blast from the past
wow. this has been a crazy week so far, and its only Tuesday! HOWEVER, its been great because I've gotten back in touch with three old buddies from the Bangalore days!
Shabs actually called me a couple of weeks ago, which was a surprise in itself, but I called her back over the weekend as I trekked to Barco. Shabs and I played basketball together in the glory days of Mount Carmel Basketball (1997-1999) ... we had some really awesome times! She's been in RI for about four years now. Over the past couple of years I've been terrible about keeping in touch, and especially with this whirlwind year - I've barely spoken to people, and when I have it amounts to little besides venting, unfortunately! Anyhoo, we caught up a little - life, work, school, etc. She just got back from India, so she told me all about that trip - which is always awesome!
Next, out of the clear blue sky ... I get a call from Sgt. Z. OMG! I had all but lost hope of ever getting back in touch with him! Sgt.Z was in Bangalore back in 2000-2001, and was a visiting lecturer at CAE (now ICMIS) , where I did my first two years of undergrad. Sgt. Z taught Mass Comm. and Int'l Relations - and then a World Religions class over the summer. I took his IR class ... which was awesome because it really introduced me to the outside world in a more relevant sense. I have over the years developed a view of the world that conflicts with Sgt.Z's - but thats ok.
The best part of Sgt.Z's year in India was Spring Break in Goa ... about 20 unruly students, and Sgt.Z was our "voice of reason" - I can honestly say, if Sgt.Z wasn't there - we would not have done half of the cool things that we did. Becuase of his interest in world religions, he wanted to visit some of the key religious sites in Goa. Since it was until recently (maybe 50 years?) a Portuguese colony - there was a very strong European Christian influence. So, there was a group of about 7 of us that would take off every day to visit churches built by Vasco DeGama and St. Francis Xavier ... driving around in the jeep, looking off the cliffs to the blue water below ... it was absolutely fabulous. One day I'll go back to Goa ... aaaah! Anyhoo - Sgt.Z is preparing to return to India to work back at ICMIS in March, and will HOPEFULLY get started on his book about his Indian adventures back in 2000.
LAST, but not least ... I get a random call from a Virginia phone number. Lo and behold - its BOPS! I was floored! Turns out Bops is in the US, from Bangalore, on a three week recruiting trip. Wow, thats my dream job. Bops and I ALSO go way back - we've known each other from middle school, and she's seen me through my best and my worst pretty much! We were two of the original members of the Baldwins Basketball team that created waves in Bangalore in the 1995-96 season, and carried on to Mounts.
What I love most about my Bangalore friends is that because they know me so well - their comments really just hit it home.
Case in point - talking to Bops -
Bops - "So, are you a lawyer yet?"
me - "Nope, another two years!",
Bops-"Good Lord!"
me - "I dunno - I sometimes want to quit!"
Bops - "Don't be stupid, you've studied for this long - you can't quit when you're so close!! Just finish damnit!"
Not the most profound conversation - but it means alot to me. Especially coming from Bops, she's seen this educational saga from the lows of highschool, to the struggles of college and now ... closer to the end?
9 days till Spring break
76 days till the end of 1L
but who's counting!
Shabs actually called me a couple of weeks ago, which was a surprise in itself, but I called her back over the weekend as I trekked to Barco. Shabs and I played basketball together in the glory days of Mount Carmel Basketball (1997-1999) ... we had some really awesome times! She's been in RI for about four years now. Over the past couple of years I've been terrible about keeping in touch, and especially with this whirlwind year - I've barely spoken to people, and when I have it amounts to little besides venting, unfortunately! Anyhoo, we caught up a little - life, work, school, etc. She just got back from India, so she told me all about that trip - which is always awesome!
Next, out of the clear blue sky ... I get a call from Sgt. Z. OMG! I had all but lost hope of ever getting back in touch with him! Sgt.Z was in Bangalore back in 2000-2001, and was a visiting lecturer at CAE (now ICMIS) , where I did my first two years of undergrad. Sgt. Z taught Mass Comm. and Int'l Relations - and then a World Religions class over the summer. I took his IR class ... which was awesome because it really introduced me to the outside world in a more relevant sense. I have over the years developed a view of the world that conflicts with Sgt.Z's - but thats ok.
The best part of Sgt.Z's year in India was Spring Break in Goa ... about 20 unruly students, and Sgt.Z was our "voice of reason" - I can honestly say, if Sgt.Z wasn't there - we would not have done half of the cool things that we did. Becuase of his interest in world religions, he wanted to visit some of the key religious sites in Goa. Since it was until recently (maybe 50 years?) a Portuguese colony - there was a very strong European Christian influence. So, there was a group of about 7 of us that would take off every day to visit churches built by Vasco DeGama and St. Francis Xavier ... driving around in the jeep, looking off the cliffs to the blue water below ... it was absolutely fabulous. One day I'll go back to Goa ... aaaah! Anyhoo - Sgt.Z is preparing to return to India to work back at ICMIS in March, and will HOPEFULLY get started on his book about his Indian adventures back in 2000.
LAST, but not least ... I get a random call from a Virginia phone number. Lo and behold - its BOPS! I was floored! Turns out Bops is in the US, from Bangalore, on a three week recruiting trip. Wow, thats my dream job. Bops and I ALSO go way back - we've known each other from middle school, and she's seen me through my best and my worst pretty much! We were two of the original members of the Baldwins Basketball team that created waves in Bangalore in the 1995-96 season, and carried on to Mounts.
What I love most about my Bangalore friends is that because they know me so well - their comments really just hit it home.
Case in point - talking to Bops -
Bops - "So, are you a lawyer yet?"
me - "Nope, another two years!",
Bops-"Good Lord!"
me - "I dunno - I sometimes want to quit!"
Bops - "Don't be stupid, you've studied for this long - you can't quit when you're so close!! Just finish damnit!"
Not the most profound conversation - but it means alot to me. Especially coming from Bops, she's seen this educational saga from the lows of highschool, to the struggles of college and now ... closer to the end?
9 days till Spring break
76 days till the end of 1L
but who's counting!
posted by zai5h at Tuesday, February 21, 2006
3 Comments:
hahahaha... i love the countdown! when is your last day of class, finals, writing competition (do u guys have this tortured thing too?)???
p.s. i never wrote earlier, but the post-superbowl pic was AWESOME! let's try to find that woman ;)
last day of classes = April 24
last day of finals = May 9 (actually the 8th)
and YES we have the writing competition, but I haven't the faintest idea when that torture begins! :-)
As for the superbowl pic - she looks really familiar, I'll make the rounds at J'ummah and ID her! :-)
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