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B: Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas is an absolute must read. How’s that for a review? Jaci and I didn’t even realize that it might be a  young adults book until the very end; but then again, it was so engrossing it only took us a few hours to go from cover to cover; and the simple language conveyed a rich story and complex topics– and to me, those are the best kind of books; very much like Stienbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.

J: I’m still not sure that it’s actually intended for children—I think it’s just one of those books that could be enjoyed equally by children and adults. It is sold among other popular new releases in the bookstore. But I agree with Ben. Regardless of Lukas’s intended audience, it’s an entrancing novel.

B: I’m still wondering about the title a bit; Eleanora Cohen– a Jewess from Constanta that gets sucked into the politics of the Caliphate in Stamboul– is definitely not the traditional Oracle that we think of (I told you it was a complex topic!). Of course, we only usually think of one Oracle- and the lady from Delphi might protest. After all, the only requirement for an oracle might be wisdom, not necessarily prophesy. I think the most interesting thing about Eleanora is that she is wise, but also naivè — she is a child after all.

J: I liked Eleanora because she is a reader! What I’m not sure about is if the books she reads in the novel—a series called The Hours—are real, or if Lukas imagined them. Really, I read so quickly that I didn’t bother to check, nor did I do any research into what a hoopoe (a type of bird that follows Elenora around) might look like.

B: For the record, this is a hoopoe:

B: You’re going to need that image in your head for this book, I promise. It changes the book a lot if you know what these things look like, and how crazy it would be to see a flock of them swinging around some little girl.

J: I wish I had seen that photo earlier!

B: This book was so entertaining; the historical perspective was right on– at least from my limited knowledge of the euro-asian sultanates of the 19th century– there was intrigue, a bit of romance (heartbreak to be sure), and extraordinary events. The visual imagery was also excellent, and my imagination was thrown into full gear. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it!

J: After this novel, we went a completely different direction and read A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. But that’s for another post!

J: Ok, ok, so Ben and I have been neglecting our book reviews, I admit. The last book we wrote up was Saul and Patsy, way back in July. But we’ve still been reading! Stranger in a Strange Land, A Changed Man, Spies of the Balkans, and A Discovery of Witches entertained us in tandem in the time between then and now. We also had our first book club failure (both of us became busy and couldn’t get into Suite Francaise—but we’ll make it up later!) and read our first short story (“The Adjustment Team,” chosen for Ben’s marathon week). So, in an effort to catch up our meager band of followers, I propose we do four mini-reviews, and knock out those four novels here and now.

B: Agreed, but just so you know, this post then encompasses some of my favorites–especially Spies of the Balkans; I can’t recommend it enough! I would also like to add my apologies for not getting posts up sooner; but rest assured, we’re still trucking through the book club, one book at a time; even if we can’t write about them. I blame new houses, new commutes, and new job situations for the delays!

J: New jobs, at least, in my case. But enough preamble. First up: Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein. This was a reread for me, so I’ll let Ben give his take first. B?

B: I’m not sure I grokked this story. Also, apparently grokked is in the spell check dictionary- that just says how important Stranger is in popular culture! In 1976, the Viking program was launched to send unmanned probes to Mars; during the Viking mission and subsequent missions afterward, we learned that there is no identifiably sentient life on Mars. So from that understanding, it was actually kind of tough to read Heinlein’s 1961 novel about a race of Martians, one of whom returns to Earth. That was the easy bit to get past, though, because once on Earth, said Martian pursues a social and religious agenda that is mind boggling and cult-like with many sexual and pagan ideas interwoven. Fitting these two strange stories together was actually kind of a headache.

J: I’ve only read two Heinlein novels—this, and Time Enough for Love—and it was strange to reread it, especially knowing Ben was reading it to and trying to guess at his reaction. There are some fairly shocking views on women, but at the same time I like his no-nonsense approach to human relationships (even if it’s not entirely realistic). And strangely, I had forgotten the climax, and was surprised a second time over.

B: After our science fiction interlude, we moved back to more contemporary social issues, namely reformed neo-nazis trying to redeem themselves by assisting with Jewish run peace and aid foundations; we read a second Francine Prose novel; A Changed Man.

J: I wanted to read another Prose novel since we were both so fascinated by Blue Angel. I feel like I really need to study Prose’s writing because she does tension so well. I hate conflict in my real life and have a hard time introducing it in my stories. She heaps it on. And her novels are driven by conflict, and made compelling to read because of it. My only complaint: I would have cut the final chapter.

