I'm back!

I've actually been back since August 12th, but I've been trying to cram 2 and a half months worth of summer vacation into 2 and a half weeks. I forgot how many people I haven't seen in so long.

Greece was wonderful. It is such a beautiful country. I worked with women who are victims of sex trafficking and it was so interesting and mentally very rough at the same time. I dont think I will devote my life to the issue, but I think I will always have a foot in it. I am getting involved with an organization here which works with victims, so hopefully I can learn more and maybe my experiences can help.

Aside from that, I did get to travel a lot. I lived just outside Athens, went to Sounion, the islands of Aegina, Hydra and Mykonos. Took a road trip to Marathon, Delphi, Olympia and through the Peloponese to Nafplio and Corinth. I think I experienced everything there is to experience, even eating Grilled Octopus which is a major delicacy over there. (It wasnt so for me) I tried to immerse myself in the culture as much as I could, I picked up a little Greek, and joined the gym there. I really had an amazing 2 months.

The only downsides were 1) I was stuck with the girliest roommates in the world. To the point that there was a couple times we went out together, they walked around the club trying to pick up guys instead of enjoying the company they were with. Things ended on a sour note and I'm thankful I dont have to see them again. and 2) All of the other Indians there were vendors and people of that sort which was discouraging to see from my point of view.

Anyway, I am home now, just started my first day of class and I all I want is 1 more week off. I think I deserve it. We have classes on Labor Day.

Hello from Greece! I figured I should blog only after seeing the Acropolis, which I did today.

This will be a short post, but all is well and beautiful here in Greece. Work is amazing...a little depressing since I'm working on a sad subject, but I'm learning so much.

Greece is beautiful.People are friendly, and there is a lot of life here. People are always out and about. I went out out for the first time last night. Left at midnight and got back in at 5am. Thats how it goes here.

Its so nice to be away from the stress that I call home. Its amazing how I feel.

Hope everyone is well!

You know what I like about Europe? At least in Holland, they have 4 music television channels, and they all play videos. A few shows, but mainly videos. Old, new, and they play them at full length.

How's that for a concept?

Thank you for listening to my rant about children. I really do love them, but this one is insane.

Amsterdam is great. Its such a nice place. I went to a cafe called 'The Doors' looking for the good stuff. I saw the pot, and that was wild. I kept looking around for the cops to rush in, and then I had to remind myself that 'Its ok! I'm in the real land of the free!'

Dutch people are very nice. They aren't Euro-stylish, but stylish and casual. Lots of people wear sneakers and jeans, but they are funky, colorful sneakers, and not running sneakers and jeans. Its odd being in a land where Indians are a true minority in every sense of the word. Not just Indians, but those who are not tall and blonde. One thing, the Dutch are lovely people who ride their bikes everywhere.

One thing I love to do with any vacation is to see the sights, but to get a feel as to how people live. What does the supermarket look like, basically what do the regular people do on a daily basis? Staying with my cousin has given me the chance to do that. I've been to the grocery store, visited the playschool, went to the regular shopping mall, taken the bus...things like that.

Amsterdam is a small city which doesn't take long to see. I think if I was in my early 20's, and didn't have family here, I would stay 5 days for all the partying, etc. Its easy to get around.

I went to Austria by train last weekend. Myself and 2 of my friends met up at one friends house. (1 friend is from Holland, and 1 is from Austria)...we went to this small town on top of a mountain 20 minutes past Salzburg. It was gorgeous. The mountains are amazing, and there are so many churches and beautiful houses built all around the area. All I could think of was the Sound of Music. Thankfully, my Dutch friend thought the same. We didn't do much and that was perfect. Spent time by the lake, went sailing, played a game, had dinner at my friends boyfriend's place with his family, who were very nice. Although my German is very minimal, so there was a bit of a communication gap. The best part were the young kids trying to practice their English talking about a show called, 'Pimp Up My Ride.' I know the show is called 'Pimp My Ride', but they all say, 'Pimp Up My Ride.' The kids love it, and they were imitating the way X-ibit talks. Let me tell you, if you want to see comedy in its purest form, check out some young Austrian kids trying to speak Ebonics. You'll fall off your chair.

