it by chewing, though simply fragrant and woody when I tasted it normally just before.  The rosé deepened its fruity flavour when I chewed it, and the Monbazillac had a very delicate taste after chewing, in contrast to its vry sweet taste before that.  With the other wines I've had this week, I've noticed that reds tend to be quite spicy.  I'm no sommalier, but I do find that these little wine tasting tips have added interest to tasting wine for me, beyond "I liked it" or "This is good but that was bad."  And I have 3 months in wine country left to develop this with local but fine and rather cheap fare!

One other thing that astounded me was how different the cheeses tasted before and after tasting the different wines. I never have liked Roquefort, but it tasted decent and even delicious after the rosé and the red, and the emmental, which I loved, tasted AWFUL after I sipped some red. Brie, my favourite cheese ever, tasted lackluster and even meh after the red wine, but okay after the rose, and delicious as ever after the Monbazillac.  The other cheeses tasted great throughout, although how they tasted to me changed throughout.  I wasn't the only one, either, and the wine tasting pamphlet did have a brief mention on how different wines affect the palate. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and very good introduction to getting familiar with why I liked this wine and didn't like this one, or what it was in this wine that made it taste different from that one.  It was great!

Au revoir!

Study Abroad Week 2: Chapelle de la Garoupe & Day Trip to Italy!

Left: A view of the old Roman wall and part of the Grimaldi castle the Musée de Picasso is housed in (way in the back.)  Right: Works by Germaine Richier in the plaza of the musée.

Last Sunday, January 12, the day after the French Riviera tour I posted about, CEA had an optional excursion to the Musée de Picasso and then to a lighthouse on a hill.  The museum is one of only a few museums in the world devoted to Picasso's works, because Picasso worked in Antibes and donated his works to the museum provided it became a museum devoted to him.  The museum was interesting- built in an in old Grimaldi castle- and after getting a little bit of history on the tour it seems Picasso was a despicable man.

Left:  La Vierge folle by Germaine Richier (1946).  Middle:  Sculpture by Arman, I believe it's Composition à base octogonale en tour montée (1982).  Right: Regrettably, I cannot seem to find the artist or name of this work.

There were some works other than Picasso's in the museum, which were simply stunning.  My favourites were some statuettes whose backs look over the museum onto the street below.  Their twisted bodies are visible from the street below, and just a week prior we had been wondering what they were, and now we got to see them- bronze and brown patina sculptures by Germaine Richier.

Left: That tiny little lighthouse is where the church we walked and hiked to is at.  Yes, this photo is taken at the starting point.  Middle: A portion of the Roman road that leads from the foot of the hill to the church.  Right:  A portal into the faery world.  No, really.  It's an arch in the Roman wall leading to a small park.

After the museum we walked along the beachfront to a lighthouse on a hill.  A distant lighthouse on a hill.  I still can't believe we walked all that way.  And to make it even better, to get to the lighthouse we had to hike up a Roman road.  The road was beautiful and well-preserved, along with large portions of its wall.  But man, was it STEEP!  Once we got to the top, though, there was an old church built in the dark ages that made it all worth it.

Left: Approaching the church from the Roman road.  Another fey view, from an archway of the church entrance.  Right: A postcard of the church I made for my grandma.

After the walk to the top we had a brief lunch there, and then headed down the same road- much easier this time around!  We found a cheap little bistro by the beachfront as well, and sat down to a real meal on the French Riviera.

Left:  Crêpe creme marron (crêpe with chestnut cream) and cafe au lait.   Right:  First bite!  Yummy!

Well, that was last Sunday.  Saturday and yesterday I had more adventures, but a bit more quiet!  It's been raining all week on the Riviera, and Saturday I went to Ventimiglia, Italy with three friends: two guys in our program and my roommate.  We nearly missed the invitation due to me wking up late , but we met up with them on time...then we missed our train.  But it was okay, because we caught the next one.  

That beautiful Italian river after the rain.  Gorgeous swimming ahoy!

It was also raining in Italy, which unfortunately dampened our exploring a bit, but we did get to explore the marketplace and the portion of Ventimiglia immediately surrounding the train station.  We had an authentic Italian dinner, which was what we were all excited for, with a red wine a friend treated the rest of us to.  I bought pesto to bring back with me, as it was MUCH cheaper in Italy than in Antibes.  My friend and I were able communicate rather well with Italian speakers using our Spanish, and vice-versa.  We were also all VERY happy to note that in Italy, they were playing Italian music, as opposed to the American and Spanish-language (mostly Caribbean) music played in France.  In two weeks I've old heard French music twice.  I cannot for the life of me understand why, it's beautiful...and we're in FRANCE.  Well, mini-rant over.  

