"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it -- always." - Mahatma Gandhi

Thank you to Lindsay for sending me this quote, as I think it's fitting for the occasion and also of course for where I am. It's not everyday that you hear about bombs going off in your city, and it's not everyday that you hear about bombs going off across your country, but it's something I've lived through here this weekend and it's been a unique experience. I don't want to downplay the scale of these attacks because any activity is certainly too much, but at the same time I don't want people at home to be too worried because in the grand scheme of things it's what happens after the attack that really was the goal here rather than the attack itself from what I understand. What those ramifications are remain to be seen, but we all plan to be very careful for the duration of our stay.

I don't want to go on too much about the attacks as an ignorant American because I know that I don't and can't understand the full breadth and scope of what has transpired, but I did want to take the opportunity to reflect a little bit and just try to let people know what I know. All I really know, though, is that I can continue to hope and pray for the end of terrorism around the world, and for us to, as Ronald Reagan once said, "work without tiring for a world at peace, in which justice and freedom prevail."

All that being said, and taking nothing away from the tragedy of the bombings in Ahmedabad and elsewhere this weekend, our group actually did have an enjoyable time at Jog Falls this weekend, which is what made it a bittersweet two days. It was really a shame that we hadn't yet done any type of exploration/adventurous weekend yet in India (in a place where there are tons of opportunities for awesome hiking and views and outdoor enjoyment) so we had to make sure to plan for a weekend like this. One of the reasons that we'd shied away from this type of weekend is the fact that it's monsoon season, but that actually was one of the draws for Jog Falls, as it's advertised as being much more impressive during the monsoon, and it certainly did not disappoint.

A scene that's very difficult to describe in words, it will be much easier for you all to see pictures (which are forthcoming I promise). The falls are the highest waterfalls in India, and are much higher than Niagara Falls. They are impressive in a different way than Niagara Falls, though, in that it's a smaller quantity of water dumping down, but the way they run is beautiful, and the access tourists have to them is much better, mostly due to a lack of regulation. 

I definitely don't think you're supposed to hike to the bottom, but it was awesome and I'm very glad we did. A little more daring that I would normally be, it was well worth it. After about 1 km or so of pathways, there is another 2 km or so of just steep mud/rocks/grass that could make one slip disastrous, but we were all careful and were fine. The sight from the bottom is awesome, and could rival the Taj Mahal as the most awesome thing I've seen in India. It's probably fair to say that at least five of the ten most awesome things I've ever seen in my life I've seen this summer in my European and Asian travels. It's hard to describe, but it was a great feeling of being in touch with nature without a lot of the tourist trap aspects around that you'd find at a place like this in the West, and it was so cool to just stand at the bottom and look around in awe at everything surrounding me.

We all got soaked from off-and-on rain throughout the afternoon, but that was worth it, too, and just added to the experience. I have no regrets at all about spending the weekend in our state of Karnataka checking out these awesome falls. Our plans for next weekend (our final weekend before going home!!) are still in limbo due to recent events, but we'll plan to pin them down tomorrow. Everything is booked; we just need to all decide if it's something we want to pursue or if it's better to just stay local.

I want to thank everyone again for their concern over the weekend, and I do appreciate all the emails I received and all the kind words sent my way. I will be sure to stay safe here, and I hope that everyone else is staying safe as well. I will keep everyone updated. God bless.

I don't know how fast this news will travel to the US (or how much the US media will even care to report it) but there has been a series of bombings today in Bangalore. Two people have been reported killed, and a number of others have been injured. My sincerest condolences to all the victims and their families. We have been locked down here at our office, as has a large part of the city, in an effort to keep order and keep everyone safe. It does seem as if the bombings are over, but the precaution is certainly understood.

I just wanted everyone at home to know that I'm OK. Unfortunately this has just been a terrible tragedy here, and it's the deed of coward terrorists who seek to disrupt the Indian people, their government, and their resolve. They think that by setting off these bombs, Hindus will get mad at Muslims and vice versa and that chaos will ensue. The will of the people, of course, is for this to not happen, and they won't let the terrorists succeed in that regard.

I sincerely hope that this will be the last of such events occurring here, and I again want to express that my thoughts go out to all affected. Things like this help put in perspective just how lucky I am and how lucky many of us are.

Well, everyone isn't on strike, but a number of the taxi drivers are, and it's wreaked a bit of havoc on transportation throughout the city the past two days.

The way Honeywell HTS is set up in Bangalore, we operate mainly out of three (now four) campuses. Shuttles run hourly between the campuses so that we can easily go between for meetings. Well, this strike has actually led to me having to cancel some meetings over the past few days because I haven't been able to get to the campus where I'm scheduled to be. According to what I've heard, shuttles should be running again tomorrow, but I guess we'll see.