A little background, my friend from Holland, Austria and I worked together in New York, and thats how we know each other. We used to hang out all the time. We haven't seen each other in 2.5 years. I'm surprised they haven't met up either since they are in Europe. So it was just wonderful.

We would eat breakfast outside...butter here is great, and I love a typical German breakfast.

So anyway, Sunday, my Holland friend and her husband went back to Holland, and I went with my friend to Innsbruck where she works. This time, we were at the bottom of the mountain, where you'll find an Ikea, H&M, etc. Not how I pictured Innsbruck, but it is still beautiful. Along the way, we stopped at another lake outside Munich and I had a typical Bavarian meal, which consisted of a lot of meat.

Monday morning I left Innsbruck by train, and went on a crazy train ride which took me all along the Rhine, to Cologne, and finally finally finally, back to Amsterdam.

I went to 3 countries in 3 days. I'm currently 2 hours from Belgium and 4 hours from Paris. Its so strange to say that, because I'm 8 hours from Canada, and 30-something hours from Mexico. I guess that's Europe.

One very good thing that has happened since I came is that the dollar has gained an ounce of strength against the Euro. I'm hoping for more!

Today is my last full day in the United States, and it went like an episode of The Real World.

I woke up stressed at 6am, 7am, 8am, and finally 8:45am. I chatted with Roomie and then putzed around. Mainly pacing until it came time for her to leave. So she was going to work, we hugged, and had watery eyes. She left before crying, and I went to my room and cried. I think of her when I think of home, but when I come back it wont be like that. I stopped crying and stressed out again. I got myself and my things together, and had to leave him. Cried some more. I know, its only two months and I'm crying over everything but a lot of it is stress, and a lot of it is change itself.

Then I had to get on to other duties that were not mine. Picking up my niece, seeing my uncle, and just doing things for everyone else when today really needed to be a ME day. I'm almost done packing, I think. Luckily I'll be in Greece, so if there is anything I really need I'm sure I can get it. Plus, my airline allows 2 bags.

I'll try and blog when I can. I've been reading everyone's blogs, but just not commenting, and I'm sorry about that. Just want to let you know that I am thinking of you.

First stop--Amsterdam...where's the good stuff because I need some!

I have been so busy with Greece preparations. Every so often I have to remind myself that its not a trip, I'll be living and working there for 2 months. I don't know what I need, so I have basically decided to fit everything in a suitcase and a half, including a box of Grape Nuts Cereal. Gotta have my fiber.

This weekend my roomie and I had a ladies night where we invited our friends (without their men) to our place. They were mainly her friends who I know since most of my friends were busy. It was fun, we got pizza, made drinks, and a pampered chef demonstration, and talked about everything from childhood to men to life as old ladies. Afterwards, we went to a club for a couple hours, and that night we realized why we go out once a year. Some of the people there are crazy. My poor eyes.

5 people slept over, so the only 2 rooms in our apartment where there wasnt a body on the floor was the kitchen and the bathroom. It was real nice. We then went out for brunch, came home and everyone left.

Then it was roomie and I. After everyone left, we were kind of sad, especially because this is our last week of living together. I leave for Europe next week, and by the time I come back she will be all moved out and on to her new endeavor. My new roomie moves in a couple weeks after that. So we took a walk with some bread looking for some ducks to feed, but couldn't find any. Then we came home and hung out. Its funny, because even though we've been living together for almost a year, the last few months I've been so busy with school, I haven't really been able to give all of myself to anyone. So hanging out with her was nicer. We were both sad. This last week I have to see everyone, and spend quality time with my family, CLS Boy, Roomie, and my best friend. I do get sad thinking that Roomie won't be here when I get back. She has been a great roomie and friend, we didn't fight once, and laughed all the time. We had moments of course, but we are both smart enough to know when to stay away from each other. I've gained a friend for life, and that is a very sunny brightside.

One thing I am learning from the preparations of going to Greece, is that travelling is a big part of who I am. I love travelling, new cultures, and learning about people, and helping them. Its all me. I need this in my life. But I also need stability. I can't wait for my last year of school to end so I can finally have that.

