today is the day

that i am off to... well, chicago! i won't get into bangalore until july 23rd.. 20 hours of flight time = 2 days??? time zones! ain't they a funny thing?

sad, here begins one of the biggest trips of my life and here i am shortening the three hour period i have to sleep. ahh but i guess that's what airplanes are for? i can't yet decide whether i want the window seat so i can fall asleep and not worry about my adjacent passengers going to the restroom or if i want the aisle seat so i can roam til my heart's content. oh, woe, what heavy decisions we have to make at 4 in the morn!

speaking of heart's content, as excited as i am (or should be) i'm feeling really homesick already. ugh this always happens. this gorgeous seattle summer has just now started to kick off and i'm leaving! but what's life if you dont' leave the cave, right?

weather.com says bangalore will be in the high 70s, thunderstormy & ~70% humidity. but how accurate are weather seers anyway? i ask too many questions at this hour. one more: what is the last letter of the alphabet?

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

if only the world were a nude beach...

the hardest thing about packing thus far (other than my lack of motivation to pack (other than my motivation of going to india!)) has been finding CLOTHING!

you'd think with all the ann taylors, nordstrom racks, eddie bauer, banana republic, gap and rosses supplying all our mothers' hoarding problems i'd be able to find something... cotton, light, breathable, wrinkle free, fast drying, above the collar bone, bellow the ankle, affordable-- and the right size! but NO. in a city tempered with bipolar skies there is nothing like that! there's thick cotton, wooly sweaters, jeans and v-necks galore. i look in my closet and it's just the same! i don't even own a raincoat. have i never dressed weather appropriate?

maybe not, but i've always dressed culture appropriate... right? maybe that's what guides fashion? here, we have REI for outdoor activities, we have jc penney's for job interviews and victoria's secret for sexy times. there, [i'm guessing] you have clothing that covers one up and serves the activities determined by the hot weather: dupattas (scarves) that can both dress up or conceal stuff (read: boobies) and even help pat off sweat, and skirts that keep your down there drafty & easily accessible to the (unamerican but very global) hole-in-the-ground toilet.

lightbulb: screw the american stores and buy clothes in india! most of the india worthy clothes i find here are made in india anyway! it will be interesting to see how cross cultural clothing is. how will the reactions of locals differ when i wear american clothing versus things i bought there? will the reactions of locals here be as strong if i were to wear outfits i bring back? why the reactions? because people think i'm trying too hard to fit in? because i don't have the cultural credibility to fit in? hmmmm...

i know, chin scratching stuff.

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!

TO DO: GO TO BANGALORE

i've finally started to begin! there's no more back burner, my upcoming study abroad to bangalore, india is cutting to the head of my line of thoughts and summer to do's. i have about 16 days [holy fortnight + 2!] until i head for the "silicon valley of india."

though i might not show it, i'm ridiculously-- excited! anxious. muddled. grateful! and... apparently ambiguous. there's tons of pros and cons to going, but the decision has been made, the deposit paid and the relatives told-- i have to go. this blog will not only be a means of chronicling my feelings/thoughts/travels but also a way of conveying these to visitors, which includes Future Donelyn. For this Holy Fortnight + 2 that i have left i'll be sharing thoughts as i pack and some that i had during the spring quarter "prep" class [what we call the "10" of our 10+4 adventure as a class].

today i'll leave you with unfinished to do lists [i love lists]...

TO DO BEFORE LEAVING

• Buy weather & culture appropriate clothing
• Find $$$
• Grab addresses for postcards
• PACK!
• Get my hair straightened (the hundred or so bucks will be worth the self-conscious or time problems i'll encounter hairwise)
• Practice walking

TO DO IN INDIA

• Visit the International Institute of IT
• Visit a garden (bangalore is aka "the garden city")
• Enjoy a sunrise
• Find a good hotdog

welcome & congrats-- you're now a member of my blog wolfpack. buckle up because you're in for a bloggalicious trip.