Sunday, May 31, 2009

Settling In

I made it safely to Geneva, and the trip was surprisingly smooth! I did NOT: arrive too late for my flight out of D.C., get sent home for swine flu symptoms (even though I've had a cold lately), lose my luggage, or get lost upon arrival. I was able to settle in at the Foyer de Carouge, meet some of the women who live here, and stumble through some conversations in French. I think I'm getting the hang of it after a few days, but it was certainly hard at first! Speaking of the Foyer, the others who live here are all very nice! The students and the directors are friendly and willing to help me out. We eat our meals together, and they've shown me around a bit. Everyone is very patient with me, and they help me with my language mix-ups. I'm learning a lot, too! For example, this evening at dinner, we were eating fruit, and I said that I didn't know the French word for "kiwi" - apparently, it's "kiwi." Oh well.

Most of the Swiss students are all studying for their exams, but there are a few of us here who aren't in classes. Karen is one resident who isn't studying right now because she's doing an internship at the World Health Organization. She graciously let me invite myself on a daytrip to Annecy, France, and so that's where I spent my first full day in Europe. We took the bus with two other interns Karen knows from the WHO, and spent the day touring an old castle (now an art and history museum) and a former jail (now a center for regional history and architecture), walking around Lake Annecy, and exploring the city's many shops, street vendors, and bridges. In fact, the bridges over the canals have given the city the nickname, "the Venice of France." I had a lovely time exploring, and I thought it was a great way to beat jetlag!













I start work on Tuesday, so I should have more to say about my internship then! A bientot!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Four Days left in the States!

I've started this blog to stay in touch with so many people while I'm abroad for the Salisbury International Summer Internship in Geneva, Switzerland. I want to share as much information as possible with everyone who's curious about what I'm doing, and I know that there is no way for me to do that effectively by communicating with everyone individually.

I'm preparing to leave for Switzerland on this coming Thursday, May 28, and I'm getting really excited to go! Check out where I"ll be staying at the Foyer Universitaire de Carouge: http://www.foyerdecarouge.ch/maison.html .
It's a home for 10-12 women in the Carouge neighborhood of Geneva. It seems like a great way for me to make friends and to practice my French since there are shared living room areas, shared meals, and Foyer-sponsored daytrips.


At work at the University of Geneva, I'll be helping with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies of unilateral spatial neglect. This is a common neurological problem encountered after a stroke or other brain-injury in which patients often "neglect" an entire half of their bodies. They may report that they can't see objects on one side, only shave or put make-up on one side of their faces, or lose control of an arm or leg on a certain side. In the lab, we'll be investigating nicotine (without cigarettes, of course!) as a possible treatment for this condition. When I first received information about this project, I was surprised to see that nicotine is a possible treatment, but after reading more about it I've learned that it's known to increase levels of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh). ACh levels are often lower in patients suffering from unilateral spatial neglect, and so, nicotine may be able to help alleviate some symptoms. I'll have more information on the project once I start working, but here's the lab website for a general overview of my laboratory group: http://labnic.unige.ch/nic/htms/vuilleumier.html .

That's all I've got for now. Post comments with anything else you'd like to know!