Movement 3 - The Trip To Ithaca Farmer's Market

If you are reading this blog without reading the blog right below that has the title "Fresh Blogs ..... "
then please read it because this is a continuation blog. So please go and read that one...
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go down means not down this one.. go to the next blog.. its called "fresh blogs ....."
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ok welcome back..
yeah... so after cooking yesterday i simply went to sleep. I did try to watch the Marx Brothers DVD that I had brought from Olin Library the other day.. and well it turned out to be pretty boring.. I had expected more from them .. but ya.. Groucho is quite funny... in his dialogue.. and serious way to deliver them.. but I guys he is better off in small stints. In a full fledged movie I guess one needs to put in a lot of fillers in order to position the individual brilliances at ideal distances so that the viewer is not over burdened with them and these fillers are exceptionally boring.. like song dance sequences and etc. you know. and its in black in white..

anyways.. mom and dad had called and I told them what i told you guys in the last blog.. about my groceries and the concert.. also.. about the department and what its like.. well ya.. people do look up to you if u are doing phd here.. i dont know why.. but they do.. apparently getting thru phd is really tough.... :-) did i sound arrogant.. i didnt mean to be cause according to me all these people here. around me. walking beside me. sitting right opposite me. sitting in a acubicle beside me. everyone who travels with me in the bus and has a small blue card that says cornell id... they are all exceptionally brilliant.. so...i dont really know why just the phd (any subject) people are reverred. And actually maybe its not so. and someone is joking with me :) and maybe phd people are really hated here!! although one of MEngg friends told me that this place has a reputation of being the most strictly graded schools among the ivy-s!! why .. oh why.. do I always have to be in a place that gives you the lowest grades! :)

anyways. thats not what we are talking about here are we ?
so after that.. I slept off and woke up today morning. at around 8, then 9 then 10 and finally at 10:15 thought it was enough.. and got up from my couch. We, as in the group that had gone for the japanese trip...- the indians and chrisita - had decided that we will go to this place called Ithaca Farmer's Market where the farmers around here actually bring in their produce and sell them.

So anyways I called up Jimmy and then after a few round of phone calls it was decided that we will meet at a place called Ithaca Commons. Well thats another hang out place in here. Collegtown and Commons are two main places where people hang out. so i walked to commons. with a laptop in my bag a map in one hand and an umbrella in another. it was raining very heavily today morning. and so the umbrella. it was a nice walk. with the mp3 player playing ironmaiden the walk with the ithaca cemetary beside you was quite an experience. it was broad daylight but there are a lot of trees there and it was cloudy and no one was really on the streets with the rains and all and it was a nice walk.. really felt nice.. you know , the way I am. Trying to walk always.. and this was downhill by the way.. which helped because if the entire distance was uphill it would have vaporised my romanticism right away , even with all that humidity !

Well I just checked at google maps. Its about a little more than a mile. if you type in Lake street to Ithaca Commons you will see it. anyways.. it was really nice. and one thing.... the maps here are brilliant. I mean...i have the TCAT Bus Route Master Map always in my hand. We have been given one during our program. and otherwise also.. you can get one on any bus you get up. And the maps are brilliantly accurate.. this whole place is so organized. the street names are marked at every crossing. and well if you miss that then there is a problem. because the houses just have numbers on them. Which I think is a bad thing, since I come from a complicated address system which works because everyplace has the total address on the post box. and just in case due to some strong storm or snow fall u just dont know which street is which or the arrows change directions then there will be a real bad problem. but i guess.. thats a negative scenario. just now it works.. and i guess that the mentality.. (when in rome , be like romans..) so as I was saying I kept walking and reached at 12:57.. 3 minutes before the schedule rendezvous.. I was the first one to arrive !!! YESS!!!

Anyways.. that was because three of my friends lived around that area.. and so I had to call them once I reached. but anyways.. I was on time. That should mum my critics for some time ! :-)

Then.. as slowly people started coming.. we had the next question in mind.. now what? Jimmy knew that the bus number 16 took us to the market. and a 16 had just left at 1 o clock. but the idea was to have lunch and then leave for the market. So we went to this Pizza place which we had discovered day before and had lunch there. This time I do remember the name. Its actually a speciality here. Its called Buffalo Chicken. Purists might raise their eyebrows and for their information it doesnt have Buffalo in it. The kind of chicken is called buffalo chicken. and its really nice.. after lunch.. we went back to the bus stop and waited for the next bus which according to Jimmy was supposed to be an hour later and therefore at 2. We waited till 2:10 and realised that something was wrong because if a bus is supposed to come at 1:39 , it will not come at 1:38 or at 1:40.it will come at 1:39 or else you are reading the wrong bus route map.. so we went up to the driver of another bus and asked him about the elusive number 16 and he said it runs every 2 ours! " and well ... we had nothing to do for an hour..

