- Departure Date:
- May 17 2015
- Return Date:
- Jul. 08 2015
- Local Institution:
- Cornell University
- Local Advisor:
- Jim Cordes
- Foreign Institution:
- University fo Cagliari
- Foreign Advisor:
- Delphine Perodin
- Student Status:
- Undergraduate
- Q. What country were you staying in?
Italy
- Q. What university were you attending/doing research at?
was at the Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari.
- Q. How long were you there?
weeks
- Q. What sort of research were you doing?
was working on the backend instrumentation at the SRT with regards
to pulsar timing.
- Q. Did being abroad influence the kind of research you’re doing?
Yes, in a way. While working at a telescope was indeed a fantastic
experience and I learned a lot, I realized that I would rather not
work on instrumentation in the future.
- Q. What’s the coolest thing about being abroad?
The coolest thing is being able to walk down the streets of another
country and just get totally lost in the fact that you’re so far
from home.
- Q. What’s your favorite new phrase from the language?
“Ti piscio” - literally translates to “I piss you”, which means
exactly that in most of Italy. However, in Rome its a rude way to
say that you are leaving someone (as in walking away). It was a fun
phrase one astronomer taught me my first day there.
- Q. What’s the hardest thing about being abroad?
The hardest thing is definitely being away from your family and
friends at home, similar to when you move across the US for example.
Except no one speaks the same language as you.
- Q. What did you do in your free time?
really liked to just walk around and explore the area. All you have
to do is start walking in some direction. The beach was gorgeous
as well.
- Q. What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen or done while abroad?
The coolest thing by far was being allowed to point a giant metal
dish around. Astronomy is cool, folks!
- Q. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen or done while abroad?
suppose the weirdest thing was smelling the streets of Venice. They
were beautiful and ancient, so naturally they stink to high heavens!
- Q. What advice would you offer others going abroad?
don’t know about advice to people going abroad, but in general if
you’ve already decided on not going abroad, then consider it again.
You should definitely give it a chance if you can.
- Q. What skills have you learned abroad?
language skills improved a lot! I already knew some Italian before,
but I can definitely speak a lot more fluidly now.
- Q. Is there anything you’d do differently or anything you wish you’d
have known?
wish I’d stayed longer! I definitely should have asked for a plane
ticket a month after finishing instead of immediately.
