backtracking a bit

i realized i was a bit remiss in my last post - mainly 'cause i assumed that the people who read this crap already knew what was going on. however! it turns out...i have lotsa friends (<3)...that i forgot to update. so, lemme back-up a bit.

in february, i saw a listing in a newsletter from the american astronomical society (AAS) for an internship in india through the national solar observatory (NSO) at the university of arizona in tucson. the deadline was in two weeks. i asked some professors in my department, including my pseudo-adviser (aka the devil) who is from india, on their opinions and if they thought it was a good idea. a week before the deadline, i ran around getting transcripts, recommendation letters - wrote up the essays, and mailed it all on such that it got there on the day it was due. ::pant pant::

a few weeks later, oddly enough - the day of my grandmother's funeral, who was a ridiculous traveler herself, while i was in new jersey - i was told that i was accepted into the internship. lo and behold, they are paying me to travel.

now, i'm not too sure on my project. thus far, i know that it's theoretical (so for non-astro buffs, that means that i won't be looking at data or going to observatories - instead, concentrating on the math, geometry, programming, and simulations) and it's about pulsars - again. i studied pulsars when i was in oberlin, in fact, we were published for the work that we did. =) but this will totally different. my india advisor has given me a paper of his to read which discusses the geometry of the pulsar radiation that we are able to see based our line of sight to the pulsar. i don't know, though, what part i'm going to play. we'll see.

other than that - the internship is for 2 months, which i think most people gleaned from my previous post, and then the other three interns and i will be traveling around northern india for a week after the program is finished to see the sites. i've had to get a lot of shots before going (hep a/b twice, polio, tetanus) and also typhoid pills. while i'm there i have to take malaria pills like they are birth control (everyday, at the same time) and bring along a first aid kit for myself. essentially they said that there won't be anything cvs-esque while we are there, so we have to bring it ALL with us. oh, and we can't drink the water either. i know that we have two apartments for the four of us - there are two boys and two girls. we each get our own rooms and there will be a kitchen (with appliances and dishes), living room (with a tv and some english channels), internet (w00t!), and our own bathroom (thank god). the apartment isn't too close to where we will be working (at the indian institute for astrophysics, IIA) , so the program has hired a driver for us. who will take us everywhere. of course, women have to dress conservatively - but bangalore is a lot more westernized than most of india, so they said we should be okay. all and all, doesn't sound too bad. might get a bit rough when we are traveling around, though.

i think that's about all the general stuff i can think of. feel free to ask me about anything else i haven't mentioned, which for right now is kinda speculation. but, of course, i'll say what's going on as it happens.

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.