eeeeeeee

freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing!

the christmas markets are on, the 100 ft tree is decorated with red bobbles and strasbourg is tinsel town. i must admit, pictures DO NOT do this place justice in christmas time, when i am 60, and i wear purple skirt, i promise myself I ll come along to strasbourg and give the town some action to see on the ice-rink!

oh yeh...

its soo pretty, it gives a 'precious moments' - snowfall things where characters are enclosed in a glass chamber, you turn them around and put them back and it looks like a pretty snowfall - kind of the thing you buy for mums to keep on the desk or bath!...

plus, shorty send me 'nobby' - a voice recognition clock: Everyone, meet Nobby here on the right.
Hes seriously cool. you say 'nobby, how do i look?' and he says 'rrrrrr...unstoppable'... or:

you: nobby, whats the time?
nobby: its x o'clock
you: thanks
nobby: hey look, did you see what the cat's just dragged in

...im seriously wondering : was there a cat in that package too!?

lol

the first flakes of snow

three days, one assignment, a cummulative of 5 hrs of sleep...

seriously sleep deprived, but its been a really interesting project. havent been home in 3 days, my hair needs a caring haircut - dreadlock-ish now. Just finished the presentation this morning... was good: apart from me arriving late and saying 'my plane from Mexico was delayed'.

at times like this I realise if it wasnt for the love of what I do - I would not be doing this, and would not be doing enough justice to the anonymous individual that paid this HUGE amount of money for my scholarship.

and yes....its snowing. I have been out eating snowflakes with Matt and we have had a snowball fight. its only began though - the snow cover is not that thick yet.

I am treating myself tonite to go and see Royksopp gig. Watched them in Bristol in October and this is going to be great to watch them again! yay.... so out with Anna, Trond, Hovard, Vlad etc after a Barbeque! its Hassan's birthday party. I promise I ll put some pictures on when I finally get organised enough to go home and charge the batteries on my camera in order to download the tonne of pictures that been collecting on it.

... oh, happy birthday once again mum!

binge blogging

too much work guys and gals, ll update you pretty soon. currently details are boring, I am dreading sleeping on the student lounge sofa due to getting too late in the evenings!

its meant to snow tomorrow/friday...
yeh, its cold

i look twice my size in the three jumpers I wear!

rant abut pussy cat dolls

listening to the radio or music on my computer 24-7 to cure being alone in a big house...
this morning in the shower...
"don't you wish your girlfriend was...?" No, I dont!

there is one REALLY redundant person in that 'band': just as redundant as the whole band in the music scene! I am talking about the one that makes grunting noises and says 'wrong' as if she was yawning.

If anyone else wants a more detailed rant: email me!

some happy some sad

Chris got home safe and sound, despite the mad rush in the morning to get to the shuttle that took him to the airport! It was awesome to see him and show him around strasbourg! ** really hoping he liked it!**

so, that s the good news done.

Anindya's wife, Arpeeta has some bad news from the head doctor - saying 'only prayers can help' is no option for a young wife, but it is all thats left. She is a brave woman - undoubtedly. Let it be known we Indian gals are much more substance than we let it show.

I tried my best to talk more courage and smiles to her, but even that feels strange. I forcefeed her some pasta whilst my head of department is having a chat with her about matters. She smiles later - must admit, it was so good to she her do that. God bless her and give her the healthy Ani back!

Such a delicate balance in life...

Eddie Day

Its Eddie's birthday...

Happy b'day to Eddie!
hope he is having a bash - completely off his *its and warmed by a real fire!

or save that till the party!

birf-day

Just showing Chris around town: went to the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg, main town attractions and introduce him to the all-important Tram service! We have some local food and wine for lunch in town... you have to do that here in Strasbourg: any food is good food! infact, even 'flunch' is great! I cant stop thinking of the hospital, so I take him along to visit Anindya and meet Ani's wife and friend from India.

