December 2009
30 posts
Bye 2000's
A decade gone!! I remember Y2K like it was yesterday!
India, khalas!
Saw the Taj Mahal yesterday. I tried, but I don’t think I felt what I was supposed to feel being there.
India’s been ok, with a few good days. But overall, the past 10 days have been rushed and hectic. With EVERYONE trying to sell you something, or begging, being scammed by rickshaw drivers, horns honking everywhere and dirty roads and hotel rooms… not a relaxing vacation by...
Arrrgh India!
Jodhpur was beautiful and relatively quiet but Jaipur is soooo frustrating… I lost my marbles last night and haven’t fully picked them up yet. Ask Zack or Katie for details… blah.
Don't judge a book by its cover?
India is big. Geographically and culturally. I’m beginning to appreciate how STRANGE Varanasi was. Dead bodies being carried through the narrow passageways by chanting men, being brought to the riverside to be burned and set into the river… yeah, that’s just a Varanasi thing. Delhi, especially New Delhi, could be anywhere in America. Fully westernized. And the town...
“An expat Christmas means colleagues asking you: “What day is Christmas? Is...”
– http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122203271.html
Varanasi, India
This is one of those places where I wonder what sequence of events in my life led me to be here. I’m trying to enjoy the beauty here (and it is eerily so.) But it’s difficult for me to ignore the dirtiness, the poverty, the throngs of people everywhere. Just as I expected this country is testing my sanity…
Kathmandu is...
… polluted. Hard to ignore this one. Yesterday when I blew my nose before going to sleep, only BLACK came out. I’m sure I’ll be fine for a week, but it can’t be very healthy to live here all the time.
… dirt cheap. Even in Thamel, the tourist part of town, the restaurants are CHEAP. Big, western-style meals in a tourist cafe are never more than $4. In the...
Bye again
It seems like I just got back from Oman and I’m leaving again. Well, I guess that’s kind of true. Anyway, flying to Kathmandu tomorrow. The maoists are kinda freaking out right now so I’m not sure if we’ll get to go where we were planning. But India’s still on tap, and then Bangkok, 3 weeks total. Merry Christmas, happy new year, see you in 2010!
THERE ARE NO AREA CODES IN QATAR
Online forms NEVER allow you to leave that field blank! Amerocentrism! Hello!!!
Oh, yeah, I’m submitting grad school apps.
“Are you apping or napping?”
– My roommate Zack— a little too truthful unfortunately
Oman photos
Oman
Yikes
Plans are hard… I’m applying to grad schools and applications are due 15 Dec. And today is… WAIT IT’S DECEMBER ALREADY OH GODDDD
Being a grown-up
I realized on the flight to Oman— I’ve now been to more countries since Cornell graduation (May 2009, 7 months ago) than before.
Living abroad is cool.
Next trip
I’m going to
Nepal
India (Darjeeling)
Thailand
16 Dec - 08 Jan.
Nearing the end
Back from Oman and we are now hurtling uncontrollably towards finals week. PBL is already over, we are on the last lab, the last recitation is Sunday… and the final exam is the 12th, just a week and a half away. Today we had kids clamoring for help all afternoon, a lot of them are studying for finals already. (Glad some of them are heeding our advice to get started early!) Tony and I...