It's interesting the effect it's had on IT firms here, because a lot of us rely heavily on these shuttles. Stay tuned.

I knew this coming in, and I think it's actually a topic we covered in one of Rick Schuhmann's classes (OK, sorry Rick, I know you want to be called "Ricky" or "Old Shu"), but bargaining is something that is very important here (as it is in many countries outside the US). You should never pay full price for something you're buying from a small shop or from a vendor on the street - in fact, it is almost insulting, and if not, you're just plain getting ripped off.

As the kind of guy who enjoys bargaining to begin with, I really like doing this, and I always feel good when I get my price. Today was probably the best bargaining experience to date: we went out to Commercial Street to actually look at getting some souveneirs and things (an aspect I'd pretty much neglected to this point, but now I realize I should consider since there are only three weeks left) and stopped in a decent little place called Khan's "The Culture" that sold a number of different things. Larissa wanted to buy some saris, so we went in to see what else they had. I noticed a couple of little elephant trinkets that I thought were cool, and wanted to pick up a couple with the different symbols. The elephant with the trunk pointing upwards means "Good Luck," while the elephant with the trunk down means "Blessing," and I thought the little statues and actually some simple hand-made envelope openers looked cool. Well, they weren't OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive or anything to begin with, but I figured "what the heck?" and that I'd like to try to get a good deal since it's customary. Plus, I figure it's best to inflate the Indian economy as little as possible while I'm here and not spend TOO much money. About twenty minutes and a lot of laughs later, I left with my price, and I was happy. The guy wanted nothing to do with my offer initially, but I stuck to my guns and got him down. He told me I should stay in Bangalore and that I'm made for this place. I promised him I'd tell all my friends about his shop since he was genuinely a nice guy. I don't think the other guy working there was too happy that he let me off the hook with less than they wanted, but really it's a win-win situation because I'm happy and I know they still made a nice chunk of rupees off me.

On the way home, our group of four split up into rickshaws (after bargaining for the price of course) and started home. After initially passing each other a couple times on the way, it started to get competitive and turned into a race of sorts which was a lot of fun. We weren't going dangerously fast or anything, but you could tell each driver was really trying to get ahead of the other. I was glad that our drivers were genuinely nice guys and were each genuinely having a good time. A lot of the complaints about the city from the locals is that there are a.) too many rickshaw drivers and that b.) a lot of them aren't very nice people. The rickshaws themselves are a big source of pollution, and a number of the drivers can be mean and really try to take advantage (e.g. drive around in circles, overcharge, play with the meter) but overall I can't complain, and really, people wouldn't be able to get around without them. For our drivers tonight, we gladly tipped well for their good service, and it capped off a fun night.

Tomorrow, our plan is to head to the biggest and best buffet brunch in Bangalore (say that ten times fast). We're all very much looking forward to that. They serve a smorgasboard of different foods, from Indian to Chinese to Thai to Continental, and they even serve unlimited Indian champagne! Afterwards, we want to look around the Diamond District a little bit and then maybe finally take in one of these "amazing" Bollywood movies. People here are VERY proud of Bollywood, and it's a big part of the culture, especially for the "fatafat generation." (Fatafat means literally to want things fast, and that is one of the terms used to describe the current generation of young people these days who've grown up in a very Westernized society.) This generation may be Westernized, but they still have deep pride in their Indian heritage, so the Indian Bollywood scene is very popular from the music to the movies. Many of the TV channels feature Bollywood music and dancing 24/7, and a lot of the music on the radio is Bollywood. The movies are also extremely popular. We're told that we're to expect something that can sometimes be quite long by American film standards, but usually has some type of funny or ridiculous storyline or message depending on the genre of the film. Should be fun. 

The last thing that I'm trying to work on this weekend is deciding what my personal plans will be for finishing up my Penn State education! The first glance at the Spring schedule (sans professors) came out on The University Registrar, so I took a look at things and I'm trying to decide how I want to proceed. I had planned to be part-time my final semester and just take Golf to save some $$$ (since I've worked really hard my first three years and am ahead of where I need to be requirements-wise), but I'm debating lightening the load for the Fall and staying full-time in the Spring (which would also allow me to pick up an additional minor in Supply Chain, which I'm interested in). Decisions, decisions... 

