The first time I saw the Milky Way I was just about seven years old. I had no idea what that cloud of light and sparks was and my father had to explain it to me. Here I was, standing on a small bit of Planet Earth, floating in a darkness so expansive that we could only see the massiveness of our galaxy as a band of milky dust blending into so many other galaxies … and we are on the very edge of it all.

From that moment, I’ve pursued a career and lifestyle that brings me closer to the sky. An important step in this process has been studying physics and astronomy here, at the University of Arkansas. Counting my three months living at the McDonald Observatory as one event, I can count the number of times I have seen the Milky Way on one hand. This is not how it used to be, and this is why today we call the artificial brightening of the night sky light pollution. However, this does not just block out the beauty of the night sky it also causes a number of other problems. It is about baby sea turtles losing their way, birds circling lights to exhaustion, and even cancer cells multiplying in our own bodies.

To bring attention to this issue the University of Arkansas Honors College will present a series of events that focus on what light pollution means for us culturally and even biologically, and you’re invited:

• Star Party and Dark Sky Discussion, Sunday, March 11, 7:30-10:30 p.m.
  Hog Haus restaurant, 430 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville

Connie Walker, creator of the GLOBE at Night light pollution awareness campaign, and Ian Cheney, producer and director of The City Dark feature documentary, will lead an informal discussion on light pollution and why it matters at Hog Haus restaurant. Complimentary light snacks will be served. At nightfall we’ll view the night sky with telescopes set up in front of the Walton Art Center. Connie Walker will demonstrate how to take observations for GLOBE at Night and use a sky quality meter to measure the level of light pollution in downtown Fayetteville.

• Arkansas Premiere of The City Dark, Monday, March 12, 5:30 p.m.
  Verizon Ballroom, Arkansas Union

Filmmaker Ian Cheney will introduce his latest feature documentary, The City Dark, which explores the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights—including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Both Cheney and Walker will answer questions after the screening.

Ian Cheney has produced a number of notable documentary films, including King Corn and Truck Farm. His new film, The City Dark, has been awarded the Jury Prize for Best Score/Music at the SXSW Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize, Environmental Film Fest at Yale and was recently selected as a New York Times Critics’ Pick. He will be here to talk to us about the creation of this film and answer your questions about light pollution and documentary filmmaking.

Connie Walker is a senior science education specialist at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and creator of the GLOBE at Night project. This project focuses on raising awareness of light pollution worldwide and also collects data on it from people like you and me multiple times every year. In fact, there will be a GLOBE at Night campaign just a few days after we see this film and Connie Walker will be here to give us expert advice on how to easily make these observations.

This is not one to miss.
I hope to see you there!

~AJ Salois

Want to hear more from A.J.? Check out her Ozarks at Large interview on the importance of darkness!

Lasers have been a source of wonder for many people since their invention only about half a century ago and William Lewis, an honors physics and mathematics major, is making it the focus of his honors thesis. What many people do not realize is that lasers are not all created equal. Under the direction of physics professor Reeta Vyas, William studies the polarization properties of cylindrically polarized beams.

When William found out the mathematical descriptions of this beam did not work in every situation he went back to the drawing board and Maxwell’s equations to uncover a description (read: equation) of the beam which could be used by researchers whose work depends on polarization properties of the beam. Scientists will use this equation to investigate particle trapping (see article on particle trapping as applied to medicine), to sort and manipulate molecules (optical tweezers), and to create nanoscale imaging that could contribute to a treatment for multiple sclerosis. 

Question: What is your favorite thing about lasers?

Answer: Probably my favorite thing is just how widely used they are in all different disciplines, you know, medicine, fundamental physics, chemistry, biology all sorts of things. It’s incredible to me that after just over 50 years lasers have found so many applications. And it seems like there are so many more to come. An example is optical trapping. You literally can hold a particle in place, suspended there. You can suspend a particle in midair with a beam of light. They’ve also done some interesting things with attaching DNA to little nanospheres and stretching it. That’s one of the experiments scientists have done to test the Young’s modulus of DNA, which is a measure of how much something stretches for how hard you pull it.

Question: What is the final goal of your research?

Answer: The primary fact that we discovered was that you have an extra component of the electric field along the direction of propagation of the beam called the longitudinal component, and so I derived an analytical expression, an equation, that describes that component. There were “in certain special cases” descriptions of the longitudinal component using different methods. But the theory that Dr. Vyas and I worked up can be used for any cylindrically polarized beam. It’s easier to apply in more cases.

