New website!

For everyone who has requested it (Mom and Dad) here is the link to one of the websites I'm working on: http://www.adventist.org.in. Feel free to make suggestions and check back often as it will hopefully be evolving over my time here in India.

Diwali

Today, the 27th of October, 2008 is the Hindu festival of lights known simply as Diwali (insert shameless link to "The Office" here). Apparently, the big thing to do to celebrate is to get a bunch of firecrackers, fireworks, and other explosives and set them off (much like Independence Day in America). There is one slight difference, however: whereas, in America, we tend to wait until night time on the 4th of July, the people here start the day before the actual holiday and then continue setting off the fireworks pretty much non-stop until who knows when (it still hasn't ended). They go all through the night, too. At least I think so -- I can't vouch for the hours 12, 1, 2, and 3 in the morning since I was out cold at said times, but I know that at 4 a.m. the fireworks were going strong, at 5 they were still going and it has sounded like a war zone all morning. One of my friends here stated very accurately that Diwali would be a great time for the terrorists to make their move. I think I'll try to stay inside today. . .

Unfortunately, since Diwali is a Hindu holiday, the Adventists here at the Division office don't get a day off, *sigh*. Ah well, I guess I'll have something to do while I'm doing my best to avoid any explosions in my proximity.

Speaking of explosions, I heard my second major car accident last night. I say "heard" because I've never seen a real, car-crushing accident, but I have heard two. Last night I was just about to head home from my friend's house and I had stepped outside the door and was saying my goodbyes when we both heard a loud screeching followed by a sickening, explosive crunching noise. We hurried out to the gate because we could tell that it was quite close. Apparently, what happened was (I'm not sure exactly how) a large truck hit a small car. When we got there, the car was still there (and did not look to be in very good shape), but the truck had sped off. The driver of the car was obviously not very happy about this, but there was little that he could do (I don't think he got the truck license number).

Well, it's barely even Monday and this is shaping up to be quite an eventful week.

New Essay/The Search for Food

Well, I have another essay for everyone to look over (if they feel so inclined). I actually think I like this one better than the other one. It seemed easier to write and I think it is still funny while not being quite as over-the-top (although not too far off). Feel free to criticize and please tell me which one you like better.

Picture this: a scientific experiment gone wrong. Having defeated earth, aliens control everything. Mankind struggles to survive, but only a few are strong enough to mount any resistance. One man rises above the other resistance fighters to distinguish himself as the one to whom mankind must trust its survival – a physicist. He was there when the portal to the alien dimension was opened. He was there when the aliens tried to call reinforcements from their home world. He was there at every pivotal moment when mankind's fate hung in the balance, and at every one of these moments, it can be seen that he was the turning point on which the human race's existence hinged. What most people do not see is that throughout each of his heroic exploits there was always someone else there, supporting him. Whether it be hacking into the alien security systems or simply short-circuiting some alien technology, she was helping him.

Another scenario: the sun is dying out. Humans do not have much longer to call the earth their own unless something can be done about the cooling sun. Fortunately, there is one device, developed by a physicist, which may be able to give the sun the energy it needs to burn as brightly as it used to. An atomic bomb roughly the size of Manhattan. As one would expect, there are many complications with flying a bomb into the sun. Extensive shielding, complicated life support systems, and immensely powerful engines are all necessary. Eventually, against all odds, the physicist, with the help of the crew, is able to complete the mission and “restart” the sun – at the expense of his own life as well as the rest of the crews'. What most people did not think about when reflecting on this physicist's heroism was that there was always someone there supporting him – she guided the ship, controlled the life support systems, and did a great deal to keep him alive until he reached his mission's destination.

If either of these scenarios sound familiar, it is because they are both from popular media. The first is the plot to a very popular computer game franchise that goes by the name of Half-life. The second is the story of a movie released in 2007 called Sunshine. If there is anything that we can learn from these stories, it is this: a physicist, one day, will save the world. It is inevitable. Some day the world will be threatened by some sort of abnormal disaster – such as an asteroid, a dying sun, or aliens – and it will be left up to one, heroic physicist to save the day (probably via an atomic bomb).

When this physicist saves the world, he (or she) will no doubt get all the glory, but recall that there was an entity supporting each of the physicists in the scenarios. In Half-life her name is Alyx Vance; she is what I would call a hacker. Whenever Gordon Freeman (the protagonist of Half-life) needs to get through some security system or simply needs to get control of a nuclear reactor, he turns to Alyx. She has impressive computer skills and there is no way that Gordon would accomplish half of the feats he does without her.

In Sunshine, the supporting entity goes by Icarus. She is not a hacker, but very closely related. She is a computer program herself. As was mentioned in the scenario, she has complete control of the ship and is the main reason that the sun-bombing mission is successful. Of course, since she is a computer program, someone had to develop her. Behind her artificial intelligence there was some programmer, sitting at his desk, plugging away at her source code.

