Caught in Between

“I don’t mean to sound like your parents, but do you have plans for next year?” Dean Conley, the Dean of Enrollment and Academic Services, asked me at my “Graduating Senior Exit Interview” today (an optional time scheduled for graduating seniors to meet with administration to discuss their time at Hopkins).

“Going to Vietnam…” I said.

* Pause *

Me talking to a monkey in Cambodia.

Over the past couple of weeks, these words have begun to just naturally roll off my tongue. From meeting parents at open houses to casual conversations with strangers in the elevator of my apartment, I have begun to perfect my speech. I realize that I have been ignoring writing about my job hunt in my blogs but now that plans are settling, the questions have begun to start flowing:

What are you doing next year?

I am going to Vietnam starting in August for at least a year. I received a grant through Princeton in Asia, a private non-profit founded in 1898 and affiliated with Princeton University, whose mission is to “promote the free interchange of the best ideals of in the civilizations of both East and West.” As a fellow, I have been placed with Population Services International (PSI) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Although Princeton in Asia has existed since 1898 and there were 165 fellows last year alone, this is the first year that this specific post exists. With a travel extensive position, I will be working with the region’s research teams to design anything from small qualitative studies to outlet audits looking at distribution strategies of health products. Projects that I may be researching include HIV, malaria, TB (my personal interest), reproductive health, and safe water in Laos, Burma, China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Why take this fellowship?

Returning from dearest Suisse, I was overwhelmed when I received an email from my academic advisor to consider highly competitive national scholarships and grants for my post-graduation plans. Don’t get me wrong, I was honored. But the idea of post-graduation plans just seemed somewhat nauseating. And the idea of developing a research project or putting together some applications that required eight recommendations was equally frightening. I really did debate if any of these grants were “for me” and by the end of this debating, I quickly managed to drive myself to get two applications together.

I found out that I was a finalist for both of them during the winter months. And, well, then it got tough. Princeton in Asia has many different types of placements, many are teaching posts, others are working for much smaller environmental non-profits for instance. But the PSI post was special for me: it was in my first choice country, with an organization that I had learned about in my coursework, and it would be doing work that I know would be productive.

I had a hunch that what happened was going to happen: I found out about the Princeton in Asia grant before the other grant and had to decide whether to take the job or not, and risk taking a “leap of faith.” Honestly, it was a good place to be in: having opportunities lined up before graduation day!

But I’m indecisive. And this felt so much harder than high school. I sought advice from my advisors, recent alums, family, and students (from my close friends to Vietnamese students). It was a harder decision for me than I thought it would be. I was literally questioning everything from the obvious (benefits and orientation dates) to comparing the average work schedule. I had anxiety attacks: Did I really want to be away from home for so long; did I want to spend Christmas in Hanoi? Why international public health? Why not an elementary school teacher? Why not a nice job in New York City? But the biggest problem was not being able to judge how my daily life is going to be before stepping foot into my new office; I definitely took the whole idea of being able to visit colleges as something for granted.

Uh… Vietnam?

Me in Cambodia in 2005.

Southeast Asia has played an important part of my upbringing since middle school. My non-profit work at a young age got me to Cambodia in 2005 to visit the landmine surviviors a group of us had fundraised for. Since freshman year, I have had some kind of desire to work in Southeast Asia. But I found it rather difficult to find research opportunities in this region or even just to take a course on the Vietnam War let alone a language course. But, sure enough, I have made it follow me. Any open subject academic paper, there I was writing about Cambodia. I was eventually told that the best way to continue this interest was to just go by myself. And, after taking a deep breath, that’s what I am doing!

What was your thought making process like? What got you to accept?

My computer background aka my inspiration.

I found out about this post the same day that regular decision Hopkins letters went out, which I felt symbolized something. Some may see this post for me as strange. I’m going to yet another continent to do research without knowledge of the language. But I think this post is the obvious decision for my career path. What ultimately made me decide was thinking about which opportunity I had at hand that would be less likely to get again and also which opportunity I would be more upset by if someone else was doing it. When I asked myself those questions, this post seemed to have won.

For my honors thesis, I’ve been interviewing tuberculosis experts. I have always enjoyed finding out and reading about how people got to their current career position. Rarely is it because of what they decided to double major in or where they went to school, it’s often about the opportunities they have seized and the people they have met from those. Come to think of it, I may have to take that last piece back since so many of the interviewees were Johns Hopkins alums.

Anyway, the best piece of advice I got was from Dr. Lee Reichman, the founding executive director of the Global Tuberculosis Institute at UMDNJ. Besides for advising more education, he told me to about getting his first job out of his Masters in Public Health. He said he was offered this job as Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis of New York City. After that, he called 10-15 people that he knew in the tuberculosis community to ask them what they thought.