I’ve already presented at four conferences, using money from the SURF grant, and I think I’m done presenting on this. I hope to be published.

Question: As your thesis defense approaches what type of advice would you give to students just now starting their own research?

Answer: Oh man, a lot. Better time management. That’s the number one thing. Dr. Vyas has been very patient and supportive and I have a lot of pieces of things I’ve written; six pages here, eight pages there, so on and so forth, but I haven’t actually gotten a draft of my thesis done and that is sort of an overbearing cloud; it’s there. It’s the elephant in the room. My plan is just to work.

Also, don’t be overly confident in your work. I messed one up and wrote something wrong down and had to go back when I found it and change all the stuff I had written and all the programs I had written in Mathematica. It took like two weeks to go through and fix everything. So, triple-, no, quadruple-check everything that you do.

Question: Where do you see yourself in 15 years?

Answer: Assuming that I’ve gotten all of my graduate and post-doc work done I feel like I would be happy ending up as a faculty member at a university similar to the U of A. I really feel like getting involved in research has changed my appreciation for the differences between the knowledge that you can get doing coursework and the knowledge that you can get actually working out things yourself in the lab. As a result, I would like to work somewhere that would allow me to mentor undergraduate students. I think a lot of universities do that, but I feel like the U of A has a really really strong background in that. If I could I would come back to the U of A and teach here. I love the faculty in the physics department. I would consider it an honor to be able to work in the same setting with them. I really like Fayetteville, I just feel like it’s a great place and it has great people.

William Lewis working with mentor Reeta Vyas.

Question: Does any one classroom experience stick out in your mind?

Answer: Dr. Oliver’s UPIII (University Physics III) class. It was really fun the day he asked us a question having to do with Faraday’s law. I came up with an answer that I guess he hadn’t heard before and he told me that I had “added a brick to his wall of intuition.” That actually really meant something to me coming from Dr. Oliver.

Last summer, with the help of fellowship funding, I was able to participate in the University of Arkansas Classics in Greece and Turkey study abroad program with twenty other undergraduate students. Dr. Daniel Levine and George Paulson, two extremely knowledgeable faculty members from the university, led the group. We spent three weeks in Greece, in towns as small as Delphi and Napflio as well as the enormous metropolis that is Athens. Before returning to the States, we flew to Istanbul for five days, and were able to stay in a hotel just down the street from Sultanahmet Square, home to Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The primary goal of the trip was to immerse ourselves in the Greek culture and absorb as much ancient art and history as possible, with a short foray into Istanbul as a sort of test run for future study tours, as this was the first time the professors had taken students to Turkey.

Lion of Chaeronea, Boetia, Greece

I took two classes in conjunction with the classics trip, an honors course called Ancient/Medieval Turkish Art and Culture and another called Modern Greece/Turkey. Because I was the only architecture student in the group, Dr. Levine and Prof. Paulson gave me some leeway with my research and I was able to pursue the primarily Turkish topics I was truly interested in, namely the urban development of Istanbul into a mega city and the historical relevance of the Sultanahmet Camii, or the Blue Mosque as it has been nicknamed by tourists. These courses not only fulfilled part of the professional elective requirement for my major, but also helped to solidify a possible field of research for future thesis work. I had been interested in urban development for quite some time, but really had no relevant experience on which to base a thesis proposal. The intense research required in the months leading up to the trip, coupled with the first hand knowledge of design triumphs and blunders I gained in Athens and Istanbul during the study tour will certainly benefit me long term as I pursue future internships in the field and begin graduate school applications.

Our journey to Greece and Turkey this summer was the trip of a lifetime. The “classics” emphasis of the trip is a little misleading: while I certainly came away from the program with a much better understanding of Greek mythology and history, the course material is much more holistic in nature.  As well versed as I became in white marble sculpture and ancient temples, by the end of the trip I also knew a handful of Greek dances, I could order dinner in three different languages, and had well-earned scars from a thirteen kilometer hike down the Samarian Gorge.  Outside the classroom I learned how to ride the metro, convert dollars to Euros in mere seconds, and make friends even when I couldn’t speak the language. I learned how to truly enjoy a meal: in Greece there is no such thing as “fast food.” Every meal is a formal affair, some stretching on for two or three hours, with long breaks in between. The food, however, is so fantastic that you quickly forget how long it’s been since you’d last eaten. During our stay in Greece we ate fresh baked bread and olive oil for every meal, drank sweet orange juice from the trees in the field behind our hotel, and learned to love the salty sweet yogurt the Greeks are famous for.

