UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH BLOGS
The Office of Undergraduate Research sponsors a number of grant programs, including the Circumnavigator Club Foundation’s Around-the-World Study Grant and the Undergraduate Research Grant. Some of the students on these grants end up traveling and having a variety of amazing experiences. We wanted to give some of them the opportunity to share these experiences with the broader public. It is our hope that this opportunity to blog will deepen the experiences for these students by giving them a forum for reflection; we also hope these blogs can help open the eyes of others to those reflections/experiences as well. Through these blogs, perhaps we all can enjoy the ride as much as they will.
EXPLORE THE BLOGS
- Linguistic Sketchbook
- Birth Control Bans to Contraceptive Care
- A Global Song: Chris LaMountain’s Circumnavigator’s Blog
- Alex Robins’ 2006 Circumnavigator’s Blog
- American Sexual Assault in a Global Context
- Beyond Pro-GMO and Anti-GMO
- Chris Ahern’s 2007 Circumnavigator’s Blog
- Digital Citizen
- From Local Farms to Urban Tables
- Harris Sockel’s Circumnavigator’s Blog 2008
- Kimani Isaac: Adventures Abroad and At Home
- Sarah Rose Graber’s 2004 Circumnavigator’s Blog
- The El Sistema Expedition
- The World is a Book: A Page in Rwand
Where Are All the Condoms? “Independent Living & Incontinence”
I added some folders of photos to my last post, so I highly recommend checking those out!
Life in London is going great! Yesterday, I visited Tottenham Court Road area to do some shopping and grab fish and chips from a top-rated spot. I did some searching because I wasn’t sure what the CVS/Target/Walgreens equivalent was here, and I found Boots as the next best option. There was a Boots nearby, so I stopped in because I also needed nail polish. The store looked similar to a Walgreens, but I found it next to impossible to find anything sexual health related. There were no condoms, lube, or any other forms of contraceptives and products.
Today, I went to Covent Garden, which is a large outdoor shopping area in London. It was one of my favorite spots last time I came since they have shops that are challenging to find in the US, so I was super excited to go. I stopped at Zara, Glossier, Waterstones, Poke House for lunch, and ended the day with delicious desserts from WA Cafe, a Japanese pastry shop. They also have a HUGE Boots there, so I thought I would have more luck finding what I was looking for. When I walked in, the first floor looked more like walking into a mall with tons of beauty counters. They had Clinique, Benefit Brow, Fenty Beauty, and much more available, and I was confused about where all of the health items were. I asked an employee who told me that is all on the second floor. I went upstairs to find a lot more beauty products including hair and skin care, but I finally found some medical products as I kept walking. One of the aisles that stood out to me was the “Women’s Wellbeing” which included products for UTIs, pregnancy tests, various at-home tests that I have never heard of, and menopause products. There was also a “Feminine Hygiene” section that contained typical vaginal hygiene products like Vagisil and washes. On the opposite side, the “Men’s Wellbeing” products were deodorant, hair care, and Viagara was the only item related to sex. The difference was quite striking. I noticed the usage of gendered language for these products while also using feminine products to promote just a bit of inclusivity. Also, the masculine sections of products did not have any sort of washes or the same tests for infections. It shows the different gendered expectations when engaging in sexual activities. I took note of this, but I realized I still had not seen condoms during any of my trips.
I made about three laps around all of the sections, and I still could not find them. I asked a pharmacist where I could find condoms, and she walked me over to the “Independent Living and Incontinence” section. This was definitely a first to find products under this aisle name, and it was certainly unique. There was a row of sex toys of all sorts, a row of lubes, and two rows of condoms. I chuckled a bit as I noticed there was a high-end, sensual-looking brand called “My Viv” (should I be honored?) that sold massage candles in this aisle. Candles are not typically on my recommended list of sexual health products when providing services, but I was interested. There was also a dilator set which is super rare to find out in stores. Dilators are used to address vaginal tightness and can lead to increased pleasure and experience. Despite it being fairly hidden, Boots had a lot of products I must admit including unusual ones. Based on the products I saw, it was clear that the view of sex as for pleasure for people with any body parts was not uncommon. The variety of products also leads me to believe that it is normal to get some assistance to increase satisfaction and safety, and these are both great sexual health values.
