Thanksgiving - The most 'North American ' of all experiences

           We were informed by Dr Jim in October  that we were invited by one of our PDS co-ordinators Robin  for Thanksgiving dinner and this was followed by an invitation by the lady herself.I did not remember what  Robin looked like, as I had seen her  very early on, in one of the September UMD programs.The entire group of DAT scholars , except the three who had gone visiting their local relatives , were taken by two vans to Robin's house on the 25th at 4.30 PM. I traveled in the van in which Robin's younger daughter , Darren ,had graciously agreed to drive us.With Lindi and his 'straight and daunting' questions directed at Darren, we made are way to our destination.With barely any traffic on the road , she was able to concentrate on fielding Lindi's 'googlies' regarding the origin of the name 'Black Friday'.Unfazed by all the conversation Darren drove us to their house situated in a lovely neighbourhood.
          Once there, Robin came out to greet us with the webcam in which she recorded our  arrival.We went into the warmth of a very lovely house.Her husband came to greet us and we settled down with a drink.In between the conversation with us,  Jim ,Robin's husband would tend to preparation of the food for dinner .It was such a nice experience.He talked to us about his experiences in Argentina as he prepared the food.Robin too discussed her husband's passion for mountaineering and how by the early 1980's he gave it up when they settled to start a family.We took a tour around the house and settled down for some time in their 'cave' .It had a state of art music system , stuffed animals that Jim had hunted ,some pictures of his mountain climbing days and some very comfortable seating.
           Robin went to get the turkey that they had placed in the neighbour's oven ' A Whole Turkey'.It was a sight to behold. Robin then rang a bell to announce dinner and we were arond the kitchen table , they discussed the significance of Thanksgiving as started by the Pilgrims who first came to America. We then sat down to dinner around 7.00 PM.They had prepared both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food .It was excellent .Both Robin and her husband had prepared every thing. The decor in and around the table consisted of artwork made by school children ; placement mats and turkeys  and pilgrims made from paper.Sooo creative! During dinner Robin and Jim shared the recepies they had used for the dinner. After dinner we sat down in two groups ,one in the living room talking and watching TV and the other group went down to the 'cave' to listen to music.Lindi had a great time ,playing golf indoors.Close to 8.00 PM we had dessert.There were 3 types of pies with whipped cream;pecan pumpkin and apple.I loved the pecan nut pie.
           When Lindi rode his hobby horse again about the woman's place being in the kitchen, Robin said 'Lindi I think I need to talk to you.Better still , I think you should follow Jim around.'
We went around shooting pictures of their beautiful house. After that it was time to leave.This visit will defintely leave us with some wonderful memories of American hospitality.We were there for 5 hours but we were so comfortable I never felt like an outsider.Remember, we were 15 guests in the house.Robin packed  leftovers to carry home  for some of us . It takes a lot to play hosts, in such a delightful manner.All good things must come to an end ! We left for our homes at 9.30 PM.Darren dropped us back with no incidents '.

Thanksgiving

    

