Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Them Loving the Bomb

I have to think about the New Mexican people being proud on the nuclear bomb test in their neighborhood. In Germany, people wouldn't be proud if next to them nuclear weapons had been tested. They would be worried about all the radiations they would have. I read that on July 16, 1945 the first nuclear bomb was detonated in the "Trinity Site" and that was the beginning of the nuclear age in the United States. People here are proud of being at a place which marks the beginning of a new age instead being worried about radiation.
The beginning of the nuclear age in Germany was December 17, 1938 when Otto Hahn proofed nuclear fission in a experiment. It's interesting that to enter the nuclear age an experiment which fits on a table is enough in Germany while in the US a nuclear bomb, named "Fat Man", has to be detonated. Maybe, the reason for that is that the United States is bigger and has more population than Germany. I guess, after Otto Hahn performed the nuclear fission experiment, he told his college by speaking with him through the window: "Fritz, I have split nuclei. We are now in the nuclear age." Fritz answered with a simple: "Cool". Later that day, Fritz told everyone he knew the good news and so Germany knew in which age it was.
Here in the US, you can't let everyone know by speaking through your window. Here, you need something bigger, something much louder and something glaring like the sun - you need "Fat Man"

New Mexican

On tour again. This time a road trip to New Mexico. I drove with my housemate and two others. All with a PhD or at least in a PhD program and the four of us with a combined IQ of: don't know, don't care.
Our first stop was Santa Fe. There are a lot of historic buildings with the same look as in wild west movies. More interesting for me than Santa Fe is Los Alamos with the laboratories and supercomputers. Los Alamos is known by a lot of people because of the Manhattan project, the development of the nuclear bomb. Unfortunately, we did not have time to go to Los Alamos. Most probably, we wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. I don't think, they give a guided tour for someone with Iranian background.
Instead Los Alamos we hit the road to Carlsbad in south New Mexico. It was already dark and there was no light to shine our way - except the lights from the UFO over Roswell.
In Carlsbad we went to the "Caverns National Park". Last summer, I read Jules Verne's "Journey to the Midpoint of the Earth". I wondered if the caves would remind me that journey. The entrance to the cave is in front of an amphitheater and is not at all like the entrance on "Sneffels Jöckull" in the book. Even after going 700 feet down into the earth, it did not felt like in the book. Mostly, because the cave was full of people. Nevertheless, the huge cave is impressive.
Later that day, we went to "White Sands National Monument". Close to this monument is the "Trinity test area", the place where the first nuclear bomb was tested. People from that area are proud to have it in the neighborhood.
I wrote again too much. Therefore, I am going to shorten my report on the way back. Here, what we saw: Route 66, Las Vegas and snow storm.
Usually, I do not bring back souvenirs. This time I got a lot. Besides all the memories I got a lot of white sand on my shoes from the monument and after we passed out for more than 10 minutes in Roswell I got a mysterious implant in the back of my head. The implant feels weird again - I better stop now.

PS: Apparently, I need to made this post appropriate for general audiences (rated G; Altersfreigabe: ab 0) because of new German laws: After the aliens "invited" us on their space ship, we played hide and seek. It was fun.

L.A. Exposed

Yet, another report from the road. This time, I was in the beautiful city of Los Angeles. A friend of mine asked me to visit him in California.
LA has a lot of nice beaches. Although, the weather was perfect for someone from Germany, I decided not to swim. Because, I saw the pacific the very first time and it was the first ocean I saw in my life, I tipped my toes into the water. For the pacific, my toes were not enough, so a wave made sure that also the rest of my body felt the water.
Beside the beaches we went to UCLA, Hollywood, hiking. We got kabab wasted and I got a first class coma-i soltani afterwords.
At the end I almost stayed in LA. I arrived at LAX less than 30 minutes before my flight and almost couldn't check in. But, with a lot of running I caught my flight. Looking back this was maybe the most funny part, at least it was the most exciting.

That's it for today from Uncle Soroosh :)

Identity

People keep asking me if I have settled in Denver and how life is in US compared to Germany. Well, as I said before, life is still life except it is totally different. I get more used to the habits of the people here.
The official stuff is almost all done thus I don't have my driver license yet. But, I got my instruction permit and it has a heart on it. In the US they have the name directly under the photo in contrast to German passports where they have the name of the state which issued the passport under the photo. In my case it is "Freie Hansestadt Bremen". My bank counselor didn't realized that. That is why he wrote instead my name "Freie Hansestadt". Yeah, that is the story from the time I became a free hanseatic city.
At work, I changed my desk. It is still in the basement and I still don't have a window but now I have a telephone. The only problem now is that people don't understand what I am talking about - and I don't understand what they are talking about. Fortunately, that is not always the case.
That's it for now. I will try to keep my blog updated. There will be a lot more to tell.

