Seeing Friends

This summer, it seems like everyone I know is coming to Minneapolis. On Tuesday, I had dinner with Anna and Kelsey, two of the Project Nexus interns I worked with last summer. It was great to swap stories and to talk about how our lives had changed since leaving Mexico.

I also got to meet up with my friend Rae, who is in Minneapolis on a Wesley foundation mission trip, on Friday. I ate a delicious pizza dinner with her group and got to talk with Rae for a while.

On most of these excursions, I bike, since I don't have a car. On the way back from seeing Rae, I took the pictures posted here. The first is of a cable-stayed bridge, which takes a bike path over a major highway. There was a descriptive poster a little ways off from the bridge that explained what a cable stayed bridge is, including a diagram of how loads are transferred through its different parts. Having recently taken a statics class, I found this very exciting. I took the second picture as I crossed over the Mississippi River on the Franklin Avenue Bridge. I know the picture can do justice to neither the scope of the view nor the colors it contained, but I want to share it with you because as I stood on that bridge it gave me cause to pause and thank God for creating something so beautiful.

Have a great day,

A Full Week

First things first: I got a bike this week from fellow Olin student Morgan Boes. It's sweet and ancient and depicted to the left. When I took it to a bike shop to buy a lock for it, the lady behind the counter commented that I wouldn't need to worry too much about it getting stolen (because it's so old), but it rides quite well, and I look forward to getting a lot of mileage out of it this summer.

With that out of the way, I'll proceed in a more orderly fashion.

Work
I'm working in the solar energy lab, and the two graduate students I am assigned to focus on using solar energy to produce hydrogen fuel. Last week, I read journal articles in their field and observed/participated as they carried out experiments in their areas of research: biomass gasification and zinc hydrolysis. It consists of a lot of turning knobs, operating flow controllers, tightening nuts and bolts, and interpreting data. I'll update further once I figure out what I will be focusing on. It's been kind of overwhelming, the amount of information I've taken in. I'm looking forward to actually working with it, as opposed to stuffing my head full of even more stuff.

Non-Work
My job is more or less a 9 to 5 deal, so I have quite a bit of time to spare. I spent a lot of it last week buying things like toothpaste and figuring out where things were, but this week should be more restful. Minneapolis has so many great places to run/bike, especially along the Mississippi River, which is beautiful in the morning. Other than that, I've been watching movies, playing games (I learned Settlers of Catan yesterday), and reading. It's really, really nice not to have work to do at night. After being in school all year, it's so liberating to be able to put some physical distance between myself and work.

Weekend
The REU students went to the Mall of America, which is like any other mall in the world, except that it is unusually enormous. Most of you know that I don't really enjoy this sort of thing that much, and my purchases - shampoo and detergent at the dollar store - represent pretty well how I feel about shopping in general. To me it's something necessary, but it's not something I can revel in. On Sunday, I went to three different churches because I want to minimize the time I spend finding a church home this summer. If you pray, please pray for me, that I may find a church that places Jesus at the center of everything it does and teaches from the Bible, not its own imagination. I don't think I found a church to call home yet, but I'll keep looking.

Adios

My Building

This summer, I am living in Comstock Hall, which sits on the East bank of the Mississippi River. It has 6 stories, a dining hall where I will be eating the majority of my meals, and fun things like a pool table and a Foosball table.

Last night, as the sun was setting, I went a little distance away and drew a portion of the building. You can't see my window in this picture - the building is pretty large, and my room is on a wing that extends back behind the portion in the center. When I finished drawing, I turned around and caught a great view of the sun setting behind the Minneapolis skyline, which I neither photographed nor drew. I plan to draw and post more pictures throughout the summer. I hope you enjoy them.

I'm here!

I arrived in the twin cities this afternoon and have spent the rest of the day meeting my fellow MechE researchers and moving in. My building is very close to downtown, and it seems like I'll be able to get wherever I want to go by bike, bus, or foot.

This afternoon, I was walking around outside the dorm, when the realization of my independence hit me: I could take a bus to downtown, go out to dinner, and do a hundred other fun things at the drop of a hat. Tomorrow, we start orientation, and much of my time this summer is already scheduled and regimented, but I have so much freedom and so many opportunities.

Adios

Pray for Me

My job this summer will be quite different than working for Amor last summer. Amor is a Christian ministry, and as such, the work environment was conducive to the development of my faith. Furthermore, there was an explicit expectation, internally among the interns and externally from my superiors, that doing our job well meant being Christlike. With an environment so supportive, it was easier than usual to "seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33).

This summer, I will be working in a secular context at the University of Minnesota, an environment in which matters of faith do not come first, as there is no agreement on faith at an institutional level. Therefore, I ask you to pray for me, that I might be able to put God first in all my work and free time. Pray also for the entire group of student researchers and the faculty we will be working under, that relations among us (especially between roommates) might be peaceful and open and enriching.

I am really excited about the wonderful opportunity I have this summer. I'll keep you posted.

Adios,

Summer Plans

Hello, readers! I set up this blog last summer to chronicle my experiences working in Mexico for Amor Ministries, hence the name, Jacob con clavos (clavos being Spanish for nails). This summer, I plan to take it up again, hopefully posting more frequently this time than last.

I'll be leaving Texas at the end of May for Minneapolis, where I will be working at the University of Minnesota. What draws me to Minnesota is an REU (research experience for undergraduates) in mechanical engineering, which I have chosen as my field of study. I will be working under Jane Davidson, the director of the solar energy lab at the University, and while I do not yet know the exact details of my work, I know it will be in solar energy, which I am really excited about.

I look forward to being on the cutting edge of solar research, going to Twins games, enjoying the beautiful Minneapolis weather, and making friends with my fellow researchers. More details to come once I find out more. Have a great summer and thanks for reading!