The calcite splendour

Luray Album           On Nov 6th we were escorted by Dr Jim Greenberg and Holly Emert of AED to the Luray caverns in Virginia.We started out at 8.00 AM on a very cold morning.We went in 4 vans.After 30 minutres or so we entered the state of Virginia after crossing the bridge of the American Legion over the Potomac. we were in the last  but one van and were driven by Dr Jim.Within 5 minutes or so we heard a big bang and  our van which was travelling at  a very high speed ,tottered to a shuddering stop with Dr Jim carefully directing it to the right shoulder on the Beltway. I suspected that there had been a pucture.We got out to investigate and I saw that what I had suspected was true.The last van with Mikko also came to a stop and he jogged  out to our car .Then we started removing the extra tyre fixed at the bottom of the car.Raj also joined us and mikko,raj and me set about removing the puctured tyre and replaced it with the temporary one.It was icy cold.Li Heong with her red jacket deflected the traffic away from our side on the Beltway.After fixing the tyre we went to a mechanic shop where we bought a new tyre , but as our rim was dented we had to wait around 1 1/2 hours for the car to be fixed. Some of us had breakfast during this time.We had the accident at 8.30 AM we got the repaired car only at 11 Am.The other group had reached Luray and started the tour inside the cavern.We arrived close to 2.00 Pm .The other 2 vans departed for home while we just set off to the caverns.Though it was icy outside,once we got in it was quite warm and moist.
The colours and formations of stalactites and stalagmites were spectacular.Initially we were close to the surface,so the formations were small.But as we went deeper in to the caverns ,the pillars got bigger and finally in the central part they reached from the ground to the ceiling.The "Dream Pool","Pluto's ghost","Persephone","The Bride and the Groom", Draperies"are some of the names given to the formations we see.It was very beautiful.In the "Ball Room" as it was called earlier ,there is an organ which uses these formations to generate sound of different frequencies which were generated by a rubber mallet hitting it with the help of  an electrical circuit.These sounds were amplified and the music thus created at different parts of the stalactities were then put on a PA system.With the colours that we saw and music we heard and scenes of the formations and pools of
water all swirling through our minds we came out of these caverns into the harsh biting cold outside.After a lunch ,we headed for home.We stopped for some apple pie,cider.... at the Apple House.A nice quaint looking shop with very expensive products on sale.After 30 minutes, we then set off and returned to the Mazza at 7.30 PM.
It was another very different experience.A  suitable addition to the very colourful repertoire of experiences that were already present.
    

OUR DATE WITH THE GATES

For the past one month or so we had been in contact by e-mail ,with the organiser of Fulbright award ceremony to honour Bill and Meinda Gates.We had a Friday seminar and after that we left for the Mazza as officials from AED and Dept of state came over to see our homes.After a hurried brain storming at the Stamp shuttle bus stop , we came to the decision that going over to DC for the Fulbright award ceremony in a taxi as we were all spruced up.

.After a departure from the Mazza at 2.45 PM, we arrived at the Library of Congress in time for the reception .We got busy taking photos inside the Library of Congress and the inside is like the Paris Opera house . It was beautiful . We then took our seats and got busy taking another set of photos in front of the dais.


The function started with everyone eulogising the welfare work done by the Gates.Next the award was given and first Bill and then Melinda responded . Bill Gates had a lot of statistics with graphs and pictograms to support the work his foundation was doing.But I liked Melinda 's speech more as her's was appealing to the emotions of a person.She described what one feels when , you sit across a mat talking to a mother with an acutely ailing child .It was very touching.She had a humanistic approach in her talk.After that a group of 5 students from different countries asked the couple a question each.

After this some snacks and drinks were served . As we were partaking of this , some of my Fulbright colleagues were lucky enough to have pictures taken with the Gates individually . After this we returned by the Metro at 9.00 PM or so.It was a good day - a day of sharing someone else's accomplishments.

