WPI’s International & Intercultural Magazine WPI’s International & Intercultural Magazine WPI’s International & Intercultural Magazine unpacked unpacked unpacked Issue 2: Spring 2013 Inside this issue : Australia * France * Greece * Hong Kong Indonesia * Jordan * Laos * Mongolia * Namibia * Nepal * and more!
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WPI’s International & Intercultural MagazineWPI’s International & Intercultural MagazineWPI’s International & Intercultural Magazine
unpackedunpackedunpacked
Issue 2: Spring 2013
Inside this issue : Australia * France * Greece * Hong Kong
Indonesia * Jordan * Laos * Mongolia * Namibia * Nepal * and more!
My friends and I spent a
Nicolas Martinez
Aerospace Engineering
‘13, IQP London (D ‘12)
Picture taken
in Scotland
_____________________
weekend in Edinburgh
while conducting our
IQP in London, One day
after sightseeing in the
Scottish Highlands we
stopped by Forth Bridge
to have ice cream and
watch the sunset. The
illumination for the pic-
ture was perfect, the
photograph reflected
our mood after visiting
some of Scotland’s
most beautiful places.
To view more of Nico-
las’s photos see page 9.
Letter from the Editor
…
[Reminder of unpacked’s mission… dedication to Christine Drew]
Colleen Callahan-Panday,
Editor-in-Chief
Assistant Director, International Students and Scholars
learned the scientific side of the winemaking pro-
cess, and all the work that goes into creating the
perfect glass of red or white. Once we finished
our tour, we went to the local supermarket to
pick up food for dinner, and most importantly,
Époisses de Bourgogne, the runny cheese that
the region is known for. We proceeded to cook
dinner with the six of us, and enjoyed it with a
glass of wine while sitting by a huge fireplace
that was built in 1678.
The next
morning, we trav-
eled into Beaune for
breakfast and a trip
to the local market
outside of the fa-
mous Hospices. As
we purchased fresh
meats, cheeses,
breads, and vege-
tables from the lo-
cal vendors for din-
ner, we came
across a stand
boasting more than
15 different types of
oysters. In very bro-
ken French, we
managed to get a
free sample or two,
which were well worth the effort. We also came
across an old Citroen, and the owner, an older
woman whom we had met while at the market,
let us take a couple of pictures around the car—
of course, any photo-shoot in Burgundy requires
a bottle of wine and a baguette. After that, the
Apelians hosted a lunch at a local res-
taurant, and we had the opportunity
to try escargots and Beef bourguignon.
We finished our night by attending a
tasting of wines and cheeses from the
region in the center of town. We also
got to watch a local group perform a
traditional dance while we walked
around.
On Sunday, we spent the day touring
through the vineyards of Volnay and
the local villages. Because harvest had
just been completed a few weeks ear-
lier, the vines were green, orange, red,
and yellow, and looked more like a
painting than real life. We then en-
joyed a lunch consisting of a buffet of
fresh cheeses and breads, accompa-
nied by local fig paste and a bottle of
wine while overlooking the Clos de Vougeot.
There is something special about enjoying some
of the world’s greatest foods while looking over
the land where it was all made. This was certainly
a fitting end to the weekend of a lifetime, but
made it that much more difficult to say good-
bye.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 24
Hong Kong: Photo Series
By Shelby Miller
Environmental Engineering ’13, Hong Kong (C ‘12)
Experience
25 unpacked * Spring 2013
ABOVE: Rush Hour in the Heart of Hong Kong—The 7 million people of Hong Kong occupy a land ar-
ea of only about 426 square miles, approximately one third the size of Rhode Island. This led to many
crowded days, trying to ride the subway and walking down the streets. This photo was taken after
our first day of work when we got off the subway in Mong Kok. We had hoped to find some dinner
near the street markets and were jolted by the sheer volume of people that were crammed into the
streets. It took a while to get home in crowds, but it was certainly a new experience and brought
great appreciation for US cities. Most days, we attempted to find the least crowded way home so
that we could just reach our apartment and relax after a day of work. On the weekends, it was fun
to find crowded areas and observe all the people. The interactions between people in such a
crowded space were different than the interactions that we experience in US cities.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 26
BELOW: A Splash of Color on Lamma Island—Lamma Island is a unique place in Hong Kong because
on a landmass of 13.55 square kilometers, this island is home to a coal-fired power plant, a tradition-
al village, an array of hiking opportunities and a fishing community. On the North part of the island,
there is a coal-fired power station that supplies power to Lamma Island and Hong Kong Island. As
we hiked around the island, we had amazing views of the landscape and searched for a cave. On
the way, we found some lookout points, including a gazebo designed like a Buddhist temple. As we
rounded to the other side of the island, we approached the small fishing village that boasts some of
the freshest seafood in Hong Kong. This picture shows the village from afar. The buildings featured
many different colors. In the foreground, you can see the various fishing boats used by the residents.
