...The End...

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On our last full day available in the Netherlands, De and I walked around to some local shops to buy goodies for our loved ones while induldging in some of our favorite foods including fried fish and mussles (left), french fries and mini spring rolls from daily wok. We walked through the market for the last time and even ran into some friends. It was, in my opinion, the best way to spend our last day in Holland. 

I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to study in the Netherlands provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and organized by the University of South Florida and Dr. Yeh.  Prior to this summer I had only worked in the labs at USF and I feel that traveling to IHE and working in the labs there taught me a lot about myself as a researcher and as an individual. I am also grateful to have had the opportunity to live abroad for a period of time, something that I may never have been able to do otherwise. 


I hope that one day I may pass through Delft again, and until then I will always remember the calm and uplifting spirt of life in the Netherlands.


Here is to hoping that I sleep past 4 am tomorrow! (De you were right! :-) )

So many pieces

A few weeks ago my mom and step dad were here in the Netherlands. I went and met them and we traveled just north of Amsterdam to a city called Alkmaar. Here, they recreate the cheese auctions that used to take place in the town in front of what is now a cheese museum.  It was a lot of fun to see all of the big rounds of cheese being carried out and weighed. Although I believe I read that the cheese is no longer actually auctioned like this, it was interesting to see.

If you can't make it to Alkmaar don't worry though, you can always see the recreation of the Alkmaar cheese auction at Madurodam (mini holland)! 

 If you love small things, like I do!, then mini-holland is definitely for you. Just a tram ride away from the Den Haag Centraal Station awaits a fantastic journey into some of the most recognizable areas of the Netherlands. De, a group of our newly found friends, and I finally got around to going only a couple weeks ago and wished we had gone earlier. Visiting gives insight on some of the largest points of interest and can even help you decide what you would like to see in actual stature.

There are model train stations, tulip gardens and even concerts that play real music. There are theaters (from which you can hear plays like Mary Poppins), a little schipol complete with airplanes, and wooden shoe factories that, for only 1 euro, will deliver a pair of shoes on a small truck for you to take home. 

 There are tiny bikes, small streets and the Dam Square in Amsterdam. This year everything was also decorated with orange in celebration of the world cup. 

And the best thing about little holland is........................................................................................................

YOU GET TO FEEL LIKE A GIANT!!!!!!!!

So, we are beginning to near the end of our time here in the Netherlands. I have been very busy trying to get all of the stuff we need to do done while enjoying the country in the time that remains. We do final presentations for IHE on Wednesday, which has been quite a challenge to get together. I look forward to catching up on my sleep when I return home since staying up until 1am and waking up at 8am has become a habit. The alarm on my phone has also given up on me, probably because it is so tired of being ignored. I will miss a lot of things about the Netherlands and Europe in general like the public transportation systems, the bicycles and mostly my new friends. Especially the ones who share their apple juice boxes with De and I when we go shopping in the Hague!

Tomfoolery

Dear Blog reader,
Please take a long look at the "old" church, located in Delft, pictured below...

If you thought that this church is outrageously crooked, please raise your hand.

If you partook in this short exercise and did indeed raise your hand, this just goes to show that there are some mistakes that even an attempt at optical illusions cannot fix. During our second week in Delft, our group took a canal tour that boated us down the old canal. As part of this tour, small tidbits of the towns history and present were bestowed to us. One of the things discussed on this tour was this church, its tilted tower and the things they did to try to fool us into thinking that it wasn't as crooked as it is. Please see their solution below.

Now, if we weren't even tricked by the woman they hired, I feel safe to say that optical illusion has failed them.

the guessing game

Audrey

I bought something from Aldi today that comes in a box like grits and looks like it may actually be grits, but as I cannot read the box I will find out later if it truly is grits. Things like this simple surprise awaiting me has been one of the joyous experiences of living, shopping and eating in another country. 

This past week has brought a lot of accomplishments in the lab and has paved the way for many more.  I finally began the activity batch tests that I will be doing as part of Denys' evaluation of the inversed fluidized bed reactors that are being tested as a removal method for metals in wastewater using Sulfate reducing bacteria. 

 Using samples that Denys collected from her columns of both the liquid phase and the biofilm (shown in the above right image grown on polyethylene beads) and I will be testing their sulfide production and sulfate reduction while changing varies conditions. I have learned and practiced (about a million times now) a lot of new evaluation techniques to determine sulfide and sulfate concentration and am happy to be learning so many new lab techniques. I started a new experiment today and am excited to see how the week treats me. Hopefully all will go well and we will get some interesting and meaningful results. Either way they are cooking as we speak (or as I type?).

