The First Breath After...

When India isn't foreign enough...

2010-05-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

Since January our office director, Matthew, and one of our staff architects, Ivy, who happens to be his wife, have been on sabbatical in Hong Kong, Ivy's home. Just today, Matthew and Ivy sent us a box of mystery bags full of things that sort of resembled food. In the enclosed note he stated that he clearly didn't label the bags so that they would remain mysterious as we all went around and tried them. There were about 8 or 9 bags and we deduced that one of them was a thousand year old and another one was fried scorpions but as to the rest, it's still up in the air. Although I don't have pictures of the actual food (unfortunately), our graphic designer, Susan, put together quite a nice montage of our reactions to send to Matthew and Ivy.

Four year old Hudson in the bottom left corner after eating a piece of the thousand year old egg (the absolute worst of the lot) clearly wins.

Addendum 1

2010-05-04T11:37:00.000-05:00

I totally meant to link this in the post, so I'll just put it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Premier_League

The IPL is basically what the NFL would be if it were the only sport in all of America. Just imagine an entire country's enthusiasm for sports funneled into one sport and then essentially funneled into one 6 week period. It's all anyone talked about while it was going on, and it was awesome that we actually got tickets to see a game in Delhi. And as the wikipedia article will convey, it's a gigantic money making machine. (first sporting event to be broadcast live on youtube?, yea it's that big)

The Horizon Is In Sight

2010-05-04T10:15:00.001-05:00

Wow. Life can be fickle.

As some of you have noticed, I’ve been quite neglectful of this blog this past month. Although this has been by far the busiest month since I’ve been here, that is only part of the story. As some of you know I’ve had work in Nepal, gone to Delhi for an IPL game, and started an epic war with monkeys that insist on coming into our kitchen to steal loafs of bread and bunches of bananas. On top of that, work has been frantic, with computer problems, generator problems, and the looming shadow of my eventual departure pushing me to finish all I can before I leave. This is the first Saturday I’ve generally had to myself in about 5 weeks or so and I took the afternoon to not really summarize all that has happened as much as to talk about how what is to come is affecting me now. As I finished the last sentence, reread for spelling mistakes, I truly leaned back and believed it to be one of my finest blog posts yet – a true, beautiful expression of life as I know it. Then quite tragically, and maybe predictably, wordpad crashed and a little part of me died. As we’ve all inevitably experienced this before we are then faced with two choices – through shear will, try miserably and painfully to recount everything you wrote, vainly trying to regrasp the magic you once had or, the alternative, move on, create again. When phrased like that it’s hard to imagine why anyone would ever choose to reproduce what we had. It can never be as good as it once was. Yet if we allow ourselves to let go and create again, regardless of whether it’s better or not, at least it won’t be a miserable attempt to retake what we once had. With that in mind, let me approach this whole thing anew.

I’m at the point now where my weeks are laid out carefully in front of me. Every single week from now until I return home I know where I’ll be and most likely what I’ll be doing. That makes it really easy to look past the 2 and a half months I have left. There is no uncertainty left. It’s all right there for me to look at, to live out. For that reason, it’s been hard to keep my mind here. Sure when I’m working, trying to finish up as many drawings and projects as I can before I leave, I’m here. But in those down moments, I can feel my mind wandering. I can feel myself thinking about eating nachos and watching an afternoon Cubs game. I can imagine what it would be like to take a shower again, drive a car, or wash my clothes in a washing machine. You know, I imagine a lot of things. So most of the time, I’m not really here anymore. I’m just biding my time, riding out my schedule. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?

Actually I think there is something else going on here. You’d imagine that in my last couple of months I would have this ravenous zeal for activity, trying to take advantage of as much as possible, making sure every last moment was worth it. I don’t feel any of that. There is no desire to go on some Indian adventure, see parts of India I haven’t seen yet. In fact, I feel quite the opposite. I’m quite relaxed. I feel quite settled, quite at home. Really, that was one of the main purposes of this year long endeavor. I’d grown up in a land that wasn’t my parents, only ever hearing about India or visiting it, but I never had any idea what it was like to exist there. It was still a place that existed only in theory. This year was about making it real. Surely, I could have picked a more “real” place than Mussoorie, a mystical hill station with temperate climates and a sparse (ish) population, but let’s not get picky. This year, India became more than my place of ancestry it became a country and a people that I was able to understand more intimately through service. Not only has this year shed light on who my parents and relatives are but it has shed light on who I am, thereby fundamentally changing me.

For that reason, I can’t help but imagine what it will be like to be home.

The State of Ultimate

2010-03-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

A little taste of my recent trip to southern India to play for New Delhi's ultimate -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyjJK3iJx34&feature=related

More later.

My trip to Punjab

2010-03-11T22:18:00.000-06:00

As some of you know - I was in Punjab for two weeks recently. The purpose of the trip was a standard EMI project trip that consists of visiting the owner's site, sitting with the owner and hearing his vision, surveying the site, and then working with client, coming up with conceptual civil and architectural plans that encompass the entirety of his vision and purpose. That's the short of it. Since there is never much structural work to do on the physical project trip and there were already 3 civil engineers, I was in charge of surveying the site. This particular project is a children's home and school that is intended for village kids in this particular region of Punjab that is primarily Sikh. The children's home will eventually house around 200 to 250 orphans while the day school will provide an education for countless more. When we arrived the ground floor of the chilren's home had actually been started. It was after a couple bad encounters with others that the client decided to contact EMI and ask for their guidance. There were crazy things going on for sure - like a 20ft deep septic tank that was 56x times bigger than it should have been.

Leading the survey team and constantly being out on the site allowed me to interact a lot with the contractor and the different construction workers. My Hindi is rudimentary at best, but it was enough to communicate with them. Plus they thought it was hilarious to see an Indian that didn't speak Hindi well. I had to explain to them that there are lots of Indians that don't speak Hindi, including many people in Tamil Nadu. Also, without a doubt, within 2 minutes of beginning a conversation with me they would ask - "Have you finished your marriage?" As individual upon individual kept asking, I eventually would just start laughing at the question, knowing that it was coming. Do I look like I should be married already? Am I in that desperate of a situation?

All in all, the couple of weeks went very smoothly. It wasn't as exciting as my trip last term to the orphanage (where the kids were actually there) but this particular trip is much more representative of what EMI does. We come in at the beginning stages, before things get too exciting, and partner with ministry using our knowledge to make sure they're making wise decisions. They're the ones on the frontlines, we're just here in whatever capacity they need. Coming back to the office, I'll be working on the structural assessment for the building that's currently under construction plus a water tower (that the clients wants to also contain prayer rooms) design that should be built as soon as I turn over the drawings.

