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Months of preparation and countless hours of rigorous study should have given me confidence but still I could feel a chill through my spine as our team of five students and two team leaders waited at Islamabad International for our 47 hour long flights to start. Transferring through three different airlines, we reached Merida in the afternoon where we were greeted at the airport by our guide. That was the time when our team leaders were separated from us for the rest of the duration of the Olympiad. Since the team leaders get to know the paper a day before so that they can discuss and translate it into the native language for the students, this separation is necessary.
The first experience in Mexico was at lunch and it was not too pleasant but in fact was a stern reminder that we were in a country with little or no Muslim population. There was no Halal food despite the fact that we had mentioned our food preferences in the IPhO application form. Hungry as we were, we had to eat the semi-cooked fish and fruits. Needless to say, the same remained our meal for the rest of the duration of the Olympiad.
For the opening ceremony we all wore white shalwar qameez with green waistcoats. Very few teams were in their national dress and of those who had bothered to show off their national pride, none had a dress as distinctive and different as ours. As a result, we had almost every team asking us for a photograph with them. We even had the Indian team asking us for a photograph with them, surely a good gesture. The ceremony that followed went superb and the addresses from various people like the President of Mexican Physical Society and the Constitutional Governor of Yucatan made us all feel elated. I can still recall one of their most encouraging phrases 'You all are winners because you are here.'
The next day we had the theoretical examination. The five hour exam consisting of three questions was just as expected - difficult, and with little resemblance to anything we have ever done before. After a break of one day, we had the experimental session. I believe that my apparatus had some error because I could not get the desired laser pattern on the screen even after readjusting the apparatus several times. Needless to say, many other contestants from different countries faced the same problem or at least couldn't complete the experiment.
In addition to the examinations, we had three lectures as well. The first one was in the afternoon after the theoretical examination and I can barely remember its topic as I was tired and the lecturer was speaking English in a Spanish accent! However I was not the only one who lacked interest in the lecture - a girl from USA was sleeping and many others from different teams were listening to songs on their i-pods. The only lecture that I enjoyed was from a Nobel Laureate who is also Princeton's Head of Physics Department.
When we were not preoccupied with official ceremonies or competitions, we had excursions to the ruins of the Mayan civilisation. The first one was to Uxmal, which is an ancient city of Mayan Civilisation. Many of us had little or no interest in ruins of the local civilisation but the organisers thought otherwise and so it turned out that this ruin was just the first one in a long list of excursions. However, our last excursion was undoubtedly very notable as it was to Chichen Itza, which according to the revised rankings is a Natural Wonder of the World. In all these trips, a common theme was appreciation of the advancement of Mayans in the field of Astronomy.
More than anything else, the excursions were a subtle reminder of our 'state guest' status. We had a VIP protocol throughout on our way to excursions. Our buses used to have police (or should I say 'policia') cars at the front and at the back. Policia even used to halt traffic for our VVIP move (sounds like home). Another important aspect of the IPhO was cultural exchange. It was great to make friends with teenagers from so many countries. Since I have returned the number of friends on my Facebook has kept on increasing, courtesy of IPhO. The best part of these new friends is that they are share my future aspirations. It was also very surprising to note that we have a lot in common with the Mexican cuisine. Kheer, for instance, is their favourite dessert as well and one of their most popular drinks (Heamaikal) is essentially 'Imli ka sharbat.'
The night before the closing ceremony, we had a formal dinner during which we were reunited with our team leaders. It was also then that I was told that my efforts had paid off and that I had won bronze medal. The words of Dr. Shahid Qamar 'Congratulations, you won a Bronze' were the sweetest words that I have ever heard in my life. The award ceremony was held in a theatre and we were called up on stage and were awarded medals by the President of the Mexican Physical Society.
The celebrations of winning a bronze medal were still continuing when CIE announced my GCE A Levels result. The joy was increased manifold as I got straight As. Those straight As also fulfilled my conditional offer of Imperial College London. Thus, I will be starting Electrical & Electronics Engineering at Imperial College London (World # five University) this October.