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend wherever you are. I'll be checking back in some time in the coming week. A representative from Honeywell in Morristown, NJ is coming into Bangalore this week, and we should be getting dinner with him Tuesday, which will be nice. It'll be approximately round 4815162342 of talking about what we've thought of India thus far, but you know what, it really never gets old sharing my thoughts, opinions, and observations. :)

Just three weeks separate me from my return to the US! It's hard to believe that we're over 2/3 done, but we are. In many ways I'm excited to get back to PSU, but in many ways I'll be very sad to leave India. However, I'll just plan to enjoy these last three weeks as much as possible, because who knows when I'll be back on this part of Earth.

Today was a nice break from work as we got a chance to visit ITC Infotech, a subsidiary of ITC Limited. Originally a tobacco company, the parent company now has their hands in many things, one of which being IT Services/Outsourcing. The two gentlemen we talked to were very nice, and it was so nice of them to take time out of their day to show us around and talk about what they do. As they were talking about their successes and some of their projects, it made me think more about some of the benefits of being a small company, and that keeps alive the ongoing wrestling match in my head between which is better and which I'd rather work for: a small company or a large company.

We had heard coming into this summer that Bangalore is the "Silicon Valley of India," but that never completely rang true to us until today. Their campus looked a lot like a Silicon Valley startup. It had all been built out of old tobacco bunkers, and it was completely modernized and gorgeous. The big conference room we met in had a table with sea shells featured in glass cases under the tabletop. The stairway to the mezannine level of one of the buildings was comprised of glass steps. The palm trees and tropical plans outside the buildings completed the ensemble to make it a very cozy-feeling atmosphere. I know that I would enjoy going to work at a place that is visually impressive, and seeing this place was really cool.

In addition to ITC Infotech, I actually got a chance to go to TCS for a conference on Wednesday. TCS is one of the real heavy hitters in Bangalore (and really that's an understatement considering their parent, the TATA Group, owns seemingly everything here), and as you can imagine, their facility was also impressive. Because I'm working on a KM project, one of my colleagues invited me to this conference, which was part of the "K Community" in Bangalore. Once a month or so, KM professionals from all the major companies in Bangalore get together to discuss their KM initiatives and talk about what's going on in the industry. I was practically in heaven here getting a chance to walk around and network with people from all the big name companies, and hearing about what they're working on. It was a great day.

Wednesday started off really well before the conference too, because I flipped on the TV (a rarity since I usually spend very little time in my room) early in the morning on the off-chance I'd get to see some of the MLB All-Star game, and it was on! I caught a couple innings before work, and was happy to see some baseball for the first time in a long time. I couldn't check the score at work, but later found out the AL had won after a 15-inning thriller, so I was happy about that. And Wednesday continued to get better after the conference, too, because I went straight from TCS to a restaurant to meet the rest of our group of interns, Eric from Intel, and four interns from Infosys. I'd been talking with Margaret from Infosys over the course of the summer, but we'd yet to all meet up, so it was fun to see and swap stories with some more people who'd been having similar experiences.  

Our plans for this weekend are to first get some much needed R&R, and then explore Bangalore and see some of the state buildings and parts we have yet to see. The past three weeks have really been a big blur with all the travel, so sleeping in on Saturday will be very much welcomed. We may even take in a Bollywood movie at some point on Saturday or Sunday, and that should be pretty fun. I feel it's probably an injustice to ourselves to leave India without seeing one.

It's funny how many differing perspectives there are here when you have a BILLION people in your country. I was talking to one of my colleagues Maria this week, and she was telling me about the striking differences between generations here because people in their 20's grew up in such different circumstances. Some view this as a good thing, and some view this as a bad thing. The beautiful gardens (now buildings), large families (now nuclear), and some parts of the culture have pretty much been completely wiped out by all the changes here. On the other hand, though, some people say that is good that India is "keeping up with the times" and that so many people are being given so many new jobs and opportunities. It's fascinating to hear about these two points of view, and I know a lot more of it is way over my head as I try to comprehend and decide where my opinions lie. I just want to make sure I experience as much as possible and talk to as many people as possible before I leave here in three weeks. Like I said, who knows when I'll be back, and I just want to enjoy the ride.

Nothing against Arts Fest of course, but it's tough to compete against one of the Seven Wonders of the World. There are actually conflicting lists as to what those are, but I'm going to go with effectively two down, and all the rest to go according to the latest list:

1. Great Wall of China
2. Petra
3. Christ the Redeemer Statue
4. Machu Picchu
5. Chichen Itza
6. Roman Colosseum
7. Taj Mahal
(Honorary) Great Pyramid

I'm not sure where to even begin really when it comes to explaining the Taj Mahal, but I'd have no problem calling it absolutely brilliant and almost incomprehensibly stunning. After enjoying an uneventful departure flight for a change, we arrived in Delhi on Friday night in time to crash at our hotel for a long day ahead of us on Saturday. We stayed at the Maidens Hotel, one of Delhi's oldest, and found the accommodations to be very nice. The building was a traditional Indian structure, and set back in a nice district of the city. We arose on Saturday morning to a nice early taxi ride into Agra, the home of the Taj. After a four hour car ride that included a MONKEY JUMPING ONTO MY WINDOW, we made it into Agra.

