I spent three weeks in Houston working for MARIN (the Maritime Research Institute of the Netherlands). I really enjoyed the work I was doing - getting started on my internship project by becoming familiar with their simulation code and the module that I am working on validating. The people I worked with were really great and I also had a fun time living with three Chevron interns.
A typical day started with a run in the Buffalo Bayou around 6:30 am - definitely the best time of day for outdoor activities! I grew fond of the view of the city skyline in the morning and the muddy river.
I got to work by riding one of several loaned bikes, which were a huge blessing. It was a flat 2 mile residential ride to get to the office on Montrose.
Palm trees on the way to work!
The first Friday when I was there, I took a half day of work to go to the Natural History Museum with my roommates. There was a special exhibit with the terra cotta warriors. This is Dave, a civil engineering student from UM, posing with a model of one of the "terra cotta folk."
Stuffed fish hanging from the ceiling.
The gem collection was quite extensive. 
That Saturday, we made a trip down to Galveston, where we went to the beach, enjoyed a long lunch, and then went to another beach with a sandcastle contest and more swimming. The hotel shown above is the Flagship, which was devastated by Hurricane Ike, but still stands. There are huge holes on the sides where you can see furniture still left in the rooms.
Roommates CJ and Ryan at the beach, enjoying the warm water. I think that the water gets to be too warm later in the summer, but it was very pleasant when we visited.
CJ and I at the beach, enjoying my first dip in the Gulf of Mexico!
One of the sandcastles in the contest, which is a one-day event. The sandcastles were impressive, especially given the time constraint!
A sandcastle hotel.
Some of them were less like castles, but still impressive.
Another fun outing was a Houston Dynamo game against Chivas-USA. I was pretty amazed by the level of support for an MLS team. We lucked out with a beautiful evening for the game, too.
The team walking out to the field.
CJ and I at the game. CJ is sporting an orange Dynamo jersey.
We also went to the Houston zoo one hot Saturday afternoon. I was impressed by how many animals they had and the way the zoo was designed - there was a reasonable amount of shade and a lot of interactive exhibits.
A photo doesn't do them justice - these fish were a brilliant blue.
I got to climb into the prairie dog exhibit.
A great exit sign!
Close to the apartment, there's a bridge where approximately 200,000 free-tailed Mexican bats live. Around dusk, you can sit and watch them go out for the night.
Another Houston skyline photo to end this post... courtesy of CJ, as are a few other photos.
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