Monterey Bay Aquarium

Who in the world will not be happy to see Penguins, Sharks, Sea otters, Giant Octopuses, Eels. Sea horses, thousands of fish and and other aquatic life, all at the same place and just at a hand stretch distance? I was exited like a kid to see all these and touch some of these.

Monterey Bay Aquarium has one of the tallest exhibits in the world the 'kelp forest'.

The aquarium has one clear mission: to inspire conservation of the oceans.

It brought the concept of "Sustainable fishing" and guides the fishermen and also the fish eaters about the conservation of fish.

Kelp forest. See the diver feeding the fish.

From the Coast of Pacific

For the last few days my blog became travel blog advert sing America.

On Saturday I stepped into and felt third Ocean. The Pacific.

During the conference I made time to look around.

Asilomar Conference Grounds, known as Monterey Peninsula's "Refuge by the Sea" is located on 107 acres of protected beachfront land, within the quaint and scenic town of Pacific Grove. This year marks the landmark 50-year anniversary of Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds as a proud unit of the California State Park system.

I reached the venue late in the night around 11.30 pm and went to sleep soon after being assigned a room. When I woke up in the morning and came out, it was a surprise for me to see tranquil and blue Pacific ocean just 50 feet away.

In the evening I visited world famous Monterey Bay aquarium.

Fire place at the front desk.

View, just by a 10 feet walk from my room.

California Math Council

Sorry, I could not make it to write blog for the long few days. I was busy attending California Math Council's 51st annual conference. Asilomer Conference is a place where hundreds of Math teachers gather together to share ideas, to learn what's new in Mathematics education. There were tens of conference rooms and more than 200 sessions to chose from as per your needs.

On Friday I attended Sessions on 'Using T Nspire Calculator' and 'Using contextual situations to teach Linear functions. It was During the session " Renew yourself teaching Math in a Foreign County" I met the presenters Brian Lim and Stuart who shared their teaching experiences in the countries like Zimbabwe. I represented Fulbright and shared my experiences of teaching in USA.

On Saturday and Sunday I chose to attend Sessions like "Trigonometry comes alive with Sketchpad" and " Differentiate Math Instruction with Self-Contained Class room. I met Vishakha Parvate who is the presenter of the session on Sketchpad. The keynote speeches were of great use and provided an opportunity to listen to some great people in the field of Math Instruction.

The south of the boarder

South Of The Border (or SOB, as it's known to insiders) is a unique amalgam of Dixie and Old Mexico. At first you wonder what all this Mexican stuff is doing in South Carolina, thousands of miles from its natural habitat. But in a remarkably short time you'll accept SOB as a neon yellow and pink Tijuana, with the added benefit that its inhabitants speak English and its water is safe to drink.
The mascot of the place is Pedro, a grinning mustachioed caricature topped with an out sized 'sombrero' (a straw/felt hat). It is Pedro who speaks from the billboards. It is Pedro who straddles the SOB entrance, 97 feet tall, "the largest freestanding sign east of the Mississippi." You can drive between his legs.
The South Carolina state line is the summertime starting point for fireworks, and SOB offers a huge selection. Load up with roman candles and rat chasers at Pedro's Rocket City. Outside, a 30 minute audio tape of MTV hits plays over and over without interruption.

Courtesy: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

Spanish moss, Blue Crab, and Seagull

Spanish mosses: If whole Savannah city is lush green with Oak trees each Oak tree is busy accommodating the Spanish Mosses, When I browsed Internet about the facts I found an interesting story about these mosses.
Spanish moss is not biologically related to either mosses or lichens. Instead, it is a flowering plant) that grows hanging from tree branches in full sun or partial shade.
As the story goes; there was once a traveler who came with his Spanish fiancee in the 1700s to start a plantation near the city of Charleston SC. She was a beautiful bride-to-be with long flowing raven hair. As the couple was walking over the plantation sight near the forest, and making plans for their future, they were suddenly attacked by a band of Cherokee who were not happy to share the land of their forefathers with strangers. As a final warning to stay away from the Cherokee nation, they cut off the long dark hair of the bride-to-be and threw it up in an old live oak tree. As the people came back day after day and week after week, they began to notice the hair had shriveled and turned grey and had begun spreading from tree to tree. Over the years the moss spread from South Carolina to Georgia and Florida. To this day, if one stands under a live oak tree, one will see the moss jump from tree to tree and defend itself with a large army of beetles.


Blue Crab:

The blue crab is a crustacean found in the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, which is the Maryland State Crustacean and the subject of an extensive fishery. They can deliver an extremely painful pinch and are noted for being particularly aggressive and difficult to handle safely. Even when out of the water, they will lunge towards movement they consider a threat.

Seagulls:

Seagulls are medium to large sized birds with hundreds of different kinds. They are with usually grey or white, and with harsh, wailing or squawking calls. These are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years. Browse the link for the gallery of Seagulls.

Courtesy: Wikepedia

Paula Dean - Southern Food

Paula Deen, A lady who did not know how to boil an egg by her marriage at 18, is the popular Food Network star with a renowned restaurant, a lifestyle magazine, two cooking shows and a host of cookbooks to her name. Southern food and Savannah city woe a lot to Paula who brought fame to the food and people to the city. The lady and her two sons opened a famous restaurant The Lady and Sons. People have to stay in long queues for hours in the morning to reserve their table for lunch.