I have a tour tomorrow about feminism and women’s rights in London, so I am looking forward to that! In addition, London has the only museum dedicated to the vagina which I visited in March 2022. It was super cool and interesting, so it was definitely on my list to go back and speak to the staff there. I found out they have a comedy show and event next Wednesday, so I grabbed a ticket for that too. Before then, I plan on heading to the Wellcome Library to look at some of the Marie Stopes archives who is a legend in the field of reproductive health internationally. So many awesome plans coming up! I can’t believe I’m already on day 20 of traveling, it is truly flying by.
The Food Poisoning Continues!
Day 10 in Cusco and my third day in bed! I finally got out to eat some soup today. I am not sure how I got the second round of food poisoning, other than having an already-weakened gut. My goal is to take today easy and eat as much as possible. Tomorrow I would like to get back to work!
My 22nd birthday was on Saturday the 2nd and in-between bouts of food poisoning. I had an amazing day at Machu Picchu. My colleagues from the institute even surprised me with a piece of cake and a candle to blow out!
The next posts will detail more about my adventures in Cusco, as well as my research. Until then, I will sleep and drink a large amount of (bottled) water!
Cheers,
MEG
Last Few Days in Argentina…First Few Days in London
I’ve officially made it to my second stop: London, UK! It’s been a busy week between two tours and time in the archives in Argentina and a full 24 hours of traveling to arrive here.
On the second to last day in Argentina, I went on a tour to learn more about the architecture and history of Buenos Aires. I learned about how a few core families controlled most of the money within the country. Argentina is known for its beef, so when they learned how to start freezing it, the industry grew increasing the wealth of these families enough to build large, beautiful mansions. After seeing several mansions, we ended our tour through the Recoleta Cemetery. When I first started searching for tourist attractions in BA, I was surprised that a cemetery topped the list. However, once I arrived, I understood why. This cemetery is unique because there are no gravestones, each one has a fancy mausoleum. It became a competition amongst families to create the most expensive and largest one. My tour guide, Fabian, pointed out some of the notable graves there with stories. He mentioned that a lot of the graves are now abandoned, but there is one that consistently receives flowers: Eva Perón’s. I was not too familiar with the history of Eva Perón, but the name continued coming up while I was there. He explained that Eva was the first lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952 when she died in office. Eva, commonly referred to as Evita, was notable for her work to advocate for the working class and her monumental role in her husband’s presidency–she was a woman of the people. Fabian mentioned that the staff clean the cemetery daily, and Evita always has tons of flowers and notes of people expressing their gratitude and appreciation for her work. Although not directly related to my work, I am grateful for this experience, and I found it helpful to learn about arguably the most important woman in Argentinian history. Despite her lack of an official position in office beyond First Lady, Evita was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement in Argentina, and she is still known for expanding the role of women in politics in Latin America.
On my last day in Argentina, I met with Erica to go through a personalized tour. I let her know in advance that I wanted to learn more about the final military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. She took me to ESMA on the subway (which was super clean and easy to understand). ESMA stands for Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada, and it was the original educational facility for the Argentina Navy. In 1976, after the coup and the start of the military dictatorship, it was the largest “clandestine center for detention, torture, and extermination” (Source). I cannot emphasize how difficult it was to walk through this large complex, and it feels impossible to fathom the tragedies that occurred. When I visited, the museum had a special exhibit about the experience of women during the dictatorship that felt extremely relevant to my work. Women that were educated or unique in some way (i.e. transgender women, pregnant women) were heavily targeted and kidnapped first. It set in that a woman like myself, young and educated, would have been a target. Moreover, these women faced horrible sexual abuse regularly from officers. The military degraded and dehumanized these women in every single way. They even enforced women waxing or wearing makeup to further psychological harm. One of the most shocking parts was hearing about pregnancy and childbirth in this center. My tour guide explained that they would blindfold the woman during labor, and many women died from the lack of proper medical care. If the woman survived, they would let her hold the child while blindfolded for one minute, but the military officers would then take the child. The children would be taken away or adopted by military/police families. Most women had no idea what had happened to their children. After democracy was restored, some families tried to reunite through the large databanks, but it was very challenging. Erica explained to me that there is a large generation of children who do not know much about their families and grew up without the love of a family due to the dictatorship.