I came up with an idea of checking out the guitar shop that was there in the commons... and convinced everyone else to come because anyways we were doing nothing sitting at the bus stop and it wasnt raining. and as we came out of the stop it did start raining.. with minor protests ignored i suffered all rain (drizzle) and etc to reach at the shop.. and as i entered a healthy american smiled and welcomed me. I was explaining to him that I wanted to look around.. and he understood the crucks of it..(me no money. please senor.. me want to play guitar!!) and said no problem dudes. just pick up any and play....

Trust me ... there was about a thousand guitars in that room and im not lying or exaggerating. in that room that would be not much bigger than the outer sitting room of my house in Calcutta for those who know that. For those who dont, it would be not bigger than the sitting space inside Gwyer Hall Canteen. on the walls. hanging from the ceiling. kept on the floors. all kinds. les pauls, telecasters, gretschs, axe, bass guitars, 5 string bass, fretless basses, stratocasters, jumbo guitars, steel strings, fender nylon strings, sg-s, banjos, mandolins, art guitars , guitar clocks, even the fancy guitar thats there on the Best of Dire Straits album ... it was all there. and processors, and amplifiers... i dont know if i can express it but i guess if there was a heaven it would be something like this for me .... i didnt know how one hour passed. truly speaking ria and jimmy and chrisita and swapna had to literally pull me out of the place. I played for about an hour and still i dont think it was to my heart's content. the les paul costs 265$ and i think i have my eyes on that. Although it doesnt coem with a case which would cost another 30 and the most basic amps cost about 70$ and the wire... ..so i think i should have to save about a 500$ to buy a les paul. and thats quite cheap. cause i think this is austin les paul. and not a gibson les paul. a gibson les paul can cost and will cost more. the actual guitar that i really liked but it was too high on the wall and i couldnt reach it.. and rightly so i guess because the price tag read 1990. and thats about a months salary for me. and ria was right. you should buy that after 5 years and maybe I would.. but I think 500$ is okay if i wait for about three months.. :) i dont know im not sure.. as of now.. money's flowing faster than those arithmetic sums you get in primary school of taps filling the tank and two others emptying it !!

anyways.. it was mesmerizing to say the list and well I did get a few fans.. jimmy asked me to teach him once he got a guitar. i guess a few pulling and fast finger picking styles for show off always does the trick.. not everybody needs to know i really dont play the guitar that well ! :-)

but anyways.. it was really awesome. i mean.. i am still letting out positive contented sighs when im thinking about the shop... thanks to that guy also. causei think i played about 10-11 guitars there. and a black fender classical guitar and the les paul really sounded good. the fender classical costs about 745.. but i want to buy an electric so its out of the question..

talking about guitars i remember seeing a packed electric guitar the other day.. at target mall. thats another huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge place out here. well maybe not so huge for all of you who keep going to south city everyday or those who have been staying in the US. but for me who has just come down from india and for those others who eagerly wait to read my blog.. im telling you its huuge. i dont mind if i am a little overawed tt the enormity of things. Its the real feeling after alll .. but let me come back to the guitar. it came with an amplifier and wiring.. and costed about 125$..i was quite impressed at that and today after going to this place which has really a classical feeling to it and im sure the guy who was at the counter is the son of the owner or something like that.. because the shop really looked old and i realised 125$ as compared to a lespaul at 265 meant it was basically a supermarket product. and wouldnt really sound too good.. especially if i dont have enough money to experiment!! :)

so that 125 $ is now out of the question !! im now looking for a good guitar. something that I can really cherish ...

anyways.. i didnt get pics from the guitar place but next time i go there i will definitely do so..
after coming out of there we took the bus at 3:05. we asked the driver as to where to get down if we had to go to the farmers market and when the last bus would return from there and he said he him self would be coming back at 5:15 and we thanked him and got up.
we reached there at around 3:25 and well we had to walk a bit. and this part was really exciting since it was raining reallllllly heavily. and it was quite a lot of fun you know.. really. well the rains here are not like the ones with a lot of fan fare and noise but its decent. and so we kept walking through the rain and reached a point where we could see a mall and the rain was getting to bother us now. So we went inside the mall... !! well not exactly we took pictures before that!! i dont have them with me since i dont have a digital camera yet.. and so i dont think i will be able to post pictures that are taken by me.. on my own camera.. the last picture about teriyaki was taken by me but rias phone camera.. came out really well right

anyways inside the mall we just looked around... you know there was this pack. which read chocolate chip and it had a cookie on it on the label. something like the Hide and Seek Milano..and when I felt the packet it seemed really small. as in it seemed as if all the biscuits had broken and were in small pieces and then I realised that actually it was just the chocolate chips and not the cookie themselves ! :-p

anyways. .. i bought 4 cups of chocolate pudding...ready to eat and a chocolate chip cookie biscuit.. total cost 2.79$ .. and i think chrisita bought chocolate pudding and vanilla pudding and ria bought biscuits and something else..