The buffet Stuff.

My lunch order: Asparagus Sandwich .
A 'New York Times' favorite!

Topped with jack cheese, purple onion

and thousand island dressing on grilled pumpernickel.

From the Atlantic coast

Tybee Island: Tybee means "salt" to Native Americans, but the Tybee Island now brings to mind words such as sun, surf and fun. This small barrier island boasts a wide, 3-mile long beach that's backed by sea oat-covered sand dunes. This is a splendid venue for strolling above the ocean, watching and frolicking in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Tybee won’t disappoint those with a love of history. Tybee offers: Fort Screven, The Tybee Island Lighthouse (dated 1773), an intriguing museum, and Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Thanks Giving ( Acknowledging the 'Schneiders')

A long drive..., Thanks Giving dinner, Oglethorpe Trolley Tour, lush green Oak trees with hanging Spanish moss, visiting souvenir shops, art galleries, lunch at famous " Lady and Sons" Paula Dean's restaurant, Ginger bread houses, 'Forest Gump' bench, The 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' building, the Wayne-Gordon House(Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts was born in Savannah) the (oldest public museum in U.S) Telfair Museum (we visited Jepson Center for Arts), a walk in the historic river street, dinner at Award winning Jazz'd Tapas restaurant and Latino music...
Long list, Let my pictures explain the stuff.
This is Savannah tour Part-1 for you.

'The Schneiders - A pleasant family.

( Laura, Barbara, Jack and Daryl, I thank you all.)

(stuffed Toforku instead of Turkey and fruit drink instead of wine, the veggie style!)

'International Buzz'

The third week of November is observed as International Education Week.
The Hillside High School’s IB Program celebrated their Annual International Night during that week. The event highlighted the international diversity of Hillside’s students and faculty. It featured the culinary and cultural contributions of students and teachers from many countries. Food, music, and poetry were all part of the event.
I gave a presentation to the gathering, sharing with them ‘my experiences’. For them my observations are like Indian perspective of U.S academic system. They were keen to know my views and the presentation went on with wit and and laughter. The pictures from Matt's blog sought attention among the people. Thanks to Mr Foxman, Mr. McDuffee & Mrs McKoy for their invitation and for providing me a platform to share my views. I will post the pictures of the program soon.

P.S : Wish me 'happy journey' to the 'Savannah (Georgia) Trip'. Can I keep my blog updated regularly this time? Depends...

November Dances 2008

Dance is recently added to the list of my explorations when I went to Bryan Center Duke University.
On Sunday the Reynolds theater hosted the November Dances 2008, a semester end performance of Duke students.
The Dance Concert is a mix of Modern Dance , Ballet and African Dances. It is really a perfect opportunity for me to see different dance forms on the same stage. The performances included ''My Body- My House'', ''Meet Clair'', Ve' Ve', ''A Proper Hysteric'' and ''Torelli''. The first and last were modern Dances, second and fourth colourful Ballet dances and Ve' Ve choreographed by Mr Vin sett is an African fusion dance ( depicting the ritual art of ground painting.)

If African Dance enthralled me with its mood and movement, modern dance is like testing me to understand the theme of the performance. I am really fascinated by the coordination showed by the Ballet group standing perfectly on their toes.

Harry Potter

Last evening we drove throgh the rural America for 2hrs and reached a small town Called Sea Grove to visit the 27th Seagrove pottery festival.
let me quote from the web pages of the Pottery Festival:
"Come to Seagrove, visit, feel the turn in you. There's something about a piece of Seagrove handmade pottery that moves you. A particular shape or function, color or texture, something unexpected, something that draws you over like an old friend, which will inspire you. Discover more than 90 potteries in a 20-mile area. Meet eighth and ninth generation potters in a place rich with a 200-year old tradition".
Here is the link for the publication that depicts all the information about the festival and potters.

The Sarah.P Duke Gardens

'The Duke Gardens' provides a place where people of all backgrounds and ages come for beauty, education, horticulture, solitude, discovery, study, renewal and inspiration.
The Garden, often spoken of as the "Crown Jewel of Duke University," occupies 55 acres in the heart of the University's West Campus, adjacent to Duke University Medical Center.
It is recognized as one of the premier public gardens in the United States, renowned both for landscape design and the quality of horticulture, each year attracting more than 300,000 visitors from all over the world. (... from the Web pages of Duke Gardens.)

Some pictures from the garden during my recent visit.

Guess. What time Did I visit the Garden?

Let me introduce Buster. Matt's pet.

The Central Library

With a collection of over 470,000 fiction and non-fiction books, more than 800 magazine and newspaper titles, the Durham County Library stands tall with its services in Durham. Research and Reference, Business Reference, Community Services and Job help are some of its functions. Kids, Teens, Movies, Music e-books and more.
One of the goals of the library is to provide educational and entertaining Audio Visual materials to the patrons. The library offers videotapes, DVDs, cassettes and C.Ds. The database available for reference here is wide, vast and large.
The LIFT (Learning Information for Today) Librarian is the super cool service offered by the library to help with job searching, proofreading resumes and cover letters, and practicing to interview.
I was offerred a brief visit to the wings of the library when I attended a lecture on ''Religion and Politics in the 21st century'' by Mr. Seth Donald of Duke University. The meeting hall of the library is open for the free and purposeful public meetings.