During the dictatorship, mothers and grandmothers engaged in some forms of protests. I learned about the cloth diaper symbol that many women wore during this era. Cloth diapers were popular in Argentina for much longer than in America, so women would take a clean one, write their child’s name on it, and tie it around their head. This would represent that their child was kidnapped, and they want information about what happened. When someone was kidnapped, they would join “the missing.” This stood out to me because despite knowing that most of these people were killed in captivity, it is polite to refer to them as “missing” in Argentinian culture no matter how long it has been. Erica explained that it comes from their story is missing, their life is missing, and their entire being is just missing from us. This is hard history, and Erica mentioned that many Argentinians prefer not to discuss this era of the country’s history. They are ashamed, and considering how long ago it was, many of the impacts are still being felt today. Erica told me that many times if you bring this up to someone, they will tell you “no te metas” which means “don’t mention it, don’t mess with this.” Because of the difficulty for people to discuss this history, there were and are many campaigns spreading the message that it is important to talk about this and safe to do so now. I wondered how many survivor stories or information could be missing because people do not feel comfortable speaking about this still. It was a very heavy and difficult day, but I realized how important it was to view this history to learn from, but it is also so much deeper than just researching about a dictatorship in the library or online. These are real lives, real stories, and real tragedies.
I took lots of photos during the architecture/cemetery tour and ESMA tour, so I created folders: Architecture tour & ESMA tour
Welcome to Cusco: The Good and the New
Today is my fifth day in Cusco, and goodness gracious have the adventures begun. Information I have learned about Cusco since my day of arrival includes:
1. Cusco’s elevation is too high for mosquitos, meaning that I would have needed anti-malaria medication only in the instance of jungle excursions.
2. Winter in Cusco means Winter in Cusco! Direct sunlight during the day and rapid temperature changes during the night mean layers–all day, every day.
3. The Cusco flag is a rainbow flag with a crest on it. When I first arrived, I thought the flags were for pride month, whoops!
4. As it is my first time in a developing country, I have experienced first-hand what it is like when the electricity and water are spotty.
5. My Spanish needs some definite upkeeping!
6. Do not–I repeat, do not–eat at any local Chifa place. I learned the hard way with food poisoning yesterday.
7. It has been easy to save cash, because the only thing I’ve bought aside from chocolate and stomach medication is: bottled water.
Cheers,
MEG
Departure Day!
On 25 June I drove from Tucson to Phoenix with my partner, as I will take off from Phoenix on 26 June to arrive at my first destination—Cuzco, Peru—on 27 June. Thankfully, the English Institute I will study has a well-organized, immersive program that offers excursions and additional safety courses during my stay.
Though I grew up so close to the AZ-Mexico border, I have never been to South America before. Thus, in many ways Cuzco is a destination that is a long time in the making for me as a traveler.
I will write to you all later this week!
Cheers,
MEG
I Graduated…and I Packed!
After a four-year shortcut to a five-year program, I graduated with degrees in German, Linguistics, and Oboe Performance. Nine family members came to see the ceremonies, and I feel so humbled to be on the other end of my undergraduate career.
Two weeks after graduation, I packed for my circumnavigation. I will be using a backpack that is 32 liters and 25 pounds—still workable for my small frame.