We also had the opportunity to see a couple of the more exciting things Punjab has to offer - the India-Pakistan border closing ceremony and the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple was the Golden Temple. I thought it was beautiful and enjoyed it but I wouldn't say it affected me in any significant way. However, the border closing ceremony was a completely different affair. A lot of people have been talking it up for a while now (including some of you reading this). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you jump on youtube really quick and find a video of it. (I'd give you a link but the internet connection here makes using youtube completely impossible) It's a cultural experience that is culturally unique to India/Pakistan. Thousands upon thousands (I mean tens of thousands) of people come to this one point on the border between India and Pakistan. Grandstands, gigantic arches, ornate gates, heavy security lie on either side of the line. There is a single paved road that passes through these gates and on either side are people dances with flags, a man with a microphone pushing the crowds to chant louder and louder. Border guards come out and undergo a passionate, lively ceremony as they open the gates, allow the last bus to cross the border and then lower their flags for the day, trying to keep their flag up just a fraction of a second longer than the other. Each crowd passionately shouts, yelling, jeers as they try and drown out the opposing side. Over the barbed wire, the armed guards, the large walls, you can just see the tops of the other grandstands, the people that inhabit this other land. While it's very easy to get caught up in the electric atmosphere of it all there is something deeply saddening about all of this. If you were to stand on the wall separating the two countries the differences would seem pretty shallow while the similarities would seem much more significant. You have two sets of guards doing the exact same things. One group dressed in brown, the other in black. You have the same amount of noise, the same kind of cheers - one in Hindi, one in Urdu. You have one ornate gate that slides open, another that opens like a double door. Where else in the world could you get two different people groups from two different nations to buy into something as crazy and as outrageous as something like this? Probably nowhere. That's essentially because these were never intended to be two separate nations in the first place. The line between Pakistan and India was arbitrarily drawn, leaving families stuck on either side. Permanently split up fearing the consequences of trying to cross the border during Partition or even now. Sitting there, listening to people yell 'Jai India' at Pakistan, it forces you to reflect on the non-silly aspects of Indo-Pakistan relations - the millions of lives lost, the families ruined, the blood split over this conflict. It shouldn't be this way. I'm not trying to argue for the merging of Pakistan into India. I'm not talking about political borders here. Whether or not they are one country or two separate countries is really irrelevant in the face of what I'm talking about. This isn't like the US and Mexico, these are the same people that have a similar cultural and ethnic background. It's no accident that India's muslim population is the 3rd largest in the world, just under Pakistan. Really, it's just tragic. It's tragic that it couldn't have been different from the very beginning. If this precedent of rivalry and hatred was never established, if boys and girls weren't brought up learning about this tradition of intolerance. Because after all, these are the same people.

Resolute Aging

2010-03-04T23:06:00.001-06:00

Tonight, our chokedar (basically the guy that takes care of our house and property) told me all about his dream motorcycle trip around India. We stood in front of a map of India as his finger ran from road to road, tracing the border of the entire sub-continent. He talked about how long each stint would take, where he would stay, the people he would meet, the food he would eat. He talked about the equipment he would bring. All the details, even the details that only come to mind after years and years of thinking were already worked out in his head. He told me about his dream to reach Rajastan (India’s desert state) during the peak of summer when temperatures will easily reach 50C (120F). I laughed because that may literally be impossible. Undaunted, he simply responded with, “Impossible is good. If it wasn’t impossible, everyone would do it.”

I think I had slowly started to believe that youth had a monopoly on dreaming. Certainly most people would reinforce that, telling me how my high school ideals or childhood longings would eventually fade as I stepped into the ‘real world’. Most people I think do lose this insatiable desire. But for those that keep dreaming, for those that keeping hoping and still see life full of possibilities – it’s even more encouraging to me. For that reason, it’s always been very encouraging whenever I’ve meet someone older that myself that truly has a dream, no matter how big or small. Although I’m not sure I have my dream motorcycle trip yet, this encourages me not to be afraid to find it.

2010-02-19T04:40:00.000-06:00

In a couple of hours, I will be leaving for my two week project trip to Amritsar, Punjab for two weeks. I'll be doing the survey and civil work for a girl's school/home there. Hopefully, I'll have something to say when I get back.

Also as an addition to my last post -

Today Tim Duncan became the longest tenured player on any single team in the NBA. Just another piece of evidence to support the consistent output of greatness.

Channeling Tim Duncan

2010-02-16T09:27:00.000-06:00

For me the first week of work, similar to the first day of classes, is the day when my expectations for myself are at an unrealistic level. I expect that every second of every minute of every hour of everyday I'm at work, I'm giving 100% of my mind and body. Even writing that sentence is a little exhausting, the reality of it is completely ridiculous. Usually I can last a day, maybe two before I just start lagging behind. I'll check my gmail, become tempted to read about pirates on wikipedia, take extended bathroom breaks. While this is happening, I'm slowly beating myself up because I can't maintain this immaculate work ethic. Having undergone this process the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking about what a great work ethic looks like. Or more generally, what greatness look like?

Which brings me to Tim Duncan. For all of you unfamiliar with before mentioned Timothy Duncan - he's a 6-11 Power Forward that plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs (also pictured left). He's played 12 NBA Seasons, won 4 NBA Championships, 3 NBA Finals MVPs, the Rookie of the Year Award, 2 MVP awards, been voted to 12 All-Star teams, 12 All-NBA teams, and 12 All-Defensive Teams. It's an incredibly impressive resume. Although he's still in this 12th season, he's commonly heralded as one of the greatest, if not the single greatest power forward in NBA History. Yet more than these raw numbers, there is a mysticism that envelopes Tim Duncan. In certain circles he's commonly referred to as 'The Big Fundamental' - an homage to the mechanical mystery of Tim Duncan, himself. For years the world has been debating whether Tim Duncan is an adult homo-sapien that has committed himself to the game of basketball so ardently that it has cost him all the emotions, flaws, and unpredictability of humanity or whether Tim Duncan is indeed a Virgin Island engineered basketball playing android of sorts learning what it means to be human with every year that passes. His track record would argue for the second.

Tim Duncan has a reputation for being the most consistently great player in the NBA today. But I wondered how he stacked up against the greatest big men in the history of the NBA. Using an excel spreadsheet and a couple of extremely nerdy basketball statistical websites I compared Tim Duncan's career to that of Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard. I looked at 4 categories - points per game, rebounds per game, blocks per game, and Player Efficiency Rating (PER). PER isn't an easy thing to measure or understand but it's probably the most accurate way we currently have to measure a player's effect (but not perfect). Since most big men tend to trail off at the end of their careers, posting up some seriously horrendous numbers, I cleaned up everyone's stats to make them comparable to Duncan's relatively young and healthy career. Here is what came out - in PPG Duncan's career average of 21.4 landed right in the middle but his standard deviation of 2.03 is far better than anyone else's (6.21 on the high end and 2.86 on the low end). In RPG, Duncan is only behind Dwight Howard (who frankly has barely played) but again his SD is a staggering 0.8 over his career, compared to Howard's 1.51. In BPG, Duncan is right in the middle but again with a staggering SD of 0.34 over his career. BPG leader, Hakeem Olaujuwon has a SD of almost twice as much at 0.78. Finally with PER - Duncan ranks second (25.25) on the list only behind his former teammate and mentor, David Robinson (26.05), but posts a SD of 1.78. The only person under that, after cleaning up some bad seasons is Olaujuwon with a 1.73, whose career PER is almost 2 points lower.