He said, “I really just wanted to tell them, ‘Oh look, I was offered this job, isn’t that exciting?’ And all of them said they were offered this job already and turned it down because it was impossible to do. And so, of course, that met my criteria: to do a job no one else thinks you can do. And, therefore, if you fail, nothing is lost…. And, so, if you want to make it in academic medicine, and this is what I always tell my students, you have to be smarter than everybody else or do something else no one else does….”

To me, and even my future supervisor, this post is one of those impossible posts that somehow I seem matched for. The task is to assist on research in a region that is so diverse within and across country divides. But in many ways, my Hopkins career path has built me up for this post and I am excited to just run with it.

How does it feel to have this planned out?

Honestly, I feel like a barbie doll these days. You’ve got studying Jess, working Jess, spring Jess, baking Jess, cycling Jess, and now Vietnam Jess.

Can I call you Hanoi Hannah?

Well, of course. Or as the beloved office I currently work at calls me: Jersey girl via San Francisco via Hanoi.

* End Pause *

“And don’t worry about asking,” I said to Dean Conley, “my dad asked me yesterday what I was planning to do come August 2012.”

Posted by: Jessica K.

So for the past week I have been telling myself that I need to blog, but when I asked myself what I should blog about, I couldn’t come up with an answer. I was told in middle school English class that writer’s block doesn’t exist, to just write down your thoughts and that you’ll get somewhere. I don’t know if I truly believe this..

…but luckily I finally decided (yes, at midnight on a Monday night, even though I promised myself a full night’s sleep) to write about working at Hopkins. It wasn’t until thisyear that I realized how much of an impact being able to work at Hopkins has done for me. You’re always told to seize activities in college, but you are never told to work in college. I don’t think most prospective students when they envision college envision being a part-time worker. However, maybe they should. So, yes, this won’t be the most exciting blog, but I hope that it persuades any prospective student who may be reading this to at least consider working in college.

For anyone who doesn’t know, I currently work as a research assistant at the Center for a Livable Future at the School of Public Health. My freshman year I started working at the AMRII Housing Office. Then over intersession I started working full days at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, where I continued working for the rest of the Spring semester. I started working at the Center for a Livable Future in the fall of my sophomore year where I work ten hours a week.

Why would you want to work in college?

- There are obviously the financial reasons for working in college. I didn’t realize it when I got here, but there is some spending that isn’t covered by Hopkins tuition. Such as printing at the library, eating out, and traveling back home. It also is really nice being able to actually pay on your own for Christmas and birthday presents. In short: it’s really nice to not have to ask your parents for spending money. Please don’t think that the only people that work in college are people that “have” to, this is absolutely not true.

- There is also the time management component of it. Working really allows you to have more structured commitments in your schedule. As someone who was used to long practices after school and morning meetings (and as someone who decided last minute not to do track in college), work really helped me have a more regular schedule.

- Working at the SPH (and doing research for credit there) has really allowed me to take a break from the Homewood campus. I am able to surround myself with adults and get away from the bubble of students that make up Hopkins. I love having a group of adults (this includes professors) who are able to give me advice from people that have already been through the undergraduate years (and of course build connections).

- Work Study – According to Hopkins Financial Aid, approximately one-third of Hopkins students receive FWS funding. Federal Work Study is one way that students can work on or off campus. It’s a form of financial aid for students who demonstrate need. The federal government allocates the funds to the university to pay a portion of a student’s salary. Traditionally 70% percent is split as federal share and 3% as employer funds. The maxium award is $2,500. However, if you go over your employer can decide to continue paying you at 100%. Work study is a great for employers to be attracted to hiring students and although it’s still easy to find an on or off-campus job that is non-work study, employers definitely like hearing that they only have to pay 30% to have a student work for them.

- It’s great experience. Honestly, it’s great being able to see your field of study at work in the real world and  be able to get “work experience.” There are simply somethings that you can’t learn in the classroom.

How do you get a job?
-Student Employment! Honestly, student employment is a great resource. They host a job fair in the fall open to all students that is open to on and off-campus employers. This is how I found my first job at the Housing Office. Throughout the year, Student Employment Services office also maintains a database of available jobs that is accessible on their website. Student Employment also maintains a temporary job e-mail server that will e-mail out any temporary jobs that they hear about (usually something for just a few hours during one week), so that if a student doesn’t feel like committing to a year-long job, they are still able to earn some money during the semester if interested.

For more information on all things student employment, check out the student employment’s Student Handbook: http://semps.ses.hsa.jhu.edu/stujob/student.cfm

Anyway, that’s all for now. I know, not the most exciting blog, but I hope it was helpful for someone out there.

