The Perpetual Tourist

Sapana Vora, PhD Candidate

2009-08-04T21:39:00.002-05:00

Only July 7th, 2009, I successfully defended my thesis proposal and became a PhD candidate in Cancer Biology at the University of Chicago. The process was both informative and a little nerve wracking, and I'm glad it's over. My committee is smart, thoughtful, and truly engaged with my project and I am grateful to have them all signed on until the bitter end. Unlike at my prelim, I was able to amicably banter with my adviser and another prof and truly felt at ease the whole while, even when they asked me questions I couldn't answer. We did find the gaps in my knowledge and I have vowed to fill them to overflowing before my SRP (student research presentation) next February and certainly before my next committee meeting sometime next summer.

So what's my thesis project? In short, a case-control genome-wide association study of genetic susceptibility for the development of therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML). What it basically means is that I'm going to genotype the germline DNA (what you're born with) of patients who are treated (more or less) the same way for the same primary cancer and see what's different between the people who develop t-AML (cases) and those who do not (controls). In terms of genetics, I'm primarily interested in SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and CNVs (copy number variants) found across the genome (genome-wide). It's the differences we're interested in, because they could potentially serve as markers or beacons representing susceptibilities to developing t-AML, a secondary, treatment-related cancer.

For those not familiar with the whole PhD process, it typically goes something like this:
Year 1: Take classes and rotate through labs (usually 10-weeks apiece).
Interim: Take some preliminary/qualifying exam to test knowledge and confirm student is ready to continue in the program. Join a lab for the thesis project.
Year 2: Take any remaining classes and fulfill TA requirements.
Interim: Assemble thesis committee (adviser+ at least 3 other profs, at least two of which are within one's department). Successfully write + present = defend thesis proposal.
Years 3-?: Conduct thesis research. Fulfill any class/TA requirements remaining. Meet with thesis committee at least once a year. Attend conferences, meetings, etc.
The End: Successfully write + present = defend thesis. Send copies to the five people who will ever read it. Graduate and put "Dr" in front of name. Figure out what to do with rest of life.

I am currently in the second "interim" stage. Now, all I need are my cases, controls, and data before I can move on. You know, small things.

California Dreamin'

2009-08-04T20:57:00.004-05:00

[The last time I posted was June 9th. This is rather sad. I vow from here on out to post at least once a week, hopefully on interesting things going on in my life and barring any dearth of such news, at least interesting thoughts going on in my head.]

The past two months have been rather exciting though anxious at times. First the trip to California. On June 11th I flew out to California to celebrate Saket's graduation from Stanford. The flight was horribly delayed and I joined my family hours late, only to arrive exhausted to some terrible news. My Dad's mother's health had taken a turn for the worse and our greatest fears rapidly darted to the front of our minds. We promptly canceled our weekend at Yosemite (quite a shame, since my dad loves Ansel Adams' photography and longed to see the subjects in person) and started searching for the earliest flight to India. Unfortunately, my dad didn't have his passport with him (something I've made a personal point to always have with me when I travel, just in case...) so trip planning was slightly complicated. Our friends and neighbors, the Shahs, were a tremendous help in packing Dad's things and getting him to and from the airport as quickly as possible. We really owe them. He left on the 12th, just a day before Saket graduated.

The graduation ceremony was fun, though the sun was a bit intense (the tan lines have only just fully faded). We got to meet a lot of Saket's friends, tour the gorgeous campus, and enjoy a performance by the (in) famous Stanford band (tree included). Pictures are up on facebook.

The next couple of days were spent in the City. We toured the Marin Headlands with had incredible views of the Bay. We visited the fabled Berkeley campus where Greek architecture is the style of choice and meeting places and cafes just scream *liberal*. Just walk along the streets bordering campus and you'll inhale more than fresh, left-slanting air. We also ate at this great little Thai restaurant and basked in the glory that is Thai iced tea (half tea, half half-and-half, and half sugar).

We also had 2.5 days schedule for Lake Tahoe and it was a splendid trip. We had heard much tell of the lake but never got around to seeing it, despite our many trips to the Great Bear Republic. Though the skies threatened rain the first afternoon, they promptly cleared for the next two days and we were showered with glorious weather. We took a few hikes, took lots of pictures of the lake, visited a Scandinavian castle, ate some of the best pizza I've ever had, found a delightful Thai restaurant with approximately 8,000 vegetarian choices, and in general enjoyed ourselves.

While I was busy having fun, a rather serious deadline was bothering me. My thesis proposal was scheduled for June 26th which mean the written part needed to be done by the 19th at the latest. I "worked" on it on and off but was starting to panic that I wouldn't get it done in time (poor vacation scheduling, eh?). Viewing the highly enjoyable Star Trek reboot with the sibs pushed the deadline further back but not forgotten. Sachi and Mom were scheduled to leave the next day (the 19th) and I was determined to just finish it all in one day. Then I got the email.

The stepmother of one of my committee members had passed away. Tim's, my friend and labmate, thesis proposal was scheduled for the 22nd and had to promptly be rescheduled. We decided it was best that he take my spot (since we share the same committee and the room was already booked) and that I reschedule to a later date. My new date ended up being July 7th, which meant I just received an 11 day extension. While my heart broke for my professor, part of me couldn't help rejoicing at the turn of events. Not quite schadenfreude, but too close for comfort.

With a deadline suddenly lifted, I found myself free to actually enjoy the last couple of days I had with my brother in California. We still worked in a student center for most of the 19th, though more or less relaxed the rest of the time. We played Smash Brothers with Nader until 3 a.m., toured the campus art museum (famous for its Rodin sculptures), attended a lovely BBQ with the people from DripTech (we got cool shirts too), attended an amazing farmer's market, and of course got more froyo (frozen yogurt for the uninitiated). I was sad to leave Cali but am seriously considering finding a post-doc out there someday....

Something useful for PPT2007

2009-06-09T16:08:00.003-05:00

Hate always starting with the Calibri font package in PowerPoint 2007? Wish you could go back to Arial or Times New Roman? Then look no further than this post! Just follow the simple instructions below to set your own default presentation theme or design a new one:

In order to change the default font for PowerPoint 2007, we have to create a base
template and save it in default templates folder. Please follow the steps mentioned
below to create and save a base template and see if that will meet your
requirements.

1. Start PowerPoint 2007.
2. Select View tab ; then select Slide Master
3. On the Slide Master (Slide Master: the slide that stores information about the design template applied, including font styles, placeholder sizes and positions, background design, and color schemes.), make the changes that you want to be
reflected in every new presentation. You have to make the changes to each slide of the slide master.
4. Then click Close Master View.
5. Click Office Button and then click Save As > Other formats
6. Pick PowerPoint Template from the Save As Type list box
7. Save the template as Blank.potx. PowerPoint will automatically chooses the folder as %Appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, so accept the default location. The default location would be \Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.
9. Close the file and start a new presentation to verify the font.
For your testing, attached a sample Blank.potx file based on your requirement.

(Courtesy of: Office Deployment Support Team Blog at http://blogs.technet.com/odsupport/archive/2009/04/24/how-to-deploy-specific-fonts-in-office-2007.aspx)

Whoa, I've Moved and Other Stuff!

2009-06-09T09:34:00.003-05:00

Wow, so it's been an inexcusably long time since I've posted. I really should model my blog more after Saket's. He does a better job of actually, you know, blogging.

So what's happened since the middle of March? Obviously, the rest of that month, April, May, and about a week of June. In that time I've completed both of my required TAships (to smashing successes), finished my last graded class EVER (at least for grad school), and MOVED! My new digs are downtown, just two blocks off Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile stretch of that great street) along Ohio St. For those who know the city, I'm very close to the Northwestern Medical Campus. And Nordstrom's. And the Gap. And Eddie Bauer. Oh my....it's going to be fun come day-after-Thanksgiving sale weekend!!

Once I get my act together and blog from home (I'm on my school comp right now), I'll post pictures. In short, I can see: the Chicago River, the Trump Tower, the Sears Tower (a sliver), and the skyscrapers bordering Millennium Park. I'm also about five blocks away from Navy Pier, so I'll be attending a lot more WBEZ events.

So what's next? Before June is over I'll have traveled to California to celebrate Saket's graduation from Stanford (CONGRATS), celebrated my Dad's 64th birthday (insert Beatles song here) and Father's Day, visited Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe, and both written and succesfully defended my thesis proposal. I will actually have a laptop on that trip so I promise to update in a more timely fashion.

Until then, my sweets, farewell!

Science Olympiad at COD

2009-03-14T23:59:00.003-05:00

In high school my friends and I were perennial participants in Science Olympiad, a national organization dedicated to getting students engaged with science and engineering. Having won several medals at both the regional and state levels and enjoyed nearly every minute with my team in and out of competition, I have since tried to help out with SciOly competitions nearly every year since graduating.

My specialty was the big-ticket biology events, namely Cell Biology (basically general biology), and Designer Genes (genetics/genomics), and I've been privileged to write tests for these events for both North Carolina and Illinois competitions. This year I wrote a Cell Bio test for the Illinois regional tournament held at the College of DuPage (COD). I find it tougher each year to write an age- and skill-appropriate test, though I think I did pretty well this time. The highest percentage result I had on the Designer Genes test I wrote two years ago was 60% from NCSSM (an elite, nationally-ranked science and math school for 11th and 12th graders). Those numbers are slightly worse than what you see on graduate exams! This time my highest was right around 80% while the lowest was about 25%.

It's interesting to interact with science-oriented high schoolers after so long. I'm always amazed by the great range in knowledge there is. I heard one student from a team exclaim confidently that while the cell they identified was from a plant it was definitely prokaryotic too. I just smiled and tried not to laugh. I put some tough questions on there that I didn't really expect anyone to get right, but some were total gimmies. I just wish I had a copy of the exams I took so that I could try to make mine as fair and reasonable as possible. Maybe next year...

I didn't attend the tournament alone. Kevin drove me and Nikhil (a housemate) there and we met up with Yan, another material sciences student at NU who went to UC as an undergrad (a connection to each of us!) While those three managed the Chemistry Lab event (which Kevin also wrote), I handled Cell Bio mostly on my own (they helped set up and brought me pizza for lunch). Overall we had a pretty good time, though I have to say our location in NC (Garner High School) was much better.

After getting all of scores in (and checking them twice) we left around four. It was an odd time between lunch and dinner and we were kinda hungry but unable to pick a place to eat, despite my GPS giving lots of choices. I missed a Culver's and couldn't find another, so we settled for Baskin Robbins. Turns out the one the GPS pointed us to was in a mall, so we ended up getting different choices from a food court to make everyone happy. For a poor economy and a late Saturday afternoon the place was absolutely packed. We made it back to Hyde Park around 6 where I caught up a bit with Bonnie and Jeffrey before messing around on my computer. Great day!

Radio City Skating Ya'll

2009-03-06T23:59:00.000-06:00

When I moved to Chicago about 18 months ago, I only really knew one person here. Since then, other friends from times recent and past have moved to the city. I really need to find the time to hang out with more of them and haven't done a great job so far. Fortunately, Kevin's been a help here. He came up with the idea of bimonthly/monthly meals that he, Megha Bisarya (our Cary friend from high school), and I could share. Genius! After some deliberation we decided that today would be the day.

As you might know I'm not exactly the most social person, and thus my Friday evenings are typically low-key. Thus it was weird to suddenly have four different places I wanted to be on a Friday night: 1) dining with Aneta, Jeff, and Tim, 2) watching Tropic Thunder at movie night, 3) watching Battlestar with Matt, and 4) attending WBEZ/Chicago Public Radio's open house followed by ice-skating and dinner with Kevin and Megha. Naturally, I picked option 4.

I left lab surprisingly early (3:45) in order to catch a bus to Navy Pier by 5. WBEZ is lucky enough to broadcast from the most visited destination in all of Chicago (and the state of Illinois for that matter). Tim, my lab mate, thought an hour to get to the Pier was a bit excessive, but given the stifling traffic we encountered on Lakeshore Drive (also called LSD, hah) it took a solid hour to go about 9 miles. Yeah.

It took some hunting to find the studios at the Pier, but at last I got there. The party was just getting started. There was a swag table set up and the first thing I thought was "buttons!" I picked up several of those along with a Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me magnet, some bumper stickers, etc. They even provided bags to hold all the swag. How sweet. Mingling solo is easy for some people, but not for me. I just feel so awkward entering other people's conversations. I picked up a glass of 312 (brewed by Goose Island, a local brewery, and named after downtown Chicago's area code...click "no" for the 'are you over 21?' question on the website), and started wandering. I admired the (open) trophy case which housed an Emmy for This American Life, several Peabody awards, among other honors. Walked past the DJ from Sound Opinions and headed out onto the terrace to admire the view of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. Got over my awkwardness and joined a group of staffers. Talked to some people who work on fundraising and community outreach. Nice people!

Needed to warm up so I went back inside and started to see how far I could explore before someone said I shouldn't be there. Peeked into the lunchroom (nice vending machines) and as I passed some studios I saw a tour group heading into one. I slipped in behind the last person and got to visit a recording studio where live music acts play (complete with piano and fancily designed wood panelling for acoustics), another recording studio, and the main office area where pretty much everyone works. It's a giant cube farm with several nice flat-screen TVs posted around the walls. No one, not even the execs, has a doored office, just bigger cubes. It's a very egalitarian setup and apparently convenient for impromptu meetings. We got to meet Richard Steele, a longtime radio man and one of the hosts for EightForty-Eight (which I discovered just today was named after WBEZ's street address: 848 W Grand Ave). He talked about what it was like to work for WBEZ and some of the challenges the employees face by working (as opposed to just visiting) Navy Pier; food prices are astronomical, commuting can be a real pain, and all those tourists can be really annoying (and clueless) sometimes (example, people standing next to the ferris wheel and asking where it is). Seems a great guy.

I was supposed to meet up with Megha and Kev at 7 by Millennium Park so I left after the tour. It's a bit of a hike to get back to the Loop from the Pier, but it was a beautiful if chilly night and I had my camera. There's something about cities at night that I just love. The lights, the bustle, the way everything takes on this otherwordly look. Daytime means work, nighttime means play. I took my own sweet time walking down since I'm rarely downtown in the evening and just had to take advantage of the clear sky and shining moon. Please see facebook for the pics.

Finally met Megha at a Dunkin' Donuts where we chatted and waited for Kevin. By 7:15 we were at the skating rink in Millennium Park for its last week staying open (who knows, though, it might snow in April). The line was mercifully short and the rink not too busy so we got our skates and got laced up in no time (though Megha needed some help tightening hers). I don't consider myself a very good skater, Kevin's much better, but I felt good enough on the ice to move pretty quickly, smoothly, and confidently. I hate falling, while doing anything, so I'll never be great until I'm ready to get hurt. Oh well.

Skating was a blast. Kev thought it'd be a great idea to try swing dancing on ice and I agreed. Megha taped us with my camera and the result is hilarious if not terribly well executed. It's harder than it looks at the Olympics!

We stopped around 8:30, just before the ice was set to be zambonied, again, and took the El to Grand Ave to find a Mexican place, Su Casa, Megha suggested. We shared some dishes and had a nice conversation. There was a lot of food and while Megha and I were stuffed, Kev suggested we grab some ice cream from the Coldstone we passed on the way to the restaurant. We protested but agreed anyway, and naturally ate some of his minty chocolately delight (I don't remember what it was called but it was delicious). Coldstone kicked us out at 11 and we decided we should probably head to our respective homes.

All in all, it was a fabulous evening and I hope to repeat it soon!

AAAS Annual Meeting: Our Planet and its Life, part I

2009-02-14T20:25:00.005-06:00

This year the American Association for the Advancement of Science, better known as AAAS and the publisher of Science magazine, a world-class journal that contains papers from vastly different fields of science (from astronomy to anthropology, psychology to physics, neurology to nanotechnology, etc) held its annual meeting in my very own Windy City. I got wind of the meeting from a university email that announced the meeting organizers were looking for student "session aides" to keep things running smoothly. In return for at least eight hours of aid, the aides would have their registration (normally $70 for students) paid for. Naturally, I immediately applied and was got a position a few days later.

The day the meeting started I attended a brief orientation session to find out what exactly I'd be doing and when. Simple things, though some people had dumb questions (I believe there are such things). But that always happens. Brooke Sylvester, a 4th year in my program, kindly gave me a ride home.

Friday is when the real fun started. I wasn't scheduled to perform my aide duties until Sunday so I had Fri and Sat free to explore the massive Hyatt Regency, pick up free swag, and of course attend interesting seminars on all kinds of neat topics. I first attended a seminar discussing AAAS's plans for "Year of Science 2009," basically a program that works to get schoolkids and the public in general interested in science. Some interesting comments, including emphasizing to students the non-linearity of science, especially in terms of the scientific method. Science is not always hypothesis-->experiment-->gather data-->draw conclusions, then rinse and repeat. Insights can come from unexpected places and science is more like a web of interlinked pieces in which new connections are made all the time. A neat site that has a picture of the "real scientific method." Science education is a big passion of mine and I was interested to see what the panel and attendees, including journalists, researchers, teachers, and students, had to say about the subject. Another interesting group is COPUS, or the "Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science." I got an idea for a "Rock-It Science Concert" that could be fun to stage here at UC. The last neat thing I pulled from this seminar was more info on "Science Cafes" which are informal sessions between scientists and the public that occur in public, non-academic places like coffee shops and bars. Ben Wiche from NOVA and WGBH in Boston described going into bars with a scientist and how he could get the attention of the bar patrons and engage them in a science topic they normally would probably never discuss. Takes a lot of guts to engage the public in such a direct way, but the payoff would totally be worth it! I get to host my own "junior" Science Cafe in May at UC.

The first plenary lecture was delivered by Dr. Sean Carroll of the Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Carroll is a very talented and famous evolutionarily biologist who has written and lectured extensively on evolution and Charles Darwin. 2009 is a special year for scientists, and in particular evolutionary biologists. This year we mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species" (by means of natural selection) by that great naturalist and celebrate what would have been his 200th birthday. As you can imagine, the meeting was something of a Darwin lovefest and Carroll's speech epitomized the reverence for the man, the theory, and as a nice touch, the other scientists, namely Alfred Wallace, and Henry Bates, who were friends of Darwin and supportive of his theory. Great lecture with some compelling stories about Bates and Wallace in particular (mishap- and adventure-filled treks through South America and Indonesia all in the name of science).

The headline for the evening was recent Nobel laureate and environmental champion Albert Gore. I'd already purchased tickets to see him at the Chicago Theater in April before hearing of this meeting, so I was thrilled to get a second chance to see Mr. Gore. I respected him as VP and like him even more for his campaigning on the behalf of scientifically sound environmental policy. Part of the lecture felt like Inconvienent Truth, Part II, while the rest was an impassioned and moving call to action to scientists to get them, rather us, more active in politics and their community. I've got videos posted on YouTube and some pictures on my Facebook page. Check them out!

Cruisin' V: Scuba Diving in Belize City, Belize

2009-01-30T21:59:00.003-06:00

Overnight our ship cruised a short distance down the Yucatan Peninsula to reach Belize City, Belize. The country of Belize became independent from Britain only a short time ago, 1981. As such, it is quite a young country and appears to still be getting to its feet. Tourism is far and away the greatest source of income and a good portion of that industry takes advantage of the nation's beautiful beaches and spectacular marine treasures. One particularly well-known treasure is the Great Blue Hole, which, based on the picture on the link, is rather aptly named. Over 400 feet deep with much of the water inky black due to lack of sunlight, divers looking for real adventure head to Belize. Amateur divers like us, however, stick to the shallow reefs.

Having taken a scuba class at UNC my senior year, I've been pining for the chance to don a BCD (buoyancy control device), some fins, my mask, and play around underwater. When Sachi listed the possible excursions for the cruise, the one thing I insisted on was scuba diving. She made it happen. We arose earlier than usual after arriving in port, donned our swimsuits, and headed to the dive shop. A group of both experienced divers (as evidenced by their gear) and novices gathered and then got onto a smaller speedish boat right from the cruise ship. At an appreciable clip we pulled away from the Navigator and headed to an island scuba training camp. You really get a sense of how large the ship is when seeing it adrift at sea accompanied by a few other behemoths.

On the island we took a brief dive class where we signed our life away (oh liability forms), swore we were in perfect health, watched a video, and then boarded another boat. We reached a small sandbar where we donned our gear and practiced skills essential to get diving permission: 1) remove and replace the regulator (breathing apparatus), 2) remove own regulator, breath from buddy's reg, then replace buddy's with own reg (how to share air in an emergency, and 3) allow water to fill the mask and then clear it (very useful skill). Maybe there was another but I can't remember it. In any case, all but two of the ~20 divers passed (including all of us). Next stop, the reef!

The reef started at a depth of about 30 feet and extended another 10 feet down to the bottom, so our total depth was around 40 feet. Although the waves were quite choppy and it even rained for a little while, the sun was out and the water looked gorgeous. Far more beautiful, though, was the sight that first greeted my eyes when I jumped in. Aquamarine water with incredible visibility with greens and darker hues near the coral and plant life. I was the first of our group (us three + a UW undergrad we sort of befriended) to hit the water, so I hung out by a buoy until the rest jumped in. Their technique could have been better, especially concerning the mask. The trick is to hold it against your forehead with the heel of your palm when jumping in so that it doesn't get moved or even ripped off your head. Oh well, everyone made it in fine. We followed the guideline down slowly, equalizing pressure often. I felt like that last year and half hadn't even passed, it was so easy. We cruised around the reef and I managed to achieve neutral buoyancy which was my favorite skill to practice at school. The dive lasted about 30 minutes but it felt so much shorter. It was a thrill to move through the water with so little effort and be so close to plant and animal life otherwise inaccessible. Our poor friend had some trouble and had to surface early. Saket was next to leave and ended up a little low on air (breathing too fast!). I was last up and sad to go.

There were snacks and drinks on the boat, and we soon headed back to island. We grabbed a "lunch" of chips and salsa, then waited for the boat to take us back to our ship. It was early afternoon by the time we returned, so we met up with our parents, showered, then relaxed for a while before wandering a bit then eating dinner. After dinner we watched another fun song-and-dance show, then it was off to bed early. I can't wait to go diving again!

44.

2009-01-20T17:20:00.004-06:00

Today, January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. The moment was historical for many reasons, and I enjoyed watching the proceedings with my colleagues and friends at school. Everyday we witness history in the making, but seldom do we recognize truly "historical" moments as they are happening.

As we watched his inaugural address, I could literally feel my lungs swelling with pride to hear Obama declare that America is ready to lead the world again. Some might argue we have been leading the world since the end of World War II, but I would hardly call the last eight years an example of leadership. From mishandled/misguided wars to negligent global trade and environmental policies to of domestic policy, George W. Bush and his administration failed America and its people, and they failed the world.

No longer will the world be so wary of America's might. The roots that bind America to the world will be nourished once more by policies that will put peace before pre-emption, cooperation before condescension, and freedom before fear.

Hello, world. The United States of America is back.

Hail to the Chief.

Cruisin' IV: Cozumel

2009-01-15T22:50:00.008-06:00

This morning we pulled into Cozumel, Mexico. Rather sad that despite living in the South my whole life, and in Texas for almost ten years, it took a cruise to get me into Mexico. Frankly, I had no real desire to visit the country until now; not to hate on our neighbor to the south, but there are many places in this great world I would rather visit. But I digress...

We arrived in port early in the morn, and after a hearty breakfast we headed ashore. Naturally, the first thing we encountered was a mini town selling all kinds of souvenirs. Cruise ships seem to make port a good distance from both downtown and the major businesses. I'm sure practical nautical considerations are a factor here, but I can tell you taxi drivers certainly benefit from this arrangement. We hired a driver to take us to the Mayan ruins Cozumel, and Mexico in general for that matter, is famous for. The Mayan civilization is famous for its elaborate architecture, religious rituals, and famous prediction based on its calendar that the "End of Days" will occur on December 21, 2012. The driver waited for us while we explored the ruins:

You can see Saket walking off in the distance. This was an entrance to the complex.

We had arrived soon after the place opened so we managed to beat the crowds. A setting like this is best enjoyed in solitude. Mosquitoes proved to be our most significant companions and we were all bitten rather soundly. I noticed trilingual signs and tried to find out what the third language was (the first and last are clearly Spanish and English, respectively).

My hunch is that its a Mayan language (still spoken in some parts of Mexico), but I am not sure. After leaving the ruins we were on our way to the beach. Considering the tropical clime, Mom was just itching to get her hands on some fresh coconut and asked our driver where we could get some. Our driver had some sharp eyes (and good reflexes) and, sure enough, spotted a man selling coconuts by the road. With some deft whacks with his machete, Mom, Dad, and Saket were in coconut heaven:

Next stop: the beach. We ran into some difficulties when we tried to pay our driver. Unfortunately, we were a bit light on cash and of course there was no ATM at the beach. Travelers checks it was, except I was a fool and improperly signed mine; in any case I wouldn't have gotten cash for it since the retailers saw our distress and abused us roundly. They agreed to cash one check (if we bought something), but then claimed they didn't have enough cash for the second (after saying they did before we cashed the first one). That was upsetting, and we ended up tipping our driver enormously for the trouble we caused him. Anyway, the next hours were more pleasant. We enjoyed ourselves by relaxing, swimming, and eating some junk food (nachos, guacamole, beers, and margaritas) for lunch. The water gleamed like shimmering sapphires by the scintillating sand:

Finally it was time to return to our ship. We hung around for a little while in the shops picking up some swag. I finally bought a shark's teeth necklace beaded with red and black coral. I've been coveting a shark's teeth necklace ever since our trip to the Outer Banks in 2004. It's not that I don't like sharks. I think they're marvelous creatures and we should respect them instead of hunt them mercilessly. They are truly masters of the open seas, and I don't think I'm being hypocritical by wearing some of their teeth. These are creatures that practically shed teeth like we shed skin (okay, that's exaggerating but they do replace them quite frequently). You'll see that necklace in later pictures.

Back on the boat, we ate some snacks and lounged a bit before heading to dinner. For dessert, the ship was serving a "second dinner" of sorts up on the top deck that started around 11. It was a gorgeous spread and I could only convince myself to eat some dessert (coffee and vanilla ice cream). I also saw the most beautiful watermelon on the planet (next to an adorable eggplant penguin:
It was late after dessert, so we headed back to the staterooms for some rest. We were due in Belize City, Belize the next day and the three of us were scheduled to do some scuba diving, so a good rest was needed for all.

Cruisin' III: First Day at Sea

2009-01-11T20:08:00.006-06:00

For some strange reason, I didn't sleep as soundly as I am wont, and found myself wide awake just after 7. This was a fortunate bout of insomnia on my part, since it meant I could witness my first sunrise over the open ocean.

And what a spectacle it was. Rosy-fingered dawn, indeed, couched on a bed of Carolina blue.

But, during the fifteen minutes in which I stood rapt on our balcony with my camera frequently held to my face, the sunrise soon turned into something spectacular:

Regretfully, sunrise never was so splendid for the remainder of our cruise. I will certainly treasure those solitary minutes with the sun for years to come.

After everyone had risen we breakfasted on a deck up high and set our exploring again. Dad, Sachi, and I found ourselves at the prow of the ship where we luxuriated in the sun and took some pictures.

It was very much a "Titanic" setting, and I'm sure many a passenger has found themselves compelled to shout (laughably) immortal words to the indifferent waves below. After enjoying the prow, I headed upstairs to see how high I could climb. Sachi and Dad went swimming while Saket sat in the sun to read. I'm rather at odds with the concept of swimming on a ship at sea, but I suppose it is an easy way to entertain a large number of passengers and keep them in close vicinity to virtually 24/7 bars.

We spent the rest of the day engaged in various activities, from watching some dodgeball tournaments to rock climbing and catching a variety show or two. Dinner that night was a swanky affair and we all got dressed up. There was free champage on the Promenade and it was nice to see everyone dressed so elegantly.

After dinner we attended a song-and-dance show that was quite good and then headed back to the stateroom to change. Some more wandering (and maybe some drinking too) and then we called it a night. We were set to arrive in Cozumel in the morning. We also found this as a present when we returned.
How sweet.

Cruisin' II: The Journey Begins

2009-01-10T18:39:00.011-06:00

After unloading our gear, we headed up to Deck 11 (of fourteen decks) for lunch at the all-you-can-eat buffet style dining room. The cruise ship had many dining options from casual cafes to swanky sit-down restaurants featuring fare from all over the world.

After lunch we spent some time playing mini-golf,

and enjoying the view.

In compliance with federal (and no doubt international regulations), we had to assemble on the deck in full emergency regalia (i.e. a bright orange life vest properly worn) at 4:30 to go over emergency procedures. Unfortunately, due to either the crowd or the poor PA system, we hardly heard a thing the announcer said, so we just stood around and tried to stay comfortable in the hot sun.

Finally, the drill being over, we dropped our jackets at the stateroom and headed out for more exploration. The ship was rather large and there was much to see. We began by heading to the main deck, the Royal Promenade.

