First Program First Weekend

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Before class actually started we had some time to settle down for about 5 days. On Sunday we were pretty much all ready to explore the Netherlands outside of Amsterdam Airport and Delft. We were told that Rotterdam is a city that is really close and that itโ€™d be a lovely bike ride. We walked towards the train station where they rent classic Netherlands bikes and each got one except Chu-Chu. She unfortunately doesnโ€™t know how to ride a bike but we made it our goal to teach her by the end of the trip. She rode all 11km to Rotterdam on the back of Jordanโ€™s bike. It was lovely ride. We got to see a bunch of farms and some windmills. Typical Dutch scenery.  We finally arrived to Rotterdam and we are all starving. We decide to go to this area that supposedly has a lot cheap food. It is a type of kebab place and it was amazing. Doner is really good. It is kip (chicken) on a stick rotated around a heat source constantly. After that we rode to more touristy area such as the cube houses, a large windmill, the different bridges, and so on. It is an incredibly beautiful city. It has to be one of my cities thus far.

By the end, off the 11km bike ride, plus riding all throughout the city, everyone was really grumpy and tired. Many of them hadnโ€™t ridden bikes in years. Half of the group was tired and decided to eat at McDonalds and take a break, the other half, the half I was on, decided to carry on and plow through the hills. We finally got back and decided to make a great home cooked meal so we pooled all the food we had bought and made dinner. It was the start of a great trip.

Eder Medina

Hello, I am Eder Medina. I am a freshmen studying civil engineering at the University of Texas. I am also a project lead for the UT chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World where I, and a few peers are building a solar powered LED light to replace kerosene lamps in developing nations. I am an incredibly energetic person and even though most of my energy is focused on school work, every now and then when there is time I enjoy working out and listening to all kinds of music. In the future I plan not only being a civil engineer but I will also be the co-owner of a coffee shop with a few other engineering friends-we are calling it โ€œThe Frothy Badger.โ€ Iโ€™ve learned that one cannot be an engineer without drinking coffee. However, while traveling abroad I will focus less on coffee making and more on engineering. This summer I will be studying at the Middle East Technical University, in Ankara Turkey. There, I will learn how to reverse engineer a Concentrated Solar Power System and understand why current CSP systems are currently ineffective. Alongside the engineering course, I will be taking an introductory course on Turkish Language and Culture. Oh and I hear that Turkish coffee is amazing! As a result I know that this will be one of the greatest summers.