Back Logs Part 3 - More Adventures.

OK.
I apologise and I agree that I can now be given the title of the laziest blogger in town. With that introduction let me take you for a trip into my life starting from three weeks ago.

I believe I kept you waiting last time , while I went for my chinese dinner and Bourne Marathon series.... well that was over long time back but the Apollo Chinese Restaurant aka Peace Restaurant is still one of the most popular (read cheap) restaurant in town ...and we frequent it almost at least two times in 3 days.

The week that followed the presentation week was majorly chilled out. We had to basically attend some lectures and labs and get a feel of what it was like being a TA. And so I reached about half an hour late for the lecture that I was to attend on Monday morning. I enter the department and right in front of the door is our TATP supervisor, almost as if waiting for me. I make an innocent face and just when I am going to cook the wackiest excuse ever, he enquires didnt you have a class to attend....

( silence)


umm ya...but i think I am late (You think??? you know u are)

Oh well.. good for you because the lecture was cancelled... ( woooooow!! THERE IS A GOD!)

So with such an amazing beginning I start my week.
I did attend the next such lecture. This time in time because it was after about two hours the same day and realise that the kinetic theory of gases are one of the many things that I have completely erased out of my random access memory.. thankfully we were just observers then.

The next day we have a lab to attend. Happily I reach the assigned room, this time before time, and the lab starts with about 14 students. There were four of us, first years as observers and we huddled in one corner of the lab, trying to see how the teaching assistant who was actually assigned that lab and a third year senior of our department, went about handling the students. Other than a minor disaster of breaking one of the wooden cabinets and some glass apparatus inside it by one of us (not me) the first half an hour of the lab was eventless. During this time I skillfully managed to avoid the TA's eyes for a reason that I would soon elaborate. Everything was working according to plan. The students were diligently going about their experiments , we were yawning, the TA was observing us observing her when suddenly another crash. This time the same disaster except that it was the TA who managed it this time. Trying to be the helpful guy I went and helped her pick the pieces of glasses and other stuff when she suddenly discovers what I was hoping she would not. After about 2 minutes of reconsidering she comes up to me and tells me , well I really shouldnt be allowing you to be in the lab with that footwear.

Well , the deal is, that you can wear shorts in the lab, but you cant wear opentoed footwear. And then and still now, the only footwear that I have is my beloved Woodlands sandals. I clarified that I had no shoes but she made it clear in a very nice way that it was the rule and she would be in a fix if someone found out. Well.. ... off I went, back home, borrowed a pair of shoes from my roomies and came back. Hoping to be acknowledged that I was being diligent I re enter the lab with a big smile after about 40minutes and the only emotion that flashes across the TA's and my other classmates' faces is disbelief.

The TA doesnt say anything, but my friends are like - "You came back ? If I were you I would have just left". So much for diligency !

Nothing more happened except that I stayed on till the end since there was one guy was really adamant at taking all the time there was to finish his experiment. It was fun, except for the small part when the students came to us and started asking us questions about the experiment. All of us had almost no idea about the experiment and we conjured up most plausible answers.

Anyways, the ended peacefully and it was a nice experience.

Wednesday, July 23rd. Possibly one of the most memorable days this summer!!

In our TATP, we have this program called Team Building Exercises. Its sponsored by Cornell Outdoor education. We are supposed to choose between High Element and Low Element. The difference between the two being that in the former you would be dealing with stuff at 25 feet or more above the ground and in the latter, below. I chose High Element..

After about an half an hour wait for the van, we reached a place about 20 minutes drive from campus. It was rather chilly that morning with occasional drizzles so we had to put on a poncho. We were given instructions on how to wear a harness. For those who need explanation, please check wikipedia. After the obvious initial lousiness I managed to wear it properly and we were then asked to sign a safety declaration form which stated that I was above 18 and I knew what I was doing. :D

I am adding the description of the place and the events as mentioned in the COE website. I will try explaining the individual exercises separately.

"Cornell Outdoor Education is widely known for having some of the best outdoor education facilities in the country. Our primary facility is the Hoffman Challenge Course, a comprehensive high and low ropes course situated on scenic Mt. Pleasant, just 5 miles from the Cornell campus.
The Hoffman Challenge Course, featuring over 50 low and high element challenges, is one of the largest collegiate ropes courses in the country. The high elements are challenges situated 20-40 feet above the ground, and navigated individually or in pairs while participants are secured by a belay system. The centerpiece of the facility is a 64-foot high replica of Cornell's McGraw Tower, complete with "tree fort" platform, rappelling stations, a 400-foot double Zipline, and a 40-foot Giant Swing. Other high elements include high Balance Beams, Pamper Poles, a Flying Squirrel, and many others."

