Japan: Travel and Squid

 A group of 9 (7 students and 2 faculty/staff) from Hawkeye Community College are currently studying abroad in Japan hosted by our partners at the University of Yamanashi thanks to funding from Sakura Science. Twenty-nine hours of travel included a Hawkeye van, a couple flights, and a bus. After all of our travel we grabbed some food and beverages from a local store and are settling into our hotel before our first full day on the ground tomorrow. Some grabbed traditional snacks such as chips, ham, candy, etc., while others got more adventurous with lobster flavored crab cakes and dried squid. 

Heating Up in Haiti

It was a long, but rewarding day of travel to Haiti! We started our morning out meeting at Hawkeye at 2:30 AM. With the -19 degree weather at home unfortunately our van to the airport would not start. We quickly made back-up plans and utilized personal vehicles.

After a connection in Atlanta we arrived in Port au Prince to 86 degree weather. We gladly welcomed the 100+ degree temperature swing! We made the roughy three hour van ride to UCI near Caiman. The drive allowed us to see some of the countryside and have great discusssions on Haitian culture and agriculture.

When we arrived on campus we were treated to a delicious meal of Haitian spaghetti. We are concluding the night by gathering under our favorite tree for conversations and great laughter. We look forward to diving into Haitian agriculture tomorrow!