Written on August 22nd, 2009

Wow, what a summer. That’s really all I can say. Fast-forward to a few weeks ago and I was in Brazil enjoying my last couple of weeks of Brazilian life. I really immersed myself into the culture during those weeks. I spent my second to last week in Manaus with two professors learning about the research they do there.

I learned how hot and humid Brazil can get in the North, tried Amazonian fish, and flew (in an airplane) over the Amazon. I spent my second to last weekend in a smaller city, a five hour bus ride away, in the city of Sao Mateus in my friend’s home where I was surrounded by dozens of his family members. And I spent my final weekend walking up to a convent that is known for having the best views of Vitoria, the city I was in. I made pesto and cookies for dinner for a few new friends during my final week. Pesto was a mess trying to figure out how to make; first, I couldn’t find basil in Brazil, then once I learned the Portuguese word for basil, I couldn’t find pine nuts, then once I substituted walnuts for pine nuts, I realized that we didn’t have a food processor and that the blender that we did have wouldn’t do the trick, then I realized that I had no choice but to use the good ol’ fashioned mortar and pestle. I learned later, through Wikipedia, that pesto actually came from the word pestle, so I actually was doing it the traditional way.

I had some adjustment to make when I got home. I was so excited to get home, especially after a four-hour delay in Sao Paulo. I think by the end of it I was ready to go home. Although I really enjoyed the people I meant, the places I visited, and the things I learned, I missed having another American with me to enjoy the trip with. Do I wish I hadn’t gone? Definitely not. I was amazed when I came home to be able to read everything again and to be able to understand the people around me and to not have to pretend to understand what people were telling me in stores when they came over and started talking to me. I honestly did enjoy Brazil and wasn’t lying when I told the people that I met that I would be back. I think Brazil will begin to appear in some of the essays that I write for school. I also honestly feel that people seem to be misinformed and uneducated about Brazil. As a BRIC economy, with Russia, India, and China, I feel as though Brazil is the one people hear about the least. I was happy to see Brazil on the front page of the New York Times today, but that doesn’t seem to happen enough. So often I have been asked if I had enough Spanish to get by in BraziI, I then have to correct them that Brazil’s language is Portuguese not Spanish. Though I hate to admit it, I really do think that the Brazilians know far more about the Americans than we know about them. Although, the Brazilians are exposed to American culture far more than we are to theirs.

Honestly, I don’t think I have fully-adjusted to the American way. I haven’t been able to feel stress like I used to and this has definitely resulted in me not being as productive as I have been. I’m hoping moving back to Baltimore a week early to help for orientation and then beginning my days of handling five classes while balancing 10-12 hours of work and being heavily involved in two groups will quickly give me enough to do to re-learn how to get the most out of the day.

Once I got home, I was thrown back into my old ways and the “real” world–although passing by slums in Brazil was real enough for me–I went to my regular doctor appointments, mourned the passing and attended the funeral of my boyfriend’s grandfather, had wisdom tooth surgery (and three follow-up appointments), which went surprisingly well, and watched quite a few winning Yankees games. I actually am currently sitting in the Savannah, GA Airport on my way home from a five-day trip to Hilton Head, SC with my boyfriend’s family. My first time to the South and I must say I was happy to hear so may y’alls and to feel such warm ocean water.

It’s time to start looking ahead. The summer is winding down. I’ll be back on-campus on Tuesday. I currently feel as though I have no home. I know my mother finds this statement depressing, but honestly I feel as though I am constantly packing and unpacking whether its for a three-day weekend trip in a new Brazilian city or is if it is a for a four-month semester at Hopkins. I don’t think that this feeling will be leaving me for at least a couple of years now as I plan to just keep moving. I don’t know what’s more scary that I have two days to pack for third-year of college or that I am entering my third-year of college. But all I do know is that it’s time to start looking ahead.

Written on July 14th, 2009

So, it’s been a while since my last post and not too much has changed. I have definitely gotten more into the swing of things here. I now feel comfortable walking to and from the office, walking and running at the local park (a place that I know I will miss), buying ice cream from the local market, taking the cab, paying for the bus, and everything (well, maybe not everything) that comes from living in a small city. Last weekend I also got the chance to take a trip to Rio. I was fortunate enough that a daughter of a researcher in the office was eager to show me her birth city and visit her relatives that lived in Rio. I had told myself before I left that I would find a way to get to see Rio and I am glad that the opportunity came so easily and that I was able to experience the city with Juliana—an English-speaking native who is around my age.