Although these numbers don't prove anything outright, since these isolated categories (even PER) can't fully measure the effectiveness of a single player, they tell us two things about Tim Duncan when comparing him to the other legends of the game. He is both one of the greatest and one of the most consistent players to play his position in the history of the NBA. It's that combination, not the addition of those two things, that makes Tim Duncan 'The Big Fundamental'. Almost everyone on this list has had better single seasons than Tim Duncan, maybe even better clumps of seasons, but no one has done it as consistently as Tim Duncan. That can be seen not only in the raw numbers but in the fact that in (nearly) every year of Duncan's year he has been on both the All-Star Team, All-NBA team, and All-Defensive Team. You couple that with 4 NBA championships and an entire career spent with exactly one team (a rare feat these days. Look at Shaq). Duncan truly is the epitome of greatness.

As Tim Duncan has shown me. You don't need to lead the NBA in points. You don't need to lead the NBA in Rebounds. You don't even need to lead the NBA in assists. You don't need to lead in anything. You just need to perform at a high level every single day. It's not about being that 100% level one hour then 30% the next then 80% the next. It's about being at 85% (or something equivalent) all the time instead. That has changed the way my work days have gone. No longer am I eating lunch as fast as I can or working through breaks only to crash later but I'm taking my time, not being afraid to go outside, or browse the internet every once a while. It has not only made me more productive and eased my stress levels, but has altogether made me much more pleasant. Who would have thought we could learn so much from an Android?

A New Year's Resolution

2010-02-02T23:25:00.003-06:00

Some of you may have seen this before...

I've never been one for new year's resolutions. In fact, I've never made one before. Being the cynic that I am, all I can do is scoff whenever someone tells me their "new year's resolution". The problem for me is that it has always seemed like betterment for betterment sakes. If you really wanted to change your life, you would just do it. The coming or going of a year shouldn't have to control that. I realize it's a good time to start, but the people that have the motivation and willpower to change their lives won't wait for a date of convenience. That being said, I've decided to make a change this new year. I've decided to become a vegetarian. Muffle your groans, I have real reasons.

As some of you may or may not realize, I'm somewhat of a hipster. I wouldn't say I'm a true convert, soaking in the pools of blind faith, and fervent worship - but I'm definitely interested enough to stop by a couple Sundays a month and hang out with the crowd. I even have the cloth shoes, black trimmed glasses, and Animal Collective discography to ward off anyone that would question my loyalty to the movement. As of late, vegetarianism has a popular topic in these circles. In an environment such as the United States, it's a very effective way to be counter cultural and draw attention to yourself. That is very annoying. I knew a good number of people that when I'd ask them, "Why are you vegetarian?", they could produce nothing more than vague ramblings. That is not to say everyone was like this. There are several, prominent examples in my life of people that have wholeheartedly made the life-choice for great, logical, Godly reasons. Each of them taught me that's its a personal decision that one needs to make for personal reasons. Ever since then, I've known the mounds of statistics and all the formal arguments against meat consumption (primarily in the United States).    But for all the facts, there was never a reason that emotionally resonated with me.

Eating is one of the most social things we do as a society. That means that becoming a vegetarian is not only about you. You're bound to run into countless, awkward situations that start with you gingerly saying, "I'm actually a vegetarian." and then ending with an awkward silence. For me, statistics, no matter how convincing, couldn't motivate me to make the leap. [They are pretty good statistics though.] For the past couple of years it has remained in the back of my mind. Even this past term in India it had come up several times. I'm a obsessive Google Reader user and these were two of the more memorable articles I read - one an interview for a book from the author of Everything is Illuminated and then a crazy response by Natalie Portman to the book. Yet even these weren't enough. But alas, last term I found my personal reason.

One of the churches here in Mussoorie (the town I live in) has a reputation for particularly dance-happy youth. My roommate and I decided to throw a dance party at our house before he went back to the states. We approached their proverbial leader and proposed the idea. He was ecstatic. We made plans for everyone to come over next weekend on a Sunday afternoon. We could all make momos (a labor intensive tibetan dumpling) together, eat, and then dance into the night. We said, "Bring 15 to 20 people. We'll provide the food." Not too surprising, by the time the next Sunday rolled around, there weren't 15 to 20 people in our house, there were upwards of 60 to 70. Word spread all around the church community in Mussoorie. So pretty much anyone under the age of 25 that attended a church in Mussoorie was in our house. We clearly weren't prepared for this, so we had to leave and get more food. We had buff (which is buffalo meat, since you can't get beef 'cause it's India) from a town down the mountain. Buff is actually unofficially illegal in Mussoorie itself. I was going to go get more chicken but then someone said they knew where to get buff in Mussoorie. I said ok, knowing it would probably be good knowledge to have. Anyways, we went down to the market on his scooter and parked it. There was a small stairwell between two store fronts that we descended down. The sun was setting, making the whole scene even more sinister. We were in tight residential area, smashed behind the market. The paths were so narrow and the buildings so narrow, that the only light came from haphazardly strung up lanterns every 100 feet. We were walking around and around in places that seemed almost completely indistinguishable when suddenly he stopped and knocked on a door. It was just a house. A man opened the door. They both exchanged Hindi greetings and we walked in. It was just a man's living room. We asked for 2 kg of buff. The man went behind a curtain and brought out a gigantic piece of meet that was easily as tall as he was. He threw it on the floor and started cutting it. You might think this is the moment I wanted to become a vegetarian. It wasn't. I actually thought it was really cool to see the physical meat and to see him physically cutting it. Anyways, we took our meat, paid the man and returned to the party heroes.

The party was a lot of fun. There were squads of people tackling different parts of the momo making process. Everyone was engaged and having fun. Eventually, after many hours, the momos were officially done cooking. We had made over 400 momos. There were two large buckets full of momos to show for it. The sheer amount of momos was absolutely overwhelming. Yet during the delicious gorging of momos that commenced, I noticed a small pot on our stove pot. I thought, "What is this? We have enough momos to feed a small village." I stepped out of line and walked over to see a pot of Maggi noodles (the equivalent of Ramen noodles here) boiling. I looked around trying to find the owner. Suddenly several individuals that had been invisible before stood out. They were standing in the corner talking amongst each other. They weren't hiding. They weren't sad. They had smiles on their faces. They were just the only people in the room that weren't eating momos. I knew some of them so I walked over and asked them what was going on. One of the simply responded, "We're all vegetarians." I was shocked. Then immediately, I was shocked that I was shocked. You may think it not very odd for an Indian to be a vegetarian. You'd be right most of the time. But it's very odd for an Indian Christian to be a vegarantian. I had never made that connection before I came here, but in 5 short months I associated Christian with meat eating. They each went around and told how they had come from Hindu families (that still remained largely Hindu) and how important diet was to their families. It may not have meant much to anyone else in the room, but to their families it meant a lot. Their families, like me, associated Christianity with eating meat, to the point where many people around India think that people convert to Christianity so that they can eat meat. All of a sudden, my chicken and buff momos weren't so appetizing.

It just dawned on me that diet is such an important issue all around India. People's lives revolve around it. People's lives are judged by the choices they make in this circle. I can understand how this can be important, but it's not. Diet is not something of eternal significance, at least not anymore. That's something that Christianity teaches us. Yet not everyone else feels this way. For me it all suddenly became clear. The best way to fight this notion isn't to do whatever I want, because it means nothing to me, but to respect other people's beliefs since I know it will mean something to them. That's why I decided to become a vegetarian, because I'm venturing to show people that Christianity isn't about meat but about Christ.