The past weekend was fairly exciting. On Saturday De and I ventured to Amsterdam to walk around and see the Anne Frank Huis. 

 I thought Amsterdam was beautiful, and as a guy in the gift shop told me delft is somewhat it's miniature, which I decided to be very true. The canals are much wider and the building are taller (and lean a little more). From above and maps the city appears to be laid out like a spiderweb consisting of canals and roads and who wouldn't want to get stuck in it? It was a beautiful day and people were riding in their boats and enjoying the weekend and life. The Anne Frank Huis was also a very moving experience and its difficult to imagine the life that she saw and the positive view of people she maintained and relayed through her diary. 

After arriving back in Delft from Amsterdam, we ventured to the market to participate in the MooiWeerSpelen festival. Delft always has something new going on and it has been great to observe and play in the new culture.  The festival contained many theatrical acts that were scattered throughout squares in the city. The festival lasted well into the night on Saturday with the last act finishing around 12:30(or 00:30), but we were home in bed before the night drew to a close for the many performers.

 We did venture out again on Sunday to the festival despite the rain and saw some really neat acts. 

Even in the rain delft is a very gentle and beautiful city. It has been quite easy to feel comfortable here and although we have only been here a month now, it seems like much longer.

A blustery weekend has come and gone

Hi Mom!

You know it's going to be a great day when you start it off with a big bowl of Honing Ringetjes and sliced bananas. Especially when you eat it with a gigantic spoon.



Another week in the lab has come and gone. As 24 June is a holiday here in the Netherlands, UNESCO-IHE was closed leading the past week to only allow four days to work in the lab. Tuesday and Wednesday I attended the 2nd Conference in Research Frontiers in Chalcogen Cycle Science and Technology and heard about many projects revolving around the use, recovery (or removal from waste water) and importance of reuse of the earth's metal supply. On Wednesday, as part of the conference, I attended a trip to the local company Biothane which uses anaerobic treatment methods to treat waste water. At their lab in Delft, close to TU Delft, they test small scale set ups of reactors that could potentially be used for clients all over the world. It was interesting to see how many different methods there are from batch continuous stirred tank reactors to column bed reactors. 
After the conference was over, I spent Thursday and Friday playing the "what if I alter this game" with my lab experiments which may have been fun for them but got somewhat tiring for me. 
Today, I started what will be the bulk of my experimental work here which pertains to sulfide production activity tests in batch reactors. I'm excited to get it all started and see what kind of things I can learn.


Yesterday was a very blustery day here in Delft, complete with a mini hail storm which I was luckily inside for. I did, however, go out exploring in the morning despite light rain. While I was out I stumbled upon some Delft treasures that calmed my spirit and brought me a sense of contentment, including:

Beautiful, new and appropriately themed graffiti under the bridge.

A place to hide during the heaviest rain from which I could still watch the Holland Beach Soccer tournament. 

A delicious cup of black chai tea and a spinach & olive bagel to enjoy while hiding in Bagels and Beans.

Some shenanigans down by the canal involving a large slide, some sort of homemade flying/flotation devices and people clad with superhero costumes.

And lastly,

 A couple of fellows enjoying the canals and watching the slide with curiosity.

work week, take one.

Audrey    

It has been a while since I blogged and a ton of things have happened. Lets start with the reason that we are here, then get to the bonuses at the end.

  Earlier this week I met my lab mentor Denys who I will be working with over the summer. She gave me several papers regarding her current research, to which I will contribute, and showed me around her area of the lab. Her research involves the removal of heavy metals using an inverse fluidized bed reactor that contains a carrier material that is covered with a sulfate reducing bacteria biofilm. In theory, these bacteria will produces sulfide which can then form complexes with the heavy metals located in the water and the entire aggregation will settle to the bottom of the reactor.

In an attempt to estimate the amount of bacteria that are present in the liquid phase of the reactor (those that did not join the biofilm) this week I have been using the Modified Lowery Method, which can be done at room temperature, to determine the amount of protein (from which the bacteria concentration can be determined) in a given sample. The results from the Lower Method will give Denys a better idea of how active the liquid phase of the column is. The first step in the utilization of this method was to produce a calibration curve (exp seen in the right picture above) using the spectrophotometer. After making two calibration curves, one in just water and one in a mineral media, we ran an experiment on the liquid phase of the current reactors that are operating to get an idea of where the samples, diluted and undiluted, would fall on the curve we had developed. Overall it was a very educational week and I had a lot of fun working in the lab. IHE, like the rest of the Netherlands, is very welcoming and friendly and if you stay for a week you feel like you've been there forever. I'm excited to get back to the lab this week and have a positive feeling that I will be able to accomplish a lot for Denys and learn a lot for myself both personally and in regards to my research.

