Roman Recommendations: Gelato

As I walk around the center of Rome these days and notice that it's infiltrated with tourists more so than any other part of the year, I can't help but feel dismayed when I see these tourists going to subpar tourist traps and so called authentic places which really in fact cater to out of towners more than anything. But as tourists in any foreign place, could we possibly know any better? I was around the Vatican running some errands when I saw what I think were Americans sitting around eating this gelato and raving how big it was. Ok...so the fact that it's gelato in Italy already means it's better than average ice cream found elsewhere. However, there's been many a time when I have wanted to interrupt these people and say, "Excuse me, if you want to find really good [fill in the blank], you should go here."

So I figured, I'd start a "series", if you will, of my favorite places in Rome. So if you ever come to Rome you should try to find these places. Most of these favorites and recommendations were suggested to me by Italians and have been thoroughly tested by me (mmmmmm) and all my visitors (yes...many of them) that have come by.

Since we're on the subject of Gelato, why don't we start with my favorite Gelato place (pictured above) called Da Quinto. Its address is:

15 Via di Tor Millina (right near Piazza Navona). Click the Map to go to Google Maps.


This place was recommended to me by Francesco as one of the bests in Rome. Unlike most Gelato places that usually show off the actual gelato, all you can see are the list of flavors. It's kind of like "we know it's good, you don't need to see it". All of their gelato is made in house by the husband and wife duo of owners. Their help is fantastically nice and proof is on the wall that they've had many famous customers such as Ben Stiller and the red head kid from "Harry Potter". They also have their gelato flavors listed in about 5 different languages. The decor is fresh with a tropical theme. And how can you go wrong when they have a Florida Gator t-shirt on their wall in addition to a lot of University of Illinois paraphernalia (that's for you LeAnne and Holly V.).

The key to this place is value. You can get a cone here for 1.50 euro. While most places limit you to either 2 or 3 (sometimes only 1) I've rarely seen them turn down a request to put how many flavors you want. My friends Holly H. & Melanie managed to pack in 5 flavors in a cone (see pic below). In fact during their 4 day visit to Rome, we went everyday to Da Quinto. Whenever my family was here we would go out of our way just to go. You can also get many other things when you're not in the mood for gelato, such as fresh squeezed juice, smoothies, slushies, etc.

My favorite flavors (and others favorites) at this place include:

• Fragola (Strawberry)
• Limone (Lemon)
• Kiwi (Kiwi...haha)
• Cafè (Coffee)
• Stracciatella (Vanilla with Chocolate Chips)
• Bacio (like the Baci chocolates)
• Melone (Cantaloupe)
• Pistacchio (Pistachio)

More Pictures (Click Thumbnails to Enlarge):

Florida is calling me home!

Ok, if you've ever seen the movie "Fools Rush In" you might remember how the main character (played by Salma Hayek) talks about being on the lookout for signs that hint something in your life. I definitely had a day that was suggesting it's about time to return to Florida. This morning, there was a guy on the bus I ride to school that was wearing an old school Florida Gator shirt (one with the old Albert logo). He ended up being a student that also studied/worked in my lab building. I must say that Gator shirts don't look so hot when worn with really Euro/Ital quasi capri pants and a fanny pack. THEN...on top of that on my way home, I saw this sticker on a car right outside my apartment. I did a double take and said out loud "Whaaaaattt??" I knew Ron Jon stickers are pretty prevalent in the US, but not in my small neighborhood in Rome. So I ran up to my apartment to get my camera. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me when I saw the Italian with the Gator shirt.

Out with the old...In with the new (Italian Mobile)

Most of you who have known me within the last 8 years have associated me with the car above, a 1993 Civic. It was a gift for my sister for her high school graduation in 1993. I eventually inherited it from her during my senior year of high school when she got yet another new car. Many of you that have known me longer knew that my first car was my family 1982 Dodge Ram conversion van, also remembered as the "Shaggin Wagon" or the "Mystery Machine". How many people can say that their first car was one that they rode in a car seat when they were a baby?
Anyhow, many of you already know that while I've been here in Rome, my civic has been losing its steam back in Florida. It has required so many random repairs in the last year that my parents deemed it not reliable as an everyday car. So it was a bittersweet feeling when my parents informed me I should be thinking about what new car I wanted. For the first time I got to choose a car that actually suited me. When I asked a friend of mine from high school (and fellow high school civic driver) for some car model advice, he reminded me that my old civic has had so much history. That is has. My Dad and I drove it back and forth to Cincinnati when I worked there the summer of 2004. It's gotten rear ended and broken into. Uhhh...and it's been pulled over a multitude of times. Oh yeah, it was at one time a rice burner.