The statistics are also helpful.

The Lotus Temple

2010-01-31T22:45:00.000-06:00

This is a large picture of me in front of the Lotus Temple in Delhi. Another intern thought it would look better with an 80's-esque filter over the top. I wasn't in a position to argue, since she had the picture on her computer. Also - I apologize for this looking super fake. You'll just have to trust the fact that I was actually there.

BACK

2010-01-27T22:55:00.000-06:00

I'm Back.

For all of you that have been disheartened (and disillusioned) by the complete lack of a single post in the past month and a half - I apologize. The past for me has been great - in hindsight. As many of you know, I spent my 3 week vacation in the United States of America partying with my family and many of you. I had all sorts of American experiences (i.e. long hot showers, civil driving practices, NBA basketball, etc.) that I had learned to appreciate more deeply through my time here in India. Now, I'm back in India, ready to begin another six (or seven) months with EMI. Well I didn't just get back. I've been here for 3 weeks, but I'm finally back in Mussoorie, at my desk, with all my assignments for the upcoming term handed out. I didn't offer any closure on last term and I really wanted to. I had started writing a pretty lengthy blog post, planning on posting it before I headed out of here but ultimately just ran out of time. I'll get that together in the next couple of weeks before I head off for my first trip in Punjab. (Jasmine - I'm going to see the border ceremony between India and Pakistan while I'm there. Everyone else - I should have a good blog post about that once I get back.)

So yea, let me just fill you guys in on what's been going on since I've been here.

I actually tried out for New Delhi's ultimate team and invariably made it - so I'll be practicing with them a couple of times and playing a tournament for them in March in Tamil Nadu. I'm imagine that's going to be an extremely surreal experience playing an ultimate tournament in India. I can't convey to you how excited I am though. I've been in complete ultimate withdrawal since I started my time in India.

I was in Delhi for a week, in which time I spent time with the ultimate team and also just hung out. I went to the lotus temple with is actually a Bahi temple, but also happens to be one of the most ridiculous structures I've ever seen. If you can imagine it, the entire structure was hand poured with gargantuan wood/steel molds and thousands of workers literally pouring concrete in bucket increments. Absolutely ridiculous.

Alright that's all I've got for now. But I'll return with (lengthy) thoughts on last term and maybe a preview of my activities for these upcoming months.

Thanks for caring.

बर्फ़

2009-12-14T23:39:00.000-06:00

As much as people talk about how great it would be to live in California and have it be 75 everyday - there is something incredibly beautiful about seasons. I think Aaron himself has lamented about California's lack of seasons. For me, the best part of seasons is winter. I know the cold is terrible, getting your car stuck in snow, shivering, having your hands go numb. I'm not going to pretend I like those things. I don't. I like feeling my hands and wearing t-shirts. But the one thing that winter gives us is the first snow. Every year when winter comes around I remember the hot summer months and times when I knew what sweat felt like, all the while bitterly enduring the cold. But then, there is the first snow. I can say with full confidence that in the past 5 years I can remember the day of the first snow, easily. Every single time I forget what it looks like, what it feels like to see those thousands and thousands of flakes spiraling, twisting, churning down toward the earth. It never fails to restore my faith in winter and justify all the cold days I've already endured. Today was the first snow in Mussoorie. As I walked up to the office on 4 hours of sleep, miserable for being awake, little snow flakes fell one by one slowly and then quickly. And just so you know, as great as the first snow is, by march when there are three feet of snow and I'm freezing it's not enchanting anymore. But neither is 3 months of 90 degree days, so I guess the key, as in the rest of life, is balance and moderation.

Community

2009-12-08T02:26:00.000-06:00

Community is one thing that I believe is important to any person's existence. Community itself can take many forms and serve many different purposes. You could be involved in community literally around you. You could be involved in a church community, some sort of sport community, a professional community or really just the network of friends you've built up. Whatever it is, I think it's an essential aspect of life to cultivate.

Living here in India, working for EMI, this sense in me has only been heightened. Our mission here is to serve with our professional knowledge. Yet if it were limited to that, just our professional knowledge, it wouldn't quite be enough. I would go as far as to say, it wouldn't be a meaningful experience. What makes EMI what it is, is the reputation it has developed throughout India. EMI's reputation is one of true service where we spend time to get to know our clients to care about their needs and then listen to their ideas. From there we use our knowledge to come up design ideas and then present them to the clients, again, listening to what they have to say. It's a process that is iterated over and over again, making sure that the client's vision is achieved. The affect this has on the clients is unmistakeable. There are already two projects that have lasted over 10 years that EMI has had a part in from the very beginning. In fact I've already had the privelage of visiting and furthering our involvement with these two projects, a missionary retreat/recovery center in Tamil Nadu and a boarding school in Dehradun. Walking around, seeing the buildings EMI has designed come to fruition, being used as they were designed and then hearing the directors talk about the effect EMI has had on these projects is all more than enough to quell any doubts I might have about working here. Even though I might just be another intern among dozens, another cog in the machine, it's good to know that what you're doing is of some significance.

Also, trying to get back on track, EMI considers the local community extremely important. They not only heavily, heavily encourage you to get involved in a church but keep strong ties with most locals. A perfect example of this was Thanksgiving. We had a gigantic thanksgiving. In fact I can never remember a Thanksgiving day/dinner that was so frantic. There were about 20-25 people in all that ended up coming. That included the 5 interns, 3 staff, and then a bunch of people from the community that came. There was even one guy that might have been invited off the street. I'd never seen him before and he showed up 10 minutes into dinner. There were also several people that didn't show up because of illness....so it could have been bigger. The dinner itself was set up as a potluck with everyone assigned to their certain tasks. What made things even better is that instead of everyone cooking their things at home and just showing up with them, everyone spent the whole day at our office, using our kitchens to do their cooking. It made for an incredibly hectic, but fun environment the whole day. Even as the dinner was starting, there was something very awe-inspiring about the shear mass of people. With over 20 people all bringing something, the dinner was gigantic and fantastic. Dessert, too, was great – chocolate truffles, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and german chocolate cake. Of course following in the tradition of Thanksgiving, I gorged myself until I didn’t dare take another bite.

Yet, maybe better than the actual dinner was the spontaneous dance party that erupted as we cleaned up. Within 20 minutes of finishing dinner, the big table was moved out of the room and the music was blaring. I also learned that Indians like Outkast, the Gorillaz, and Lady Gaga, but not M.I.A.

Suffice to say, community has been a large part of my life here. Without the dozens of people in the area that I’ve gotten to know and spend time with, this experience in India would be significantly shallower. Really, this is common sense. Anywhere, anytime, if you don’t put forth the effort to invest in a community of people (no matter what form that may take) you’re really depriving yourself of one of the most life-giving things there is.

OH. Almost forgot.

2009-12-02T09:35:00.000-06:00

I took this picture today too. I literally walked 5 or 6 steps out of our office hours to take it. That should give you some perspective on how ridiculous it is up here. The other side, where you can see Mussoorie and Dehradun is actually a lot greener and "hillier" but this side has those really amazing snow caps which were particularly beautiful today.