As an extra bonus of being in the Netherlands, the evenings and weekends, especially those containing a holiday, can be spent exploring and learning about other cultures.
First things first, I bought a bike the second week that we were here which, unfortunately, had loose handle bars that would wiggle from left to right. This didn't scare me too much until the cobblestone streets wiggled the screw further out causing a front and back motion to coincide with the right to left motion my handle bars. Although already having fun, this allowed a full range of direction for my handle bars to dance while I was riding. This, luckily, was easily remedied using an allen screwdriver, size 6, from the local hardware store. Now my bike sits happily in the bike room of Mina playing well with all of the other bikes until I need her.

One of the other things that I have really enjoyed in Delft is the underpass that zuidwal takes near the train station. Almost every inch of wall through this part of the street is covered with graffiti. Ranging from 3 toothed apples to super mario characters the graffiti adds a splash of color and life to the surrounding areas. I enjoy looking at the flow of colors and artistic ideas and am impressed that such impressive art can be done with a spray paint can.

I believe that this is part of Delft that changes quickly and isn't ever really the same. Just a couple of weeks ago I was walking under the bridge and saw a few people painting over already existing paint. I'm excited to keep seeing it evolve and change. 


Finally, the last thing I will try to cover in this already huge blog, is our trip to Berlin, Germany. Today, Monday May 24th, is a holiday in Holland so UNESCO-IHE is closed. Taking advantage of this, we all set out for Berlin on Thursday evening after leaving the lab. After a very very long (6hr) train ride we finally made it. 

Berlin was very interesting, filled with beauty, history and emotions about their past and their united future. 


It has been a very exciting and busy week in the Netherlands, and beyond, and I am looking forward to the next.

You don't need a time machine to go to futureland anymore

Audrey

 Yesterday we began our day at futureworld (located where the red star is in the image to the left) in Rotterdam where we had the opportunity to see the dredging project that is currently being done to expand the port of Rotterdam. Known as Maasvlakte 2, an addition to Maasvlakte 1 which was completed in the 70's, the expansion will develop the port further into the noordzee and increase it's capacity drastically, maintaining the port's position as the fourth largest port in the world. By dredging coarse sand from the sea, vessels deliver the sand to the desired location using one of two methods. The first, as seen in the picture to the left, is to spray the sand and the second is to attach piping to the dredging vessel and pump the sand into location. The picture outlined in red to the left is adding sand to what will be the land in the red box located in the top artistic image of what the port will look like when it is completed. The project is estimated to cost 2.9 billion euros and will begin to open in 2013 when the first company will set up its cargo containers on the new land. A whopping 365 million m^3 of sand is estimated to be required for the project which is being done by two of the largest hydraulic companies in the world under the name Puma. Futureland acts as a museum for the project and includes many visual opportunities for the visitor to learn how the land is formed, the time frame under which the project will be completed and examples of other large scale dredging projects such as the palm islands and the world located in Dubi. In addition, information is provided about the environmental impacts of the project and what the port is doing to make up for the cost of manipulating the environment in such a way. 

After we had seen enough of the port expansion, it was time to leave futureland and return to the present day with a boat trip of the public transportation persuasion which took us directly through the Maeslantkering storm surge barrier. When the Delta works project began, there were two waterways in particular that were not desirable to close off. One was the Westerschelde, which connected to Belgium and the other was the Nieuwe Waterweg, which held the port of Rotterdam. In an attempt to protect their people from the storm surge of the North Sea, the Dutch set out to find a design for a barrier that would remain open leaving no impact on entering ships, but that would close and protect the people in the case of a storm.

After considering several different models presented by engineering companies, they finally choose what is now the Maeslantkering barrier. Concrete blocks were placed on the waterway's floor to prevent sand movement when the gates closed, and two large, moving barriers were fabricated. Both barriers, one on either side of the river, pivot on huge ball joints and are a total of 210 m long and 22 m high. When the computer detects a specified water level rise, the two barriers pivot on the joint using a gear like device that is located on top of the barriers which meet each other in the middle, leaving an approximately 1 m gap in between, as seen in the model rendition of the closing located in the above image's top right corner. When triggered to close, the barriers move into the water and begin filling from the bottom causing them to sink and block potential storm surge. One of the most important things in the use of the barrier is the ball joint hinge which allows a high degree of motion in the movement of the barrier. 

