Great Italian Birthday Gift

Well today is my 25th Birthday (don't forget it's my Dad's Birthday, too!). Thanks for all the greetings all of you have sent through snail mail, e-mail, and facebook! This is only the second birthday I've had that I haven't been with my family. The only other time was on my 21st birthday, when I lived in Cincinnati for the summer. It was probably good I wasn't with my family for the 21st (j/k Mom and Dad). For this birthday I received one of the greatest gifts ever. Since I wasn't at home for my birthday, my 4 yr old nephew Nathan and 1 yr old niece Olivia (my cousin Jennifer's kids) decided to send me a special greeting. They made signs and cards to wish me a Happy Birthday and sent them to me through snail mail.

I think it was exciting for the kids because 1) My sister and cousin had them do it on Nathan's birthday (so he was on a Birthday high) 2) There's this fascination of sending something across the world for kids and 3) They got to draw. My sister helped them with the words and the kids traced out their hands and feet. Olivia apparently had fun with the tracing part and didn't want to move her feet off the paper even when she was done tracing.

My parents also sneakily left behind cards with my roommates when they were here in May. My roommate gave them to me about a week ago. I decided to wait till last night to open them. My family gave me a season pass to Disney again. About 2 years ago, my sister started getting season passes and that eventually spread to the rest of my family (including Nathan & Olivia's family). It has been really fun to go to Disney. It seems that there are certain ages that Disney is fun to go to. College age seems to be one, especially when you can go with kids like Nathan & Olivia. It's one of the things the kids and I are looking forward to once I get back.

More Pictures (Click to Englarge):

And then there were...________

This is kind of a rough day you can probably say, although it's a joyful day for the Italians at my University. Well, here is kind of a quick lesson in Italian culture. August is like national shutdown month. While (officially) most people take a vacation for 2 weeks in the month, many take off the entire month. So just like in Christmas time, Universities kind of go on shutdown. The funny thing is that according to our laboratory standards, nobody is allowed to make measurements or do experiments when no official staff (the head honchos in the lab like professors, researchers, and technicians). So when these staffers go on vacation, you essentially must take a vacation, too. I was reminded of that today by one of my researchers I work under. I know...tough life eh? I love it though. I think it's where the expression "La Dolce Vita" is really able to thrive.

So why a rough day? Well since it's the last full week of July, this is most people's last day and the phrase "Ci Vediamo a Settembre" which means "we'll see each other in September" has been thrown around a lot. People are going to Valencia, America, to their hometowns in Italy, and even simply to the Seaside to just relax while Rome continues to be a hot bed.

Well the first rough aspect is knowing that people are going on vacation while I'm going to stick it out until August 10th when the last professor will finally start his vacation (which means I can run experiments till then). The main rough aspect is that I leave in September. So today, I am basically saying goodbye to all the people and experiences that I have enjoyed at school. Just being at school regardless of the work that is being done has provided a very enjoyable experience. This includes all the group lunches, going 2 or 3 times a day to the bar to get espresso, learning to hold your breath while keeping all the smokers company, juggling the soccer ball, and just sitting/joking around in the office. With everyone gone, there's no more of that and essentially the University will become a ghost town for a few weeks. BTW...this never happens in American University Research Groups except maybe on Christmas day.

The Filipino Family Switcheroo

The previous post talked about my trip to visit Corrado's family in Priverno, Italy. This post is about Francesco's trip to my hometown of Orange Park to meet my family on the same weekend I was in Priverno. Well I heard from both ends that my family and Francesco had a great time. Maybe a good tradition was started with my mom and Francesco exchanging recipes. Francesco taught my mom how to make his famous lasagna (picture above). They brought this to my nephew Nathan's 4th birthday party at his family's house out in Jax Beach. The lasagna was a hit! My mom made a ton of food (as usual) for this party so Francesco got a few lessons, too.

Francesco got a little taste of everything. He went with my Dad to look for a new car for me (more on that later). My sister took him around OP to run some errands for my mom. She also took him to the beach and Super Target (my sister's favorite store). The main thing though was visiting a ton of my extended family at my cousin's house for Nathan's party. Who would have known an Italian would have had fun at a 4 year old's Pirates of the Carribbean themed party. Everyone is already looking forward to the next time .

