Abroad Again.

For those who haven't heard, I will be traveling to Istanbul, Plovdiv, Italy, and Greece for one month (rough life I know -- but someone has to do it). As always with this blog, I will be updating you all with stories from my travels for the next month. For the new reader - welcome! And for the returning reader (thanks mom and pops!) I hope you continue to enjoy my stories as much as you have in the past, and continue to travel vicariously through me (Aunt Karen) as you have before -- and hopefully someday you'll be able to return the favor as you continue with your journeys.

A brief personal update: I have completed my first year of graduate school at Purdue where I am earning a MS in Statistics. This summer was spent with two internships: one through Purdue advising undergraduate students in their research and helping them incorporate statistics into their (mostly biologically related) projects; and the second working with the Minnesota Department of Health in their Emerging Infections Unit helping to develop a new way to predict what underlining conditions lead to invasive pneumococcal disease. Both have been very rewarding with possible authorship on publications which is also very exciting at this point in my career. And of course, great references and contacts and a foot in the door at a Dept of Health which is definitely something I could see myself doing.

But alas, I've rambled -- if you've gotten to this point, thank-you. I hope you enjoy reading my stories for the next four weeks.

CM