Things to Do in Denver When You're a Postdoc

Now let me tell you more about my work here. I am working as a postdoc at the University of Colorado Denver. Actually, my job title is not postdoc - it's Assistant Research Professor. Doesn't that sound fancy?
As Assistant Research Professor I have to perform quantum mechanic and molecular mechanic simulations on an ion channel. Before, I can run these simulations I have to write the computer program for it. And that is what kept me busy the last weeks. I have changed from physics to chemistry. Don't think that I am a brainiac because of this. I also performed quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations before I changed. So, it is more or less a change of the name. In fact, I know a lot of people changing from physics to chemistry and vise verse (hi Astrid).
My office is a big shared office. But, I am the only one working here. One can say that I have changed from the small office in Bremen, which I shared with 3 other colleges, to my own very big office here. The office is located in the basement in a restricted area. No windows, no wireless phone reception, and the next phone is at least 100 feet - sorry -30 meter away. So one can also say that I am kept down here.
Hmm? - a computer programmer who works in an office without any windows - I have to get out and get some skin color - that's #1 priority now. The best way to get some sun is to ride with bike to work. Everybody was telling me that in the US nobody is riding a bike before I came here. And the image of bike riders in US movies (Burn after reading, 40 year old virgin, ...) isn't the best either. But, there are a lot of people riding bikes here. They have here special bike lanes. People here are telling me that Denver is an exception. And for the rest of the US it is true that people don't use a bike. Anyhow, it is surprising for me to see how people ride a bike. A traffic light is nothing mandatory for bikers here - at least they don't care.
Beside bikes, people here are using cars. Streets are full of SUVs and cars bigger than SUVs. But a lot of people are also driving a hybrid car from a Japanese manufacturer. In Germany people don't drive that car. I think not because they don't like hybrid cars but they don't like Japanese cars.
For me it is time to get my Colorado driver license. Wish me good look.

The Bus Ride

People have told me that I should get a car and that public transportation is useless in the US. Nevertheless, I decided to go by bus and buy a car later, when I am settled.
I don't think that public transportation is bad in Denver. The buses drive very frequent. In fact, if I take a look on the schedule they drive more frequent than in Germany.
In Germany, the priority for the bus driver is to be on time. Here, the priority seem to be to drive the people. That's maybe why they also open the door if someone want's to get in after the bus already have left the bus stop. You never see that in Germany. And the people here say thanks to the driver before they get out of the bus. That's so strange - I will never do that.
Instead of pressing the stop button you have to pull the string here. The ride with the bus takes a lot of time. For the short distance from home to work I need more than half an hour in the bus, due to the hundreds of bus stops and thousands of stop signs. The buses here are old, but as long as I come home and to the office I'm OK with them.
It's time for me to get out. Let me just thank the bus driver - oh - damn peer pressure.

Once Upon a Time in Americestan

I am in the United States now, to be more specific in Denver/Colorado. After finishing my PhD it was time for a new job. I applied to a offering and everything went pretty fast after that. And so here I am. I never been in the US before and I was not even sure if they would let me in. I mean, how would they accept an Iranian who was born in an Arabic country and lived in Hamburg? But it was not a problem at all to get in. No long interrogations no cavity tests.
It's time for me to discover the American way of life. There are a lot of things I have already seen in TV and now in real, like giant orange and milk bottles, steaming drain covers, fast food restaurants at each corner, walkable closets, GE electrical devices everywhere. It is not easy to change the environment. I have to get used to all these new units for distance, weight, etc. and I have to pay with these strange green bills.
There was a lot of paper work to do and I still have to do more. The next big thing for me is to get the social security number, the number that I have to keep secret and that everyone is asking for.
That's it for now. I will write more about Denver and my job here soon. So, don't forget to take a look from time to time.

Hilfe, die Pezeshkis kommen

Ich war wieder unterwegs. Ich habe mit meinen Eltern und meinem Bruder Verwandte in Paris besucht. Meine Cousine und ihr Mann leben da. Da wir so weit weg von unseren Verwandten lebten, waren das oft nur Namen. Cousin und Cousine waren Abstrakte Begriffe für mich. Wusstet ihr, dass es für das englische Wort "cousin" acht verschiedene persische Übersetzungen gibt. Durch das Internet und durch die weitere Eroberung Europas durch meine Familie, füllen sich die Namen mit Menschen und Gesichter. Das war mein erster Aufenthalt in Paris. Es ist eine schöne Stadt - eine große Stadt - eine sehr große Stadt. Wir haben uns vieles angesehen, was zur üblichen Paris Reise gehört. Interessant fand ich die schmale Gasse "Rue Xavier Privas" wo vor jedem Restaurant jemand steht und die Passant aufruft hinein zu gehen: "Gyros, gyros", "Do you want to eat pizza?", "Come in the best Brazilian restaurant in Paris", "Couscous, come and have delicious couscous" ...
Es war nur eine kurze Reise deshalb wird es auch hier nur ein kurzer Bericht. Hin und zurück sind wir mit dem Auto gefahren. Ich wollte gestern wieder verreisen. Diesmal wollte ich fliegen. Aber es sollte nicht sein. Meine Reisevorhaben wurden zu Staub und Asche. Seitdem hängt der Vulkan auf Island wie eine dunkle Wolke über mich.