Three planes await me in the next 30 hours!
Cheers,
MEG
Retrasos Unidos
We knew the news of the overturning of Roe v. Wade was coming, so why did it hurt so bad when I found out this morning? When the opinion was leaked, I took to the streets and donated to abortion funds. However, before I found the strength to do those actions, I cried–a lot. My work allows me to see firsthand the impact that this decision will have. Most of my social media is starting to shift toward Argentinian news and trends, and I was shocked to find “Retrasos Unidos” trending. Retrasos translates to delays and the United States in Spanish is Estados Unidos. They were mocking us with this new name. We are a joke to other nations. The tweets seemed similar to many of the concerns that Americans have such as how does America give more rights to guns than their women? Argentina was the second country in Latin America to legalize abortions in 2020 which is groundbreaking considering the influence that the Catholic Church continues to play in politics and culture. Argentina has been a leader in Latin America when it comes to reproductive rights. As I study here and see examples of how another culture tackles reproductive rights, I think about how much America, if we can humble ourselves, can learn from nations that are establishing meaningful social change. Tonight, I will continue to mourn the loss of rights because it is awful and shameful for “the greatest country in the world.” But, I will also continue to learn from a global perspective, so I can improve my own country because there is so much work to do. As James Baldwin said, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
Updates & More Pharmacy Findings
Life is still going great in Buenos Aires! After a couple of rough days of feeling overwhelmed with all of the changes, I have gotten back to exploring, researching, and enjoying life here. I’ve made it a priority to go for walks each day on my way to get lunch/dinner, and the French architecture has really caught my attention. I visited El Ateneo Grand Splendid yesterday, which was voted the 2019 most beautiful bookstore in the world according to National Geographic. It was stunning, and I even got emotional as a strong book nerd. The European inspiration is evident throughout the city from the buildings, but it is also clear in their Spanish dialect which seems closer to Spain Spanish than Mexican Spanish which I am used to. I often find myself asking people to slow down or repeat themselves, and I’ve noticed different words to describe things than I have heard of. I signed up for a tour next Tuesday to learn more about the history and architecture around the city, so I am looking forward to that to continue expanding my understanding of this country!
I’ve also visited a different pharmacy each day on my walks. I went to another Farmacity location. I noticed that they carried similar products, but this one also had a couple of spermicide options. This was slightly surprising because spermicide is not very popular in America, less than 1% of women in America use it (NPR). It is an uncommon method because the effectiveness rates are relatively lower, can cause irritation of the area, challenging to ensure perfect usage, and it does not protect against STIs. It is certainly an option, but most of my birth control consultation information/training has encouraged using other methods, so it was definitely surprising to see it stocked on the shelves alongside condoms. If someone did not know effectiveness rates, they may think this is just as great of an option. However, I noted that the other Farmacity did not have much available that assigned female at birth (AFAB) people could utilize by themselves for protection since it was only external condoms (typically worn by AMAB partners), so this is more of an option. I noticed a smaller selection of sex toys, but they still existed.