Rio is worth the claim to fame that it has gotten. It is absolutely beautiful. My book said that the views from Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer would make you believe that Rio is the most beautiful city in the world. I am going to have to agree with that and at both viewpoints I stopped and turned to Juliana and said, “Ok, let’s just spend the night here.” My pictures do not do the views justice. Everywhere you looked you saw beautiful shades of blue whether the ocean or the sky and buildings and forests of green. Christ the Redeemer is also one of the new seven man-made wonders of the world and I will admit that it is for good reason. And I have a secret dream to see all seven. (On a side note, I think Angkor Wat deserved to be chosen. Given a lot of the final seven had to do with voting and money. A lot of money went into the Christ the Redeemer campaign and President Lula told the people to vote for it and waived charges on text messages to the voting number, something that I don’t think people would be doing in Cambodia.)

It was also nice to hear some native English-speakers in Rio, something that I really haven’t been exposed to much in Vitoria. I got to hear accents from England, the Netherlands, and Australia, not too many Americans, but some nonetheless. Our few days in Rio were action-packed, but I am grateful that I was able to experience pretty much every neighborhood in the city and get a taste for what Rio is all about through the advantage of being able to take local buses and not a tourist bus. I could go on and on about Rio, but to put it simply it is a gorgeous city and one that was able to do magic—I suddenly had no stress in Rio and forgot about any problems or work that I once had been thinking about before. Although, I will admit that I did acquire a cold and now am on Sudafed (something that I thought I was insane for bringing, but one of my doctors told me to bring my medicine cabinet, so I did).

I have really learned a lot about myself during this trip. Not just about infectious diseases, which I have learned a good amount about and was just told yesterday to start putting our data together and rewrite the introduction and methods section to our paper. It looks like I actually may be an author on this study, an unexpected honor. But I have also learned about myself. Although I have kept in contact with many friends from home, I still feel separated from “that life.” I have also decided to separate myself even more by spending more time away from Facebook and AIM in the remaining three weeks that I am here. I really want time by myself: to read, to take walks, and to talk to the Brazilians that are here.

For one thing, I have learned that I really am not a big city person. This hadn’t been as clear to me before this trip. But now that I think about it, I really have never had a deep love for New York City. Sure, I love living near one of the most powerful cities in the world and I love that I can take easy and fun day trips, but New York City has always felt too big for me. Well, it turns out that New York City is about the same size as Rio de Janeiro and although I loved Rio and thought it was the most beautiful city I have been to with its long coastlines and great food, after the long bus rides I realized it was too big for me. I have liked other smaller cities. For example, I would love the idea of living in Xi’an in China, but not so much in Beijing. I love the idea of living in San Francisco, but not so much Los Angeles. And even in Baltimore, I at least feel like I know where I am and that other places are not that far away. Sure, people outside of Brazil haven’t heard of Vitoria, Brazil, but I realize that I really do like that I can walk to work and walk to a park and that the bus doesn’t take too long to get from one island to another (I realize now that Vitoria is more an archipelago city than an island city). The sea and areas of mangrove and marshland surround Vitoria and I love it. I think it may also be because it is less developed and less touristy than Rio, but I think it is also due to the size.

I have also learned a LOT about the culture here and that brings me to next my section…

What I have learned about Brazilian culture or life in Vitoria…
-The country is indeed diverse. Just like in the United States, you really can’t tell who is a native and who is a foreigner. Supposedly regions are heavily different as well. Food and music is linked to different areas. Accents and looks are linked to certain areas.

-In comparison to the USA, people are very religious.

-Brazilians are usually late. My general rule is to add an hour to whatever time they tell you. Meet you at 11? Expect that to be 12. Life is slow (although supposedly it is not in the larger cities).

-Brazilians love American culture. They know our movies, TV shows, and definitely our music. Every night I hear American music playing out my windows whether it’s Frank Sinatra or Lady GaGa and yes, they have been mourning Michael Jackson like no other.

-However, they also love their own culture. They have quite a range of different types of music from country to funky and quite a lot of dance styles.

-Brazilians can dance and have inspired me to learn how to dance. Although, after a Brazilian guy tried to teach me the dance style forro last week, I don’t think I will be very successful.

-Be prepared to kiss. Forget handshakes; if you meet anyone be prepared to kiss. The proper way is to kiss twice one on each side of the cheek if you are unmarried and three if you are.

-Be prepared to see a lot of kissing. Brazilians are not afraid of PDA (public displays of affection) and it’s quite common to see some very romantic scenes on the beaches and in parks.

-The parties and festivals don’t seem to stop here. In June I was told about June festivals— a type of community festival usually hosted by an elementary school that puts on a show and is filled with square dancing and vendors. But then June became July and I was told about July festivals. Now, I have been hearing about August festivals.

-Brazil is in the Southern Hemisphere. It is winter here, so the people here like to pretend the winter weather is here by dressing in boots, scarves, and winter jackets. I find this hilarious, especially because when I was packing I made sure not to bring any of these items as I thought to myself, “They’ll think I am crazy if I wear this.”

-Watch out. Brazilian men love to flirt.