Of course when school ends next year and we all leave to wherever we were lucky enough to find jobs, I'll probably wish I lived in the same neighborhood as all of my friends.

Last Sunday, I bought an 8 pack of snack size Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars. I finished the pack this Sunday.

It took me 7 days to finish 8 SNACK SIZE Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars instead of 7 minutes.

Can I have some thunderous applause please?

A couple nights ago I went to a concert where Rahzel, The Shins, and O.A.R. all performed. It was a great concert in the outdoors.

The one thing which greatly disturbed me was the amount of people on the cell phones. There were a great many people who were with their friends, and on the phone looking for their other friends, and trying to find out what they were doing after the concert, while the concert was going on.

I equated this phenomena with the slow demise of human relationships due to the increased reliance of technology, most importantly the cell phone. I know it sounds like I'm going overboard. There really is no point in going out with a bunch of friends, then spending half your time looking for the other friends or finding out what the other group is doing. Sure, one can do this, but why go to a concert with friends, since both entities require a moderate amount of attention, and instead devote all of your attention to a cell phone texting or calling someone else.

Of course nowadays, most people have accepted this from their friends. And yes, sometimes the phone rings when you're out with other people, and I'm all for the don't answer it policy, or pick it up, see whats going on, and let them know you have someone in your physical presence who you are trying to spend quality time with, and who is not using up all of your minutes. If anyone's phone rings when someone is with me and they choose to carry on with the chit-chat (which I can only assume is chit chat because the part of the conversation I hear is..."Hey!...Not much, just sitting at a cafe with Dr.P...no, but I need to go shopping...You are? We should go sometime!" At the end of about 3 minutes of this, I feel I should note the date when my friend is going out with their other friend so I can call and maybe she will talk to me some more. Instead, I always mention, "If you want, we can end early and you can call your friend back." or if I'm real irritated, "Maybe I should just call you so I can get a chance to talk to you."

I'm glad I own my cell phone and my phone doesn't own me. And the emergence of the Blackberry? Don't even get me started.

Pua and I have the same biorhythm. Right now I'm so overwhelmed with my life I don't know whats going on. Took a fun trip to the doctor and found out I have low iron, low calcium, mildly high glucose and borderline high cholesterol. I'll have you know that I exercise, drink milk and take a vitamin with Calcium everyday. Meanwhile, my 200 pound brother, who does not exercise and eats crap is fit as a fiddle. God is messing with me, I just know it.

ITs the end of the semester and I have many assignments due, I don't know where to start, and I just want to sleep. Tomorrow I'm running/walking a 5k to raise some money for various education projects.

Because of all the assignments, I've put blogging on the back burner. I'm tired of looking at the computer screen. I want to be in the sun.

So to get my dose of sun, I go and visit my niece who is currently staying with my parents. She has a new bike, and she's addicted to the little bell. She makes me laugh with her squishy mushy little face.

...I actually started this post yesterday, and as I re-read my post I have no idea where I was going with it. I think I had a plan yesterday, and today its missing. Sounds like the same thing that happened to my sanity.

SOmetimes I get so conusmed with school, I forget about the finer things.

My friend stopped by to hang out, and then she told me to come out to dinner with her and my best friend. At first I said no, she lightly twisted my arm, and I thought, "Well, a meal I dont have to cook is a great meal by me." Off I went.

I forgot how close the 3 of us are. It sounds silly, but I havent really talked to anyone lately...although I must have because my cell phone bill is through the roof. But it hasnt been talking just updating. This was a girls night.

We sat and talked and talked even long after our meal was over. I forgot how well my friends knew me. They could sense so much. When I came home 4 hours later, I was so happy, and part of me just wanted to cry since I think I released a lot of stress.

Life is ok, work work work...and I booked my ticket to Greece!

I love Tuesdays since I dont go to my 8am class.

On Saturday, Roomie and I went to her sisters bachelorette party. We threw the tamest bachelorette party ever (at her sisters request).
So first we went to Roomie's parents house to see Mommy and Daddy Roomie. Then we drove through Rhode Island, which was a first for me. (It didnt take long)...I saw the Famous Big Blue Bug in Providence!

Big Blue Bug! (I tried to upload it as an image but my computer is blocking the window I need to use!)

