Abseil

I encountered this word while reading the story in Guardian Newspaper about hostage crisis that enfolded in Mumbai. At the last reading more tha 195 people were killed. The word Abseil was also in several other stories. So naturally I was curious. The word means to rappel down and it was used because elite commando units were abseiled down the building to flush out the militants.

Pictures says it all

Edgar J Hoover brief summary

The blog that was written in Morning

Its November 30 around 8:42 am when I have begun to update this blog and will have a different date by the time I am ready to post it, probably in the evening. Its the last date of the Thanksgiving break. I think I made good use of the break. I went to sleep after doing Vipassana and was thinking should I write or do Vipassana first ? I had a strange dream that woke me up. It was about a conspiracy that no one no and I vividly recall that the dream was all in English !! Does that mean I think in English ? I just focused my thought on how I think and surprisingly the words that pop up were all English. Coming back to the dream the dream was about a very famous person and how he is not the real person. He was trying to hire an assassin and there was a guy behind him in the long rows of cart that comes up and kills the would be assassin and that is when I woke up. I was trying to analyze it why I had such dream ? What was it trying to tell me ? And something that happens to me usually that I always wonder how the life is cut short in a moment.

Yesterday was the first time I crossed the 2000 mark in wii tennis. I was wondering if there will be new pari other than Elisa and Sarah would show up, since I am surpassing their competency points.

Some books I read and some not

This Saturday I finished the Shiva comic. It was great to read this comic and I liked it that Deepak Chopra is the one who gives a synopsis about the story as most of these legends have far deeper meaning and not many people can do justice to that. On Vipassana retreat Goenkaji elucidated some finer points. Otherwise one would take them as just ordinary story of super gods fighting against super evil. The story of Kali was my favorite and how Raktaveej had unsettled the gods. He had the boon that if a drop of his blood falls on earth another congruent Raktaveej will be born so it was almost impossible to slay him and then how Kali was summoned to obliterate Raktaveej as she would catch the blood on her tongue before it falls and was thus able to annihilate the whole army of Raktaveej. This story is a metaphor the real meaning is our own failings the more we give into them the more we get drawn in this vortex of “sankharas”.
The second book I just started but I don't have time to finish it and its due date is on monday. May be next time besides that I also watched one fine espisode of globe trekker on Scandinavia.

What shopping did i do on Black Friday ?

I had nothing in my wish list worth buying that would prod me to share the hustle-bustle of the early morning shoppers. So I went out in the evening to buy myself ear muffs. The only place that was selling was GAP store and those were too cute for guys. At JcPenny I found this cap for $30 and I liked it. Now I can ride bicycle even in cold. Yay..

Prod Sum, Sum Prod, Partitions

I was looking at the partitions and how it could be easily defined using the set theoretical notation. p(n) = #{(x1,x2, ...,xn):1.x1+2*x2+3*x3+...n*xn}. Here I discuss few of the things I been working since I came back from the thanksgiving lunch.

Thanks giving at Les O'Dell

Its Thanksgiving and I guess most of the people are either sleeping early to get up early or not at all sleeping so they could be among the first people in line to buy their favorite goodies. Today I went with Aaron to Les O'Dell's house for the thanksgiving. It was wonderful. The food was great and I get to know some really nice people. Les is a freelance writer and is one of those people you easily connect with. His wife Sarah was super nice too and made sure that I had eat till I burst. There were quite a few other people showed up and I had a good time. Thank you all for having me.

J. Edgar Hoover

I finished the manga style graphic novel on J. Edgar G Hoover. It was interesting to read about a person who influenced the United States and the world so much. He was the one who formed the FBI from OSS. He was paranoid about Communism and his policies lead to discrimination of Russian and German people at that time. He was a dictator who cared less about people, he was a showman who became power hungry and in the end was exposed. In the beginning his intentions were good but as he grew powerful he lost his innocence and sense of direction and started to see enemies everywhere. Even his facial countenance changed and from a likable young boy he became a harsh, stern despot. It was another lesson that loosing humility leads to self destruction as what happened to Hoover.