B: I didn’t really identify with any of the characters in this book; and to tell you the truth, most of them really angered me- but you know what they say in the WWF; you’re either loved or hated, you don’t want to be in between! It was interesting to see the collision of three different classes, though- Norman from the poor or working class, Bonnie firmly in the middle class, and the disgustingly rich, and somehow guilty-about-it Meyer Maslow.

J: I agree—she fills her books with only marginally likeable people and somehow, it still works. Then we went to one of Ben’s choices: Spies of the Balkans, by Alan Furst. He’s been waiting to read this one for a while; it was on the list for our last bookclub before I knew I would be getting home early. It was a bit of an awkward read for me—a strange mix of historical novel and thriller.

B: A spy novel during World War II in Greece, Macedonia, Southern France, Paris, Turkey! It was exciting, dark, thrilling, and excellent. I can’t wait to go back and read more Furst! I also don’t want to say much here, because as with any good spy thriller– you want to be surprised, and I can’t give anything away. But it was a good book, and you should go read it- now.

J: I was a little more lukewarm on this one—but it was good nonetheless. I probably won’t be joining Ben on his historical thriller bent, though.

B: Last up on our list of catch-up review books, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

J: Twilight for grown-ups.

B: It always upsets me when evil things don’t do evil. If they don’t do evil, then it suggests that they are not, so why be so caught up in their evilness? Luckily the evil things in this book are pretty darn evil, and though it is a bit romance-y throughout the book, Harkness could be setting up an epic cross-history battle; after all she teaches college-level history and history of science; so she knows her stuff! The bad news- it’s the first, and currently the only, book of a trilogy, so be prepared to have to wait to find out the ending. Also, since the beginning of the novel was set in Oxford, and included many of Jaci and I’s old haunts; it was nice to be a bit nostalgic.

J: Twilight for grown-ups, set in Oxford, then. And there you have it: July through October in books. We’ll review “The Adjustment Team” by Philip K. Dick in a separate post; I think it would be interesting to watch the movie based on it (The Adjustment Bureau, 2011) again after reading the source and look at how the concept was adapted, but that might take some doing, logistically, if it’s even out on DVD yet.

B: On to Oracle of Stamboul for our next book, and hopefully more timely posts, but we don’t guarantee it!

Waking up at 4:45 AM on a Sunday is hard enough– it’s even harder when you’re about to go outside to 42 degree, rainy weather just to run a half-marathon. But that’s how we found ourselves pulling up to a giant parking lot filled with busses- in order to run the second annual Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon from Mount Vernon to National Harbor, across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Once we got moving, however, we warmed up a bit, apparently,  because we all PR’d the race and set personal records for our half marathon times in general!

This race is a point to point race to take advantage of running over the Potomac River via the Woodrow Wilson bridge. We were all bussed out of overflow parking at National Harbor the full 14 miles to Mount Vernon where the race started in order to run back. This meant logistical complications, but somehow we met our number one goal- finding the shortest line at the port-a-potties. Because of the cold morning, race officials started handing out mylar blankets– which were nice, except that there were none left at the end of the race when I was well and truly cold!

Devi and I ran together for the most part- which leads to some interesting questions about our times. We both crossed the 5 and 10 mile splits at the same time, yet my time is 44 seconds slower than Devi’s? Devi did take off after the last 3/4 of a mile in order to beat 2 hours, so our finish times should be different, but not that different. In addition, as you can see, Devi’s chip time and gun time are corrected for the time it took us to cross the starting line, so are Lala and Kylee’s, but mine are not? For that reason, I’m going to place my time at 2:00:28, unfortunately still not under 2 hours, but a bit closer- and that is the time to beat next year!

Kylee and Lala also ran this race last year- and they both beat last year’s times. Because last year was the first annual Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon- I think they have to make this a thing and run it for the next 50 years!

July 30– Nan and Mom complete their first 5 kilometer distance race in personal record times!

Mom seemed really excited when attending our races at the beginning of this year, and confident that she could also compete in them. We convinced her to put her money where her mouth was, and got her registered for the EC5k. Good friend and training partner, Nan Jefferies then jumped in to support her in training and compete herself! They had been training together for a few months before this race.