once we came out it was only drizzling and we reached the market. well everybody was packing so there was nothing really to see. but the farmers market is situated at one of the branches of the cayuga lake.. which by the way is one of the Finger lakes.. according to wiki,

"Cayuga Lake (pronounced either "kā-'yü-gə" or "kī-'yü-gə") is the longest of western New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and volume. It is just under 40 miles (64 km) long. Its average width is 1.7 miles (2.7 km), and it is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide at its widest point near Aurora. It is approximately 435 ft (133 m) deep at its deepest point. (Courtesy and Copyright Wikipedia) "

anyways.. we didnt really get to see much of the real big lake.this was just a part of it covered by land on three sides like a branch and it helped and served like a harbor..

but ya. the place is beautiful and it was then that the rain seemed to be at the right place at the right time.. dropping on the lake and splashing the water. and ducks floating around... i asked chrisita to take a picture of one of the ducks that was floating and cutting the water in such a way that it created a perfect V , itself being at the bottom of the V.


The photographs that you see along with this post are all courtesy Ria Sircar...they are all taken by her from her phone camera.. There are other pics as well but I am waiting for them to be uploaded by chrisita jimmy and swapna..

none of these photographs really need a label so i wont mention them. but ya. the place is really nice.. its got benches to sit and a place where boat point where boats come to get tourists for a boat ride.. we missed it because like the farmers market that also was only till 3. but we enjoyed quite a bit..

after spending some time there we headed back to the place where the bus had dropped us and i was still about half an hour or so for the bus to come so we went in another convenience store run by a mexican or an asian i couldnt seem to figure out.. he was almost closing.. but we had coffee anyways. he had actually shut down his coffee machine so the coffee that came out when he restarted it for us was cold and he had to microwave it! :)

but all in all it was fun.. while waiting for the bus we saw a little girl peeking at us from her second floor window... and as we waved she pulled the curtain together ... then again we could see the curtain slowly unfold and we waved again sensing that she was watching us.. and again the curtain closed and this game went on for a while :-) ..... well trust yours truly to come up with these little diversions!! :) im quite proud about them actually. but anyways.. she changed windows and by then all my other friends were also very amused at the game.. but then i guess both her and us lost interest. we saw the bus approaching and a quick glance at my watch told me it was 5:15! i guess from next time i wont look at the watch !!

i got down at college town..
i wanted my effort of carrying my laptop around for the entire day count and so... i headed for the engg dept which remains open till late night and from where i can access the internet .. the red rover wireless connection to be exact.. and while i was coming i had to cross this small little foot bridge under which flows the Cascadilla Creek and with the rains it was really flowing fast.. and that one glance...with the small drizzle on my hair and the map in my hands and the creek flowing really rapidly just under the foot bridge I was walking... and doors playing riders on the storm in my ears... that one moment actually made me decide to create the fresh blog. really..
that one glance and then a small movement of my head looking around the trees that were wet made me smell the wetness of the air.. i didnt think about home. i didnt think about any other rainy day. i didnt think of anyother feeling nice moment. some how, some where inside i just felt free and nice.. and fresh... and thats wat these two blogs were all about..

right now i have a lot of things in my mind. I have to give a presentation on tuesday for which i have not decided a topic. im feeling a little hungry because i have been typing for about 3 hrs now ,, dear readers..and its about 9 o clock. im also thinking about the first check that i am supposed to get next week.. and hundreds of other things.. but i know when u read this and if at all, when i read this i will feel good and thats what makes all those thoughts go away.. and that I think is the beauty of this place.

Everyone says 1st yr phd grad school is really hell.. and probably thats why its reverred ... not for respect but maybe for sympathy.. but what everyone keeps telling us is that the place will keep you going.. which trust me is true...
just to let you know... once again.. keep those comments coming.. and opinions about how and what details you want me to add and subtract.. any changes in the look of the blog.. anything what soever... please refrain from swearing and if you are using nicknames that is not your name please do let me know who you are... unless you are the sad "rain god doctor" !! :-) sorry couldnt help it but to take his trip ! :)

anyways... next week. or rather next weekend.. is the annual GrassRoots Festival. Please check it up on the internet..(read google) ... and then I will give you my account of it! :)


So thats it for now..
take care all of you.. and until next time.. be good!! :-)


(ALL PHOTOGRAPHS USED IN THIS BLOG ARE COURTESY RIA SIRCAR AND HER CAMERA. I THANK HER FOR ALLOWING ME TO USE THEM)