#desi
OSA 1998 - Monterey, CA
6 July 1998
Okay, wow, I have a lot to say. OSA, for those of you who do not know, is the Orissa Society of Americas. These are a group of people from the state of Orissa, India who get together once a year on the fourth of July weekend. Normally it's a mediocre way to spend the weekend, not much goes on, you meet a few people you haven't seen in a year or two, etc. There are also seminars and other things that I'd attend as well and Youth activities.
This year there was virtually no youth anything. It was perhaps the worst convention which I have attended. I did however have a lot of fun with my friends (Minnesotans and ex-Minnesotans). Here is a detailed account of what happened the last few days:
Thursday I went to the airport for our 11:25 AM flight which was delayed to about 12:40. My dad had upgraded his ticket to First Class and he gave it to me. That was very cool. It was my first time in First Class and I think it is really cool, especially on long four hour flights. My food was very edible indeed.
We arrived in San Francisco around 3PM Pacific. We were picked up by my cousin and her husband and went to their Sunnyvale, CA apartment. I learned that I really like math. I had in my posession a book about a mathematical genius and a math text-book. Both which I enjoyed reading. I also decided that I want to do at least a minor in mathematics. Not because I am good at it (the only thing that says I am good is the fact that I've completed UMTYMP with little trouble), but because I find it very interesting. We left later and went to Monterey (over an hour away). We arrived at about 8:40PM. The convention was at a Hyatt Regency resort. It was a very nice hotel which was on the old Del Monte golf course. We checked in, registered for the convention and then put our stuff in our room.
I first met with friend whom we call Titu (many Oriyas have nicknames that they are always referred to by) in the conference center where most of the activities took place. We went to the lobby and met with Leena and Tina (they are sisters, there is a neat little convention to naming children that we've noticed this weekend). We seperated our selves from Leena and Tina temporarily and went back to the conference center.
Titu and I met up with Sunita and Monty, former Minnesotans that were really good friends with us. We were trying to passively avoid someone who was drunk. We re-met up with Leena and Tina and they did that thing with Sunita that girls do when they meet another girl they haven't seen in a while. I think Monty, Titu and I and another kid wound up at the sports bar at the Lobby. Titu and I ate a pizza and we were kicked out because it was past 11PM and they can't have minors then. Sunita, Leena and Tina joined us later and we went to Sunita's room (which was next to her parents, so we had to be a little quiet). We decided to hang out there for a while.
We watched a movie, the Wedding Singer. If you haven't seen it already, see it. It is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. It also had the right amount of romance. It's kind of like the Princess Bride in some respects. It's a movie that has a chick-flick title, but it's just a really funny movie that can appeal to all. I was earlier told to see it with Molly by Raj and Kelly.
I told people about my "friend" this weekend. They were all surprised that I was able to keep this in hiding for 28 months. They thought the whole thing was neat. I was happy about that.
We went to the conference center and then the lobby and hung out there for a while. It was about 2 in the morning. We went back to Sunita's later and then were kicked out, becuase Monty was tired. I guess he also wanted Sunita to not stay out with us all night. So we left and it soon became Titu and I just hanging around. We went to the conference center (which was conveniently near Sunita and Monty's). I fell asleep on the floor. I woke up at about 4:00-4:30 AM and went to the lobby. We waited till 5:00, thinking the restaurant would open then. We found out it opened at 6:30 and were really tired and went to our respective rooms after I got a new key.
I was supposed to eat breakfast with Titu at 7, but I woke up late and got out of my room at about 9:30/10:00. It was now Friday, and the convention began. We could now officially say the convention sucked. I went to eat breakfast at the restraunt, and discovered Titu and the others (save Leena who was at UC Berkeley) at the sports bar. After I ate pancakes I went there and played some games. We later played Air Hockey and other games. We went to lunch to find it was bad, and then later we came back to the convention center. Titu went somewhere else, while Tina, Sunita and I went to the spa only to put our feet in the water, just because it was really cold outside, and we didn't want to be wet outside at all. Sunita got her pants really wet. Tina for some reason made a point to mention that we all had on our pants.
