Leaking Money Week

Ah! What a week I had. Crazy is a small word for it. And all this suddenly makes me wish (can't believe this is the 10th time I'm saying this!) I can revert my life back 4 years to join in as an undergrad student.

It started off with the start of the semester with subjects I only had a vague idea about, particularly after giving a major pause to studies. The classes go on as usual and there's lots of notes to jot down, lots of things to listen to (unlike the monotonous classes I experienced for 4 years!), and lots of things to finish up before and after class (unlike the previous 4 years again!). While that threatened to keep me busy all the time, I did manage to find a few elements of what we call 'fun'.

Phew! Thanks to an Indian-born friend who wanted to check out the city just like us and he had a car thankfully! I was surprised at how difficult it is to do small things without a car. Finally after nearly 10 days of sitting at home and doing nothing, I entered Wichita like a visitor. A bright eyed visitor who wanted to absorb every sight that came his way. We weaved our way through the downtown areas, the old town areas and stuff. The weaving and wandering was mainly because we were constantly getting lost. We didn't have the GPS system in the car and we had to find our way with phone conversations and stuff.

What I observed was, the buildings are pretty damn old and they were all sending out some kind of a historical message. The effect was there. The medium tall buildings standing out with quite some exquisite modern designs all surrounded by these majestic old buildings. It was a nice sight to watch. Like a blessing in disguise, we got lost almost everytime we went out. I had to keep referring back to the maps and find our way out (it was possible to find our way because it wasn't India). Every time we were lost, we found places and new roads and how they connected back to where we wanted to go. As of now, the only place I'm dying to walk into is the Guitar Center!!

On another note, roaming around at night inside the safety of the car was definitely fun but sometimes scary! After the snow fell, the roads gave up what we call in Physics, "Friction". We were slipping and sliding around everywhere and one of the skids was a little too dangerous when we fish-tailed during a turn, and once more when we er.. came sliding down an exit ramp. Scary!

Coming to the main note. Money-Leaking! Ok. Here comes the bad part. Wanna have fun, keep cash. Lots. We went crazy going around town and throwing money here and there (quite literally!). While some basic things are real damn cheap, food just bores a hole through the pocket! As far as I could count, the prospect of dinner outside always ended up with us returning with half empty pockets.

So this week, money went down the drain like soap water. Money leaking at its peak. Keeping the hope that the coming weeks, months and years won't leak money this way, I'll sign off...

P.S: Heavily delayed post because high-speed internet access is no good unless you have hours of time to spare with you (writing a post does take time!!)

What? When? Where? Which-ita?

First of all, Happy New Year! It's my first post this year. Weird!

Phew! Finally got some chance to blog. 

As of now, I completely lost track of what's going on in the virtual world. I still have lots to catchup and not to forget the new place that I am in. Which place? Which-ita!

Yeah, long story. 

I like long stories.

Start of the year (Jan 7), after all the tensions and problems, i somehow readied myself to take-off the the country that everybody wants to go to, USA. Enrolled in the Master's Program for Aerospace Engineering at Wichita State University, I got the opportunity to experience stuff that I never did before. First of all, being away from family for a long period still freaks me out, but i'm getting used to it. After going through the gruelling 26 hours of flying and halts, I reached my place. All alone and no familiar faces or places. Thankfully the Student association responded well and came to pick me up at Wichita. And guess what? I descended into -10C straight! 

The cold froze me up, quite literally. My nose ran like a waterfall and I had the feeling my fingers fell off! Somehow I survived that 1 minute walk to the parking space and got into the car and within minutes was at the temporary house that I was supposed to stay in. All those rules on the roads, and left hand driving, it took a few minutes for me to understand what was happening on the roads. 

After meeting Chaky and Vamsi, my nerves eased a little and I began breathing normally. And then came the jet lag. Thankfully no kind of sickness, but just tire! I slept for 2 days straight to get out of that, and still couldn't find the cold manageable. The temperatures were consistently below zero throughout the day and I couldn't dare to step out though i had some winter clothing on me.

After a few days, I finally started stepping out, and got registered at the university, opened the bank account and other official work. After attending the orientation, the university map got slightly clearer in my head which other wise was very confusing. I still dont think i know everything about the buildings here though I'm a lot better than a week back.  

The temperature have now eased and going up to 5-8 Celsius which is actually feeling nice and pleasant. If I were at India now in 5-8 C, I would have turned into ice in minutes! Weird how the body can adjust so quickly to surroundings. Now what's awaiting me other than tough coursework and complicated academic procedures are tornadoes, and 40C summer heat which will come in a few months time. I'm so not waiting for it!

Still gotta meet a few professors and decide my subjects properly. The whole thing looks so damn tough and impossible to do, its no wonder why so many Aerospace students dropped out and took up easier courses after the first semester. I just hope I won't do that.. freaks me out to think of that. 

Coming to the city, its pretty small and town like (atleast my area) with absolutely negligible public transport. Have your own car? ENJOY! Don't have a car? Its as good as being handicapped. Thankfully the university is just across the street and pretty walkable so travelling there won't be a problem, and the campus itself if so compact and small that nothing is inaccessible in a few minutes.

So that's my story of the new year. What a sudden start! I have no idea where all this is going. I'm just heading where the light is pointing me to. Worst thing of all, time's flying at a crazy pace. Everyday night by the time I sleep, I realize there were a hundred things I didn't do today. The telugu (forget indian) population is sooo much here that its actually getting suffocating (sorry about that!). I came here for some variety and exploration. But all I get is the usual telugu slang, and heaps and heaps of advice that I just don't wanna listen to. Weird! One is supposed to feel happy to see his natives around him in a foreign place but its the opposite for me! :(

Anyway, frustrations later. This is exploration time. So i'll go help in some cooking stuff so that we can go without starving. 

Hope I can post back soon!