After marveling for quite some time at the intensity and brilliance of the Maeslantkering barrier, we set off on our way home while of course taking the scenic route. On the way back to Delft we stopped and took a stroll on the beach of the North Sea. I was surprised by how much foam was on the beach and found the sand to be much different than the sand that we encounter on the west coast of Florida. Never the less, it was beautiful and I can now say that I touched the North Sea, and took a picture (and shells)! Oh, don't tell anyone, but I also pet a cute little doggy which is something that I have wanted to do since I arrived. While anticipating our trip to the Netherlands I stumbled across a website that discussed the number of glass houses (green houses) located in the country and right by the beach we were lucky enough to stumble over a vast layout of them right by the beach.

Today, Friday, I took the day to rest and recuperate from information filled week that lay behind me. I am very excited about all that I have seen and learned and am very anxious to begin working in the labs here at UNESCO-IHE. This already has been an incredible experience and it's hard to believe that I have been given the opportunity to stay so long and learn so much.

 

 

  

'1835 + 1'

Audrey

Yesterday, May 12th, was an exciting and extremely busy day loaded with information and sights. Beginning at 8:30am and ending at 21:00pm, the day allowed us to see and experience many of the dutch engineering designs attempting to keep the noordzee from flooding the area of zeeland, known as the "delta project". The first stop, a watch tower with many stairs, was an overlook of a lock designed to keep the salty water of the estuary Oosterschelde out of a a body of fresh water while still allowing boats to pass through. 

The tower, seen in the above photographs both on a map and as it looks in person, gives an overhead view of the lock below. The boats enter the lock and the salt water is blocked off (as demonstrated in the figure above). Fresh water is then added to the lock and, due to density differences, the salt water settles to the bottom. Once the salt water is at a low enough level to limit its diffusion into the fresh water, the lock is opened and the boat can continue into the fresh water while allowing very little salt water to enter with it. Although amazing, this is just the beginning of some of the most spectacular and beautiful engineering work ever done.

After viewing the lock, and freezing, we headed to the Watersnoodmuseum. Here, the disaster of February 1st, 1953 was memorialized demonstrating the reason behind the Delta Project and enlightening the visitor to the importance of further protecting the coast of the Netherlands from potential storm surge. The museum is constructed inside four caissons (the first seen in picture 2) placed in the area to plug holes that had formed in the dykes causing the monumental flood that caused the Dutch to focus a great deal of money and time ensuring that their people were safe from storm surges.

 Once we arrived to the museum, we were greeted with coffee (image 1), which is something that we have come to value and expect from our visits to different areas in the Dutch culture. It is a tradition that I am pretty sure we are all very happy exists. The first caisson contains images, maps and an overall conceptual view of how devastating the flood was to those living in the area. After moving into the second caisson, we were confronted with a very moving and honest form of art implanted to give the visitor a glimpse into the lives of the 1835+1 people (the +1 being a baby who had not yet been registered prior to death) who died as a result of the 1953 flood. Here, the names of the victims are seen floating underneath of a small platform (image 3). The visitor can then place their hand on the box to the right of the platform (image 4) and speak the name of one of those lost in the flooding. The lights would then dim and, in a very moving manner, a voice would read a brief biography provided to the museum from a friend or loved one. I thought that this was a tremendously artistic way to memorialize those lost in the flood and, although the words were in Dutch and I could not understand, I left feeling like I understood what was lost and the emotional impact that it must have had on all those who lived here at that time. In the third caisson, images of rebuilding the country after the flood were planted in the viewers mind. All of the help given to the Netherlands from other countries was reported and the concepts of dyke, house and city repair were staged. Entering into the fourth caisson, the museum visitor entered the future of the Netherlands and their quest to live with the water that surrounds them. At the entrance of the caisson is an image of two children playing in the water (image 5). Upon closer inspection, it is seen that the larger picture is made up of smaller pictures taken of the consequences of the flood. I thought that this museum was an important addition to our tour. Although up to this point we had heard a lot about the 1953 flood, it was difficult to get an impactful view of what was lost and how difficult and scary the ordeal must have been. After seeing this, the force and effort that was put on the Delta project was well understood. I also felt that this was a very smart use of the caissons.


Once we left the museum we stopped to see the dykes that were currently being repaired in the area. 

