First Post

so, here i go. the very first post. i'm officially entering the world of bloggers; joining that which i swore i would not do. making the ultimate assumption: assuming people give a shit. i hate myself already but am comforted by the fact that i'm sharing, not just my normal life, but my crazy-ass life in india (sitārā in hindi means "star"). hopefully, it will be slightly more entertaining. plus, i'll be able to post pictures and, hopefully, actually keep up with a record/journal of my travels if i think that at least one other person is reading it.

the details are as follows:
leave: phoenix-chicago june 9th (3 hour flight)
chicago-delhi june 9th-10th (15 hour flight, 20 hours total of pure traveling)
june 11th - fly from delhi to udaipur
june 11th-15th - drive around the region going to observatories
june 16th - fly from udaipur to bangalore
june 18th - officially start working at the IIA (indian institute for astrophysics)
august 4th - fly from bangalore to delhi
august 5th-9th - travel around delhi, agra, jaipur
august 10th - fly back to chicago, then to phoenix then SLEEP!


but....i still have a few weeks before i leave, 2.5 in fact. but that means that i'm really starting to think about everything i need to prepare for, buy, setup, etc. for example, i'm going to be setting up a skype account with an in-call number so people can reach me. i have this blog, gchat, AIM, facebook. i'll probably be able to send snail-mail too. so maybe i won't be as out-of-touch as i'm planning. unless i don't internet access...then i'm screwed. but we were told (by we, i mean the other three students and i) that we will have internet in our apartments and, of course, at work. things might be a little spotty, though, during the high-travel times.

i was reading over the lonely planet book on india that i got from scott as a birthday present - and i had two reactions: "this is going to be so cool" and "holy shit, what am i getting myself into?" i think the culture will be amazing: really beautiful and really so much to make my head spin. on the other hand, i'm worried about the culture shock - especially the different reactions to women. the book said, with out a doubt, there will be some form of sexual harassment - leering, groping, etc.. i'm really not so thrilled about that. especially because the four of us will stand out a lot. my short hair doesn't help either. and i want to be able to stand up for myself....but i also don't want to react in the wrong way, if there is one. at least someone from the program is going to be with us for the first three weeks. i think that's going to be very helfpul.

no doubt - this will be interesting.