-A motel is not the same as a motel in the United States. Motels are found in all Brazilian cities and are places where you can rent a room based on an hourly rate. The rest is up to your imagination.

-Braces are more common in adults than in the United States.

-Don’t be surprised to only find one temperature of water in the bathrooms and kitchen sinks. In our kitchen the faucet will only give you one rather cold water.

-You can imagine that this makes cleaning hard for me. How do you wash dishes without hot water? (No, they don’t boil it). What about with no paper towels? How are you supposed to clean the floor without a mop? And how are you supposed to keep the 983483 very small ants away? The answer to the last question is you don’t.

-Be prepared to forget what a bathtub looks like and to instead expect showers with attached electric water heaters. I’ve been pretending  that I don’t know what happens when water and electricity mix.

- Expect rooms to be simple. People don’t really own lots of books nor put up lots of photos. Rooms are meant to be simplistic and neat. You should see the reactions I got when I showed people a picture of my colorfully decorated dorm room.

-Don’t expect prices to be cheap. Most things cost about the same as they do in the United States and other things like imported clothing and electronics cost more. Taxes are very high here for anything imported. The cost of living is known to be relatively high compared to the average income, which I think results in the simplistic lifestyle mentioned above.

-Lots can be sold on the street from underwear to corn on the cob.

-Brazilians are not afraid to talk. I have been surprised by how open the Brazilians are about talking about things that I wouldn’t dare talk about so freely.

-Expect to be asked about Obama.

-Be prepared to defend the United States at times. Like anywhere, there are misconceptions. I have had people tell me that we don’t have a public health system in the United States (I was told that there are no publically-funded health program), I was also told that in the United States children don’t learn anything but American history, I was told that our government doesn’t provide insurance for the poor (not completely true), and even that our right to have a choice to vote and for it not to be mandatory is non-Democratic. I have even had to defend Republicans when trying to argue why people are not automatically Democrats.

-Expect to be thought of as crazy if you are vegetarian. I don’t think the concept of vegetarianism really exists here. I have been told I am crazy for not eating meat and have been able to resist the opportunity to bring up an environmental or ethical argument and have just politely declined.

-Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. Everyone gets a nice long lunch break. Students come home from school and you can expect the offices to be completely deserted.

-Guarana is one of the biggest types of sodas here. I was told I had to try it the first week I was here. I tried it and loved it. However, then I started reading about it online and learned that the Guarana fruit contains about twice the amount of coffee as in
a coffee bean. You wouldn’t think this since all the kids seem to drink it. Needless to say, I have reduced my consumption.

-Speaking of fruit. Expect to be overwhelmed by the fruit here. Expect to never have seen half of them.

-Milk is mostly sold in non-refrigerated boxes (which can also be found in the US). It tastes different, but it is the norm.

-Beer is the alcoholic beverage of preference. The national cocktail is caipirinha made from cachaça, an alcohol produced by the distillation of fermented sugarcane juice.

-Meat and cheese is not expected to be refrigerated 24/7. In Rio we went to a fair and the girl I was with bought cheese to bring back home on the bus. I thought this was strange…shouldn’t it be refrigerated? I guess not.

-Expect people to be amazed by baking. People were very surprised that I was able to use the oven to make cookies and brownies from scratch.

-Automatic cars are unheard of. (Dad and Matt this is your hint to try to teach me, again.)

-Forget your seatbelts. I have been trained to always put my seatbelt on no matter where I am sitting. Well, let’s say there have been numerous times when I have sat in the backseat, tried to buckle in the seatbelt only to find that there is no buckle. Although the cars have seatbelts, no one uses them in the backseat, so no one has bothered to take the buckle out from under the seat.

-Forget your helmet. I have seen no bicyclist with a helmet, but a ton of motorcyclists.

-Some stereotypes about Brazil are true: they love soccer, they love coffee (but black and hot coffee served in the smallest quantity), they love their soap operas

-Hoop earrings, nail polish, and high heels are the norm for most women here even if the sidewalks are not well-paved.

-Long bathing suits are worn as shorts for many guys here and at the beach the normal bathing suit gets a bit shorter for the men and the women to say the least.

-Bob’s Burgers is one of the most popular fast-food chains, however most people it
seems don’t realize that it is a Brazilian fast-food chain and assume that it is American.

-Potato chips that are in the shape of short french fries are put on hamburgers and served with rice and beans. People think that this is an American thing.

-I supposedly dress and have the body of a Brazilian. I don’t know exactly what this
means, but I will take it as a compliment.