So when my parents let me choose, I knew I wanted something adult like and practical for my daily habits. My parents tend to prefer Toyota's and Honda's. I originally thought I wanted something like a Camry, but then I also wanted something that made it easy to move crap around (I feel like a modern day nomad towing my crap all around the world every year) and something easier to haul my surfboards to the beach. I managed to carry both my shortboard and longboard in the civic but that meant I couldn't carry ANY passengers. So that brought me to the SUV market, but I also didn't want to buy some absurd SUV that guzzled up gas and was bad for the environment. So the Toyota Rav4 became my choice after some research. So as sort of a birthday gift/early graduation gift my parents scored me a new 2007 Rav4 this past week (similar to the one below).

As both of my previous cars had nicknames, I wanted to give a name to the future one. I also wanted to make it have some type of Italian name since it was bought while I was over here and because it will probably be carrying my 3 Italian roommates in Gainesville around. Even though I thought of some typical Italian people names I finally came up with "Il RAVioli Quattro". For all of you that loved my civic, don't worry, my family is still keeping it around. I may also keep driving it on my solo trips to the beach.

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.
  

The Intro: My Italian Gator Homies

When going to a new city, sometimes it helps to know some people already that remind you of home. Coming to Rome, I had my friend Vincenzo who worked at my Research Group in Gainesville as a familiar face. Going back to Florida is going to be very much like going to a new place. Nice thing is that I'll have plenty of familiar faces from Rome who can help the transition out. For all my friends in Jacksonville and Gainesville, this is a good thing for you, too. Just think...new friends (and friends who can cook Italian :) ). So I figured I'd give you a brief intro to all these people who'll be in Gainesville in the next year, in order of the time they'll be there.

So the first person who is pictured above is Anna. Anna is originally from Sicily and has actually been in Gainesville since about January. She actually already has her Ph.D and works in Sensors just like me and I think is contracted to work in Gainesville for a total of 2 years. She was one of the first people I met at Tor Vergata. We shared office space and when I didn't have internet connection yet on my comp, she always let me use her computer so I could communicate with people back home. One of the things I always remember Anna for is how she made sure I understood how to pronounce the double consonant in Italian for example the two "n"'s in her name. You see if you don't stress the double n it becomes Ana which is similar to the word ano which all you Italian speakers should know means ass.

"Yo check me out! I'm already a Gator"

The latest Gator is Francesco. Francesco is Roman through and through, living there all his life. Francesco actually arrived in Gainesville about a week ago and will be in there for about a year and a half working towards his Ph.D. He had already known he was coming to Gainesville for quite sometime now and not unlike many future UF students already had a bunch of Gator clothes. We actually have the same T-shirt, the Nike shirt that says simply "Orange and Blue" on the front. Mine is Orange and his is Blue. Luckily, we never wore it on the same day in Rome. I guess our situations are kind of similar with him being from Rome and me being from Florida. He has showed me a lot about Roman lifestyle (particularly how to talk in Roman slang) and I'm sure he'll be learning a lot about how to live life as a Floridian from me. Oh and most of the Italian recipes I know, I learned from him. He supposedly knows how to make Suppli. Yummy.

Next up is Danielle. I know it sounds like a girl name but in Italian, Danielle is the masculine form while Daniella is its feminine counterpart. Danielle is originally from Genova (in the north of Italy). For those of you wondering, Genova is also known for some quite good food, such as Pesto....mmmm. Believe it or not, Danielle is like 37. He's slated to leave for G-ville in July and will be there for about 2 years as a Ph.D researcher. Danielle is one of those guys that is simply brilliant. He can hold intelligent conversations about anything, particularly about traveling and culture. Ask my friends Nick and Danny. They have already had the pleasure of having one of those mind boggling conversations with him. Danielle is actually at this point not too excited about going to Gainesville. He kind of wishes he could have been put in a bigger city. I can't really blame him if he's used to places like Rome and Genova. I did tell him, "Dude, there are a lot of pretty girls in Gainesville". But he promptly reminded me that he was 37 and all of them would be a lot younger. I then responded "Sorry buddy, can't help you there". Oh one last thing. Danielle is one who commonly has a beer in the lab (which is totally ok here in Europe). He was shocked when I told him that it's usually frowned upon in the workplace in the US. Oh and I guess one more thing. Northern Italians are usually more purist about the Italian language, and Danielle doesn't like it when I talk in Roman :).

"Sorry Alessia. No Italian chest hair here."

Alessia is my buddy who comes from a nearby city (just outside of Rome) called Frascati. Ok, we should get this over with. Alessia is a Lazio fan. You see, Lazio is a bitter rival of AS Roma, who I of course (along with Francesco) root for. We won't hold that against her. Alessia is actually one of the newest Ph.D students in our research group in Rome, but she also did her Master's within the same group. She'll be coming to Gainesville about the same time I'm returning and she'll also probably spend about a year and a half there working towards her Ph.D. Alessia is kind of like the sweet girl next door type. She's almost always really positive and really cheerful. I recently discovered firsthand that she's pretty awesome at soccer too. I guess we'll have to be recruiting her for some intramural action.