It looked almost exactly like a shopping mall, which makes sense since this is the place the cruise line wanted you to spend the most money. The deck was lined with shops, two cafes (well, one was free the other you had to pay for the coffee and ice cream), two bars, access to the casino below, and ended with our dining room, the Swan Lake Room. Dinner was pleasant, as we had two nice waiters attending us. The fare was pretty good with aesthetic presentation.

We shared a bottle of wine every night; something of an extravagance for our family.

After dinner, we split ways to either to relax and unpack in the stateroom or check our some karaoke. Instead of just relying on a computer for music, this night of karaoke featured a live band accompanying the singers. Ended up being an enjoyable show with some folks really strutting their stuff. Nearly the whole room (including us) joined in for "Hey Jude" sung by a couple in their later years. After karaoke I caught a little bit of the welcoming parade while Saket and saw us finally leave the shore on an upper deck (we were supposed to set sail at 5 but didn't leave until 11). That's about it for day 1!

Cruisin': Drive to Florida and Boarding the Ship

2009-01-10T18:28:00.001-06:00

As you might know, my family loves to travel. Finding time to go places has become a bit challenging in the last couple of years since Saket and I have both moved out of the house and our schedules no longer align as often and as long as they once did. A cruise to some warm destination has been in the plans for many years now, and trip to the Caribbean even longer (an almost sure trip in 1998 was abandoned because I broke my wrist two weeks before we were to leave). This winter the stars (and planets, and comets, and other heavenly bodies) finally aligned and on Dec 14, after Saket and I flew back to NC from Chicago and Palo Alto, respectively, we began our drive to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The drive was easy and uneventful for me since, for once, I was exempt from driving duty. In order to save some money, and since I would seldom be using any of the family vehicles, we decided to take me off our auto insurance. As a result, I could still legally drive but would no longer be insured in case of a collision or other mishap. To be on the safe side, Dad thought it best that I stay away from the wheel. Hey, no complaints...I got to sleep and relax instead :).

As the temperature steadily increased and the flora changed from pine to palm, we found ourselves staying the night in St. Lucie, just a short ways from Ft. Lauderdale. Seeing all the Christmas decorations made me wonder what Floridians feel about the holiday. The near-universal portrayal of snow and sleighs must be a little disappointing for children used to temperatures in the 70s F and surfboards instead at that time of year. But since Santa isn't exactly part of the Christian tradition, I suppose there is nothing heretical about a well-tanned Santa in shades.

Our cruise-line-of-choice was Royal Caribbean. Rather, Sachi and my parents did all of the preparation for this trip, and for that I am profoundly grateful. Last quarter was rather trying for me and it was nice to able to embark on a vacation knowing everything was already well-planned out. Our ship was the Navigator of the Seas and it was a sight to behold. Boarding took some time because there were so many people, but by about 2 o'clock we were aboard and headed to our stateroom. The space was certainly smaller than your average hotel room, but well supplied and certainly adequate to our needs. We didn't plan on spending too much time in them after all.....

Obamamania

2009-01-10T18:06:00.001-06:00

As many of you no doubt know, I am an avid supporter of now President-elect Barack Obama. Compared to friends like Saket and Mike (Lee), I was a little late in joining the Obamatrain simply because I did not know enough about then-candidate Obama at the end of 2007. It didn't take me long to become a fan and devoted supporter. I admire Barack Obama not only for his uplifting rhetoric, but his clear talent and vim for gathering the best minds together to tackle issue, and not surrounding himself with a coterie of yes-men and sycophants who lack both backbone and the will to approach matters objectively and intelligently (read George W. Bush). The star of the United States of America, my country and one of the finest nations on this great Earth, has lost much of its luster in the past decade, not just the last eight years. Compared to Bush, Clinton was a saint, but he left the White House smelling of scandal and shame that was later overpowered by the cloying odor of deeper and danker iniquities.

Enough of ranting at and criticizing the past. Every informed citizen of America knows how badly we need change in this country, and not just at the highest levels of government. I thought I'd draw up some lighter reasons why I like Barack Obama:

1. We live on the same street in Chicago (three blocks apart).
2. He likes to play Scrabble (my favorite game) and Texas Hold'Em poker.
3. He likes college basketball and placed the Tar Heels favorably in his bracket in the last tourney.
4. He is a family man who clearly cares deeply about his wife and daughters.
5. He likes to dance (and is pretty good at it)
6. He remains cool and unflustered even when under great pressure.
7. He worked at the University of Chicago (where I am a student).
8. He can take care of himself.

Enough with the adulation for now. Let's see if he can fulfill even a quarter of the promise's he and his campaign have made. I wish you all the best, (soon to be) President Barack Hussein Obama.

Other new summery/fall things

2008-11-10T19:20:00.001-06:00

I got a bike! It's a Gary Fisher hybrid (between road and mountain bike) that goes easy over curbs and is easy on the eyes in a slick black and silver combination. I need to find a better helmet (the one I've got, free, makes me look silly) and a better lock (a little coil ain't good enough for HP).
I got (now president-elect) Barack Obama gear that I proudly wore during the Grant Park rally and which I proudly drink out of everyday.
I spent many hours reading about political news surrounding the conventions and all the election hoopla. A memorable moment from the Republican convention: the moderator (or whatever you call the speaker) asks if there are any other nominations besides John McCain, one man screams "Ron Paul!" and is quickly ignored as the moderator declares "with no other nominations..." Kinda sad that a party so hellbent on protecting our freedoms should blithely ignore one of the fundamental ones. The man was clearly audible and yet not heard. How sad.
My laptop died and has since been replaced by a Lenovo SL400 Thinkpad. My old T40 may still be saved since the motherboard is apparently fried. After over five years of nearly unfailing service (only had to replace the fan and DVD drive once each), I will miss the machine that has traveled far with me and taken me places too numerous to count. Why so sentimental about a machine? Why do people weep when their cars finally die out on them?
Saket got me a really sweet new Nano!! It's a beautiful blue color and best of all, it comes with an inscription that only my brother would think of: "for Sapana, my favorite bear of all." ::tear::
B&J went on a semi-cross-country 10-day (and well-earned) vacation during which I successfully managed to keep all their plants (and myself) alive and not completely trash the apartment. Yay me! Funny too how my TV viewing increased dramatically during those days. As enthralling as the "boob tube" may be, it can never replace genuine company.
I saw WALL-E with Kevin and enjoyed the movie (though the fact that we saw the flick shortly before he had to leave for Champaign to attend his grandfather's funeral, may he rest in peace, did dampen my spirits more than a bit). Pixar continues to amaze me with the creativity and heart they put into their movies. I have seen them all except Cars which was the first to not excite my interest and, perhaps non-coincidentally, is also their worst-reviewed movie to date.
The Dark Knight was awesome. I only wished they had filmed some true IMAX shots of Batman swooping down over Gotham City. Alas.
I still can't believe I went skydiving.
I still can't believe my DAD went skydiving.
Nate came to visit! Totally awesome (something I really needed after my prelim experience), especially since the poor guy was sick most of the time, yet he was such a trooper. Hats off to anyone who can put up with my jabbering nonstop for an entire weekend. With a fever too. Oh, and we went to the temple by Obama's "mansion" for a brief yet interesting visit. The woman who let us in to another woman: "Can you show them around before service? Or maybe throw them out?" All this while we were standing there. Awkward! The temple is quite beautiful though and has an interesting history, much of which I've unfortunately forgotten. Oh well, as good an excuse as any to get past the security blockade in front of Obama's house!
Anything else? Only if I think of it.

Summer in the City

2008-11-10T18:44:00.001-06:00

All right, so it's been quiet some time since I last updated this. Needless to say, I've been pretty tied up, but that's no excuse for not blogging, since blogging is what all the cool people are doing these days.

First I'll catch up on what's been going on since my family left Chicago back in June...in order of most recent to most...non-recent:

1) I completed my laboratory rotation with Dr. Ken Onel who I've discussed in an earlier post. The man is just awesome. I'll discuss my new lab mates in detail later, but just know they're a fun bunch and I look forward to working with them as long as they're in the lab.

2) I wrote and presented my prelim not just once, but twice since I wasn't exactly brilliant the first time. The second time went only a bit better, but rest assured I'm still in the program and will be just fine. It's nice to know i have such a supportive network of friends and colleagues to make sure I succeed. And it's really nice to know that I have an amazing advisor and supportive classmates who've always got my back.

3) I've discovered some new music (shocking, I know...I do listen to artists other than Sarah McLachlan). They're from different genres but some pretty neat stuff. Ken and I were talking about international music (I may have been discussing a Bollywood film) and he mentioned an artist named M.I.A. She was born in Sri Lanka but raised in the UK and has produced her albums from several different countries. I find it a little difficult to describe her music succinctly since it's definitely cross-genre material. It's rap/hip-hop based, with a dance infusion and hints of Bollywood drama and sounds. Anyway, you should check out her latest album "Kala." Another group I discovered through Pandora Radio (the "music genome project"; really a neat site that streams songs based on artists or genres you like. For example, I've created a "Sarah McLachlan" channel and so songs by Sarah and artists like her are streamed through there) is called Bond. I haven't looked much into them, but they're apparently a group of women who do classical music but in a rather funky modern way. A standout is "Shine" which has some Hindi lyrics (awesome). I like some modern classical-sounding stuff like E.S. Posthumous and Mythos, and these ladies fit in pretty well. The last new cool artist comes from the west side of Chi-town and his name is Lupe Fiasco. Saket attended a neat outdoor concert in SF to see Radiohead and got to hear this guy as well. A song of his, "Go Go Gadget Flow" made an impression on Saket by the craziness (and geekiness) of the lyrics and the energy with which Lupe and his band performed the song. So Saket sent me a YouTube link of his song and, impressed with his lyricism and sound, I downloaded his latest album off Ruckus. For someone who's not a big fan of rap, I was very impressed. Not only are the beats wicked, but most importantly the lyrics are so thoughtful and relevant it's hard not to like what you're listening to. How many rappers do you know can sing about AIDS in a way that's both tragic and beautiful (Streets On Fire) and also about child soldiers (Little Weapon)? Now this guy is definitely worth listening to.

4) I got to meet up with my aunt and cousins from India!! How cool is that? I found out just after my folks and sister left that my cousin Shweta, who's currently in her senior year at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (go Blue!). Finally, a chance to meet more family! As you may know, about 99% of our family lives in India still. The other 1% can be found in Canada (cousins of my mom and their families) and Houston (a niece of my dad's). We've only had a handful of chances to meet that 99% (and I've been lucky enough to see more of the folks in Canada than Saket or Sachi) due to the length and timing of the school year, my dad's work schedule, and the sheer expense and time committment it takes to make a family trip to India. Thankfully, now that we're no longer in traditional school binds, we can take trips more frequently. Nonetheless, our last trip as a family was nearly four years ago. But I digress.

You shouldn't need a special occasion to meet family, but we found a good one in any case. Shweta was working as an intern for Walgreens in Chicago for the summer and Archana Masi (aunt) and Shruti (Shweta's younger sister) were visiting her from India. The last time I remember talking to them was back in 2004 when Shweta was seriously considering coming to the US for college. I have to say I'm happy she decided to come, regardless of whether she'll consider settling here or moving back to India when she's got her degree in engineering/environmental studies. Since they were in Chicago (living in Evanston), and I am in Chicago, we decided to meet downtown at the Taste of Chicago. The Taste is a popular summer food festival featuring hundreds of local restaurants and eateries who give out "tastes" or small portions along with full servings of their iconic items. As you can imagine, there were lots of places serving deep dish pizza, hot dogs, and cheesecake, but a lot of ethnic food as well from Indian to Ethiopian and beyond. Despite a sky threatening rain, we enjoyed ourselves at the Taste eating tasty things (see what I did there?) and catching up on life since December 2004. I got to see them a couple more times before Masi and Shruti headed back to India when we saw The Dark Knight together at the IMAX theater at Navy Pier and when I came up to Evanston for pizza night at Kevin's place. I can't wait to see them again in India the next time we go (though who knows when that will be...)

Those are the main points of summer. Additional details in the next post.

Rest of Family Visit II: 19 Jun- 21 Jun

2008-08-21T00:28:00.003-05:00

19 Jun: Thursday and it's time to visit more of the city. Dad had a meeting with a colleague for work so while he was at that, Sachi, Mom and I headed to the Sears Tower. Originally built by Sears Roebuck and Co. in 1973, the Sears Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the world (110 stories for 1450 feet, 1725 if you count the antennas) and home to the offices of dozens of companies (no longer Sears though, they moved to the suburbs). It offers one of the finest views of Chicago from the top although some areas, like my Hyde Park, are nothing more than a blur even on good days. It is possible to see Indiana nearly everyday and even Michigan on the clearest days. We spent some time taking lots of pictures, then headed down to meet up with Dad at lunch. We ate at a Potbelly's in the Loop and then caught a bus south to the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park (maybe a dozen blocks from my university). The MSI complex was constructed as a temporary structure for the 1893 World's Fair, part of Chicago's famous "White City." Rain and the elements threatened to disintegrate the city until locals decided the buildings were worth maintaining and thus refurbished the structure into the museum it houses today. The classical Greek style of the columns and facade make the MSI a valued addition to Chicago's long history of architectural treasures.

The Museum was quite crowded since it was celebrating its 25th anniversary and thus decided not to charge an admission price. We spent a couple hours admiring the chicks, checking out some DNA exhibits, meandering through some naval and space history, and leaving rather abruptly given the fact that we were a little fatigued and Dad was getting a headache from the crowd and noise. It took quite a bit of time to catch a bus that would take us downtown but finally caught one back to the hotel. After resting and freshening up, it was time for dinner. We visited the "Star of Siam" just off State Street and it proved to be a delightful little Thai restaurant. I was especially impressed with the cushions in the middle of the room. It looked as though the diners were seated with legs crossed on level with the table (as though on the floor), but in fact they were sitting as normal; it was just that the cushions had table-shaped square holes cut through them to the floor, creating a hollow space for legs. I guess it would help to see the place, so come visit me sometime and I'll show you.

After dinner we stopped at Kevin's favorite used bookstore that happened to be right next door, and then caught a cab for Buckingham Fountain (it's more fun to see this fountain at night). A light and music show is put on so of course we stayed for that and I took many pictures. After a pleasant evening by the fountain, we caught a cab back to the hotel for some rest.

20 Jun: It's Friday and we're going skydiving! It's also Dad's birthday! What a day for adventure! We headed out early due west for Hinckley, IL, a tiny town with a big love of flying. Our destination was the Chicagoland Skydiving Center where Sachi, Dad, and I had booked a day with destiny. The weather started nice but as we waited for our class to begin and our instructors to arrive (at my insistence we had arrived ludicrously early, but to good effect as you'll see later), the sky turned gray and before we knew it rain was falling. Uh oh! Finally, our team arrived and just in time too the sky cleared. We watched a video with the other divers and were shown briefly how to properly deploy the chute and jump (Sachi got to demonstrate some moves for us). Operating the chute was optional; if we didn't our tandem instructor would do so.

In what seemed like no time, we were suiting up for our jump. All three of us elected to have a videographer/cameraman accompany our jump to record our freefall for posterity. As a result, we were quite a crowd bundling into the little airplane (3 of us, our 3 instructors, 3 videographers, 2 pilots, and 2 other divers from CSC). The ride up didn't take too long, and we chatted with our fellow divers as best we could over the roar of the engine and wind. Although I appeared calm and excited on the outside, I was secretly fighting nerves within. I trusted my instructor and the equipment, but you just never know...

All of a sudden, we were at about 14,000 fight. Since I was first to board, I was last to jump and got to watch as Sachi first and then Dad were escorted out of the plane and into thin air. Shuffling awkwardly with Eddie, my instructor, I found myself poised on the brink of the aircraft. My videographer (I only remember his first name started with a J, so I'll call him J) was already hanging off the plane, and before I could think to have second thoughts, Eddie was counting down and rock forward, rock back, and OUT!!

The next minute is largely a blur, but I remember the sudden rush of cold air, the roar of the wind, my mouth turning dry in an instant, and sheer exhiliration. As J expertly manuvered around us, I smiled and posed the best I could. He distracted me from any fears that may have arisen and as a result I mostly looked ahead and around instead of down. Eddie was fun too and he pulled some delightful poses. The fall was both fast and slow and in my last moments of freefall, I remember J spinning around like a top and my downward velocity reversed in an instant as the chute opened above us. The air became calmer immediately, and after the second chute opened and we glided a bit, Eddie said I could remove my goggles and just relax. I still had my contacts in, of course, so taking off goggles at 6,000 feet made me a little nervous, but the air was still so it was fine. We drifted for a few minutes admiring the view of the Illinois countryside (Chicago alas was too far away). I landed in a bit of a heap and after freeing myself from Eddie, triumphantly walked back to the hangar. Although I was last out, I managed to barely beat Dad and Sachi. No fair!

After getting our DVDs and paying, we headed back to the city. The whole adventure took about 6 hours (driving to and from, waiting, and diving) so we were hungry by the time we got back into town. The rain that had passed us had passed into Chicago so navigating the streets was a little harrowing, but we managed to find India House, a fabulous Indian restaurant that Bonnie and I had gone to with her friends to celebrate her birthday last October. The food was wonderful and after we said it was Dad's birthday, our waiter brought out a delicious dessert of kulfi (Indian ice cream), light cake, and orange slices.

After dinner we drove back to my apartment where we chatted with B&J a bit before I packed up things to send home and we got ready for bed.

21 Jun: This morning we ate brunch at the Mellow Mushroom (not the pizza place in Raleigh) along 53rd street. It's an old-timey breakfast place that serves omelets, waffles, pancakes, etc. After the hearty meal, it was straight back to the apartment for some final packing, directions, and then goodbye. Such a delightful visit filled with memories I shall treasure for years to come. I didn't do much the rest of day except check in with the family occasionally to make sure they were doing fine. Next trip...December!

Rest of Family Visit: 16 Jun- 18 Jun

2008-08-20T23:54:00.002-05:00

To keep things brief and reasonably current, I'm going to sum up the rest of my family's visit to Chicago.

16 Jun: It's Monday and we're greeted by the first bout of rain in days. Fortunately, we had planned a trip to Devon today and since we didn't leave the hotel until almost 11, we managed to miss all the showers. Devon Avenue is essentially Little India (and I guess Little Pakistan...how 'bout Little South Asia?) located south of Evanston and north of Lakeview/Lincoln Park. The street is lined with shops selling everything Indian from sarees to sweets, aliments to accoutrement, and Bollywood CDs to chapatis. The sights and smells assault the senses and for a brief moment one can imagine being on the streets of Mumbai or Bangalore. We strolled around for some time, eating lunch in a couple of different small restaurants and checking out some music and cooking utensils in various shops.

After lunch we decided to head out to the western suburbs to visit the IKEA store in Schaumburg. This adventure took up most of the remaining day and concluded at an Olive Garden in the mall complex near the IKEA. I managed to stock up on some new clothing and found some things for the apartment (some sweet glasses and an organizer). It was back to the hotel after dinner.

17 Jun: Tuesday and we're off to Wisconsin for a couple of days. The Wisconsin Dells are much heralded for their beauty and affinity for water parks, so thanks to some research by my mom and sister, we headed there for a spell. Given the recent flooding in the area, accomodations were easy to secure so we focused on lunch and entertaining ourselves first. Lunch was at a festive Mexican restaurant overlooking a lake. I had a strawberry-mango margarita that was about the size of my head and quite delicious. After lunch we booked ourselves a Duck tour and river boat ride. The "ducks" are amphibious vehicles that were employed during WWII to ferry soldiers to shore from the warships that could not approach the coast thanks to various obstacles such as mines and artificial barrier reefs. Many of these vehicles have since been co-opted into entertainment vehicles that allow civilians, like ourselves, to ride around in them on land and on the water. The river boat ride, although longer and more scenic, did not have the same novelty as an amphibious boat. Alas.

After our boating adventures, it was time for dinner. Thanks to our GPS, we selected a pizza place near the hotel. It quickly became apparent that this place was popular with the locals, though we were seated astonishingly quickly upon arrival, despite the crowd waiting in the foyer. Maybe it was my Indiana Jones hat. Dinner was delicious and a satisfying end to a long day.

18 Jun: Wednesday and it's time to head back to the city. On our way, we did what every real visitor to Wisconsin must do. Visit a cheese factory! (Green Bay Packers fans are not called "cheeseheads" for nothin'). The one we chose was both open to visitors, offered a tour, and was not too far out of our way back south. Perfect. The manager generously gave us about 40 minutes of his time to explain the cheesemaking process and though we didn't get a walk-around tour, he pointed out through the window step-by-step what was transpiring on the floor. Naturally, we bought about five pounds of the cheese including a few bags of "cheese curds", a favorite treat with locals (if it's not squeaky, it's not really fresh!).

Our Wisconsin experience was not complete without a stop at a Culver's restaurant. For those on the West Coast, Culver's is much like an In N' Out burger. I don't know the equivalent on the East Coast. Perhaps a Cook Out for you NC folks. In any case, it's a popular chain that serves comfort food from burgers to fries to various ice cream treats (ice cream is another thing you simply must try in Wisconsin. A state that has that many cows must have good cheese and ice cream. Beer factors in as well, but that's because there's so much leftover grain from feeding all those cows :) ). We ordered conservatively at first, but after some prodding from our cashier, our order rapidly expanded until she was convinced we'd order half the menu. It was delicious.

Finally, back to the city. We stopped in Evanston to pick up Kevin since it's a tradition that we always have to take him out for food when the family's in town. Works out well for him, eh? We moved from our hotel out in the burbs to one right smack in downtown that we got at a deep discount thanks to it's grand opening. After settling down, we walked out to catch a trolley to Navy Pier. Navy Pier, as the name implies, was originally established as a commerical enterprise that also served military purposes during the Second World War. Since it's on a great lake (and not the ocean like naval bases in Maryland and Virginia), the utility was necessarily limited and Navy Pier is long past it's naval days and now the most popular destination in all of Chicago. Taking about 40 minutes to walk up and down, the Pier is a treat for the senses. Lined with food stalls and entertainment options, it's a great place for kids and adults alike on a sunny summer afternoon. There's a Ferris Wheel for those who want a nice view of the Chicago skyline and an IMAX theater for those who prefer to soar to new heights more passively.

After a stroll along the pier, it was time to think dinner. Kevin recommended Khyber Pass, an Indian restaurant he and his Northwestern friends had visited some time earlier. The food was decent, but the service rather deplorable considering we were some of the only guestst that night. Oh well. The real treat came after dinner as we caught the fireworks display from the Pier. The show is put on every Wednesday and Saturday and is beautiful if rather (understandably) brief. We bid Kevin farewell by the river and then headed back to the hotel.

Sunday, 15 Jun cont

2008-08-18T00:49:00.001-05:00

So now we're at Second City. Before we left the field, Sachi made an important discovery. She realized that she had only purchased 3 tickets for the show instead of 4 after being used to counting in terms of three for so long. Oops! While she was on the phone, my folks and I discussed who would get left behind while the others watched the show. Turns out, we didn't have to resort to drawing straws since Sachi was able to acquire one more ticket. Disaster averted!

On to the show. The troupe was hilarious as expected, regaling us with funny takes on what it's like to live in Chicago (from the Lakeshore Drive "rollercoaster" to the different attributes of Chicago neighborhoods) as well as some digs at politicians and entertainment celebrities (most notably R. Kelly). At one point, in a song discussing how our stereotypes tend to be confirmed whether we like them to or not, the singers reached their "Indians always smell like curry" line. The four of us were seated rather conspicuously near the front and naturally the singers looked at us significantly during that line. It was hilarious (and you know we do, that stereotype is totally true. Along with Indians being super smart and able to break into song and dance on a whim).

After the show, we caught a belated dinner at a little Mexican place in Lincoln Park that was fortunately still open. From there it was back to the hotel for some rest.

Congratulations Michael Phelps!

2008-08-17T00:45:00.001-05:00

I will return to my story (related belatedly) shortly. First, a quick Olympic update and tribute to a man many are calling "the greatest Olympian of all time".

Citius, Altius, Fortius.

During this past week, I have been fortunate to watch Olympic history being made in Beijing, China. Ever since the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, I have been a huge fan of the Olympic Games (hence referred to as OG for simplicity's sake). I have diligently watched every OG: Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Torino, and now Beijing, whether I've been in Round Rock (TX), Cary (NC), London (England), or Chicago (IL). Not being very athletic myself, excellence in sport is something I have long admired in my friends, countrymen, and fellow human beings. The OG offers a chance every two years to witness arguably the highest form of such excellence in sport in the world and I don't want to miss a minute of it if I can help it. I love how the Olympics brings the world together and asks all of those participating and watching to seek the best in themselves. For these all-too-brief fortnights, conflicts can (mostly) be put on hold, disputes delayed, and patriotism rekindled.

Faster, higher, stronger. These adjectives, the motto of the OG, also embody the goal of each Olympic athlete to achieve the superlative of each: fastest, highest, and strongest. This week in Beijing the world has witnessed what may be considered the greatest single performance at an OG:

American swimmer Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals in eight events (5 individual and 3 team), 7 of those in world-record time and the last in Olympic record time.

Yes, he is perhaps the most overexposed athlete so far of these Games. We know what he eats, when he sleeps, what he wears, and how he trains. But we still don't know how he did it. How he made history for the most number of gold medals won at a single Games, winter or summer. How they were all in record time. How they all took place over the course of just nine days. And most of all, how he made many of them look so easy. Was it the new LAZR suit from Speedo? Was it the "faster" pool in Beijing? Was he sent from the future to compete with mere mortals today? Whatever it was, however he did it, we know one thing for sure: Michael Phelps is an incredible athlete and has set a new benchmark many will admire and others will aspire to surpass. Congratulations Mr. Phelps. I hope to see you shine again four years from now in London.

On the Olympics in general:

The modern games, begun in 1896 in Athens, Greece, involve the traditional Olympian events such as the marathon, wrestling, and running, and also include various point-based sports such as soccer, basketball, handball, water polo, etc, as well as more subjective events such as gymnastics and figure skating.

The latter two, as much as I (and millions of others) enjoy watching them, should not be Olympic sports in their current form. Although these athletes are superb at what they do, from leaping into the air and performing dizzying spins to pulling an "iron cross," the ultimate gymnastics feat-of-strength, the judging and subjectivity involved in determining the best performance is just too much to be called a "sport." Real sports are by and large objective; the most (or least) points, the fastest time, the highest height, the heaviest weight, etc. The only subjectivity permissible should come from judging penalties. (For that matter, cheerleading is an athletic activity too, but not a sport).

If I had it my way, the IOC would determine fixed routines of different levels, say "easy," "medium," and "hard." For example, of the four apparatus on which the women gymnasts compete (floor, balance beam, uneven bars, and vault), only the floor would be open to "free expression" or a routine entirely of the athlete's choosing (this would encourage and reward creativity). Athletes can pick any combination of difficulties, from all easy to all hard and everything in between. By having everyone compete from the same pool of routines, each performance can be compared more objectively with the others. For some people, such a competition would be more boring (most likely current gymnasts and former gymnasts who are commentators for gymnastics events). Frankly, most spectators cannot tell the difference between the skills of one routine and the next, but can usually tell the difference between a well or poorly executed routine. Given this observation, people viewing these events will still be entertained and the athletes will be judged more fairly. This system could also be implemented for the men's gymnastics and both men and women's figure skating for the winter Games.

But after all, who am I to judge how Olympic events should be run? I am no gymnast, figure skater, swimmer, skier, hurdler, luger, wrestler, bobsledder, pole vaulter, or athlete period. I do love the Olympic Games, however, and believe that such displays of amazing athleticism should be rewarded with as little bias as possible.

Sunday, 15 Jun

2008-07-28T23:13:00.001-05:00

All right, enough of the present tense. I'm writing about past events and will thus tense my sentences appropriately. Note, pictures of the trip can be viewed on my Facebook page until I find the time (if I ever do) to eventually move everything to flickr as Saket has done. At least I made a flickr account before he did!
Today was Father's Day, and to celebrate we spent the morning and afternoon downtown at the Museum campus, followed by a show at Second City up in Lincoln Park. Three of Chicago's finest museums/learning centers, the Field Museum (natural history), Shedd Aquarium (duh), and the Adler Planetarium (more duh), are located on a beautiful part of the lake shore within easy access by foot or car from downtown. Not only are the grounds well kept and the buildings stately and grand, but to walk to the end of the pier on which the planetarium sits is to be rewarded with one of the finest views of the Chicago skyline in the entire city. The only view that rivals it, according to locals, can be found on the South Side at "The Point." But I digress.

We started first at the Field Museum since it's my favorite museum in Chicago so far (granted, I've only visited four as of this post and there are many more) and the one I really wanted to show off. We arrived around 11 and after parking took a nice stroll alongside Soldier Field (which also happens to be right next to the Museum campus whose parking lot is conveniently co-opted during Bears' games). Soldier Field, as the name implies, is a dedication to the armed servicemen and women of the United States who served our nation bravely through many a conflict. It is also home to the Chicago Bears, the only professional football team of the state of Illinois and one Chicagoans (yes, that's the right term to refer to a resident of Chicago, not "Chicagoite," "Chicagan," "Chi-towner," etc...) hold near and dear to their hearts (especially last year when they faced the Colts in the Super Bowl yet sadly lost despite an incredible opening kickoff touchdown run by Devin Hester which was the first of its kind). Back to the museum.

