It's been awhile since my last update, but not that much has really happened in the last week. We were originally looking forward to a weekend in Kathmandu, Nepal and seeing Mt. Everest, but due to the increased security concerns, we had to cancel that trip. Bummer. I'm out some money, but I'm confident that I'll have the opportunity again someday to make it up there, and hopefully at a time when things are more stable. It was something I was really looking forward to, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.

The work week actually went by pretty fast. I put the finishing touches on my project reports, and only will have to do some minor revisions this week should my team feel they are necessary. Come Friday, it'll all be done! It's hard to believe there are just five days left here. There's a lot more in India I hope to one day see, but I'm more than happy with everything I've gotten the chance to experience this summer.

Friday included a visit to Wipro, one of India's largest IT companies. Their campus was beautiful, and we had a wonderful talk with their Head of Solutions Strategy & Architecture. It's been nice that Honeywell has been supportive of us visiting some other companies during our stay. If we don't run out of time, we may try to squeeze in visits to TCS and CSC next week.

Saturday was a visit to Shravanabelagola, and we had an awesome time. While travel to Nepal was out of the question, a day-trip within our state of Karnataka was deemed to be OK, and we were happy to explore. Four hours in the car and over six hundred steps later, we arrived at the top of Vindhyagiri hill to see what's allegedly the world's largest monolithic statue. Well, it's definitely big. At 17.38 meters high, it's an impressive sight, and was definitely worth climbing up and back down all those stairs. Another hill and another few hundred stairs later, we found ourselves in another neat part of the city with spectacular views. The top of Chandagiri hill was very quiet and very peaceful. We each found a spot to just sit down on the hill and stare out into the distance for a little while, and that was an enjoyable break. It might not be Mt. Everest, but Shravanabelagola was a neat place to visit, and certainly will be memorable, even if just for the name!

After tossing around a number of ideas about how we wanted to spend Sunday, our last free day in India, we decided to sleep in a little bit and make one final trip to Commercial Street for souveniers. We all left happy after another successful round of bargaining, and I think we now all have a sufficient amount of different items to appease our friends and families when we arrive back home in the US. On the way home from our day of shopping and looking around, we decided to all take one rickshaw, and I got to drive!! OK, I didn't really get to drive, but I did get to sit up front in what was a tight squeeze for all involved, but that was fun, too, considering it was probably our last rickshaw ride.

This last week is sure to go fast, and while there are many things I'll miss, there are many things I'm excited for at home, too, from friends to familiy to food to the fall and FOOTBALL. The plan is to upload pictures from the latter portion of my trip here at some point this week, and I'll share them in a new entry, hopefully by Thursday.

Quick Notes: Check out “Deewangi Deewangi" from Om Shanti Om, and “Pappu Can’t Dance” from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na if you're interested in hearing some popular Indian music. We hear these songs on the shuttle to work, and they've become two of my favorites. Also, the Jason Bay for Manny Ramirez trade was a good deal in my opinion. We'll see how it works out. 

I hope everyone enjoys this week, I know I'll be sure to absorb as much as I can as we finish up.