Branches

I have a major life decision to make these days: what my post-HBS career will look like. I want to start the education company whose business plan I co-authored this semester. However, it just doesn't make sense to board that boat without the right crew, and it's not yet clear that will work out.

My backup plan is hardly unattractive. Israeli friends are launching a hedge fund and need a competent operations manager. I'm not sure why that prompted them to think of me, but I'm flattered to say the least. As moving to Israel is part of my 10-year plan, I wouldn't mind doing that sooner rather than later.

It's a major decision, though, and will likely have a significant influence on the path I follow in my career as well as my personal life. Wish me luck.

The bearded maybe

I've been growing a beard for the past month. (More accurately, it's been growing on its own and I just haven't interrupted yet.) I'm astonished by the utter polarity of reactions I receive. There's no continuum; it's either, "Wow, a beard looks great on you -- you should definitely keep it!" or " So... how long do you think you're gonna keep that thing around?" -- nothing in between.

Which begs the question of what I plan to do, or put another way, whose opinion I trust most. This is a losing proposition for me, as somebody or another inevitably walks away thinking I just don't value them as a person. I should learn never to change anything, so as to preempt any perception that I'm soliciting feedback.

Anyhow, I think the beard is fun for now, and it took a while to get past the itchy stage, so it'll stay for the time being. Maybe a trim is in order, but I'd probably just alienate the rest of the beard fan club that way.

Notes from the road

Wow, India sure makes a fast impression. People. people everywhere. The place certainly has the feel of a third-world country.

Immediately upon exiting the airplane, a smoky haze is evident in the air. I wondered whether there had been a fire in the airport, but I'm assured this is all normal. It turns out all of Delhi is the same way. I feel like I should be wearing a gas mask. So much for all those years of not smoking.

Ten minutes into the car ride and I've seen two men urinating in public, about ten dogs, and a big-ass cow. No lanes on the highways, or at least no regard for the markings that do exist. Cars somehow flock together like a packed herd of scared elephants.

A tiny tent village on the side of the road, people walking in the middle of the street with reckless abandon, constant car horns, bicycles almost everywhere I look.

And then I see it, holy crap -- a monkey, running wild! And damn if there aren't more, too. No seriously, there are freaking monkeys running around. On the ground, atop buildings, pretty much everywhere you'd expect a monkey not to be.

Driving from Agra to Jaipur now. There are animals all over the freaking place, almost more than people. Mostly cows, but a few sheep and goats, buffalo, and an occasional elephant. Massive boars are kept in towns sometimes because they consume some of the trash randomly strewn about. Note to self the virtues of this possible alternative to cleaning my apartment...

Time to start planning the next trip

I'm in the taxi on the way to the airport. It costs 150 shekels, or about $37.50, to get to the Tel Aviv airport -- more than the amount required to reach neighboring cities. In light of the 9/11 attacks, I suppose that's a good thing, as any plane flown low enough to attack Tel Aviv would seem mighty out of place.

In truth, though, terror attacks aren't really on my mind. Rather, my fondness for this place occupies my present thoughts so heavily. My reluctance to leave overshadows my excitement to visit India. I had a great time visiting friends and family with my dad, and as before, I find myself leaving wanting more.

So maybe it wasn't entirely accidental that I couldn't find my passport this morning. I noticed it during my last-minute "essential inventory" check prior to leaving the hotel room for the airport, and for a minute I thought I would not be leaving today. When I finally unearthed the damn thing in the back pocket of the suit pants I wore last night, my dad expressed disappointment that I wasn't stuck in Israel just a bit longer, and as soon as he said it I realized I felt the same way.

I'll just have to start planning the next trip.

Stay in school

I just completed the most rigorous academic semester of my life. Whatever reputation 2nd year of HBS has as a slack year is completely undeserved, at least in this case. (And isn't HBS all about cases?)

Apparently, I did it to myself. I made the mistake of taking more than a full load and doing it with 5/6 paper/project courses. I failed to heed the advice of those who had come before me, and it came back to bite me.

But I learned a ton, and in the end successfully managed to get everything done. (Grades are not out yet, though, so my use of the term "successful" is perhaps premature.) I'm not looking forward to my last semester at HBS, but only because it is my last. I'd add another year to the degree if they'd let me. Maybe if I fail all my courses next semester... hope my mom isn't reading this.