Weird food I ate in Quebec

Even as a parasitologist/infectious disease researcher, I still eat weird food. Somehow, knowing the risks makes me feel comfortable. I'll try anything twice. 

When I'm in another country, I debate with myself. Is this safe? What will I catch? Is it worth the risk? 

So here's what I ate in Canada:

The fudge was great although I'm not a fan of fudge. The also had chocolate bark that looked delicious. 

Next up-- Gelato!

Surprisingly, for all the French Connection... There was a lot of Italian influence in Quebec as well. We ate in the oddest restaurant one night. There were knicknacks literally everywhere and our bill was wrong 5 times, but their mussels in cream sauce was a great dish. 

Poutine. Canada. I felt like I needed a run and a shower halfway through. Fries, gravy, fromage or cheese curds and in this case, chicken. It's apparently a local dish. In my opinion, it's how they survive winter. 

Steak Tartare! My first! Served with a side of fries with mayo. Oh Canada! The mayo with fries! I just couldn't deal with it, but the tartare? It was excellent. 

I may not have eaten this pie, but I did try some maple butter. It was rich and gorgeous and velvet. 

This maple taffy is very "Little House" and looked amazing. Unfortunately, I had just eaten poutine and gelato and was feeling lousy with carbs and sugar. 

Here's to food and travel. After all, "Baking is science for hungry people." --Questionable Content (a fav web comic of mine)

Support for hitch-hiking in China

The husband of a friend of mine has a great project proposed. Look at the site and vote if you agree. 

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/adventure-grant-2013?fn=4

Flower boxes and French food

The parasitology conference is wonderful. So many good talks. I'm excited about several talks today. One about parasites in Howler monkeys from Ecuador. Another about the natural history of Trypanasoma cruzi in the US. The good thing about conferences is getting excited about your own data when you return. 

A slice of Quebec. 

Tarmac

I'm sitting on a runway in Detroit waiting for a storm to pass. It reminds me of the episode of 30 Rock where Liz Lemon was in a similar situation. Except that her boyfriend was the pilot and it was hilarious. 

My life is not that hilarious. As in the picture above, I'm at a crossroads. Well, the crossroads is coming up. I'll be finishing my PhD within the year. Which means that I have to start applying for post-docs and research or teaching positions... Adult life decisions-- I feel there should be a hashtag there. 

Normally, I love airports. Even when I am just flying somewhere as a connection, being in a terminal is exciting. Most of the excitement comes from the Departures board. If you're in an airport and you have a little spare money and your passport, you could wake up anywhere the next day. Paris. NYC. Belize. Opportunities for escape and adventure.

Science-wise, it's always nice to have a few days off from the lab. Time to refresh.  Time to let the sequencing facility fix the robotic arm so you can finalize a manuscript. 

I didn't bring my laptop on this trip. My advisor thinks I am nuts, but honestly between the lectures diring the day and the parasite chats over dinner, I think I'll be ready to sleep at night. Or walk the fortress walls around old Quebec City. 

All photos above are from Kunming City, China. A precarious hike up stairs and shrines carved in a cliffside. 

Camels and Quebec City

Second post!

Today I'm preparing for a trip out of the country. I'm headed to Quebec City for a parasitology conference on Tuesday and I'll be in Canada for a week. I loved the Anne of Green Gables series of books when I was a kid. Heck, I still do. Most people don't know, however, that Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote tons of books based in Canada. All of them are charming and unless I'm forgetting something, all of them feature a relate-able and precocious woman protagonist. That and a few other series of books based in Canada have always left me with a soft spot for the "Great White North."

Self-shot camel-riding style, Sahara Desert

At the conference (American Society of Parasitologists), I'll be sitting in on sessions where top scientists around the world talk about their research on parasites. I'll be presenting some of my own research in the student section-- most academic conferences have separate sessions just for students.  I'm really looking forward to a week learning all the news about flukes, Chagas disease, Babesia, and... any vector-borne parasite really. A blog I follow does an amazing write up of a new parasite several times a week. It's one of my goals to have a parasite I discover and describe to be highlighted on this blog:  Parasite of the Day

Desert flower, Morocco

Trip planning: I like to make lists. Quebec City is around 70-80 F/25-28 C right now and it's supposed to rain off and on for the whole week.  Even as scientist, because I grew up in the US, I still struggle with metric in everyday things like cooking and weather so I force myself to use it. The top things on my list are: rain jacket; sunglasses; umbrella; passport; camera.... The challenge of going to a conference is packing clothes that are comfortable enough to sit around in all day, but stylish enough that you can network and look professional. The projected rainy weather doesn't help me out at all. Footwear is the worst. I'll either have to suffer in wet shoes all day, carry a pair of flats with me, or just wear rain friendly stuff. Since I'm not really an important person at the conference, I think I'll be able to get away with some sneakers.

Hi there!

I'll be staying in a hostel while I'm in town. I'm so happy about that because 1. it's saving me money and 2. hostels mean excursions and inside info. A lot of European hostels I've stayed in have "walking tours" where the tour guides take you to places around the city and work for tips! It's a great way to walk around a new place and hear interesting history. I'm hoping to have a little time away from the conference to explore Old Quebec City. I've been so busy with research lately that I am just winging this trip. Sometimes it's fun to hop a plane and let the sites and food and people come to you.

My friend, Camelus dromedarius

Thanks for stopping by to read. The photos above are from a trip to Morocco and the Sahara a year or so ago. This camel and I became fast friends one clear morning ride. All the camels were linked together in the line (of tourists). This was the camel behind me. Throughout the walk, he walked faster so he could nuzzle my leg and let me scratch his face. Maybe he liked me or maybe he just thought my pants smelled like food. Either way, a friend is a friend. Camels have the weirdest anatomy and ridiculous teeth.  You rise up three times when the camel stands due to their joints. And...make sure you have a comfortable saddle or else you'll be sore and walking funny in a foreign country. .

traveling scientist

First post! Hello! I'm Barbara

I'm a scientist working on my PhD in Wildlife Disease. In general, I do molecular research into tick-transmitted diseases of wild felids, although I dabble in other fields as well.

I love science because I can explore my curiosity everyday.

I also love traveling. As a scientist, I often travel for conferences or research and while I'm in another town, or another city, or another country, I breath in all the food, music, and nature that I can.

Iguazú Falls, Argentina

Western Hills, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China

Essaouira or Mogador, Morocco

Marrakech, Morocco

Sahara Desert

With this blog, I hope to share with you my curiosity about the world via my thoughts on travel and science. All of the photos above are from some of my recent trips. In the future, I'll be sharing short vignettes about each place. I may also be writing critiques of scientific articles that I find particularly compelling or utterly uncompelling.

I hope you'll join me.

Madrid, Spain