Bummer

Well, who says history doesn't repeat itself? Today, just like nearly a year ago, I am without a laptop.

Blogging from my itouch...

Namaste family.

long hair

I had forgotten about the power of the mane. Only until I took a walk down memory lane (via hyper links on this blog), did I realize how much fun my first year was at UF, and as they say: it's gotta be da hair! ;)

Austin

I hate when this happens (and its been happening quite often, actually): I come back from happy hour, take a three-hour siesta only to wake up around 10 pm without the slightest desire of getting back to bed. I then proceed to eat a copious amount of milk and cereal (Cocoa Dino-Bites, BTW), watching some Californication in the hopes that the combination will ultimately lure me into some lethargic state.The problem is it never happens, and then I end up awake until 1-2 am, just like today, and sometimes I have a hard time trying to find some peace within to make it into the unconscious.

Whatever the case may be, I figured I should just post some pictures of the aforementioned trip to Austin, maybe doing so will get me on the right track towards Hypnos's dwellings.

But maybe not :S

Ok, so the first batch of pictures happened last Friday when we went out to good old, dirty sixth.
Then the next day we headed to the Blanco River, where one of the upstream coops had a ranch, and decided to sweat off some alcohol while floating slowly on shallow waters:

Once we were finally done with that, we continued (yet again) to dwell on the precious treasure's of Austin's infamous street.

And after the mayhem that ensued thereafter, we recharged for this week by going to the most awesome thing ever: Austin's Springs, where Jessica and I proceeded to kick some ass on the trampoline:

Il professore approved of our skills, at which point we decided to call it a weekend and head back to Houston for some much needed sleep prior to yet another weekend of full-time employment.Namaste.

money quotes

Dammit...its interesting how some breef moments in a movie make it a memorable one; two good examples from the latest in my favorites list, Revolutionary Road, are the following quotes:

1. April Wheeler: But I don't. I hate you. You were just some boy who made me laugh at a party once, and now I loathe the sight of you. In fact, if you come any closer, if you touch me or anything, I think I'll scream.
2. April Wheeler: I wanted IN. I just wanted us to live again. For years I thought we've shared this secret that we would be wonderful in the world. I don't know exactly how, but just the possibility kept me hoping. How pathetic is that? So stupid. To put all your hopes in a promise that was never made. Frank knows what he wants, he found his place, he's just fine. Married, two kids, it should be enough. It is for him. And he's right; we were never special or destined for anything at all.

el verano

So the suburbs are the last place I want to end up in. Downtown is where's at! Already a month here and I can notice the difference between the Heights area and the dreaded Seabrook place where I was fooled into living by my buddy Alberto.

Regardless, I believe it's a good thing that I didn't have such an awesome time the first time I lived in the Houston Metropolitan Area. Who knows, if I had, I might've been lured into believing that the life of a fulltime is like--or better than--the life of a coop student livivng in the heart of the city. If that had been the case, who knows if I had had the incentive to make the effort to continue my education abroad. Whatever the case may be, I am glad I'm living near downtown this time, and that I have two great roommates: Michael and Josh. Here are some pics of the events thus far:

Sometime after midnight at PubFiction, where we continued Jessica's birthday celebration after obliterating the enemy's ass on flip cup!


With the uber-educated Stacia and her exotic, half-brazilian friend at cafe adobe, which happens to be near St. Anne's church. Michael and Christine make up the non-ethnic division of the picture :P
This weekend in Austin trying to spell out our employer's name, unsuccesfully. More pictures on this later. BTW, if you go to Austin, don't neglect its springs; it's a beautiful place. More pics on that later.


There, I hope this update sufices. Daniela, I hope you email me once you've found my birthcertificate, and mother: godspeed in guatemala. I will see you soon. 

Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary road just reminded me of all the reasons to go to Europe. It reminded me not to over think, or try to make sense of, my gut feeling, but to just embrace it. As Nat put it: there is no wrong answer, just go!

Visa or no visa, independently of what happens, I will go to Europe, and I will live there for at least a year before I begin either my career or a PhD program in ChemE.

I don't want to become a Wheeler.

Namaste

Sweden

After a lot of thinking...I have chosen sweden. The reasons are numerous, and maybe one day I'll go into detail, but I don't feel like being serious today. For now, this video should suffice:

Now its just a matter of getting the visa.

Hmmm...

Well, as it turns out, I only need 20K a year for Switzerland and not 35K as I originally though.

This might make the decision a little easier...

Maybe...

Studying in Sweden or Switzerland?

So as fate would have it, I got accepted to all the programs that I applied to. Well, except for the programs in Sweden that disregarded my application because I didn't send the transcripts directly from UF.

Now, I am left with the task of deciding were to go, and this time it's for real. I've realized that it's one thing to plan which program would be the best to go to, and an entirely different thing, to DECIDE for once and for all where to ACTUALLY go. Currently, I am debating between the uber-prestigious ETH and Handelshögskolan i Göteborg (AKA Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law).

On one side, I have one of the best schools globally with a very promising career path, which also happens to be in a city that is EXTREMELY expensive, and on the other, I have a well-regarded program in Gothenburg that is relatively inexpensive. Now, like many times in life, I need to balance the cost of each program with their respective utility...the thing is, that it is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to quantify the utility of either program, because their benefit to me is (at best) an assumption. Should I go for the most prestigious--which happens to be nearly three times as expensive (not because of tuition but because of Switzerland's rediculously expensive cost of living)--program, or should I go for an OK degree which is both flexible and accessible, monetary-wise?

At this point, the most deciding factor is that the degree that I would be getting in Gothenburg (Masters in Finance) is more applicable than the very-specific degree of Masters in Management, Technology, and Economics of ETH.

Luigi and Adolfo, two people that I greatly admire and whose advice I listen closely to, have suggested I go to ETH. Nearly no one but my friends in Jonkoping and a fellow coworker have suggested I go to the less prestigious program.

I know, at the end, is a decision that I--and I alone--HAS to make. I keep thinking about how long I have been planning my excile to Sweden, but I can't leave for a moment the enticing idea of joining one of the best schools in Europe. Like Adolfo asked me earlier today: what do you want to do?

One thing I know for sure: I want to be productive; I genuinely want to provide a positive impact to my surrounding environment. I know, this sounds naive, but it's the truth: I want to provide value, but I also want to have fun while doing so.

There is no easy answer, but as Adolfo also said: it's a nice problem to have! I mean, how bad can it be deciding between Sweden and Switzerland? It's really not that bad! It's not like I am deciding between feeding myself or someone else. It's (relatively) a trivial decision to make. As of right now, I am leaning towards Gothenburg for the aforementioned reason. Also, unlike Switzerland, I need but 25-30 thousand dollars in my bank account to obtain a visa for the next two years; Switzerland, on the other hand, demands a figure nearing 60,000 dollars!

Two years IS a long time, maybe not per se, but because of the fact that where I go and whom I meet will influence greatly the path that I take later in life. Thus, making an informed and definite decision will have great repercussions in my life, and yes, in the life of others!

Will keep thinking...

Success

Wrapping it Up part three

And yes, after the Order of the Engineer, we went to the three-hour-long commencement ceremony, where my UF journey officially ended as a student :(

Well, I still have to go there on Wed. to finish some research with Tony, but that was it. Here are some pics: