Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Rohit's American Adventure: Chapter 23: Spring 08: Post Miami

Well, being sick in USA sucks big time. I really miss the awesomeness and comfort of health care in India. If you are sick, walk to the nearest clinic and you can get a prescription which fixes you. Whereas in USA, you need to have a health plan, which consumes part of your pay check and things are expensive. I blew over 200$ to fix my tooth problem. I did have health insurance but did not have dental insurance, which did not make me a happy person.

Post Miami, every night seemed an adventure. I could now go and order drinks on my own. I was introduced to rails and vodka drinks. I remember always goofing up and saying coke and Jack instead of Jack and coke. I went out 5 nights in a row one week and that was it. I also ended up at a frat party where I got drunk. I had 5 cheap beers and they dehydrated me. Some students thought I was their Math TA as I introduced myself as a grad student. It was sad as the semester came to close. I did not know what was to happen next. I had made friends and was living it up and it was not fair for it to come to an end so soon. Deep down within, I was living life of a freshman. Apart from the outings at night with the boys, I enjoyed spending evenings on campus at random events which used to be free. I kind of regret not going to the gym and pool often, which was free

I had interviewed at a couple of places but things were not working out. I was not keeping that well either and was not sure about graduating in Spring. It was a tough decision but I decided to postpone my graduation to buy myself more time to work on the projects I was working on and search for the right job. On the last day of the semester, as I was walking back home, I could see parents help their kids move out of their dorms. College Park can never be the same without its students which makes it like south beach in Miami. I spent the last night in my friend, Ariel's room listening to some Jewish music, gliding through some old facebook pictures and sipping some yuengling. I was in store of another Summer, working at the library but without my newly found entourage of Jewish friends. I had no idea what to expect but was encouraged to hear that some of my friends, Yossi, Gab and Alter were going to be around College Park for the summer.