Tara Archuleta in Nashville

My summer adventures in Nashville, Tennessee: Upon arriving in Nashville I was a bit nervous about what to expect. I have never been to this side of the country, much less the south. I also did not know what I was going to think of Vanderbilt because I love the University of Arizona and the faculty so much. However, I quickly found many people (who are now some of the best people I have ever spent time with) to spend my time with, and to explore Nashville with.

I am attending the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (Molecular and Cellular Biology division) where I work in a molecular physiology and biophysics lab, Kenworthy Lab, and attend various scientific seminars. In Dr. Anne Kenworthy's lab I study the interaction of cholera toxin with membrane microdomains by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). I love my project, even though it is quite different than the projects I have worked with at the U of A... who knew I would like physics so much.

On my off time, which is few and far between, my new friends and I try to go out and explore Nashville. The first few weeks we went down town and went to the CMA Fanfare Concerts (Country Music Awards) and a few other events they held downtown at the riverfront. I also try and explore the school and the area around Vanderbilt; the buildings at the school are amazing, great architecture. My favorite building at Vanderbilt is the NMR facility, well what use to be the NMR building, it is a circular building that has thick glass surrounding it so you can see right into it. Now, the NMR facility is located underground, about where I am standing while taking the picture. Across the street from Vanderbilt is Centennial Park where re-creation of the The Parthenon stands. The Parthenon was built here in Nashville for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition.

For the 4 th of July we watched the fireworks display at the stadium where they actually set them off. They were amazing, they are ranked the 3 rd best fireworks display in the US, and we were so close that the debris from the fireworks rained down on us.

My most recent adventure took place in Kentucky; we drove about and hour and forty-five minutes north to Mammoth Cave National Park, the largest underground cave system in the world. The cave tour we went on was breath-taking...I have never seen anything like it.

Well, that's it for now. I have a few weeks left here in Nashville and much more work to get done and a few more places to see before I leave.