QUICKLY

2009-12-02T09:29:00.000-06:00

Hey suckas,

Sorry for the lack of updates. Internet has died in the office. Many threats to the internet company later, there is little hope that it will return anytime soon. Therefore I'm forced to make a trek down the mountain to use internet services. That means I haven't had the quality time to sit behind a computer and pour out my thoughts to all of you.

Fret not, this weekend I'm going to make some time to write about Thanksgiving here. It was truly incredible.

To tide you over, here is a picture of the mustache I grew to celebrate "No Shave November". It was creepiest face I could imagine making. Notice the curls on the ends of the mustache? I was pretty proud of that. That's also a picture of house I stay in. Maybe I should take a proper one....

2009-11-19T17:14:00.000-06:00

First of all, sorry if the font change is disturbing. I wanted to try something new.

This is a post dedicated to "finding my voice". You see, whenever I think about updating my blog, immediately an anxiety begins to take over me. Obviously there is some amount of pressure. Last I checked, I have 18 followers. Dear Lord. That's a lot of pressure. You guys expect something out of me. You trust me to deliver, or else you wouldn't have made this public declaration of loyalty, this pronounced commitment. I want to reward that. I want to give the people what they want. The trouble is my audience is quite diverse, isn't it? There is this really complex gradient of people all here, reading for completely different reasons, more or less expecting different things. I mean how do I cater to my mom, Mr. Colon, Zubair, and Chris Lewis at the same time? (sorry if I didn't give you a shout-out. I'll try and get you in later). The afternoon PBS answers is - you can't and you shouldn't have to. After all you people are here to hear me right? And that shouldn't have to change on a person to person basis. This should be a defiant stand of individuality. Yea it should, but it doesn't feel that way. It's really a combination of not really knowing what you all expect and not quite knowing what I want to write. All the other interns post breathtaking pictures and give succinct recaps of adventures they have had, usually limiting it to the light and cultural remarks. I can't get too excited about constantly retelling events. Plus, I didn't even bring a camera.

The truth is, as romantic as it may seem to run away to the Himalayan mountains of India and work for an NGO that strives to serve the poor of India as best it can - it isn't. It's just life over here. Sure there are nice cultural quirks like the post man stomping around, demanding a 50 rupee tip or the two stray cats we've inevitably adopted (maybe those are the stories you want to hear about?), but in the end, it's the same. People here laugh the same way, yell the same way, cry the same way. People here are just as selfish, just as shameful, just as interesting. It's just a little different. There are lots of things that get in the way, make you think that maybe it's not the same, but in fact it is strikingly similar to everything you've grown up with. Granted, my view is a little biased since I do work with many westerners, but my exposure to the "true" India and "true" Indians is extensive enough for me not to be mystified by it.

So then if the foundation is the same, what is there to talk about? Plenty. That's the fascinating thing about life. No matter how terrible or blissful a day can be, there is something to take away from it. That is what I want to share with all of you. I want to share with you my lessons on life. Sometimes it will involve a rousing Indian adventure, but sometimes it may just involve doing laundry and going grocery shopping. If that's what you want to hear - musings from a person just trying to understand life (albeit across the ocean) - then you're in the right place. If you think that sounds boring and a little confusing, then you're probably thinking what I'm thinking right now. No no. It'll be fun. Maybe we can both learn something through this.

....I always feel like I've written more than I actually have.

Oh ALSO - I'll be in Chicago from (approx.) Dec 18th to Jan 12th. My visa demands I leave the country, so why not come home to some of the best people in the world for a while?

What I learned today....

2009-11-17T02:47:00.001-06:00

After a lengthy argument, I learned today that "salad" is a word that classifies not substance but form.

PICTURES

2009-11-07T04:29:00.000-06:00

Sickness has passed. Wedding was a wedding. Back in Mussourie, back to "regular" life. I read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy on the train and it was fantastic, one of the best pieces of fiction I've read in a while. It's truly depressing and arresting in an uplifting way.

Anyways, here are some pictures, since I've had so few. They are all courtesy of my official photographer, Susan Kizzee. There are pictures of the office (outside/inside), us at dinner, a group picture during a staff's going away party, a picture of us interns all together, and a picture of us during an weekend intern trip at Rishikesh. Enjoy.

What to do?

2009-11-03T00:17:00.000-06:00

For one reason or another "What to do?" seems to be a pretty popular phrase around the eMi office. It seems to be the one phrase that is only appropriate reaction to the unpredictability of living and working in non-profit India. The electricity is out for hours - "What to do?". A water pipe broke outside and then broke again after being fixed - "What to do?". You traveled down south on your vacation to take the GRE and see family and ended up getting a fever and diarrhea - "What to do?"

That's what happened to me. This week is actually my vacation week so I thought it would be a good time to come down south, see family, and squeeze in the GRE. As it turns out, the night before I was to leave, I developed a fever and was faced with the decision of either staying in Mussourie or continuing with my travels down south. It would be the first time I would be traveling alone in India and I would need to take a taxi, overnight train, rickshaw, and plane to get to family - so was it worth it? If my sickness got worse I would literally be stranded. But I had already paid for all these things - including the GRE - so maybe it was worth the risk. I decided to go for it. Already half way through the taxi ride I was completely regretting it, contemplating whether I should ask the driver to take me back. I arrived in Dehradun 20 minutes before my train was supposed to depart and there was no train. The train arrived an hour and a half late - at 1am. That gave me plenty of time to sit half asleep on a bench. Regardless, made it into Delhi by 7am and by now, things had become slightly worse. I had planned a couple of things to to in Delhi before going to airport (since my flight was only at noon), but now, having a hard time just sitting down, I wasn't sure what to do. I decided just to go straight to the airport. As it turns out, the Delhi airport has a section of nice, long, reclining chairs. I just laid there and slept for about 3 hours before my flight. That was great. I arrived in Hyderabad and since then my family has been taking care of me. I was forced to miss my GRE and because of the evil policies of the GRE testing center was forced to forfeit half of my registration fee. I'm getting better but still...India isn't a fun place to have diarrhea - not to say it's fun to have diarrhea anywhere.

Anyway...I should be fine by the wedding and will get to see my dad in the process. I'll have to reschedule the GRE and make another trip to Delhi during some weekend. But - "what to do?"

I can't think of a good title that doesn't sound emo.

2009-10-26T06:13:00.000-05:00

Meeting people is an incredibly profound exercise. It's really a window into just how much you measure people and box them into archtypes you have. You see, growing up, constantly having to meet people I've realized that there is much I assume about people when I come to meet them for the first time. Usually I look at the clothes they're wearing, where I'm meeting them, and what little information I have about them - to assume a full character sketch, filling in holes wherever I see fit. Undoubtedly I'm not as imaginative or as creative as I would like. Most people just end up a little flat, entirely one-dimensional. If I meet someone that likes music, and that's all the information I have, I naturally assume it permeates into every facet of their life. I know that it's not true for me, but in the moment, on gut instinct, it seems natural.