I think that is all I have time for now. I should be getting some sleep and sleeping off this cold. I have quite an aventura next week. On Sunday morning I am leaving to Manaus, the capital city of Amazonas, for a four-day trip. A lot of the research that is done by the university occurs here and the professors constantly visit. Manaus is about the same distance from where I am as the East Coast is from the West Cost in the United States. This trip to Manaus has been planned since we originally wrote the proposal and I am really excited to see the “other” Brazil. I will be there at the same time as two professors from the university here who are preparing to give me a better understanding of how research and the health programs are run in a city that I expect will be completely different than any I have seen. I have been warned for bad internet, hot weather, no English, and mosquitoes. Sure, some of the Brazilians think I am crazy for wanting to put myself into a non-glamorous city and to stay in the dorm rooms in the hospital. However, I have been told and read about how Brazil is a diverse country and I think I may need to find a better word than “diverse” when I get back from this trip.

So, with that I will say good night. I don’t expect to write another blog until I get back home and am able to reflect on everything that has happened. As I mentioned before, I would like to get the most of these last three weeks and to spend time away, as much as possible, from the outside world. But be sure to check back in August for information on the final part of my trip including pictures of my birthday party!  (We are  planning to have a second 20th birthday party for me on my last day here. Why? Well, my birthday is February 8th, which on all my identification reads 2/8. However, if you show this to a Brazilian they read it as August 2nd. So, I think we’ll easily be able to get waiters to sing me happy birthday and maybe even a free dessert.)

(Me in front of São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto)

I started this blog a week ago and have been promising many people that it would get posted. Before I begin, I would like to thank Dr. Jonathan Golub at JHSPH and Dr. Angelica Espionsa Miranda at UFES for their support with my grant. I must also thank the MERCK Summer Scholars Program selection committee and the public health studies administration (Dr. Goodyear, Dr. Gebo, Dr. Galambos, Ms. Folda, and Ms. Beckemeyer) and the funding from MERCK & Co.

And although I know it will be impossible to write about the last nearly three weeks, I will give it a try…

I will admit that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I left for Brazil. On June 2nd, the day of my departure, I had concluded that I was indeed crazy for going on this trip. I had no understanding of Portuguese besides for being able to say that I do not speak Portuguese. I had decided that I was crazy for wanting to leave my home life and my daily routine of gardening, spending time with friends, and watching NBA basketball and NY Yankees games. The uncertainty had finally hit me: I had no idea what my apartment would be like, the people I would work with, the friends that I would make, nor how to call to the United States once I got there. I was heading into a world of unknown; one that had sounded awfully exciting in March (when I had heard word that I would be receiving a MERCK Summer Scholars Program Award).

And although I think my closest friends (including family) knew that I was in for an adventure, I don’t think they were surprised by the fact that I was embarking into a land of uncertainty. Looking back, I have spent summers in strange places: once on a farm in Pennsylvania, four summers whale watching in Canada on an island with no stop lights, one summer trip to China volunteering in an orphanage, and so on. I didn’t realize it until this summer that I really do have quite a collection of summer memories.

Anyway, once I got on the plane and heard Brazilian music playing, I had a quick thought to get off the plane and go back home. Was I really ready for this? Was Brazil really a country I wanted to spend two months in? The thought of returning home quickly vanished and I decided that I just needed to go with it and see where life would take me next. I had created this trip and had written the proposal for this grant.  I was not following the itinerary of a program nor did I have any travel companions to lean on. This was my adventure (aventura) and I could make it what I wanted to be.

(On a side note, I woke up on the first day to the cacophony produced by the combination of Brazilian party music, roosters, dogs, parrots and continued to question what I was getting myself into. Luckily, I have become accustomed.)

Now nearing three weeks into my nine week adventure, it seems absurd that I was once choosing between my town in NJ (yes, I still love you Mom) and Vitoria, the city of 300,000 people that I am in in Brazil,to spend the summer in. I still do not know how to speak Portuguese. Nor have I fallen for Brazil´s beef (yes, I am managing to still be a vegetarian, though I have turned down both cow liver and heart) and coffee. Nor have I learned how to dance samba. But with that being said, I absolutely love it here. I really couldn´t be happier with this opportunity that my Hopkins  education (and more specifically MERCK and the public health studies program) has given me. Not only am I doing public health research and learning about a completely different health and education system, but I am traveling. At my brother’s graduation they kept saying to go out into the world because “the world is your classroom.” It sounded beyond cliche then, but now in Brazil where I have spent most of my time self-educating I realize more and more that education is so much more than at the Homewood campus.

Not only have I learned about another culture here, but I have continued to self-teach myself computer programs like SPSS and Microsoft Access. I have been spending hours reading about tuberculosis and HIV in Brazil. Additional time leisurely reading Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer (by Tracy Kidder). And even more time learning from Brazilian students about how they view their own country and the United States (although I will admit that trying to explain our health care “system” is nearly impossible). By the end of the day I do not feel as stressed as I do at the end of some days at Hopkins. The days are much more slow-paced here (with two hour lunch breaks) and I pretty much have control of how to best approach the day. With that being said, I still think I am taking more in than I ever could back in Baltimore. Baltimore has given me a love for public health and the feasibility to allow me to experience my love of travel, but Brazil has given me  something else.