Mobile Phone

If you own a sony ericsson mobile phone and have a internet connection, chances are that you have at&t service. The media net is a very primitive browser and reminds me of the text browser lynx back in the days when Netscape Navigator was a novelty. If you are wondering how to install the msdict dictionary for your mobile phone then you are experiencing a situation I experienced too. Just install Opera browser for your cell phone. You can browse regular web pages with this lightning fast browser and the little zooming window will give access to whatever you want to focus on the page. You can access Wikipedia for free, otherwise you have to pay media net for browsing it and all regular websites so you don't have to install any dictionary on your mobile phone. If you don't have internet on your phone then you may like “Gutenary” dictionary. Its the only one which allows you to keep using it for free though it keeps pestering you to send $5.

Jim Ellis at Student Centre

Last week the legendary swim coach "Jim Ellis" was here. His hr long talk was a blast, peppered with humor and insights. The reason his proteges went on to achieve so many distinctions is because instead of focusing just on sports and achieving results, he focused on building character, in fact he never thought of all those accolades which came through. He was too busy inculcating good habits and I think this is a fundamental difference and the defining factor in his training.

Today in Pics

A cute little dog outside Carbondale Library and composition, prod sum on my office blackboard

Beemo and her ramblings

Remember the thought how your thoughts define you a person. Nowhere else in history it was possible to know about people than it is now unless they were writers, anchors, columnists or famous person. Lot of young people want to change the world. One of the good thing about being young is your world view is less obstructed by the veneer of prejudices you acquire (if you are not careful about the interpretations you give to your experiences) and that's why for young people everything is a possibility. Beemo in her own capacity has already changed things. She has a world record under her belt in weightlifting. She posts her ramblings on the facebook and this is how I have got to know her. Unlike most other teenagers of her age she definitely has some vision for her life but she herself doesn't seem to have defined it and that's what is holding her back. it It's because how far you can see depends on how far top you are sitting on the tree and the closer to ground you are the harder it is for sunshine to reach you. After reading her posts I can see someone who is promising but how far she goes in life will depend on how fast she starts climbing up the tree of knowledge.

Keep Moving Forward

Yesterday I watched two movies back to back. The first was “Meet the Robinsons” and the 2nd was “Fast and Furious: The Tokyo Drift”. While meet the Robinsons is uplifting with its message of “Keeo Moving Forward”. I don't know how much that movie was influenced by Walt Disney.“The Fast and Furious” was a time waster. It's natural to ask question after you have spent time on something that was it really worth it ? The only thing I have acquired from this movie is what does drifting means!

Skyler Ray Taylor's blog

I was reading the post of the Skyler Ray Taylor. I know him more as an acquaintance rather than someone up close. However during my brief encounters with him I have seen him as someone who is passionate about his faith. Reading his blog on facebook was little more enlightening where he traces his journey to his current belief. I remember once he proudly claimed that he dabbled in "Buddhism" before finding his true faith.

The essence of Buddhism is just its core message. Rest all is built up by people all around the world mainly because they were carrying their load of previous religious training. Buddhism is not a new age religion or a hippie movement. Its a philosophy that tells you what is the source of your sorrow is. "Any craving for pleasure or animosity to pain brings sorrow. So to be peaceful you have to remain equanimous. Realize that this is a state right now and it will change". If you meditate on this a little you will realize that how powerful that it is. A feeling of Aha accompanies with a chill in the spine. That's truth !! and you begin to see that life is beautiful and you can be in control. However if you look at all the intellectual literature on Buddhism they are doing what philosophers do best making simple things complex and the truth is lost. They make theories, rituals and justifications and that has been the fate of all the flavour of Buddhism, which have become nothing more than elaborate ceremonies. What else Buddha did was the way to reach that equanimity and that is Vipassana. Buddha is a genius far greater than any other spiritual being because he found that truth, shared it with everybody, not using it to achieve a divine status for himself. He freed everybody in the real sense.

Important stuff :)

Sometimes its easy to take a pic then to copy things. Here are a couple of pics which should tell you why

Lunch

I have started to carry out lunch with me. Its easy to put a sandwich toast. Here is one French Marmalade I have developed a special liking for.