By utilizing several different layers and materials, the dykes are water proof, strong, high enough to block storm surges and contain material that will promote plant growth in areas where plants were destroyed for the renovation. 

After leaving the dykes we headed over to the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier (top left). This impressive, massive engineering masterpiece acts as a bridge most days of the year. However, if the water level ever reaches the lower red line painted on the side of the barrier (top right), a height of 3.0M + Normal Amsterdam Peil (NAP), the large barriers (bottom left) will be automatically lowered into the water preventing the storm surge from flooding the estuary and the land. Also indicated on the barrier is the level of the water during the 1953 flood (top right image, top red line) which was marked at a height of 4.2M + NAP. This demonstrates that the water level will not be allowed to reach the same height as it did when the storm of 1953 killed so many people. In addition to simply seeing the barrier, we also were permitted into a museum that has been built within the barrier just below the road. Here, we were able to see models of the building equipment that was used to lay the tremendously heavy and robust foundation of the barrier. We were also able to view the hydraulics that lower and raise the gates of the barrier. Once we left the museum, the real wind started as we climbed to a platform near to the top of the barrier.

I found the opportunity to see the storm surge barrier to be very valuable and was, yet again, impressed with the Engineering ability and design observed throughout the Netherlands.

"Wonderlijk Water, Waardevol Werk"

Audrey

"God created the world, the Dutch created the Netherlands" 

It has been a few days since my last post and a lot has happened in this short period of time. Sunday was a "take it easy day" which I spent doing some homework and going on a long walk with Ana and Ivy in search of a tell tale grocery store that is open on Sundays. I am still amazed at how beautiful Delft is and how it operates. To the right is a picture of Ivy standing just inside of the bike parking outside of the Centraal Delft train station. It is amazing how many bikes there are, and even more amazing that anyone is able to locate their bike when they arrive. I think I will have to find a flag for my bike, or else I may lose it after the first day. 

I also have finally gotten the chance to upload the pictures that I took out of the window from the plane as it was landing in Amsterdam's Schipole airport last Thursday morning (left). Although at the time I did not quite understand the degree of importance that the canals in the Netherlands have, it is obvious from this view that they are all over the landscape. Looking at this picture now, it is very easy to see the vulnerability that the Dutch have to the water that is all around, and at a higher level than they, their houses and their agricultural land are. 

Yesterday (Maandag) we were able to tag along with a tour to Rijkswaterstaat in Den Haag where most of the water management is controlled. Here, we were given a great deal of information regarding the policies in place regulating the implantation of their water management system as well as how the water is managed in each region of the Netherlands. We discovered that there are currently 27 local water boards focus on testing and managing the water in their regions. In addition, we learned about the history of the water management system and the impact that the flood of 1953 had on the way that the country secured its land from the sea and protected its people. It was also interesting to find out that the people living in the Netherlands do not have flood insurance because the insurance companies couldn't afford the pay off if anything did happen, as it would be such large scale devastation. I also was, again, impressed by how the Dutch plan ahead and try to plan for the climate change and what it could possibly mean for the water levels of the sea and ultimately the safety of their home. At these presentations we also learned that only 2% of the water in the Netherlands is "natural" and that 56% is artificial (in man made canals etc) and that the other 42% has been heavily modified. I found this interesting because it demonstrates how much they have had to change their environment to make it so that the Netherlands can be/continued to be inhabited. Following we walked around Den Haag for a while and looked at the amazing architecture and the beautiful city.

Today (dinsdag) was a very exciting day in my opinion. We were taken to Kinderdijk where we were able to see the historic windmills that were used to move water from the inhabited/agricultural area to the sea. Each windmill can move the water up approximately 1 m and, used in series, move water up to a level just above sea level so that the water will flow into the rivers. The windmills were beautiful and it was very cool to see the way that people used to use their resources to control the water in the Netherlands. It was clear from visiting inside of one of the windmills (for only E3.50!) that people used to live in them and be ready to change their directions/speeds at any time.

It was a very fun day today and it was really great to be able to go inside of the windmill and see how it operates. I am excited about tomorrow and all of the new things that we will learn. There is so much information that it is hard to sum it all up here in the blog. This has been such a good experience and it is only beginning. I have found the Dutch culture to be very inviting and friendly and feel as though I have been here much longer than a week.

Dutch Dancing

So, I believe with this old post editor I will be able to upload some video footage of the Dutch style dancing we were privileged to see to day in Keukenhof. I hope it works. It was very fun to see apart of the Dutch culture. The dances were even performed in wooden shoes!