The march to the CIrque du Soleil

We had bought tickets for  Cirque Du Soleil for  Friday the 8th of Oct .By 'we '  I mean Eija ,Aurelia,Carmen  , Lalla and me.We left soon after lunch at the Stamp by 12.45 PM ,  as we had our regular Friday seminar from 9 -  12 Noon.We took the shuttle to the Metro and there a minor hiccup occurred  .  I used the Metro card bought for my son ,  Prathyush when he had come to see me.As the edges of the card were a little soiled , it got stuck in the slot at the entry gate . So I had to wait for the officer in charge to come and release it.Thanks to me , we missed one train.After a short wait for the next train we boarded and traveled for 45 minutes till the end of the Green line;Branch Avenue.There we took a Metro bus to National Harbour and at the Harbour we picked up the free shuttle to the Cirque....
               The Cirque is held on a picturesque Plateau in the Harbour area.We crossed it even as we traveled by the Metro bus from the Branch Avenue Metro . But as there is no scheduled stop next to it , we had to continue till the Harbour and make our way back on the free Cirque Shuttle. We arrived by 3.20 PM. A brisk walk up an incline brought us to the entrance of the Cirque. We showed our tickets ( which Carmen handed over to  each  of us ) , at the entrance and proceeded inside. As we went in , Aurelia stopped short and retraced her steps to a person standing on a slightrly raised platform  , at the entrance selling something. I walked back and found to my surpise that the programme and pictures of the Cirque were being sold. We had been told that no photography would be permitted , so we quickly bought one each as a souvenir.On going past the ticket checker , we entered an enclosure where all kinds of memorablia for the Cirque was being sold.We bought some popcorn and some gifts and went into the Big Top. We saw that squat in the middle of the stage in front ,  was a big egg illuminated in a dull light "  Every Cirque show has some theme " , was the very informed comment  passed by Carmen . So there was the theme staring at us ...... "OVO" ( Egg).
  The first scene saw the insects waking up and getting ready to face the day.Insects of all kinds ; crickets , dragon-flies , lady-bug etc. They are awakened by Master Flipo  who plays the role of a joker in the entire act. As the insects awaken , the dragon-fly got into the act and did flips and spirals with both hands and then one so effortlessly that we found ourselves clapping at the end of its act. .The story then builds up with a foreigner arriving carrying his treasure;  an egg . As he  gets distracted by an attractive looking lady-bug , the OVO gets smuggled away by the other insects.Having realised his loss , the foreigner runs behind the insects that have smuggled his egg and thus goes off stage. Then there was a show by the ants with some pieces of kiwi fruit amd corn .The display involved the twirling and rolling of these pieces with their legs , all the time lying on their backs . They even rolled from  the legs of one to the  other  and were twirled up and down ,  as effortlessly as the pieces of fruit that they had used earlier. Then there was a beautiful metamorphosis of  a larvae  , to pupa stage and finally into a butterfly.It was all done on a pair of ropes. The slow transformation  was set to slow lilting music  and it was a sight to behold. Then there was a love duet of a pair of white butterflies , It was an act on a single rope . It was so captivating .  Next came the dance of a firefly which was very adept juggling of several pulleys on a string which were thrown  up  and caught on a string very quickly . Then came the trapeze act by the Scarabs .It was like they were flying in the air  from one end of  the arena to the other . The next act was the movement of spiders in a web put up on the stage . With crickets moving all over the web as prey , the slow  movement and gymnastics   of the spiders was very sensual.Next came the dance of the fleas .It was set to quick music and was very spritely .  All though these acts was the blossoming love affair between the foreigner and the lady-bug which added humour to the show. Then there was a display of very quick footwork , jumps and leaps on to and from a trampoline floor on to a vertical wall , by the crickets and fleas.This had some very good roll of drums . It was a feast for the eyes and the ears. The finale saw the insect world come together for a banquet to celebrate the acknowledgement of love by the foreigner and the lady-bug for each other . The elusive OVO makes it appearance again at last . The colour , the costumes with the very appropriate make-up , the  skilful gymnastics  and the foot-tapping music  all had us celebrating the "END" with the participants.

                 
                   Throughout the programme we were either holding our breathe when the different insects got into the act or were appreciating the feast of colour spread out in front of us , or  tapping our feet to the samba we heard. The essence of the theme "OVO" came through musically and coloufully .
               I will be  eternally grateful to Carmen for having got the chance to savour the experience . With no acts using animals and  with only men/women playing their different roles , displaying  such fine gymnastic skills ,the gratifying feeling I had as   I came out of the Big Top was one of accomplishment-as if I had done something satisfying . While all I had done was watch a dramatic mix of circus acts( with no animals) in outrageous costumes and captivating colours set to some very catchy and foot-tapping music .

           

Baltimore banter

Yesterday we went to Baltimore , a port close to College park.We traveled to and fro by Amtrak . The journey to the New Carrolton station was completed by a taxi.We were 6 of  the DAT Fulbrighters traveling together.I traveled half sitting on the handle of the door and half on Sashi Maam.s lap , with my head occasionally hitting the front wind screen.Thankfully it was a 15 minute ride.On reaching our destination , I fell out of the car but landed on my feet.It was a new experience collecting tickets at the station after getting the bar code on the emailed coupon scanned , by an automatic ticket machine.Like in an airport , we waited till our train time was announced and then we walked out to our track .

