14-16 March: New Mexico

We arrived from all corners of America. 144 students from 74 countries pursuing masters and PhDs in everything from medicine to infomatics, plate tectonics to architecture. The State Department has brought us here, organised three days of activities, and put us up in a smart desert retreat, all in the name of cross-cultural exchange. This is one of seven Fulbright Enrichment Seminars that take place around the country from January - April.

New Mexico is sort of as I imagined it: a desert state full of cottonwood, tumbleweed (the fabled brush was bundling across the airstrip when we landed), cowboys, mountains, and not much else. After the densely packed housing and historic streets of Boston, New Mexico feels enormous, and it is. It's the fifth biggest state in the US (though 3x smaller than Texas) and has a population of just 2.5 million.

The theme of the seminar was "Engaging the Electorate: The Dynamics of Politics and Participation in 2008". We did have a few high-brow discussions, but generally we spent most of our time exploring the area and chatting to each other. HBS talks about diversity, but really we are all the same (straight-laced, business-focused people). This bunch was wonderful and wacky. For some reason I was accosted by the Latins and ended up playing their mad drinking games, singing songs which I didn't understand, and generally pretending I was Don Juan.

One of the best things I did was have dinner with a local stockbroker. He was an avowed Republican who was curiously pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and vehemently anti-Bush. The dinner he served at his home was fitting for a 61-year old bachelor - ravioli and a little salad followed by ice cream. But I didn't go for the food. I went for the conversation which was engaging and lucid. He wanted to know our opinions on everything from marriage to Iraq, climate change to Mark Twain. It was the most frank and honest conversation I've ever had with a stranger (Me: "Do you own a gun?" Him: "I own five". Me: "Five?! Why do you need five" Him: "I two from inherited them from my father.") More disturbing was his defence of the death penalty ("It's the quickest way to clean the gene pool. And why should tax-payers cough up $40,000 a year for people who are guilty of terrible crimes."). He was passionate, informed, and opinionated. The best combination. It's refreshing to meet people with strong convictions that are not your own.