In some ways I feel like Greece belongs to me now, especially the small towns.  In those few short weeks I gradually shed my tourist persona and got to know the “real” Greece, a place with real people and indescribable beauty, but also real problems. During our stay, I swam in the Mediterranean, played soccer with Greek children and strolled through the streets in the evenings like the old men do, but I also saw the beginnings of a potentially hostile uprising. From the balcony of our hotel in Athens I could hear the people rioting in front of the Parliament building, as they became increasingly dissatisfied with the austerity measures their government was pursuing in light of the economic crisis. I learned more about world finances and the global market in that short time than I have in all my years of school, and since returning to the States I’ve pored over the international papers, consuming every scrap of news about Greece. I think that small seed of global consciousness, the fledging sense of awareness that has grown in me as a result of this trip is enough to recommend it to anyone considering studying abroad. Even if you don’t fall in love with the art and food and music and landscape of Greece, which you will, the people will steal your heart. It’s inevitable.

Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece

~AJ Salois

ESSAY TESTS:

1. If you have a hard time remembering titles and authors make notecards with a short summary on the front (an identifying factor). Read it, make your guess, and then turn it over to see what and who it is!
2. Make a list of all of the works the test will be over. Write a small summary for each and review these as well as any important quotations you think you may need.
3. For essay tests, if the professor supplies you with a number of possible essay questions, write a short outline for each question. List which works will be important and why. Review these just before the test to make sure you remember them.
4. Review important vocabulary that you should be using during the test. In your outline mark which words go with which essay question and why.
5. Always re-write an outline during the test. This will let you refer back to it while taking the test and you can use more brainpower towards each paragraph and you won’t forget your overall argument or get lost in the organization and structure of the essay.

And don’t forget to re-read!

~AJ Salois

MATH-BASED TESTS:

1. Write down all of the equations you think will be on the test and make sure you can match which equations relate to which problems. I would usually do this just to be thinking of general problems. Sometimes I write numbers of example problems in the books next to the equations to do as practice.
2. Work to understand even the smallest and most inconsequential equations. These often will be built upon later (they never really go away!)
3. If you don’t understand a particular problem or equation talk to someone about it! At the ELC [Enhanced Learning Center] there are some great tutors or you can even make an appointment with the professor. Chances are…that will be the problem on the test!
4. Review all of the homework. Professors tend to choose similar problems from what you’ve done already. Go through the notes to review. As I go I highlight things that stand out and seem important.
5. Write out a review of important concepts. Again match which problems go with which concepts. This can help you to make that “bigger” connection.

And always remember to breathe! If you don’t breathe during the test, no oxygen is getting to your brain. Take it easy, and remind yourself that you can do it! And don’t forget to double-check your work!

When you walk out of a test and you can’t feel your jaw, that’s when you know it’s time to try something different for studying and test taking. That’s what used to happen to me. I would work myself up so much over tests that I would clench my teeth the whole time and lose feeling by the end. Please, don’t do this. Teeth clenching does not raise your scores, trust me. In light of this, I began searching for ways to alleviate my test anxiety and improve my scores. It’s not always an easy thing, and in my fifth year of college, I think I’ve worked it out, for the most part. And, the chicken above played an important role in all of this!

To Not Do:

1. Depend on someone else’s experience in the class to get you through. Attend class and take your own notes. You’re much more likely to pick up on things that another person might not have found difficult but you need some more work on.
2. Ignore your professors all semester—assuming that you can talk to them about the one concept you didn’t catch later, chances are you will forget. Also if you have any qualms about the test talk to the professor in advance and really make sure you get those things out of the way and covered. The professor will not think that you are stupid; in fact, he will probably be impressed.
3. Make it more difficult than it is – so many of my bad grades have come from overthinking a problem. If you think it is super difficult then it will be super difficult. If you concentrate on thoughts like, “Let’s do this” and “I can solve this problem” then that’s what will happen.
4. Procrastinate. Do not say, “I can do it later” – this is a bad bad bad idea. Having to study sixty-four pages of notes in two hours the night before is a sure way to give yourself a breakdown.
5. Pull an all-nighter – sleep is pretty important. Without sleep you can’t remember what you stayed up all night trying to memorize!
6. Drink cup after cup of coffee or another type of energy drink. I tried staying awake with coffee once (I think I made it to five cups)…instead of studying I ran around the dorm for about three hours and then crashed. Apples are much better alternatives and don’t make you jittery (believe me! Apples have been proven to have awesome stuff in them that are good for energy!) Here are 10 Ways to Boost your Energy!
7. Put on a movie or TV show that you have never watched before. You will become more interested in that and less effective with the work.
8. Study in a group of people with negative attitudes (even one person!) Negative attitudes will bring everybody down and make everybody do worse. Good studying plus good attitudes equal success. If one person continually talks about how they’re going to fail tell them to stop it, that they won’t fail, and if they do it’s just because they’re focusing on the negatives rather than the positives.  If they stop then you can pat yourself on the back, you’ve helped your friend. Do choose study groups wisely.
9. Depend on the one or two problems you understand well to be on the test. In my experience, these are almost always the ones that get left off the test. If you understand it move on and study the things you do not understand. Do a basic review of everything and focus on what you don’t get.
10. Underestimate yourself or limit yourself. If you really want to achieve it, then you can.

To Do:

1. Determine your strongest learning style (look for your learning style and tips here). Some find re-reading helps, some make pictures of the topic, some record themselves reading the topic and listen to it, some use flash cards or just repeat the problem over and over. Using your learning strength will help you to retain. I use repetition and re-writing material over and over. It sticks it to my brain.
2. Before the study marathon suggest to your family that they send a “care package” full of tasty snacks and anything else you like to hold you over while you study. Before the test eat healthy and don’t skimp on meals to get in an extra 30 minutes study time. Taking the time to really get good food in your body will pay off! It keeps you focused and feeling good so you can concentrate on more important things. Eat a good meal before the test, but not so much that you are too full to concentrate.
3. Set up a study schedule – devote an hour or so a day to study over the course of a week. It reinforces your memory and makes it easier to recall things on test day.
4. Alternate study subjects. Give yourself some variety and you won’t get so bogged down on one specific problem or concept. If you don’t understand something putting it down for a little while and coming back a bit later may really help.
5. Exercise before studying to get your body energized and ready to sit and focus. Also try out different calming routines right before the test. Some find doing some yoga right before helps or reading some verses from a religious text or even just having your favorite dessert or coffee treat! During the test regulate your breathing. If you hold your breath like I do when you’re nervous you’re not getting any oxygen to the brain for the hard work!
6. Studying in a group can be very helpful. Choose a positive and comfortable setting with positive friends, people that will encourage you to do well. A positive attitude going into the test is key!
7. Put a movie you know by heart on in the background (only early on in the study marathon.) This way you will have something that makes you happy (but is not too distracting) going on around you. I like to play Beauty and the Beast or Pride and Prejudice. It also gives you about a two-hour straight interval of study time and a happy mini-break whenever you look up.
8. Do something fun the night before – I don’t mean go party, but do something that relaxes you and makes you happy! I once attended a showing of Monty Python’s Spamalot the night before a physics’ final. The next day I scored the highest on that test out of all of my tests that semester.
9. For morning tests make sure to get up early enough to wake up fully! Before the test glance through your notes sparingly, just getting the main idea or picking up a few key words as you see them. It’s all in your head at this point so don’t pressure yourself to read through everything for three hours straight right before.
10. Bring something that calms you to the test. I used a little blue pom-pom chicken. A previous student, and probably my biggest college role-model, Shawn Ballard (Walton), gave it to me when I was a sophomore. She told me, “The chicken is smart. He will know the answers.” It would make me smile. Every time I got too nervous about my test I would look at or hold the chicken to remind myself that one test, while important, doesn’t determine my whole future.

Hello everybody,

I am a little sad to that I write this from my home back in the States. I had limited internet access while in Belize, so I will do my best to sum up my experience now.