The Field Museum boasts a first-rate collection of natural and historical artifacts from around the world. One of the highlights is a nearly complete (and largest ever found) fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex known affectionately as "Sue" (named after the archaeologist, Sue Hendrickson, who found her decades ago in South Dakota). Appropriately, Sue greets visitors to the museum almost as soon as they walk in, much like the way the famed Rosetta Stone is kept front and center at the British Museum in London. Sometimes it pays to put the best first instead of last. Along with Sue, the Field has a whole suite of exquisitely preserved dinosaur bones and an excellent display regarding evolution. Instead of presenting this well-supported scientific theory as a bunch of facts on placards, the museum has constructed a "walk through time" in which visitors start at the beginning nearly 4.6 billion years ago and literally move through the ages as they walk through exhibits explaining concepts from tectonics plates and climate change to speciation and extinction. This type of presentation not only conveys evolution as a logical progression of events but explains much of the rationale behind the theory and why its conclusions are so relevant today. A relatively new addition to the exhibit, which is possible due to the efforts of the provost of the museum, and a professor at my university, Dr. Neil Shubin, is known as Tiktaalik and represents one of the long sought-after "transitional forms" both evolutinists (and their "foes" creationists/IDers) have been yearning for as support/proof for the theory of evolution.

Why are there so few fossils like Tiktaalik? Why don't we see more transitional forms if evolution is a gradual process by which one species can become another? Simply put, the answer is far from simple. A large part of the evidence for evolution (both human and non-human) comes from fossilized or otherwise preserved remains that allow scientists to link present and past forms together and see what has changed and what has remained the same. Fossils are great evidence because they can be quantified in terms of size, weight, physical condition (tooth marks, burn marks, boiling, relative age, etc) and age in terms of how long ago the fossil was created (usually by dating the rocks in which the bones are found). They can also help reconstruct extinct species and give us an idea of what older creatures looked like, how they moved, what they ate, etc. In short, fossils open a wide window to the past. These windows, however, are hard to find largely because making them requires special conditions and finding them is largely the work of sheer luck. Windows are also easily dirtied by the elements and fossils are no exception. Contamination from recently dead material can lead to sometimes disastrous misdating of remains which muddies timelines and casts doubt on both evolution and the validity of radiometric dating methods. It is due to all these difficulties that the finding of Tiktaalik is such a big deal. All we need to do now is find more of them. Good luck Dr. Shubin!

The Field kept us occupied for a couple hours and then it was a quick bite to eat at the Corner Bakery in the museum (quite delicious actually). After our brief rest we headed further out onto the pier to the Adler Planetarium which was free that day. Unfortunately, our time there was all too brief since we had to make our way up to Lincoln Park in time to catch our Second City show. I mean to go back there at some point. I've always been a space geek and this planetarium, though geared towards young people, ain't half bad.

The Second City is an improvisational comedy club whose reputation stems from the fact that many well-known and beloved comedians (from Jim Belushi to Tina Fey) got their start/big break by being on the SC cast. "Second City" is also a nickname for Chicago since, for the longest time, Chicago was "second" after New York City in terms of population and size. Currently, Los Angeles holds the title of "second city" though Chicago could reclaim the name if it wins the bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.

As this post is getting rather lengthy, I'll continue the rest of the story in the next one.

Would you believe they put a man on the moon?

2008-07-20T18:25:00.001-05:00

A brief departure from the story that still needs telling...

Today, July 20th, 2008, marks the 39th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969). The mission accomplished what John F. Kennedy dared the country to achieve over 9 years earlier in 1960. The mission was historic on many levels (first human landing on an extraterrestrial body being perhaps the most significant of them), and yet it saddens me that many people doubt it ever happened and believe that our presence in space is now just fulfilling some antiquated and somewhat misguided dream.

What about all the problems here on Earth? some will argue. Shouldn't we be more concerned with ending poverty, curing infectious diseases, stopping wars, etc than spending tax dollars to send up yet another space shuttle, yet another satellite, yet another telescope, yet another human being on the greatest adventure our species has ever undertaken.

To leave one's home is a universally recognized sign of maturity and independence. Species that travel around in troops (chimpanzees for example) routinely send out either male or female members once they "come of age" to find another troop to join, thus keeping the gene pool well mixed and reducing friction at home. For mankind to leave Earth's land, sea, and air is a feat achievable by no other extant species and one accomplished by no extinct species either. Nature abhors a vacuum and thus no known living thing can exist in the harshest of all environments. Even Thermus aquaticus, a hardy bacterium whose ability to thrive and survive in water at temperatures between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit allowed for the development of polymerase chain reaction technology (discussed in a an earlier post) that has revolutionized modern biology could not survive in a vacuum. Even the phantasmagoric creatures that inhabit the darkest depths (miles down) of the ocean where pressures can be hundreds of times what we feel at the Earth's surface could not survive in a vacuum.

But lauding the merits of the manned space program is a topic for another day. For now, the 39th anniversary of the moon landing should be a reminder that even the seemingly impossible can be achieved in a short amount of time if there are enough dedicated minds, hearts, hands, and dollars to the cause. This week, ex-Vice President Al Gore delivered a challenge reminiscent of JFK's proclamation to the nation nearly 50 years ago.

Gore delivered his address at a time of impending economic recession, two wars without end, a presidential election year, a disastrous housing crisis, long-delayed recognition of the crumbling infrastructure throughout the nation, genocide in Darfur, nuclear fears in Iran and North Korea, possible war between Thailand and Cambodia, increasingly armed and friendly China and Russia, and the weakest dollar in decades. In spite of all these ills, Al Gore wants us to save...the environment? Now why on earth should be worried about the Earth's health and condition when our own health and standard of living is being threatened by so many forces? Why? Because of a simple idea few seem to recognize with any immediacy or profundity: without a healthy planet there can be no healthy life or adequate standard of living for any of us, no matter how rich or entitled we may be.

If people in America think gas prices are bad now (~$4 a gallon), imagine how they'll feel when those oil reserves start drying up and everyone, including people in China, India, and Africa once disregarded as potential consumers in older calculations, is still clamoring for more and more oil. But if we can free ourselves from the chains of petroleum we can not only avoid that kind of energy crisis, but more importantly remove the yoke of OPEC and its member dictatorships from around our neck and breathe the air of freedom certain individuals in our administration are trying so hard to instill in many of those nations.

So how does the environment factor into all this? It's no coincidence that "environmentally friendly" practices (from waste disposal to energy generation to transportation, etc) use fewer resources of all types, including energy. The best way to eventually do away with our dependence on fossil fuels is to reduce that dependence first. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Those simple three R's that everyone's heard but few truly heed. For far too many people:

#1 unthinkable--> I want more stuff, not less.
#2 distasteful--> I want new stuff, not old stuff.
#3 inconvenient--> I can't spare the time or effort to sort my trash, and there are no recycling bins near me.

Al Gore is leading a movement to change this way of thinking, because without a new trend of environmentally conscious behavior the planet and all its inhabitants will turn into the dystopia pictured in WALL-E.

Enough ranting. The moral of my story: let's do for the Earth what we did for man in space. If we succeed in this venture, future generations won't have to doubt that our mission was ever accomplished. They will be living proof it did.

Saturday, 14 Jun

2008-07-20T17:12:00.003-05:00

I woke up earlier this morning than usual for a very special reason....the family was going to arrive soon! No sooner do I get out of the shower and am ready to wash my hair I get a phone call from Sachi saying they're about a half hour away from the city and would call again to clarify directions as they needed them. I quickly dried my hair, got dressed in my brand new UChicago shirt and after informing Bonnie and Jeffrey to expect my fam, I skipped down the steps to wait outside. Fortunately, it was a glorious day. Now the definition of "glorious' weather obviously varies from person to person, but I feel few could have argued with my definition today. Fluffy, sculpted clouds drifted lazily across and otherwise perfectly empty azure sky; a gentle breeze stirred the leaves whose whispers were frequently interrupted by chirps from robins to cardinals and other species I couldn't recognize. The temperature was perfect in the lower 70s F. In short, it was truly a glorious day and quite a pleasant change from the 90+ temps they were leaving back in Cary, NC.

I scan the streets in all cardinal directions for our gray Odyssey and after a few minutes spot one a block over heading too far north. I'm sure it's them and laugh because they clearly missed their turn but will realize it soon. Sure enough, a few seconds later I get a call from Sachi informing me they went a little far and am heading back down to me. Finally, the van cruises down Greenwood Ave and grinning from ear to ear I guide them to a good parking spot. Reunited at last!! I'm engulfed in a succession of bear hugs from everyone and then it's time to unload and head upstairs. So much stuff! It feels like I'm moving in all over again. B&J give my folks a warm welcome and while they all chat, I drag the goodies into my room to start unpacking. Chuckrie, shrikhand, kofta, paneer, nuts of all kinds, my Indiana Jones hat!, the treats just keep coming...

After driving so long, I knew they wouldn't mind some exercise so I take them on a jaunt around campus and my lab (the one I was officially leaving but still had a key, and permission, to give a tour). I forgot this was also graduation weekend and so the quad was filled with students in black gowns, parents in their Sunday best, and lots of food and drinks under tents. Thinking that usually big crowds = full restaurants I hurry us over to Noodles, Etc to beat the people I'm sure would be hot on our heels. Fortunately, the place was only half full and we get a nice spot by the window. Sure enough, no sooner do we get our orders then the place starts filling up with all the grads and their families. Whew! That was a close call. After eating, I thought walking down to the lake might be nice so we take a nice stroll along 57th street until we cross over to the greenbelt.

We relax on the rocks for a bit and then head back home along 53rd this time so they could see one of the other major commercial streets in Hyde Park. It's tea (and nap for Mom) time at home so we brew up some refreshments and sit around chatting for a bit. At the same time, my neighbor (and professor) Marcus Peter was having a celebration downstairs to mark his son's graduation, daughter's birthday, and his and his wife Andy's new US citizenship. After everyone was rested, we head downstairs for a little while so that Marcus could meet my folks. I see a couple other professors (including one of my favorites, Kay MacLeod) there and introduce them to my folks. It's nice to see them in a completely non-academic context.

After hanging out at the party for a bit it's time to pack my things and head into town before going to our hotel (six people in a two-bedroom, 3 person place for a week would have been a bit much, and it will give B&J some time alone that they haven't really had since I moved in). Sachi found a placed called The Italian Village in downtown Chicago that was a bigger deal than I think any of us realized until we got there. The layout was spectacular: lots of little booths and alcoves that both created a sense of space and made the restaurant feel more intimate...rather paradoxical but it worked. We are promptly led to a little alcove and enjoy a fine meal without the crowd and noise one is used to in restaurants. This place takes the idea that ambience and decor can make or break a dining experience seriously and to wonderful effect.

Dinner over, we drive out to our hotel which is about 30-40 minutes from the city. We're pretty beat from a long day so tuck in early and call it a night.

End of Term and the Family (most of it) Visits

2008-07-06T01:15:00.001-05:00

Finally, spring quarter officially ended for me on June 13th. Although classes were over the week before, as I mentioned I spent exam week in lab so technically my quarter didn't end until I finished that last real-time. Grades-wise I fared pretty well; two passes, one A, one B, and one (the rotation) I don't have the results for yet. B's are common, A's are rare, so we'll see.

But let's forget about school work for now...and until September (except for research which I'll be discussing periodically). The following posts will chronicle the week from June 13th to the 21st that I spent with most of my family, i.e. Sachi and my parents, in and around Chicagoland [Saket, that poor guy, was starting his first full week at Apple, Inc out in the Valley at a sweet internship with their iPod hardware division...yes, let's all feel very sorry for him :)].

Success at last!

2008-06-21T18:39:00.001-05:00

If you recall, on my last post I had said that none of my experiments had really worked. Well, as of Friday the 13th, all of that changed...

In my final week in Dr. Dolan's lab, which also coincided with finals week (which wasn't a big deal since I only had one take home final to work on), I decided that it would be worthwhile to repeat my knockdown experiment one last time, except with a few changes: 1) shorter time point of 6 hours vs. 24 hours, 2) added the siRNA to the nucleofection 96-well plate before adding the cells+NFS mixture, 3) allowed the cells to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature in the hood before adding pre-warmed media after the nucleofection, and 4) pooled four wells per sample instead of two.

On top of changes to the protocol, my technique was solid on the RNA isolation, RT-PCR, and real-time PCR. My RNA yield was the best it'd been all quarter, and my real-time results were not only beautiful but more importantly were believable because the standard curves (for the standards and samples) had a slope of about -3.4 which is much closer to the ideal -3.3 that's expected for totally pure cDNA.

So what was the final result? At the highest concentrations tested (40 and 60 pmol), I saw an almost 80% decrease in CYP1B1 RNA for both cell lines after 6 hours of transfection. These results are very exciting since it shows that transfection is possible with these LCLs (otherwise considered a very difficult system in which to transfect siRNA) and that the vector system we've chosen (96-well, the particular program and NFS) are workable, if not necessarily optimal, choices.

The next step is to carefully note any and all the changes to the protocol I made (some of which were really just reverting back to what Amaxa, the supplier of the transfection stuff, recommended) and then explain those to others in the lab. Woohoo!

Real-time PCR

2008-06-13T00:38:00.001-05:00

So I've taken you from cells to RNA to DNA, now it's time to find out whether my siRNA knockdown experiment actually worked. What real-time PCR does is implied in the name; it provides information about the quantity of a particular gene (or genes) at the time the assay is performed. The PCR part comes from the fact that while during the reverse-transcription step we use random primers to amplify all the RNA in our sample, this time we want to only amplify particular genes so we use special primers for them. What makes these primers special? Let's say they give the reaction a special glow.

A company, Applied Biosystems, has developed a system (or perfected it), in which a special probe with a colored dye and a quencher (a compound that masks the dye) is affixed to one end of the primer (a small stretch of DNA that will anneal to one end of a gene of interest) such that when the DNA polymerase enzyme that adds DNA nucleotides together runs into it, the probe is cleaved and the dye and its quencher are separated such that when the sample is excited, light is emitted which is read by a detector. This cleavage, excitation, and light emission occurs during each cycle, so the more of the target DNA there is, the more light will be emitted and thus read by the machine. Make sense? Multiple dyes for multiple genes can be added to each sample. In our case, we want to know the levels for our gene of interest, CYP1B1, and a housekeeping "standard" gene (HKG), huB2M, that lets us know the quality of cDNA we're testing and to control for any extra high overall gene expression in our cells (which is a frequent issue with tumor cells, though our LCLs are from normal, healthy individuals).

Once the samples are read, fold-change is assessed by dividing the amount of CYP1B1 by the amount of the HKG, and then dividing our concentrations by the 0 pmol (control) sample. If things work as they should, we expect to see a dose-dependent decrease in CYP1B1 in cells receiving the siRNA such that the higher the concentration of siRNA added, the lower the resulting gene expression.

My experiments, unfortunately, did not work. I got crazy fold-change numbers such that for one cell line I first saw a knockdown of about 40% and then two weeks later saw a 1×10^7 (that's 10 million fold) increase in expression! Crazy. Naturally, I repeated the experiment and will get my results tomorrow. Later!

RT-PCR

2008-05-16T22:39:00.001-05:00

"Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction" is a five-word mouthful for something more easily said in four simple words: "turning RNA into DNA." The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) single-tubedly revolutionized molecular biology and changed the pace of research in the field forever. It was such an important development that like many other important scientific techniques (including electron microscopy and centrifugation (here called "disperse systems)), it won the Nobel Prize in 1993 and rightfully so. In short, what PCR does is turn a very small amount of DNA into a lot of DNA, still microscopic of course but enough that scientists can actually work with and manipulate it. Here's a video of the process.

The "reverse transcription" means a lot of what it implies. Just as I said how transcription was turning DNA into RNA, the reverse of that process turns RNA into DNA. Viruses are unique in terms of "living" things (viruses are technically not considered living because they need a host in which to reproduce) because some of them use RNA (single stranded or double stranded) as their genetic blueprint instead of DNA (like we and every other organism in every kingdom of life do). HIV is one such example of an RNA-virus. As suggested, these viruses have the natural ability to turn RNA into DNA, a process they need to do in order to integrate their genetic material into that of their hosts'. To do our research, we borrow the special enzyme they use called "reverse transcriptase." It's actually quite remarkable how many uses scientists have for viruses and their products.

So for RT-PCR, instead of the normal DNA polymerase (an enzyme that joins DNA nucleotides together), we use reverse transcriptase. And since we want to convert all of our RNA into DNA (all of the genes), we use random primers (short sequences of nucleotides that specific a part of the genome to amplify) instead of specific ones (those come into play later when we hone into one gene).

Unlike the laborious process of RNA isolation, RT-PCR is quite simple and is just me making up a mix, aliquoting it into tubes with my RNA, then throwing all those tubes into a machine that does the heating and cooling (cycling) for me according to a program a lab mate set up. All I have to do is come back in a couple hours and boom, collect my DNA. Kinda like magic. Then again, a lot of science seems like magic....

Next up: Real-time PCR!

RNA Isolation

2008-05-16T22:05:00.001-05:00

So I left off talking about we artificially reduce protein levels (be reducing levels of the template) and what we hope to see from that. Now, briefly, I'll describe how we can tell those protein levels have gone down to the extent that we want them to.

First step, isolating the total RNA from the cells. Think of this step as a lot like panning for gold. You're standing in the middle of the river, with your pan in hand, and scoop up a good mound of the river bed. In it are pebbles, sand, tiny microorganisms, some plant matter, maybe some pieces of pollution, and of course some tiny nuggets of gold. The quality of the gold doesn't matter right now, you just want everything with Au atoms in it. So how do you separate the yellow stuff from everything else? First you shake the pan rather vigorously, then as more and more of the junk falls out you sift more slowly and carefully, occasionally washing the pan with water. Finally, after shaking and washing, you see clinging to your netting tiny little nuggets of gold that you then store into well sealed containers for later analysis.

And now back to RNA. Much like the example, RNA isolation is a process that ranges from the rough and tumble to soft and gentle. Cells from the nucleofection plate are pipetted up, put into tiny centrifuge tubes, spun down at about 100g until they form a pellet, and are dropped into liquid nitrogen where they are flash frozen. (By the way, liquid N2 remains hands down the coolest reagent in science. Though I've handled it many times now, it never gets old).

After the cells are frozen (in which all the liquid around them gets frozen or evaporated off too), they are resuspended in a solution that breaks up the cells to release all their contents. The tubes are spun again so all the heavy stuff (proteins, etc) sink to the bottom while the light stuff (DNA, RNA), stay at the top. The tubes we use are two-chambered in that the bottom chamber collects eluent that flows down from the top chamber. Near the middle of the top chamber is a special filter to which nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) can cling but nothing else can. This way it is easy to discard everything but the nucleic acids throughout the process.

Once protein and nucleic acids are separated, it's time to get rid of DNA since we're not interested in it. We use a tube that has a specific filter for DNA that traps it while letting RNA through. Keep in mind none of these steps are perfect, but these macromolecules are different enough such that these separation methods really work quite well. To get just RNA, it's a matter of washing with various solvents and spinning the tubes many times in a centrifuge. At the end, we get about 2.5 or more micrograms of RNA (that 2.5 millionths of a gram). Very, very small amounts of material here. Once we've got our RNA suspended in water, we throw into the freezer at -80 C until we're ready for the next step: reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, also known as RT-PCR.

What I Do in Lab, continued

2008-04-30T21:09:00.001-05:00

It's interesting, but sometimes I feel as though the New York Times and I are strangely in sync with one another, especially in regards to their articles about science topics. Just yesterday I found these two articles, Genes Explain Race Disparity in Response to a Heart Drug and A Genetics Pioneer Sees a Bright Future, Cautiously
that made me pause for a moment. It was pharmacogenomics in mainstream news. Hooray! See? What I'm working on isn't so obscure after all. For current "real-world" applications of the kind of stuff I'm working on, please read these articles.

Anyway, back to my work. So I talked about how we aim to decrease the levels of a particular drug-clearing enzyme to make the cells we treat more sensitive to our chemo agent. The next thing I should explain is how we actually go about manipulating levels of said enzyme.

First, a brief lesson in molecular biology. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is considered to be the "code of life" as it prescribes nearly all the information required for organisms in all five kingdoms of life to fulfill the requirements of life, i.e. grow, reproduce, survive, etc. Living things, however, are not made of DNA alone (obviously). The information coded in DNA proceeds along the path to proteins (what we actually see and feel in living things, i.e. skin, hair, etc) through an intermediary molecule known as RNA, or ribonucleic acid. DNA and RNA are very closely related but have significantly different properties which suits them for their particular roles. RNA is much less stable (it's single-stranded instead of double-stranded) and is usually rapidly degraded after it's produced (compared to DNA which lasts until the cell dies). The type of RNA I'm interested in in particular is messenger RNA, or mRNA. The "messenger" bit comes from a famous molecular biologist who likened that molecule to a "messenger from God" for it's role in transducing DNA's message (so much for all scientists being determinedly irreligious!). What does the RNA send its divine message to? Structures called ribosomes which are synthesis stations in which mRNA is used as a template off of which proteins are built.

If you consider the percent composition of living things, we are possibly 99.9980% protein, 0.0015% RNA, and 0.0005% DNA. Do not take these percentages for fact; I literally made them up just for a sense of scale. But I digress.

If we want to knockdown protein levels, there are three conceivable ways we can go about doing that. One is to alter the gene (DNA) to make a substandard protein that doesn't do its job so well. Another would be to break down the final protein or inhibit its activity somehow by making it stick to another protein or small molecular (this is actually how many new fancy drugs work). A final way, and the way we're using, is to go after the mRNA and reduce its levels such that the protein isn't made in normal quantities in the first place.

Back in the early 1990s, two labs headed by molecular biologists Craig Mello and Andrew Fire discovered an incredibly potent viral defense mechanism in the roundworm C. elegans in which foreign RNA (many viruses have RNA instead of DNA as their primary "code of life"; bit of a misnomer here since viruses are technically not considered living things) was rapidly degraded by a unique type of RNA produced by the worm's cells. This defense mechanism had already been identified in plants, but what made Mello and Fire special (and eventually Nobel laureates) was their insight that could harness that natural defense mechanism to attack any RNA of their choice. This technique, called RNAi (short for RNA interference), won them the Nobel Prize in 2006 (just over a decade after their discovery) and is an extremely common and invaluable laboratory technique. (If you care to find an earlier post I made back in winter 2007, you can read about my experience of actually meeting Dr. Mello at the Field Museum here in Chicago).

Back to the lab. The siRNA experiment is actually quite simple:
1) I siphon off the volume of cell suspension I'll need from the flasks in which they grow (the cells we use, lymphoblastoid cells, do not grow flat on plates but suspended in media...think Guild Navigators for you Dune fans, except these cells fortunately can't bend space).
2) I then spin down the cells to form a tiny pellet that I then wash with a simple pH neutral solution to remove any remaining media.
3) Spin again to make a new, cleaner pellet.
4) Now I add in a "nucleofection solution" which basically makes lots of tiny holes in the cells such that stuff can get in, but they still stay alive.
5) I carefully plate these hole-ridden cells onto a dish full of tiny wells.
6) Quickly, else the cells will die, I add in my siRNA solution that is full of those attacking RNA molecules. Since I wish to knockdown the CYP1B1 protein, the siRNA I use is specific for the mRNA for that protein.
7) Once the cells have been dosed with the siRNA, I place them in a machine where they are "zapped" with an electric pulse to make the cells take up the siRNA. This takes seconds.
8) Once the cells are zapped, I give them some warm media and stick them in the incubator for some minutes to let them recover from the shock (a pun, haha).
9) Once they've relaxed a bit, I plate them out onto a new dish and add some more media so that they will be happy.
10) At a predetermined time point, in my case 24 and 48 hours after plating, I'll scoop up those cells and go on to the next experimental step: RNA isolation.

All in all the nucleofection takes approximately 2 hours from start to finish. Not too bad, considering I performed an RNA isolation today which took approximately 4.5 hours, so I'm not exactly in the mood to describe that right now...but I will do so tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Spring Quarter Rotation, or What I Do in Lab

2008-04-30T20:21:00.001-05:00

Over the course of the next seven weeks, I will frequently post "in lab" as an away message or respond as such if I am called during working hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So what am I doing in lab? Allow me to explain (both the why and what such a question might address):

As a first-year cancer biology grad student at the University of Chicago, I am required to complete two 10-week (whole quarter) rotations or time-periods in a research laboratory run by a professor on the cancer biology committee (though not necessarily exclusively so). Shortly before I arrived on campus last September, I was surfing through faculty research pages in search of a potential PI (principal investigator) to rotate with. I found Eileen Dolan's page and just needed to see "identify genetic determinants contributing to cellular susceptibility to chemotherapeutic agents" before I was hooked. I immediately emailed Dr. Dolan and set up an appointment with her just two days after I would arrive in Chicago. Our meeting went well, and she agreed to let me rotate with her in the spring.

The months passed amazingly quickly and before I knew it, spring break was over and spring quarter was starting! The week before break I attended lab meeting (for those who don't know, these are weekly sessions in which a lab member or members present their work and receive feedback on it from the rest of the lab, especially the PI) and learned that I would continue a project started by another grad student who was just finishing her rotation. I owe much already to Nora for doing a lot of the grunt work (optimizing a protocol...more on that later) and letting me have all the fun.

My, rather our, project is to decrease the expression of a particular drug metabolizing enzyme, CYP1B1, in lymphoblastoid cell lines that highly express that enzyme and see if these cells become more sensitive to the chemotherapy agent daunorubicin. The hypothesis is that high expression of this drug clearing enzyme allows these cells to render the chemo useless (breaking it down very quickly, etc) and thus escape cell death. If we can decrease the amount of the enzyme in these cells (by decreasing the mRNA which in turn would decrease protein levels), then these cells should die more readily (at lower drug concentrations) than they do otherwise. I'll go later into the science specifics of how we decrease expression and dose with the drug.

Why is this project relevant, you might ask? The vast majority of chemotherapy agents must be processed by the liver in order to become biologically active. Many over-the-counter and prescription drugs work the same way. When the drug enters the body, it reaches the bloodstream through intestinal lining (unless administered intravenously) and then travels through the liver before continuing on to the rest of the body. The liver is such an important organ (and not surprisingly the largest internal organ) because it processes all the circulating blood in the entire body. It detoxifies and cleanses blood continuously (which is why the only solution for a hangover is time; the liver can only process all that alcohol, i.e. toxin, so fast). There is a superfamily of enzymes found primarily in the liver known as the Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) family. These enzymes handle the vast majority of toxins and foreign agents the liver processes, including drugs.

Proper drug formulation is crucial for its activity since these enzymes modify the compounds in certain ways and in short try their best to inactivate or destroy them (hard for the body to distinguish friend from foe: while you can train your eyes to tolerate contact lenses you can't train your liver to be nice to certain things and attack others). Knowing this, drug companies formulate their drugs such that they usually must be modified in some way to actually work. Just popping the pill in your mouth does nothing; it must travel through the liver and then reach its target through the bloodstream. You can determine how long this takes by measuring the time between you take a painkiller and when you start feeling relief (it takes me about an hour with Advil, but I have no idea if that's typical...) Anyway, chemo agents must be processed by the liver to work.

The catch, however, is that not all livers can process drugs the same way because each person has a slightly different set or variation of the CYP450 enzymes. This variation is caused by the genetics that make us 99.97% alike and yet still 0.03% different. As a result, while some people can process a particular drug well such that it gains proper activity, others cannot process it and that drug does not work for them and can potentially build up to unsafe concentrations in their body (chemo agents in particular are very nasty; you don't really want them at the therapeutic concentration much less anything higher, especially when they're not really working anyway!) The enzyme we're working on, CYP1B1, is a member of this family and studies have implicated its role in conferring resistance to daunorubicin. Thus, we postulate, if we can lower the activity of this enzyme we can let the dauno be processed the way it should to properly kill the cell. Make sense?

Ok, so that's a good bit of background. On my next post I'll explain how I will go about testing our hypothesis. Cheers!

To catch up: Finals Week(s)

2008-04-13T18:38:00.001-05:00

Losing Eve six weeks ago hurt, a lot. That loss along with being truly and insanely busy with finals (enough that I probably lost about five pounds and made myself sick), rather took blogging further off my mind than unfortunately it normally is (unfortunate for those few yet faithful readers). In return, I promise to be more diligent and keep this updated every few days.

So, how did winter quarter end? I survived, to say the least, and managed to pull out a few surprises for myself. I scored two A's and one B, which is an improvement over my one A and two B's from last quarter. Guess what I plan to get this spring J? The B came from Fundamentals of Molecular Biology, which is actually quite sad considering how relatively elementary that class was compared to Cell Biology of autumn quarter (what I consider quite possibly the hardest class I've ever taken, period, except perhaps orgo one and two). The A's were in Cancer Biology II, in which a B would have been not only downright embarrassing but pathetic! My A was a pretty good one nonetheless, certainly one of the top three in the class (a rare statement from me about a science class since high school; to be fair I've done but seldom superlatively well unlike in some of my English classes).