Prod Sums

The Diophantine r1e1+r2e2+rmem =n can be analyzed as a product of ordinary generating functions as Prod(1/(1-z^(ri),i = 1..m). So there are m generating functions that are multiplied and we are looking at the coefficient of z^n in that product. The solution for this is #{(e1,e2,..,em): r1e1+r2e2+...+rmem = n}. Using this idea several problems can be solved for ex 3x1+3x2+3x3+3x4 = n. Here r1=r2=r3=r4 = 3 and x1=e1, x2=e2, x3=e3, x4=e4. This can be easily solved using composition formula by noting that n = 3k and then binomial(k+3,k).
So what's the correct way to think about this equation r1e1+r2e2+...rmem = n ? These are m generating functions multiplied together and we are looking at the coefficient [z^n] as in the following expression
[z^n] (...+ (z^(r1))e1+...)(...+(z^(r2))e2+...) ... (...+(z^(rm))em+...)
Once understood one can prove a beautiful result that every number has a unique binary representation and that can be generalized for r ary numbers.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Yesterday Interfaith Center or Gaia House had the vegetarian Thanks Giving dinner. The food was real good and it was all prepared by local people. Here are some pics of the sumptuous food. I met several friends of mine including Kim, Abby, Ryan, Gavin, Aura, Enya there who came there.

Technology and my habits

Since the last post was about what was it to be like in 1998. I want this post to capture what's going on these days. My idea of exercise is doing Yoga and sometimes playing Wii. I am much concious about eating vegetable and fresh fruit servings in my diet. Chocolates and Soda have been pushed out of my diet. I can drink unsweetened tea. Eat with Chopsticks. I enjoy Mathematics and now have two different degrees and about to get the third. I drive a buick, le sabre and digital camera is a constant companion. I use a Sony Walkman cellphone with a built in camera ever ready to click.

10 years ago

If you look back lets say 10 years and imagine how you used to live, you will be surprised how much you have changed in those years. Lets keep this topic only limited to technological changes. 10 years back it was 1998. I was using a Pentium 1 machine and it was 150 Hz processor and used to run windows 1995. I think I upgraded on Windows 98 later. My yahoo account was created around that time. Cell phones were for rich and famous. Voice chat was in its infancy. Calling outside India was still prohibitively expensive. IM were just beginning to come out. I had no experience with Microwave cooking. Cable TV had taken off in a big way. Everyone was scared of Y2k bug. C++ used to rule and JAVA was hot. IT was the booming thing. Young boys all wanted to become software engineers. I was still on dial up account.

Revisiting old words

Its fun to look at ones past posts and I saw that few days back I did a post on few words including skeuomorph, hypergelast and Epeolatory. I went on to coin a sentence. The brothers attempt to crash the party was foiled by the hosts cry of Hey Rube. The two brothers are Antipodal while the elder is a Hypergelast, designs Skeuomorph guitars, loves singing in Serien the younger is Agelast, wears his hair in a Snood and widely known for his Epeolatory.

Hypergelast is someone who laughs a lot while Agelast is the opposite. Epeolatory is love for words while Serien is a light rain. Skeuomorph is imitation of something real.

In Mumbai (India) there is a laughing yoga club. A naive person might think it as a gathering of Hypergelasts belting out their passion full throttle.
My love for Epeolatory gets whitted whenever I come across a good word usuage.
I vividly recall the skeuomorphic sound of typewriter when using the ICQ instant messenger.

Today at Toastmasters

Standing outside the study lounge I am updating this blog while I take a break from the euler method of product of the sum for diophantine equations I am studying. We had a great Toastmasters meeting. The theme for tonight was "Harvest". Joe Robbie did the table topics and had some interesting questions laced with quotes. I was asked to say on Onam festival which I didn't know much except for the bull race they have. Tonight I was the evaluator for Kelly's speech which was the fun part because she talked about the topic everyone was goading her to speak. Kelly is remarkably good speaker and has no affectations when she takes on the stage. The speech was well with in time limits and she made it interesting by giving it a theme of common myths associated with being a Mormon in fact the correct word is "Latter Day Saints". She covered the early church history, persecution of Mormons, the word Mormon, Their horns, polygamy, Their bible and the additional book, Mormons eating at McDonalds. It was all well weaved. Kyriakos was the general evaluator and he again did a superb job of acknowledging everybody and highlighting their contribution. The later part of the meeting was open house. Where I became the secretary of the club and Kyriakos became the treasurer. We are not meeting next week. My next speech is going to be about "Numerati" the book I am reading.

Word of the day and Thought of the day for Toastmasters

Affectation:
A deliberate pretense or exaggerated display, A behavior that is assumed rather than natural
“Despite his affectations, I am not convinced that he makes a lot of money.