Last but not least, is Emilianna. Emilianna is also from Frascati and happens to be almost attached at the hip with Alessia. The two of them actually grew up together. That probably explains why she is also a Lazio fan (blah). She'll only be in Gainesville for about 6 months on a Fulbright Scholarship. She actually had the choice of going to MIT but I think the fact Alessia was going to Florida influenced her a little too. I was also like "good luck trying to have more fun at MIT than at UF". I think that scared her off from MIT a lil...heh heh. I should first get this out there. Emilianna makes some outrageously good Tiramisu. Hopefully she can replicate that in Gainesville. Emilianna and Alessia have also already had a taste of life in Gainesville. After going to a conference in Chicago, they made a stop in Gainesville. When I asked her how was it, she preceded to tell me about all the clubs they went to and all the boys she met. I kind of just shook my head with a sarcastic disgust. Emilianna seemingly really likes it when Americans say things like "Exactly" or "Obviously". So she'll have me say those things and will giggle when I do say them.


So this last photo is simply a photo of who will most likely be my future roommates when I come back to Gainesville. All my old roommates (sad face) will be gone when I return. So it made a lot of sense to stay with the Italians. We still got to work out the kinks but it seems like it'll work out. I still very much want to keep learning Italian, so I was like "if we do live together....no English in the apartment". Anyways, that's about it. One great thing about having these friends over in Florida is that I hope I get to share a little bit of the culture I experienced with all of you out there reading this. Ciao for now!

The Rest of Berlin

Well I'm back from Berlin and now have a little time to write about it. I guess the first place is to start off is with the conference part of it. What I get to say is that I felt my presentation went really well. I think giving presentations is something that you just get better at as you do more of them. This was my 3rd presentation at a major conference and on top of that I've given presentations a lot in front of my research groups in Florida and Rome. I didn't think there would be too many people who were experts in my field at the talk so that took off a little pressure from me. For some reason I even just got more of a jolt of confidence. I reminded myself that this time last year I was leading praise and worship for Summer Crusade for Christ. This just means that I played guitar and led in the worship for our weekly meetings (all by myself). If anything I thought that that experience was the best in terms of prepping for presentations. I don't think I was ever more nervous than doing Praise and Worship. When it comes to Praise and Worship, Christians can be pretty critical. So I figured, if I can do that giving a scientific talk is no problem.

So I gave my talk and in a cool collected way and my talk was right on time (lasting 17 minutes just as requested). There weren't too many difficult questions asked, and when I was getting off the stage, this guy approached me and gave me his card. I realized he was an engineer from the Bosch company in the sensors division. That's a pretty well respected company in the engineering field if you didn't know. In my head, I was thinking "SWEET!". He requested that I send him a copy of my powerpoint (which means it must've been good). Although I told him it's unlikely that I will be able to, he told me to contact him anyways. So hopefully that will pay off once I actually do start looking for a job.

Being at the conference, I started to think ahead to life after grad school and academics. I've been losing some confidence in my ability to be a good researcher and have begun to wonder if I'm really cut out for this stuff. However, it was good to be around US students again who are in my same boat. I guess they reminded me that when it comes to that sort of thing, we are our own biggest critic. I did meet this one guy my age who has been working for an engineering company doing materials engineering stuff after getting a degree in Business. He explained to me at this stage of our lives, we can work in many places regardless of our background and even our successes. Our degrees just show that we have the ability to be trained and sometimes it takes the right connections to get ahead. That was quite eye opening. I guess it also gave me a lot confidence that many people even reminded me about how my time abroad will exemplify my ability to adjust to different situations.

The rest of my time in Berlin was spent just hanging out with some of the American students I met that were there on a special program. I honestly didn't see any sights. There were a group of Germany students who were also helping out with the conference so they offered to take us out to dinner one night. Oh it was good. We had plenty of beer and I ate this great dish of Pork with Potato Dumplings.

Berlin

I think this may be the first post that I've actually made outside of Rome. I'm currently in Berlin at a European Ceramics Society Conference. Ok that sounds nerdy, but just remind yourself that I'm in Berlin. Conferences are always cool...I mean they usually provide you a fair share of free food and booze (ok not really free considering that the registration fee for this one was 250 euro...I don't even want to think of the conversion). Anyways, at this point of my "academic career" I'm starting to run into the same people at these conferences. One person I didn't realize would be here also until a few weeks ago is my friend Vasana. Vasana and I have both done our undergraduate and graduate studies in the Materials Department at UF. She's a few years older than me, but having known her so long she's kind of become my Material's big sister. So being at this conference has kind of helped us reminisce about conferences past (they are all starting to blend in together). Before I left Rome for Berlin, Vasana sent me this picture that she took of me at an American Ceramics Society Conference in Baltimore almost 3 years ago. One of the crazy things about these conferences is seeing how some people in the scientific world dress up. For some reason this kid from Alfred University wore a purple head band everywhere (even in his dress clothes). Weird. I was like "Vasana, we have to take a picture of this guy". Since Vasana told me to get in the picture I had to attempt to make it a little funny.


