Arrivaderci, America!

The last two weeks have gone too fast, and there's lots of last minute things to take care of before I leave for the airport (t-2 hours!). Nonetheless, a quick post to say: Arrivaderci, America!

all call for summer addresses!

I've been packing my bags and I realized I don't have something very important - addresses! If there's any chance I don't have your summer address (and you think I should have it...), send me an email. Facebook works, too.

Dragons!

Ever since March, when the New York Times published an article on the front page about a lawsuit filed in Hawaii on 21 March against CERN (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/science/29collider.html?scp=3&sq=cern&st=nyt), I've known what the scientists are hiding from me. I'm not really going to be modeling interactions with the compact muon solenoid (CMS) or calibrating CMS based off the first data collected from the large hadron collider (LHC). Nope.

Regardless of whether or not you read the article, here's the punchline:

He [Dr. Arkani-Hamed, a particle theorist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton] pointed out that because of the dice-throwing nature of quantum physics, there was some probability of almost anything happening. There is some minuscule probability, he said, "the Large Hadron Collider might make dragons that might eat us up."

So, now I know the truth. I'm making dragons this summer. I've already got orders for a red and green striped, a color shifter (preferably rainbow, but red and black would be OK), and a yellow polka-dotted purple.

I'll have to watch my luggage allowance for the trip home!

pondering pizza

I baked pizza for the family last night (Thursday). Baking pizza from scratch takes a while - there's prep time, then the crust takes 2 hours to rise (add some time at the hour mark for shaping it into the pans) and then it has to bake. But it's well worth the effort. (I learned this a week ago when I made pizza for a group of friends at school with awesome results)

The yummy leftovers (today's lunch) got me thinking - what's going to be different about Italian pizza from the varieties I know and (mostly) love?

.......

Pizza (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Dissolve 1 package yeast in 1 1/3 cups warm water. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix in approx. 4 cups flour, kneading when dough gets too stiff to stir. Knead dough for about 6 minutes. Lightly coat with vegetable oil and place in a covered bowl. Wait until it rises to double in bulk (anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on weather. At home, putting it in the oven worked wonders - the gas pilot light kept the oven warm and there were no drafts.)

Punch dough down, then stretch into shape on greased pans. Let rise again. Bake at 400F until crust is golden brown. Coat with tomato sauce and arrange toppings and mozzarella cheese (optional) on top. Put back in oven until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbling slightly. Serve.

80 words, 60 minutes

Despite a busy last two days including attending Mom's graduation ceremony and endless checking of myAccess for grades, I've managed to get a few things done to prepare for Europe. Through church friends, I have a place to crash for an hour or two a short walk from the airport in Geneva in between my flight into Geneva and then out to Venice. I ordered some "light" reading (read: physics GRE prep) for the plane. And I emailed my cousin, Francesca.

Now, you may ask why emailing my cousin made the list of fait accompli. Well, I hadn't emailed her thus far because - if I remember right - she's not fluent in English. So, I emailed her in Italian, which I don't speak or read (yet), and tried to do it properly. The result? 60 minutes later, with the help of Italian grammar websites, an Italian-English dictionary, online verb conjugators and (when I started to lose hope) Google language tools, I had 80 words and was satisfied enough to hit "send."

The first lessons I learn in Europe won't be physics, they'll be communication!

il dolce far niete

I'm headed home on the train from Rochester and (now that I've enjoyed a nap) have been struck by 2 things:

1. No more school (or studying) necessary for a whole month!
2. The next time I look out a train window, I'll be looking out on the Italian countryside!

Granted, classes being finished for the term doesn't mean I will be enjoying il dolce far niete (which my travel guide translates as the sweetness of doing nothing) for the next two weeks as I prepare to leave for Europe. The hectic end to this term means that there's still a lot left to do in terms of making sure I have transportation, lodging and reservations at touristy sites for my 2.5 weeks of exploration before my internship starts at CERN. But I'm feeling il dolce far qualcosa di diverso (the sweetness of doing something different) and can't wait for the adventures to begin!