Our first exercise was the Flying Squirrel. One individual is tied to a rope which comes over a pulley and the rest of the group is tied to the other end. The objective of the group named the Dogs is to run from Point A to Point B and in that tug, the squirrel gets pulled up in the air. The objective of the dogs , is then to slowly move back, with an underline on the word slowly so that the squirrel has a soft touch down.

The next exercise was the Zip line. You basically are again tied to a rope that extends to upto 400 feet and you fly across a zip line. you can either be superman, where both ur shoulders and waist is buckled or you can be free.

Another exercise was to get up on a wooden pole about 25 feet high and position yourself on a platform that is not more than 6inches by 6 inches. If and once when you do that, you are supposed to jump and grab a pair of bandanas that are hanging in front of you a little high above you about 6 feet away. I missed it and was one of the very few who did miss it. But trust me its quite an ordeal to get up on that rickety poll cause it wobbles under your feet. I still feel disheartened that I missed the challenge of getting the bandanas but I guess getting up on that poll was big enough for me. Im sure my other more successful colleagues would disagree.

If all these exercises would get about a 6, a 8 and a 7.5 in the difficulty/enjoyment level of 10 there was one exercise that our instructor said would get about a 12. I would give it a 15. And that the Giant swing. I have had my share of fairs and rides on the giant wheel, the russian wheel etc. This is way different and way too enjoyable. You position urself at the edge of the platform of the tower. You are buckled from the front and slowly you have to inch yourself away and let yourself fall of from the edge. The result is an almost free fall experience for about 2-3 seconds and then the rope becomes rigid and you swing like a pendulum. The only difference being that the amplitude of this pendulum is way to big and the speed is quite high. It takes about 10 oscillations to come to a complete stop and that too with the help of an instructor who pats your feet while you are slowing down to further reduce your speed. Cutting the long story short.. its an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The last two seconds before you let yourself go, are the hardest. There are friends encouraging you to do it. But there is an immense confusion that your mind seem to handle. To be or not to be. Trust me guys. Its GOOD. The first second after I managed to inch myself off from the platform was shock. The rest was heavenly. With the sound of wind whoosing past your ear, and all other sounds being blocked out, and with this sudden realisation that you are still alive it feels quite amazing.

The course is inside the woods and its a really nice place to be. While I write this I wish there was a video camera so that we could have recorded the entire trip.. its worth it. Im pretty sure my description is not even one hundredth as interesting and exciting as it really was. And if any of my cornell friends reading this has a video or more pictures of the trip I would really appreciate if you forwarded them to me or if you could describe your experiences here.

For those who have experienced bungee jumping I dont think this is comparable to that adrenaline rush and I myself would love to experience that one day. but for now, this remains to be one of the most interesting team building exercises that I have done.

We returned back to campus about 4 and half hours later. The only food that we all had that day was M&M's and water and I think that was enough.

The next day , we were scheduled to attend what is known as CPR and First Aid training.
Once again, you should check what CPR means. Its best to say that we did practice giving CPR enough times to a demo humanoid artificial model. We now know how to give primary assistance in an emergency situation and we are certified by the Red Cross.

The following day was the last day of our TATP and it was marked by a pizza party and suddenly we were free. We still had one last class to attend for ITAD which had more idioms and a group photograph and suddenly we were free !! Free for at least the next few days!!

There was some kind of a sale at Downtown Ithaca and I bought a couple of cds for a dollar each but the silver lining was our dinner that night at a restaurant called New Delhi Diamonds.

Finally professionally cooked indian food. I would not detail on what we ate, suffice to say that it was simply superb (and a touch expensive). Trust me guys , I was conveyed the following message by my roomies about the restaurant when we went there, and I would do the same and I think Crisita would support me on this (cause I think she really underestimated Indian spices!).

The MANGO LASSI there is AWESOME!!

The next sunday we went to the Buttermilk Falls, one of the many falls in and around the campus. The trail at the buttermilk falls is a long trail and very beautiful. But I would like to go there again and this time would like to make a video out of it. Only that would be a good enough description. Mean while I am adding a picture of the falls courtesy wikipedia.

Thats all for now guys. Will be updating very soon about other experiences and bringing you uptodate with the current state. Please bear with me. In the mean time please do keep those comments coming.



WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH THE FINE PRINT ? STOP READING IT... ITS NOT GOOD FOR THE EYES!
ALL PHOTOS USED HERE UNLESS MENTIONED OTHERWISE ARE COURTESY CRISITA CARMEN ATIENZA AND TOM McCARRICK.
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