After our hike, we ate a seven course meal at the Rainbow Restaurant - garlic scallops, seafood
soup, sweet and sour fish, seafood spring rolls, abalone, seafood fried rice, and salt and pepper
shrimp. While the meal cost $50 USD per person, a big sum, we all agreed that it was some of the
best seafood we have ever had.
RIGHT: Peaceful Gi-
ant at the Ocean
Park Animal Theme
Park—The panda in
this photo was one
of two giant pandas
that lived at the
park. Ying Ying is the
female panda and
was very captivating
to watch. Le Le, the
male panda,
napped the entire
time that we were at
their enclosure, but
Ying Ying moved
around, rolled in the
grass, and enjoyed a
meal of fresh bam-
boo leaves. Here
you can see her en-
joying some leaves
while still focusing on
her audience.
27 unpacked
29 unpacked * Spring 2013
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 30
Left: The shale-lined coast of Tung Ping Chau—An im-
portant realization of enjoying the work that we were
doing gave our group a pleasant surprise while study-
ing ecotourism in Hong Kong. Tung Ping Chau is a re-
mote island about 10 kilometers from any other point in
Hong Kong and 4 kilometers from the border of the
Guangdong Province of mainland China. The island
has an area of 1.16 km2 and is unique to Hong Kong
geography because of the shale rock formations that
can be seen in the photo. This photo is on the north-
eastern side of the island near the ferry pier. Due to lim-
ited ferry service, our group had the privilege of spend-
ing two weekends on the island at a hostel, interview-
ing the local people. In our free time, we wandered up
and down the beaches looking for beach glass and
fossils and taking pictures of amazing things. One day,
it was drizzling out so when we returned to our hostel
we sat around a fire that the locals had made for us
and we cooked our own food. We were given a varie-
ty of meats and fish, even hotdogs, as well as vegeta-
bles, corn, and bread to grill and cook in the fire. The
meal tasted great and with the company that we had
it was the most rewarding meal that I have ever had.
We had the opportunity to interact with the local peo-
ple in a unique way that we may not have been able
to experience on a day trip to the island.
Precarious Flight to Shangri-La
By Colleen Callahan-Panday
Assistant Director, International Students and Scholars, Nepal (2009)
The Dornier 228 turboprop sat eighteen pass- engers. It was just wide enough for a person to
stand in the aisle, both arms outstretched, finger-
tips touching the sides of the plane. I settled into
the dark blue fabric of my seat, as the stewardess
picked her way over hiking boots and backpack
straps, distributing hard candies that would help
our eardrums adjust to the altitude during takeoff.
The stewardess’s uniform mimicked a tradi-
tional Sherpani chupa—a full length red jumper
tied in the back over a white silk shirt that framed
her neck like the collar of a kimono. A colorfully
woven rectangular apron pinned to the front of
her dress completed the look. As I took my foil-
wrapped candy, I wondered if it was an Agni Air
policy for stewardess uniforms to include the
apron, or if it truly signified that the attendant was
married, as it would in Sherpa culture.
The two pilots completed their pre-flight
checklist, and asked the stewardess to sit in the
last remaining seat, next to fifty kilo sacks of rice
and other commercial goods wedged around
cargo netting that held passenger luggage at the
back of the plane. The propellers whirred to life,
and the tiny aircraft taxied down the Tribhuvan
Airport runway.