Then, life kicks in. The slow, methodical act of "getting to know" a person starts to happen to the point where one day you're talking with this person, laughing, thinking, scowling, whatever it is and you realize this is a real person, not the one-dimensional archetype you originally estimated. You realize that this person is emotional, they like things, dislike others, can get annoyed, can laugh, their interests vary and in general, they want the same things as you. They want a meaningful existence. They want to succeed. Suddenly you start seeing this person in three-dimensions, understands that there are faces and angles that you can't even see yet, but just as they exist in you, waiting to be found, they lie in this person as well. All of that has happened with the people here I work with. They all started out as one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs and have slowly morphed into something far more meaningful and far more worthwhile.

But that's not the reason I bring this up. This happens a lot with people. People change as you get to know them. Some you grow to like more, some less. Some people you grow closer to and other you end up drifting apart from as you realize that the way you look at life isn't complimentary. I bring this up because at one point this summer my mom asked me, "So what do you think of India?" My answer at that point was saturated in macro-political and economic themes. I was talking about an emerging middle-class I'd never met, a sense of environmental responsibility I've never seen. It was an opinion based off visiting relatives for a couple of months - hardly a clear picture of exactly what India was.

Yet only now, after having lived here for several months, carving out a niche for myself am I starting to realize the depth of India. I'm starting to realize just how shallow and presumpitious my initial assessment was. The everyday Indian is not governed my macro-economic policies and neither is it fare to blanket things I've read in Time magazine over such a large and diverse country. Even people from neighboring villages here have very fundamental differences. And once again, my in-depth time with India has shown me, at a very basic level, that India is not quite that "other". It's very easy to be overwhelmed by the differences when first getting here and sure there are many paramount differences, but there is surprisingly a lot in common. I don't want to start sounding too idealistic and "common humanity" but seriously, after all this time, indian people just seem like people not indian people. Their lives and their desires manifest themselves in different ways, but it's for the same reasons. They want the same things as we all do. It's just acted out a little different in different environments.

Does that mean I feel at home here? Not yet, maybe never - but the point is that I'm starting to see India not as a place of the past or stastics to be impressively spouted to peers but as a place that is as nunanced, complex, and layered as every human being I've ever known

There is definitely a 'me' in Home

2009-10-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Looks like it's time for another update on my state of affairs. It's harder to tell these days when to write as I'm no longer traveling or having grand adventures - but just working in the office living on a fairly regular schedule. Let's see...

I went hiking a couple of weekends ago. I had entirely intended not to go because I was a little sick and wanted to sleep in on Saturday, yet Andy, Susan, and Ko came to my doorstep at 7am promising me open fields to run around and throw a frisbee in. Having spents this past month in Mussourie searching in vain for a place to just put on my cleats and run around - this was like a call to heaven. I immediately ran to my room and threw my cleats and disc into a backpack without thinking of the consequences of my action. I didn't take heed to the fact that, yes I was still sick. Also I didn't eat breakfast and failed to pack anything in my haste. I also didn't notice that it was cloudy, muggy, and about to rain outside. All these things became the end of me as we embarked on our hike. The place we went to, George Everest House, was an old house of some sort (of exactly what sort, I have no idea) that had a field adjacent to it. That's the only detail I cared about. I didn't care to question how far away it was, or exactly what they meant by field. Of course I imagined an immaculately pruned, lush green soccer field at least 150 yards long. Well........six hours later, after walking up and up and up and up and up - I arrived at George Everest House completely exhausted and degected at what lay in front of me. First of all, we were so high and up and it was so foggy that to see beyond 15 feet in front of you was an absolutely possibility, so forget about throwing a frisbee at any reasonable distance. Secondly couple that with cold rain, that was slowly soaking into me every hour of that hike up the mountain. Then finally, come to terms with the fact that what was next to George Everest House cannot be considered a playing field by even the most optimistically minded. It was filled with growing bushes every 2 feet, large amounts of livestock dung, and a gigantic sinkhole in the middle to top things off. Overall it was maybe only 40X20 yards big anyway. It's hard to say though, since, like I said, you could only see 15 feet in front of you. So, as you can imagine, I felt betrayed, not as much by my friends, but by my own enthusiasm, my own willingness to abandon reason at even the slightest promise of ultimate. Yet once I got over this, things started to take a turn for the better. We decided to go to the nearby Tibetan settlement, Happy Valley, from there. We were escorted the entire way by a pair of young, black energetic puppies. They would run in front of us chasing each other, playfully running in between us - warning off monkeys and keeping our spirits up with their pure kinetic energy. They followed us for maybe 4 or 5km before eventually disappearing, probably at the possibility of finding something to eat.

The Tibetan settlement itself was a refreshing experience. It had a quaint feel to it. Even more so than Mussourie (where I live) which was surprising, but welcomed. Since we were near famished by this point, the Tibetan meal at the local mess hall was a godsend. We ordered 4 plates of momos, 3 plates of chowmein, 2 bowls of soup, 2 pieces of big tibetan bread, a plate of beef, 7 sodas, and some other things for a total of 250 rupees which is about 5 dollars. Great - worth the trip. We emerged outside, our stomachs full, our bodies rested, and saw that there was a high school soccer game going on in the big dirt soccer field located in the middle of town. It seemed like everyone under 25 in the entire village (with many people over 25) were there watching it, heckling and cheering every bounce of the ball. It seems like all the good players want to play offense so the worst players were stuck playing defense. As you can imagine, without great defenders or a good goalie, the games can become a shootout very fast. That's exactly what happened. There were several pretty sick moments including a free kick that was bent into the top right corner of the goal and a viscious foul in the box that resulted in a penalty kick. The soccer game was great to watch. The energy from the crowd was contangious and it was clear that the players could feel it while they were playing. It made for a very pleasant trip and a very pleasant visit to Happy Valley.

Well that was a longer explanation than I originally intended. Other than that, I've started to mess around with Indian cooking. That could yield pleasant results for some of you when I come back.

I started an oil painting class that meets once a week taught by this crazy South African woman that says like "terps" when referring to terpentine. "Pavan, use the terps." "Pavan, you can never have enough terps." "I bought those terps at the stationary shop." Goodness... Anyways, Susan took a really depressing picture of me and of course, that was ideal for me. When I'm done I'll have a nice and depressing self portrait to stare at on stormy nights. I'll probably hang it in my room, in a ode to the vanity I grew accustomed to living with Prashanth.

Also I went to a wedding this weekend. It started 2.5 hours late and was a madhouse. Duh...indian wedding. One of the office's cooks had a daughter that was getting married and we were all invited to the wedding. It was crazy in the sort of way that all Indian weddings are.

That's all for now I think. I watched the Dark Knight again, a couple of days ago - man, what a great movie. That last shot with batman riding into the light with this cape flapping in the wind - love it. It's pure batman, pure unadultered romantic batman.

Okay hope you're all doing well. Someone watch a Bulls preason game for me.

Just In Case You Didn't Know....

2009-09-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

First of all, I need to give all credit to the one great Susan Kizzee (another intern here) who captured this moment with such grace and valor. If it weren't for her and her talents I would not be making this post. So....I hope that is some consolation for using a picture you took Susan.

Basically when I saw this picture I knew straight away that it represents everything I wish to convey about myself.

If people ask about my life I should just start handing them this picture.

Return Pt. 1

2009-09-22T01:55:00.000-05:00

For those of you still reading - I've returned. I know this post is long but please don't be disheartened. I'm 68% sure that I have good things to say.

After about 16 days of traveling I'm back in Mussourie, in the office, sitting at my desk. Much happened along the way, I traveled nearly the entire length of India. I went to Kolkata, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and then back again. It certainly wasn't that long, but for some reason or another it felt like a long time. It felt like time away from home and today felt like a homecoming - driving up the mountain, through the clouds to Mussourie. That itself is quite an odd phenomenon since I was only here for a 10 days before I left. Must have had a powerful effect on me...

But yes, what did I do? How did I spend my time? What did I learn? How have I changed? At this point, sleep logged and a little groggy from an oncoming cold - I can answer about half of those questions.

Essentially work at EMI consists of a project team taking a project trip somewhere, meeting with the client, seeing the site and then spending a certain amount of time doing whatever the client needs whether that is developing a master plan for a campus or just being a consultant on various engineering/architectural aspects of the project. The project team itself consists of staff members, interns, and overseas project volunteers that are usually older and "well traveled" in their particular field. They fly to India and participate in the project trip for a week or so and then fly back to their respective homes. Some project volunteers are from India itself so I shouldn't imply that they all come from abroad.

Anyways, this specific trip involved two project trips back to back. Firstly, a large team of us, 9 i think, traveled to Rourkela, Orissa and with the design of a master plan for an *orphanage* down there. I say *orphanage* because that itself needs a little explaining. From the night we arrived and met the client, it was clear that he was a man destined to carve his own path in the world. His passions were wide and varied. Basically he told us that he has interests but has been open to God's suggestion taking on whatever is asked of him. This has led to his property being an orphanage (with about 64 children), a school, a dental clinic, a dairy farm, a self sustainable fish farm, and mental clinic. The sign outside literally listed all of those things. You can imagine what a man with his hands in so many pockets would be like. He was constantly on the move, constantly telling stories, constantly projecting that which made him feel alive everyday. Although overbearing at times, it was a blessing to say the least. How often are we left to meet people that are so defiantly ALIVE?

Then of course, there was the children. As I said before, there were about 64 children there. Most of them were orphaned, the rest being simply abandoned by their parents (or single mother) who simply couldn't take care of them anymore. The vast majority of them were under 7 and as young as 2. With Christian persecution being the way it is these days in Orissa, most of these children have seen unthinkable atrocities. In fact some of them have seen their family members murdered, whether that be parents, relatives or sibling. I'm talking of 3 or 4 year olds seeing some of the most gruesome, evil acts humanly possible and then left to live with that as some of their earliest memories. Honestly, it was daunting the first couple of days interacting with these kids. I mean, they have suffered and seen things I can only dream of, abandoned with very little hope - yet I've lived on this earth for so many years, so many years worrying about my privilege of choice. I've spent countless hours stressed about what I want to be, where I want to go, whether my life will have meaning, whether I will miss this opportunity or that opportunity. They are all things I can stress about only if I have a "choice". It's good to understand that choice isn't inherent. It's not bestowed to everyone upon birth. It's a great, great privilege and it should be treated with the respect and appreciation that it deserves. Right but all that being said, how was I to interact with these children? Most of them spoke Oria, the local state language, of which I have no exposure to. But language was only a small barrier. It was really seeing these small beings, these little humans as giants of life - their big round eyes bearing the weight of unbearable suffering. At least that's how I perceived things. In the end however, they were just children. They were beautiful, beautiful children. You see, I know a lot of people that dislike children or at the very least don't care too much for children. I think many people are turned off by the fact the overwhelming adoration that most children receive almost instantaneously. I wouldn't say I belonged to that group of people, but I wouldn't say I adored children. I mean are they simply so cute because they are chubby, have trouble performing simple tasks, can't talk properly, and their bodies are completely out of proportion? Maybe, but not these children.

This campus is a great place for them, a perfect place for them some might say. Orphanages in general have a reputation of being a really brutish places, really hardening the skin of children and making them fight for every little bit of life. This place couldn't be more different. Essentially the entire place, despite its lack of formal facilities (many of the children sleep on the floor of the single school room they learn in), functions as a family - in the purest sense. The children all sleep together, eat together, play together, learn together, and work together. Now regardless of the fact that its a symptom of necessity, the way it's done is absolutely remarkable.

Now this church I had gone to the weekend before I left had a sermon about "debt". It's a big problem in India. Most people in his area are heavily in debt, destined to keep trying to climb out of a hole that is getting deeper by the second. The pastor told this story about the first couple of years for the church. Many people would come to him, come to the church and ask for deliverance from this debt. It was something they couldn't bear anymore. Wanting to love these people, the pastor happily made ways for this to happen. In many instances he actually personally eradicated their debts. They were very grateful, extremely overjoyed, but then over time something odd started happening. Instead of growing closer and more involved in the church, most of these people actually ended up leaving the church all together. They couldn't bear to face the pastor anymore. They were essentially shamed, shamed of their dignity in front of him. Although some instances demand it, it can be concluded that sometimes outright gifts can be more damaging then good. There is a sense of dignity and respect that people want to maintain. They want to be able to provide for themselves, to be able to make their own way.

The campus lived this ideal. All the children are responsible for this place that they live in. There are no handouts. They aren't here for free. They make their way. The children wake up as the sun rise and being their morning chores; catching fish for dinner, milking the cows, preparing meals for each other, sweeping the campus. It's a busy hive of activity, children of all sizes performing all sorts of tasks. I even saw a couple of times a little child filling an entire water bucket much too big for them to carry. Someone saw them struggling and came over without a word and helped them carry it wherever it had to go. All of it is wordless, thankless - it's just their way of life. It all essentially translates into a sense of ownership for these children. This is their campus, their family, their life. For so many children that have been completely stripped down, this must be incredibly empowering. It works in magnificent ways, because you'd expect a fantastic amount of quarrels and fights among 60+ children that have little and have to share things constantly. In reality, there are very, very few - shockingly little in fact. The staff watching over the older kids, the older kids watching over the younger ones, and everyone watching out for each other. Having stayed at the actual campus for a couple of nights with the survey crew, I can attest to the authenticity of these actions. I was able to see the kids in some of their most intimate moments, fully unaware that anyone was observing.

It truly gave me an understand of why children are beautiful. I would go as far as to say that it has made me adore children. I now see the hope they provide, the shining beacon of light they can be in situations of complete darkness. Yes, children are truly wonderful. The moments interacting with them over the week are numerous and too many to retell here. I can't afford to lose more readers by extending this post much longer. Suffice to say, in between and in amidst all of our work there were plenty of memories with the children. The senior member of our team, an architect from australia, actually had his birthday during the trip and the children put on a program to commemorate him one morning - which was beyond endearing. They even all got in a line, all 60+ of them, to go up and hug Uncle Bill, wish him happy birthday, and give him a kiss on the cheek. It was a moment worth admiring with tears. Also, we decided to finish our work and dedicate our last day to simply "play with the children" which turned into a full pledged field day with prizes and everything. We had races around the campus, with us stationed near a hose spraying kids as they went by. We played sharks and minnows. I mean we played various games that they all loved and laughed throughout. At the end we also purchased a large tarp and introduced to them the glorious, holy concept of a "Slip N' Slide". That was hilarious. It was really great to see all these children discover exactly what a Slip N' Slide was and take to it with an unbridled joy and enthusiasm - even the little tiny ones. It really brought out the joy in a lot of us. We ended up having a race of our own. Yea, don't worry. I won. A couple of us, including the 60+ year old Uncle Bill, took a ride on the Slip N' Slide, and generally we just laughed and ran around with all the kids during the entire day.