One of my little hobbies is to occasionally look up Disney songs in other languages, particularly Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and French.  I went crazy on that with Frozen when I saw it right after The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last month.  I totally fell in love with Frozen.  And yesterday I went to see it in French.  Now I don't speak French at all, but I most definitely do not have the bulk of Frozen memorized, especially "Let It Go" in 5 languages.  NOPE.  

Au revoir!~

P.S. Psst.  I have been doing some cooking here, mostly improvisation of recipes.  I try to have my camera around it as often as possible and take notes, so if you're into cooking check out my crafting blog as well.  Thanks!

Study Abroad Week 1- The French Riviera at a Glance

The whole group for the day one CEA program orientation.  Photo courtesy of the CEA Study Abroad- French Riviera Facebook page.

Here is the first of my posts regarding my study abroad experience.  Last Sunday, January 5th, I arrived at the Nice airport in France and was picked up by the program staff and driven to my housing in Antibes, France in the French Riviera.  The CEA staff, Kristin and Syvlie, are extremely nice- not only did they drop us off and give us keys, but they also showed us how to open our gate, walked us to our exact residence, and gave us orientation packets with a map of Antibes, bus routes, train routes, travel information, and everything you can possibly think of.  Monday we had the program orientation at a cafe they reserved for us, and we got the French take on the rosca de reyes for the Epiphany.  Kristin and Silvija then took us around the beachfront of Antibes, which is largely spanned by the remains of a beautiful Roman wall that surrounded the whole town until the 19th century.

Left: The gallete de rois for the Epiphany.  Right: The view of our street from the town square.

Tuesday was our school orientation at SKEMA Business School, and the rest of the week was spent on school until Saturday.  That was the best day of the week.  We toured the French Riviera by bus, first by a drive through Nice and a walk through the market place and the town square, followed by a stop at the Fragonard perfume factory in Grasse, which was, according to the tour guide, the perfume capital of the world.   I purchased a souvenir for one of my sisters there, as she is very much into perfume, while I am not.

Soap stall in the Nice marketplace.

After the perfume factory we went to the hilltop village of Éze, originally built as a fortified structure to protect against various invaders, such as the Romans and the Vikings.

A walkway in Éze and me posing with a statue outside the chapel.

After that, CEA took us into Monaco, where we had lunch, saw the Palais des Princes de Monaco and the changing of the guards there, and then toured the Cathedrale de Monaco.  Then came what we had all been waiting for: the visit to Monte Carlo.  That proved to be more disappointing than anything, as while I had indeed been expecting it to be classy, the casino was so quiet and so high class that it just felt stuffy and uncomfortable.  There are no cameras allowed in there, but the place was gorgeous and ornately decorated.  Most of us only remained for 5-7 minutes, although a pair did gamble before they lost approximately 50€ in 2 minutes.  I would have liked to have a drink in the Monte Carlo so that I could truly say I'd been there, but those were too pricey as well.  Taking pictures outside the Monte Carlo and the shopping square was an entirely different experience, though, and I had a lot of fun posing for these photos!

Top left: The changing of the guards at Monaco.  Top left: The Chapel of Monaco. Bottom left: Monte Carlo from the fountain.  Bottom right: The view to the left of Monte Carlo.

Au revoir!

Just a block or so off the Monte Carlo.

Minorities in Academics

The semester has been busy, and I did not update this blog as I had planned to in preparation for study abroad. Today was full of errands, but eventful in providing food for thought.

Study abroad pre-departure orientation is mandatory, I expected a general focus on health and safety. Instead the focus was on stereotypes of Americans on study abroad programs, perceptions of Americans in other countries, and culture shock while abroad. Having grown up in the United States in a decidedly Mexican household, I am no stranger to culture shock. My house, my family, my various neighbourhoods, and my schools were all principally Mexican or Latino, or had a significant proportion of Mexicans or Latinos. College and certain classes in high school are when I've been "cast out" into surroundings where Mexicans and Mexican culture weren't all around me to take for granted. The culture I grew up in and hang out in is always mainly Mexican. Americanization mainly shows in food choices and which language, or mix of language, is used to communicate. But the culture is very preserved, so the orientation session alienated me.