Facetious
Gwen was being facetious when she used the word "classy" to describe Bill's brightly colored necktie



Thought for the day
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair. Paul H. Duhn

Quick Comment on Egf and Ogf

Ogf can be interepreted in two ways first
e1+e2+ ... +ek = n
Distributing n unlabelled balls into k labelled boxes
or
Selecting n balls from k heaps

Egf can be interepreted as
e1+e2+...+ek = n
Arranging an n balls/letter word where balls/letters come from k heaps
k!*S(n,k) can be interpreted as arranging an n letter word where letters come from k heaps and contain at least each of the k letter.

Just for remembrance

Fat Ladies Singing Real Loud For Town's Single Bachelor. Yes there is only one bachelor. I had to come up with this to memorize something.

Fit Vs Healthy

I been thinking about this for some time. Does being fit mean really healthy ? Look at Randy Pausch he was fit, really fit but wasn't healthy. When we say healthy it means all our organs are working in unision, well oiled (figuratively) and in good condition. While being fit is having strength and endurance to accomplish things. Being fit is physical while being healthy is wholesome. As I write this I can see that the distinction is not so sharp. You can be fit like an athelete and yet not being healthy because you are not eating right, your mental unbalance and yet you can run 20 miles and swim 50 laps and ride 40 miles. But if you are healthy you feel good and have no ailments. To be healthy you do need to be a fit but not over fit. Being healthy is more like at peace and you can strive to be over fit.

generalized identity explained

Last time I discussed the identity k*C(n,k) = n*C(n-1,k-1). This is a general case of the identity
C(n,k)*C(k,m) = C(n,m)*C(n-m,k-m). If you substitute m = 1 you get the identity above. The combinatorial interpretation of the second one is choose k people from n and then choose m executives from those m people. The right hand side is first choose m executives from n and then choose from the remaining people choose k-m so as to have total of k people.

Busy weekend

This saturday I went to tail gating as Andy came to town. Then I went to check out the proposition 8 rally at town square. There were around 50 boisterous people with hand made placards and posters. Then I went to attend the Southern Illinois Dance. One of my friend Krystal was performing there and it was a good performance. In total they showcased some 15 different dances. Later I went to Walmart and then to Barnes and Nobles. Today was ok, I went to Vine in the morning came to student center to do some study( I did mostly Bona's book) and then later went to china buffet with Mei and Akina for the lunch. I worked from 19 to 21 at Neckers lounge and then talked to my parents on yahoo. Its 22:38 and I am leaving for home so I can get a good night sleep and able to woke up early in the morning.

Some Identities explained

sum(C(n,k)^2, k=0..1) = C(2n/n). The left hand side is interpreted as n men and n women and we need to find a group of n people. Thus left side is when you choose k men then you need to choose (n-k) women and since C(n,k) = C(n,n-k). Therefore C(n,k)*C(n,n-k) = C(n,k)^2. The right side is obvious choosing n people from 2n people.

k*C(n,k) = n*C(n-1,k-1). The left side can be interpreted as choosing k people and then choosing the leader from those k people. The right hand side is first choosing the leader from n people which can be done in n ways and then choosing the remainning k-1 people which can be done in C(n-1,k-1) and hence together can be done in n*C(n-1,k-1)

IncEx

Composition

Being a Toastmater

Yesterday I donned the hat of Toastmaster again and it was another good learning experience. The theme was Veterans day. I loved this part because it encourages you to look at the topic you never focused your attention before. Kyriakos did a great job being a Table Topics master. He asked pertinent and thought provoking questions. It was great to have three people who had served in Armed Forces at different times. Kyriakos asked Jay about his views on mandatory draft. He asked Joe about the sanctity of having two holidays honoring armed forces (Vetrans day and memorial day). I picked the question of why other people are not celebrated as armed forces and Kelly answered the question of how you will celebrate Vetrans Day. Joe's animated speech on "Save the Children" was invigorating. He really believed what he said and he said that with so much passion that you have to agree with him and Kelly's feedback was well crafted.

Talking to Rinkoo

Wow !! I just got a call from my chidhood friend Rinkoo. Rinkoo is a kind of pioneer in internet business at Mukerjee Nagar in India. He was among the very first people who brought internet there and now he is in a business of bandwidth, VoIP and diversifying into WiFi access. He told me how they are going to cover the whole of New Delhi into a WiFi hot spot. So one can access internet anywhere something the other technology WiMax does too. He said he has tied up with some candian partner and are ready with the technology and just waiting for the government to go ahead and provide the license. Pretty good job Rinkoo. I am proud of you.