After the excitement of the Big Blue Bug, we ended up in Peabody. The theme was a pretty pretty princess party. So we made all pink drinks, had pink princessy napkins, pink plates, pink goodie bags...This was fun.

The decorations were pink and white crepe paper, pink balloons, and our peau de resistance was the centerpiece...a bottle of Absolut Vodka with penis straws inside. (Kind of like a vase of flowers...)

Bride-to-be had to wear her Bride to Be sash which lit up and her tiara. No getting around that.

We had a manicurist and facialist come to the house, which was great. My nails look great, and the facialist said while she was doing my face that I had a very good presence. Like I was a good person. I thought that was sweet.

Then, the ultimate entertainment...the sex toy party!

A woman came and showed us different sex toys, and this was news to me! I actually saw the Rabbit (if you watch Sex and the City, you know what I mean)...I tested it...on my nose! heh heh...there are all things lickable, rubbable and insertable. Hell, there was even something called "Wally" which stuck on the wall...There was a vibrator called the Bullet which had 7 speeds. I may not have a lot of experience here, but what man or woman has 7 speeds?! SEVEN!!! No wonder there are a lot of sexually unsatisfied people out there.

Unfortunately, my facial was scheduled halfway through the sex toy party so I missed some of it. My roomie felt bad and bought me something special from the sex toy lady. I have no idea what it is.

We had food and stuff too, and my nails look great.

I hosted my first party the other day. It was a potluck and a bunch of my friends came by. It turned out to be pretty fun. I was nervous, as I always am before hosting things (I tend to throw parties for friends birthdays). I even cooked something.

For whatever reason, my parties tend to turn silly. There was a little wine involved, but not that much. Grown men and women talking about strategically placing a fart machine near our stats professor so it goes of intermittantly during class, playing soccer with a balloon, and making a hat out of newspaper.

In other exciting news, I used "Evites" to send out invites to another party. This one is at my parents house, and my mom is making Indian food for everyone. It should be great. I'm such a dork, I love checking the evites to see if I got responses. Im addicted to my evite. I love writing my own form of "Yes" (Right on!), "Maybe" (Decisions, Decisions), and "No" (Bummer.) I want to invite people to something (or nothing) just so I can have the joy of designing a lovely evite, and checking for responses.

I'll be out soon.

I can't take the enormity of Christianity that is on the news day in and day out.

There I said it. It may sound awful, but thats just how I feel.

I like religion of all types. I have friends who have brought me into the worlds of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Atheism and many subtexts of these. I think religion helps many people retrieve a sense of peace and hope when they feel like there is none. I don't like people selling their religion to me, telling me why I should believe one way or another. If my heart takes me one way or another, then that way I shall go.

It seems like everyone is consulting The Bible to make decisions. Concerning Terri Schiavo, I do understand it, since people are divided by science and morals. (I think there is a diplomatic way to handle this, but I'm sure for some legal reason, its not possible) But I just read an article about a man in Colorado who was served the death penalty, and had his sentence switched to life in prison since jurors consulted the Bible during deliberations. The Governor of Colorado and the prosecution saw no problem with this.

Did someone throw out the Constitution? Didn't many people come here from England for the separation of Church and State? We are seeing the effects of the combination of Church and State.

I suppose the part that angers me is the question of, "What if that were me?"

If I were Terri Schiavo, would people be rallying to make sure I get fed, or would I be considered destined to hell since I am not a Christian? And would this same line of thought be valid in other situations where others would be required to decide my fate in some way?

I hope not.

2 great things.

1) Monday, after doing double time on the phone and the computer, I got U2 tickets!! I'll be in the nosebleed seats at Madison Square Garden in November!! I think we are higher than the scoreboard!! I can't wait!

2) I will be spending 10 weeks of my summer in Athens, Greece (as opposed to Athens, Georgia) for my internship. I'll be working on some sort of Health and Policy development to protect women from ending up in a sex trafficking ring that is going on in Europe, in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

No wait, one more thing...

3) It was a beautiful spring day today.

I feel like I should break something myself before the streak gets too good.

ARGH!

That is all I have to say.

I am a victim of Tremendous effort leading to bad luck.