Students with the water spigot they built in Belize. (L to R: Megan Peters, Cary Beth Lipscomb, Chase Henrichs, Ryan Hagedorn, Courtney Hill and Chris Martindale)

Our group of about thirty students participated in a community development program with an organization called Peacework in Dangriga, Belize. Through local connections, each group (engineering, agriculture and business) worked with community members on projects requested by the local people. We were able to fill local wants and needs while each putting our own majors to practical, real-world use.  With the engineering team, I was able to participate in several rewarding projects.

First, our team met with a principal of a local elementary school called Christ the King. Ms. Young was in need of a new water fountain that her students could fill bottles and large containers but had experienced trouble with vandalism in the past. She described what she had in mind and we went to work. In just over a day, we were able to lay a short water line ending with a small spigot. Around the water spigot we built a box to protect the device and hopefully deter any vandalism.  All the kids were very interested in the work and eager to help us out.

Our other larger project was constructing a gazebo/outdoor classroom for a Dangriga high school. This was quite the undertaking. Working with a local construction expert and the school’s shop teacher, we came very close to finishing the project. It was a lot of hard work and everyone was really proud of the progress we made, but of course it is somewhat disappointing not getting to see the finished product. It was still an awesome project that gave many of us great hands-on experience.

Now onto some fun stuff! Local cuisine: can anyone say chicken, rice and beans? Oh, and Chinese food, lots of it. Seems strange, but that was about the only options we had. Although I was only abroad for three weeks, I don’t think I have every appreciated a barbeque sandwich and those free refills as much as when I returned. There are also things I will miss though. Breakfast this morning just wasn’t quite the same without some fresh pineapple and fresh mango juice.
Of course, our trip was not all work. Belize is an incredibly diverse country. Dangriga sits on the coast and has a very Caribbean feel. As do the small islands out along the reef, which by the way are about the closest thing to paradise I have ever experienced. I don’t think there is much that can beat lying in a hammock under palm trees on an island that can be walked completely around in about five minutes. But then traveling inland you feel that you are in the heart of Central America. Magnificent Mayan ruins in the middle of the jungle are really an unbelievable sight.

So I hope I have done my best to give you an idea of my time in Belize. There is absolutely no way to capture the experience in a short post but hopefully this was a small taste. It was a life changing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone interested. You will make some really special friendships and also get to put your degree to good use. I wouldn’t trade my time in Belize for anything and I am really looking forward to seeing where this next year takes me!

I utilized the research grant to continue my anthropological field research on an island called Ilha de Maré, the Island of the Tide, off the coast of the city of Salvador in Brazil.  I spent the summer living with a family on the island to learn their daily ways of life, the problems that they encounter with the government and the petro-chemical companies that lie on both sides of the island, and how they attempt to address these problems by mobilizing.  I explored how the islanders defend two specific identities to claim human and legal rights, in order to sustain and improve their traditional ways of life in the face of pollution, capitalistic developments, and political and economic exclusion.

In my three months on Ilha de Maré, I learned mainly through participant observation.  I collected, shelled, and helped sell shellfish throughout the week as do most women and girls of the island.  I attended weekly and monthly meetings with the politically involved islanders to understand their motivations and cultural politics, the unique cultural meanings enacted by the group in their everyday lives and through mobilizing. Through informal and some formal talks with others participating in these activities, I began to understand the type of cultural politics enacted by the group.  Conducting conversations in Portuguese was difficult, but the daily need to communicate made conversation come with ease by the end of my three months in Brazil.

From the people of Ilha de Maré, I learned much about the desires, motivations, and unique strategies for mobilization that everyday citizens may utilize to demand their legally guaranteed rights, in an attempt to defend the place in which they live, the traditional ways of life they wish to maintain, and the future hopes they envision for communities.  Capitalism and globalization may superficially appear to be domineering and destructive forces when they encounter unique local cultures, but this group on Ilha de Maré offers an alternative idea of modernity.  The people use their distinctive culture and identity to empower themselves individually and communally, in an attempt to politically, economically, and socially exhibit their importance to their government, to the mega-companies that surround the island, and to the wider Brazilian society.

This amazing experience has spurred on my conviction to obtain my master’s degree in development studies with a focus on sustainability.  Hopefully, I will, also, be able to return to Brazil to further this research in the future, to see and to celebrate the continued progress which the people will have made.