Vlado helps us to go to the super mache to get stuff for shopping, and we head off to Petit france! - its an absolutely gorgeous part of strasbourg... We try and absorb the sounds of the water, the beautiful buildings, the warm lighting, the passing by boats to see if we can find somewhere that does really good local (alsatian) menu. Chris cant get over the fact that its a whole menu and does not include a dog! :-)

We have an amazing dinner, lasting a good few hours - a true treat. OH, thank you so much Chris! plus, whilst we feel fat and loaded with tremendous amounts of food, the 'ride back' consists of walking up a flight of stairs to where my mates live! Hassan sees us and goes:"hey you guys have to come out tonite!"

reluctantly, we find ourselves walking towards 'Seven', although the music is good we stay for half an hour as planned earlier, miss the tram and end up walking to mine (1.5 hrs walk) as we get lost on the untrodden footpaths! lol

sheesha, lanterns and dreams...

Chris and I had off from Germany into Strasbourg - to meet some of my friends who have gathered to witness the transformation one goes through when they turn 18 again! I am glad its going to be a chilled out -not too fancy a celebration. I keep wishing in my mind that as I enter l'abbatoir (check out the place: read a review in the 'links' section) + Here's (L-R: Matthias, Vlado, Matt and Arthur).

we had the perfect chill out evening... everyone made the evening really cosy, funny, happy and made Chris feel really welcome too and I got to talk to Shorty and Mum + Teju on the phone!

every one left us in the sheesha cafe at the end of the nite to go and find a club/den/kebab shop... and Chris and I just sat there till the place closed jam shut dreaming under the multiple lanterns that hung above; of becoming an astronaut/having our own cafe/(Chris) producing his music and having his own radio station.

Some day those vapours would materialise and we will ring each other up to say: 'hey, guess what I did today: you remember l'abattoir!?'

I finally turned 24... and left l'abattoir before they dusted us off with the furniture.

jour férié: to bee or not to bee party?

Its 11th of Nov...rememberance day. I wake up in my room (which still comprises all of my 'house') have some warmed up microwave tea (god incharge of making sure people enjoy tea, forgive me for that!). It s a full agenda!

7.00 am: sitting upright in wait of Vlado's call to see when Anindya's wife arrives. Have 2 conference abstracts to finalise and a paper to review before I can set me foot outside and go to Baden-Baden to pick up Chris. (oh, he arrives: so excited!). For all those who publish things [papers, articles, etc] would understand how painful it can be!

anyway, it turned out to be one of those days where things work out; or you are so scared it ll be an unproductive day, that you do things really attentively and it you complete everything on all the lists you ve made!

went to the hospital, didnt get to see Anindya's family, but was able to make sure I let people know Im still around ... I hear his condition is ever-so-slightly better, but that doesnot include consciousness. still praying...

so, finally, 18hr-something and I go and find Place d'la Austerlitz! The shuttle ain't there! luckily, I meet 'Bill'* and Christian who I join for a drink (Bushmills 16), and wait till the shuttle arrived...about 40 mins later! I was quite relaxed, however these guys were hoping to get on the plane, so were getting a bit worried and none of us spoke good enough German for the emergency hotline!

anyhoo...I finally get to the airport and GET CHRIS! yay! It was just awesome to see him !

:-)

The best part of some 4 weeks is to see him. Still questioning my willingness to celebrate my birhtday - wish Anindya gets better, there would be more to celebrate...

*Bill: William really, insists on being called Chris.

need prayers

Anindya s sinking into a deeper coma... we are scared. we wait outside the hospital, holding hands - the silence, the anticipation of news whenever Olivia (one of our freinds, who has been the interpreter at the hospital) is about to have her status check with the doctor - makes the strongest guys weep!

so close to life, yet so far...
makes you wonder : what an incredible piece of art is the human body - such an amazing equilibrium, yet such a fragile structure.

I would stay away from the details for the sake of any faint-hearted people looking at the blog. But if you can, send in prayers - a nice man is in the need.