There were 244 finishers at the EC5K. The winning time was 17:29.4 and the last finisher came in at 61:02.4. The course was an extremely tough one- mostly downhill to start the race, but then a 167 foot climb in 1.44 miles, the total uphill elevation change for the race was 289 feet! At many parts in the race, runners went head to head, as the trail was split into two- even with less than 250 runners, this posed a challenge to those squarely in the middle of the race!

So what’s next? A 10k! Mom and Nan have already started training for the Clyde’s 10k, but they might also participate in a moonlight 10k, and the Baltimore Running Festival 5k.

Well, this post is about a month late, but I wanted to ensure that we got the race results up from the Celebration Triathlon that happened on June 26, 2011. The Celebration Triathlon was very special because it was both Devi and Kylee’s first ever triathlon, and they performed extremely well, coming up with an admirable result to start their tri careers!

Devi finished well ahead of her goal time of 2:30, although she wasn’t too thrilled to not come in ahead of me! Her run was definitely her strongest sport and the swim time wasn’t bad either. She was slightly handicapped on the bike, having not been used to either climbing or clipping in. I suspect this time will decrease rapidly for her next triathlon, especially when she starts bike training.

Kylee also did an excellent job on her first triathlon. She was a little worried about the swim portion of the race, but handled it with easy by taking her time and remaining calm. Her best event was clearly the bike, which she owned at a 15 mph pace! She PR’d the course, but she’ll have to beat her Celebration time come Iron Girl, when she’ll be in the water yet again for the same exact course!

Check out an awesome video from the race! Celebration Triathlon Trailer

This past weekend, Lala and I completed what will probably be the toughest race we do all year (and I have two marathons scheduled!), we completed the Columbia Olympic Triathlon at Lake Centennial in Columbia, MD!

The Columbia is about double the distance as the Nanticoke race- 1.5 km swimming, 40 km biking, and 10 km running — 51.5 grueling kilometers (0.93 miles swimming, 24.85 miles biking, 6.21 miles running). This qualifies the Columbia as an “Olympic” distance event, as opposed to the sprint event I did at Bivalve. There are also Ironman and Half-Ironman distances, but those are a little crazy. A full Ironman is 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Half Ironman is half of that. Maybe I’ll get to those distances one day, but not this year!

This was also our first official Team Fight race, so Lala and I had to raise money for it. Thanks again to everyone who donated this go around! For those of you that didn’t, don’t worry, there are still another couple of Team Fight races coming up that you can get involved with! The next Team Fight race is the Celebration Triathlon on June 24– Devi is also competing in this race, so that should be a lot of fun.

Spectators at this race included Devi, Mom, Dad, Kylee, Jen, and Winston- so it was a pretty good crowd. It was also a gorgeous day for it- one of the first races in a long time that hasn’t been plagued with rain. Of course, Lala, Kylee, and I got there at 530 in the morning, so we didn’t really notice the weather, as we were busy being nervous and getting ready for the race!

My race started off with a hitch- namely, I lost my timing chip. So I had to get a new one, and that made me worried my time wouldn’t be official. Luckily I did end up finding my original chip! The swim was great, it felt really good to be in the water, and I swam it really well I think. The bike was also a lot of fun, if hilly. I may have taken it a little too hard, and I forgot one of my three nutritions, because at around mile 4.5 on the run, I bonked hard. My pace on the run slowed from 9:15 min/mile to about 12 min/mile. That was really disappointing, because I might have beat three hours (and my goal was 3:30, which Lala made). But still, it was a good time for a first race.

Now I feel like a real triathlete!

Race Result

There may be some video coming later, but I haven’t quite gone through it yet to see.

Some pictures from the race:

This morning I completed my first triathlon- The Nanticoke Sprint Triathlon with a pretty speedy result! I had figured that before the Columbia Triathlon (beast of the east according to today’s participants) I’d better have at least one Tri under my belt, and boy was I right! Training doesn’t really prepare you for a full blown multisport race, even with swim-bikes and bike-runs. All I could think about during the run was “yikes, I have to do double this distance in three weeks…”

Needless to say, today’s race was a pretty good experience. Chris and Dad joined me and we spent the night in Salisbury, MD preparing for the race and eating Olive Garden. Bright and early we headed down to Bivalve to rack the bike and set up the transition area. Coffee and hydration later, we watched the kids head out on their triathlon, and it was pretty cool to see them going for it. I think that my kids are going to have to participate in a few tris!