I will now quit my ranting and get back to the heart of this blog. Why am I here and what I have done so far. I arrived on Wednesday, June 3rd and immediately began to understand the island city of Vitoria a bit more. My second night here I quickly realized that I would not be recognized as a foreigner here until I started speaking. For example, once a store owner at a local ice cream corner store told one boy that the girl outside spoke English, I managed to attract fifteen twelve year-olds as they stared at me speaking English. Anyway, I live in an apartment (see two pictures above) that is shared by two graduate students in their late 20s. One is Brazilian and has a nursing degree and now is working on her masters degree in the equivalent of a MPH in Brazil. The other is from Peru and moved here in March. She is a nutritionist and is also working on a MPH-like degree. Her boyfriend has lived here for over two years and is 33 and a doctorate student in electrical engineering (here you have to get a masters degree before a doctorate degree). They all are students at UFES (Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo). Our apartment is a ten minute walk from the medical campus (which has an office of infectious diseases, nursing school, health library, a university hospital, biotechnology labs, medical school) of UFES and about a ten minute bus ride to the other side of the city where the main campus is that teaches everything else. Sounds a lot like Hopkins, ay? (A picture of my walk to work is on the right.)

I work in the office of infectious disease under the supervision of Angelica, an OB/GYN who just stopped practicing in March, so that she could focus on research. She just wrote proposals for three grants and is working on/supervising eight studies. She also travels a lot. Last week she was in Manaus and next week she will be going to France. Although, because of IRB approval, which study I would work on has changed three times now, I have finally chosen to work on HIV co-infection in those with Tb in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo. The data of nearly 10,000 patients has been collected and I have been working on analyzing the data on SPSS. I am very glad to be working on this project. I am beginning to find Tb in Brazil very interesting. Brazil is listed as number 14 on a list of 22 countries with the highest-burden of Tb. This is higher than expected and although some attribute it to uncontrolled urban growth many others would say that it was the delayed acceptance (until 2004) of the DOTS program by the public health system. Co-infection is also interesting because as Tb (thought of an ancient disease) combines with HIV, it creates an even greater problem due to drug resistance and people becoming more susceptible to these diseases.

I was also able to tour the small Tb outpatient center at the hospital here and look at the program that they have set-up here. I have been working on this study with the support of not just Angelica, but also a nurse who is now a graduate student and two medical students. There is no undergraduate program in public here (nor is there in most universities in the United States), so although working with older students that are definitely more medically-inclined here has been a little intimidating they have surprisingly been accepting and open to my opinion. On the side, I have been helping people with their English translations here. Most people do not like speaking in English (and many have never had the opportunity to speak English regularly), but the students constantly read and write complicated journal articles in English. One student asked me about past perfect and I will admit I had to look up what the tense exactly was and then try to explain it. Even I was confused by the  English language. I have also been searching for articles on the Hopkins library website for fellow students since here you have to pay for every article and it is not free through the university. I was surprised by this at first, but then I realized that tuition is free for students here and that a Hopkins tuition does go to good use. I could go on and on about Tb and about the university, but I will end by saying that my office is where rapid HIV tests are manufactured for the area (see picture). I am definitely impressed by this.

Moving on to my friends and adventures. I am very lucky to have a roommate, Gabriela, who speaks Spanish, En

glish, and Portuguese and who just moved to Brazil in March. Why? Well, because she wants to explore Brazil too (and also has a love for chocolate). And because she has a great group of friends. Her boyfriend, Jorge, has a good friend Anibal who is also from Peru and has a Nikon that he has been taking lots of pictures on. The two are both electrical engineers and are friends with Alesandro, who is the brother of Fernanda, a biotechnology student. Gabriela knows the best English in the group, but all of them have made aneffort to speak English with me (which I’m extremely grateful for). And although I am the baby in the group, I have literally been accepted with open arms. Fernanda brought us all on an adventure last weekend (a four day holiday weekend) to Belo Horizonte (where Fernanda’s boyfriend, Diogo, lives). Here we took a day trip to Ouro Preto (once the main city of the gold rush in Brazil, now a tourist destination with no modern buildings).

