The following is the tale of Foxy (ask Dhruva if you want to know where this one came from), his Bahama-Mama’s, and their excursion to the Promised Land.

This is the boys heading out to do some snorkeling. Meet the crew: Sandeep, Jian, Mike, and Dhruva & Aditya (who, unknown to us, was on LSD throughout break), Ankur, and yours truly (Haakon). As you can see, we took the Jenny Craig snorkeling tour. We passed a nice hotel on the way, and saw people falling from the sky.

There were a few recurring themes in our trip, one of which is this Italian eatery. If we weren’t being ripped off at Subways, we were sitting around that table (Dhruva kept pissing off the waitress, while Aditya charmed her with his LSD-induced smirk). Another theme was Settlers; you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how many hours we wasted on this game! Great fun though – thanks Mike! Other recurring themes were the Casino (Black Jack baby!), Dhruva sleeping/eating/pissing off waitresses/flirting with Mike & me singing “It’s the Final Countdown” after Bush issued his ultimatum to Saddam.

A surprising fact was that Sandeep (a.k.a. playboy) was the “Daredevil” (not at all related to the recent fiasco at the box office) – he knows how to have a good time, that’s for sure. Oh, and here is one of the few non-spaced-out pictures of Aditya a.k.a. “The Photogenic Mr. 46”.

These are a couple of good group pictures [I’d like to personally thank Superman for the bunny ears], as we waiting for the rain to subside. Let me tell you, ‘rain’ has an entirely different connotation down there. And colors are a bit more vibrant (i.e. they’re not all white). [2005: added picture of me, Sandeep, and Aditya]

As we prepared for our retreat, some of us were happier than others. Mike, for instance, couldn’t wait to get back to Ithaca to do analysis – poor soul has been corrupted by German mathematicians. Dhruva, on the other hand, made the most out of his final hours of freedom by enjoying a nice nap (as can be seen in the same picture).

All in all it was a great time – couldn’t have been much better (a bit longer, but oh well) – and I would most definitely recommend it to any and all. I would, however, warn you that if you are ever in the Bahamas, be sure to spent a lot of time on the beach, but be very careful on the rocks! All good things must come to an end, but at the very least Ithaca welcomed us back with open arms. Thanks for arranging it all, Aditya!

Upon returning we arranged a small Fellowship Dinner, and I would like to thank all for showing up (particularly Aditya’s father). Subsequent to this, some of us went to the Persian New Year Celebration, and had a great time. Ramona, the obligatory belly-dancing-friend, put on a great show, and for kicks she threw in some Egyptian moves. As you can see, everyone left satisfied. Thanks Ramona!

Oh, and anyone want some of my grandmother’s Chocolate cake? Too bad!