This is when the exact scheme we were made aware of in the Lonely Planet Guide kicked in and we got to watch it play out nearly word-for-word. In a wholly unrequested action, our taxi driver called his "colleague" to take us into the Taj and show us around. Unfortunately, this does not mean that he called someone who genuinely wanted to just tell us some information about the Taj, it means he saw we were white and thought he could make a quick buck. This guy tried to rush us through the Taj as fast as possible so he could immediately take us to some shops where he'd reap benefits off our gullibility as commissions. Well, I wasn't about to let him succeed, so we tried to distance ourselves from him as we walked around the marvelous Taj Mahal courtyard. He continually walked ahead trying to get us to go faster, but I took my time to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Just walking into the main entrance, you can see it in the distance and can't help but gasp. The entire building is symmetrical, which is really cool in itself, and the detail is just remarkable. It's all white marble that's indigenous to the area, and any of the designs are all made up of colored stones and "semi-precious" gems that are carved into the marble. I won't bore you with details that can be found in Wikipedia, but yeah, it's cool. I was impressed by its size, as it seemed to grow disproportionately larger as we walked closer. I was also very impressed by the detail, especially considering the fact that it's not painted or anything, it's ALL marble (the designs, writings, everything) and it's all just glued together. Amazing. The city of Agra has also made a commitment to it in that no cars are allowed within a certain radius of the Taj itself. You have to get out a few kilometers away and either take a battery-powered rickshaw, a camel, or walk. This protects the white marble against emissions in the air that could turn it yellow or in any way damage/weaken it.

I don't know why I was surprised, but there were a ton of people at the Taj Mahal, too. The place was just packed, and the line to go inside the Taj itself was a couple hundred people long. It felt like the elementary school lunch line at times though with people cutting (we're all going to the same place...) but eventually we made it inside. It was too dark inside to really see all that much, but we could see some more of the detail in the marble-work, which was still mesmerizing, and then got to go back outside the back and see the holy river and the rest of the complex. Everything about it was symmetrical, even down to the buildings around the Taj Mahal and the plants and trees, so it made for a really neat and relaxing sight.

We really didn't want to leave, we just wanted to stand there and admire it, but after some time and enough persistence from our con-artist, it was time to depart. I CERTAINLY have a number of good pictures, and I'll plan to upload and share them this week. After leaving the Taj, this guy tried to get us to go into these marble shops and gem shops and pay ridiculous amounts for "best quality" work. Joel and Larissa bought some of the more reasonable items, but I wasn't interested. It all just seemed a little sketchy. The stuff was really nice, as the process was certainly authentic and the carved marble with the gems looks cool, but it was just too expensive. FINALLY, we ditched this guy and briefly checked out the Agra Fort before heading back to Delhi.

We knew that seeing the TAJ MAHAL (that's right, I'm still trying to let it sink in - I saw the Taj Mahal!) on Saturday would be a tough act to follow, but Sunday in Delhi still proved to be pretty cool. Well, cool in the sense that it was fun, because in terms of temperature, it was very hot! All summer, we've been spoiled by the Bangalore weather because it doesn't get incredibly hot here, and Saturday was a cloudy day in Agra so we managed to avoid the extreme heat, but Sunday was a scorcher with temperatures approaching 40 degrees centigrade with very high humidity.

Hitting all the hot spots in Delhi in one day is no easy task, and we definitely didn't get to EVERYTHING, but I'm tickled pink with what we got to see. Among the things we saw, The Rajpath was my favorite, followed very closely by Humayun's Tomb and the Purana Qila (fort). The Rajpath is basically their Washington, DC, and is quite the spectacle. Again continuing with the symmetrical theme, the long strip ends with the President's house at one end, the India Gate memorial at the other, and everything in between looks the same on both sides.

The most important government buildings, fountains, and other facilities are a mirror image on either side of the street. These buildings are all hundreds of years old and serve really as epic monuments to the epic feat it must be to govern such a populated and diverse nation. Off in the distance is also the main Parliament building, although it actually looks like a Colosseum-like sports arena from the outside - again, quite impressive. All the big whigs in India work here, and all the most important decisions are funneled through here. I love seeing capital cities like that - the architecture and detail were just mind-bogglingly striking. Walking up and down the strip trying to get as many shots as possible with my camera was one of my favorite feelings so far being here in India. It was really hot out, but a cool breeze was whipping by at that moment, and I was lucky enough to just get to stand there in awe and take it all in. I really had no idea it was going to be such a neat place, but it was extraordinary.

The tomb and the fort were just more examples of ancient marvels. I can understand why it took so long to build some of these structures, as the amount of detail is so cool. Up close, you could see all the small curves and designs carved in from years and years ago, and from afar it was even more enjoyable to step back and admire the whole structure. Each of the places that we went to had a special purpose and had been built with a special significance for the people of Delhi. I was happy to have the chance to appreciate that for myself as we went around from place to place.

The weekend was a mix of positives and negatives, but overall another big positive in my book. I'm looking forward to spending this weekend in Bangalore, though, as the travels are starting to catch up with us and some time to relax will be nice. We're also planning on meeting up with a group of Infosys interns on Wednesday for dinner, and hopefully a good time will ensue. It's hard to believe the fourth-to-last work week has already started! It should be another enjoyable one.

Well, we had another dinner with Dr. Petrick (yes, we're becoming quite spoiled) and it served to renew my excitement even more about being here this summer. We're working on setting up meetings with some of the biggest names in Bangalore, and I'm seriously star struck thinking about the questions I want to ask to some of the executives in one of the most powerful IT cities in the world. This opportunity truly was once in a lifetime (maybe...), so I want to make sure I'm taking advantage of every avenue possible.

Some of the talking points Matt and I came up with were:

- Getting started in the industry, and moving up into leadership roles
- Entrepreneurial drive of young people in India/internationally
- Future trends in the industry, where will we be in 5/10 years?
- The next “place to be” – developing countries to keep an eye on?
- Opinion of western soft skills, differences in working across cultures
- Workforce habits and changes to adapt to a “follow the sun” work day
- Biggest players in the services/consulting industry going forward (Australia?)
- Most critical skill(s) to have to succeed in today’s economy/work world
- Important takeaways and experiences we MUST HAVE before we leave

These are just starting points, and I'd like to hear more about each person's specific passion and/or area of expertise, but still, there may be things we're not thinking of. So actually, I know I have a decent community of readership from IST and other technical people, what would YOU ask or what would YOU like to know? Let me know before I start having some of these conversations, as I'd be interested to hear what other people think.

And for those of you less technically inclined, sorry if I just went way over your head or at least way over your level of interest. I do have a decent story to share from a shuttle ride encounter today. I got to talking to the gentleman next to me (as I typically like to do) and he asked the standard fare questions about how I'm enjoying his country and how I'm doing. (I realize I'm taking them for granted as standard fare questions here as I'd imagine foreigners aren't always treated this way in the US, but so many people have been asking me how I'm doing and where I'm from, etc., that I can honestly regard it as commonplace.) Anyway, when I was asking him a little bit about himself, he told me he was going to Arizona next week for the first time and wanted to know what to expect.

I was so happy for the first time to be able to help someone or at least start to help someone in one of the ways I've been helped here. I enjoyed hearing about the perceptions he had and the reservations he had, as there are things that in the US we would consider normal that a foreigner would find odd just as I encountered here. He wondered if people in Arizona would have very difficult accents like some people he's dealt with in Kentucky do. He wondered if he would need warm clothes in Arizona if it was a cold state. He wondered if it would be possible to see the different colored leaves on the trees, as that's something he'd heard about that sounded like an awesome phenomenon to him. Although I've never been to Arizona myself, these questions weren't too hard to answer for someone native to the US, and I finally felt a small sense of giving back just like I've been aided so many times by people here with questions they might consider to be obvious.

When we were talking with Dr. Petrick last night, she asked us each what is the one thing we'd miss the most, and I had to think about it for awhile, but eventually it became obvious: the people. Not that we don't have good people in the US because we CERTAINLY do, I mean of course, but I was just surprised how eager everyone has been here to talk to me and I will miss that when I go back to being just 1 out of 42,000 "average" undergrads at Penn State in the fall. Today is July 9, and I will be home on Saturday, August 9 - it's so hard to believe that we'll be leaving in just one month's time, and really, I don't want to leave! I'm just very excited for the last month because we have a lot of awesome travels ahead, hopefully a lot of wonderful networking opportunities with industry leaders, and also I'm looking forward to really adding some value in the areas where I've worked hard on my projects. It's a heavy load for one month, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Watch out!