I could go on and on about Ouro Preto and about the food in Belo Horizonte (let’s just say, all you can eat pizza and sushi). My book said you will not go hungry in Belo Horizonte and I will agree.  This past weekend, Fernanda’s family again opened their arms to me (I have already met both of her parents, her two brothers, three cousins, her sister in-law, her aunt, her uncle, etc). Friday night Fernanda took me out to a restaurant that played country music. I have decided that I am not even going to try to dance here; the Brazilians are way too good. I slept over at her house and her family made breakfast, lunch, and cake the next day. Her family owns a small farm a few hours away and they asked if the three Peruvians and the  American (that would be me) would like to go next weekend. How could we turn down a farm trip? I have earned the nickname “Av, Av” here since the girls commonly call other girls by the first syllable in their name, so I would be called “Je, Je.”However, that name was quickly replaced since they realized that my name really should be short for aventura (adventure).  I should also say that although I have not always liked having a popular name, here I love having the name Jessica, because absolutely no one has had a problem with my name.

So, there are plenty of adventures in the future. Like the farm trip next weekend. I was also asked to go a friend’s house near a very nice beach during the following weekend. Gabriela and I are planning a trip to Rio on another weekend. And I am sure there will be plenty more aventuras. It’s getting closer and closer to 3 in the morning here, so I should probably be going to bed, but I did promise my dad this blog.

There are things about home that I constantly miss (mainly New Jersey bagels). But, I know that I couldn´t be happier with how I chose to spend my summer (and am considering it lucky that I didn’t get chosen for the two internships I applied to). I know that when I go home there will be things about Brazil that I wish were closer to home. I also know that this is just the beginning of my travels. I plan to spend Spring 2010 abroad (which has, surprisingly, been leaning towards Geneva) and after this experience I would not doubt the possibility of me applying for another grant for Summer 2010.

And to end this, Happy Father’s (and Grandfather’s) Day! Well, it isn’t in Brazil, but oh well. Expect a post in the next two weeks. In the mean time, enjoy a video of a soccer game I went to last weekend (Atletico vs. Nautico) in Belo Horizonte. I can’t even imagine what World Cup 2014 is going to be like in this soccer-crazy country.

Dear Roxi,

You just made my day. Although, I also do know that you are pretty awesome at Spanish and that you do know Spanish! Meanwhile,  I am sitting here listening to music in Portuguese wondering how I am going to live for two months in Brazil without knowing the language. The travel book next to me says that Brazil “in a word” is “bacana” meaning cool. Somehow, I don’t think this word will be as useful as China’s word in my travel book: “Tai gui le!” meaning too expensive. I also learned today that the second highest number of Japanese live in Brazil (second only to Japan) and that natives tend to eat food that we would eat with our hands (sandwiches or pizza) with napkins or utensils. Good thing to know or I would have looked like a barbarian. I am super excited about not only my research trip to Brazil, but next semester as well (I just picked out my classes last week and they are very “me”), applying for another research grant, and about study abroad. I always questioned that whole college is the best four years of your life statement, but with next year ahead of me it looks like junior year will be a lot more exciting than it was in high school.

Spring is in full swing at Hopkins and although I have not witnessed anyone falling out of windows, there is plenty of entertainment. Yesterday I went on a field trip with my Population and Community Ecology class to canoe on the Chesapeake Bay and to hike at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. I must say that I was not looking forward to waking up early and missing homecoming events on campus, but I actually really enjoyed traveling deeper into Maryland and being in the “field.” However, I was a bad public health major and definitely didn’t prevent my sunburn like I should have.

What else? Friday night was Relay for Life and I fundraised at a booth with a volunteer group on campus, Circle K. I enjoyed seeing all the support that the campus shows for preventing cancer. It definitely was an emotional night for me since a luminaira was shining in memory of my grandfather.

Last Saturday my boyfriend and I made our once-a-semester trip to Washington DC. We both love DC and make an effort to go when we can. Although, the last day of the Cherry Blossom Festival proved to show absolutely no cherry blossoms, it still was fun going to DC’s Botanical Gardens, the Library of Congress, and the Georgetown area.

Looking ahead this coming weekend is Spring Fair just about the most exciting weekend on campus and I’m sure the freshmen are going to be in for a surprise and blog all about this. Spring Fair involves concerts, beer gardens, food vendors, rides, etc. all on campus! Additionally, April 30th brings with it a flight to Boston to see my brother graduate on May 1st at Northeastern (the last day of classes here). Although, his graduation doesn’t come at a great time of the  Hopkins’ academic year, it’s an event I would like to go to. I just hope I don’t get tricked into thinking that his graduation rings in summer for me.

On top of all of this I have a full push ahead to finish my academics at the level that I would like to finish them. My classes this semester involve few graded assignments meaning that each is worth a lot. This basically means that finals are when I am going to have to shine. Fortunately, I haven’t grown tired with the library yet and know that academics need to come first.

As you can see spring at Hopkins is eventful and the weather here is absolutely gorgeous as well. And although I am not adventuring in Chile and watching first-hand Roxi’s entertaining actions, I honestly am happy to be a Hopkins student and really can’t believe that I am less than a month away from home sweet home.

Until next time,

Jessica