It was June of 2009 and I was traveling to
the Solukhumbu region of Nepal with my husband
Prajjwal, and our school friend Rory. Intent on hik-
ing the most famous of Himalayan treks, our jour-
ney started with the thirty minute plane ride from
Kathmandu to Lukla; a tiny airport-village
perched on the side of a high mountain cliff, act-
ing as the gateway to Shangri-La.
Lukla was both a beautiful destination, and
a treacherous one. It consistently appears on lists
of the “most dangerous airports in the world” as it
is positioned amid slender, snaking, high altitude
valleys, and is
carved from a
ledge 2,850
meters above
sea level. On
approach the
runway, which
is less than 460
meters long
and 20 meters
wide, looks
more like a
mountain-top
driveway than
a place to
land a plane.
To accommo-
date the short
length of the
airstrip, the
ground is
pitched at a
twelve degree
angle to de-
crease landing
speed, and
pilots
Experience
31 unpacked * Spring 2013
ABOVE: The Lukla runway, the day we landed.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 32
conduct ma-
neuvers such
as
“backwards
thrust on pro-
pellers” to
further de-
celerate the
aircraft. One
travel guide
noted, “If this
worries you,
one comfort-
ing thought is
that only the
most experi-
enced pilots
in Nepal are
flying to
Lukla.”
Our
Agni flight
departed
the Kathmandu Valley and sped toward the wall
of jagged snow-tipped teeth on the horizon. Fif-
teen minutes later
we were gliding through a constricting green
gorge shaped by the raging glacial river below.
Mountain ridges were close enough to count in-
dividual treetops from the windows of the plane.
The pilots were navigating by sight; in such a
claustrophobic environment GPS units are not as
trustworthy as a steady pair of eyes, and flights
can only occur in good weather. Limited visibility
meant grounded planes, or potential crashes.
This route certainly has its share. Before our
arrival, four flights had ended in disaster during
the previous five years, including a 2008 Yeti Air-
line crash that killed eighteen. A German family
captured the accident on video as they stood
on the hill above the airport, camera trained on
the edge of the runway. The plane’s engine
hummed deeply on approach, but the valley
was cloaked in a dense wall of cloud. The family
waited for the Twin Otter to burst dramatically
from the puffy whiteness and complete its jour-
ney safely to the tarmac. And burst it did—as a
fireball—just below the edge of the runway.
Chunks of white metal, rubber wheels, and other
wreckage could be seen from both the ground
and air for months.
I tried to forget these images as the run-
way came into view. I reassured myself by noting
that it was Yeti Airlines that crashed, but that I
was flying Agni. I reasoned that the pilots had a
vested interest in landing safely. I chided myself
on seeking foolish adventures and putting myself
at needless risk. I promised myself that I wouldn’t
fly this route again.
The approach was quick—from sky to
earth with little change in altitude. The plane
bounced hard on touchdown, and I gripped the
back of Rory’s seat, bracing for the aircraft to
bank and flip, another gory headline for the
news. Instead the wheels rolled to a hard stop
before the pilot maneuvered the plane to the
tiny stone-built airport terminal.
A deep sigh escaped my chest; I hadn’t
realized I’d held my breath through the final mo-
ments of the flight.
*
Rory, Prajjwal and I spent the next few days hik-
ing in the beautiful mountain landscape of the
Everest region, and at the end of our trek, we
found ourselves inevitably back in Lukla. Unless
willing to hike another five grueling days to the
closest wheeled-transport, a thirty minute flight
from the tiny airport was the only way back to Kath-
mandu. The choice was clear; we boarded the
same Agni flight—anxiety quickly forgotten in lieu of
a successful adventure.
*
ABOVE: Loading the airplane: cargo and people.
33 unpacked * Spring 2013
Fourteen months later, in August of 2010, a
news article caught my eye. The title mentioned a
“tourist plane crash” in the foothills of the Himala-
yas.
The flight departed from Tribhuvan Airport,
intending to fly to Lukla, but had turned back mid-
way due to inclement weather. My heart sank
when I saw the company—the Agni flight crashed
before reaching Tribhuvan. All on board
were killed including one Briton, one Japanese, four
Americans, five Nepali and three Nepali crew.
