Yes, I’m back! I returned back from the US on the 9th of July. I know it’s been over a week and I haven’t posted… but then there’s a lot of things to be done after which I can post here without worrying about them. So finally I get some time… and here I am! (Bon Jovi – Here I am)

One of my friends from K. K. Wagh, Deepak Dayama, is studying in University of Southern California, Los Angeles. I reached Los Angeles on the 23rd evening… I met Deepak who was waiting for me outside the airport at the receiving place. We took the shuttle to USC campus, more precisely, 2620, Ellendale Place, North University Campus. This is where I was staying while in LA. His friend (Nainesh), who had actually made the arrangement for me to stay in a room with a guy named Ashish.

ABOUT THE ACCOMODATION & ROOMS

These guys were staying at Private accomodation, because they say that for the 12 month period, living in USC-maintained houses turns out slightly more expensive. I was told that a monthly rent of $550-above is the standard rent for the rooms. This is to be shared with 2-3-sometimes-4 people living together. The rooms are very nice. They are cosy and comfortable with wardrobes, kitchens, fridges, microwaves, sofas, etc. You have to get your own mattresses etc. There are a lot of Indians in the college… and in fact, there a lot of Indians staying in such private rented rooms and all… so it was as if I was in India! I really felt like I was in a place like Bombay, Pune or even Delhi, other than the fact that it had all the american amenities of the same thing we have back home… so it was very comfortable.

Ashish had 3 roommates, and one of them had gone back home to India. So I was taking his place for the time being… The other roommate of his I interacted with, was Abhay. Nainesh lives with 2 other guys, Viral and Ashish. These guys were cool… more on them later…!

Then Deepak, Nainesh and I kept the luggage at Ashish’s room and we went to Nainesh’s room. There I found out that Deepak had brought home-made food for me! And man, the quantity was enough to suffice for all FIVE of us! (Deepak, Nainesh, Viral, Akshay and myself). Deepak, that was amazingly thoughtful of you and your aunt!!

After that, we talked for a while, and then I returned to my room to sleep. Deepak stayed over at Nainesh’s room because it was too late for him to return back home. We decided that we’d meet the next morning at 7am. Although Deepak was apprehensive about whether I’d be awake enough! lol… jet lag!

Surprise, Surprise! I woke up at 6am as I had planned, without feeling any sort of jetlag. I was fresh as daisy and ready to run! But still, getting used to the entirely new environment slowed me down a bit and I was downstairs by 7:30am. Deepak was waiting for me downstairs. I guess I didn’t mention, the people from USC had mailed me the night of my departure that they needed my latest mark-sheet, and so I had to drop it off at their office.

So Deepak took me to the Fedex-Kinkos Copier store (which was the first do- it-yourself copying center I’d ever seen). It took some time for me to get a hang of the system, but finally I did it, and I had two copies of my mark-sheet! Deepak showed me the bookstore, where we felt that we could get the adaptor for the Indian 200+V to 110+V converter for my laptop. Deepak had to get to his job, so he left and I proceeded to the office where I had to submit the copies. I did that… and then I was free! So what do I do? hmm… I thought about it… and decided that I’ll explore the campus. It’s a huge place… and very well maintained and constructed! There are a lot of conveniences for both students as well as visitors.

This was the Summer session, so there weren’t too many students around. So that only made it easier to explore and understand! I went to the House of Commons (which is a canteen), the Track&Field stadium, the Football field, the Swimming Pool, and generally just about everywhere!

That was done in around 4 hours… now what? I still had ample time before I met Deepak at 3. So I went outside the campus and on Vermont Street, and explored for around a couple of hours or so. I was also looking for a mobile phone store so I could buy a connection for my phone. Unfortunately, all the stores were closed for some reason.

