"You wanna Drive?", my friend was asking me. It made me remember how much I used to drive in Delhi where even a trip to the barber was in the car (pretty much like here but because here the barber's too far off). Finally I did get to drive here and it was strange, at least for the first time, my hand always looking for the gears outside the car! The roads were cream [smooth] and almost free of traffic but the concentration required to drive left handed actually was not there. It takes some time getting used to. A further observation that I made was that it's much easier to learn driving for the first time here than it is in Delhi, where one can go nuts seeing the traffic (ever been to Nai Sarak or Chandni Chowk!) and since one doesn't need to adapt to the change from right-handed drive to left-handed drive. Driving in a car seems to be the second most popular means of traveling long distances next to traveling by Air. I remember many of my friends talking about driving all the way from Florida to New York by car which is more than a thousand miles. Also, it's so convenient to rent a car from one city in the US to drive all the way to another city and give it back at such a nominal cost, along with having an excellent view of the landscape and the thrill of high speed driving on the Inter-State highways here.

Florida, being a very picturesque and peaceful state, hosts many of the finest tourist attractions in the US including the world famous beaches, wildlife reserves, and of course the very famous John F Kennedy Space Center which I got to see as a part of an educational trip organized by the Department of Astronomy. The Kennedy Space Center hosts a big gamut of space equipment being a part of NASA. Very strangely it shares its Boundary with a National Wildlife Sanctuary, which makes the place even more picturesque. Though I never had much interest in Astronomy and the stars except when I see them at daylight giving some of the exams here.

The trip was mind boggling: being amongst the most sophisticated missile launchers and rocket launch equipment. We guys even got a sneak of the Ice Cream of the future. I guess the guys in Space really complain of not being able to have Ice Cream, so the really considerate Research Scientists at NASA actually sat down to prepare special Ice Cream for them which can be preserved and consumed in outer space. It's not much to look at; though it's probably a welcome treat in the lonely space station, so far from home.

The Campus is thriving with activity and lots of parties and festivals. This is just a precursor to the Gala celebrations during Christmas which begin full swing after Thanksgiving (23rd - 24th November). I will witness my first Christmas here, in New York City which hosts the largest Christmas tree in the world.