During the summer and fall semesters of 2010, I performed research in the chemical engineering department under my advisor, Dr. Jamie Hestekin.  The overall goal of the research group is to use algae to produce fuel-grade butanol.  My specific goal is to implement hollow fiber membranes into the algae growth systems in order to promote growth.  Hollow fiber membranes used to pump carbon dioxide to the algae will increase carbon dioxide concentrations in the water as well as gas levels reaching the algae and, in doing so, increase the algae’s growth rate.  By substantially increasing the algae’s growth rate, the amount of butanol able to be produced from the algae’s lipid content is drastically increased.

I had just returned from a semester abroad at the beginning of the summer of 2010 grant period and spent about a week getting completely caught up on the laboratory algae growth system and on what advances had been made in my absence. I ran chemical assays on the water we used in the system to determine starting levels of carbon dioxide, organics, and other important qualities.  The water being used is from a local creek—the same creek the algae being used was removed from.

Along with water tests, fertilizers were also tested.  These systems are proposed to be used in runoff streams from croplands heavy in fertilizers; therefore, it is logical to test different fertilizers for qualities that would impact algae growth.  The water with each fertilizer dissolved in it was also tested and compared to the beginning, clean creek water as was the growth of the algae with different fertilizers being used.

Along with the water/fertilizer tests, bundles of hollow fiber membranes were constructed and placed in the system.  Growth tests showed some increase in growth with the fibers, however significant damage was being done to the fibers when the algae was harvested via vacuum suction.  Since harvesting was taking place weekly and fibers are not cheaply attained, the problem was significant.

Dr. Hestekin proposed that we begin spinning membranes of our own to determine if the strength of the fibers could be manipulated and increased.  Through this new idea, Dr. Hestekin and I travelled to The National University of Singapore in Singapore during August of 2010 to visit Dr. Neil Chung, a world renowned hollow fiber membrane expert.  During this trip to Singapore, I was able to spend a significant time in Dr. Chung’s laboratories with his graduate students and was taught all about hollow fiber membrane structure and production—also referred to as “spinning.”  The students there demonstrated how to spin membranes, the important features of a spinning apparatus as well as different manipulations of said apparatus that would change membrane composition, structure, porosity, thickness, and numerous other qualities.  As a gift, Dr. Chung gave me and Dr. Hestekin a spinneret—the piece of the apparatus that is most crucial by separating the polymer and solvent solution, creating the hollow membrane structure.  Through this trip, Dr. Hestekin arranged for me to give part of his presentation there over my specific application of hollow fiber membranes here at the University of Arkansas.  I feel very honored to have been given this opportunity to present to world leading experts in my field.

During the fall grant term, I designed the spinning apparatus that would be constructed in our laboratory in place of our algae growth system.  The algae growth system was scaled up and moved to a greenhouse in order to get more accurate growth measurements. The designing of the apparatus took several months of the fall grant term because considerations had to be taken to remain within our limited budget.  The system in Singapore was an elaborate, more automated system that our budgets would not permit.  Below is a diagram of our system as I designed it. Also during the fall semester, the apparatus’ design specifications were set and materials ordered for construction.

Diagram of hollow fiber membrane spinning apparatus for implementation in University of Arkansas laboratory. Designed by: Ali McAtee

Through this Honors College Research Grant, I have been able to realize my passion for travelling around the world learning from experts in fields of interest to me.  Also, I have been able to complete a project to scale up on campus and begin a new focus on the same project on my own.  The membrane spinning will be predominately my project and will not necessarily have a graduate student assigned to me to watch over me and I will be able to freely explore and research on my own.  Also, through this experience, I have successfully designed a system and will see it brought to life during the next semesters, of which I feel very proud.

I have been back from Spain for quite a while now, but the details of my experience are still fresh in my mind, and I hope that I have gained a little more perspective on my journey and the impact that it has had thus far on me as a person and my academic career in general.

A Flamenco dancer.

So I am going to quickly try to give a whirlwind tour of my time abroad and then end with some conclusions I have made about my adventure. I began my trip on January 5^th, while most students were still enjoying their particularly long winter break. The plane ride was a grueling affair that included two layovers and one delay, but I was running off of adrenaline and felt wide awake when I arrived in Madrid. My program included a three-day orientation where we explored Madrid and Toledo while our counselors prepared us for our semester stay in Granada. Toledo was especially fascinating to me, because I was able to see many of the places I had studied during my second semester of H2P.