The second A was in Signal Transduction which went from being possibly the easiest to the scariest to the easiest class on Earth all in the space of a few short weeks. To begin with, the three cancer biology students in that class (myself, Kelly, and Tanmayi) were there because we were told there would only be one exam and a take-home at that. Score! This is what we thought for about the first half of the quarter, a thought that allowed me to guilt-free zone out a bit during some of the more tedious lectures. Then, after checking with the TA that "this class really is just going to have a take-home final, right?" We're told, "no, we're changing it this year since so many people skipped class last year." Frak! The next few weeks went by in a bit of a panic that was accompanied by furious and diligent note-taking. Now comes the week before finals. Tuesday is the review session and Thursday the in-class final. I bring with me all 8 weeks of notes which were derived from the wood pulp of an entire acre. Instead of our usual classroom, we find ourselves in a conference room with a video from a Nobel Prize-winning lecturer ready to begin. What was going on? To allay our fears, our professor informs us that due to "excellent attendance", they've decided to make the final take-home after all. A collective sigh of relief exhaled from the students and suddenly the day become a whole lot brighter. I was saved! The final ended up being five questions and required just five lectures (out of 16) to answer. All in all it probably took me just over two hours, and most of that time was spent flipping through pages to find the pathway I needed. Total length? Just fewer than three pages (compared to the eight of my cancer biology take-homes). I don't know the final distribution for that class (there were only eight of us in it), but I must say I am grateful for my A despite not being as attentive (or smart) as most of the other people in there.

As for my other classes, Can Bio II wrapped up well yet rather hectically. My poster presentation went fine (I could have been more prepared, but still did well) though getting my final in nearly gave me a heart attack. The Friday before we were informed that our final would be due no later than 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18 (the poster session was the 17^th). Since I mostly worked on the poster/studied for Mol Bio over the weekend, I didn't devote much time to the final except doing some background research on the questions. So I get home on the 17^th around 1:15 to find an email from my TA asking that our finals be sent in no later than 3 p.m. so she can distribute them to our professors. Needless to say, I almost had a cardiac infarction and immediately informed my TA of what our professor said. I went on to spend the next nearly 12 hours typing away almost without break. The final product wasn't my best, but at least it was done. Considering I headed into the final with almost the highest grade in the class, I wasn't too worried…

Anyway, enough about classes. Next post: spring break!

Blogging with Microsoft Word…

2008-04-12T18:39:00.001-05:00

Who would have thought that two huge rivals, Google and Microsoft, could team up (at least on some level) to let users of both companies' products do something fun and useful? Blogger, a very popular blogging resource owned by Google is compatible with a new "Blog Post" feature in Microsoft Word 2007. This means I can type any document I want in Word (like what I'm doing right now), click "publish," and voila! My doc gets posted to my Blogger page smoothly and beautifully.

Why does this matter? For one, it lets me write and save blog posts before I publish them in a secure and familiar program. Instead of a normal Word doc, something I've used before, now when I'm ready I can post from Word directly instead of copying my text into Blogger's "add post" feature. Probably the best part of this feature, though, is my ability to publish anything I can normally put into a Word doc to my blog. By this I mean an Excel spreadsheet, Powerpoint graphics, Word tables and graphics, equations, other images, you name it, all without formatting troubles you often get by moving between different programs.

Why I am excited about this? It's because I'm a total geek and increasingly big fan of the new Microsoft Office 2007 suite. Vista, from what I've heard, was pretty much a total bust but Office '07 carries the day in my book…

Eve Marie Carson, 1985-2008

2008-03-07T01:37:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday, March 5, 2008, in the early hours of the morning, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the world at large lost a soul whose light burned with the fierceness and warmth of a thousand suns. Eve Marie Carson, beloved daughter, sister, friend, mentor, colleague, peer, and human being, was shot and killed in an unspeakable crime that awaits resolution. Here's a press release from the university.

I found out about Eve from my sister, Sachi, who called me with the awful news this afternoon as I was heading home from class. I had about 10 minutes to digest the information before reaching my computer. It wasn't until I saw her picture on UNC's main page that the horrible, horrible truth became real for me. While I cannot claim to have known Eve Carson particularly well, we did speak on several occasions during the three years we both attended UNC.

I met Eve during an event about science hosted by the Honors Program. While I do not remember the specifics, I remember the impression Eve, just a freshman new to the university, made on me at the time. I could tell, literally in just minutes, that she was someone special and capable of a great things. It wasn't her charming smile or intelligence that made itself known the moment she opened her mouth. It was her exuberant enthusiasm to be wherever she was at the moment that really struck me. Fearless, she questioned a well-known professor about the event immediately afterward. Her actions made me wish I had been so bold the year before.

As a fellow biology major, I was lucky enough to have Eve in one of my classes, Ecology and Population Genetics (Biol 54 at the time and some other number now). Ever the engaged student, Eve asked numerous intelligent questions throughout the course. While her attentiveness to detail and willingness to challenge ideas impressed me, it clearly annoyed my professor (who I shall not name out of professional courtesy) who behaved increasingly disdainful and rude toward Eve during the course of the class. One day I remember particularly well: I was in the restroom after class and heard a girl walk in talking on her cell phone. I recognized Eve's voice immediately. I could tell she was practically in tears and no wonder given how exceptionally rude the professor had been that day. How could he have been so blind to what I could clearly see in her? That this was a young woman who would excel in everything she attempted, that she was a gem among rocks who would shine in just a short amount of time. I hated the professor for the rest of the year and have thought back on those days with lingering ire, especially since I watched how far Eve rose in the following years.

My active involvement with Hunger Lunch, now Nourish International, had diminished by the time Eve rose to prominence within that group, so I cannot comment on her accomplishments firsthand, but know that she certainly invigorated the group with an enthusiasm that she brought to everything she did.

The last conversation I had with Eve occurred my senior year during an event in which a writer and producer from the show "The Office" was giving a talk to students. The room was crowded but I managed to get a nice seat up front. Eve was in the middle of a run for Student Body President at the time which made her a very recognizable face to everyone and a major draw of attention. Just my luck, she sat down in the open seat next to me. I congratulated her on her successes to that point and thought that, poor girl, she can barely enjoy herself without dozens of people watching her every move. I asked about summer plans and the usual chit-chat given the semester was almost over. I also, to my regret, asked her what separated her from the other candidates. She had been making her case for weeks so why did I have to hear it personally? Maybe because I wanted to listen to her again, almost three years later, and see if the diamond I found before still sparkled. Maybe I wanted her to sound good for any eavesdroppers. Maybe I should have been nicer, more considerate, and treat her like a normal person instead of a candidate.

But Eve was not just another normal person: she was extraordinary in ways that cause paradigm shifts, in ways that restore one's faith in humanity, in ways that make you feel proud to have known her. A friend of mine remarked how incredible it was that her death, though one day surely her life would have too, became a cover story on CNN. How many of us, hubris aside, claim the same? Not that "CNN-making" be one's goal in life (or in death), but it should be one's goal to touch lives, be involved, make a difference, brighten at least one corner of this vast landscape we call the world in some way. To lead, inspire, teach, assist, encourage, sympathize, sacrifice...these are all things each of us can do to make the world around us just a little better, a little less dark.

The warmth and light of an extraordinary human being was cruelly extinguished this week. Eve Marie Carson, my condolences to your family and friends, and to every heart and mind you ever touched. You left an indelible impression on me, and for that I am grateful and honored. Thank you.

The Next Three Weeks

2008-03-01T17:50:00.001-06:00

I may post sporadically during the next three weeks. The end of the quarter is all too rapidly approaching and I've got lots on my plate, including:

1) Discussion paper for Fundamentals (March 3)
2) Science Olympiad regional tournament (March 8)
3) 20+ page (dbl space) paper due for Cancer Biology II (March 10)
4) Discussion paper for Fundamentals (March 10)
3) Final exam for Signal Transduction (March 13)
4) Poster presentation for Cancer Biology II (March 17)
5) Final exam for Cancer Biology II (March 17)
6) Final exam for Fundamentals of Molecular Biology (March TBD)

So, yeah, it's going to a rough fortnight and half, but you know what, this is part of what graduate school is all about. At least the bright light at the end of my tunnel is coming home to Mom whom I haven't seen since September 3rd!!! Not to mention it'll be nice to escape the tundra and get some Carolina (a little North and South) sunshine before spring :).

In other news, Megha Bisarya (dear little Megha), will be moving to Chicago in July! Hooray! Also, the WaterPLUS project got 2nd place at a entrepreneurship competition at the University of Washington. Huzzah!

All right, back to work. Cheers!

Oh my it's been a while!!

2008-02-23T15:51:00.001-06:00

I am sorry for not posting in what, three months now? How oh how will you, dear readers, ever forgive me for such a travesty? I guess I can win back your love and trust by posting a recap to make up for time lost:

Dec:
1. Took my first finals and finished my first quarter as a UC graduate student. Huzzah! In celebration of my last exam, I wandered around campus for about an hour taking pictures of the snow and ice that covered the ground. You can find those on Facebook.
2. Flew back to NC to spend a wonderful break with my family. It was ~70 degrees when I got off the plane, compared to the 26 degrees I left. Glorious!
3. Anna graduated from CH. Congratulations!!!
4. Visited some friends at CH for a crazy (not really) night out the same day Saket came home from San Fran. I was just tipsy (Greg) and NOT drunk: I have never been "drunk" in my life, and certainly don't plan on becoming so anytime soon!
5. Dad came home from India the day before our birthday. Such goodness!
6. Turned 23 and was treated to a delightful birthday by some dear friends.
7. Discovered the deliciousness of pita chips + hummus.
8. I read a LOT: Quicksilver (Neal Stephenson), Les Miserables (Victor Hugo, the unabridged version), The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman), Heretics of Dune (Frank Herbert), Atonement (Ian McEwan), The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan)...totally ~4,000 pages of text. Woohoo!
9. Attended "First Night Raleigh" for the first time since living in Cary for almost nine years. Got my picture taken next to a giant acorn (which was later featured on CNN, no less) and listened to an excellent Beatles cover band before watching an amusing though underwhelming improv comedy show.

Jan:
1. Went out to dinner with some friends in med school at CH and others around Cary at La Hacienda in Chapel Hill. What an amazing group of individuals! Shannon lent me some books which I'm slowly but surely working through. Thanks Mahoney!
2. Flew back to Chicago to spend a few days getting used to the Windy City before the start of winter quarter on the 7th.
3. Went to see a "Star Wars" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago. I love how that museum is just a twenty minute walk from where I live. I think I posted about the show earlier, but let me tell you, it was spectacular! This is me letting my geek flag fly real high, I know, but I'm just such a "Star Wars" nut. It was delightful to get to see actual props from the movies, including the original Han Solo and Chewie outfits, along with the original C-3PO and R2-D2 costumes. Amazing!! Not to mention the scaled models of the famous ships, from Luke's X-wing to Imperial Star Destroyers. The attendees were mostly middle-aged people with lots of little kids who grew up with the new trilogy instead of the old. I felt like I had more in common with the 40-somethings who actually knew and loved the old movies than the teenagers who looked like they would rather be anywhere else. If they only knew what they were missing! You can see pictures of the exhibit on Facebook.
4. Classes started the next day (Monday). A new quarter, another chance to shine. Bonnie was away in India for a couple weeks in December and flew back to NY on the 1st. She got in late on Tuesday (I think). I had spent a good bit of the weekend cooking (enchiladas, lasagna, stir fry = delicious!) so she didn't have to worry about food for a bit. It was nice catching up on our respective breaks and I was dying to hear about her impressions of India. Sounds like it was a pretty positive trip overall (except for the inevitable bout of illness) and of course wonderful for her to visit her beloved betrothed Jeffrey who's studying in Rajasthan.
5. School's going fine. My cancer biology class is great (molecular mechanisms), my cell bio is all right, though Ursula Storb is a fantastic lecturer, and signal transduction is useful though not terribly exciting.

Feb:
1. Went on a fantastic ski trip with Kevin and his friends at Northwestern. Got to meet some great new people, and discovered another ERS opponent! Enjoyed the best day of skiing I've ever had, despite having not skied since high school...I even took down a black diamond (ok, it was a Wisconsin black diamond, but it still counts in my book). Only fell once, but in line for the BD, not on the slopes: exceptionally embarrassing given the fact that I literally just toppled over without anyone/anything touching me, and that Kev and I had said just seconds before that the folks in this line were the better skiers on the slopes (the line was only for blue square and black diamond). I guess I proved us wrong! Had a great time cooking food and talking with everyone. Thank you so much NU Mat Sci people for such a great time!
2. The Giants won the Super Bowl! I'm sure everyone knows this already, but I was super excited to see them win: not because I'm a huge Giants fan (though my mom is) but more because I could not bear to watch a cheating team win football's biggest prize. I don't hate the Patriots because they win, but because they cheated and tried to hide evidence. As a non-athletic person, I have tremendous respect for athletes and the feats they accomplish in sports. I also have no tolerance for cheaters, which is why Floyd Landis deserved to be stripped of his Tour de France win, which is why Marion Jones deserved to lose all her Olympic medals, which is also why the Patriots should have lost the Super Bowl just inches away from "perfection."
3. School's rolling along as usual. I did find out that I got the highest score in my CanBio class on our midterm. Rather shocking (but obviously immensely gratifying), since that hasn't happened in a science class since I left high school! Maybe I really can be a cancer biology rock star, but only if I redouble my efforts and be excellent in all my classes on all my assignments. Unlike some people, I'm not a natural genius and know that I really have to work extra hard for my successes. Alas, a rougher road but a sweet finish at the end!
4. It's still February now, so I promise to post again before March. Thanks for reading, and cheers!

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T17:55:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful...I don't think I've eaten so much in such a short amount of time ever before! His grandmothers (they literally live next door to each other, so we split our time between their houses) made dishes especially for me, including a spinach souffle and cauliflower with cheese. All the food was delicious, and I got the recipe for a dessert called "Banana Split Dessert" which was just fabulous. Kevin and I made Rolo cookies (chocolate cookies with Rolo candy pieces baked into them) which were a hit with the family. I also wrote his grandmother a poem which she read to the entire group during Thanksgiving dinner. She started to tear up a bit while everyone laughed. Kevin said that I would be a success if I could make her cry. I think that's an odd way to impress, but apparently it worked :).

I finished my last class on Wednesday around 1:30 and Kev actually beat me to my apartment where he met me around 1:40. I quickly packed up my things and we headed out around 2. By 4:30 we were in Hope, Illinois (Hope is a really tiny town, of maybe 20 people where his grandparents, both sets, live. It's about 30 minutes from Urbana-Champaign, where the University of Illinois's flagship campus is, which itself is about 3 hours south/southwest from Chicago). We briefly met with Grandma James (maternal grandmother at whose house we stayed) then headed next door to Grandma Saullers for dinner. It was entirely vegetarian except for some ham. We chatted with them for a while then went back to James' to bake the cookies. The first of Kev's relatives came in around 1:15 a.m. from Indianapolis. We played gin rummy with his cousin Eric until about 3:30 in the morning. Perhaps not the best idea, since I was woken up by the chatter of more relatives around 7 before finally getting out of bed around 9:15 (after Kev attacked me). More people stopped by and visited and eventually Thanksgiving lunch was ready and served around 12. What a feast! After lunch Kev, his cousins, and I went out to play some croquet. It was fun, and thanks to Kev I managed to finish in second place. We came in to warm up and played some gin rummy. Later, we went out again to play basketball (my fingers were frozen!), then came in for some hot chocolate. Kevin, Eric, and I played the Game of Life which I won by a narrow margin. After that we grabbed some leftovers for dinner. We then headed next door to hang out with Grandma Saullers for a while and played some dice games that Kevin taught us. We tried to get to bed early, but instead stayed up rather late planning our shopping spree with maps and lists and everything. Eric's family had to leave early Friday morning and no one else was ready to go shopping, so it was only Kev and I.

We woke up early to go shopping in Champaign. The plan was to wake up around 3:15 and head out by 3:45, but we accidentally slept in a bit. I suddenly woke up at 4:30, checked my clock, and dashed out of my room to wake Kevin up. We left just after 5 after hurriedly getting dressed and waiting for the car to warm up. The temperature hovered around freezing (getting as low at 18), with wind chill, the entire time we were there. The crowds weren't as bad as we thought they might be, with Circuit City and Target having the longest lines outside. We made off with some great bargains everywhere we went. We both bought thermal underwear which will be very handy in the next couple of weeks. I also got a 50-pack of DVD-Rs for about $15, which is about a 75% discount.

We got back in around 10:30, exhausted but happy. I ate a quick breakfast of metal muffins and yogurt before taking a lovely 3 hour nap. Kev bought a king-size down comforter that he promptly wrapped in a duvet cover (my suggestion, he didn't know he should get one for it) and then took a nap under it. His landlord doesn't understand how to properly heat his building so Kev's room is often 59 degrees when he wakes up in the morning. Can you imagine?! After our naps, we ate some lunch (leftover Thanksgiving food), and then put up a Christmas tree. At 6 we went next door to his other grandma's for dinner and had grilled cheese with tomato soup. We said goodbye to them, then came back over to pack up our stuff and head out. We left around 7:15 and made it back to my place in really good time, just around 9:45. Kev helped me bring all my stuff up and then left for Evanston.

Now I have to get back to work. I've got lots of papers to read and a problem set to work on. All in all it was a wonderful Thanksgiving break, thanks to Kevin and his wonderful (yet admittedly slightly crazy) family!

Recap

2007-11-11T18:42:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Here's a quick recap of the last couple of weeks:

1. Halloween was rather laid back; we had candy set out but ended up eating most of it (read: all but one piece) since the tenants downstairs took care of all the trick-or-treaters. I saw a guy riding a bike in a chicken suit. No helmet.
2. I shadowed a team of medical residents on their clinical rounds in a pediatric oncology ward. More on that later.
3. Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak!
4. Took another midterm (genetic analysis) that I didn't finish (I don't think anyone else did either), and handed in another midterm for cancer biology (take home!)
5. Happy birthday Mom!
6. I got a care package from home filled with Indian goodies. I had to fight with the post office to get it though. More on that later.
7. I was sick yet managed to remain almost asymptomatic the whole time. Weird.
8. One of my professors bought me coffee soon after I let him know he missed, for the first time in 15 years, his All-Stars session (a bi-weekly seminar for BioMed students where faculty present their research in hopes of recruiting grad students to their lab).
9. As I held the door for a gentlemen who was leaving the bank as I was entering, he countered my attempt with the line, "Oh no, beauty before age, beauty before age." It made me smile.
10. I baked cookies and made some Indian dishes.
11. I've got real Thanksgiving plans for the first time in years. I'll be heading to Hope, Illinois (near Urbana-Champaign) to spend the weekend with Kevin's family. It's going to be awesome!
12. It's cold. And dark...early. Welcome to Winter in the Windy City!

Sorry Ma, It's in My DNA

2007-11-11T18:30:00.001-06:00

In DNA Era, New Worries About Prejudice - New York Times

Today the New York Times published an article about the potentially worrisome implications that new scientific research cataloging the genetic differences between human populations may have. What troubles me, reading the comments of folks interviewed for the article or whose comments on blogs were gleaned as testimony, is how so many people have difficulties "accepting" these genetic findings as real and fraught with implications. Do you "accept" the law of gravity or the explanation for why the sky looks blue? Facts are facts regardless of one's opinion. The genetic differences are real, but the implications not necessarily as dire as predicted.

For instance, one point of contention is the link between genetics and intelligence and how certain populations seem to have different sets of "intelligence sequences/genes" than others. Say for example, genetics clusters A, B, and C seem to correlate with higher than average IQs. People of European descent whose DNA was tested have more of the A and B clusters than people of African descent who have few of the A or B clusters but many of the C clusters. Is this genetic proof that Europeans are inherently/innately smarter than Africans? First, look at the measure of intelligence used: IQ, the intelligence quotient. A person's IQ roughly relates their age to their mental skills, such that if two people, one who is 8 and the other 24, get 35/40 questions right on an IQ test, the 8 year-old is said to have a "higher IQ."

The important things to know are what questions were asked and the educational background of the test takers. If you've ever taken an IQ test, you know the kind of questions you can expect. "Which shape goes next?" "Which word does not belong?" "If this object were folded up, what shape would it look like?" ad nauseum. Are these the only criteria by which society measures intelligence? What about memorization skills? The ability to compute large sums without external aids? How about writing plays or composing operas? Note how none of these skills are tested on most IQ tests (for obvious logistical reasons), yet how often many are used to rate "intelligence" in people.

Whence comes this discrimination opportunity? The idea that, oh my goodness, race exists? That people are fundamentally different genetically (otherwise we'd all be identical clones of one another)? What does a genetic basis for race really change? We simply know the reason behind the fact we've known for ages. Does that change the fact in some fundamental way? Just because I know scientifically why the sky looks blue doesn't change its beauty for me.

If we want to avoid feeding discriminatory minds with genetic ammunition, then we need to make clear what our notions of "equality" are. People are not the same physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. People are not the same genetically. What then does "equal" mean for human beings? The the law should treat everyone the same. But what about people with valid mental illnesses who commit criminal actions when out of control ? Students should be put in classes according to age. But what if they're a prodigy and should be advanced several years? We should have rules and exceptions to each for special cases. If that's true, are we really being equal?

So many traits, like intelligence or outgoingness, are both genetic and environmental in nature. You could have all the "right" genes for intelligence, but if those abilities are not nurtured or supported, or if development is hampered by physical or emotional considerations, then a person who is "born smart" may very well score poorly on an IQ test or be considered average or even dumb by society. Conversely, a person "born with average intelligence" who grows up in a household where learning is nurtured and encouraged could become very bright and score brilliantly on such tests.

It's true that many traits are mostly genetic, such as skin or eye color (along with some diseases), and in those cases environment has little affect. That these "facts of life" are ever the basis for discrimination I find simply ridiculous. A person literally had no choice what skin color they were born with. To a large extent they can choose their behavior and what to make of the opportunities (no matter how few or many) open to them. People should be judged for things they have control over, and the more control the better.

In the end, it is our choices that we have control over, not our genetic inheritance, that truly make us who we are and how we interact with our society.

Halloween really is a scary day

2007-10-31T23:20:00.001-05:00

I finished my CanBioI midterm yesterday and was looking forward to printing it out and handing it in this morning. When I open the file on the computer in the library, however, I see a bunch of gibberish sprawled across the Word document. The horror sinks in and I realize I saved my paper in MS Word 2007's new .docx file format that is incompatible with 2000. It's too late to dash back to my apartment to edit the file, so I fight panic and try a different set of computers in the BSLC (main building for my program). Sure that, despite the computers having Word 2003 installed, my file would be useless again, I started thinking of a story for my TA.: "I finished the midterm, I swear, I'm just an idiot and saved it in the wrong file format." Uh huh. That's a real likely story. To my extreme relief, I see "Microsoft Word is converting the file" scroll across the bottom and hold my breath. Sure enough, I see real words instead of Wingding symbols and I'm saved! Heart attack averted and lesson learned.

Who needs coffee when you've got adrenaline?

Today we got back the results of our Cell Biology midterm. Cue scary music and "Psycho" violins. I was rather surprised at the results. Out of a possible 150 points the class average was, drumroll please..........77. That's right. Approximately 51.33333333%. (Last year, the average was about 100, or about 66.666666%). Here's what perhaps more shocking. The highest score achieved was a 106. That's approximately 70.66666666%. Even the most studious student did no better than a C! (if 90-100 A's, 80-90 B's, etc). Standard deviation was 15 points. I'm not a statistics guru, but I think that means most people did pretty poorly and it was a really hard test. Does that sound right? Oh, and how did I fare? Let's just say it could have been a lot worse. It's comforting to know that this exam is but 30% of our grade, and that I've got 40% almost perfect with my weekly discussion write ups and awesome presentation. I do know, however, that I must study even more than a week ahead (and harder than ever) for our last exam. Just to think, some people believe I'm so smart...This is graduate school baby!

And now for something completely different:

While walking back to my apartment today, my eyes randomly alit on a license plate cover that had the words "University North Ford" in a way that looked surprisingly familiar. Neither the design nor font were anything striking, but something says "North Carolina" and some Triangle resident more specifically. In the three seconds it took for me to think this through, I reached the bumper plate and, sure enough, saw the words "First in Flight" printed below the alphanumeric string. Two points for me! Call it some bizarre intuition, sheer luck, or magic (given the day of the year), I was quite pleased.

I kind of miss NC license plates. It's a silly thing to miss, but it's something that really gives one a sense of place. It reminded me of our road trip this summer. We passed through over a dozen states and saw only two NC plates in an entire month on the road. Where do North Carolinians go over the summer? Maine? New York? No one wants to see California? Utah? Idaho? Shame on them!

An Incendiary Corollary

2007-10-28T12:24:00.001-05:00

Rethinking Fire Policy in the Tinderbox Zone - New York Times

So it appears my post last week about people not being able to prevent wildfires was surprisingly topical given the recent fires in southern California. What still remains distressing about the whole situation is how truly preventable it was, and how preventable future fires really are. These fires are only fought with such stringent measures because people and their property are in the danger zones. I don't want to sound heartless, and I do feel sorry for the families of those that lost their lives, but they really should have known better.

I think this line from the article sums up my frustration: "Many Californians say they want the best of both worlds — life in the danger zone and more fire protection — and are frustrated that they do not have it." Oh, really? It's like wanting all these great government programs and ridiculously low taxes at the same time. So they really want hundreds of overworked forest service men and women and firefighters risking their lives practically year-round to protect houses that should have been built elsewhere in the first place? Forget the houses, let's give a break to the firefighters and stop asking them to join a futile and foolish fight.

I said this before and here's some scientific validation:

"Fire-management experts like Professor Minnich, who has compared fire histories in San Diego County and Baja California in Mexico, say the message is clear: Mexico has smaller fires that burn out naturally, regularly clearing out combustible underbrush and causing relatively little destruction because the cycle is still natural. California has giant ones because its longtime policies of fire suppression — in which the government has kept fires from their normal cycle — has created huge pockets of fuel that erupt into conflagrations that must be fought." (emphasis my own)

So what's the solution? Change cannot happen overnight, but a strict change in policy should be enacted as soon as possible. If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to fight these fires once and for all, then he must first call for housing restrictions in danger zone areas. I would also like to see a waiver for protection should things go awry (i.e. another raging blaze). If we can strip this expectation of senseless protection from people's minds, then maybe we can make them think twice of what they're about to do. If you know the cavalry won't be coming, it's a lot harder to start a fight you know you can't win on your own.

For a state that is traditionally so environmentally progressive (see automobile emissions requirements), it's rather shocking that these environmentally devastating policies are still on the books. Sometimes the best way for humans to make a positive impact on their environment is to just let Nature do all the hard work and stay out of her way.

A Nobel Experience with Dr. Craig Mello

2007-10-28T00:45:00.001-05:00

I've posted about Nobel prizes quite recently, and now I can add another Nobel experience that was absolutely sublime.

On Thursday, the 25th of October, I came face-to-face with some real "Nobelity." Craig Mello, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology last year along with his friend and colleague, Andrew Fire, now at Stanford. They were recognized for their groundbreaking work in the roundworm C. elegans that uncovered RNAi, or RNA interference, a cellular defense mechanism that is conserved across species and offers a new and profound insight into the way genes are regulated and foreign pathogens are fought. The laboratory technique derived from this work is one I will quite likely be doing in the lab myself. It has virtually transformed expression studies around the world. Dr. Mello's lecture, titled "How a worm won five Nobel Prizes in Medicine," was quite entertaining and it was neat to see pictures from the Nobel ceremony. Some notes:

He could not stress the importance of collaboration and communication in science enough. It may sound obvious, but the cutthroat competition to get published in major journals often becomes more of a priority for some scientists than sharing valuable results and information with fellow researchers
Life exists on a cosmic timescale and in continuum---&> evolution; look for conservation and relationships between diverse species
"Defective genes do not actually look like cheese puffs"- in response to a CBS 15-second spot attempting to explain how RNAi works
Even his daughter, only 7 years old, can understand RNAi, so it's not a profoundly complex idea, but one with profound implications for medicine and such
RNAi shows heritable, systemic, and amplified transmission
It's an active/responsive mechanism that requires many genes but can respond faster than DNA mutation
miRNA (microRNA) was not fully appreciated until entire genomes were sequenced and the level of homology between organisms recognized
RNAi's implications for medicine: 1) better understanding of gene regulation (in cancer, for example), 2) identifying genetic pathways in disease, 3) developing drug platforms that directly target gene expression with minimal side effects, 4) personalized medicine
His daughter is a Type-I diabetic who's alive and healthy today thanks to genetic engineering. I know that many people recoil at the thought of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), but I believe many do not appreciate how much good has been done thanks to them. Hardier crop strains, insulin from bacteria, etc.
Winning a Nobel Prize makes your neighbors appreciate the work you do in worms more. They will actually listen to you.