I wasn't expecting too many Americans to be here at this conference but they are actually plenty. One of my professors (Vasana's advisor) is also here. It's kind of reassuring to know that many professors that I know here kind of understand and already know how my progress in research can be vastly different here than in the States. On another note, I'm really looking forward to giving my talk because (beyond my dashing good looks) I have the advantage that I'm a native english speaker. That should make my presentation just that extra more dapper.

"Bummed Out"

Well today is the last day for Francesco in the lab in Rome before he embarks on his American adventure in Gainesville. He seems really excited but at the same time I understand that it's a little difficult to say goodbye to everything that is familiar to you for a whole year. This includes saying goodbye to your family, friends, sights of your city, and simply the habits that you're used to. It reminded me of how I had to say goodbye to everyone last September. And even worse, it's making me think of how hard it's going to be to say goodbye to everyone when I leave Rome this upcoming September. For the last few weeks we've been talking up all the great things about Florida, particularly Gainesville and my hometown of Jacksonville. Francesco will be living with my old roommates, Tim and Ethan, for two months until I arrive and then we'll live together along with Alessia and Emilianna (more on them later). I'm really thankful for Ethan and Tim helping Francesco out, and I'm really glad that I can do a little bit to help Francesco transition to Florida life. Having some help with Rome definitely helped my experience along. Since my family has gotten to know Francesco really well, they are even really excited to have him in Florida. They are even already inviting Francesco to J-ville this weekend to go to the beach and stuff (I can't say that I'm not jealous).


I told Francesco that I didn't realize I'd be so "bummed out" that he was leaving. I had to explain that "bummed out" meant sad. I kept thinking that we'll see each other in two months and start hanging out again. One thing I didn't think about was how much more fun Rome was having someone from there showing you stuff around. And it again reminded me about leaving and how I'm kind of torn about having to go back to Florida. I told Francesco and some of the Italians that part of me wants to go back to Florida right now and another part of me can't imagine leaving Italy. When they asked which part doesn't want to leave Italy, I jokingly (and seriously) responded "my stomach". Anyhow, come Wednesday start looking out for Francesco in Gainesville and don't be afraid to give him a "What's Up?" or a "Ciao Bello".

Cultural Week in Rome

During the week of May 13-19, it was cultural week in many of the major cities around Italy. This included Florence, Naples, and Rome. During this week, most of the cities public museums and sites were open free of charge. This was really convenient because this was the week that my family was in town (again). So we got to go to many museums and sites such as the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and the Capitoline Museum. All together, the normal entrance fee would cost around 18 euros. There were many other museums to go to, but we were kind of limited to time.

My favorite of this time was going to the Capitoline Museum atop the Capitoline Hill. This was one thing I hadn't gone to yet. This museum (which is the oldest in the world) housed the pieces of Michelangelo's large statue of Constantine (that's my sister smelling the foot) as well as the original She-Wolf which has been Rome's city symbol for quite some time now. The rest of the pictures can be seen on Flickr.

La Costa Amalfitana

My family has been in town for the last 2 weeks and we spent most of the first week in Southern Italy around the Amalfi Coast. This part of the country is really beautiful and one of my parent's favorite parts. My roommate Eugenio is from Naples so he actually drove my family and me down to Naples. We met up with his family for lunch at this fabulous restaurant that no tourist would probably find if they were on their own. Just this amazing amount of good Italian food. This was actually the first time that I had the chance to meet Eugenio's mom and sister.

After lunch, my family and I took the train from this area to Sorrento. We spent about two days there. We also went to the island of Capri (home of the pants and Caprese salad). On Capri we visited the Blue Grotto which was this small cavern on the island where it's completely dark except for the beautiful blue water coming lighting the whole cave.

After Sorrento, we spent a few days further south in Positano and Amalfi. These cities were beautiful and were built right on the coast. The views were really breathtaking. It was definitely an area where you could just chill and relax, and that we did. We had a beautiful hotel overlooking the water. We had lots of different food, many which had some sort of lemon in it. My parents also bought some paintings of the coast by this well known painter who spends everyday painting the coastline. Check out the pictures below:

The Blue Grotto

My Family in Capri

My Dad with His Painting