U2 tickets went on sale this weekend. Now I have never been physically present to ever buy concert tickets, so I wasnt sure what to expect. Last time I found out they were touring (I saw them during the Elevation tour), I was in India, and I emailed my friends to see if they could get tickets. Sure enough, one did.

Moving on...

Tickets went on sale at 10am, Tasha and myself headed over to our nearest Ticketmaster location around 8:30. We find out that there is a lottery for buying tickets. This means, they hand you a raffle ticket with your number on it, and this little ticket basically decides your fate. I had no idea this was how it was done, but ok, now I know.

We were standing in line, in a row, since we figured lottery meant they draw all the tickets and thats how we form the line.

Here is the dictionary.com definition of lottery.

Did you notice the word RANDOM in that definition? I did.

When this so-called 'lottery' time came up, the manager of the store picked ONE number (not so lucky for me, it was the ticket for the last people in line, and we were one of the first), and started lining up people in a sequental order. The last number was ticket number 590006, and the next person in line was 590007.

This went on until the latter numbers were done, and then he began lining up the earlier numbers. What was my number? 589089.

Needless to say, the latter half of the line was in an outrage, trying to tell him the definition of lottery. If I knew that was his definition of lottery, I would have had one of us stand in the back.

We knew we weren't going to get tickets, and we tried calling ticketmaster to no avail, and tickets were sold out in 30 minutes. The reason why it took so long? Jimmy Buffet tickets were on sale at the same time, so people were snatching those up too.

I was bummed, because I felt like I got robbed. If the "Lottery" was the way I assumed lottery to be, I would have felt a little better if my particular ticket was chosen last. But no. My fate was in someone else's hands.

I know there are many worse things in life than this (like Gonzaga losing to Texas Tech yesterday in the NCAA basketball tournament), and I know my life will go on, but I hate it when my fate rests in others hands. ARGH!

Allow me to introduce another excerpt of "Conversations with Mom"

The Setting: Mom and I are driving back from seeing my brother. I'm driving, mom is in passengers seat, radio is on.

Radio: "Big Pimpin' spendin' cheese..."

Mom: "What is he saying? Spending cheese? What does that mean?"

Me: "He's spending a lot of money."

Mom: "That is stupid. Why doesnt he simply use the word Money? Whats this cheese? Sounds so stupid."

Me: "Its ok."

Radio: "..Jigga man..."

Mom: "What?! Jiggle Man? Is he fat?"

Me: "No Ma, he's not."

Mom: "He just said he was."

Me: *Promptly changes the station to the LITE station*

A lot of my friends have been through many milestones which I havent reached yet, and I always cheer them on.

Then, along comes that one friend who I thought would be behind the times like myself, who reaches a milestone I'm not close to.

This weekend I had 2 of those friends reach milestones. One got engaged, and one had her baby shower.

The baby shower was nice, although I was the only one who was neither married, or with child. Even the girls who I went to high school with were talking about teething and day care, and the older mom's on the other side of me were talking about grandchildren. I felt a little out of place. Then I received the Yahoo photo album for the shower, where there's a picture of me at the corner of tables grandmother and new mothers with the caption, "You'll be at the mommy table soon Dr.P!"...glad to know that was sent to all her family and friends *sarcasm*.

So after seeing way too much pink for one day, I went to my parents house where they proceeded to tell me that they would like to being their process of moving back to India by December. So by the time I graduate in May 2006, they'll be done too. I know they want to go...they've spent more time in this country away from their mothers and siblings, and they've done all they need to do here, so they deserve not to be tied down by us (Me). Knowing that my stable home will not be ours anymore is a little saddening. I like knowing my parents are at least in the same time zone as I am. My friends have said I can go visit their parents if I need some parenting. heh heh.

So I've been reassessing. Where I am, where I am going to, and what will become of me. To be honest, I havent come up with any answers, and I think I have to get used to that.

Since I wasnt able to go to my old job on a regular basis, I had to get a new job. (Meaning=I got fired)

My new job will inspire you.

Have you ever wondered what Universities do with all the applications they receive once they are done with them?

They save them in a dingy basement somewhere in the depths of the school. Now that everything is becoming computerized, they have to somehow put all of these applications online.