God bless Anindya.
Keep fighting it Bhaiya, Get well soon buddy! every hour when the class ends, we eager wait to hear updates from the hospital...

hospital visits

One of my Indian friends on the course is ill - in Intensive Care in a comma. Went into hospital 10 days ago, had pancreatis - but his condition is so much worse... We go to see him, hospital gets scared with his popularity: 56 students + staff members want to see him! (He's names Anindya... Also, the brainiest guy on the course, a Dr himself, teaches at one of the best Universities in West India! and the jolliest fella you could spot in a crowd)

lifes cruel...
terribly cruel...

we all get our pictures taken and send our messages, doodles, scribbles of best wishes for his recovery - flow of which might may the Dalai Lama question his devotees.
his fevers increasing though...

papered walls n a double bed

I move in... the bedrooms ready, there a double bed (woohoo, for the first time! - ok, apart from when I lived at home-home, I suppose). There's a microwave I can cook in, a table to put books on, an electric heater to keep me warm and a cupboard to make sure I can hide all the stuff I dont want them to see!

its nice, its ok, I have a cave to hide in, a balcony to look out on, a floor to offer to who-so-ever is keen to visit me! jobs-a- gooden!

it ll make a nice right cosy place hopefully by christmas...
can't wait to smell the scent of mulled wine cooking on the stove and a mighty roast in the oven!

i can finally move in...!

oh yes!
I call up my landlord and he says that 'you can't sleep on a university sofa on the night of New year - come to our spare room and the house would be ready on Friday night'! so I do... I finally get some properly Gujarati homecooked food: the Aunty (being Indian, any homely elder you meet becomes your 'uncle' or 'aunty'- we are one big family, all love and peace!) cooks food just like Mum does..!

Two nights with no sleep, dying to have a proper shower and get out of my messy rucksack - and I am so excited that I can bearly sleep : I finally move in tomorrow.

I also wonder, is it just me or does everyone crave to have a 'home' (defined as a place, a bed with my teddy bear, a desk and a plant!)... how do people who sell 'big issue' survive!?

there is another side of the coin though...currently, 'home' is the counted minimum things in my rucksack - and thats great if I were travelling,
but we are too polluted with the 'office' environment: maybe that needs to change.

After a long Team Project meeting: I sit on my own and I feel one of the 'thought' things coming on again: so, lets get this straight, we are talking of "in-situ (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=in-situ) resource utilisation" on Moon and Mars, but can't really do it well on Earth. (!)

To me, it doesnt have to be all organised, it going back to the cave man approach - finding food, making do with it without having to modify it too much and causing the minimum effect back to the surroundings! I listen to 'bbc radio' to feel home - and I decide I there is a more complex meaning to home and get all confused. maybe its just me!

I conclude that maybe (and this is a good sign) that I am not made to just retire to a bottle of some booze and should live a civilised life.... yeh, I think my parents would be relieved! I read Eddie's blog (monthinatipi) and feel like my point was somewhat justified: and the man is doing some ISRU himself - totally sweet! keep on...

for me, I think, I would love to live that way - close to nature, it would definitely be more interesting than leaving in a rucksack (it can get a bit mundane after a while). Maybe I should take a holiday in a wood out in the himalayas and live on the plants and build my summer home there out of wood with my own hands - maybe I should put an axe (to cut wood) on my birthday wish list!

now where!?

I finally move out of Gary's appartment - can't believe how lucky I was to be able to stay there! Once again, I find myself failing to have enough words and no mascarpone to make a big enough tiramisu as a token to thank him with... but, I guess, that such 'home made' things are best left till I have a 'home'!

so now, LOTS of work needs to be done on the lunar orbiter... we get to work, wait for each other to finish bits so that we can put all the pieces together ... maybe we waited a bit too long! anyhoo, I would rather not bore you all about this - but I had my first ISU sun rise! (erm,...) and an hr's sleep on the Student lounge sofa...

Saints and lamps!

Happy Diwali and Happy All-Saints day!
whilst half of the world celebrates a day off (or more appropriately a long bank holiday weekend till tuesday) we have to work - not only that, work lots, I mean! last night, we all took the last tram home - and here is what it was like:

discussing orbital mechanics at 45mins past midnight! hmm, erm.. yeh. I am reliably informed from my Law prof that the 'image' (and you have to say it the French way) is protected in France. so, photo credits to : Joan, Michael and Anna.and this is how the cathedral looked when I got there for my last overnite stay! it is really mesmerising at nights!