More Pictures (Click Thumbs to Enlarge):

The Italian Family Switcheroo

So, this weekend I went with Corrado to his hometown of Priverno, which is about 50 km South of Rome. I was always curious why Corrado always went home practically every weekend. So when he invited me, I jumped at the opportunity. I told Corrado that going to Priverno reminded me a lot of going to my hometown of Orange Park to get away from Gainesville. In fact, the travel time from Rome to Priverno by train was about the same travel time from Gainesville to Orange Park by car. So we left last Friday night directly from school and took a train from Termini. Right when we got out of the train, Corrado's dad was waiting for us with the trunk of his Fiat 500 open for our stuff. It took us about 10 minutes to get to Corrado's house (shown above) and right when we got inside I met his mother. Just like when I arrive at home in OP, dinner was on the table ready for us to eat. It was the beginning of a great weekend of eating. Just on the first night, we had Cotoletta di Milanese, Caprese, and fresh Mozzarella di Bufala. I think I impressed Corrado's parents with my eating ability, given my skinnyness.

The rest of the weekend was spent meeting some of Corrado's friends (old and new) which included seeing some of his friends perform in a band. I even saw Corrado perform with his band. The two other guys in his band are brothers and lived on the family farm. They had this cool rehearsal space on the property. That was fun because I've been helping him make sure the English in his songs are correct.

Corrado also took me to his nearby beach. His beach was also about the same distance Jax Beach is from OP. So driving out to the beach listening to good classic rock again reminded me of being home. The nearby beach city had very much the feel of Jax Beach, with palm trees and people walking around in beachy clothing.

Corrado took me to the historical part of Priverno. It was very Medieval looking. I teased Corrado that this was the only different part of compared to Orange Park. We don't really have a historical center where I live.

The rest of the weekend could be summed up with eating and relaxing. If you combine the facts that Priverno is a more tranquil village than Rome, Corrado's family is so sweet, and many old friends still remain in the city, it's so easy to understand why Corrado enjoys going home so much. His family's hospitality is the same I see that my family extends to my friends. It's something typical I see both in Italian and Filipino families. So this weekend really made me feel like I was at home.

More Photos from the Weekend:



Priverno Photo Set (Flickr)

Note: Thanks to my friend Dennis at Thought and Theory for helping me get Lightbox to display my photos in a cool way.

The Great Family Switcheroo

One thing that is really big in both Filipino and Italian Culture is emphasis on family life. It seems both cultures put a priority on spending time with family members and making sure other members of the family are taken care of. It's kind of cool that on two sides of the world, there will be a "mash up" of sorts of two cultural family interactions. Back in Florida, Francesco who just recently moved to Gainesville will be headin up to Orange Park to spend time with my family. He'll definitely get a good taste of my family life as he'll be going to my nephew (cousin's son) Nathan's 4th birthday out at Jax Beach. He's also planning to teach my mom how make to his special lasagna.

On the other side of the ocean, my research friend Corrado invited me to his hometown of Priverno so I can meet his family. Priverno is about 50 km outside of Rome. He goes home every weekend to spend time with his family and friends, so I am really excited to see what makes it so worth it for him to go home every weekend. I'm hoping I get a chance to meet his grandmother, too.

European Environmental Habits

One thing that I've noticed about Europe is that it seems to be more energy efficient and concerned about the environment. I've always had some kind of care for the environment (and that's one reason I tend to lean more towards the left politically). To call me an "environmentalist" would be a far stretch and I tend to agree with the musician Jack Johnson (who happens to be a spokesperson for Patagonia) with his response to the question if he considered himself a environmentalist. Jack Johnson basically explained that he considered someone an environmentalist as one who puts as much effort into saving the environment as he did with his music. My previous concerns for the environment had somewhat selfish motives. My job as a researching graduated student deals with developing sensors to prevent harmful pollutants being emitted into our atmosphere. Then one of my hobbies is going to the beach. Nobody (in their right mind) who likes going to the beach wants the beach to be trashed. Anyhow, I've learned in general how to be more efficient with resources here in Europe. Here are some of my favorite practices.

• Drying Laundry Without Dryers - To sum it up, Europeans don't use dryers for laundry. Oh and they use washing machines that take a long time to do a single load, but run more efficiently. As far as the drying situation, people simply hang clothes and let mother nature and time do their thing. This is probably one practice I'll continue to do in Florida. Even though it takes some time, it really doesn't take that much time to dry. Besides that, even when there is a dryer I tend to not even take my clothes out of the dryer for a few days (pure laziness...I know).