So we see, there is another lesson to be learned from these two scenarios: no matter how much glory and praise the physicist who saves the world gets, there will be a programmer who was just as responsible for man-kind's existence. I will be that programmer, if it would have me. In order to pursue such a path, I will need an education. In order to pursue my education, I will need money. In order to get money, I will need scholarships. I deserve the “mental_floss Tuition Giveaway” money more than anyone else in the world because without me, there will be no world.

Now, back to real life: for those of you who do not already know, I have been cooking for myself this week. It's been going pretty well (lots of oats and noodles), and last night I went to Hosur to get some more food items (the Division Office has free transportation to Hosur every Thursday night). What I really wanted to get were some vegetables and potatoes. At the first place the people from the office directed me to, I could only find spices and some flower, so I went to where they said I could get some fruit. At the second roadside stand I came to, I was elated to see that he had potatoes - I got 1 kg for Rs.45. Then I went on some other adventures to see what else I could find and ended up acquiring some onions, apples, and oranges (never did find any vegetables besides the onions).

After shopping, on the way back to the office, some of the people in the bus were asking how much I paid for the stuff I got. When I told them I paid Rs.45 for 1 kg of potatoes, they shook their heads and said that it was waay to much for potatoes. I shrugged and figured I had just learned a lesson and that next time I would know that potatoes should be cheaper.

This morning, I decided I would try my hand at frying some potatoes. I picked a couple out of the bag and thought, "Hmmm, these seem awfully squishy." Then, as I began to attack them with my knife, to my surprise, it popped open and a large black seed popped out. "This isn't a potato at all, I thought to myself." Turns out they were chikoos. Fortunately, they taste really good, but I didn't get to try frying anything. Ah, well, maybe next time.

Moved In

Well, I finally moved into my apartment. It's pretty exciting having the whole deal to myself, with the kitchen and everything. One of the first things I did after getting my stuff moved in was to go to get some groceries. I was at the office and saw my friend Eben, and said, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to want to go to the station, would you?" He agreed pretty quickly and we headed for the station (the supermarket is right by the train station). He had his motorcycle, so I got on the back of that and we rode to the station. I think it was probably the most dangerous thing I've ever done. Riding in that traffic in a car is bad enough, but on a motorcycle with the only thing between my melon and an oncoming bus being my friend in front of me is quite an experience. That's how the great majority of people around here get around, though, so who am I to judge. It was actually pretty fun.

An a very different note, my mom directed my attention to this contest. I think I'll give it a try. I'll probably end up going through a few ideas in search for the perfect essay to submit, but I already have my first iteration. I will post it here and let you all tear it apart.

I deserve to receive your scholarship because I am a vegetarian. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, “Ah, a vegetarian – finally, someone actually worthy to receive our scholarship. ” Of course, it is only natural that you would entertain such thoughts, but I am afraid you may not be acquainted with all of the many reasons that a vegetarian should receive your scholarship. Therefore, I will proceed by explaining the many benefits you will experience from choosing a vegetarian (me) to receive your scholarship.

Vegetarians are not cannibals. Because it is common knowledge, I fear that this fact is often overlooked. You can rest assured that if you bestow this scholarship money upon me, I will not simply use it to get into the more educated circles so that I can feast on tastier brains (I hear from some of my non-vegetarian friends that smarter brains are tastier).

Now that you are not afraid I might eat you, I would like to turn your attention to the fact that, since I am a vegetarian, my brain is actually tastier (better developed). It has long been established that eating vegetables makes one's brain work better (at least that is what parents have been telling their children for the last few centuries). Therefore, since I do not eat animals, I eat almost solely vegetables (with some fruits, legumes, and grains thrown in from time to time). It stands to reason, then, that my brain would be better developed than the average non-vegetarian. This hypothesis has been partially confirmed by my academic record, but that is bordering on being outside of this essay's scope.

Another reason that I, as a vegetarian, should receive your scholarship stems from the motive behind my vegetarianism. I am not a vegetarian to save animals from a brutal death. Neither am I a vegetarian because I dislike certain animals – such as beef-cattle – and want to see less of them in the world. I am a vegetarian because I have always been a vegetarian. I believe I can count the number of times I have eaten meat on one hand. “So what that I have rarely eaten meat? Why does that matter?” I'll tell you why that matters; I am consistent. Once I start something, I tend to stick with it. “Oh big deal – how hard is it to stick with what you've grown up with? That may be consistency, but it's the easiest kind.” To the people who would propose that I say: Do you know how many times I've turned down a seemingly delicious dish whose only flaw was that it contained meat? Do you know how many times I was ridiculed in High School by the other kids, always inquiring how my “lettuce sandwich” tasted? Do you know how much more difficult it is to order a cheesy beef and potato burrito “with beans instead of meat” than to just go with the default option? Do you know how annoying it is to return to the counter because they got your order wrong AGAIN (actually, I think that one is universal)? I hope that I have made it clear that it takes consistency to be a vegetarian. I will be consistent.