I got back to the campus by 3pm and met deepak. We then started checking out where we could get the mobile connection, the adapter, the tulips (for my mom) etc. In the end, we decided that we would try to get all those the next day morning, because it was already close to 5pm. and everything closes around 7pm. Plus he had to travel back to his aunt’s home… where he was living… and traveling after that is kind of difficult. So we went around the campus and he showed me some of the places I hadn’t visited like the library and the department. After that, we went to the University Village, which is sort of like a small shopping and entertainment center for the students. We had a coffee at Starbucks, and then had dinner at the Food Court. We got Indian food there, which was ok… but not that great. I then went to the room, as Deepak left for home, and spoke to mom and dad over the internet.

The next day, Deepak called me up and told me that he was out at a mall with his uncle and that he’s getting the mobile card, tulips and adapter.

He got everything except the tulips because it was out of season. he said that he’d be coming to campus around 2pm. we met at the campus and he had brought lunch from home. well… puri, paneer makhani, khichdi and kadi. oh yes, sheera and upma. Once again the quantity was really generous! And of course, the food was delicious!

His uncle was insistent that we go to Universal Studios… and even Deepak hadn’t been there before…

So we went there… had a lot of fun there… we went for the Terminator 2: 3D show. it was a very nice show. Then we went on the Jurrasic Park ride… it was a bit lame initially, but the final drop was cool! After this we went on a show that told us about how the special effects in movies go.

Then we went on the “back to the future” 3D ride… it was nice too… then we went and had some dinner. We went for a walk in the Van Helsing Castle… and it was kinda funny… Deepak and I were walking through in a very relaxed and casual manner, but everyone else… guys, girls, men & women, were screaming scared all through the ride… it had a few shocking elements, but gee… we weren’t really put off by it.

At the end of the walk… when we stepped out… a couple of people asked us, “weren’t you guys scared? you just walked through absolutely composed! have you been here before?” We just smiled and walked on…!

We had a pizza at the Pizza Hut Express counter, and then had a bit of a walk down the Universal City Walk. We then decided to head back home. Deepak decided that he’d stay on campus that night since it was rather late already. So we took the Metro Subway to Wilshire, and then took a taxi from there to the campus.

When we got there… Deepak called for a campus cruiser. I returned back to the room and started packing everything and I washed the clothes (because I had to leave for Las Vegas the next morning).

CAMPUS CRUISER

The Campus Cruiser is a sort of a taxi service operated by the USC. It’s a free service for everyone… you just call a number and tell them where you are, your name and where you want to go. The drivers are all students who do this as a part time job. They are paid around $8/hour for this. The Cruiser only provides service inside the campus and some 2-3 miles outside. The timings of the cruiser service are 5pm to 4am.

The next morning I got up at 6am and called Deepak. We went to the bus stop and waited for the bus.

We took the bus to Union Station. I got the tickets for Las Vegas and then we had a small snack and coffee at the Station. Deepak had a train back home at 9am from the same station so he left then.

The Bus service I had taken is named Greyhound. It’s a very famous bus service that operates in countries other than the USA also. It took me around 6 hours of travel by the bus, it hardly seemed stressful. That’s how comfortable the buses are.

GREYHOUND BUSES

Greyhound buses are fully air-conditioned with captain seats. They are very airy, as compared to the Volvo buses operated by our touring companies. The seats were comfortable, all the luggage is stowed away under the bus. That’s where the storage compartment is. The buses have a toilet for the convenience of the passengers. The windows are HUGE! They call them Panoramic Windows.

The bus stopped over once for half an hour for a quick lunch to be taken by all, driver and passengers. This was kind of like an American dhaba. They had McDonalds, Quiznos and a few Chinese counters. It was a nice place… it also had a souvenir store.

I reached Las Vegas around 4pm, and I decided to take a taxi to the Monte Carlo. Well I was in a new place… so it was natural for me try and get the quickest and safest method of transport to the destination!

Since I already had a reservation at the hotel, checking in was no problem. I just went up to the room and relaxed for a while!

That’s the end of the first leg of my tour… that is the initial stay in Los Angeles followed by the trip to Las Vegas. The second episode will contain the details of the stay in Las Vegas, followed by the complete rundown on my extended (and unexpected) stay in Los Angeles on returning from Las Vegas…