Rice to the challenge

This is legit, folks. Every time you get a vocab word right, 10 grains of rice are donated to help end hunger. It's free, yes. Have fun!

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Thanks for passing this on, Lizzie!

Wish you were here

Contrary to what you may have heard, I am still present on the earth. No, really. I'm here. The reason for my not updating the 'ol blog in, oh, just over 2 months? India is big. Really, it's very large, and when you're trying to learn software programming AND tour a very large country in the short span of six months, certain things are priority ... like actually seeing the country. And not getting fired. This can be tricky.

But yes, here I am again. Since I last wrote, I've been on some sort of excursion nearly every weekend, many of them beach-centric. It's been delightful, and that's quite an understatement. If you're really interested in just what these trips entail, the best way to find out about them is to look at the pictures I've posted.

But that point brings me to another, actually. For a while here things were crazy. By that I mean I've never been so horribly bogged down with concept-learning. Like, EVER. I've since moved on to a less intensive training that doesn't lead to me wanting to rip out my eyeballs, but up until a couple of weeks ago, life was rough. Some friends and I have compared this experience to switching back and forth between finals week and spring break ... EVERY WEEKEND. For months. Just think of that. That means that in the span of one month, we have studied, crammed, stressed, and partied like rock stars four or five times as much as most college students do in one semester. And it happens several months in a row. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. But that's honestly what it felt like.

On top of that, I've been dealing with some losses back home. It's been interesting dealing with tragedy from so far away. A big part of me realizes that I actually haven't dealt with it much at all, that it might resurface as part of the wave of reverse culture-shock I'll get once I'm not on a 12-hour time difference. But time will tell, right?

To keep things short (I've already neglected to keep them sweet), here are links to photo albums from the past 2 months. They really do say more than I have the energy to type here.

(I am no longer posting albums to Picasa. Facebook has won out. :) But anyone can view these, Facebook member or not!)

Indian Octoberfest ... You do the math

Octoberness in India

Fashion Shows and Festivals

"I didn't know it would do that"

Diwali in India


Enjoy, everyone! As always, I would love to hear from you guys! Thanks to those who keep me posted and let me know when the Rockies get swept in the World Series. ;)