                      Mrs Sashi struck up a conversation with another passenger travelling to New york by the same train  and was informed of the presence of a 'Quiet Car ' , where passengers could not talk or use their cell phones.So , when our train arrived  , we very prudently opted for the ' Normal Car ' .The half an hour journey to Baltimore went very quickly . We disembarked at Penn station , ,Baltimore and walked out towards the  stop for the free Circulator/Shuttle that the city has.

                     The first stop was the extreme end of the city , as we planned to visit Fort McHenry.After a 25 minute walk to  and along the beautiful promenade ,

              we were informed by the DockMaster about the existence of a water-taxi which would take us to the fort. At the pick up point of the taxi , we came to know that the fort had closed down for the winter since the 1st of Oct . We paid 10$ for the taxi and got off at the Aquarium .

 

             We planned to take a ride in the boat all around the harbour  later in the day .The aquarium was very good . I liked the fact that there were a large number of exhibits , stacked up on four floors , but spread over a small area . There is a escalator that takes one up to all levels .After our entry inside at 10.45A M , we went to the Dolphin show within half an hour as the timing on our ticket said 11.30 AM The Dolphin show was nice .The 20 minute show ,  had the Dolphins doing a number of antics . When the trainer came up to the edge of the pool and talked to the audience by hanging on to the edge of the pool , the Dolphin too mimiced  her by perching on the edge. It was very cute!! After this we completed viewing the rest of the exhibits and went for lunch at 1.30 PM.We ate at an Asian joint ,where we selected our vegetables and gave it to the chef , who then prepared it  to our liking ( spicy/ not spicy ) and served it with rice. After that we went on a shopping spree at Hard Rock Cafe and Noble and Barnes and then went to the Baltimore World Trade Center  and viewed the city fron the 27th floor .

         We clicked away on our cameras and finally descended .Here Eija parted ways with us and arranged to meet us at the station at 6.15 PM.We continued to the Maryland Science Center , stopping at the Visitor's Center to pick up a map of the city . 

           The hands on activity for children was good and one set of exhibits  was for adults too.It was not a very big museum . After this ,  we boarded the  water-taxi and took a complete tour of the Inner Harbour and returned to the Science Center after an hour.

       Despite the sun on us , the wind on our faces had us feeling chill . But the water tour was very soothing . We then indulged on a Ben and Jerry's ice-cream and took the Circulator back to the station. We arrived back by 6.15 PM and found to our dismay that our train was delayed by 30 minutes . We were informed that we could change our tickets to an earlier train.We did  so , with no charge and returned to N ew Carrolton by 7.15 PM  with me sleeping all the way .Again in a taxi ,  with the others sitting and me crouching and nearly plastered to the front windshield  , we arrived back by  7.40 PM or so. 

 The early return helped ,  as we did not feel very tired.  That was a very pleasant experience and the day was cool and sunny .The sun helped to restore balance when the wind got chilly.

Hello!

I officially begin my blogging on 1st of October '2010.It feels nice to be able to share my experiences.I shall add updates regularly.The first blog is under the tutelage of Aurelia ,my DAT Argentinian friend.We just finished our seminar for the week at UMD.Benjamin and are relaxing.Replete with Tortilas ,thanks to Carmen my Mexican friend ,I am blogging away.

Setting off

The 17th of Aug at 1.45 AM, was the beginning was the beginning of a new stage in my life.I was off on my Fulbright DAT fellowship  at Univ. of Maryland,USA .I was very excited about my trip as well as a little anxious.My business class ticket got upgraded to  first class.I took this as a good omen.The experience in the flight to Frankfurt was out of the world.It was positively decadent.What luxury !,what unnecessary extravagance!it was very disconcerting.Nonetheless I wouldn't have missed it for the world.