This is where I come in. I get to remove the staples from the application, place them in a specific order with each applicant's specific identifying bar code on top, so the school can scan the information.

Although there is an interesting perk...I read some of the applications. There are a LOT of intelligent people out there who have done some amazing things.

I know. I never thought my skills would ever be put to use.

I had a HUGE 'first' on Saturday.

HUGE!

GI-NORMOUS!

With CLS Boy and one of my dear friends as witness.

I still can't believe I did it....

What did I do, you ask?....I held a cat for the first time.

Don't worry. I'm ok.

I am not an animal person by any means. I love doggies and cute animals, but I don't ever want to be a pet owner. I like to travel, and I wouldn't feel right leaving them alone. I also do not know how to groom an animal. And my mother has instilled in me that pets=cleaning=extra work=me not taking good care of pet.

I've never been around animals much. My friends have lovely little creatures as pets, but as they were/are not mine, I have no reason to pick them up. I love giving them treats and petting them, but thats as far as our relationship would go.

CLS Boy loves cats. My friend loves cats. I've never picked one up, so my friend told me to try on her cute little 18-pounder cat. I didnt know what to do. I did not want to pick up the cat in the wrong way so she'll flail her paws about, and possibly try to scratch my eyes out everytime I visit. I didn't want to dislocate her tail or leg.

I was still nervous to pick her up. So I put on my nice, padded winter gloves to protect myself. After being berated by my friend and CLS Boy, I took off the gloves and CLS Boy semi-picked her up and I tried to move my hands in a position that would not harm my friends cat. Somehow the cat was placed in my arms. Since the cat was an 18-pounder, I had to sit immediately.

Everyone was proud of my accomplishment, and we even took a picture to commemorate the moment. I was happy to hold the cat (especially since she didn't hiss, bite or scratch me), although I'm still trying to get the cat hairs off my jacket.

Since I've had the joy of being in a knocked-out kind of sickness state for 2 weeks (therefore not leading much of a life), I've been able to watch lots of tv. I've decided to talk about a show I HATE and a show I like.

New Show to Hate:

Theres a new show on VH-1 dealing with race and lust. Its mainly talking about biracial celebrities, and interracial couples in movies and real life. This is right up my alley. I love to see how other people deal with their situations.

Sadly, the show was about peoples opinion on these things. Some people were like, Why cant they stick to their own race?-type thing, and there were a lot of insults directed toward whites. I hate this because racism is racism no matter what race someone is. Just because 'whites' are the majority, I dont think its right or fair to sit and be racist to someone. There was even a comment on how Halle Berry 'used' to have black costars before she became this big star, and now she works with white costars. They were talking about how biracial people are confused. They even had a segment on "Who's more Latina, Cameron Diaz or Christina Aguilera?" The kicker: The segment on how do Asians/Latinos love, how do Black/White love, etc. Maybe it was supposed to be informational, but I thought the whole program was downright racist. It was such a negative show, I couldnt believe it was on. Yes, I did watch it. I was hoping for some change in attitude or lesson to be learned. Didnt get that, so now Im appalled.

Awesome show (which is not so new):

I'm hooked to MADE on MTV. This is a show where a high school kid writes in wanting to be "Made" into some type of person (usually the opposite of what they are at that moment). So a girly girl will want to learn to race dirt bikes BMX style, a girl who sings classical music will want to learn hip hop dance to try out for the hip hop dance squad at their school, etc. They track the journey until the tryouts/big event, and see how they change.

The best best BEST one I saw was about this kid named Dov. He is very smart (nerd in high school terms), into dance and theatre, and bullied all the time. He wanted to be "Made" into a wrestler and try out for his high school team. He was so cute and sweet, and I didnt understand why he hardly had any friends. He said how bullying got so bad for him in one school that he had to switch, but unfortunately the same thing happened at this school. The cool thing was, Kurt Angle (big burly wrestler) visited Dov at school and confronted his bully, and the bully was crapping in his pants. Anyway, Dov got all this training, got confident, got the nice girl to go to the dance with him and made it on the wrestling team. It was just so sweet.

I love it when nice guys and gals finish FIRST. Thats how life should be.