Columbia University during winter

Birthday Party (mine and my sister's)

In the middle of the chaos of the last month between group assignments, exams and friends visiting I managed to celebrate my 24th birthday. Everybody here tells me I am still a kid, however I feel that I am approaching the 30s faster than I thought I would.






My sister was in NY on the following week, and it was her birthday so we also celebrated it together.

Cai neve em Nova Iorque ... faz sol no meu pais.

I am sorry for not updating the blog for more than a month, but the last month has been really chaotic. It was the end of classes, the exams, friends and family visiting, so I had basically no time.

Today when I woke up (at 1pm) this was the sight I had from my window. I just wanted to share it.


I am leaving tomorrow for Canada. I will be there for Christmas. I promise to upload more pictures and more stories.

In the meanwhile, Merry Xmas for everyone!!

We've got a new President

The election night, last Tuesday, was followed with high expectations by all the Americans.
It would be an historic day no matter what (either the first African-American president, or the first female vice-president).

Everyone gathered around a TV, either at bars, at home or out in the streets. And the anxiety levels were at their peak minutes before the polls closed on the west coast.
We gathered some friends at Gal's place, and followed the counting very closely. Anne Eidelman was perhaps they happiest person in NY when the results were finalized, she jumped, screamed and called everyone in her address book.

Obama was elected new president. Let's hope this means a brighter future for the country and for the way it deals with the rest of the world.

When I got home (122nd street) there were crowds of people coming from 125th street (the center of Harlem), celebrating and shouting. The excitement was quite similar to when Benfica wins the championships (humm...ok, a little bit less).

Breakneck Ridge Hike

Last Sunday the Outdoor Club of CBS decided to organize a hike outside of Manhattan (Breakneck Ridge, New York state) to watch the impressive and beautiful colors of the American Fall Season.

Besides telling you that we walked in the mountains for 5 hours, I don't think there is much more to say as the pictures speak for themselves.

NY Knicks vs Miami Heat

The NBA season started last Wednesday, with the NY Knicks playing against the Miami Heat.
As the game was here in NY, at the Madison Square Garden, me and some friends decided to go.

During the 3rd part, the Knicks were winning with a 20 point advantage, but a the end, they only won by 5 points, so the game got quite exciting at the end.

Phil Collins was there watching the game (the cameras spotted him).

Here are some pictures from my cellphone.

Trip to the nature ... ended up in the wrong place

Gal (from Israel) had talked about two weeks ago about going out of NY for the weekend after the exams (the exams ended last Tuesday). The plan was to go hiking in the mountains and watch the autumn colors.
Well, yesterday at departure time we checked the weather forecast, and realized that it was going to rain all weekend, and hiking during rain is not a very comfortable sensation.
We put a shirt and some shoes in our bags, and decided to go to Atlantic City.

Atlantic City is a "Las Vegas wannabe" on the East Coast (about two hours away from NY). A city by the sea that only has an avenue full of casinos. Nothing else!
It was a fun night out.

Michael got the hooters haloween costume! Not the girls though...


They said at The Hooters restaurant they would give us free drinks if we could hula-hup for 30 seconds...of course we didn't manage even 5 seconds.
Gal didn't learn enough about moving hips in the Israeli army.

But the most memorable moment was when a Portuguese, an Israeli and an American decided to make a race on the beach. In shoes and jeans...



Anyway, we have a hiking trip planned by the Columbia's Business School Outdoor Club for next Sunday. Let's hope we don't end up in Atlantic City again...

Cool People

The MBA class of 2010 has some people who have done things in life that I think are just impressive

1 - Darren Bounds (he's in my cluster)
Darren is a former Navy Seal. The Seal's are the special elite force of the American Navy. Those are the guys that jump from helicopters to the sea, and dive under boats to put bombs.

2 - Avantha Seringhe (he's in my cluster too)
Avantha is from Sri Lanka, and was playing soccer at the beach when the tsunami beat southeast Asia in December 2004. Avantha and his friends survived the tsunami by climbing up to coconut trees and hanging there until the water levels went down.

3 - Keeth Smart
Keet won a silver medal in fencing ("esgrima") this year at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Cluster Cup

Our whole MBA class of 2010 is divided into several clusters. I am in Cluster E, which has 68 students.
Among all the clusters there is a competition in several sports and activities, the Cluster Cup.
The volleyball games have been the first activity, and my cluster has won all four games it has played.

Central Park by Sunset & Night

Back to the 80s

Yesterday New York went back in time, more precisely to the 80s.
We all dressed up in a retro style to watch a concert by an 80s cover band from San Francisco, "Tainted Love", at B.B. King's in Times Square.