When in Rome do as the Romans

So the Emory students on the Italian Studies program have arrived in Rome. They are staying in a monastery for the next couple of days. I have some friends in that program and we're going to hang out when they come back to Rome.

The door of my apartment building opens inwards, and it's still very awkward for me to open it because American doors open outwards. This way I guess the doors don't open into someone's face on the sidewalk. I went to the supermarket, and guess what? You have to pay for the plastic bags! That's such a great idea to conserve plastic. I bought extra ones because I thought they would be flimsy and break (I had glass jars and yogurt and such), but I ended up just needing two. They were very sturdy, at least for the way home. I live in a very convenient location. The Piazza de Bologna, where the supermarket is, has a lot of shops like the supermarket and the fruit/vegetable market and station. For Italians it also has a large post office and bank. For cars it is a huge headache of a turnabout.

My roommate Eleonara sounds just like a lot of my Emory friends. "I really need to find a boyfriend. No, not a boyfriend, eh..." "You mean, someone to date?" "Yes, a boyfriend is too much work."

I have also figured out that when someone asks you "Do you want a coffee?" or "Do you want something to drink (like a juicebox)?" they are actually asking if you if you want to walk across the building and downstairs and chat with them along the way. I have also figured out that everyone is taking turns at buying afternoon snacks for everyone else. Afternoon snacks are very important. I think today we spent about 30-45 minutes total gathering everyone and then actually having the afternoon snack. In fact, the afternoon snack is called "una merenza" whereas a regular snack is just called "un sputino."

Last night after work, I was invited by a person in my lab to go have drinks. I went with Daniele and Michele, who are in my lab, and with Adele, Teresa, and Roberto to a bar in a bar-ful area nearby called Tiburtina. We sat in some tables outside really close to a huge cathedral. I thought it was going to be one drink, but that price also came with little platefuls of finger foods like peanuts, cashews, salami or prosciutto sandwiches, bize-sized pieces of quiche, falafel balls, cous-cous, and paella (which they were calling paella and I thought it was supposed to be called risotto). We spent about 2-3 hours just sitting there and talking. Adele and Teresa were really angry that their PI was not allowing them to go to Society for Neuroscience even though they were willing to "pay their own way." Michele is a resident in toxicology right now. He is studying antipsychotic drugs which sometimes produce a symptom of excess intake of water (sometimes leading to death). Coincidentally a huge news article came out yesterday on the Washington Post (yes I am still keeping up with American news) about how the US government is using antipsychotics to chemically restrain deportees during transport.

In my lab we're doing experiements with amphetamine and heroin and the topic came to learning. It turns out that Italian students don't pop Adderall for exams like Americans do. In fact it is rarely prescribed. On Tuesday is the lab meeting, and I have prepared a presentation of my current research project at Emory. I put in lots of pictures (like a syringe pointed at a mouse) and graphs, so I hope everyone will understand.

Three great things happened today:
1. While abc.com won't let me watch Grey's Anatomy anymore because I'm in Italy, I still caught last night's new episode because I have a RedLasso account!
2. I resisted the urge to nap last night, so I was able to sleep moderately well. This is a good thing because our neighbor's bathroom flooded and they are hammering in new flooring every morning.
3. I still haven't gotten a phone yet, but Michele (a different Michele from medical doctor Michele, yes there are two Michele's in the lab) says he has an extra phone with an extra SIM card he can lend me. All I need to do is to recharge the SIM card while I am here! I didn't think I needed a phone because I had no friends, but people have been asking me for a phone number so we can go out or to plan events. I love Rome!!!