Vipassana for Mummy

I just finished grading for the three classes for which I am the assigned grader. Tomorrow is toastmasters meeting and we decided that the theme for it will be Veterans day and since I am being the toastmaster I am excited that it will encourage me to dig more information about this holiday. It reminds me of the story I read in my grade 11 in which a guy is caught on Armistice day when for a minute every one observes silent and the clicking sound of watches he was smuggling in his gas tank arose suspicion and lead to his arrest. My parents were able to use the web camera yesterday. I hope this November 19 my Mom will be able to attend the 10 day Vipassana Course in Sohna, Haryana.

Wii Shipped to India

Its 12:07 and I am in computer lab. In the morning I went to do grocery shopping at walmart and after that I shipped the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo fit to New Delhi. So in another 8-10 days it should be with my parents. Yesterday I decided to check out the Wii Fit. It was the sole reason I looked at Wii as more than a gaming console. The yoga was excellent besides the many games ranging from heading soccer balls to balance and put the balls through hole or sking all of which help you balance your posture. The surprise was the Wii fit age that it gives you. Nope I am not revealing it here :) but I have attained the professional status in Wii Tennis game! Other than that I was glad that I could wake up early today which is the best thing to do. It gives you more time to do all your chores and plan the day.

wii yoga

Its sunday and 15:22 and I am updating this from student center. As I told here that yesterday I got another box of wii that includes wii sport, plus wii mat and a skating game. I have yet to try the wii yoga thing. It looks enticing. Got to go now to do some yoga stretching now.

Doughty & Cavort

These two words appear on the readers digest quiz today
Doughty : stouthearted, valiant, brave
Its a old english word that's now archaic.
Ex: A doughty warrior.

Cavort : To behave in a high spirited festive manner and make merry
To bonce or prance about in sprightly manner, caper
The children cavorted in the water cavorting and ducking each other.
Young wolves cavorting.

Now its my turn to coin sentences

The nintendo wii has revolutionized the video gaming industry its no longer obscene to see septagenarians cavorting on thier wii mats.
Max didn't realized that his daughty opponent in the online kung-fu game was an octagenarian who kept himself lean and fit by playing wii games.

International Fall Feast

Its 21:04 and I just came from the fall feast at rec center. It was good to see old friends like Sarah Griffin, Marc Chang, John Fluckiger, Luis etc and to get to know newer people like Collins and Julie. Today I brought another Wii and the snow board game plus the yoga kit. Its funny that I am getting into video gaming which I always believed as a time waster but I think Wii is different than those other suckers. I am especially curious about the yoga stuff and the snow boarding.
Yesterday I went to check out the fall drag show at rec center. It was ok. I couldn't help notice the enthusiasm of the crowd who would go bonkers every time their favorite drag queen would show up. Nothing unusual but nothing out of the ordinary I would say. Its one of those things you do it to say that -been there done that and that's all.
I was thinking about the distribution and arrangement and was so glad that the tucker's book has a chapter on it. So now I will go ahead and read that.

Globe Trekker Episode Russia

I just watched the "Russia" episode of Globe Trekker on Google Video. I love traveling and I have been very fortunate to have travel to places most people can only dream about. Russia is one country which has always fascinated me because of it geography and sheer remoteness that could send a chill down any body's spine. That episode with Ian Wright was shot in yr 2000 and considering the pace with which Russia is changing I wouldn't be surprised when I go visit there it might have changed a lot. Ian Wright has to be one of the most entertaining host of Globe Trekker and that episode is definitely a must see if you love travel documentaries.

Walle

Its 11:45 and friday and right now I am in the math neckers lab. Just to recollect my thoughts. I was reading the businessweek online and its friday and another weekend about to begin. Yesterday I saw Walle. The movie has one of the best graphics I have seen. The line between what is real and what is computer generated has thinned down so much. Less than a month remains before this semester is over. Math 549 with Dr. Clark has been pretty good. He is a genious and can explain things inside out.

Ethics Training Done

I just finished my ethics training here and I will post the certificate here. Other than that I did spend some time playing wii at my house. I am about to ship it back home and wanted to get comfortable so in case my mom and dad are lost I can help them over the phone. Wii is a remarkable video console which has a much smaller learning curve comparing to other gaming consoles.