After stuffing myself into my wetsuit, I all of a sudden found myself in the water with 30 other people and the race siren going. After getting kicked in the face quite a few times (and probably kicking a few faces myself) I finally managed to get my stroke and it was no time before I was out at the first buoy.

The real race started on the Bike- the Bivalve area is flat and that means super speed on the bike. There were a group of 7 of us that kept surging and trying to get past each other. I stayed in my biggest chain for the entire ride, and in the aero position and averaged around 26 mph for most of the race! It was super fun!

The problem was that getting off the bike and into the run was pretty tough after that. I barely got into my stride, and everyone I passed on the swim and bike probably passed me again on the run- so it’s clear what I have to work on. But my time was much better than expected, and I’m totally stoked to be a triathlete!

Race Result

Pictures are up on Picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/bbengfort/NanticokeTriathlon

Videos are currently on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bbengfort#grid/user/9DDAABDCC51D7D7F

On Sunday Morning, the Clyde’s American 10k was the first race of the 2011 for the Bengfort family, and the first official running races for both Devi and Mike! It was a beautiful day, if a bit windy and chilly at first, and a great day for a running race!

All three Bengfort.com participants beat their goal times solidly. Devi was attempting a 54 minute 10k, Ben a 56 minute one, and Mike a 75 minute 10k. The race was a relaxed affair and everyone felt pretty good throughout the run, except perhaps during the giant hill on 108 and the final climb on Little Patuxent to the finish line.

The full race results can be found at striders.net. Our personal race results are below:

Well, part two of the School of Love Syllabus is now posted, and though we’re already one book in, the website was down until recently and we didn’t get it put up. You can download the PDF version: SoL Syllabus Redux, or check out the HTML version below. Also new, is that Ben now has a Kindle, so the Syllabus is only in terms of Kindle locations. If you need page numbers, let me know in the comments, and I’ll try to work it out!

It was a whirlwind trip- ostensibly for business, but it turned out to be more complicated than that. I made new friends, I saw incredible things, and I succeeded at something I never dreamed I would. I was also disgusted at the dishonesty of the tourist industry in Mexico, I was terrified at the prospect of presenting a paper to some of the smartest people in the world, and I almost met my death in the Caribbean. This was my trip to Cancun, Mexico for the IEEE WCNC 2011.

Arrival in Mexico

When I first departed I was pretty apprehensive. I landed and was immediately drenched in sweat from the humidity. I wasn’t eager for the trip thanks to Jaci’s recent departure, and the fact that I was already on travel and I wanted to get back to work moving forward with my code. As I finally passed through customs, I was greeted by the instistant demanding of people seeking to give me transport; luckily I had already arranged round trip transport to my hotel, and my name was on a placard as I walked into the tropical night.

I arrived in darkness. The room was average- no desk for my laptop? I realized that I was exhausted, what time zone was I in? I thought it was -6, central time here?

The next morning I awoke to a stunning panoramic of the blue, blue- washing detergent stunning blue of the Caribbean crashing into the whitest beach I’d ever seen. I realized that my room was not sparse, but modern, and the hotel soared to a stunning interior atrium that I hadn’t noticed in my sleep deprived arrival. Although it was -6 (central time), daylight savings time in Mexico wouldn’t happen for another week, so I was effectively in Mountain Time. Room service brought coffee.

I had gotten up too early and still jetlagged I went to the gym before I showed myself at the conference. I ran hard, I cycled hard. I have a triathlon to run, after all. Feeling fit, I dressed and went out into the streets of the zona hotel, searching for the Cancun Center- and after only a few wrong turns I found it.

Where was I? The place seemed empty, a few Indians and Chinese and Professor-y looking people roamed the halls; the only indication I was in the right place. I found the registration desk, and with some difficulty, the native Spanish speakers managed to locate “Bengfort”. I only had to explain that my name started with a “B” four times. Lunch, though promised, was not to be found; WiFi, though promised, was also missing in action.

I attended my first session- deployment of relay stations in LTE-Advanced networks- seemingly my area of expertise. It was presented by second-language English speakers. The room was sparse– it contained a good friend, though I didn’t know it yet– I worked on my paper.