Hello world! I'm back from a fantastic weekend, and it really couldn't have been much more relaxing overall. I've gotten the chance to go to some nice beaches on band trips and the like, but never with as little planned to do as this time, and it was great to just lay out and enjoy it. And when we were done enjoying the beach (as if it's even possible to be done) there was a heck of a lot to see around Goa as well. It was a beautiful place, and it was too bad we had to leave after just two short days.

I'll let you all read about the trip to the airport in Joel's blog, because he's already detailed it out, but that was quite interesting! We ended up not getting our originally scheduled taxi and arriving at the airport a mere 15 minutes before the flight was to depart, yet we actually ended up boarding the plane and taking off ON TIME. Whew! After originally being told "No" at the check-in counter, we were able to convince her, then run through the airport and make the flight. If that doesn't qualify as being incredibly lucky, I don't know what does.

Really then, the theme of the weekend ended up being that we were consistently getting pretty lucky. Given that it's monsoon season, there was really no way to know if it would just rain the entire weekend or not, but we got lucky as it only rained off and on a few times, and certainly not enough to put a damper on the weekend as a whole. The fact that the weather is so unpredictable also meant that it's off-season for these places, and we practically had the entire hotel to ourselves. There were maybe two or three other parties there that we saw, and the peace was nice. The beaches were also absolutely gorgeous, as advertised. We didn't exactly see a crystal clear, sunny beach, but what we saw was still very nice and very relaxing.

During this season it's illegal to go in the water but not illegal to stroll down the coast and enjoy it, so we took advantage of being able to walk up and down the shore. It was almost surreal when I stopped to think about exactly where I was. A year ago I wouldn't have imagined that I'd be spending a lazy Saturday on a beach town of the Arabian Sea. Picturing where I was geographically in my head was equally astounding, as I knew that when I looked due west, eventually the water would lead to Oman and Saudi Arabia, while looking southwest would eventually be the beaches of Africa! We're about as far away from home as it gets!

As the day started to fade into twilight, we decided to stop at a small restaurant on the beach front where we could still see the waves crashing against the shore and watch what sunset we could see through the clouds. Goa is also known for its seafood, and we were excited to try that as well. We didn't even let the server bring us a menu before we asked him if we could just have the catch of the day. We asked him to make whatever fresh seafood he likes and asked him to prepare it the traditional way. This was a fantastic decision. He brought us some wonderful tiger prawns, king fish, and some other fish that I don't remember the name dressed in masala sauces and also some butter garlic sauces. I'm pretty sure we even watched the guy who had been fishing come in with his haul for the day and we ended up having some of that. Even as a kid in New England I don't remember having seafood this fresh, and it was an experience we won't soon forget.

After having such a good day Saturday, it was hard to not just go back to the beach on Sunday, but I really wanted to see some of the historic sights of Old Goa, and I'm glad we did. Our first stop was to see some old Christian churches, and the architecture was just awesome. These had been built by the Portuguese years and years ago, and were a much different style than Christian churches I've seen in the US. We didn't get the chance to go inside, but I'd be willing to bet the interiors were just as remarkable. They were just so old and also MASSIVE that it was cool to see.

Our other two stops in Old Goa were probably my favorite two places so far that I've seen in India. They'll probably be trounced next week by my impending visit to the Taj Mahal, but for now at least they can sit at the top. The first of these two stops was at Fort Aguada. The place looks much cooler than those pictures on Wikipedia, so I'll make sure I get pictures of that uploaded too. As a disclaimer, I'm a man who really likes forts so maybe I'm coming in with bias, but I thought this place was just awesome. I loved looking where the moat used to be and looking up the big stone walls, trying to comprehend its significance as a stronghold way back when for the Portuguese. I thought to myself that it was a pretty good location too as it's not that easily reachable or penetrable by a naval force, and would be a good location to mobilize ground forces. Anyway, the fort also had spectacular views of the ocean, and that's the main reason people like it anyway. We had some prettttty great views from up there. The other place that I thoroughly enjoyed was a lookout point further down the coast of Old Goa where we could see waves crashing against the rocky cliffs hundreds of feet down below and around us. I had been expecting to see sights similar to this in Ireland but didn't, and was surprised and excited to be seeing something like this in Goa! I'll have some nice pictures to share from this later, too, as it was a breathtaking sight.

Going from the hustle and bustle and congestion and pollution of Bangalore to the relaxing solitude of Goa didn't seem like we were only an hour flight away, and was quite literally a breath of fresh air. Just one of the many nicknames of Goa, we were certainly impressed by the "Pearl of the Orient."

Hard to believe it, but it's officially time to say, "Halfway!"

We've been here for five weeks now, and have five weeks left to go. It's certainly gone fast, so here's to hoping the last five weeks don't go too fast, because although I'm very excited for the fall, it doesn't need to get here quite yet.

I wish a very happy Independence Day to everyone at home! This is my favorite holiday of the year (followed closely by Thanksgiving) so I am extraordinarily jealous of everyone who will be enjoying a cookout and wiffleball and fireworks and the whole shebang today while I have a work day, so please enjoy! Aah, I'll be looking forward to a Spikes game with fireworks upon my arrival in late August.

We did make an attempt to have our 4th of July celebration last night at a restaurant called Barbeque Nation. It's not quite a BBQ like many of you will be having, but it was still a good time. We had prawns (shrimp) and chicken and lamb and mutton, although I stuck mostly to the prawns and chicken, and they brought out a number of different Indian sauces and curries to marinate them in and grill them right at your table. It was good, and we also had ice cream afterwards which is always a plus. That was our little taste of 4th of July.

Not too much has happened since my last post other than working everyday, but I did start on a couple new projects surrounding RFID and asset management and also a project surrounding making supply chains greener. We'll see how those go.

One thing that has happened is that the monsoon arrived this week. For the next two months, it's going to be consistently raining at night. I learned, too, (from Dean DeVore) that the monsoon really isn't the rain, it's the wind, but since it's coming from off the coast, it brings the water with it. I thought that was something interesting most of you probably don't know. We won't really get the brunt of the weather here in the higher elevation, so I'm not worried about it, but we just need to get used to it raining at night and plan accordingly.

Another thing that happened this week was that we met Dr. Petrick for another fun dinner. We went to a restaurant called Blue Ginger that allegedly has the best Vietnamese food in India. Having been there, I can now certainly attest to that. The place was awesome. I can't tell you what a lot of the food was, but I know it consisted of some duck and some great noodles and some prawn soup and some other various traditional Vietnamese dishes. The restaurant was set outside with running water in the background, and it was just another home run dinner considering the ambiance and a great conversation to catch up on what someone else is experiencing here. I definitely don't know of anywhere in the U.S. where we could get great Vietnamese food like that - certainly a great time.

We'll leave for Goa later today, so I'm excited for that and to have some fun. It won't be a half-bad 4th of July after all considering we had some BBQ, will end up at a beach, and also Lester shut out the Yankees last night, so this has the makings of a nice holiday. Any time the Red Sox beat up on the Yankees is a good day. :)

Again, Happy 4th of July to all, and I hope to be posting some nice stories about my experiences in Goa early next week. There is a lot of great Indian and Portuguese history in Goa, and also supposedly some wonderful Indian seafood, so I'm looking forward to it! Chalo!

Big Ten Paraphernalia Count (hats, shirts, etc. we've seen so far on random people in India):

Michigan: 2
Penn State: 1
Ohio State: 1
Illinois: 1
Wisconsin: 1

 

... I think it was the Fourth of July.

Mysore on Saturday was outstanding. I could have done without the peddlers, but overall, it was a really neat trip. We met Eric at about 5:30AM and got on the bus for an 80km trip. The bus was much nicer than I expected! It obviously wasn't a Fullington with TV's and a bathroom in the back, but it was a bit more spacious than a Fullington and I could actually sit in it straight and there was room for my legs to be in front of me. I had been worried about what type of bus it would be, but I was very pleasantly surprised. For less than $10 US, the bus would take us to Mysore, herd us like sheep to the most important places, then take us home - no complaints there. The only complaint really I could have would be that it took nearly 4 hours to go 80km when a ride like that in the US would be much shorter, but that's mostly just due to the driving conditions, and it's something that will only improve with time as the infrastructure here gets better and better.

The first stop was a small palace outside the city, and really it was nothing that special. I know you get what you sign up for, so again it was kind of like a tourist trap, but it was still neat to see the architecture. This is something that I recall remarking in Budapest and certainly in Rome as well, but I'll never get over the feeling of looking at these structures and just how OLD they are. I love the US, and I love the structures we have in the US, but we just don't and can't possibly have anything that old at home, so I love seeing these things here. To see these structures that are just centuries if not thousands of years old is breathtaking. I really enjoy just taking a step back and thinking about how many people have seen this and the kind of times these types of things have remained intact through. Before this summer, I'd definitely like to say I had a good sense of international appreciation, but this summer has really served to enhance that appreciation by allowing me to see some of these things first hand and getting to just soak it all in. Working everyday is just like it is in the US, but the things I get to see on the weekend are hard to beat.