The orientation was a great way to ease into the culture, but nothing prepared us adequately for meeting our host families. Host families are a somewhat deceptive term, because the majority of students stay with a “Señora” who is a retired or semi-retired widow. Getting off of the bus, we were supposed to kiss our Señoras once on each cheek. Unfortunately, I forgot whether you are supposed to turn your head to the right or the left first (it’s right by the way), and I almost bonked heads with my host during our first meeting! However, things improved quickly, and I found that living with a Señora was a rewarding albeit stressful experience.

The first month in Granada, I participated in an intensive language program to help acclimate to the language and brush up on my rusty speaking skills. I would spend the morning in a beautiful old building with a small class, and then have the afternoons free to eat lunch with my family. This schedule afforded a ton of free time to explore the city, and visit its many hidden restaurants and flamenco bars. The weather was very pleasant and sunny for January, but it was a tad bit colder than expected.

Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time visiting “La Alhambra,” which is the Muslim fortress that Granada is most famous for and, also, Spain’s most visited monument. I was most impressed by the extensive canals and fountains that ran all throughout the fortress. Water represented wealth to the rulers of the Alhambra, and they liked to surround themselves with its opulence. The frescoes of geometric patterns are also amazing, and show an attention to detail that cannot be matched in modern constructions. This fortress still dominates the skyline of Granada, due to its position on top of a hill. Its picturesque presence was strongly ingrained in my mind, and I imagine it will remain clear for many years to come.

Muslims ruled most of present-day Spain for nearly eight centuries, and their influence can still easily be seen in Granada. The Albayzín is an ancient neighborhood that exemplifies this tradition. I enjoyed many evenings exploring its twisting streets and narrow alleys. It is also home to many teahouses and bazaar-like shops.

But back to school stuff. After I finished my intensive month, I started taking a normal schedule of five classes per week. These included such topics as Spanish Literature and Spanish Civilization and Culture. The classes were challenging, but I found that staying out in the city was an excellent alternative to spending time in the library going over notes. I feel that as long as you are immersed and speaking Spanish, then you are basically “studying.”

Our program organized “Intercambios,” which are parties where you look for language partners. I started to meet with two girls who were about to start study at the university. Though there were a couple of awkward and often rather comical mishaps, we got along just fine. They helped me significantly with my Spanish, and I hope I did the same for their English.

Another opportunity for community engagement was through my church in Granada: Iglesia Evangélica Bautísta. Participating in the youth group, I met many Spanish students my age, and formed new friendships. It was awesome to play basketball, go sledding, eat meals, and hang out with a group of “Granadinos.”

Daniel and some friends hiking around Granada.

My program had excursions that enabled me to see not only Madrid and Toledo (as mentioned earlier), but also Seville, Ronda, Malaga, los Alpujarras, and Cordoba. All these cities were amazing in their own right. Furthermore, Spaniards are passionate and sometimes religiously devoted to their holidays. During La Semana Santa, an Easter celebration that spans the entire week and includes huge processions, I was able to travel to San Sebastian, Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao, Barcelona, and Valencia. These cities gave me a wider perspective of Spain, and helped me see the astounding contrast that centuries of uninterrupted civilization can give relatively close regions.

My last month was spent studying for exams and saying goodbye to all the friends I have made. I feel that one of the hardest parts of studying abroad is leaving everyone behind. You want to take everyone from Granada and place them in Fayetteville and vice versa.  However, it is encouraging to know that there is more than just the city and state where you grew up in. There are so many opportunities across the world waiting to be discovered.

A church in Granada.

Fortunately, the end of my program was not absolutely abysmal. I spent the next 10 weeks traveling to 15 other countries across the European continent. However, that journey would be way too much to describe in a single blog post!

During my time in Spain, I learned many things about myself and the country where I was staying. Many of these lessons are somewhat personal and are not applicable to every student. However, I will say that studying abroad really is eye-opening, horizon-widening, and every other adjective you typically hear to describe it. It’s all true!

Though I will really miss Granada, I am glad to be back in the States. I believe that you have to go out and see new places in order to truly appreciate (and even comprehend) the opportunities you have in your own country. I would like to end by saying thanks to my friends in Granada and the University of Arkansas for helping me have such a wonderful experience, giving me a new way to look at things, and awakening bright expectations for the future.

The city of Toledo, one of the best preserved medieval cities in Spain.