Out of the Social Comfort Zone

I skipped the afternoon session (sorry boss) and returned to the gorgeous Caribbean that was doing it’s best to break through the shore and beat the cabanas senseless. I figured I could swim in it. After changing and grabbing my flippers, I went in, mindless of the red flags. Thirty minutes later I was exhausted and half drowned. The undertow had dragged me a quarter mile to sea. When I finally dragged myself out of the water onto the beach, the lifeguard merely said “[translation of what I presume to be, the weather will get better towards the end of the week]”. I went to the gym, got on the bike, and then got on the treadmill.

I am not a social person, so I contemplated skipping the welcome reception the entire time I dressed for it and as I walked to the hotel where it was being held. When I finally go there, it was a shock to see my peers and my elders drinking and eating with familiar ease. I barely kept myself moving forward with thoughts of “It’s free food and free drinks at the very least”. Fortified by my first free margarita, and plate of appetizers, I approached a seemingly sympatico peer standing by himself by the bar. It was the best choice I could have made.

Madushanka and I had much in common right off the bat- it was our first paper, our first conference, and we both had the same research area. But for some reason, Madushanka attracted people. Simply being in his presence meant that I met the group of people I would spend the rest of the week with- Sabarish, Yuvika, Charka, and Sanjeema (as well as several other professors and PhD candidates that introduced themselves to Madush, and therefore me). They were good friends and first time presenters also, and it was an honor to get to know them! I hope that our social and professional relationship continues to grow over time, they are incredible.

The next day the conference didn’t seem to be such a foreboding, lonely place– not with new friends there. I went for a swim, the waves crashed into me with the same vengeance as before, and I was ready for them. But this time the guard came out after me– he didn’t like the risks I was taking. A turn on the bike and the treadmill took me to my first tri-sport workout. I dressed for the conference, excited to meet my new friends.

They didn’t disappoint- we went to sessions together, had lunch together and a great conversation. I went to their presentations, but soon enough, I realized that the next day I had to present, and anxiety began to overwhelm me.

I still hadn’t heard from my advisor about the status on my presentation- I was alone, with my paper distilled into 22 Tactical Network Solutions branded slides. I had no idea what I was doing. The presentation was only hours away, and so after more time in the gym, I went to the bar to wait for my new friends.

The mojito was excellent, and the wind was bending palm trees at their base. The outdoor lounge was being swept away, but the hot Caribbean air seemed so… natural. I noticed Shane by himself in the corner of the lounge, and buoyed by my success the night before, I approached him, and once again made a new friend. Unfortunately, my social awkwardness prevailed in the end, and I didn’t invite him to the planned dinner with my new group, and it wouldn’t be until later in the week until I would have the chance to get to know him.

Club Cancun

Sabarish, Yuvika, Charka, Sanjeema, Madushanka, and I wandered downtown Cancun looking for a place to eat, not expecting trouble. Finally we settled on a place called Carlos Charlie’s after an hour of walking around punctuated by disagreements about the various dietary requirements of the group. Apparently, Mexico is not vegetarian or Buddhist friendly. We could have been walking into an Applebee’s for the decoration and the table layout. But only fifteen minutes after we sat down, at precisely nine o’clock, a club materialized around us.

The margaritas were 32 ounces and three feet tall. They went down quickly, and we hadn’t eaten yet. A girl with tequila shots walked around, pouring the tequila down our throats and shaking our heads while tweaking our nipples. The waiters were more entertainment than food servers, inciting their diners to dance in conga lines that went out into the street and onto the bar. It didn’t take long for our entire table to find ourselves rhythmically and unceasingly moving to the heartskipping thud of the bass. We ate finally, only to have the drink Sex on the Beach poured directly into our throats while a waiter held a towel around us, and didn’t stop until we choked. Yuvika managed the impressive feat of almost a minute of straight drinking! They challenged us to beer chugging races, they asked us to buy them drinks, it was a club, it was dinner, it was Cancun!

When we finally stumbled into the street, our wallets significantly lighter (we were charged for every drop that we, and the waiters imbibed), and thoroughly partied out, I realized I had to do a podcast in only four hours. Thank goodness Will understood and we rescheduled for Thursday. But that didn’t change the fact that I had to present that afternoon.

Slides and Sliding

The morning meant more workouts, if only to reduce my anxiety- it didn’t work. I ate nothing at the conference luncheon for fear of spilling on my shirt… or puking. My new friends, only slightly hung over (bottled water works miracles) tried to encourage me, but they were planning on attending my presentation, and that didn’t help.

