it take two to make a thing go riiiight

blogpost 2, blogday 4 or 5 [whoops]. today (several days ago) i did a couple of things to keep me busy in the afternoon and tonight, too. i ate three flavors of froyo @ Yogurtland with several peeps going to bangalore with me, sipped a delish irish cream white choco mocha frappe @ Forza & took headshots of the officers of a mse (materials science & engineering) club (strangely all men) @ UW. my brother & his girlfriend picked me up, i watched a movie with my dad and then finished off the day by lazing in the twilight of our living room staring at the vaulted ceiling.

all this is part of the make up of my being and will soon be smeared off in the muggy heat of bangalore (a thunderstormy 81*F today). so why? where does bangalore fit in? why exchange frozen yogurt and frappes for spicy curry and chai? why exchange cars and vaulted ceilings for rickshaws and hostels? and how will a program on social justice and activism help me achieve a degree in mse?

a list to help you understand:

1. this counts toward my College Honors Degree
2. ideally, my experience in bangalore will make me a viable candidate for research in solar energy in india
3. i decided to pursue mse so that i could bring renewable energy to societies in need. this was my first inspiration
4. i want to mitigate social injustices by making people knowledgeable of their rights, abilities and the opportunities to protect them. my train of thought travels on this railway: introduce renewable energy source > create new jobs> create an incentive to be a viable employee> create an incentive to educate themselves> create knowledge> empower an individual
5. as an engineer i should know how my 'superman' projects really affect a community. is my 'help' beneficial or even welcome?
6. i want to learn how to ask questions with answers that can't be googled
7. i love indian food

so you see, my career goals are two sides of a coin. one side is the physics/chemistry of it all-- my textbook engineering education. the other is feeling-- the value of the coin, the what and why of being an engineer. most of my yesteryear has been in favor of a mse degree, i just wanna balance the scale!

ECH. oh, the woe of answering questions. this trip deserves discussion, not a FAQ section (email/lunch with me if this post doesn't satiate your hunger for donelyn-knowledge).

PS i better get the butt of my fingers moving or i'll have very few posts before heading off in... 11 DAYS!