I searched Nepali news websites with trepi-
dation, eager for information. Unlike American
news, which censors more graphic photography, I
came across a series of grisly photos taken by the
Nepali army and released to The Himalayan Times.
The plane smashed into a rice paddy fifty
miles outside of Kathmandu, and the muddy, water
-filled crater was strewn with scraps of clothing and
metal. A crowd gathered in the rain, hiding under
umbrellas, watching the salvage work.
The most haunting picture in the series was
of two Nepali army troops wearing green fatigues,
wiping their hands on a dirty white cloth after load-
ing light blue plastic bags of human remains into
the back of a truck. There were five plastic bags in
the picture, each no larger than a backpack.
That meant the bodies had exploded on
impact. I had nightmares of small blue garbage
bags filled with human remains, waiting on the curb
outside my apartment, ready to be taken by early
morning garbage men.
It took time to connect the tail numbers. A
follow-up article mentioned 9N-AHE. I searched
through my album for the trek, and scrutinized
each photo from Tribhuvan and Lukla: A photo of
the white Dornier 228, with Agni’s black, yellow and
red stripes along the side. Another with Rory and I
sitting in our seats, toothy-smiles for Prajjwal the
photographer, excited to fly to the tiny airport in
the clouds. A third—Rory and I pose outside of the
plane upon landing in Lukla, as porters carry lug-
gage from the aircraft. A fourth, our plane taxis
down the short runway, new passengers aboard,
the tail number visible yet small. I zoom in on the
picture; one click, then two, then three. I make out
the characters: 9N-AHE.
I re-read the articles—severe weather, spa-
tial disorientation and loss of flight instruments, me-
chanical and pilot error, outdated crew checklists.
The flight was doomed from the start. A flight I had
travelled. That picture of Rory and me in the dark
blue fabric seats, smiling. Those seats are gone.
Someone sitting in the same chair became chunks
of flesh in a
blue plastic
bag in the
back of a
Nepali army
truck. It
made me
physically ill.
I
thought of
the beautiful
stewardess
wearing the
red chupa,
passing out
foil-wrapped
candies. I
wondered
again if her
uniform
apron meant
that she was
married. Did
she leave be-
hind a hus-
band, per-
haps a young
child? ABOVE: A closer zoom reveals the tail number 9N-AHE.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 34
Action
Out of the roughly three months I spent in Europe this past summer, the day I spent at the Plitvice
Richard Beski Mechanical Engineering ’13
Post London-IQP (D’12), Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Lakes in Croatia provided some of the most aesthetically pleasing sights of my entire trip. Blue skies
and clear lakes provided the perfect setting for a day trip in Croatia’s largest National Park. The
calmness in the air at Plitvice was a refreshing way to come off of the overnight travel from my pre-
vious location of Berlin, Germany. Being able to relax and enjoy these lakes was exactly what I was
looking for during my European backpacking trip. Visiting many different countries and doing many
different things in a short period of time is very enjoyable and rewarding, but nothing beats relaxing
and seeing what nature has to offer.
35 unpacked * Spring 2013
Fairbanks, Alaska: Photo Series
By Aram Wool
Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering ‘14
Inspiration
I took these photos while visiting my family in Fairbanks, Alaska during winter break. In the days prior I was cooped up indoors due to ice fog and the
concomitant hazardous air quality, so when things cleared up I was quick to saunter through the trails behind our house and capture the sunset at 2pm.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 36
Fairbanks, Alaska: Photo Series
By Aram Wool
Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering ‘14
I took these photos while visiting my family in Fairbanks, Alaska during winter break. In the days prior I was cooped up indoors due to ice fog and the
concomitant hazardous air quality, so when things cleared up I was quick to saunter through the trails behind our house and capture the sunset at 2pm.
37 unpacked * Spring 2013
Viewpoint
Don’t Try This at Home
By Robert Krueger
Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, Laos (2006).
has done something dangerous and records their
escapade on film: “Don’t try this at home.” This
story doesn’t take place in your kitchen, backyard,