After the lecture (which, by the way, almost NO ONE attended despite press delivered to the entire scientific community of Chicago), I was lucky enough to get to meet Dr. Mello, have him forgive my fumbling attempt at asking a question and giving me a patient answer, get his autograph, and get my picture taken with him! A couple of other UC students were there (not from my program), and when they saw my camera they asked for a picture as well. I obliged and think I made a couple of guys extremely happy. I had a wicked midterm the next day to study for so I left for home right after the lecture (though of course I took some pictures of the inside and outside of the Field while leaving). See Facebook for the pictures.

I walked on air all the way home.

Coffee with Ken

2007-10-28T00:15:00.001-05:00

As a graduate student in Cancer Biology here at the University of Chicago, I am required to complete two research rotations by the end of my first year. Each rotation lasts 10 weeks (one quarter) and is designed to help students choose a thesis advisor as well as improve their laboratory technique. The CanBio program is also sponsoring its second annual Student/Faculty Mentorship program for first-year students in which we're paired up with an advanced student and a faculty member who's there to help us with just about anything school/life related. My student mentor is Wei Xu, an absolutely wonderful person who was also my student host when I interviewed here in February. My faculty mentor is Kenan Onel, an MD/PhD (yeah, one of those really smart people) who got his degrees from Cornell and has been practicing pediatric oncology (specialty in hematology, i.e. leukemia and lymphoma) and doing amazing cancer research ever since.

We met at the Starbucks in the bookstore after my last class and had a wonderful conversation about research and all the exciting movements going on in the field right now. One of his colleagues also stopped by, so it was nice to chat with him and hear some interesting and amusing stories of how the expectations and the pace of research has changed so much in the last 15-20 years.

I interviewed with Ken back in February and he was the researcher I was most eager to meet. Unlike most of the people I've met in my program, I'm quite partial to cancer genetics and to the study of p53 in particular. I've also done some thinking about why cancer is something I'm so keen on researching and hoping to treat. It is a killer in predominantly wealthy and industrialized nations and some forms are quite preventable or easily treatable (e.g. cervical, skin, some types of lung and colon). It mostly affects people in their 50s and up, many of whom have already led full lives. It's not as sexy or seemingly noble as infectious diseases (malaria, TB, polio, HIV/AIDS) that are ravaging poor countries and that are getting a lot of attention from scientists and celebrities alike. And I'm a Capricorn. So what gives?

Cancer tugs at my heartstrings because so much of can't be prevented or transmitted. Don't want to be infected by HIV? Then don't: have sex with, share needles, or get blood/bodily fluids from an infected person. Sounds simple, right? In theory it is. HIV is viral, but it's also transmitted in a fairly restricted and specific way. You cannot just cough on someone and give them HIV. You cannot be bitten by mosquitoes and get it. Stop the spread, and within one generation you can stop HIV altogether. It's entirely in the hands of people. Cancer is quite a different story.

A person can do all the right things, eat right, not smoke/do drugs/drink alcohol, exercise, have a great immune system, not be exposed to pathogens, live in a clean environment, etc, and still get cancer. Why? They were, quite literally, born with it. It's in their genes. They had no say and no control. Cancer in children, which is mostly leukemia, is the saddest of these cases. They can tell you their age with just one hand. They know what chemotherapy is before they know how to ride a bike. They are spending what are supposed to be their most carefree years stuck in a hospital bed with i.v.'s dripping into them and test after test done. Their disease defines them instead of their charming antics. To bring an end to this tangent, I want to help these kids. It's not their fault they're sick. They didn't engage in stupid or misguided behavior. Instead of having the time of their lives they're fighting for lives that have just barely begun.

In short, I'm very excited about the work Ken is doing, and he's agreed to sign me on for a rotation over the summer. His friend joked that the person one picks for their summer rotation is the one they really want to work for. Maybe he's right.

Bonnie's Folks Visit

2007-10-27T23:41:00.001-05:00

Bonnie, my roommate, had her parents over to visit from the 19th to the 22nd morning. They are absolutely wonderful people who very kindly took me out to dinner (back to Giordano's here in Hyde Park, but who am I to complain?) on Saturday. The food and conversation were wonderful. Molly actually attended UNC a while back so it was nice to be able to share campus memories with her. Mel had some experience with drug companies so I could talk intelligently with him too. For much of the weekend I had a lot of reading and studying to do (for a killer midterm, but more on that later) so I actually spent only a little time with them. Molly also kindly invited me to visit them in Syracuse anytime I wanted to. Not sure if I'll be able to take her up on that offer, but it was very sweet of her to make it.

Broomball in Evanston!

2007-10-27T23:35:00.001-05:00

Now for Saturday, the 13th.

I spent the morning futilely trying to get some work done (I had a problem set due Monday that I hadn't worked much on), and then left for Evanston in the late afternoon. The El ride was long and boring, but at least I got some work, er, napping done.

Once there, I successfully navigated my way to my friend Kevin's house. That night, the Northwestern University The Graduate Broomball League (NUTGBBL) was having its inaugural match. Nearly 40 people signed up to play and Kevin cordially invited me. For those unfamiliar with the game (who isn't?), a few pointers:

Broomball is quite similar to ice hockey, except the sticks are different (literally brooms or plastic lookalikes), you play with a rubber ball instead of a puck, and you don't wear skates, just shoes (which can make things very interesting if the ice has been Zambonied. Fortunately, our ice was very rough).

We were divided up into 4 teams such that two were on and two off at any given time. Kevin and I were of course on the same team and boy was that a good idea! A bad idea was making me goalkeeper when our good goalkeeper got tired and had to sit out for a bit. I did manage to make some impressive saves, but alas, two got by. One was not my fault since I saw a blur of green before finding myself sprawled onto the ice knees first (the bruises lasted for days) and heard the ball hit the net behind me. I was incapacitated by my own defender! The second goal was my fault and I should have stopped it. Oh well.

Back to the good stuff. In our second game to determine 3rd place, Kevin and I were on offense. The ice was relatively open to the goal and I was "skating" along the right side while Kevin was up the middle. As I chased down a loose ball, Kevin called for a pass. I centered it to him surprisingly ably, and then slapshot--score! Right into the back of the net! I have to say it was arguably the best (at least most coordinated) offensive play of the night. And I got an assist! Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), we won that game 2-0 :).

Back at the house, we were hungry so we ordered two large Giordano's deep dish pizzas. They took a while to get in, so Kevin and I uploaded the pictures and video I took (you can see them on Facebook), and worked on the league's website (go to "Pictures" to see the ones I took). The quotes are Kevin-originals. The pizza was delicious and afterwards Kev and I played some "Heroes" before going to bed. We're going to get the green knight eventually!

The next morning was Sunday brunch and I was able to contribute a bit by making pancakes: plain, chocolate chip, cinnamon, take your pick! After brunch I headed back to Hyde Park to finish up my problem set (which took all day!) and get ready for the next week of classes. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Class Antics

2007-10-27T23:19:00.001-05:00

The last two weeks have been both exhausting and exhilarating, so let me begin with the 12th of October.

For my Cell Biology course, we are required to read a pithy paper once a week that will be discussed in depth as a class on Friday. We're assigned two papers (+2 reviews) for every day of class anyway (M and W), but this "discussion" paper is the most important for the week. In addition to reading the paper, we must also write a one page summary/analysis. Students are also required to get into groups of 3 or 4 and put together a presentation on a discussion paper once during the quarter (in lieu of the written analysis). Friday was my group's turn, and I must say I think we did a fabulous job. My teammates were my CanBio classmates and fortunately understood the paper much better than I did. So how did I contribute? I put together the powerpoint using the new Office 2007 Powerpoint. This program is such an improvement over Office 2003!! I'm actually excited to learn all the new features of Word and Excel too. So I know that sounds really dorky, but when the professor comes up to you afterwards and says, "You did a good job. I can see you put a lot of work into your presentation," it makes all the work totally worth it!

NO, YOU CANNOT PREVENT WILDFIRES

2007-10-20T00:35:00.001-05:00

SmokeyBear.com - ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT WILDFIRES.

Bottled water may still be "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people", but I would like to throw in another contender for delusional marketing, this time on the part of the US government's most recent administration.

For decades (stretching back to the 1940s) Smokey the Bear has been a well-advertised icon for forest preservation. His chubby, furry cheeks and forest ranger hat are recognizable across generations throughout the nation. Never before, however, has dear old Smokey been such a perpetrator of lies.
"Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires" used to be the old tagline. This statement was relatively innocuous given its ambiguity. The understanding was that Smokey was referring to man-made fires started by camping accidents or, more sinisterly and thankfully rarely, arson. People, of course, cannot prevent all forest fires since many are natural and caused by unpreventable events like lightning strikes or volcanic eruptions.

Concurrent with a change in the Oval Office, Smokey's line changed. Substitute "wildfires" for "forest fires" and you get an ill-developed, economically selfish, and scientifically illogical ploy to protect precious human property at the expense of some of our dearest natural treasures.

PEOPLE CANNOT PREVENT WILDFIRES. THEY ARE BY DEFINITION "WILD" OR PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

People can, however, stop themselves from building valuable property in valuable and fire-prone forests. We don't stamp out forest fires to save the trees or wildlife. Sorry Bambi, we do it to save houses.
The administration's solution to protecting property while reducing the incidence of wildfires? Cut down more trees! If there's less forest to burn, then there won't be as many fires and those that do start will be less severe. Logical, right? Unfortunately, trees that are logged for lumber are not the whole problem. It's the brush, something a particular Bush should learn some more about before he supports more misguided policy.

Forests are complex communities of varied plant and animal life. Some key floral aspects are the undergrowth and brush that lies close to the ground, young trees that are not so big and tall, old trees that are big, tall, and strong, and dead trees that are still standing. Wildfires clear out the undergrowth, brush, and dead trees, fertilize the soil with ashes, and create room for new growth, all without harming the big and tall trees at their areas of growth (their tops), also known as the crown. [Yes, trees keep growing at the top, not at the bottom. That's why if you carve your love's initials into a tree four feet off the ground, they will still be just four feet up 20 years later.] By fighting wildfires, more undergrowth and brush is allowed to persist, thus creating bigger stockpiles of highly flammable fuel. Guess what happens next?

When the next wildfire starts, it burns hotter and faster than normal due to the excessive fuel. As a result, the precious crown is burnt as well, and since these are trees have rich, hard wood, they burn very well for a much longer time than brush. Thus we get "raging wildfires" that burn for days and days and defy attempts to stamp them out. By interrupting a natural process that has gone on for millennia, to the point that some species have adapted to the fires such that their seeds only germinate after exposure to extreme heat, the current administration has created acres of tinderboxes around the country that are just waiting for the next spark (natural or man-made) during a dry summer to burst into flames.

In one sense, maybe we really are the only ones who can prevent wildfires. We can start by taking a burning Bush out of office and the rest of his deluded disciples.

Lots of Hot Air...On the Radio

2007-10-16T16:33:00.001-05:00

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (actual website)

This is one of the many reasons why I love National Public Radio. I came across this story featured on Weekend Edition Sunday while submitting my answer for the Sunday Puzzle:

Last Sunday, the 16th of October, Albuquerque, NM held the International Balloon Fiesta, a celebration of hot-air balloons from all over the world. Please click on the link above to view some incredible creations. Why did this story catch my eye in the first place? Because Darth Vader won the competition! As you can probably tell, I've been on a Star Wars kick recently and this little segment just fit right in. Enjoy!

Another Nobel!

2007-10-15T15:23:00.001-05:00

Roger Myerson wins 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

Looks like this is my year for Nobel connections!

Just this morning, a University of Chicago economist and professor, Dr. Roger Myerson, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, making him the 24th UC faculty or alum to win a Nobel Prize, including five sitting winners (all in economics, by the way). Dr. Myerson, along with Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota and Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study, won the prize for their work on "mechanism design theory" which "allows for people to distinguish situations in which markets work well from those in which they do not." It apparently helps economists "identify efficient trading mechanisms, regulation schemes and voting procedures" and currently "plays a central role in many areas of economics and parts of political science."

Congratulations Dr. Myerson! Looks like they'll have to add another name to the t-shirt the bookstore sells listing all the UC Nobel Prize winners (they represent more fields than just economics though the econ folk vastly outnumber the rest). Yes, my school really is that geeky...and I'm proud of it!

Star Wars in Chicago!

2007-10-12T16:37:00.001-05:00

MSI Chicago - Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination | Exhibit Overview

And not the missile defense system either.

This is one of the many reasons why I was so excited to move to a big city like Chicago from Cary, NC. Raleigh has some nice museums, but nothing like what the Field and Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) can attract, much less the high quality art and history museums Chicago can boast of.

As a lifelong fan of Star Wars (my sibs and I practically grew up on the original trilogy) I can't wait to see the science of this fabulous science fiction.

Also, would anyone mind lending me about $4,000 for the X-wing fighter replica signed by George Lucas? Or I would just love it as a birthday present...good for life :).

UNC PROFESSOR WINS NOBEL PRIZE!!!!

2007-10-08T08:58:00.001-05:00

UNC News release -- Oliver Smithies wins Nobel Prize

That's right, Dr. Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, my beloved alma mater, just won the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology this morning in Sweden. He will share the Prize with Mario R. Capecchi of the University of Utah’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sir Martin J. Evans of the United Kingdom for "their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."

I was fortunate enough to hear a talk given by Dr. Smithies while at UNC. I knew at the time he was a Nobel-favorite and felt honored to be in the same room with him. I'll never forget what he said describing differentiating stem cells in a petri dish:

(paraphrased, my apologies): "When you look into the microscope and see a tiny bit of heart tissue beating, no matter what faith or creed you belong to, the unanimous response is 'oh my god!'"

Congratulations Dr. Smithies!! You've made the university and the entire scientific community proud.

Attack of the Gray Squirrels

2007-10-07T14:05:00.001-05:00

The Squirrel Wars from the New York Times (it's a big long, but quite a lark).

America doesn't need to drag Britain into a war in Iraq to royally piss them off. It just needs to wildly praise a little creature that we all know and (mostly) adore: the gray squirrel.

Why read this article? Here's an excerpt (that took place in the British House of Lords):

"[Lord Redesdale] continued: “One of the problems in the public perception is that gray squirrels are the only squirrels they see. They see them in parks and gardens, and they are sociable and friendly animals. Yesterday, I walked through St. James’s Park and watched tourists feeding gray squirrels crisps by hand. In Regent’s Park, a gray squirrel came up to my son and me and actually climbed up my leg to look in my pocket.”

Lord Hoyle soon cut off Redesdale: “My Lords, perhaps they are friendlier in Regent’s Park than they are in St. James’s Park. One that ran up my leg bit me.”"

Any memories, Naman? :)

Stanford Upsets #2 USC in Stunning Match

2007-10-07T12:49:00.001-05:00

ESPN - Stanford brings USC's 35-game home win streak to end - NCAA College Football Recap

I'll admit I'm not the most ardent fan of college football. I know when my team (UNC, but not even UC!) plays, but seldom against whom unless my parents or local alumni club tell me. I do, however, know a huge game when I see one or hear about it.

The University of Southern California, better known simply as USC, is one of the most formidable clubs in all of college football. For years they dominate the rankings. Their stadium in considered one of the toughest for a visiting team to play in. A recent star, Reggie Bush, won the Heisman Trophy (highest honor in college football) and went on to start a great career with the New Orleans Saints. USC hasn't lost a home game in 6 years. Guess who beat them last?

Stanford! Please read the article for the rest of the drama in the game. It's really quite astonishing. Almost, almost as good as Appalachian State beating Michigan earlier this year. Just read both articles and give a cheer to the underdogs.

Facebook=Fakebook?

2007-10-06T12:58:00.001-05:00

The Fakebook Generation - New York Times

A postgraduate perspective on Facebook from someone, like myself, who started using Facebook when it first came out my freshman year and has seen it evolve into something much more than a way to "friend" (such a dubious verb!) dead celebrities and create funny groups for your friends.

Graduate Students Eating (and drinking) for Free

2007-10-05T23:41:00.001-05:00

As everyone affiliated with graduate programs knows, graduate students often have to eke out an existence with a lot of work and not so much money. If you're responsible and don't go on shopping sprees or spend your stipend frivolously, you can get by fairly well with money left over for that savings account. Food, however, is a perpetual cloud waiting to rain disappoint and dissatisfaction on your already paper-cluttered mind. Here at the University of Chicago, the Biomedical Sciences Cluster has developed a means of combating such disappointment and saving us grad students some money in the process.

Twice a week, every week (except midterms and finals), we are served a delicious lunch catered by a local establishment. On Tuesday we had ravioli, pasta, salad, and bread; on Thursday Giordano's Chicago-style deep dish and thin crust pizza. To top it off, every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month is a student presentation seminar for CanBio student at which food is also served. What I ate this Monday: Indian food! (Mutter paneer and paratha) And, every Friday at 4 p.m. a graduate student organization hosts what are known as "Liver Rounds" in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) student lounge. Free food and beer are served and it's a chance for students to mingle and sometimes enjoy entertainment provided by fellow students.

I knew going into this program that food would be one of my chief expenses. I thank UC for saving me money for more important things. Like a bike. Or some really-hot-leather-boots-I've-been-eyeing-for-about-five-years. You know, the usual.

A Misdirected Birthday Call

2007-10-02T09:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, October 1st, was Bonnie's (my roommate) birthday. Happy birthday Bonnie! Friends and family had been calling her periodically all day to wish her a happy one. One such call was quite memorable:

It's later in the evening, around 8:30. I'm watching "Heroes" (a study break, I swear!) while Bonnie's on my computer catching up on "Grey's Anatomy" with headphones on (long story, but in short we're both out late on Thursdays and have to miss our favorite shows...thank you online videos!) The phone rings and of course I pick it up. This is what I hear:

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Bonnie, happy birthday to you!" Beautiful harmony, but all for the wrong person! No preface of "hello" or anything! I try to squeak out that I'm not Bonnie, but to no avail. The song ends, and I manage to say that I am in fact not Bonnie but will put her on shortly. On the other end, I hear a man's voice (turns out it's Jeffrey's, Bonnie's fiance, dad) say "I don't think that's Bonnie" while the woman (his wife) says, "No, I think it is." Shortly thereafter, I hand the phone to Bonnie and proceed to laugh very merrily. She told me later they said I should save that song for whenever my birthday really is (Dec 28). That was so sweet of them, and it's certainly a call I won't forget soon. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Green!!

Interesting NYT article about Indian-Americans

2007-10-02T09:21:00.001-05:00

Yes, Indian-Americans like myself, not American-Indians who owned this country long before Europeans ever did.

In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism - New York Times

Nice Animation of the Middle East

2007-09-30T13:58:00.000-05:00

An elegant animation depicting the empires and nationalities that have ruled in the Middle East over millenia:

Middle East Animation

Sunday Times

2007-09-30T13:47:00.001-05:00

Sunday is the day for New York Times editorial big-wigs to strut their stuff. Here's what Thomas Friedman (of The World is Flat in case you don't know who he is) has to say about how America's changed since September 11, 2001:

9/11 Is Over - New York Times

Hans Rosling gapminder 'gapcasts'

2007-09-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

Public health data like you've never it before

http://infosthetics.com/archives/2007/09/gapminder_video_webcast_gapcasts.html

- Saket

Singing in the Streets

2007-09-29T16:32:00.001-05:00

Have you ever felt like just bursting into song in public? Well,
here's a musical project with an eponymous title that went on in New
York City:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/theater/29sing.html

Enjoy!

Oncology, the Musical, in the Park

2007-09-29T16:02:00.001-05:00

My day so far:

Woke up early (9:20!) to score a nice rolling office chair, three rugs, and a sweet UC bag all for $20 at a yard sale...

Ate some delicious tofu stir-fry for lunch...

Read my cancer book in a nearby (i.e. across the street) park while watching a father/son pair play baseball and listening to live jazz music from a block away...

It's been a good day so far.

Brief Recap

2007-09-25T21:40:00.001-05:00

Instead of haranguing you with a series of short, presumably witty, posts spanning the last few weeks, I shall instead present you with a short and decidedly witty highlights in the time-honored list format:

1. Family fled Tuesday to arrive at home hours past planned trip time...See what I did there?
2. Went to a GAA (General Alumni Association of UNC) sponsored meet&greet in Linkin Park
3. Interviewed for a lab rotation with a pharmacogeneticist at UC. Meeting went well; I'm guaranteed a spot in her lab coterie
4. Visited Kevin in Evanston and met him for lunch a few times in town
5. Went seeking in Hyde Park (my new neighborhood).
6. Took lots of pictures (see Facebook for the best)
7. Baked cookies (chocolate chip with mini-M&M's!), cooked Indian dishes, made lasagna, and other tasty treats
8. Got oriented with UC's BSD, including going to the Field Museum to watch my group get drunk, dance, and sing karaoke
9. Picked apples in Wisconsin and celebrated Oktoberfest in September in Milwaukee...Prost!
10. Got paid and started classes.

For more details, see Facebook or do it the old-fashioned way. Talk to me. Write to me. Send me a letter.

A Busy First Day

2007-09-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

2 Sep

A fairly early start got us into town and to my new place at 10:30 a.m. After a brief greeting (we’d all met before, fortunately) we wasted little time in unloading the van and hauling stuff up. Hindsight tells me that we should have spent a little bit more time just saying hello and such, but oh well. Thanks to the super athletic Bonnie and Jeff and my family, we managed to get everything, and I mean everything (except what I forgot in the hidden storage compartment) up two flights in fewer than twenty minutes! I had anticipated a bit longer…

If getting things up took no time at all, arranging things and setting up stuff (the bed, A/C) definitely took some time. Thanks to my “measuring” and my innate genius, I managed to bring the wrong size bed frame. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I made Saket and Dad unload almost the entire van once just to make room for them! Alas, I truly was not cut out to be an engineer. Or an architect. Or anything involving basic tape measure skills. Jeffrey was a HUGE help in setting up the A/C since none of us had ever done it before the and the directions given weren’t exactly the clearest. He knew exactly what he was doing and I shall give him all the credit for the ensuing coolness. As you can see from the pictures on my Facebook account, I still haven’t arranged or unpacked everything, but it’s a work in progress.

We left the condo around 1:30 to head into the city and Devon Street. Devon Street, which is actually Devon Avenue, is basically Chicago's Little India/Little Pakistan. The street has been given two additional names, depending on which part you’re on: Gandhi Marg (the India
side, translates as Gandhi Road) and Mohammed Ali Jinnah Way (the Pakistan side). The street is full of sweet shops, restaurants, clothing stores, saree stores, electronics shops, jewelry stores, and VHS/DVD/VCD/CD stores. The sights, smells, and sounds are just like Mumbai. Even the trashy sidewalks, unfortunately. We wandered along this tantalizing thoroughfare looking for a place to eat chaat, or fast food. We tried a place that was pretty good, and then went exploring for more. We ended up at a spot named, quite appropriately, “Swati” which is, of course, my mother’s name. The food there was delicious and we filled up on some excellent junk food. While we ate, I got in touch with Kevin to see about a visit soon since my folks decided that they could really just leave the next day instead of leaving on Tuesday. Kev was free, so we went to Evanston and Northwestern’s campus after leaving Devon Avenue.

It was great to see him again, and we drove over to downtown Evanston for some coffee and ice cream (the ice cream being, of course, Kev’s idea). After a lovely and amusing chat, we dropped him off on campus and headed south to Chandrika aunty’s house. She is a childhood friend of my mother’s who is visiting her two sons who live here in Chicago. They are right near the heart of downtown and a mere 20 minutes from my place. They made us a lovely South Indian dinner and we enjoyed talking with them and watching a sky diving video of one of the son’s. We ended up leaving around 11 and unfortunately got back after B&J had already gone to sleep. This was most unfortunate seeing as Jeffrey was leaving the next day for India where he will be for the next nine months. They are so sweet, though, that they made up the sofa sleeper outside so nicely and left the light and fans on. I’ve really lucked out this time.

Going to Chicago...all things know, all things grow...

2007-09-25T16:51:00.001-05:00

1 Sep

Today we left for Chicago! Call it nerves or some coffee at an unfortunate time, for I didn’t sleep above 2 hours last night. As a result, I was mostly unconscious on and off through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and some of Ohio. I managed to wake up fully in Ohio and took over for most o the last several hours to Indiana. We stopped in Lafayette, home to Purdue University and, several years ago, to our beloved Henderson family, for the night at a pretty nice motel. We could have technically pushed it all the way to Chicago that night (just two hours more), but we felt it would be rude to intrude on Bonnie and Jeff (my new roomie and her fiancé) so late at night, so we decided to just stop at a reasonable hour.

Saket and I tuned into ESPN long enough to watch some of the Cal/Tenn game and see that Georgia Tech routed Notre Dame. Normally, I’m happy for any ACC victory (except for Duke, of course), but this victory was especially sweet giving the deplorable treatment GT received the week before this game as a rival of America’s darling ND. NBC, that bastion of fairness, advertised the game with a HUGE picture of ND’s logo covering half the screen and opposite it……..”vs. Georgia Tech” in what appeared to be roughly size 4 font. What the hell? It is not the fracking “Notre Dame game” but the “Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame game.” Saket and I were both royally pissed off by this ploy and equally pleased that Georgia Tech, to pu it mildly, beat the hell out of Notre Dame. Go Yellowjackets!!

The Adventure Begins...Again

2007-09-25T14:34:00.001-05:00

Greetings loyal followers, dear friends and family, or anyone who happened to stumble upon this blog.

If you're interested in finding out how I spent the spring semester of my junior year in college abroad at King's College in London, please read the posts dating from January through April. If you're more keen to find out what I'm doing now, please read on.

I have some catching up to do since I'm updating this blog just over three weeks after arriving in the Windy City. I shall begin the chronicle of "Sapana in Chicagoland" with our mini-roadtrip up here from Cary, North Carolina. Per the example of my siblings, I will attempt to keep the entries brief yet pithy. Giving my propensity towards verbosity, however, such an endeavor may prove to be more challenging than it would initially appear. Nonetheless, I pledge to prevail.

On a second note, these entries will not be merely bogged down with stories about school and classes. That would be entirely too dull. Instead, look for some personal commentary (frequently informed thought not guaranteed so) on a wide range of topics from the important to the inane, or just the irrelevant.

I hope that is preface enough. Without further ado, welcome to Sapana in Chicagoland. Enjoy.

6 Apr

2006-08-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

Day 2 in Barcelona. This city can be divided into essentially two halves. The first half is the coastal area and the regions immediately adjoining it. Sights in this part include the Columbus Column (which is the Spanish version of Nelson's Column in London), the financial district, the harbor, stadium of FC Barcelona, and of course lots of shops and restaurants. On a hill you can also visit the Olympic stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics that were held here, as well as an amazing 'magic fountain' found at the base of hill near an old palace. I've got pictures, never fear.
The second half is far more inland and includes the Sagrada Familia, a famous unfinished church designed by Gaudi and is unlike any church you've ever seen, I guarantee it (wait till you see pictures on the next post). This region also contains the unique Eixample district which is filled with strange and modern architecture. A museum dedicated to Pablo Picasso is here, as well as a museum dedicated to chocolate! (guess which one I went to).
In order to better appreciate all these sights, we bought a two-day buss pass on the 'Bus Turismus' and road around that for a while.

5 Apr

2006-04-05T18:21:00.000-05:00

All right, first let me be perfectly honest (as if I have been anything else in the course of writing this blog). I am writing this entry on 9 August 2006 from my desk at GlaxoSmithKline during my lunch break. There. I said it. Some time ago, I decided to take a break from writing. I intended this break to be rather small, but as you can see, it has grown to unconscionable proportions. My memory being what it is, the entries following and including the current one may not be entirely accurate recounts. Bear with me, and do give me the benefit of the doubt. The detail you have witnessed (perhaps to your dislike) earlier shows that I can remember enough to be specific, if not always entertaining. With no further ado...

