Contacts & Contracts

This evening, I got together with Chris and Erin, two Americans who've been living in Florence for several months, and whose blog I ran across. We met for coffee after dinner and they gave me some useful tips about internet connections, bank accounts, and fake meat products for Kristen. It was definitely nice to talk to other people who were also strangers in a foreign country and had to go through some of the same difficulties (language, getting settled, etc.) as I am.

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I'm finally getting somewhat settled at work now. In contrast to the efficient systems in Germany and the US, where you were cared for and introduced to everyone the first day you arrived, here it seems to be somewhat more disorganized. Last week, I finally got a desk of my own, although it's still temporary, since it's in the graduate student room. Before that I was sitting in my advisor's office at another person's desk. Today I applied for an email account, and got a copy and printing code (which doesn't work yet). And I also got word that my temporary work contract is being prepared.
About that: I was supposed to start officially working on April 1st, with the one-year contract starting that date. However, they emailed me the contract while we were in Argentina, and wanted it sent back signed shortly thereafter, before we returned to the US. So I told them that I couldn't do that since I was out of the country, and they agreed to have the official contract start in May, and to have some sort of a temporary contract for April. Well, apparently the temporary contract is in the works and I have hopes of getting paid at some point, and the official contract, for which we (might) start the paperwork next week will start middle of May.

First Day

The first day at work. A bit anxious, I left the apartment at around 9 am and walked to the train station (I still needed to get a bus ticket). I had been warned by my roommates that getting to the Polo Scientifico, where LENS, the place I work, is located, would take a long time. So I waited at the train station for about 40 minutes until the bus I needed showed up. I guess it's supposed to come every 20 or 30 minutes, but one failed to show up. Since the bus only goes directly to the Polo Scientifico between 7 to 9 am and 5 to 7 pm, I had to change in between and wait for a different bus. In the end, it took me about 2 hours to get from the apartment to work, which is not a good thing.
In the end, it didn't matter too much that I came so late, since the Professor that'll I'll be working for had an exam that he was administering. Even later in the day, he was pretty busy with meetings and paper writing, though we did manage to plan my first task: to apply for a Marie Curie fellowship that is due in one week. This would fund my second year here in Florence, and seems ideally suited to my situation: a European citizen returning there after a long stay in another country. We'll see how it goes.
On the way back from work, I stopped by a Coop (a supermarket chain) to get some milk and cereal and other necessities. Here, as with most other things, prices are pretty reasonable if you convert 1 Euro into 1 Dollar. If you try to use the real exchange rate, you will not want to buy anything. But I'm going to be earning Euros soon, so it's good. At the apartment, Claudio had invited a friend over and prepared duck with potatoes and red cabbage, which was pretty good. Also good was the fact that I didn't have to cook - the kitchen is pretty tiny!