On a different walk, I stopped in Farmaplus, another popular chain here. This was a completely different experience. I searched around for the contraceptive options, often labeled as preservativos, but I did not find anything. Instead, I noticed huge aisles of feminine hygiene products and menstrual products. This does not directly relate to my research, but it does contribute to another potential norm of sexuality around here. Part of my job as a sexual health educator and researcher is constantly telling AFAB people that they do not need a ton of products to make their private areas smell better because it does not/should not smell like roses and perfume, and the vagina is naturally self-cleaning. Unfortunately, the United States continues to dump tons of money into developing and marketing these products as a necessity, an industry that has jokingly been called “Big Vag.” It was tough to see that this is likely a norm in Argentina as well. I saw a billboard promoting hygiene and beauty products for pregnant women, and I saw an aisle full of options for vaginal hygiene products here. These perpetuate the idea that those with vaginas should feel pressure to “clean it up” or smell, look, and feel a certain way beyond what is natural. After I got over my shock at all of the vaginal hygiene products, I realized I still had not seen condoms or lube or anything in this realm. Then, I realized it was all behind the counter. There were three men working, two older and one younger. I went up to them, and I asked about their options for preservativos. They mentioned condoms, and they said the pregnancy tests are behind me (the only over-the-counter item related to sex that I saw). I said I was all good, and I walked away. I thought to myself how uncomfortable that was. It was like asking for permission, and it was quite obvious that everyone could hear and see what I requested. I was not being dramatic in the slightest because I overheard the two young women next to me ask for their prescription birth control pills. I saw how tense they were, leaning on each other for support, and they seemed embarrassed too. This was a very tough way to obtain the necessary sexual health products when it is public and awkward, and I thought about how many people, especially teenagers and young adults, likely do not or cannot go through this to get what they need. Barriers to accessing birth control can be large systemic issues like poverty, but they can also be mundane, preventable ones like privacy.
Findings at Farmacity
Today was a pretty chill day in Buenos Aires as I continue adjusting to life here. I went to a local grocery store to grab water bottles (since I can’t drink tap) and snacks. While there, I decided to check their toiletries section to see if I noticed anything even remotely related to sexual health care. I noticed tons of pads and tampons, but the section quickly jumps to diapers and baby items right next to them. I remember thinking to myself that a big section and step is missing in all of this! After I left the grocery store, I decided to go for a little walk around the neighborhood before heading home. I noticed a Farmacity, a large chain of pharmacies open 24/7, nearby, so I decided to go in. It seemed similar to a smaller, local version of Walgreens. It was a small shop and contained many things beyond just medication, such as magazines and hygiene products. I found the aisle for contraceptives, and it was mainly all condoms. They had different sizes of packs and a variety of brands. Most packs cost about $1500 or ~$12 USD. Along with the condoms, I spotted some lube and vaginal creams. However, one finding surprised me more–they sell sex toys here. It was super surprising considering it is challenging to find sex toys in stores in the United States outside of specific sexual shops and online providers. But, in Buenos Aires, you can choose a vibrator out of several options at your local Farmacity. On a more serious note, this shows some insight into how Argentinians view sex. When habits like masturbation or usage of toys are encouraged, it perpetuates a culture that praises pleasure and enjoyment. Moreover, the inclusion of these products in the store similar to any other aisle and right next to the contact solutions demonstrates normalizing sexuality within the culture. I hope to see these concepts in other forms as I continue exploring more stores, but it is a great start. I also heard Farmacity sells a few methods like oral contraceptives and the ring over the counter, so I am going to visit more locations and explore this too. I didn’t think seeing a sex toy in the local pharmacy chain would be the highlight of today, but it was pretty exciting to see an example in a culture where sexuality may be more normalized and expansive than our own.
I Made It!
I am writing this post from Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina! I arrived early this morning at about 8 AM local time and took a 40-minute ride from Ezeiza Airport to where I’m staying closer to the heart of the city. I did not get as much sleep as I had hoped on the flight, so I took a short nap almost as soon as I arrived at where I’m staying. Then, I decided to grab dinner at a local cafe/restaurant called Pepper. It was about a 5-minute walk from my Airbnb. I love making milanesas at home, so I was super excited to try one here. It was DELICIOUS! It was a steak milanesa with ham, cheese, and marinara sauce on top served with fries. I do not believe I am fluent in Spanish, but I am super impressed with how much I am understanding and speaking while here already. It may not be the best, but I am getting my point across! I just finished showering and cleaning up a bit. I plan to go grab some groceries tomorrow morning and finish unpacking before finalizing some upcoming plans for the week. I found a tour about the history of women’s rights in Argentina that I thought might shed some light on my research, so I am looking forward to this! I plan on documenting trip details through TikTok and Instagram, this quick video follows my day 1 and 2 flights.