5 Apr 2006

We managed to enjoy a peaceful ride to Barcelona. There was just one other girl in our 4-person all-female compartment and, being Spanish and knowing very little English, she hardly said a word to us the whole trip. Could have been worse. I was eager to get off the train and get moving again after staying in a cramped space for so long. We unloaded our luggage with relative ease and headed for the Metro to take us into town. The map is very easy to follow and the system is rather well designed. I still think the Tube is one of the better one's I have ridden and certainly most London stations were cleaner and neater than this.
Since I was the only one who had studied a map of Barcelona before arriving (shocking, I know), it was up to me to find our hotel. I got us off at the right stop, but unfortunately led us in the wrong direction for a couple of blocks before realizing my mistake. Such a misturn would have been so bad if I wasn't so terribly eager just to get to our hotel, take a shower (trains don't do much for making you smell good) and put our luggage away. Toting around a heavy duffel bag can get real old after a while, especially when it's warm outside, you're dressed a little too heavily for the weather, you're in a new and crowded city, you're not 100% sure where you're going, and your parents aren't helping with directions or keeping your patience. I pride myself on being a rather patient person, but this morning I just lost it. Finally, after what seemed like half an eternity, I found the hotel.
It was an awfully nice one too, 4 stars I believe and in an excellent location, right on one of the main boulevards of Barcelona. With great relief, we checked in. After resting for a bit and showering, we left in search of a funky looking music hall Dad and I had found in a guidebook. Note: Barcelona is very famous for its modern art and architecture. It is also a bilingual city in a bilingual part of the country known as Catalonia. Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Catalonia. Just when I was getting used to Spanish, another language comes up that looks like a mix between Aztec and French. Perfect.
The music hall looked pretty neat from the outside, though when we found out the tour of the inside costed far more than we were willing to pay, we decided a nice look at the exterior was enough and moved on. In the alley outside the hall leading to the main street, a huge troop of schoolchildren were playing, screaming, and eluding the control of their chaperones. I was wearing the hat I bought in Ronda and as I walked by a small group, a little Spanish boy of about 8 years old cried out 'Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones!' and pointed to me. I turned immediately at that and gratefully tipped my hat at him. That little boy saved my day.
It was getting around dinner and we decided to try out a salad bar place I had noticed on the walk to the music hall. Dad said he'd been craving salad for some time and since they also pizza and such, we thought the place sounded just fine. Typical of Europe, or at least just Spain, a drink was included with the price and you had a choice of wine, sangria, or some fountain drink. What the hell, we were in Spain so I chose the wine while Dad picked the sangria and Mom just had water. Too bad the white wine wasn't too good, but then again, I couldn't expect much. The food was decent and after eating, we headed back to the hotel.
There is a plaza near our hotel that is rather nice with several fountains, some green spots and trees, and a huge open space where pigeons love to scuttle around. We walked around here for a spell before heading to the hotel to rest and make plans for the next day. Cheers!

4 Apr

2006-04-04T18:21:00.000-05:00

We got to a really early start today. We had some quick breakfast of cereal and bread in the apartment before catching a cab for Alhambra. It’s not that far from the city and is within walking distance, but it’s a bit of a hike to the top and in the interest of time, we decided that riding just made more sense. The Alhambra palace is composed of three main areas, you have the Nasrid Palace (where the Moorish kings used to live), the Generalife gardens (hen-er-al-leaf-ay), and the Alcazar (yet another fortress). You’re required to choose a time in which to visit the Nasrid Palace but once you’re in you can stay as long as you’d like. They make it very clear to you that if you miss your window, they will not let you in. We had some time to kill ‘cause we were early so we decided to walk down to the gardens for a bit. They were quite beautiful and afforded and excellent view of the city below.

We wandered about the flowers for a while and listened to the audio guide we had purchased. They really like to talk about their elaborate use of water here which was nice but nothing spectacular. The flowers were really pretty though, and it was nice to stroll around them in peace before the crowds gathered. Our entry time neared so we started on the fairly long walk back to the palace and reached it in plenty of time. We took a quick bathroom break and headed in. Some of the rooms were rather dark but enough sunlight broke through to make them rather pretty. The courtyards were really special, whether dominated by statues of lions and surrounded by thin yet beautiful pillars or filled with a gigantic pool and fountains. The sun was shining brightly and yet the water helped the complex keep quite cool. It took some time to admire all the rooms but it was outside that I enjoyed myself the most. A palace is a palace but gardens are uniquely and singularly beautiful because no two are ever alike, and their beauty is more profound because it is so transient. We visited the Alcazar for a little while after the palace. It wasn’t as cool as the palace but still nice because you could see a killer view of the city from one of its watchtowers. We didn’t leave the whole complex until late afternoon.

Instead of catching a cab down, we decided to ride a bus instead that makes a trip up and down all day. It was a pretty short ride that dumped us right into the heart of town. There was this really steep hill at the end of the ride that was lined with souvenir shops so after alighting from the bus, we spent the next half hour or so popping in and out of these stores in search of gifts for home. We came up empty-handed, unfortunately, but didn’t mind too much. The sun was still shining so we walked along some streets and found a little falafel/sandwich place to eat lunch in. I liked the sandwich and our waiter was Pakistani who knew Hindi and some other languages so my parents had fun talking to him in Hindi.

After lunch, we strolled around for a while and I grabbed some ice cream for dessert while Mom looked in more souvenir stores. The weather was beautiful so we just chilled out on a bench for a while and planned out our next day. We had a night train to Barcelona tonight that wasn’t leaving until around 9 p.m. so we still had a good part of the day. We walked over to a church which Dad felt like seeing but Mom and I weren’t too interested in. We hung out outside drinking some water that I left to buy and just waited for him. After he got back, we headed back to the hotel to find a place to grab a quick light dinner. I figured we wouldn’t find anything good at the train station so I thought we might as well get something filling then. We looked around for a bit before finding this little sandwich shop quite near the apartment. The waiter was exceptionally rude but at least understood our request to not put too much mayo on the sandwiches. The service was fast enough and when we were done, I stayed back to pay while Mom and Dad went back to the apartment to take care of ordering the cab. We had already checked out in the morning and left our stuff in the lobby ‘cause checkout time was before 11 a.m. We didn’t have to wait too long at the apartment before our cab arrived and it only took about 8 minutes to reach the station.

There weren’t many platforms (four!) so I thought it would be easy to find our train. There was one waiting at platform 3 which was the same platform that I thought ours would be arriving at. Turns out, that train was ours and after we checked that with the conductor, we searched out our compartment. Dad waited outside with the luggage while I got mom settled in and then I brought the rest of the luggage onboard. It was an overnight sleeper train in which the compartments were separated by sexes. Fortunately, ours were next door to each other so we could hang on to most of the luggage and it would be easy for Dad to reach us. There were four bunks to a compartment and it only took a few minutes for us to get settled in. There was one other girl in our compartment with us who didn’t speak much English but seemed to be waiting for someone.

The train left right on time and we just had to wait for the conductor to come check our tickets. He kept them, to our surprise, but told us that he would give us a wake-up call 30 minutes before the train reached Barcelona. I thought that was really sweet of them and it makes a lot of sense. I read and listened to my iPod for a little while before getting comfortable and going to sleep. We wouldn’t be reaching Barcelona until about 8 in the morning so we had plenty of time to rest. Cheers!

3 Apr

2006-04-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

We left a little on the late side today (10-ish) and caught the highway bound for Granada. Granada is quite a big city and it took us a while to get our bearings and find the way to our apartment complex. Once we finally made it there, we didn’t find a place to park that was close by, so Dad ended up parking way down the street and over. Mom was working out details for the room while I was the go-between (not so fun!). Two little girls, daughters of the owner I guess, were our guides and maybe they were being spiteful but they must have led us on the longest and dustiest path to the apartment. All I know is that when I found my way back to the car to pick up as many bags as I could carry and then headed back, I got back much faster. We quickly dropped things off before getting back into the car and going to the Hertz center to drop it off. Finding that place took some time too and the traffic was terrible. Not horribly congested just busy and loud; not nearly as pleasant as the traffic in Sevilla. Dad didn’t realize how big Granada was but I knew more or less what to expect. At long last we ditched our car with no problem and caught a cab back to the apartment.

Once there, I started arranging things while Mom and Dad left in search of groceries and internet, respectively. I was hot and tired and just wanted to rest for a bit. When they got back, we were rather hungry so we started making preparations for dinner. We decided that we really just wanted to relax and not go out that night. Dinner was pretty good and then we went straight to bed. Tomorrow we travel out to the Alhambra palace that really puts Granada on the map and is supposed to be spectacular. We’ll see! Cheers!

2 Apr

2006-04-02T18:21:00.000-05:00

Ronda! We got to an early start and hopped onto the highway for Ronda. The ride there was fairly pleasant and it was nice to drive through Spanish mountains. Intrepid motorcycle riders took the often steep corners at daring speeds, much to my amusement and delight. It wasn’t until the ride down that I had the sense to take some video of the guys (but hey, they were moving pretty fast). One thing that really struck me about the scenery was how old all the stones and rocks looked. I’m used to countryside and have traveled through quite a bit of it, but you’re used to wildflowers, grasses, and the occasional little village so you don’t see many ruins. The rocks on these mountains looked as though they had been laying there for ages, perhaps hundreds of years. I have no scientific evidence or proof for these guesses, but just a intuition. The sides of the mountains looked much fresher and newer in glistening whites emerging from somber grays. It was late morning by the time we reached Ronda and what a cute city this is! Our first priority was finding a place to park, and it took us some time before we finally did. We also drove perhaps a little too deep into the city too, ‘cause it took us a while to reach ‘civilization.’ We finally reached a little park where we got directions to the tourist information place. We picked up directions and then went to the bathroom before continuing. There was a bullring nearby, one of the older ones in Spain, which we didn’t walk into but looked around at. There were also some military guys there with heavy-duty guns who started playing with this dog that wandered into their group. It was cute.

Maps in hand, we searched for the most famous site in Ronda, the Puente Nuevo (new bridge). A 15-min walk brought us there and what a sight it was! Delicately spanning the river and gorge below with strong, arching struts of white stone…The ravine it hovered over was no small beauty either and we gazed at it and shot pictures of it from various angles for about 30 minutes, along with dozens of other tourists. After the bridge, we headed a little further into town in search of souvenirs and just to enjoy walking down the cobblestone streets flanked by quaint whitewashed buildings. We saw a few leather stores and in one of them I found this beautiful, Indiana Jones-esque hat that I immediately fell in love with. I’ve wanted a hat like that for the longest time, but never thought I would seriously wear it until now. I found one that fit perfectly and though the price felt a little steep, 25 Euros, I knew it was made of solid material and that I would definitely treasure it. Dad picked up a wallet and I decided to go with the hat. It smelled wonderfully of leather and I walked out with it on.

We were hungry after our little shopping trip and so we went in search of some lunch. We looked at some small places but didn’t like the look of them much and didn’t see too many vegetarian options. Finally, we made it back to the Puente Nuevo and saw this nice looking restaurant that afforded a fantastic view of the ravine. The menu was a bit pricey but quite agreeable and when we got a table outside, we knew it was perfect. We ordered two soups, one almond and garlic, another gazpacho (cold tomato soup) and one asparagus pasta dish. I thought the almond and garlic one was the best. Dad also ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad that ended up being sliced tomatoes with olive oil, garnish, and fresh mozzarella cheese. It was delicious. Mom really liked her asparagus dish and told me that the white asparagus they used was relatively rare and quite expensive. It was truly a delicacy, and I’m glad she had a chance to savor it in such a beautiful setting. We asked a nice guy near us to take some pictures of us which he obligingly did.

After lunch, we decided it was time to head back so we grabbed our things and started on a long walk back to the parking lot. On the way, we picked up some fruit and small groceries from this little store. It took us some time to finally leave the city and after we went back down the mountain, we stopped at another big grocery store that Mom had seen on the way up. Parking was another nightmare for that place and by the time Dad and I found a spot, she was almost done shopping. Once we finished there, we drove back to Marabella and got there by early evening. The sun doesn’t set until late here and places are open even later so timing wasn’t a big deal. We rested in the hotel for a little while before heading into town to find a place to eat and see some of the other famous places in Marabella, like the plaza or oranges or something. The city was not as cute as Sevilla and other places but definitely had its own charm. The park we crossed to reach the city center had some neat works of Dali in iron or bronze which I took some pictures of. Food options in the city were mostly restricted to seafood and since we obviously couldn’t partake of that, we headed back to the beach instead. After walking for a bit, we found a pizza place that looked okay so we sat outside in the rather cool air near the sidewalk so we could people watch.

While Mom was in the bathroom, the waiter/possible owner and another woman took our orders and then set our table. Dad and I were very impressed by the quick and efficient way in which they laid out the napkins, silverware, and poured out our Cokes. We half expected our food to be ready in a few minutes they were so fast. Unfortunately, they were merely mortal so we did have to wait a bit for our food, but it was really good. Dad and I had pizza while Mom got this pasta dish with a spicy sauce that was definitely spicy but had a wonderful flavor. It’s not often that pasta sauce tastes that good. We enjoyed our meal and reflected on our trip so far before making plans for the next day. After the meal, we went in search of some gelato that we would eat while strolling along the beach. We didn’t actually walk on the side, rather on these small yet wide roads that run near it (rather like boardwalks). The evening was a little cool and I was glad to get back to the hotel to warm up. We were leaving for Granada the next day so we wanted to make sure we got plenty of sleep. I’m going to miss the coast! Cheers!

1 Apr

2006-04-01T17:21:00.000-06:00

We woke up early, checked out of our apartment, and grabbed a cab for the train station. The Hertz rental facility was there, and since the rail station was a good distance from our apartment, we couldn’t just walk there with our entire luggage. It didn’t take too long for us to get our keys and fill out all the paperwork. We walked out into the lot and found our car; a tidy, black Ford Focus that was looking sharp in the morning sunlight. We loaded our luggage and Dad took a few minutes to figure out the controls. It’s been a while since he’s driven a stick shift (except for Mr. O’Connor’s truck when we moved in last fall) and he wanted a bit of time to get the feel of it. The next thing we needed to know was how to reach the highway. We asked a parking lot attendant who unfortunately knew no English. Using a mix of broken Spanish and hand gestures, she was able to communicate directions to us. I understood a few words such as ‘puente’ which means bridge and gathered that we were supposed to essentially go in a box until we reached the bridge. After the bridge, we had to drive for about two kilometers until we saw signs for the highway. Good thing we had a couple of maps in the car, too! We buckled in, and then we were off!

Despite little recent practice, Dad handled the car quite well. We were fine direction-wise for a while until we accidentally missed a turn for our highway and then had to circle back using a U-turn. Thankfully, the traffic wasn’t very heavy and no one got too mad at us for being dumb tourists. The drive became very smooth and comfortable once we reached the highway. Our first destination was La Linea and Gibraltar! I’ve wanted to see the Rock of Gibraltar ever since I first heard about it and especially after last fall when in my Shakespeare class with Armitage we read that Cleopatra has this vision of Antony’s greatness in which he straddles the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a fitting image since in the play ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ Hercules is said to be Antony’s patron god who unfortunately abandons him towards the end of the play to the sound of trumpets (one of the few bonus questions I missed that semester, which is of course why I remember it so well now!) The legend of the Pillars of Hercules (which is made up of the Rock of Gibraltar and it’s sister rocky formation in Morocco) states that to complete one of his twelve labors, Hercules had to cross over a mountain that was once the Titan Atlas (same one who held the world on his shoulders, the one Ayn Rand wanted to shrug his shoulders) in order to reach a flock of some famous sheep. Instead of going around the mountain, Hercules used his invincible mace to split the mountain in half, thus shortening his route and connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Who would not desire to visit the site of such a legend! Anyone, we drove along the coast merrily heading for the place of antiquity. The ride was much shorter than I thought it would be, since after only a couple of hours, Mom pointed out that she could see the Rock. I didn’t believe her at first, until I became convinced that it couldn’t be anything else. It was beautiful! And HUGE! No wonder the ancients must have believed it to be part of the gateway at the edge of the world!

We found our way easily into La Linea and then sought a place to park our car. You can drive into Gibraltar from Spain, but the line is long and it’s more of a pain than it’s worth. We put in money for about five hours and then grabbed our things and headed for Gibraltar. ‘Customs’ didn’t take to long and at Passport Control I asked the guy if he would stamp my passport which he obligingly did. Hooray! We took a quick bathroom break at the airport (which is so tiny I think that only British Airways operates there and the only flights coming into Gibraltar leave from Heathrow and Manchester). Dad went in search of a map and some tourist information but was surprised and disappointed to find that all the guides and maps were in Spanish only! This was English territory! While he looked for those, I wandered into the gift shop in search of my shot glass and a pin for Saket. I found both of just the kind I wanted and I fortunately had some pounds with me. I’m sure they would have accepted Euros, but it was nice to be able to use my pounds. I was also thrilled to find that the Gibraltar pounds are different from the English ones. I set some aside for safekeeping. With my new treasures, I returned to my parents and then we headed out into the city.

Our guidebook said that you could take a bus all the way into the city and then to the top of the rock for a small fee. As soon as we reached the bus stand, I knew I was really in English territory. I saw a bobby (policeman with those tall black hats) and a red double-decker bus and even the bus stop signs were the same that they use in London. The same ‘look left’ and ‘look right’ signs were painted on the road to prevent dumb tourists from crossing the street at inappropriate times. Ah, good old England, er, Gibraltar. After waiting for what seemed like an awfully long time, we caught a bus into the city and bought a return ticket, which I hung onto. The day was beautiful if a bit windy and it was nice to ride in the open air. The ride didn’t take too long and before we knew it, we were in the city proper. We got off and walked about ten minutes to the center of town. We saw pubs and Indian restaurants. You can’t keep a Brit too far from his curry and ale…

As we were searching for a lift to the top, a tour guide in a large van pulled up beside us and offered to take us to the top and to all the main sites on the Rock for 20 Euros per person. There were already five girls in the car and he told them that they would get the same deal (he normally charges 25 Euros). A tram/bus ride would have cost us about the same so we decided to go with this guy. Turns out that was a great idea. He was a friendly guy who knew a lot about Gibraltar and was happy to answer questions. Funny accent too; not really English but not Spanish either. Two of the girls were from Wales and the other three were traveling together from I’m not too sure where. I think they were on a company vacation or something. Our first stop on our way up the mountain was at a little promontory that had an excellent view of the strait. The horizon was a little hazy but you could still clearly see Africa. Africa! The very first time I have ever laid eyes on that dark and rather mystical continent. This trip was also my first real interaction with the Mediterranean; flying over it doesn’t count! I could clearly see the other pillar and some undulating green hills near it. Beautiful.

We went a bit higher to see the famous macaques/Barbary apes that are the only wild monkeys of Europe. Legend has it that if these apes ever leave the Rock, so will the British. Many Spaniards hope this will happen but the British government and the people of Gibraltar (who are overwhelmingly in favor of British rule + self-government than Spanish rule) think otherwise and therefore these monkeys are very well looked after. These monkeys are adorable but show a great deal of irreverence for personal space. I walked out to this little ledge to take some pictures of the breathtaking view, and when I put the camera down, I was completely surrounded. One just sat there about a foot away, possibly waiting for food or something. I know they’re not dangerous, but it was a little unnerving. I gingerly stepped around them and headed back to the van.

Looking out over the top of the mountain into the strait really made me believe how the people of old felt that this place was the edge of the world. A dazzling blue that slowly melts into a hazy grey is all the eye may behold. Once you leave the sight of land, you’ve entered nothingness…it must have been terrifying for the first adventuresome sailors who braved the unknown and entered an expanse where unimaginable dangers could lie. ‘Here be monsters…’

From the edge of the world I traveled through the very gates of Hell. Or, rather, the gates of a great cave that runs for kilometers inside the rock. The old Romans who visited this place thought they were gazing into the Underworld once they excavated part of this cave. I can understand the impression because although the caves are not as impressive as Carlsbad Caverns or other ones I’ve seen, it’s still a neat sight with all the stalactites and stalagmites.

The cave was the last real stop on our journey around the rock. After that, we drove down and then our guide dropped the girls off in the center of town before taking us back to the border. We cheerfully paid him our 60 Euros and then crossed back over into Spain. I missed a chance to get my passport stamped with a Spanish stamp, but oh well. I was concerned that our parking time limit was about to expire so I hurried as fast as I could back to the car. Thankfully, no one had noticed that we were fifteen minutes late. We pulled out the lot, and Dad idled the car near the road so I could get closer to the shore and take some final pictures. It was simply gorgeous.

We left Gibraltar and then got back on the highway bound for Marabella (mar-ra-bayah) on the Costa del Sol. The drive was quite pleasant though we started anxiously looking for affordable hotels since this was the stretch of our trip for which we had not yet booked hotels. Near the outskirts of Marabella, we saw some nice looking hotels. We stopped at one of them only to find out that it was a golf resort that was charging over 100 Euros per night for a single room, and over 200 for a triple. We simply said ‘no thanks!’ and drove further into the city. As we neared the center, I saw a sign for a 3-star hotel on the right and then directed my dad to it. We circled this little shopping center area for a bit before we found it. Fortunately, he pulled into a parking spot right near it and stayed with the car while Mom and I checked the place out. It had a triple room that was spacious and nicely outfitted and for 90 Euros a night, we were set. I made payment arrangements while she helped Dad get stuff out of the car. I joined them and together we managed to haul all of our things up in one trip. We rested for a little while to freshen up before leaving in search of dinner. I had seen an Indian restaurant just a few shops down from our hotel (how convenient, right, and we were worried about food…) so we decided to try it.

The wait was rather long because it appeared that only one man was running the whole show. He probably had a cook in the back, but we were rather doubtful of that. There was a small British group near us who said that it might be a while before we got our food. We didn’t mind too much ‘cause even though we were pretty hungry, we didn’t have anywhere to go so we weren’t in a rush. We gave our order and since I had seen cava (Spanish champagne) on the menu, Dad decided to order a bottle of it. After some time, our waiter came out with the bottle, popped it next to me, and then poured me a little bit to taste. I thought it was all right so he poured everyone a glass. He overfilled mine a bit so it spilled over which was kind of funny but kind of sad too. After he left, Dad commented that he didn’t know what he was doing. Apparently, a waiter never gives the lady champagne to taste like that, and he certainly doesn’t overfill the glass! We toasted each other and had our sips. I’m such a sweet tooth that a drink practically has to have chocolate in it for me to like (or some other sugary/fruity liquid) but I did like this champagne. It wasn’t as strong as some of the other things I’ve tried which was nice. We were done with our first glass before our food came. It was fun to sip champagne while eating. Another woman came in who was much more experienced with serving alcohol. She quickly and expertly refilled our glasses and we thanked her for it. The food was pretty good, though by the end of the meal I was feeling kind of funny. This was the very first time that alcohol had ever affected me. It struck me as simply hilarious that the first time I felt even slightly tipsy would be in Spain with my parents. That’s all I was, just a bit tipsy. We paid and then headed for the beach where we could stroll and work off some of dinner in the cool coastal air. I wasn’t just imagining things, I was definitely a little tipsy because I walked a little unsteadily at first. Champagne doesn’t have a terribly high alcohol content, maybe 11-12%. It’s the bubbles that get you.

We strolled along the path near the beach and kept an eye out for gelato shops and places to eat tomorrow. We decided to stay here another night because we liked it so much. When we got back, I spent a little time online checking my mail and such. We also made plans to visit Ronda, a little mountain town north of Marabella, that Mom had heard was simply gorgeous. We turned in a little early in order to have a good start the next day. Cheers!

31 Mar

2006-03-31T17:21:00.000-06:00

Our only full day in Sevilla! One of our first orders of business for the day was finding an internet café to properly write home and check our mail. This took some time, but afterwards we got down to some real sightseeing. The first stop was the Catedral. This cathedral is the 3^rd largest in Christendom and the building that really puts Sevilla on the map (though, according to http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/cathedral.htm, this church is the largest in the world; I’ve seen both St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s and I’m not sure if I can verify or disprove the claim). As I expected, the interior was simply beautiful. Gothic in style, the tall, sweeping vaults are designed to overwhelm even the most irreligious visitor. We spent a good amount of time walking around and listening to the information on our audio guide (we found that these guides are nice to have if you have no prior knowledge about the place you’re visiting). The reputed tomb of Christopher Columbus is also here. As befitting a national hero (even though he wasn’t Spanish!), old Chris gets a fabulous, dark, impressive tomb of wrought iron. The main altarpiece of the Catedral is one of the most stunning works of art I’ve ever seen in a church. In gold and silver, the key scenes of the life of Christ are told from holy conception to birth to death and resurrection. And those panels are just four out of literally hundreds! The entire piece stands at least 20 feet high and a strong set of gates guards it. Beautiful!

After we left the interior of the Catedral, we headed for the Giralda tower in the courtyard outside. The courtyard itself was quite beautiful. It is called the Patio de los Naranjos, which means the Courtyard of the Oranges. Indeed, orange trees were arranged symmetrically around the courtyard. As always, I was tempted to pluck one down but they were forever out of reach.

The climb up the Giralda tower was quite unusual in that there were no stairs but instead what was essentially a ramp that winded round and round until you finally reached the top. Talk about being handicap friendly! Apparently, Pope John Paul II delivered an address from the top of the tower to the people of Sevilla in the early 1990s. Faithful followers wheeled the Pope all the way up to the balcony that provides one with an incredible view of the city. After shooting many pictures, we trotted down and out. On the way up, I could swear I recognized someone from UNC, but before I could make a positive identification, she had already gone well past us on her way down. Who knows?

The Catedral done, we headed to the famed Alcazar (fort) of Sevilla and toured around it for a while. It was nice but not as nice as the Catedral so we did not spend too much time here. We were feeling pretty hungry so we went in search of food. We came across a tapas bar that was supposed to be pretty good, but the wait was awfully long. I began to despair that we would ever get a seat at the bar (there were about 8 stools for 15 people!) and then miraculously two seats opened up. Mom and Dad sat while I stood until a third opened and we all got comfortable. Being vegetarian ain’t easy in most places (except India) and here it was especially difficult. We tried to explain to the guys behind the bar that we eat no meat, but it wasn’t getting through real clear. To our immensely great fortune, there was an American couple next to us who were extremely friendly and helpful. The woman was adorable. She recommended a few dishes and so we tried them. One was called ‘pisto’ which is basically eggplant and onions done in this delicious way; sort of a stew, nice and hearty with a good amount of flavor. Usually pisto is covered with jamon (ham) but the nice lady ordered it ‘sans jamon’ for us. She also recommended this almond and garlic soup which turned out to be one of the best dishes I’ve tasted in a long time. None of us have ever had this combination before and it was fabulous. I think we just ordered dishes of these and along with a glass of red wine for Dad (I just took a sip) and some of the crispy little pieces of bread they had, we had a delicious and satisfying meal. Turns out the couple had children who attended North Carolina schools (one was at Davidson, I don’t remember the other one) and the woman herself attended NC State. They’d been traveling in Spain for a couple weeks and she knew a fair bit of Spanish. We ended up finishing our meals at the same time and we thanked them profusely upon leaving the restaurant. Talk about luck! I’d been hoping to sample some tapas for a few days and we were happy to have enjoyed some in such an agreeable manner. Sevilla is quickly becoming my favorite city.

From the restaurant we walked to the Plaza de Espana (pretty much every Spanish city has one of these). It is quite an impressive square with a gorgeous fountain in the middle where some tired Brits were taking the time to cool off their feet. We walked along the sides to admire the arches and nice architecture of the buildings. On a wall at the base of the buildings and going all the way around the square is a set of ceramic tile murals for the cities of Spain. Each city gets a little square where its name is written and its most famous sites are depicted. Very appropriate decoration for a ‘Plaza de Espana,’ don’t you think? It is also here that George Lucas chose to film part of his recent Star Wars trilogy. In a scene in Episode II where Anakin and Padme are standing on a pretty bridge overlooking some pretty scene, they are actually standing on a bridge in this square. The bridge was beautiful but the water beneath it not so much, so I don’t blame Lucas for using some CGI for this scene. When we were nearly done, I politely approached one of the Brits and asked him to take our picture. He greeted me with ‘Hola’ before finding out very quickly that I spoke perfect English. We may look Hispanic, but we certainly don’t look Spanish (they’re too pale for us). He kindly obliged and took a couple really nice ones.

From the Plaza we walked through some lovely gardens on our way back to the apartment. Mom and Dad were a little tired so we decided to rest for a bit, eat dinner, and pack some before heading out again at night. My appetite was back in a big way and I enjoyed some more Indian food from home. A nighttime stroll sounded really good so we left to find the Catedral and just see some of the Barrio Santa Cruz at night. What a great decision! The Catedral was lit up beautifully and to our surprise, we saw a huge crowd of people lining a street next to it. We felt like some gelato for dessert so we quickly popped into a café/restaurant to order some and head back out onto the street in time to catch whatever it was the people were waiting for. I remembered that Semana Santa (Holy Week) was rapidly approaching and that Sevilla celebrates the occasion in a big way. After some time, a sort of bier was carried out the doors of the Cathedral with a statue of Christ kneeling on it. Minutes later, a priest or other religious figure placed a cross onto the shoulders of the Christ statue. That being done, a procession of altar boys and small children as well as adults with tall white candles and long staffs began moving along the walls of the Catedral. Like everyone else, we watched them for a while until they turned the corner. Figuring there wasn’t anything else to see (and eager to get away from the crowd), we left the scene and decided just to circle the church before heading back to the hotel.

As we entered the square between the Alcazar and the Catedral, we saw the procession once more, except this time we were much closer and the crowd wasn’t so bad. Excitedly, I began taking pictures while we speculated what it was all about. A teenage girl next to me glared at me after a time before she approached the statue and crossed herself before leaving. What an idiot I am! Here I was, clearly a tourist, talking rather irreverently during an important religious procession! No wonder she was upset. I immediately shut up after she left and stopped taking pictures. Happy, and very pleased with the city of Sevilla, we walked back to our hotel to do some final packing and to get some rest. We would be renting a car the next day so we had to be extra alert! Cheers!

30 Mar

2006-03-30T17:21:00.000-06:00

We had train tickets to Cordoba and then to Sevilla that day so we got a very early start and checked out of our hotel. The train ride wasn’t a lot of fun ‘cause we were exhausted from not having slept much. I was dozing most of the ride so I don’t remember much of the outside scenery. I do remember it being rather dry and grassy.