Our next stop was at a temple closer to the city, and walking into the entranceway was almost like walking into a new world. The hand-carved archway with all the Indian symbols was beautiful and frankly just astounding. We took our shoes off out of respect to enter and then got a chance to see some of the shrines and symbols inside. It was a very moving place regardless of my personal beliefs because of the way some people were so overcome and so inspired by the temple. They took such great pride in entering and seeing these things, and it was an awesome experience to watch the emotions of these other native people as they walked around the temple.

After the temple, the bus took us to the grand-daddy of all Mysore temples, the aptly named "Mysore Temple." It was a bit annoying to have to pay more than everyone else to get in, but we gladly paid the entrance fees to get a closer look at this marvel. (Entrance for Indians was 5 rupees, while entrance for foreigners was 100 rupees. This is commonplace, too, as we found that type of price jack-up at all the places we visited. Can you imagine the outrage and the lawsuits if such a double standard was placed on admittance prices such as the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty or the cost to see another US tourist attraction?) Anyway, upon entering, it was pretty darn cool. Again I felt the overwhelming sense of history inside the compound. Since we had just a limited amount of time at each of these destinations because of our bus tour timelines, we headed right for the palace, and just stood in awe. We didn't really have the time to go inside, although plenty of peddlers offered us the opportunity to follow them around for some set price of rupees. "No thank you" was the customary response at the beginning until we started getting mad at all these people trying to take advantage and make a buck off us and eventually just ignored them like everyone else was.

Overall, that was probably the most difficult part of the day - all the people (including children!) that were just following us around trying to sell us things. They could tell that we weren't from around here (obviously) so we were easy targets. "Mister, mister" or "Sir, sir" or even "Uncle, uncle" (I'll never get that one) they would plead with us and tug on our clothes to buy some of their wooden trinkets or jewelery or postcards or pictures or baskets or whatever it was that they had. "It's real! Best quality!" Of course it was impossible for us to judge what was real or wasn't real, and so really we just didn't want to buy anything. I did buy one thing, though, after someone came up to us wanting to sell some wooden musical instruments. One looked to be just some type of bamboo flute, and the other was made from a gourd and bamboo (think a small version of this). After originally asking for 350 rupees for each instrument, we were able to haggle and get three of them for 50 rupees total. I figured what the heck, if I can learn to play "Victory" on one of these things, it will be a source of amusement for a day when I get back in August and all it cost was just over a dollar.

Another thing we got a chance to see briefly at Mysore Palace was the makings of a parade! We saw a marching band and also some camels and other animals coming up the pathway towards the palace. We had to leave before we heard the marching band play, but it was still fun to see. And yes, even here, there was one trombone player, "that guy", who managed to be about three or four minutes late to the party and was straggling behind before joining up with the band. Glad to see some things transcend borders. ;)

Our final destination for the evening in Mysore included a big park by the dam with some fountains and a large musical fountain. The musical fountain was pretty cool, and similar to ones I've seen before in Las Vegas and on Margaret Island in Budapest, but it was really neat to see at night, and neat to see and hear with the Indian music playing. And of course, like most things here, there were a ton of people there to see it and watch it and enjoy it. The amounts of people seen all the time is really just astounding. Everywhere you look, there are people, and it's neat when you're at something like this attraction and all of them are just sitting and watching in enjoyment.

After a long bus ride home Saturday night that got us back in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Sunday wasn't that eventful after sleeping in, but we did check out Commercial Street by MG road. We went out with Tanu to get something to eat, and also saw the shops and everything else lit up at night (pictured later in this entry). It was not quite Times Square, but almost, and you could easily forget that unfortunately less than 500 meters away in any direction there is probably a tin shack with families living in it.

Commercial Street has some neat shops that I'm looking forward to returning to which have just stacks and stacks of fabric on shelves, and you go in and pick what fabric and what pattern and design you like, and they'll take your measurements and make you a shirt for less than $10 US. I'm looking forward to having a number of custom-made shirts to bring back home. Also, I'd like to get some of the traditional cotton shirts and pants that many of the locals wear that look very comfortable and breathable, and will be very nice in the hot weather.



Tonight we will be joining Dr. Petrick for dinner at another nice restaurant, and we're excited for that. Additionally, we've solidified our plans for Goa this weekend. That's right, click on that link and be jealous. We'll be leaving Friday night and we'll have a very nice relaxing weekend at a great beach. It'll be sad that I'll be going to work on Independence Day on Friday, and I sure will miss having hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and fireworks, but going to Goa will at least help to make up for it somewhat. :)

I should make one more post on Friday before we leave, until then hope all is well with everyone, and have a wonderful upcoming holiday weekend.