It went like a dream. I didn’t read from my slides, I was confident, I was asked important questions that I could answer. Why was I nervous? Of course, I was the only author presenting in my session of five papers. Everyone else was assigned the task of presenting another person’s research. Still, I convinced important professors in my community that my work was important; and this when my own advisors didn’t think my paper was worth much! Still, that night when we went out to dinner, I took it easy, and we didn’t leave the hotel for fear of Cancun outside.

The next morning I managed the podcast successfully from the hotel, and my new friends and I departed for Chitchen Itza afterwards.

Chitchen Itza

Tour groups are weird things. They keep you on schedule, but you don’t get enough time to do the things you want to do.

We stopped by a cenote (pronounced keh-note-ey), a sinkhole in the middle of the jungle, first. Of course, I wanted to swim. After changing we walked down 30m of steps, then dived the final 10m into the clear blue water filled with fish. I went deep on my cliff dive, but surfaced with exhilaration. Waterfalls surrounded the sinkhole, the jungle was all around, stretching to the water below, and the sun was a distant memory. I dived. I went 10, then 15 meters, but still the water was bright blue. I dived again, I made 20 meters- 10 times the length of my body, but still no bottom. I choked as I surfaced, and had trouble treading water. I grabbed for a nearby vine to hold myself above water, and it was then that the conservation officer blew his whistle wildly at me (apparently nature is more important than humans breathing above water). We managed pictures before we had to run off to catch the bus.

A a brief stop at a restaurant, and then Chitchen Itza. It appeared out of the jungle like the sun appearing behind a cloud. It was magnificent, the most perfectly preserved ruins that I had ever seen. We explored for hours, and at every turn we found something amazing to discover. The echoes were sublime. In one place, on the ball court (original lacrosse!), echoes were repeated 9, then 11 times. In another, a certain type of clap would create echoes as though it were a bird sound! We were harassed by multitudes of Mexicans trying to sell cheap souvenirs, and we bargained for a few. I was ripped off for one, and Sanjeema successfully negotiated for another. More preserved than Cairo or Athens, it was though we were transported in time, brought back to reality only for the need for the air conditioning of the bus. We were exhausted and amazed by the time we finally reached Cancun again.

The Final Tally

The week ended too quickly, in fact, it was a surprise to wake up to find it was the last day of the conference. I quickly packed, but when I checked out I was dismayed to find many hidden charges on my bill. It is one thing when craftsmen and con artists in tourist areas selling cheap replicas on blankets try to cheat you, it’s quite another when the Hyatt Regency in Cancun, an American company, does the same thing for close to USD $250! Everything in Mexico has a fuzzy relationship with the American dollar, and they know how to suck the money out of you, whether you are selling beads for dix pesos, or you run a TGIF/Club, or even a five star hotel; in fact, it is simple as this: when you are in Mexico, be prepared to be lied to about how much things cost, and not escape without paying a tourist surcharge of approximately 24%.

Returning home was no easy task either. Federales were a conspicuous presence on the way out, whereas they were an invisible presence on the way in. American immigration treats everyone of brown skin with a cold, suspicious courtesy that borders on hostility, and the Delta baggage handlers managed to utterly and completely destroy the contents of my checked luggage. Dogs patrol the bags with armed handlers who look at you suspiciously if you look at them or their K9s, and I had to try to control the desperate fear that someone has slipped something in my luggage making me an unwitting mule.

However, as I sit here in Atlanta, drinking beer in an airport bar and contemplating my first real trip to Mexico- I try to figure out the differences between there and here. As in Cancun, everything in Atlanta is bilingual, English first. Most of the staff here speaks Spanish, and aside from the southern drawl noticeable in the airport, and the distinct lack of salt-fortified humid air, nothing seems that different; they are the same restaurants, the same people, and the same frenetic moving in all directions. Only here, they don’t heckle you to come to their restaurant.

It was a wonderful trip, and I met wonderful new friends. I saw the wonders of the ancient Maya, and I dived in the beauty of the Yucatan jungle and the Caribbean sea. I achieved a professional accomplishment– publication in the premier IEEE Communications Society Conference, and I made many excellent professional and research contacts. At the same time, I was lied to, cheated, and generally sapped for my cash by con artists, hawkers, and professional drink slingers. I had to overcome social and professional anxiety, and I almost drowned… three times. It was exactly the kind of trip that I wanted.