Well...a good 8 months, since my previous post and boy! has life changed!! Starting from my marital status to the city I live in; from my "occupation" to my daily routine, everything has undergone a 180 degree phase shift! :) and I am loving it!(ok, most of it!) So, as a part of the "change", I am re-christening my blog!

The US of A has not been as different as I thought it would be (except ofcourse the dollar to rupee conversion, which kept its promise!) Trying to cram in 3-odd months into a single post is ridiculous, but I ll take a shot at it, nevertheless! Or may be, I ll break it up into episodes, and give Ekta Kapoor a run for her money! ha ha!

Chicago-Bloomington (2nd August - 9th August)

We landed here amidst thunderstoms! There was really no need for the dramatic set up, on our arrival, but He thought otherwise! :) Our connecting flight from Chicago to Bloomington( where my cousin Ajitha stays) got cancelled, and he and his wife had to make a 2 &1/2 hr drive in the rain to pick us up from Chicago. We ended up paying for our suitcases' air fare ( we could have taken them with us, but the dumb things didnt get off the plane!). The journey from O'Hare to Bloomington was awesome! The land is completely flat (corn fields all the way), and we could see lightning hit the road in front of us. There were fireworks all around, and the minivan ( which is really sturdy!) started swaying because of the wind. We reached his place by 4 in the morning, and the poor guy left to work at 5, after a full mug of coffee!

So much for our arrival! We spent a nice 5 days at their place. Harsha, my cousin's wife is an awesome cook, and their daughter Gouri , who recently turned 2, made both of us forget that we actually had to go to Tempe, and to ASU!

Tempe

We landed at Phoenix 's Sky Harbor airport on the 9th of august, around noon, and as soon as stepped out of the plane, we could not help but think - "this has to be the hottest place on earth"! It was one of the hottest days this year, with mercury hovering around 47 degrees C !
And after the cool of Bloomington, the heat seemed unbearable! Mahesh picked us up and we drove to his apartment. He had prepared lunch for us ( very sweet of him!) and we went to the university, setting up our college and bank accounts. We moved into our new 'home' that night - and there was not a stick of furniture, except the stove and the refrigerator. The 8' X 12' living room looked huuuuuuge!!

The next couple of days went by in a blur. We were busy registering for classes(rather, FIGHTING to register!) , getting settled at the apt, and finding our way around the campus with a green colored map! I was home sick in 2 days, and exhausted a $10 calling card in a couple of days! Amidst all this, I managed to do the "mangala gouri vrata", and had made shavige payasa! :)

I cant believe it now, that I used to cook three times a day!! I loved it, and it's MY first kitchen! :D In fact, I nearly exhausted all the recipes I knew, in a month. And then, the real grilling started - course work - relentless stream of homeworks, assignments, quizzes, tests, mid-terms....and it's still continuing...and will probably do so for the next yr and a half atleast!
And as expected, cooking has come down to once a day, that too at night, and "cereal" has become our regular breakfast! sigh!

So, thats been most of what's happened here, from the time we set foot in this place, till now...and there ve been a couple of interesting "events"( u knw I am studying too much of probability!) , like our visit to the Tempe Town Lake, the Town library, and ofcourse the extremely enjoyable trip to Oak Creek Canyon. Will write about each of them separately!