At the Cordoba train station, we stored our bags in a locker and then sought out the information desk. The man there was very helpful and for a single Euro we bought a nice map to the city. Our first destination was the Mezquita which is an ancient and famous Muslim mosque.

This mosque is grand in scale and beautiful for its interior design. What struck me most about this Mezquita were the rows and rows of red marble pillars that created both a sense of closeness and infinity within the building. Unlike many of the Christian churches and cathedrals I have visited, this place did not seem to try to overwhelm you with high vaults and sweeping arches that force one to strain their necks skyward. Instead, this mosque enshrined beauty and heavenly grace largely at eye-level and within reach of the common man. After we had admired its beauty, we visited the tourist office located outside. The woman there was quite friendly and gave us several free posters after Dad inquired about one.

Cordoba is also famous for an old Roman bridge (Puente Roman) that has been straddling the rather small river there for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, the bridge was closed for renovations and we could only admire it from one side. It was getting to be lunchtime after we finished with the bridge, so we went a bit further into town in search of a place to eat. We found this little falafel place which was empty except for us. The food was okay and the service not too great. Dad decided to get some sangria but I was disappointed to see the server just pour it out of a liter bottle. I know the stuff is really popular, but it’s still depressing to see it served that way.

After lunch, we walked around the city some more. I bought a postcard and we searched for souvenirs for the other two but couldn’t find the right things. We didn’t want to reach Sevilla too late (it’s still a couple hours train ride from Cordoba) so we headed back to the train station in the early afternoon to pick up our bags and buy our tickets to Sevilla. I had a bit of trouble finding the right ticket counter to go to, but once we did, getting the tickets was a simple matter. We were pretty early for the next train, so we just chilled out for a while. Dad and I tried to get some wireless internet but, expectedly, failed in this endeavor. When the time came, we headed over to the baggage scanner. After my bag went through, the guard motioned me to open it for him. I obliged and moved around some of my clothes and such before miming an innocent ‘what did you want to see’ question. He just looked at me and silently pointed to the X-ray screen. I could see the figure of my dagger in solid black against the white around it. ‘Oh’ I mimed, ‘that’s what you wanted to see.’ I immediately pulled out the box and let him examine it. He quickly discerned that it was just a toy (not really) due to the colorful and childish print on the box, and let me go. Hilarious.

A whole troop of schoolchildren followed us onto the train and I figured it might be a long ride. Still tired, I managed to doze most of the way. I must say, the Sevilla train station is one of the more impressive ones I’ve seen. One feature I really liked was in the bathroom where there was a panel on the far wall with LEDs. When a stall was occupied, the light would be out and vice versa. It was a simple and elegant means of letting people know how long they would have to wait and if a stall was vacant, exactly which one was. It’s the small things that matter. We first went to a tourist office to get some info and maps, and then caught a cab into the city. Unlike Madrid, Sevilla is a relatively small, relaxed town that is still bustling but not frantic and congested. The streets got narrower and more twisted as we headed into the Barrio Santa Cruz (one of the older and most famous parts of the city) until we stopped in a small square with a giant, elaborate iron cross and orange trees.

It took us a few minutes to find our bearings, but once we did, it was a simple matter to check into the hotel. The woman at the desk was kind and spoke perfect English. We were exhausted so fortunately our apartment was completely ready. Saket, the dear soul he is, had left us a message that the receptionist gave us. He wanted to make sure we were okay and since we didn’t have internet access, we had to write out a letter and then give it to the receptionist to type back, which she obligingly did (this was after we had settled in)

The apartment was amazing. I was blown away by how well stocked and arranged it was. I was extremely tired and feeling a little sick so I got into bed in the master bedroom and took a little nap. I woke to hear the phone ringing, but by the time I realized what it was, the ringing stopped. Moments later, the receptionist knocked on our door to inform us that Saket had written a second letter asking if we had made it to the hotel safely (this was before we sent the reply). Dad immediately drafted a reply. Mom wanted to get some groceries like fruit and bread so she got directions from downstairs and went out in search of food. After I woke up, Dad and I arranged the place a bit. For dinner, we had some fruit, bread, and some of the Indian packets Mom thoughtfully brought from home. I was still feeling unwell so I just had some strawberries while Mom and Dad ate. After they finished, we made plans for the next day and then got ready for bed. I slept in the living room on the sofa bed that was surprisingly comfortable. Cheers!

29 Mar

2006-03-29T17:21:00.000-06:00

We got off to an early start this morning bound for the Atocha train station and then Toledo! It took a rather longer time to find the proper ticket office than I reckoned and thus we made our train with a slightly smaller comfort zone than I would have liked. Our cabin wasn’t terribly full, and we were rather lucky to find a small group of four American ladies traveling in the seats near us. We quickly rearranged our seating arrangement such that both parties could sit with their respective members. We chatted briefly and discovered that they’ve been in Spain for some time now and that one of them apparently acts in London. She divulged that information to us after I told them I was studying abroad there. She amusedly said that since I had not been to see her performance, any hope of friendship between us was lost. I was a little bewildered by this behavior and simply attributed it to thespian eccentricity and possibly some alcoholic influences. Between them they possessed a decent command of Spanish and consequently managed far better in gastronomical and sightseeing affairs than we did. Oh well. Upon our arrival in Toledo, we wished them a pleasant trip and I suspected that, Toledo being a tiny town, we would probably run into them again before the day was out.

Not wanting to make a trek up the hill into the town proper, we hired a cab at the train station that took us to the top in a matter of minutes. Toledo was formerly the capital of the Spanish empire and when you’ve seen the place, it’s rather surprising to think of it as such after seeing Madrid. Madrid is much like London in that it has preserved a good deal of its regal past and maintains its diminished regal present quite well. Toledo does not invoke images of austere majesty but rather quiet, floral scented evenings spent wandering its narrow, winding cobblestone streets while listening to the drifting notes of street musicians playing on its many squares. The whitewashed walls give the place a refreshingly cool, clean feeling that turns exuberantly joyful when sunshine clings to them.

Our first destination was the Alcazar (or fort) Toledo is famous for. After circling the entire complex searching in vain for the opening, we inquired of a nearby police officer as to the possibility of visiting the fort. He informed us, in broken English, that the place was closed to the public for renovations. Oh no! That plan having failed, we headed instead to the next item on our list, the Cathedral (nearly every Spanish city has its famous church).

This cathedral reminded me of some we had seen on our Central Europe tour. Gothic (I believe) style with tall, delicate arches and beautiful stained glass. We were impressed not only by the finery of the church architecture but by the remarkable art collection. Mostly Spanish and religiously based, the paintings were nicely arranged among other valuable church artifacts.

Upon leaving the Cathedral and emerging once more into the light of day (it was a beautiful day!), we headed for a tourist center to get more information about the city, and especially to find a good place to eat. The woman at the tourist office was very nice and even gave us a set of free posters! Apparently, El Greco’s most famous painting, "Entierro del Conde de Orgaz," is found in one of the churches in this city. We decided that since we were here, we might as well see it. I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped I would be, and what was worse, is that we had to shell out several Euros just to catch a glimpse. Lame. You really shouldn’t have to pay to go inside a church. Once we left San Tome, we were all hungry so the first order of business became finding a place to eat.

We ended up choosing this little place in a quaint, sun-drenched square. The staff was quite helpful in pointing out vegetarian selections. Mom got a paella (hearty rice dish indigenous to Spain) while Dad and I got pizzas. I think she made the better choice. It was nice to eat in that square and listen to the voices of other tourists walking by. We still had some time left to us after lunch, so we decided to look for some souvenirs. The whole day, I had noticed swords, daggers, and small arms being displayed in many souvenir storefronts. Along with delicious looking confectioneries and elaborate dining ware, weapons seemed to be the local pride of this place. That being the case, I was determined to take a dagger home with me.

I saw some nice ones in a few of the stores we visited, but concerns over security on the trains stayed our purses until one shopkeeper repeatedly assured us that there would be no problem. People bought this things all the time, she said. I found a beautiful and elaborate dagger for 12 Euros. If security took it from me, I would be sad and disappointed but it would not be a big loss. We decided to chance it.

We still wanted a good night in Madrid so we left for the train station immediately after buying the dagger. As we walked into a square where the taxis dropped people off, I just had to stop and shoot some panoramic video. The scene was just too perfect. A sun drenched square with happy children running about and tourists busily taking pictures. Gorgeous! Toledo truly managed to charm all of us in a matter of hours. As we took our taxi back to the station, I shot as much video as I could before the memory card became full.

We were a little early for our train so we had to wait for a while. The ride back to Madrid was uneventful and we first headed to the nearby Retiro Park. It was still afternoon so the sun lit the place up brilliantly. We walked around here for a couple of hours before catching the Metro back to the Plaza del Sol (Plaza of the Sun) which was near our hotel. Dad and I decided to get some gelatos before joining Mom at the hotel. They took a nap while I took some time to update my blog and take care of pictures. After they woke up, we freshened up a bit and went in search of an Indian restaurant Mom had looked up before leaving.

I found the place on my map but misjudged its distance from two metro stops. We ended up getting off at one that looked much closer to the restaurant on the map than in real life. We just kept on walking until finally we found it. Food was pretty good and since a light rain was falling, I was determined to enjoy it to make up for all the trouble we had in finding it. We left and found the truly nearest Metro station very quickly.

What happened on our way back to the hotel from the Plaza del Sol I will never forget and do not desire to record it here. Suffice it to say the experience nearly ruined our vacation and that the rest of the night passed quite, shall I say, disagreeably and it was late before we finally laid our troubled and angry heads to bed. Cheers for the day, but not for the night.

28 Mar

2006-03-28T05:21:00.000-06:00

Our first full day in Madrid! Our first stop today was the Royal Palace (“Palacio Real”, I think) near the commercial part of the city. On our short walk to the outdoor court, Dad and I noticed some guards by a government office who were packing some serious firepower (AKs, I think they were). It’s one thing to play with these weapons in a video game, it’s something else to see them in person in the hands of a guard who doesn’t look like they have much of a sense of humor. Despite the abundant sunshine, the court was a little chilly with the cool and steady breeze blowing. I guess it’s still a little early in this part of the country for really warm weather. The grounds were entirely stone and though expansive, rather plain. Before our guided tour of the palace and its rooms began, we wandered through the royal pharmacy (never have I seen such elaborate containers for everyday chemicals) and royal armory (too dark to really be impressive).

If the outer area didn’t impress much, the inner rooms certainly did. Elegant, almost baroque at times with ornate bronze, these rooms were works of art. Hand-woven rugs from famous cities in Spain adored the floors of many rooms and glittering chandeliers dazzled our eyes. Some of these state rooms are still in use today for special occasions, such as visits from foreign leaders (presidents and prime ministers) or other important business of the state, such as the signing of the European Union Constitution or whatever document it was that declared Spain as part of the EU. We saw a dining room table long enough to seat over 80 people (and that’s when it was not fully extended!) and centerpieces made literally out of silver and gold.

After we left the Palace, we wandered through the nearby areas of the city. It was most pleasant to stumble upon gardens and little patches of refreshing greenery that really added life to the sterile stone and glass everywhere else. After grabbing a quick lunch, we made our way to the Prado Museum. This museum holds one of the finest art collections in Europe and certainly the best in Spain. From classical greats to modern marvels, its exhibits span the ages of Spanish (mostly) and international art, including some gems from Raphael and Titian. I think Francisco Goya almost had a wing to himself though other major Spanish artists, Velazquez, El Greco (Greek originally but he did most of his work in Spain), Murillo, and others had sizable collections. Again, pictures (without flash, of course) were allowed in this museum. I like the National Gallery in London better, but this place was still impressive. We were a little tired towards the end and took a tea/coffee snack break downstairs before finishing off a final few exhibits and then leaving. I really liked how EU students got in for free! I’ve had good results for student discounts here so far, and I would very much like this trend to continue.

There were several vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs outside the museum and we browsed through their collections. I picked out a nice silver and black wrap. We looked for Saket’s pin but couldn’t find the right one. We had a flamenco show tonight at 20:00 so we needed to find some dinner before getting there. The show was in a small restaurant near the Plaza Real so it was there that we chose to find some food. Not many of the menus seemed to appeal to mom and dad (though I wasn’t too picky) and at last, we decided on an Italian place. The sun had mostly set by the time we finished and with the steady wind, I started feeling quite cold and eager to be inside somewhere. It was nice to people watch though. The food was okay.

A short walk got us to our flamenco placed and we were guided to a table pleasingly close to the stage. There was a troop of schoolchildren at the place and they were thankfully well behaved. They sat there with the Coca-Colas and juices while the rest of the crowd sipped beer, wine, and sangria (essentially a wine cooler; like wine mixed with punch). One drink was included with our ticket price so we all decided to try sangria. It wasn’t as strong as most of the stuff I’ve tried in London but I still didn’t fancy it all too much. Some tables around us were sharing pitchers. The show started right on time.

Four musicians took the stage and three ladies in dresses sat on chairs in front of them. The music started and the women started clapping and tapping their feet to it. I, dumb tourist that I am, started clapping along until one of the waiters politely told me to stop. Boy, did I feel like such an idiot! I learned my lesson and was quiet for the rest of the night. After some singing, one of the ladies got up and started dancing. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with flamenco dancing, but it is rather different from most American and European dances. It’s very stop and go, individual, deeply personal, and always improvisational. The dancer uses her entire body for the performance and though these ladies were not wearing the traditional, flowy, gorgeous dresses typical of flamenco, they made use of whatever material they had to enhance their performance. While one danced, the other two clapped and said “Ole!” as encouragement. The ladies danced a couple of sets apiece before a young man joined them on stage. He was amazing. He seemed to throw his entire body into his dancing, especially when he did this wonderful tap routine where his legs flew while his arms reached out to the audience for support. He and one of the ladies did a “duet” for a short while. Flamenco is an individual dance, and thus there is little if no touching between the male and female dancers. They would circle each other but never get too close. It certainly played out as an interesting dynamic that enraptured the crowd. Discretely, I shot as much video as I could (though pictures were allowed, video was forbidden). I got some nice shots too.

After the show, we paid our bill and then headed back out into the Spanish night. It wasn’t too late, but I still didn’t like wandering around too much in an unfamiliar area. We finally went to bed around midnight. Tomorrow we take a train to Toledo (which is only an hour or so by train from Madrid). Cheers!

27 Mar

2006-03-27T05:21:00.000-06:00

The inconceivable happened this morning. I overslept!! I swear, my alarm must not have gone off. The deal was that I would call them as I was getting ready to leave to make sure they were ready to go. Dad, in his infinite wisdom, decided to call me around 7:20 to make sure I was doing my part. If it wasn’t for his phone call, I’m pretty sure I would have not woken up ‘til much later…

Frantically, and ever so thankful I had packed nearly everything the night before, I got ready as fast as I could and practically ran to the train station. I got there several minutes early and had enough time to declare myself an idiot several times before boarding. I found Mom and Dad waiting and ready at Victoria, and I first apologized to them before heading over to the ticket office to buy two Zones 1-6 passes for them. As soon as I got them, we grabbed our things and headed for the Victoria Line. The Tube ride to Green Park and then to Heathrow went quite smoothly with me kicking myself for almost ruining this all the way. My alarm clock has worked nearly flawlessly the whole time I’ve been here and it picked one heck of day to screw up.

Once at Heathrow, we checked in smoothly except to find out that our flight was delayed. We moved up to an earlier one that she told us we had to hurry to catch. Ah, what a great start to the trip! We made it the plane with about five minutes to spare before the hatch was closed. The flight went very smoothly and within a few hours, we were in Paris! Oh, but not for long! We hurried to our gate as fast as we could but were stopped a couple of times by security checks. Anger was mounting in our fellow passengers, especially one Italian woman who was convinced that this ineptitude of the airport officials was going to cause her to miss her flight. One man attempted to bypass the line on the excuse that he too would miss his flight, but was turned away to the approval of people already in line who told him they were worried about their flights too. ‘Then we’ll stay in the same hotel!’ the cutter retorted as he headed to the back of the line. Welcome to Charles de Gaulle airport, ladies and gentlemen.

After all was said and done, we made to our gate with time to spare and since I hadn’t had any breakfast, my own fault completely, I took the time to grab a big and delicious muffin. I finished it just minutes before boarding. I may hate Charles de Gaulle, but Air France is a decent airline. Our flight to Madrid was uneventful and rather pleasant. We managed to pick up our bags quickly and smoothly and then immediately sought a taxi to get us into town. I’m not sure how many airports do this, but I thought it was neat how the taxis would shut off their engines and put their cars in neutral while waiting for customers. They would push their cars to the front of the line and only turn them on after their customer(s) got in the car. Fuel efficient and quiet: a perfect combination. Our driver quickly loaded our bags into the trunk and then we were on our way! Warm air blew in through the windows and brilliant sunshine lit the city on fire.

To mom and my alarm, our driver proceeded to show us on a map of his all the sights of the city. Not just at stoplights, mind you, even while driving! He was an excellent driver which was a very good thing for us…In no time at all, we reached our hotel and I liked our driver up until the point where he tried to cheat us out of a few Euros. We had agreed on a price before leaving and he at first did not give dad the proper change until dad demanded it of him. Our hotel was nice and we settled in a little and refreshed ourselves a bit before heading out for the famous Sophia Museum (which was the only one open that day).

In a pleasant welcome to the city, a big group of artists and theater people were demonstrating/celebrating in the square right in front of the museum. We watched them for a few minutes before heading into the museum. Like the Louvre in Paris (though not nearly of the same scale and grandeur), the Sophia Museum is a palace converted into an art museum. It’s a modern art museum and consequently I did not understand very much of it. Many of the exhibits were interesting yet virtually incomprehensible. Pablo Picasso’s most famous work, “La Guernica” is on display here. It covers most of a wall and is quite a work to behold. Pictures were allowed in this exhibit, something I found quite unusual, yet “La Guernica” was the only painting special enough to have its own retinue of guards plus at least five security cameras (those were the ones I could see in the room). We looked a few more exhibits after that before leaving the place in search of dinner.

Mom printed out a list of vegetarian places to eat at and so we struck out for one. On the way, we took a side street and found a sign pointing to an Indian restaurant. Curious, we checked out the place and decided to eat there. It had only been open for a couple of weeks. The staff was sort of helpful in telling us about the city, though the food wasn’t anything special. It was getting dark as we left and since we were tired and in a new city, we decided to head straight back to the hotel. The nice thing about Spain is that people here keep very late hours, so the streets are still bustling even near midnight with diners and coffee drinkers.

At the hotel, we all got some much needed rest. Cheers!

26 Mar

2006-03-26T17:21:00.000-06:00

Cursed British Summer Time! Also known as Daylight Savings Time. The clocks jumped ahead and thus I got less sleep than I was hoping for, even though I woke up a little late. I grabbed my empty duffel bag and ran down to the train station and just caught the train for Victoria. When I reached the hotel, Mom and Dad were still getting ready. Mom decided to abandon her plan to go to Alton since the morning had already progressed further than would have been suitable for such a trip. Today was Sunday so Westminster Abbey was closed. We had already finished most of what I had planned for them, so the question remained as to what to do today. I proposed a walk in Hyde Park followed by some time at the Imperial War Museum and then dinner in central London. Mom was still acting morose from yesterday’s unfortunate experience and it wasn’t until we reached the Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park that things began to brighten for all of us. There were religious speakers on the soapboxes today, one apparently Muslim and the other Christian. The Muslim leader fielded questions about the recent riots and protest concerning the publishing of cartoons offensive to the Prophet Mohammed. One British woman started arguing with him about free speech and, considering the political leanings of this country, it wasn’t surprising that the audience was almost completely on her side. Woman: 1 Speaker: 0

We ate lunch at a Pret a Manger (a shiny, ubiquitous, café-styled food chain owned by McDonald’s Corporation) and then caught the Tube south for the Imperial War Museum (IWM for future reference). Mom and Dad were delighted to see a piece of the Berlin Wall outside the museum and were impressed by the large, 15-in naval gun out front that could hit targets over a mile away! The shells for that gun are actually taller than Mom…

They enjoyed the IWM more than I thought they would which was quite pleasing. We went through the Trench Experience and Dad and I sat through a simulation of Britain during the Blitz. After the IWM, we went into town in search of food. For my benefit, Indian was once again chosen and dad picked out a place called Mela from one of our London guides. It was situated in Piccadilly Circus and so to get there we caught a bus from a little ways outside the museum right into Piccadilly Circus. Although the guide said PC, it might as well have said Charing Cross road because the restaurant was much closer to that road than to PC.

Mela is a funky place with a polite and attentive staff, cool décor, and EXCELLENT food. The presentation of the dishes was superb, especially my paneer tikka masala. This was the first Punjabi dish I’ve ever tried that was not curry based and boy did they do a good job of it. Mom and Dad ordered wine while I stuck with tap water (so boring, I know). Dinner took some time and then we caught a bus for Victoria.

My train was set to leave about 20 minutes after we reached Victoria station which barely gave me 10 minutes there (since the walk to the station was about 5 minutes each way). They hastily stuffed the duffel and another handbag with all the clothing and supplies they wouldn’t need for Spain and then I left. I made it to the train with only a couple of minutes to spare, and then had to walk miserably up Champion Hill in the steadily falling rain with an incredibly heavy handbag and a sort of heavy duffel slung over my shoulder. Oh, and the backpack to boot. J Eh, it wasn’t that bad. I was just a little concerned because I still hadn’t packed for Spain (I couldn’t really, since I was going to use the duffel bag) and I had to be at Victoria early the next morning.

I packed as quickly as I could but couldn’t make it to bed before midnight. Spain tomorrow and for the next two weeks! Huzzah! Cheers!

25 Mar

2006-03-25T17:21:00.000-06:00

The Tower of London! I dragged myself out of bed and made it to the Tower nearly 30 minutes before I was supposed to get there. It wasn’t a bad wait; I got to people watch, eat some leftover sweets, and sit in the sun for a while. It was still a pretty cold day though, and I was more than happy to see my parents finally come down the hill. We bought our tickets and then had to wait about 20 minutes before the first tour started. We made use of our downtime by taking pictures with some of the Tower Guard who were happy to oblige. Those guys are amazing! It used to be that a person could buy the post of a Yeoman Warder (the official title of the Tower Guard) for 250 guineas (no small sum at the time) but the Duke of Wellington (the same one who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo) abolished that scheme. Instead, these men are chosen from various military branches after having at least attained the rank of Warrant Officer, Staff Sergeant or Flight Sergeant. It remains a highly respected position and one not taken on lightly, since appointments are held until the age of 65 and one becomes a special constable of the Metropolitan Police to boot. These are merry and jolly men who laugh and joke with each other and the tour groups whom they guide around the Tower. Most of them live on the Tower grounds, some in houses centuries old (and frequently renovated).

Our guide did a wonderful job and I was entertained as much as before when Sachi, Saket and I all went. I told him that I was studying at King’s and he wished me best of luck in my studies. Aww. Unfortunately, the famous Tower ravens were not out and about as usual because of the fear of avian flu. There were black birds around and I excitedly took pictures of some before Dad pointed me to the sign telling of their safeguarding. Pity. After our tour we visited the crown jewels and the armoury. My goodness those jewels are magnificent! I didn’t care much for the silver and gold diningware but the jewels were beautiful…I’m a sucker for diamonds and almost anything shiny and sparkly for that matter. So like a barracuda…

The day was surprisingly fair after we left the Tower so we walked over to Tower Bridge (the beautiful bridge on the East End that everyone thinks is London Bridge but it’s not) and crossed it to reach the south bank. We walked a ways heading west to find a bus to Westminster and ran into a surprising symphonic performance on the way. They were under a makeshift tent and performing near the City Hall (a very modern and flashy building). I thought I had heard music on the bridge but did not realize it was live. We stayed for a while to watch and I shot some video of the performance. We slowly but surely made our way to a bus stop where we caught one heading for Westminster that took us on a little tour of the south bank. Unfortunately, Westminster Abbey was closed by the time we reached it. I had forgotten that it closed as early as 13:45. We had just missed it by an hour. The weather also worsened and it began to rain lightly. We spent some time at Trafalgar Square and then the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. There was a big free speech rally going on at Trafalgar and I got to shoot some pictures and video of it before we found a café in a bookstore and hung out there to get some tea and warm up.

We had our show of As You Like It tonight at the Novello on Aldwych and so we decided to go near King’s and buy some tea before eating an early dinner and catching the show. We accidentally took a bus a bit too far and then had to walk back in the rain to find Twinings, a fine tea shop, closed. My school was also closed and it was nearly 5:30. London is so frustrating when it’s raining because it’s hard to find a nice place to go. Mom and dad were getting rather crabby and I just wanted to get out of the rain. I stopped at a Thai restaurant near King’s and waited outside until their doors finally opened for dinner business. Dinner was a miserable affair, especially when Mom said she had decided she really wants to go to Alton (to see the Jane Austen Museum there) whether we wanted to join her or not. Some way to spend Mother’s Day.

I was more than relieved when we finally left the place and got to the theater super early. It wasn’t a terrible wait since the theater was all right if not a little small and a bit stuffy. So stuffy near the back that one poor woman fainted during the show. That’s what a humid rain will do for ya.

As You Like It was an enjoyable experience, though I felt the second half was much better than the first. I think my parents liked it too. It was late when the play ended and so I showed them to their bus station right next to mine on the Strand. They could catch one directly to Victoria while I could catch my 68 back home. I got on mine just moments before their bus arrived and thankfully they got home safely. I looked up train times and prices to Alton before going to bed. Cheers!

24 Mar

2006-03-24T17:21:00.000-06:00

Since I don’t have seminar for Sociolinguistics, I’m all done with classes! Our first stop today was St. Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately, my parents did not spend a very good night at their hotel. Their experience was so bad, in fact, that they really wanted to leave and find a better place. While my mom got ready, my dad and I left to do just that. We found a nice room at a nearby Quality Inn and were all set to cancel at the B&B and move-in there, when we were told by the B&B staff that they would not refund us the remaining nights. Unfortunately, my parents had went ahead and paid for the remaining nights and the manager’s claim was that they approved of the room and thus had no right to complain and demand their money back. We disagreed and though we couldn’t get a refund, we demanded a different room. It was slightly better and after a much delayed start, we finally left for St. Paul’s.

This cathedral is amazing. I can see why it is the pride and joy of Christians all over England. It’s the second largest church in Christendom after St. Peter’s in Rome. The gildings, paintings, and delicate yet stately architecture truly make it a marvel. We visited several cathedrals and churches in Europe and this place certainly rivaled if not surpassed many of them. Although photography was forbidden, I saw other people shooting and decided to do the same. I made sure not to use the flash (as that is what they were really concerned about) and managed to take a few decent shots. I was worried about getting caught while my dad was egging me on to shoot more openly.

We climbed to the dome together and then Dad and I went all the way to the top with a bunch of Canadian rugby players. What a view! I told Dad that this was arguably the best view of London from any point in the city and one of the rugby players overheard me and said that he had been on the London Eye (big “observation wheel” on the Thames that was built for the millennium) and that this view was much better. It was cold, windy, and rather gray but still stunning.

Once we got down, we had lunch at a nearby café before catching the Tube to Tower Hill. The journey took much longer than I thought since the Tube stations we had to change at were much larger than I had anticipated. It probably would have been easier to walk! When we finally reached the Tower, we were told that although the place wasn’t closing for another couple of hours, the last guided tour was just on its way out and that if we hurried we could catch up with them. We didn’t think it was worth it and decided to visit Brick Lane instead. We walked down the street for a while and stopped in a couple of grocery and sweets stores. We looked at different restaurants before choosing a Balti House. The food was okay and I was happy to leave the place since it was quickly becoming smoky with a new wave of smokers.

We bought some delicious sweets before catching the Tube back to Victoria. While I waited for my train, my parents stayed with me and we ate some of the sweets. I made it home around 22:00 and met Katie at Checkpoint Charlie. She had just returned from a day out at the library and then a play and dinner with some friends. I wasn’t feeling too tired so I hung out in her room for a while. We talked about all kinds of things from scuba diving (she’s swum with sharks!) to the X-Files (she’s a huge fan) and my theories on how the Harry Potter series will end. What a cool kid. Before we knew it, it was near 1 a.m. and I had to get up early to meet my parents at the Tower of London. Eek! Cheers!

23 Mar

2006-03-23T17:21:00.000-06:00

Mom and Dad arrived this morning! Unfortunately, I still had to go to class so I could not meet with them until just past 14:00. My last Court Cultures class was as entertaining as ever and I know I’m going to miss Rivkah’s lectures. She’s a gem. After class, I had a brief meeting with Devyani during which we discussed my final paper for that class. She said I’m on the right track with my ideas as long as I focus on the history, policy, and individual experience of bilingualism. Sounds good. Our meeting ran a bit late and then the Tube was a bit delayed so I was a bit late getting to the B&B at which my parents are staying.

And then Mom was! Standing outside in the English sun waiting for me. Ah, it was sooooo good to see them again! And so much food! Cookies, chuckrie, packaged Indian food, shero, so good!! I have such wonderful parents. They seemed fairly fresh and refreshed after their flight so after about 10 minutes in which I got to eat some mutya, we headed for the British Museum. I’ve been dying to play tour guide (did I mention this?) since I got here, and today I finally got that chance. The trip to the Museum was pretty straightforward and we got to chat pleasantly on the way.

