Thanksgiving in Rome!

"Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"
Philippians 4:6

Today I got to celebrate Thanksgiving with some friends from the Campus Crusade Stint Team in Rome. I haven't really talked about them in this blog but these friends of mine here are a true blessing. I met them through a friend of a friend of a friend of mine named Andrew Lisi who did a Stint with Crusade in Salerno, Italy. The Stint Team are here for a year sharing the Gospel with students at University of Rome La Sapienza (uniroma1). Many of you know I go to University of Rome "Tor Vergata" (uniroma2).

I've gotten the chance to hang out with these guys and girls from the Midwest region of Crusade a few times and gotten to go to church with them a few times as well. I feel somewhat connected to them because as many of you know I spent a summer in Cincinnati on an internship with G.E. Well they invited me to have Thanksgiving dinner with them and they prepared a really really great meal including Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin and Apple Pie, and Jello!(See below) I couldn't believe they found a whole Turkey because they aren't so common around here. They found one but had to shell out 55 euro for it. To even make the holiday even more authentic, Joel had American TV streaming via a slingbox and we got to see snippets of the Macy's Parade in NYC and some of the Turkey Day Football Games.

On this Thanksgiving, I was thankful to be able to share it with Americans and to enjoy many of the American parts of it. I was especially thankful being able to share it with other Christians and to have the chance to thank God for everything in prayer while holding hands around the food (as I love to do!).

Buddy Profile #2: Corrado

"It's like Karate or Colorado"

So this is another one of my friends from work, Corrado. I think you can decipher from the picture which one he is. This was taken at a party my roommates and I had for my co-workers. Corrado insisted that he take a picture with my family, who was visiting at the time. Funny thing is like all the Italians wanted a picture with my family. You can see those on Flickr. When I first met Corrado, I had some difficulties pronouncing his name. He then told me it's like Karate, and in another time he said it was like Colorado. Funny as it seems, it makes it really easy to pronounce. For all intensive purposes, he works on developing polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering. Crazy eh? Ok but on to the fun stuff.

Corrado is from just outside of Rome, but far enough to where he says he cannot be called Roman. As Francesco seems to be characteristically "American" by the way he dresses and acts, Corrado to me is the epitome of Italian and I love it. When he met some of my American friends he kissed them on the hand AND gave them a baci. I was like "whateeeever...come on!". :) Corrado and I both really like American music and he sings really well, with an American accent. Che bello! One of my favorite stories was when I first met him I asked him if he liked soccer and if he ever went to a game at Stadio Olimpico. He said he's only been to the stadium once, but for a Depeche Mode concert. I was like..."Depeche Mode...that must have been ages ago??" Crazy, but it was just this past summer. Who knew Depeche Mode was still around? Corrado also writes music and is in a band. He said he was going to hit me up to make sure his english lyrics make sense.

Corrado is also known for getting a bit crazy at the discotec. I have the pictures to prove. Anyways, someone in the lab asked when I will go back to the States. When I responded in September, Corrado asked how long I was going to visit the States at the time. I had to explain I was moving back in September. See, most Italians stay in a Ph.D program for 3 years and Corrado thought I was just starting my 3 years here and staying the whole time. When I explained that I was only here for one year (my 3rd year of Ph.D), I saw a little disappointment in his expression. That actually made me feel good that I know I'm going to be missed when I leave.

Anyhow, one last fun fact about Corrado. He visited Gainesville with Francesco last december to visit the lab of one of the professors in my department. Sadly, I didn't know them back then. Corrado claims he saw the most beautiful girl on the bus in Gainesville on the way to the UF campus.

The Haircut Experience

I keep up with my family pretty often through the video iChat and because of that my mom (Hi Mom!) noticed that my hair was getting a little long and encouraged me to get my haircut. She likes to see her son groomed so whenever it's time to get a haircut, be it in italy or florida, I get constantly reminded to get one. My initial thinking was that I would grow out my hair without ever having to cut it or just shave it off myself to avoid going to a Italian haircutting place.

Anywho, seeing how my hair was getting out of control I decided it was time to venture off to get a haircut. My first option was to cheat and get one of my Italian friends to come with me to translate, but the timing never worked out. Next option: I checked the internet to search for "English Speaking" Beauty Shops in Rome. I found one on a listing and it was in Piazza Del Popolo (a pretty big tourist area). So last Saturday I made the trek over there. It was a few metro stops away from here but it still took about 45 minutes travel time total. When I got there, I figured it would be easy to find since it was a Plaza (meaning a circle) and I wouldn't have to search for a street (which is sometimes hard to find). But no, I ended up circling the plaza like 4 times to find the right building. And by the time I found the building, there was no haircutting place to be found.

So feeling a little defeated, I went on my way back home. I finally decided I would be brave and just walk into a place near my apartment. I haven't been this nervous in some time, but I asked the lady at the reception table if she spoke english. Thankfully she said yes and called her Mom over. From this time on, I knew it was a nice family business. I told her in my best italian that I wanted a haircut but I spoke very little italian. So she introduced me to her son Allesandro and assured me that he would take care of me. That he did! Ok so the place I go to in Jax to get my haircut is a pretty hoity toity place (I would call it yuppy), but I go to the same girl (hey Val if you're reading this!) that my Mom and sister go to. I never really tell Val how to do it...I describe it a little but she just does it. So what was I to do? Luckily my Uni ID has a picture with the way I like it so I showed it to him and he did his thing. It ended up being perfetto and I only had to pay 15 euro. I'm really glad I found a place in my neighborhood because I go back when I need another haircut and I also get to say hello to them when I pass by. I for sure told them I'd be back!

My Italian Research Group Family

So here is a picture of most of the guys and gals of my research group at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. It is a really fun group. So for the technicalities, we work on things such as fuel cells for alternative energy, sensors to detect harmful gases, membranes to produce hydrogen gas, and even materials for biomedical purposes. The group is composed mainly of Italians but we have a little bit of an international mix with one from Egypt, another from Tunisia, one from France, and the two most recent additions Milan from the Czech Republic and me from good ole America. The group has a bunch of intelligent people in it who are at the same time a whole lot of fun to be around. Sometimes I wonder how they ever get any work done because people stay at the lab less than in America, coffee and smoking breaks are a huge part of the day, and there is always conversing going on. Everyone has been really helpful in helping me to transition, especially with speaking Italian. It's awesome because I've already seen an improvement in everyone's English and they say they've been seeing an improvement in my Italian. Milan and I are currently the only ones who can't hold a complete conversation in Italian. We're determined to change that! (if i could only properly say 30 so people stop getting confused that I'm saying 100)

Graduate student "life" is totally different around here. In America, it's not that untypical to see lots of students working in the wee hours of the night and a lot of hours on the weekend. Here the labs close at 9 at night, you need special permission to get in the building on Saturday, and the lab is absolutely closed on Sunday. It gives me a nice chill perspective on doing research and keeping my priorities straight. We do a good bit of hanging out after work too, except for this week which is like our off week since we've been exhausted from hanging out in the previous weeks. In addition, the Italians are busting their butts to finish their end of year reports for our research adviser.