• Grocery Bags - Here you have to pay for plastic bags at the grocery store at 5 euro cents a bag. Even though it's a small charge, it does make you think about whether or not you need a bag. For example, if I'm on my way home from school and stop by the grocery store, I'll usually pack stuff into my backpack instead of buying a bag. Charging for bags also encourages people to reuse bags. IKEA even sells this huge durable reusable plastic bag (similar to an Old Navy Shopping Bag) for 50 cents. This is also another practice I'll probably extend to Florida.
• Public Transport - I've been quite the expert on taking buses around Rome. I think this might be the perfect opportunity to get accustomed to using the bus system in Gainesville to get to campus instead of driving (as I have the past 2 years). This practice would have it's financial benefits also: Save on gas and don't have to purchase expensive UF parking decal.
• Fee On Products with Recyclable Packaging - I've only seen this in Germany, but if you buy let's say a coke in a plastic bottle or a beer in an aluminum can you get charged an extra 25 cents on top of the cost of the product. You get the 25 cents back when you return the empty container. I'd gladly accept this practice in the States, but doubt it would ever happen.
• Lighting - Most people here use those miniature fluorescent bulbs, which are a lot more energy efficient than your typical Edison style filament bulb. I know a lot of people complain that they emit a funky tint of yellow, but just slip on a dope IKEA lamp shade and you're good to go.
• Efficient Showers - Well water heaters in most places in Italy are used on a need basis and using the temperature reading you can heat it to the minimum temperature you need to have a comfortable shower. My bathroom has a "shower" where you have to hold the shower head in your head. It makes it impossible to take a continuous shower. Even though I miss my continuous showers (it's one practice I'll be returning to), I like the idea that I've saved a ton of water this past year.
  

And You Thought Your TA Was Bad?!

When I refer to TA, most of you should now I'm talking about a Teaching Assistant. I know a lot of people complain about their TA's, especially their non-English speaking TA's (I find that kind of complaining incredibly stupid in the first place). All I got to say is that you're just lucky you didn't have me.

Well last week, I had my second opportunity to proctor an exam for some Italian engineering class. A lot of my research cohorts also serve as lecturers and when it comes giving examinations , they usually recruit more people to proctor the exams. Most of the Italians in my group warned me, "Italians cheat like crazy." (except in football of course...forza italia) Yeah, so they weren't kidding. People were talking, trying to share notes, and some even looking over at other people's papers.

This most recent exam was crazy. Well, another Francesco in my research group wrote the exam and put one of those type of questions that was tricky, but easily doable. It was one of those questions that everyone thinks is impossible to do, when in reality they are just missing one key thing. So of course everyone is asking questions and talking to each other saying "this question is impossible". I'm just thinking...."Dude...do your best and hope for partial credit" Anyways, there were so many people asking long questions that Francesco would get stuck on one person. I was telling Francesco that he couldn't spend too much time on one person because a lot of the people were getting really impatient. I felt totally inept at this point as a "TA" with my inability to speak good Italian and help these kids out. I finally thought, screw it, let me try to answer this guy. I quasi could understand the question on the paper, but couldn't understand what the student was asking me about it. I essentially said in Italian "sorry, my Italian sucks and I don't really know this subject matter." The guy, thankfully, was patient and appreciated that I tried. Ha.

One last funny part of this story. When Francesco was grading the papers the next day, Takedah (a Japanese guy in our group) showed him that he found a mini cheat sheet outside the lecture hall. I was able to narrow down the guy who used it based on the obvious unique handwriting. We didn't have to worry too much, because that guy had one of the lowest test grades in the class.

Czech'ing Out Prague

While I was in Berlin, one of my American friends at the Conference I was attending mentioned that he and his wife were thinking of taking a day trip to Prague. I actually had no idea that Prague was so close to Berlin. My parents have been to Prague before and were always telling me that while I was in Europe I just had to go there. Well , on top of that I knew that one of my friends from UF had just moved there to teach English. So I dropped her a message on facebook to see if I could come visit. I totally could relate when she said it would be so nice to see a familiar face from home. So on a whim, I took a 5 hour train ride from Berlin to Prague and stayed there for a little over 36 hours. Natalie did such a great job of showing me all she could in that short amount of time. I saw churches, Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, a Communist museum, and many more including even a political demonstration at the piazza where many of the protests against communism were held just a few years ago (pic below).

Prague was such a beautiful city and it was amazing to see how much it had flourished even though it was under a communist regime less than 20 years ago. Food was amazing. Goulash and meat...yummy. I had no idea either that the Czech Republic consumed the most beer per capita than any other country in the world. Good food and good beer...Eric was a happy camper just because of that. Side note....did you know the original Budweiser brand is in the Czech Republic and because of stupid licensing by that other nasty American beer company, the real Budweiser is known as Budwar everywhere other than the Czech Republic?

My favorite part was just hanging out with some of Natalie's friends that she has made in Prague. It was like a group of 10 people who came from all over the world. We all had the common bond of living in another country trying to understand life from a different culture's perspective. It's really cool when you can compare your experiences and even talk about the languages you know how to speak. Two of the girls I met there, who were from Norway, ended up coming to Rome a week later and I got to show them around my city. Good times. All my pictures from Prague can be seen in Flickr.