There is another secondary, yet still important, reason that I am a vegetarian – I believe that it helps keep me healthy. My commitment to health is yet another reason that I am worthy to receive your scholarship. While the other candidates acquire heart disease, have strokes, mentally decay, and break their hips while crossing the street and get hit by trucks, I will be in good physical condition. I am a worthwhile investment. I will do my very best to outlive my peers in an attempt to get you the best return from your money – the longer I live, the longer your money will be at work.

I believe that I have made it quite clear that I, as a vegetarian, am clearly worthy and deserving of any scholarship money that you impart upon me. I have shown that, due to my vegetarianism, I will provide the best return on your investment possible by outliving the other candidates, being more consistent in my use of the money than the other candidates, and having a more highly developed brain than the other candidates. Also, on top of that, I can assure you that I will eat neither you, nor your friends, nor your family members, which I cannot say about the other candidates.

They say that the essays should match the "mental_floss style of writing." Unfortunately, I don't really know what that is at this point (I plan on doing a little research), but I'm afraid this one might be a bit too over the top. Nevertheless, I would welcome any grammatical/spelling/organization corrections or suggestions.

The Apartment and other Monkey Business

I finally got the key to my apartment!!!

Before anyone asks, no, I haven't moved in yet, but I could if I really feel like it because I have the key! The only reasons I haven't moved in yet is that there is no stove or refrigerator, which wouldn't be the end of the world since I can still eat at the cafeteria, but I don't have any sheets either. I think that this lack could be a bit of a problem. Aside from the moving in technicalities, the big news about my apartment is: it's huge! I was very much surprised at the size of the apartment. I think this calls for a picture tour.

The apartment has several rooms. Two bedrooms. One which I will probably leave mostly empty unless I think of something cool to do with it and another one to actually sleep in.

There's a shower room and a bathroom, which is good since both of these things are pretty high on my list of requirements for places that I inhabit. The toilet will probably take getting used to. I had purposely avoided these types of toilets in the past (I saw a couple in Hyderabad), but it looks like they have finally caught up to me...

Then there is a kitchen, an entry way, a room connecting the kitchen and the entry way, and another multi-purpose room which currently has a desk and some chairs in it.

Finally, the most exciting room is not even really a room at all - I've got a balcony! Score! Not much of a view, but I can hang up clothes and stuff if they need to dry.

So that's it for the news about the apartment. On to the monkey business. I have seen several more monkeys since the first sighting, but I hadn't been near my camera until today. In fact I saw a rather large monkey climbing the tree right outside my office window one day, but I had left my camera in my room. Regardless, today I was going up to my room when I saw a monkey sitting right in the middle of the road. I muttered, "Monkey!" under my breath and rushed to my room to grab my camera. Of course, the key didn't seem to want to unlock the door because I was in a hurry and when I got back the monkey had moved. It didn't take me long, however, to spot him at the other side of the tennis court from where he had been previously sitting under one of the trees. I calmly walked down the stairs and started around the tennis court (I didn't want to bother with any pictures through the fence of the tennis court). Unfortunately, as I came to the end of the tennis court and started around the corner, he spotted me and started climbing up the tree he had been sitting under. Undaunted, I walked over to the bottom of the tree hoping to get a picture of him in the tree. He would have none of it. He very quickly climbed to the top of the tree (it was no short tree) and started jumping between the trees away from me. I calmly followed him on the ground, but after he had crossed all the way to the other side of the grove of trees and started back the other way, I gave up. I could catch glimpses of him from time to time, but I usually just knew where he was because of the branches shaking and the weird noises he would make in his throat (it sounded almost like he was trying to clear it) so I wasn't able to get any pictures. One day I will have proof that there are monkeys here in picture form (unless, of course, I've been imagining them this whole time - if this is the case just smile and nod when I show you a picture of a tree and tell you there's a monkey in it).

Now that the monkey business is concluded, I would like to present some miscellaneous pictures I've taken. The first set is from Deepak's birthday. Deepak is the two-year-old son of one of the employees here at the division office. He had quite a get together planned which involved most (if not all) of the employees from the office. It almost reminded me of a dedication ceremony - only longer.

It all started with some singing.

The birthday boy.


As I said, there was quite a crowd.

Of course, the best part was that afterward we got food.

Ah, almost forgot the proof that I was there. Naphi was messing with my camera.