We kept hanging out at the sports bar when we were bored. The cultural activities sucked. We decided that the five of us and would go to the dinner gathering (the girls dressed up), just incase it was different from lunch (i.e. didn't suck). It sucked. We came back, peeped at the cultural show. Hung out. Went to knuckles near closing time and got some curly fries for almost nothing. That was fun. We later went to Sunita's room again and hung out. Shilpi left and then the rest of us left to see the dance. The dance sucked. Eventually we went back to Sunitas again. Titu, Leena, Tina and me decided we'd spend the night (or early morning) at Sunita and Monty's. We stayed up until 5AM, woke up at 8AM. Titu was gay, but I was a pimp.
Actually only I woke up at 8AM. Everyone else was very asleep. Saroj Uncle (Monty and Sunita's dad) woke up when I was about to leave. He was confused when he looked at the odd sleeping configuration.
I went to my room at 8AM, my dad was unhappy that I didn't tell him I'd be gone. I went back after showering and everyone besides Monty had left. So I went to the conference center to read a book. Rita Auntie (Leena and Tina's mom) told me that the girls were hanging out in her room. So I went there. Watched a dumb cartoon with Tina and Sunita while Leena showered. Then we left and ate breakfast. The breakfast was good. I had a belgian waffle. We met Shilpi on the way to breakfast too.
We skipped lunch (Monty and Titu went) because we ate a late breakfast. We hung out some more around the arcades and just walked about. We went back to the pool in this somewhat larger group. Sunita got her pants wet again. I commented earlier that she had a nice "Asphault." Rather I asked her if others did, because that was the brand of jeans she wore. Well her Asphault (brand jeans) got wet again. We went back to the sports bar, or something and hung out. You'd have thought we were bored of that place, but it's amazing how much pool you can play. We were annoyed at the concept of always going there, but the area of Monterey we were in was desolate. We met Titu there and some other people and played some pool, shot some hoops with the basketball machine, and yeah... We took a group picture in those photo booth things. I will scan and send it to people with email addresses (everyone uses AOL and/or Hotmail).
Our group of friends grew a bit for a while and around dinner time we hung out at my room since Sunita's room was checked out. We ordered a Pizza and talked a lot. Sheila and Smita (sisters) met up with us. Sheila goes to UIUC. I pumped her for useful information.
The girls went to the spa (girls only) and Titu, Monty and I crashed it. Well we did more than that. What I'm about to say is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen done... We walk up to the spa. The girls put up a fit about how it's girls only. Some of them start splashing us. I step back. Then out of nowhere Titu pushes Tina into the pool. She's upset because she's wearing her dad's shirt and well she's wet too. She chases him around the big pool and after sopme time stops. She talks to her sister Leena and tells her that she is cold. So people give her some towels to keep warm. She's still shivering and looks very cold. Then she pushes Leena in the Pool. When I found out that all of this was planned earlier by Tina and Titu I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Leena was very upset and complaining how you can't push people in the pool if they are wearing white...
The dry among us went to the cultural show, while others went to change. We decided to skip out on the cultural show after it showed signs of being on the boring side. We hung out at the conference center's basement in a lot of the rooms. We just sat around talking. Everyone was really tired. A little after 2AM Sunita and Monty left. Shortly after, the rest of the group dispersed. I went to sleep and woke up at about 6:30 and rode to San Francisco and we went home.
I really like spending time with these people. There's nothing specific about them that I like. Perhaps it's just a long history of knowing them. Perhaps it's being raised similarly. I feel bad about not keeping in contact with them except once in a while. But hey, now I have their email addresses and can start an e-relationship. I don't think I am going to attend next years convention in Toronto. I'd much rather go to Convergence.
Today I am off to UIUC and will perhaps not have such a lengthy entry. Hopefully tomorrow I will do well on the placement exams.
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