Yea it was fantastic. It was something I will surely remember forever and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share this experience with all of you. I have enclosed below a picture below of us all around their big tree on the last day. The picture is a living lesson of why you should only have one person taking a picture at a time. There were about 3 or 4 cameras in various places taking pictures as various times. Everyone is looking in different places and most people have some awkward, forced look on their face because they aren't sure what is going on (yes, including me).

Okay that is enough for now. I'll talk about the 2nd half of the trip in a later post. In the meantime, I'm grateful for every single one of you. Enjoy.

Where The Wild Things Are

2009-09-03T09:03:00.001-05:00

The NY Time has written a great piece about the delays of Where The Wild Things Are and the character of Spike Jonze. I highly recommend it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06jonze-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

Orientation = Over

2009-09-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

As of now, intern orientation is officially over. At this point we are deemed oriented and ready to experience Mussourie and India on our own with confidence and vigor. Orientation itself has been a combination of seminars, games, interviews, day trips, and prayer - all designed to really make all the interns feel comfortable. In a short week, there have been lots of things said and lot of things taught. To be honest, most of them won't be remembered, but the main aim of the entire orientation was to make this place feel like home and your co-workers like family. That was accomplished.

Other than that though, it's hard to decide what to write about. I can write for hours and hours about thoughts or observations about being here, living here, trying to figure out my life - but that can be tiresome. So a large part of me wants to just write when I have some spectactular or funny story to tell. Maybe that would be better, albeit completely different. Requests?

A board game rivalry has started among us interns. We find time to play every night, at least for an hour and it always ends with everyone but the winner, completely furious and unsatisfied. I'm glad that my addiction to competition will find a place to thrive here. Losing over and over and over again has also reminded of the frailty of life.

Ha, right. Going to a village in the mountains for the entire day tomorrow and then leaving on my three week project trip to eastern and southern India after that. That trip to the project sites will be the basis of all the engineering work I'll do for the next 4 months. It should be a lot of fun, but it will mean a break in updates for a while (probably). Hopefully I have some "colorful" stories when I get back. If I don't I can always just make them up.

Also, Ricky Rubio decided to stay in Spain? For shame Ricky.

Oh yea and I'm currently reading (in case this would be interesting):

The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering
Mere Christianity
Atlas Shrugged
The Argumentative Indian

Be back soon.

Quick Update

2009-08-31T10:22:00.000-05:00

Well Hello...

Sorry for my negligence. I've already been here a week and I know the masses have been clammoring to know exactly what has been going on. To be honest I've had time to write but I wanted to provide a proper update with pictures, stories, allegories and possibly even myths. All of that has been pretty tough to get together - mostly because I don't have a camera of my own and am extremely timid when it comes to asking for anything from anyone. I finally got up the courage yesterday to ask for a camera and as it turned out, it was pouring outside, making it impossible to go outside or see anything. I was left to take a very dark picture of the front room of the office and of my desk - both of which can be incredibly misleading not seeing the entire picture. It's like seeing Dennis Rodman getting married in a wedding dress but then never knowing that he was a Hall of Fame NBA rebounder. I don't know if it changes anything, but it's good information to have. Anyways, here are those pictures. Take them with a grain of salt. I'll have more later.

I can't emphasize enough how beautiful this place is. If you closed your eyes and imagined a mountainous paradise you would open your eyes here and find that God has shown you things you couldn't even imagine. Everything here is literally situated on the side of the hill, beautiful stone roads winds up and down and around. The town itself is so high in the air (around 7500 ft) that you're literally walking through clouds most of the day. You can walk into your front yard and see some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas. It's just unreal. There is something every single day that literally just makes you stop what you're doing, if only to afford a couple extra seconds to look.

On top of that there is a flurry of wildlife that you literally need to contend with everyday. There are several species of monkeys that are quite active in distrupting your day. I had to scare off a couple the other day that were going through my garbage. There are wild dogs everywhere. Some of them follow you and protect you from monkeys actually. There are rumors of leopards - which would be incredible to actually see. Then of course a myriad of insects and other things that are creepy, disgusting, and much bigger than you'd expect. I've already seen some big spiders, but I'm told I have cockroaches, rats, and scorpions waiting for me.

Work itself hasn't really started. We're still in orientation mode, getting lectures everyday about various things work and culture related. Work really starts this Friday as I'll be going on two projects trips - visiting the sites and meeting the people I'll be working for the rest of the semester. I'll be spending two weeks in Orissa and then another week in Tamil Nadu. After we get back, the real office work will begin. I'm sure the traveling around India on trains and planes, in jungles and metropolitan areas for three weeks should be a worthy start and adventure to start things off.

Alright...that's it for now. More later - sooner hopefully.

Orientation

2009-08-23T23:37:00.000-05:00

Before India - there was orientation Colorado Springs... It allowed an opportunity for all of us interns from offices all over the world (Costa Rica, Uganda, UK, Canada, and India) to get to know each other before we headed off into obscurity. We stayed at a retreat center in the hills of Colorado, quite appropriately, called the Hideaway. Below is a good view of Pike's Peak from our backyard. The week has been spent going on hikes (lots of hikes) through the mountains, rock climbing (which can be seen below), various seminars to help familiarize us with eMi (Engineering Ministries International) and good quality time to become acclimated with the interns that will be traveling half way across the world with us. As some of you may know already, I'll be working eMi's office in the northern Indian city of Mussoories (about 3 hours north of Delhi). I'll be there with a couple from Memphis - who I met at orientation, a Japanese-American arthitect intern named Ko (who is already there), an Australian intern named Miriam, and various other staff members that are already there. The couple, Andy and Susan Kizzee, are the best people I could have wished for. They are extremely laid back, down to earth, and easy to talk to. Not to mention the fact that they are shining examples of what it means to be a young Christian couple after the heart of God. After only this week, they're like family. That can be said of all the interns here. We're all extremely different people, from literally all over the country and world. Everyone has their own quirks, their own eccentricities. Enough so, that I probably should write a short story some time borrowing from the eccentricities of the characters here. At the same time we all have our own differences - yet we're all here for the same reason. We're all here to serve the poor around the world in the best way we know how - engineering and architecture. That is a bond that is shockingly strong and unconditional. Really, only after a short week - these people are family. That's really the highest compliment I can give them. All of this just makes it harder to leave. Yet....there is work to be done.

Tomorrow the journey to India begins. I'll have Atlas Shrugged, the Roots crew, and the Kizees to get me through it enjoyably. I'll arrive in India and the reality of the next 9 months of my life.....

Below: me and Kizzees plus a group picture with all the interns.

Don't worry the writing will become more natural and expressive as I write a couple more of these.

Enjoy - more from India.