The other set of pictures which I have taken which need explanation come from the realm of my guest room. For a couple of Sabbaths, the kids from the Tamil church which meets right near my room would entertain themselves while their parents talked after church by breaking into my room. Actually, technically I let them in the first time, but since then they think that they can come and go as they please. I'm fine with it, it's just that one particular time I was *ahem* using the facilities and I have taken to not shutting the door since I'm the only one in the room, but this particular time I was not the only one in the room. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised when I walked out of the bathroom and found a couple of kids standing there. Another peculiar thing is that one of the kids keeps asking me for foreign chocolate, so I have to tell him I don't have any. Anyway, one of the days they asked me what was in my camera bag so I showed them the camera and, of course, they wanted me to take pictures of them. I don't think I'll bother including them here, but you can check them out at my picasa web-album.

Hopefully I'll be able to move into the apartment this week. Unfortunately, when I do I'll have to start cooking for myself so pray for me, just pray...

Tiger Mountain

For those of you who don't know, Justin Chen is one of the awesomest people I know. He's been at camp the last couple of years that I've been at camp and we always have a good time. He was my computer buddy in the staff lounge more often than not (he was always in there writing for his blog which you can find here) and we both share a passionate love for mountain biking.

We went mountain biking quite a number of times around camp and, one fateful, beautiful day, we both got the same day off and went on a little expedition to Tiger Mountain.

It was quite the adventure - I had a guide that outlined a trail to take, but we also did one shorter trail (about 4 miles) at the bottom of the mountain beforehand and went up to the east summit (about 3 miles round trip). I believe it was about a 20 mile ride altogether - and it was completely awesome.

Tiger Mountain is definitely in my top three favorite trails. It's maintained by the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club and anyone who rides it can definitely tell that it is built and kept up by mountain-bikers. The lines (while often littered with roots and bumps) are absolutely amazing. There are log rides, small berms, and all kinds of other stuff.

If the reader is wondering why I brought all this up a couple of months after it happened it's because Justin just sent me the pictures he took from the day off. So here they are. All of the action shots are quite blurry, but it's just because I was going so fast. Enjoy them. I did.

Happy Birthday Gandhi!

So, apparently it's Gandhi's birthday today... Oh! - and I forgot my sister's birthday a little over a week ago until after the fact (sorry Sissy) (although to be fair I was in Hyderabad and couldn't have done anything about it anyway - no internet and all). But yeah, back to Gandhi - I was not aware that it was his birthday today, and was calmly making my way to work when Gerald Christo popped his head out the door of his house and yelled, "Steve!" I turned, and he said, "You know it's a holiday today?"

"No way, are you serious?" I replied.

"Yeah, it's Gandhi's birthday." I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out that I don't have to work today - so I celebrated by hanging out at the Christo's all morning, and making a trip to Hosur with them. We went to a grocery store that had a bunch of products that I would normally use in America. There were several breakfast cereals that I got pretty excited about - such as fruit loops and, get this, POST HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS!!! I was quite excited at this point, but then Gerald had to be the voice of depression by pointing out that it costs 240 rupees (about $6). So yeah, probably won't be getting that very often - oh well. They also had one of those little boxes (as in the sub-juice-box sized ones) of silk chocolate soy milk - that's right, just one, at least it's the only one I saw. Again, this costs almost a dollar (which I guess isn't that bad, but I think it's more than usual).

Then, to top off the celebration we had pizza and ice cream for lunch! I had butterscotch ice cream and it was amazing. During the meal, however, I couldn't help but observe that it seemed a little inappropriate to be eating on Gandhi's birthday... Oh well, I don't feel too guilty about it.

Another interesting note - on the way back from Hosur, Dr. Christo and Naphi (Gerald's wife) were telling me about the culture in Naphi's home state (I think she's from Manipur - one of the far Northeastern states anyway). Apparently, they have a matrilineal society - in other words, the family name is passed down through the females. Also, the inheritance is passed down through the females (the youngest female usually gets the most - imagine that). This type of society is distinguished from matriarchal by the fact that the males are still kind of head of the family - although this is a little strange too in this particular culture because the uncles apparently run the show - not the fathers - I think they said it was the uncles of the mother of the household in fact. I actually think the whole inheritance passing to the youngest female makes perfect sense - she is the one who is most likely to need it. The males can go out and make money for themselves, but since the females typically take care of the children in this culture (just like mine), the females are more likely to need the support of an inheritance. The problem is that the males, since they do not see the benefit in working hard when the name they build for themselves will not be carried on, do not work hard and tend to be the hang out, play the guitar, and sing type (Dr. Christo's words, not mine). The punch line of all this is that the males feel wronged and have started a men's liberation movement. When I heard this, I started laughing uproariously - at first because I thought he was joking, but then when I found out he was serious I continued to laugh because this family organization is almost exactly the opposite of the American organization in almost every way. I thought you all might appreciate that.

So, in conclusion, don't punch, kick, elbow, or think evil thoughts about anyone today - it's Gandhi's birthday for goodness' sake!