Encumbrance

The word of the day from Canadian Readers Digest Word Play is
Hindrance; burden; obstruction; as, the encumbrance of feeling that advancement depends on group support rather than individual effort

Encumberance :In law, a right or interest in land, for example a mortgage, lease, restrictive covenant, or right of way, which benefits someone other than the owner of the land.
It is also a term used by colleges and universities to describe limitations placed on student's account due to late payment, late registeration, or other reasons stated by the institution. An encumbrance can prohibit stsudnets from registering for classes, affect the release of their transcripts, or delay the receptions of their diplomas.

Here is a nice poem I found, I am including this because the poet did a good job with words
Within the rotundity of earth,
Away from the mundane misanthropy,
Lies the elixir of altruism,
The eternal enzyme of philanthropy.
Off the unvarnished vulgarity,
Adrift the vitriolic diatribes,
And the venomous vendettas,
Lay the protege of peace,
The land of literati,
Where not the malicious but,
The benevolent survive,
Whose dexterity lies not,
in the malevolance or insolence,
But in compassion and munificence,
and here is where shall a man
Perceive paradise before rigor mortis......

To get to the web site where I found this click here

Borak Obama as President

Yesterday will go in annals of the history as a pivotal day in American history. Borak Obama is now the president of United States of America. I did watch his another well delivered speech from Chicago. He is a wonderful speaker who sways listeners with his oratory skill and now its time to put those words into action. It was befitting that he kept the ceremony a solemn affair rather that honking his toot and that speaks volumes about his character. Hopefully Borak will bring United States of America together and bring back prosperity and happiness to its people and people around the world. It was quite eerie that when Obama was making speech I was afraid that somebody might assasinate him like Martin Luther King Jr. or Kennedy and surprisingly when I talked to Rohit he expressed the same concern.

Toastmaster Speech and Ensconced

Today I made the speech about "What is Mathematics ?" at my local chapter of Toastmasters club. I thought I was little under prepared but by the time I started talking I could see how the speech was going and able to steer right to my point. The mock preparation I did before giving the speech at library helped tremendously. Also I was able to keep the speech under 7 minute 30 second. It was exact 7 minutes. Other than that today we discussed "Snake Oil " method in the class. The best thing about today that I was able to get up early in the morning. Did cooking (dalmakhani), study and able to finish the grading on time. The word of the day today was "ensconced". to settle securely or snugly: I found her in the library, ensconced in an armchair. to cover or shelter; hide securely: He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop. hough ensconced in the seat of the Supreme One, Lahiri Mahasaya showed reverence to all men, irrespective of their differing merits. My take on ensconce

Having Borak Obama as a president was a dream till last year for many African American's and it was a rude awakening for many evangelicals who were ensconced in the belief that McCain would win without a hiccup.

Good Random Band

Dinner at Mohanji's House

I am right now in Carbondale Library to return Brida by Paulo Colheo and also to pick some books. I am still not finished with John McCain's book "The Character is Destiny". Its a real nice book and so far I have enjoyed it very much.

Today I taught Math 349 and Math 447 for the first time. It was awesome. I love teaching !! I was little anxious but I think I covered pretty much what I intended to. Plan for today is to revise things especially "Snake Oil"method and do some questions from Schaum's series. While coming back from student center I bumped into Puri Sahab and it was good to catch up with him. Puri Sahab is doing his Ph.D in Engineering and is very convival.

Yesterday I was invited by Mohanji to his house. Bhabhi makes the best delectable food and I always look forward to enjoying the meal with them and to top that its always good conversation.

Things I did yesterday

Yesterday I went to see the Turkish National Day celebration. It was my first time to attend Turkish national day. They had a small gathering of I would say about 40 people I think and it was very well organized. The food was excellent and a lot of variety for vegetarians like me. The bakalava was awesome. They also showed the movie named "Magic Carpet". I get to know a couple from El Savador there, who is attending SIUC for TESL (Test of English as a foreign language). It was nice to know more about Turkey and its history. The Ottoman Empire, Turkey's current geography and political issues. Its domestic problem of Kurd people, the role of women etc.

I finished most of my grading by midnight and then I went out with Ray and Joe to the Halloween Party on Bridge Street. It was a nice party.