>On our last day in NM we went to the Explora! which is the children's
hands-on science musum. Between the musuem, the playground with a view and the sun, Bee was ready to pack her bags and move to New Mexico! One thing I liked about the museum was that it had alot of engineering type exhibits where kids could just build things. The girls loved that – oh and the they loved the wishing fountain too!

IMG_0148.JPG

After we went to the museum we walked over to the playground in Tigeux Park in Old town and had a picnic of beans, rice and tortillas. Yummy! I loved the view, and the girls loved the playground!

Then we went on to old town, took a ride on a few statues in front of
the history museum. Some is tired, eh? We then walked through Old Town and ate icecream cones that were the
smallest I had even seen. If I hadnt been laughing so hard at how small they were I would have remembered to take a picture before they were eaten.

>

>

In Santa Fe we went to the square in the center of town and watched a mariachi band play. We had just gone to the five and dime store and bought little shakers for the girls, and Frankie and Bee both wanted theirs so that they could dance with the band. Frankie ran up to the band and danced and danced. Bee later talked about how she helped the mariachi band by playing her shaker. Bee also told me she wants to move to New Mexico when she is grown up. She really has had a great time!

>We went to sandia Point today while scott had to work at UNM. Its
about a 15 minute ride from downtown Albuquerque. It was a cold but
beautiful morning. We took the tram to the top (2 miles high!), and
as you can see there was snow at the top, and it was cold! It was
14F, but the wind was calm. They say there is an 11,000 square mile
panoramic view from the top, and I sure do believe it. I almost think
I saw michigan! Of course both Carly and Zoes made it up to the top
with us! The girls loved the tram ride, and frankie kept her face
pressed to the window. Bee even took a few photos with my phone.
She's definitely got talent!

>its time for that annual wager. when will the snow banks melt completely?? This year is different from last year because we’ve had over 4x as much snow as last year (we had 16 inches last year – we now have had about 60). Here is one thing to consider — after our most recent “snow event” today, the snow banks at work at taller than me. Pictures to follow. I will try to take one when I leave today. Oh yah, I guess Im posting from work. dont tell anyone 🙂

Put your guesses here. A cool prize to the winner. Maybe something from India since I can only look longingly at the pictures scott posted where its in the 80s…

>Here’s some pictures from our trip to Thanjavur and Trichy. We visited a temple and a maharajah’s palace in Thanjavur and the largest active temple in Asia in Trichy.

On the way, we stopped at a roadside roasted-cashew stand. An undergrad student back at Columbia was from this area, and his family exported cashews (which explains why he could afford Columbia!) This was a decidedly lower-scale operation. I think I had never seen a lamb before, because I was surprise how small they were. Cute, huh?

The temple elephant (again). He’s there to collect donations with his trunk.

This a view of the main temple at Thanjavur. It was built in 1010 by the chola kings. Everybody goes shoeless inside the temple, and we were able to see the shrine inside but not take pictures. The man in the foreground was our driver for the day.

I visited these sights with Dr. Bernd Speiser (left) and Dr. R. Chandrasekaran (right) They are standing at the entrance to the Thanjavur Royal Palace.

A detail of a beautiful mural at the palace.

The truck in front of us urged our driver to honk his horn. He obliged frequently.

A group of ladies at the Trichy temple. Many women wear these very colorful outfits every day.

>OK, not as good as the original… but we like it…

>More pics soon but I thought I’d try a movie….

>Finally some pictures from Chennai. These are all from Wed-Fri. Yesterday I went to see some temples and I’ll post some of those pics tonight!

These are my hosts at CECRI Chennai, Dr. Sridhar and Dr. Pitchumani, and me standing next to a bank of fluorescent lights powered by their 1 kW fuel cell in the foreground. It was a cool demonstration. I wouldn’t normally wear a tshirt on a visit like this, but if you have been reading you know why.

This is airport security in Mumbai, on arrival in India. I felt right at home except that Indians stand in line differenly than Americans. They don’t seem to mind being 1 mm from each other. I had an old guy behind me breathing on my neck, and I didn’t like it.

An autorickshaw driver outside of IIT Madras

I’m standing on the “sidewalk” on Sardar Patel Road, outside of IIT Madras. This is my new shirt and pants, courtesy of Air India.

My host Dr. Pitchumani, me, and Mr. Venkatesan, who met me at the airport and ferried me all over the place by car. He made the visit to Chennai very easy.

>

To have some fun today we went to the lansing science museum. I think frankie and bee’s favorite exhibit was the mirrors exhibit. Frankie must have run around the mirror room a thousand times counting all of the frankies. I couldnt get a better shot because she wouldnt stop moving! Bee’s also really liked the basketball station! We got to the museum just as it opened, which was a good thing because by 11.30 it was packed. I think our afternoon trek will be meijer fresh and maybe the icecream store for some fun, and maybe to go see the cows or horses.