As I knew they would, both of them loved the Museum. After we ogled the Rosetta Stone, I led them to the Greece and Rome section where we admired the Elgin Marbles of the Parthenon for a long while. We rested for a bit and enjoyed some tea and coffee before Dad went to Egypt and Mom and I went to India, China, and Japan. Both exhibits were amazing. I was feeling very hungry (since I’d all but skipped both breakfast and lunch) and Mom and Dad were feeling a bit hungry too, so we left the Museum around 18:00 in search of some food. They knew I’ve been craving some good Indian food for a while and so we went to this place called Hasan Raja on Southampton Row. I remember this was the place that Jess and her mom recommended, and oh were they right. The food was delicious and the service polite if a little slow. After dinner, Mom and Dad were pretty tired and I had to get back as soon as possible to finish my last paper for my Causes of War class. I dropped them off at their hotel and then caught the 21:41 train from Victoria to Denmark Hill.

As soon as I got back to the dorm, I began furiously typing and researching to finish up. Lainey, Gregg, and Liane popped in briefly, Lainey to celebrate finally being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and Gregg and Liane to rejoice in the fact that their papers were already done. I kept typing away and finally finished at 1 a.m. Hooray! As soon as I was done, I went to bed. We’ve got a long day planned for tomorrow…Cheers!

22 Mar

2006-03-22T17:21:00.000-06:00

The last day of 1^st WW Lit and Sociolinguistics. Tear. Well, at least a tear for the second class, certainly not the first. Was I ever glad to leave that lecture room this morning! Socio was fun as we discussed various topics in bilingualism. It was also a very useful class for me as I will be writing my final paper for that class on bilingualism. Sharma did bring us juice and biscuits which were a tasty treat. This was also the last class I’ll have with Qamer, but I’ll make sure to keep in touch with her even after leaving King’s. She’s a neat kid.

Tomorrow we’ll be discussing portraits of Queen Elizabeth for my Court Cultures class so I made it a plan to visit the National Portrait Gallery this afternoon before class tomorrow. This gallery has a beautiful collection and the Tudor pieces within it, though small, are magnificent.

Before I entered the Gallery I bought a sandwich to eat it in Trafalgar Square (which is right next to both the National Gallery and the NPG). Seconds after I sat down on one of the stone benches on the east side, a swarm (and I mean a swarm) of little British schoolchildren alighted on the ground and benches around me. Within moments, I was completely surrounded. I really wish I could have had someone take my picture like that. It was hilarious. I did take a shot of them after I left. They were still young enough to be cute and old enough not to be annoying. In the gallery, I admired several paintings of Lizzie and some of her courtiers before heading downstairs to look at some paintings and photographs of the current Queen Elizabeth II. There’s one of the Royal Family with the Queen Mother (who passed away in 2002) that I really like. Prince William looks especially dashing in it and is rather surprisingly at the forefront and much taller than his father Charles. Strange, yet not unpleasant, choice.

After the NPG I wandered down Regent Street in search of a Waterford and Wedgwood store for some gifts for home. I finally found one, but it didn’t have the patterns I was looking for. I also walked through an amazing toy store called Hamley’s on this street which would rival FAO Schwartz for the variety and quality of toys. It looked like a really fun place to work.

From Regent Street I caught a bus back to Aldwych and then another one back to the dorm. My parents arrive tomorrow so I really need to finish as much of these papers before they come. Eek! Cheers!

21 Mar

2006-03-21T17:21:00.000-06:00

My Causes of War class ended last week, so I had neither class nor seminar today .Hooray! All the more reason to get more paper writing done…which I did, eventually. I’m so psyched about my parents coming and have to do some last minute decision making for that, as to which gifts to buy now, later, send home, etc. My papers and research for those took up most of the day. Cheers!

20 Mar

2006-03-20T17:21:00.000-06:00

Today was the day on which King’s would release our pre-disclosed examinations so I headed into town in the late afternoon in order to pick mine up for the 1^st WW Lit class. After looking through the exam briefly, it doesn’t look like it’ll be too difficult. I then left King’s to grab some lunch and then head back to the dorm. I did a lot more work on my papers today before calling it a night. Cheers!

19 Mar

2006-03-19T17:21:00.000-06:00

Yet another fairly low-key Sunday. My papers for Causes of War are due on the 24^th and my parents arrive on the 23^rd, so needless to say, I’d better get cracking! I did some more research and a bit of writing for my papers, and I’m not too worried about getting them down on time. They’re tiny papers anyway, and instead of having to print these out, I just have to e-mail them in. No problem, right? We’ll see in a few days…

The rest of the day passed peacefully, and I went to bed a bit late as usual. Go figure. Cheers!

18 Mar

2006-03-18T17:21:00.000-06:00

So today Lainey had her official birthday bash and what a night it was. Since I’m not the pub-crawling club-hopping type, I stayed back and did my laundry instead. A lot of the other JYAs and her friends went with her to celebrate and oh they did. Poor girl didn’t even remember much of how she got home until people told her later. By the vague recollections and photographs, it looks like she had a swell time. Cheers!

17 Mar

2006-03-17T17:21:00.000-06:00

Happy St. Patty’s Day! As expected, this place makes a rather big deal of the occasion; enough of one in fact to have the parade the weekend before the actual date so that people of all ages can safely enjoy the celebration. Brilliant. Due to my lack of interest in such drinking holidays, I did not participate in the festivities and instead stayed in the dorm after class and got some work done. Well, I did wander around town for a bit after class, but more or less headed back to KCH.

Today was the last day of my Sociolinguistics seminar. Devyani, my professor, said she had planned to bring us juice and biscuits but ran out time this morning, so she would get them for us for our last class next week. Aw, how cute.

The evening passed rather uneventfully. I managed to get some work done for class, but pretty much wiled away most of my time. Cheers!

16 Mar

2006-03-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to soon top the experience of yesterday, though I know my trip to Spain with my parents will come awfully close, if not actually surpass it. Court Cultures was entertaining as always. I’m really going to miss Rivkah Zim. She’s just so funny and such a dear old lady. This was our penultimate class and the 3^rd years are getting a little excited and nervous about the months ahead. This is their final semester of undergraduate college, after all. I asked one of them, Sam, what she will be doing after college, and she answered “more of the same, probably.” She also noted that most people go to work directly after obtaining their BA. I know the situation is more or less the same back home, and I think my number of grad school prospects is slightly clouded by the type of friends I have.

Today is Lainey’s 21^st birthday! When looking for a place to eat with Andy and Jess, I came upon this little Italian placed called The Blue Olive that I decided to scope out before we met there. Good thing I did too! Though nothing of the sort was mentioned online, the place was boarded up! Seeing that I thought, great, Plan B. Except I didn’t have a Plan B and Lainey was counting on me! I went back to the dorm and looked up some more places. I found a service called TopTable that conducts online reservations at restaurants all over the UK and in some places on the Continent. I signed up with them and tried booking a place called Amaretto on Tottenham Court Road (near the British Museum). TopTable had a special arrangement with the place in which a party could get 50% off the total food bill if everyone (max 20 people) ordered at least 2 courses (main+ dessert/appetizer). I sent in my reservation request with these guys, but since they were taking so long and I wanted to make sure we had a place to go, I called Amaretto and booked it straight out for 10 people at 18:30. It wasn’t until 17:20 that TopTable got back to me and informed me that I had the discount. Score!!

Lainey came back around 16:00, already quite drunk. She had gone to the KCL bar after class with some kids from her seminar and a couple of JYAs. They just kept buying her drinks…She managed to sober up a bit before we headed for dinner. I had to send her friends directions on how to get to Amaretto. It was pretty hilarious.

The place was a small, cozy, family-run place and the portions were big and delicious. Most of the people opted for appetizers while Kate, Gregg, and I chose dessert. Talk was fast and fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I had a “mint chocolate bomb” for dessert that was wonderful. It was a core of liquid dark chocolate surrounded by mint ice cream that was covered with a hard, thin layer of dark chocolate. It took a couple of pokes to break the surface, after which some of the inside chocolate started oozing out. Lainey, who was sitting across from me, said, “It’s bleeding!” Thanks for that imaginary, dear.

Soon after we left the place, I realized that we hadn’t sung for her. So there, on the sidewalk in central London, we started singing “Happy Birthday” nice and loud for all the passersby to hear. Hardly any of us drank anything (some of her friends split a bottle of wine) but I’m sure the people around us must have thought we were just another bunch of drunk college kids. Oh well, it was fun and I’m sure Lainey liked it. We had just missed the next train back so Gregg and I decided that we should just catch a bus from Elephant and Castle instead. Upon leaving the station and reaching Waterloo Road, Sarah spotted the 176 and shouted “there’s our bus! Let’s run for it!” And so we did. It was hilarious. After we reached the stop, we noticed the 68 right behind the 176 and since it’s slightly better, we hopped on that instead. The bus was extremely crowded but we managed to find six seats nearly together in the back. The ride home was pretty fun.

After we got back to KCH, we were determined to gin Lainey. I’m sure I’ve explained the process before. She tried to resist, but agreed to a half ginning. She was a trooper through it and finished it off without a problem. (Again, I am soooo glad I've already had my 21st birthday!!) As she settled, Sarah and Gregg ordered some drinks to keep her company. Kate and I had work to do, so we bade her good night and happy birthday before heading back to our rooms. After I got back, I finished my reading for class and talked with the family at home for a while.

All in all, it was a great day. HAPPY 21^st BIRTHDAY LAINEY!!! Cheers!

15 Mar continued

2006-03-15T17:22:00.000-06:00

I suppose the previous post requires some explanation. After a surprisingly enjoyable Wednesday of classes (1^st WW Lit wasn’t as mind-numbingly boring today, perhaps because we discussed madness), I headed straight for the Donmar Warehouse theater in Covent Garden in search of my ticket. There was a £22.50 pound ticket still available in the Circle section (top floor) but when I asked for the standing room ticket instead, he obliged. Ticket in hand and fearfully excited, I pondered what to do next. The time was just past 13:30 and the show wasn’t on until 19:30. Instead of staying in town at the library or something, I decided to head home and get some reading done for tomorrow.

Time passed quickly and soon after I decided that I would make my own dinner early (because I needed to catch the 18:24 train, I couldn’t eat dinner at 18:00), Lainey informed me that she was hungry already and wanted to eat dinner at 17:30 instead. That worked out perfectly for me. Dinner was fun and I left early near the end of it to catch my train. I made it to the theater right at 19:00 and immediately felt a bit underdressed. I had a nice sweater on, my leather jacket, and my leather gloves. It was the jeans that killed the elegance of the rest of my clothing. Oh well, I’m a student.

I asked the man taking my ticket if there was a chance for autographs. He told me that they usually come down the stairs I was about to ascend after the show, and that they would only sign play-related material, like programs and such. Before I went to the standing room section, I bought a program for £2. There was no one else on the top floor, so I sat down while I could. About 15 past a lot of people started showing up and the house was full just before 19:30. Shortly thereafter, the lights dimmed and Sir Ian McKellen walked on stage. Everyone shut up for him.

The play was about a family man (Ian McKellen) who performs a ghastly operation at work called “The Cut” that apparently “frees the soul from the body.” The cut itself is not explained, only its effects. It’s an extremely painful process and most of society is strongly against its execution. McKellen’s family does not know what he does. The play begins with a young man visiting McKellen’s office and requesting that The Cut be performed on him. McKellen is desperately trying to get away from this foul practice until the young man convinces him that it’s a beautiful thing although there are other ways to achieve nearly the same experience. This part goes on for some time until McKellen finally performs The Cut, much to his distaste and the young man’s agony. I must say, it was a little startling to hear McKellen swear so profusely at first, but I soon grew accustomed to it.

The next scene took place at McKellen’s home when he and his wife are waiting for their maid to bring out dinner. The woman playing his wife, Deborah Findlay, did a wonderful job and was better than McKellen at some parts. The pace dragged a bit here but the dialog was quite good at times. This bit ended with the husband and wife pair resolving to patch up their strained relationship.

Next thing we know, we’re in a jail cell with just a bed and a dismal overhead lamp. McKellen has been imprisoned for performing The Cut! His son, part of the movement against the barbaric practice, visits Pops in prison and tries to help him. McKellen refuses all aid and even asks his son if he thinks he is evil, to which the son responds (after some delay), yes. I thought the acting done by the son was atrocious. His part was definitely the weakest of the entire play. Father and son talk for sometime, until finally McKellen is left in complete darkness. Play over!

I rushed out of the theater (after applauding mightily) and waited at the bottom of the stairs, Sharpie in my hand and program in my purse. I waited until the entire theater emptied, and still no sign of the cast. Finally, I saw some girls giggling near the top of the stairs and knew it could mean only one thing. I immediately went back to the top floor and on the landing I could hear McKellen’s great booming laugh echo around. I went in search of the source of the voice and found it in the tiny bar/café on the second floor. He was right there!

A woman was just ahead of me, and then it was my turn. I said, “May I have your autograph, sir?” to which he responded, “Certainly.” I handed him my program and Sharpie and was embarrassed to see him have a little trouble opening the tight cap. As he signed the program, I managed to squeak out, “I think you’re marvelous,” to which he simply replied, “Thanks.” I thanked him as he handed me the program and pen and then, grinning from here to Timbuktu, I turned around and left. I dared not linger for he was talking with a couple of old ladies and my autograph request was intrusion enough, and I did not want to be rude.

I can’t express in words how happy I was leaving the theater. Cloud 9 was not high enough for me. I couldn’t stop smiling until I got home. Lainey and Gregg were there and when they asked how the play was, I didn’t answer but just pulled out my program and handed it to her. “Oh my gosh!” she said. “That’s how the play was,” I answered. It was amazing. I chatted with them for a bit before taking a picture of the program and sending it to some friends and family. I also immediately posted in on this blog.

Now you know exactly how I got Gandalf’s autograph. Needless to say, the rest of the night passed very well. Cheers!

15 Mar

2006-03-15T17:21:00.000-06:00

I got Sir Ian McKellen's autograph!!!

14 Mar

2006-03-14T17:21:00.000-06:00

Sheets today! I woke up early to exchange my sheets for clean new ones, and instead of climbing right back into bed after remaking it, as I usually do on these days, I decided to be productive and stayed awake instead. I’m not sure if you could call the morning productive, but I did manage to set a good plan for the day and even found some books at the library that I’ll need for my linguistics paper.

We had our last Causes of War seminar and it was rather fun. The topic was terrorism and we discussed various current terrorist groups (most of them relatively small) and how the affected governments were dealing with them. Justin told us that if we were interested in visiting Oxford to let him know so that he could give us some tips. I’ve definitely made it a plan to go there and so I asked him how I should go about it. He told me to try punting (riding on the river in a tiny boat styled rather like those used in Venice) if I was feeling intrepid, and to see some of the colleges, Christ Church in particular (the largest and finest, and the one Sir Christopher Wren did some work on). He even said that if I let him know when I’ll be coming, he and his wife would host me, and that we could meet for a drink or something. I just might take him up on his offer; he’s a cool guy.

After class, I decided to get some business done so I went to the Novello Theater and bought our AYLI tickets. I was still keen on seeing Ian McKellen again so I wandered around Covent Garden looking for the theater but was unsuccessful. Not to be foiled, I went back to the Strand and looked up the directions again. Turns out I was close but just missed the right street. Hungry, I bought some lunch before heading back to Covent Garden. I found the theater with little ado and inquired about tickets. I was informed that the shows were all but sold out for the rest of its run in London. Oh no! The ticketman also told me that they release 10 “day tickets” on the day of the performance starting at 10:30, and that standing room tickets become available after all of those have been sold. I resolved to come back there the next day as soon as I could to try to get either a day ticket or a standing one.

On my way back, I wandered through the main little shopping center in Covent Garden and found this store selling lots of random things at discounted prices. Always eager for a bargain, I walked in. I saw sports jerseys, nice wool coats, scarves, toys, board games, crystal ornaments, paintings, pocket watches (£5 a piece!), hats, gloves, bags, luggage, and more. I found this really sweet sports zip-up jacket (not quite a sweatshirt but not a normal nylon jacket either) that I think I’ll come back for. Checking my watch, I realized it was getting late and my hands were freezing (in a rare oversight, I had forgotten to bring my gloves along with me). I headed back to the Strand and caught the first bus home. The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully, and I went to bed early because I had class early the next day. Cheers!

13 Mar

2006-03-13T17:21:00.000-06:00

Montag Morgen (remember Frau Lash?) She’s right that Mondays are definitely the laziest days of the week. I spent most of the day at home working on my paper and basically messing around. I looked more into theater tickets for my parents (we ended up deciding on As You Like It by good old William Shakespeare) and while doing so, I found a play starring Sir Ian McKellen called “The Cut” that is currently showing at a theater in Covent Garden until 1 April. Intrigued, I looked more into and when I found out that standing tickets were available for £7.50, I was determined to watch this play.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and I went to bed around 1 again. Cheers!

12 Mar

2006-03-12T17:21:00.000-06:00

Just another lazy Sunday. Well, not really, I did manage to get some work done. I had enough to do so I didn’t meet up with Andy and Jess again. I stayed at home and got some serious work done. The day passed by rather uneventfully, and I went to bed around 1. Cheers!

11 Mar

2006-03-11T17:21:00.000-06:00

As usual for a weekend, I had a rather late start (though not as bad as usual). I ate lunch, planned my schedule for this fall, read the New York Times online, puttered around a bit on the computer, and talked to my folks at home in the late afternoon. I texted Andy about dinner and he said to recommend a place to go. Since I’m such a cheapskate, I’ve hardly been out to eat here so I looked online for a while for a good place to go that wouldn’t bust our budgets. I picked an Italian place near the British Museum because their hotel is by there and I figured it should be easy for them to go home when they’re tired. I knew I’d have no real trouble finding my way home, no matter the hour.

While my folks and I were talking, I got a call from Andy. He was with Jessica and her mom near the London Aquarium and I told them I could meet them in an hour (18:45) at Trafalgar Square. It’s nice having such an obvious landmark to meet people at. I got ready and headed out in time to catch the 18:24 train. Bambi was at the reception desk so I chatted with him for a while. He was watching “Supernanny” and was appalled at the behavior of the kids on that show. Such brats!

I made it to Elephant and Castle around 18:30 but didn’t leave that station on the Tube until nearly 18:40 because the Tube just stood there forever! Fortunately, I was only a couple of minutes late. They looked really cold with their jackets zipped up and teacups in their hands (coffee cups with tea in them) so we headed to the nearest Tube stop and were on our way. It sounds like they’ve been having a good time so far; they visited the Tower of London and the Aquarium today and will see the London Dungeon and other things tomorrow.

Talk was quite pleasant over dinner. Mrs. Binkley is quite funny and apparently works with a lot of Indians at SAS and had some funny stories to tell about the people she’s worked with. We talked of arranged marriage for a while, and like many of the Americans I’ve spoken to about it, they seemed just bewildered with the idea and couldn’t imagine themselves playing any of the roles (matchmaker or matchee). ßMade up word, I know. The service was a bit slow but the food was decent and certainly decently priced. I also found out that at least Jess and her mom will be in Rome from Tuesday until Friday night. I told them about my family’s trip there in 2000 and her mom asked if I could recommend places to eat. I said that I hardly remember where we ate on that trip except that we had lots of gelato and it was wonderful!

We left the restaurant just after 10 p.m. Jess and her mom were pretty tired (still a bit jetlagged) so they started heading back to their hotel. I figured I could reverse our journey their and catch the Tube at the nearest station when no sooner was this thought in my mind that I saw a bus come down the road that said “68- Norwood Garage.” I blurted, “Oh my god! That’s my bus!” (I had no idea it would be stopping anywhere near there). I quickly bade them goodbye and just ran for it. Jess said “Run, Sapana, run!” and they cheered when I got on. Hilarious! The few passengers on the bus must have thought I was just another strange girl but I just sat their smiling for a few minutes. How could I have known that the restaurant would be just yards away from a bus stop on the 68’s route and that we could leave the place with such impeccable timing? I planned the route there just fine, but hadn’t really given the route home much thought. Ah, such wonderful luck.

It was freezing outside so it took me some time to thaw out when I got home. Sachi was online so I talked to her. She asked if I’d like the last half of the UNC vs. BC game Skyped and of course I said yes. Too bad I listened to us lose…but oh well. BC’s a good team. I talked to them for a bit after that before going to bed at 1. Such a pleasant day…Cheers!

10 Mar

2006-03-10T17:21:00.000-06:00

Only two more weeks of class left! I can hardly believe it! Seminar was fun today and I found out from Qamer about a neat event going on this weekend at the Olympia center in Kensington (near where Harrods and some museums are). ZeeTV, the Asian television channel, is hosting a South Asian Carnival of sorts where some big name Bollywood actors will sign autographs, top artists will showcase their music, fashion designers will conduct fashion shows, and food vendors will serve delicious meals. Sounds like fun, eh? The entry fee is £12.50, which is rather steep but I think the experience will be worth it. I’m going to spend some time with Andy Garcia and Jessica Binkley (who’ll be coming to town today) on Saturday so I think I’ll hit up this carnival on Sunday.

Jack the Ripper tour tonight! Lainey’s been excited about this all week and today she could hardly contain herself. In case you’re not familiar with the man, “Jack the Ripper” was a serial killer, perhaps the first in recorded history, who terrorized the East End of London in the autumn (the “autumn of terror,” according to our tour guide) of 1888. He not only killed but violently butchered his five prostitute and destitute victims and sent London into a panic for the rest of the year. Various conspiracy theories surround the case and to this day no one knows for sure who he was. Our tour went around the East End (near the Tower of London and Brick Lane) to various locations, including murder sites and former homes of the victims. Few buildings remain of that time due to heavy bombing of the area during WWII.

The night was cold, windy, and slightly drizzly. All we needed was some real heavy London fog to make the mood perfect. The smog in those days could get so heavy you could hardly see a few feet in front of you. Imagine walking down a poorly lit alleyway then! We call those kinds of places sketchy now but then they must have been terrifying. Who knew what lurked in the darkness of the shadows…

We got back home around 22:30. Katie was just coming back from the library so I talked with her on the walk back from the train station. She’s a cool kid and way more sensible about alcohol than many of the people I’ve met here. I could learn a lot from her (especially about wine; she told me it took her a long time to get used to the taste but when she did, she really liked it). Who knows? If I go slowly, I may be able to down a real English ale without gagging before I leave here. We shall see. Cheers!

P.S. I just found this picture and thought it was funny. (me in Brussels)

9 Mar

2006-03-09T17:21:00.000-06:00

So, perhaps I should have prepared a bit more for my presentation. I felt like a bit of an idiot when I repeated myself a bit. Oh well. I do better in the Q&A part anyway. After class, Zim told me I did wonderfully and I felt like answering back “You’re too kind” which is true, but I didn’t want to sound stupid. I was fortunate enough to see the 68 right outside King’s as I left the building and caught it perfectly. As I crossed Waterloo Bridge I remembered that I had meant to go to the library that afternoon. Oh well, I thought; I’m already on the bus so there’s no point in going back. I don’t need those books very urgently anyway.

Back in the dorm, I read, played around on the computer, and tidied my room a bit before dinner. So productive! Dinner was actually quite good and I enjoyed myself gastronomically after a long while. Afterwards I did some more reading, some chatting with home about my parents brief visit to London, and then went to bed around 2. Cheers!

8 Mar

2006-03-08T17:21:00.000-06:00

So, I heard something rather disturbing in my sociolinguistics class today. A study was conducted at an American college in which students were seated in a room and played a taped recording of a lecture segment delivered by an average white, middle-aged, female lecturer. While listening, they were given a photograph of the lecturer to look at (the actual woman speaking, I believe). They were then asked to comment on the clarity of the lecture, how well they could understand her, etc. Next, they were shown a photograph of a Chinese lecturer who was also female and about middle-aged. Although the exact same tape was played for both pictures, the students reported that they found the Chinese lecturer harder to understand! It wasn’t an overwhelming majority or anything, but there was a noticeable decrease in the level of perceived understanding on the part of the students. It’s disappointing that people will let their stereotypes carry so far as to be outright unfair to the group stereotyped even when no difference exists.

Weather-wise it was such a horrible day so I just darted home after class. I did some reading and puttering around until dinner. I had a brief presentation for my court cultures class to prepare but since I’ve done so much reading on the material, I wasn’t too worried. I chatted with Gregg and Liane for a bit until I heard Skype ringing and talked to my sister for a while. She got a job offer from Glaxo! Congrats Sach!! After I finished chatting with her, I worked some more on my presentation then went to bed. Cheers!

7 Mar

2006-03-07T17:21:00.000-06:00

I guess I haven’t mentioned this yet, but today the Association of University Teachers (AUT) of the UK went on strike. We received notice of it last Thursday through multiple e-mails. I was excited to see the picket line and even though classes were cancelled, I headed in to town to see all the action. Turns out, the strike was extremely pathetic. Instead of a bunch of teachers forming a picket line and marching in front of the Strand building, there were a few of them handing out flyers to students entering the building and signs that simply said “picket line” on them posted on the windows. There was no real picket line! What kind of a strike is that! They’re striking for higher pay and hardly anyone is actually striking! It was pretty sad.

Because the “strike” was a bust, I decided to walk around a bit instead. I wandered into the National Gallery and admired some Da Vincis there. Despite the terrible weather (a lovely combination of cold, windy, and rainy), it was rather fun. I got back to the dorm and did some reading and messed around a bit until dinner. Gregg got back from Greenwich shortly before. Today was his birthday and though he didn’t have much of a dinner to celebrate it with, Lainey and Kate bought him a cake from Sainsbury’s and we sang for him around 8.

After that, Lainey and Kate insisted that he get ginned (chug 8 shots, I think, of pure gin) just like Kate did for her birthday, so we took him to the bar. Fortunately, some people there knew the ginning song and after they finished singing, he just started downing the gin. It was pretty amazing, and of course, I caught it all on video. Hoo-rah.

We hung out at the bar for a while before heading back to our rooms for some more schoolwork. I finally went to bed around midnight.

Happy 21^st birthday Gregg!! Cheers!

6 Mar

2006-03-06T05:21:00.000-06:00

Mondays are always rather vacuous days for me. I didn’t do a whole lot during the day, mostly reading and researching for class. Gregg went to Cambridge and didn’t come back until just before dinner. Sounds like he had a great time, and makes me want to pay that place a visit (in better weather of course; the place is supposed to be gorgeous in spring). A while after dinner, Lainey and Gregg came by and we ended up talking for a couple of hours. She was supposed to be working on one of her six papers due by the 24^th but...we had fun instead. They left around 23:00 and then I had a small snack before doing some more reading and then going to bed. Cheers!

5 Mar

2006-03-05T17:21:00.000-06:00

As expected, everyone today had something to say about the game yesterday. All positive things, of course. Since I stayed up so late last night watching, I woke up rather late and got a slow start to the day. I had a quick lunch then did some reading and writing for much of the afternoon. I had dinner with the gang around 18:00 and was surprised to hear Brooke, from John Hopkins, say that she was glad Duke lost because she hates them. I can understand why Duke isn’t terribly popular in a lot of places, but I’m not sure where the antipathy with John Hopkins comes from. Oh well.

After dinner, it was back to more work. I debated doing laundry for a while and then after checking to see if the machine was open, I decided to go ahead and do it. Lainey came back from Paris around 21:00 and Gregg and I talked to her for a bit about her trip. Sounds like she had a wonderful time, despite the necessary whirlwind nature of the visit.

Since I got a late start on laundry, I didn’t finish drying all of it until past 1. After that, I went to bed. Cheers!

P.S. I also bought Sarah’s new remix album “Bloom” a few days ago and have been listening to it almost obsessively. It’s very different from the first remix album, and on the whole, it’s quite good. It’s also hilarious to hear her sing backup on a song by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. I’ll swear if the album is worth it just for that song!

4 Mar

2006-03-04T17:21:00.000-06:00

UNC vs. Dook!! I woke up late this afternoon, showered, ate lunch, then did some research and messed around on the computer for a while. I ate dinner at 18:00 with Gregg, Kate, and her friend Jessie from home. I read and dozed for a while before the big game that started near 2 a.m. for me. Gregg had already gone to sleep next door, so out of courtesy I typed to my family on Skype while they spoke to me and I listened to the game through headphones. And what a game it was!! I was on tenterhooks for most of it; especially the final minute after an 8-point lead was abruptly reduced to only 3. AND THEN WE WON!!! GO UNC!!
Oh, it was beautiful! I was dancing in my chair and then in my room around 4:15 in the morning. If it wasn’t so late, I probably would have screamed for joy. How I wish I could have been in Chapel Hill that night. I’m glad Sachi decided to stay on campus instead of go home for the weekend. You just can’t miss this game, even if you’re not a basketball fan. It’s arguably the biggest rivalry in American college basketball (do other countries have an equivalent?) and the game the whole nation tunes in for. Just wait for the headlines tomorrow. Oh, it was brilliant. Cheers!