The FAQ

Usually when you go to a website, you'll find a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. These days I've been getting one main question. Well I have just a little under 2 months of living in Rome. The main question I get is: "Are you getting excited about going back to Florida or are you getting sad about leaving Rome?" Another similar question is "Which place do you like living in more?" The simple answer to both of those questions is "both". I tell people more in depth that you cannot replace Rome, and you simply cannot replace Florida, either. So I figured I'd share what I miss about Florida (Jacksonville and Gainesville) and what I will miss about Rome. This of course is not an exhaustive list of everything.

Florida

• Driving: Ok, I'm not lazy in the sense you might be thinking but I do just miss driving around and getting to listen to music on my stereo. It'll also be nice not having to wait around for buses and the subway which often can run late in Rome. (Note: I don't miss having to pay for absurdly priced gasoline)
• Going to the Beach/Surfing: I miss just driving from Orange Park to Jax Beach. Part of that experience simply has to do jammin to my favorite beachy type of music on that 30 minute drive. And I totally just miss that feeling of paddling out and catching some waves.
• My Guitars: One of my hobbies that has also been put on hold in Italy. It's just one of those things for me that is a stress reliever and an enjoyable learning experience.
• Skateboarding: As much as I love taking strolls around Rome, I miss getting to skateboard around almost everywhere to get around. Cobblestone and badly paved sidewalks will put a small damper on that.
• The UF Campus: The campus at UF is just so magnificently beautiful to me. I'll probably take more time to just enjoy strolls around the campus as I do in the center of Rome.
• Food: Don't get me wrong, I can eat Pizza and Pasta everyday now, but some things I'll probably devour when I get back to the States include Chic-Fil-A, Sonny's BBQ (Mmmm that pulled pork drenched in Sweet BBQ Sauce), Taco Bell, Moe's, and can I just get some Steamers up in here?
• Gator Games: Dude...this doesn't really need an explanation. I just miss it. (Note: My teams I support tend to do better when I'm not in the locale. For example, I was in Gainesville when Italy wont the World Cup in 2006 and then I was in Rome when the Gators won two of their 3 championships.
• Palm Trees: This also includes the nice nature you can find in Florida.
• Family and Friends: Ok this one is kind of already assumed but I know if I didn't list it my parents (Hi Mom and Dad) would have probably thought I didn't miss them.

Rome

• Food: Yeah this is high on the list. This first of all includes the quality of produce you can find in grocery stores and markets. The fruit and vegetables just seem more colorful, fresher, sweeter, crisper, and pretty much better in any way you can think of (even price).
• Food (part 2): There are just a number things you can't get in the States. This includes [good] fresh mozzarella, prosciutto crudo (raw but cured ham), pancetta, suppli, Roman Style Pizzas, and I could go on for days. Those of you who'll be around me back in Florida, I apologize ahead for the times I'll be saying "Oh I wish I just could have [fill in the blank]"
• Living in a really old city: This history of Rome goes at least 2000 years back. That's just insane. One of my favorite things is that being in a city with so much history, you feel like you're living in the midst of the history. Even as a Christian, reading stories from the New Testament can seem like it's made up especially since the stories are like 2000 years old. However, being in Rome makes you feel more so connected to these stories, especially if you visit places like Peter and Paul's prison in the Roman Forum.
• Cobblestone Roads: Ok, so these can make rides uncomfortable and it eliminates the aiblity to skateboard but there is just something mystifying about these roads. Sometimes my eyes get lost in some of the awesome patterns in them.
• Italian Culture: I realized there is a reason why they are known for "La Dolce Vita" (the sweet life). Life is so slow paced around here and there is a huge emphasis on family and friendship. I love how most of the shops are still family owned and operated. If you ever get a chance to experience this, you'll probably laugh how we Americans are so fast paced.
  
• Italian Football: Ok, Italian soccer blows American professional sports out of the water, and it'll give college sports a run for its money. Combine the action, the singing, the flares, political groups, and the fear that you almost could lose your life at the game makes you have one incredible adrenaline rush.
• Italian Coffee: I never realized how I adapted to this until friends of mine in the states visit and try it and just are like "gross!" Yeah, an Italian in Gainesville once told me that American Coffee is like brown water. I totally agree with that now. When again will I be able to get a good quality espresso or cappuccino for less than a buck?
• Big City Life: I've always lived in a smaller city, so living in a big city was quite fun. I loved that I could easily take public transport most places. I will also miss being in a place where a ton of tourist from all over the world come. Hearing different languages from all over the world is just a trip.
  
• Amici: I'm definitely going to miss all my friends from here. This might be tougher than missing friends from back home because I'm returning home. It may be a while before I get to see my Italian friends. At the same time it means I have plenty of reasons to come back.