First of all, when I entered I was the only non-white student. As the session filled up with late tricklers, there were about 35 students, with only 5 non-white students including me, and only one male. The video they showed us on American stereotypes and differences in cultures marked to me why I was a minority in this country, and why I will always be a minority in this country, even though I was born in and grew up here. Among points addressed were:

• Americans are too loud (I've only heard this stereotype in regards to people of my culture) -do not drink to pass out, because in most other cultures drinking is for social mingling (this part of American culture is one of the more alien to me, and I always grew up seeing drinking as a social activity as well. Tipsiness in my culture okay, yes. Passed out drunkenness? Not so much.) 
• Americans are too invasive of personal space (compared to what I grew up in, Americans have a too large bubble of personal space) 
• Americans hug more than in non-European countries (but less than what I expect among other Latinos)

Those are just the ones covered in the video, but they were enough to make me feel alienated from the larger gathering, and the fellow Latina I'd wound up sitting next to kept shifting uncomfortably as well like I was doing, at least until we were given time to mingle. My own fidgeting stopped after that as well.

All this after having watched two videos that also made me see my place as a minority. One on women in STEM, as I am, and how they are still held to standards of beauty and asked about their fashion and life choices despite it having nothing to do with their work, and the other a Pantene advertisement of women in the workplace. The latter was a Filipino advertisement with remarkably light-skinned models, some who looked white and not at all Asian, which a discussion into the homogenization of beauty. It's a lot to think about, and I'll write on it when I've had more time to reflect on it.

To those interested, the videos:

A Post of Introduction

     Since this is intended to be an academically-focused blog, I thought I’d make my first post a summary of my summer and my short-term goals. This has been my first time working in a lab, and I’ve loved it thus far!  Not only is the work extremely interesting and engaging- whether running a protocol, reading scientific literature, or even working with software (my dislike of which led me to changing my major from Computer Science)- but the people (our head professor, our postdoc and the graduate researcher who have been working directly with us, and my three fellow undergraduates) are simply fantastic. I couldn’t have been luckier. Did I mention we’ve got plenty of caffeine options to choose from thanks to the tea and coffees on the lab office’s back counter? And that there’s not only a French press for the coffee, but also an espresso machine AND milk frother? Pretty much each person has brought either coffee or tea to share- it makes even the dullest parts of research seem like a coffee break!

This photo was taken at the beginning of the summer- the espresso machine is cut off, and we now have two (dwindling) bags of Starbucks coffee and another box of tea.  The writing on the cabinets has to due with pyrosequencing of 16srRNA, or at the very least pyrosequencing. 

     However, I digress. The lab is a microbial ecology lab, analyzing permafrost soils across a thaw gradient in Sweden. The goal of our lab’s portion in the project, which spans numerous labs, is to examine methane emission and microbial community gene expression. Thus far I’ve worked with a command-line line program to create tables, the bioinformatics program R, mass spectroscopy (MS) search engines for protein identifications in the microbial community, and now the analysis of the data from MS search engines such as MyriMatch and X!Tandem using tools in the Trans-Proteomic Pipeline (TPP) to judge the accuracy, reliability, and error rates of the matches made by the search engines.

Yay proteomics!

      As for my own goals, I have decided to stay on in this lab for the 2013 fall semester. The deciding factor was the passion I found I had for the work, and the suberb friendliness and approachability of my labmates. All of it is new, exciting, interesting- contributing to, in my understanding at least, the wider window of understanding of microbial contributions to global processes such as global warming via the analysis of microbial community gene expression methane cycling. Plus, since I discovered the milk frother I’ve been making a cappuccino every morning, so I do get to keep that as well!

I even sprinkled French vanilla flavoured cappuccino powder on the first one!

      I’m also planning to apply to study abroad in France for Spring 2014. I’m unsure how I’ll manage that and do research as well, since now that I’ve "gotten my hands wet" in this lab I simply don’t want to take a break from research and the excitement it holds for me. Paying for study abroad will be tough, I know- aside from the direct program expense there’ll be travel expenses, school and personal supplies to purchase, airport and baggage fees, and all sorts of other expenses. So whether or not I go depends on what the scholarship office tells me and how much aid I receive from the additional aid I'll be applying for.  I am confident I can do it, given I'm already making the basic planning toward getting the application steps done and have already done all research regarding a student visa and what I can and can't take overseas, or what I can but need to pay for.

Au revoir!

-Krystalle

~~~

 A version of this post was submitted as an entry essay to the “Hit the Books Scholarship” funded by CoffeeForLess.com. I tweaked it a bit to be more fitting to this blog, as I felt it was excellent material for an introductory post.